Over the Limit Tour -- Springfield, VA -- July 31st, 2010

[the chewbacca defense]

sorry if this sounds more like a rant then a review ( i did get some sets down) But whoever booked this event should be fired. As many of you who have gone to Jaxx in the past know that they love to put local bands on shows with national touring acts which is fine. Now for this tour, on the website and all, there was no mention of any locals at all, with a 1pm doors, which i thought sweet, each of the 9 bands will get plenty of time and we'll be out of there by 9pm. Well as it turns out (i didnt find out exactly til i checked the jaxx twitter page about 2 locals in) that indeed 10 local bands got booked in addition to the 9 main touring bands, so thats 19 bands in a 10 hour span of time. And boy did most of the locals suck. It was either one of the two (or a combination) Bands that must of watched the "stick stickly" attack attack video on a loop and studied it, as almost all of the bands did the same retarted looking 2 step walking in place dance, and looking very scene (and sounding horrible) or the broootal deathcore complete with 90% pig squeels. And depending on the band, some got little to no reaction (mainly a golf clap if that after songs) or a big one from the hxc crowd.

Finally at a few minutes before 6:00pm the first schedueld band started
This Or the Appocalypse. they really woke the crowd up and really got the pits going. Also the lead singer dove into the crowd a few times (which is kind of hard at jaxx, as the stage is maybe 2 feet off the ground and the only "rail" is this long metal rail about 4 feet off the ground). 7/10
Blind Witness. Def wanted to check them out as they were one of the reasons i came early (or so i thought) and they didn't disapoint. Lots of energy from the band, and they played my fave song by them "baby one more non" last 8.5/10 (would of been higher but they only got 20 min)
circle of contempt. pretty generic deathcore band to me, but the lead guitarist def had some skill as he could def. legit solo (and not the simple "sweep suicide silence type solo)
Burning the Masses. Man they were awesome. got the crowd back in it, and their newer stuff is def very technical and not just breakdown heavy deathcore. Also the girl next to me was screaming every line. I also got a drumstick from them as well 9/10 (again would be higher but they only got a 20 min slot)
Thick as Blood. Crowd was dead again for them. Kind of sounded like hatebreed or the other similar sounding bands with a little metal influence 4/10
The Tony Tap Dance Extravaganza. Awesome band. Their guitarist can def shred with the best of em and he played an 8 string guitar too. Played about 25 min. Would of def prefered a longer set 9.5/10
Yippie Kay yay Mother Fucker
I am Sammy Jenkins
Deep on Charlie
???? (sounded like something cowboy)
Pardon Me, But I Am The Ocean
The Union
Arsonists Get All The Girls. they had technical problems to start, but i guess it all worked out. The Guitars were mixed way too loud and the vocals weren't mixed loud enough (as well as the keyboard). so this is a best guess at the setlist (not in order)
Mantipede
Violence In Ruin
42nd Ego
Shoeshine For Neptune
My Cup is Half Empty
Robando De Los Muertos
So You Think You Know About the Game of Life (at the end everyone switched instruments and they finished the song that way which was cool
As Blood Runs Black. Now here's where the rant prob will come in. Arstonists took longer then expected to set up, and was given the go ahead to do a 25-30 min set (the set times said they only were supposed to play 20 min)
anyways here is the ABRB set (i think)
Intro
brigther side of suffering
stirfil (chug chug)
new song
????
In dying days
????
and that was it. After the final song they said good night, stick around for oceano, and the house lights came on. People were pissed, and some chanted one more song (cause they didn't play My Fear, which is their most popular song), but they said they didn't have time, as they had to be off stage by 10:45. Now i don't know anything about concert promoting or how that shit works, but would it have really killed anyone to let them have 4 more min. As Oceano was set to only have a 35 min set and they would be done by 11:35. Or did they wanna be extra strict with the set times (i got out of there prob around 10:55 or 11 and there was no way in hell Oceano was gonna start at 11.

if anyone else attended this tour either tonight or at other venues, how did it roll, did most bands get longer then 20 min sets with a later door time with maybe 1 or 2 locals, or is the 10 locals thing for the entire tour?

[xStructualDefect]

i'm thinking about going to this for ABRB but that's a short set. i'm pretty sure the last song was Hester Prynne though.

[Dextrimental]

Fuck me, the organisation took what is a very average tour IMO, and made it even more lousey. There is no need for that many locals to be on the bill at all, whoever did this either owed them all a favour or just straight up felt like screwing the paying customers over. Despicable. I am very happy our main metal show booker here is actually good at his job, and quite picky about the supports that get on gigs.

[Magson13]

Originally Posted by Dextrimental

Fuck me, the organisation took what is a very average tour IMO, and made it even more lousey. There is no need for that many locals to be on the bill at all, whoever did this either owed them all a favour or just straight up felt like screwing the paying customers over. Despicable. I am very happy our main metal show booker here is actually good at his job, and quite picky about the supports that get on gigs.

There's a promoter here that does that shit too, take a tour package, and then throw 10+ locals on, and lock them into a contract where they have to sell tickets, and if they don't sell enough, they buy them themselves. The promoter puts a shitload of locals on the show, and gives them all a shitload of tickets they are required to sell. That way, he doesn't have to do any work promoting the show, he gets his money without doing anoything. Plus, having so many locals lets him raise the price a few bucks, because "it's more bands"......


That aside, this tour looks like complete and utter shit, and I would never even consider going to it.

[mankvill]

For a 9-act, nationally touring show, even one local opener is pushing it.

Having 10 openers is horrendous.

Having 10 openers and 9 national bands on one stage in a time-frame of less than 12 hours?

That person should lose their job.

[AnataFan4Life]

I guess i'm lucky Volume 11 doesn't have random opening acts at their shows. What you see on their website is what you get.

I've heard horror stories about the Jaxx plenty of times.

[ChildrenofSodom]

Holy shit....When I saw Sepultura there were 3 or 4 shitty local openers plus them, Sword Enemy, Diecast, and Suicide Silence....and I thought that was terrible. I couldn't stand 17 bands.

[the chewbacca defense]

Originally Posted by xStructualDefect

i'm thinking about going to this for ABRB but that's a short set. i'm pretty sure the last song was Hester Prynne though.

yeah it was hester. I think there was one song after it though.

And yeah, it was Outterloop Promotions that put the show together. Like for the Bleeding Through tour, they're forcing 2 locals on that show in addition to the 4 regular openers

[Dissimulate]

19 BANDS?Holy shit, that's like three times what Wacken puts on a stage. I don't know why somebody would bother booking that.

[jhdeity]

Mags has it right. Jaxx is famous for getting local bands and giving them 25 tickets to sell to their friends. If they don't sell all the tix, they eat the cost and often times wind up paying to play. They must have had bad ticket sales early and panicked to get tickets sold, hence the zillion openers.

My buddy's band was offered to open for Mushroomhead at jaxx and turned down that offer. $18 times 25 tickets plus travel for their group of fans wasn't worth it.