Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Cannibal Corpse- The Observatory- Santa Ana, CA 5/16/13


I have many blogs to catch up on. Idk what it is. But I need to do 'em. This was the most recent one though. In November I told you how freakin' stoked I was to see Napalm Death for the very first time and how I praised their live performance and new album, "Utilitarian". I've missed a bunch of shows this year due to school, gas, money,etc. I had missed 2 shows I really wanted to go to so I thought to myself "Fuck it,I may as well spend $30 to see one of my favorite bands ever". Napalm didn't headline again (sad face), but the brutalness that is Cannibal Corpse did. And its been 3 years since I've seen them and I had forgotten how painful it was.

This was the Decibel Magazine Tour with Death Metal legends Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, and Immolation. Depending on the area you got some special openers. I envy the East coast for getting Grindcore dudes' Magrudergrind. But oh well,we got Cretin,who I was really stoked to see. But nope I missed 'em. Me and my buds got there early to be slapped in the face by a "CANNIBAL CORPSE IS SOLD OUT" sign. Well this 45 min drive wasn't a pain in the ass. And as we did the walk of shame back to the car,we decided to wait for scalpers. While on the wait we spotted no other than George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, lead singer of Cannibal Corpse. We greeted him,shook his hand, and asked if we could just pay him to see the show. No dice,but I did get a pic with the dude, who for being in one of the most brutal bands ever,is a really nice guy.


More shame walking to the local Carl's Jr while eating burgers and planning to bribe the bouncers once it calmed down. We went and the line was bigger than ever. Right when me and the guys were about to give up some guy who knew my buds (and said I went to high school with him??) said he could get us in. After paying a bouncer $35 (show was like $28 so oh well) we went to through one door (where a Hip Hop mini show was going on, I think it was Big Boi from Outkast). and the bouncer wouldn't let us in. While we were furiously gonna go ask the big scary bouncer for our money back somehow it turns out we went through the wrong door. Ooops! We went through the back and I got in right when I heard "WE ARE NAPALM DEATH". Perfect timing. I went through a shitload of people to make my way to the front and sing along with the Grind pioneers.

Napalm Death did a put on a shorter set compared to the last time I saw em, but most of the song were different according to other set lists. They played some random stuff and Barney Greenway gave it his all as always. The crowed seemed to love it (it was a Death Metal crowd after all) and I was just jumping around with the dudes around me screaming at Barney. Some gems were thrown in the set I didn't get to scream along to last time. Such as "The Kill,Taste The Poison", "From Enslavement To Obliteration," and my personal favorite of the night, "Life?".

Napalm is still one o my favorite live bands ever and I couldn't resist, I had to pay that much to see them again. If these guys go to your area (with CC or not) I still recommend you see 'em. It's just a great freakin' show and you'll leave happy. I didn't meet them again this time, nor was the merch  different too much from the last time,but I'm seriously gonna try to catch em every time they're near me. Long live Napalm.




As you might expect Cannibal Corpse fans packed the whole floor up. So trying to find the people I came with was tough. I gave up but I found a nice spot on the left. The first song they played with was an old skool fan (and one of mine) favorite, "Skull Full Of Maggots." So I went from the side to somewhere in the middle (not by choice) a LOT of old gems were played and the crowd loved the hell out of it. Cannibal had the whole place in a big mess of a pit. I couldn't move and I was still having a blast at the show. Towards the middle of the set I crowd surfed my way out screaming along "PLAGUE LEADS TO DEATH". The rest of the show I hung out in the back with other friends and enjoyed watching people kill each other and Cannibal play the best set they've done in years. Cannibal just released their new album Torture last year. It was okay but I'd recommend Eaten Back To Life and Tomb Of The Mutilated first. Those are Death Metal classics. If you can handle insanity, pain,and Death Metal...I'd recommend a Cannibal Corpse show to anyone for a fun night.


No comments: