Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Top 10 Venues in New England

Over the course of my life I have attended 59 shows at 15 venues in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. This area has a lot of great venues, so I figured I'd share my 10 favorites that I've been to thus far.
(*Note: There are a numbers of venues in the area that I haven't been to including T.T the Bear's, The Sinclair, Lupo's, The Met and anywhere in Connecticut, Vermont or Maine, so take this list with a grain of salt.)

10.Agganis Arena at Boston University (Boston,MA):
Relatively intimate and great sound for an arena.
Shows attended: Alice in Chains/Deftones/Mastodon (9/22/2010)

9.Tsongas Center at Umass Lowell(Lowell, MA):
Pretty much the same as the Agganis except a big bigger and nicer. Definitely a great place to see a big show without having the deal with the overwhelming size and poor sound of the TD Garden.
Shows attended: My Chemical Romance/Alkaline Trio/Reggie & The Full Effect (10/15/2005) 

8.Paradise Rock Club (Boston, MA):
Interesting wrap-around stage setup with pretty good sound and a huge balcony. Would be even better if there wasn't giant poles cramming up the small floor area and obstructing the stage.
Show attended: Lamb of God/The Acacia Strain/Too Late the Hero (1/25/2012)

7.House of Blues Boston (Boston, MA):
Upscale venue with amazing sound and a great location across the street from Fenway Park that is easily one of the venues I go to the most since it opened in late 2008. Only thing preventing the House of Blues from being higher is the group of jackasses they employ (especially their security guards.)
Shows attended: Mastodon/Kylsea/Intronaut (5/7/2009), In Flames/Between the Buried and Me/3 Inches of Blood/The Faceless (10/3/2009), Between the Buried and Me/Cynic/Devin Townsend Project/Scale the Summit (1/28/2010), Killswitch Engage/The Devil Wears Prada/Dark Tranquility (2/4/2010),  The Cool Tour (As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between the Buried and Me, The Acacia Strain, etc) (7/20/2010) AP Fall Tour 2010 (Bring Me the Horizon, August Burns Red, Emarosa) (11/19/2010), Dropkick Murphys/Against Me!/Death Before Dishonor/Parkington Sisters (3/15/2011), Deftones/Dillinger Escape Plan/Funeral Party (5/9/2011), Between the Buried and Me/Cave In/Animals as Leaders/The Red Chord/TesseracT (10/30/2011), Mastodon/Dillinger Escape Plan/Red Fang (11/21/2011),  August Burns Red/Silverstein/Texas in July/I, The Breather (2/29/2012), Dropkick Murphys/Frank Turner/The Mighty Regis (3/15/2012), Lamb of God/In Flames/Hellyeah/Sylosis (11/25/2012), Meshuggah/Animals as Leaders/Intronaut (2/17/2013), Coheed and Cambria/Between the Buried and Me/Russian Circles (3/14/2013)

6.Wally's Pub (Hampton Beach, NH):
One of the smallest venues I've ever been to. Wally's is a dive bar with a tiny stage that you are pretty much on-top of no matter where you stand (which also makes this the loudest venue I've ever been to.) Not too many shows roll through here, but my one experience at Wally's was incredible.
Shows attended: Unearth/Chimaira/Skeletonwitch/Moltov Solution (11/19/2011)

5.Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom (Hampton Beach, NH):
Essentially New Hampshire's answer to the House of Blues in Boston except better in every possible way. Really clear sound in a fancy, but not overly elegant room with an elevated stage to make it seem more intimate than your typical large club venue.
Shows attended: Killswitch Engage/Miss May I/Darkest Hour/The Word Alive/Affiance (6/8/2013)

4.Royale (Boston, MA):
I actually didn't like the Royale the 1st time I went there to see Odd Future a couple years ago. The sound was shitty that night and the elevated floor bugged me (mostly because I kept pushing off the edge by kids who don't know how to mosh trying to start pits the whole time Odd Future was on) Since then, my opinion has completely changed and it's become one of my favorite venues. The sound is actually quite good and the lack of a rail brings out stagedivers, crowdsurfers and energy galore.
Shows attended: OFWGKTA (10/21/2011), The Wonder Years/Polar Bear Club/Transit/The Story So Far/Into It, Over It (3/12/2012), Every Time I Die/The Acacia Strain/Vanna/Hundredth/No Bragging Rights (3/15/2013)
Upcoming Shows: Death Grips/Pictureplane (8/6/13)

3.Great Scott (Allston, MA):
This place is about the size of your average classroom and that's what makes it so fantastic. This is place about as intimate you can get: you see all the bandmembers bring their gear on-stage, rehearse/tune their guitars/change strings in the side hall, sit at the bar having a drink etc. Not to mention the place has a damn good PA for a tiny space, low stage that is easy to get on if the band calls for it and a chill atmosphere.
Shows attended: Skeletonwitch/Havok/Early Graves (9/20/2012), Revocation (Music Video Shoot) (7/13/2013)

2.Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA):
The Middle East is arguably the most popular small venue in the Boston-area and for good reason: this place rules. It's essentially a sketchy, long basement with a big stage considering the small size of the venue. The sound is damn near perfect and the setup is perfect for all types of music (I have only been to rap shows here, but I'm assuming metal/punk shows here are absolutely fantastic.)
Shows attended: Lil B (9/30/2012), Danny Brown/Kitty (5/9/2013)

1.The Palladium (Worcester, MA):
The Palladium is probably the most polarizing venue in the whole state of Massachusetts. Personally, I love with all my being. It's been my favorite venue since the minute I entered it and will probably remain that way for the rest of my life. There is two stages inside (downstairs which holds about 2,000, upstairs which holds 500.) that each have their own unique quirks and excellent acoustics. I love the downstairs setup with a small floor and multiple elevated tiers that make the stage easily viewable from wherever you are and the upstairs is cool because there is no rail and the room has a very intimate feel to it. The Palladium is just a grimy, rundown metal paradise that is responsible for a lot of my fondest concert memories.
Shows Attended: Rock and Shock (Children of Bodom, The Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried and Me, August Burns Red, Obituary, Unleashed, Carnifex) (10/10/2008), The Acacia Strain (DVD shoot)/The Red Chord/Whitechapel/Shipwreck A.D./Cruel Hand/Thy Will Be Done (12/28/2008) NEMHF 2009 (Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid, Muincipal Waste, All Shall Perish, Winds of Plague, Suicide Silence, etc.) (4/18/2009), Thrash and Burn 2009 (Devildriver, Emmure, Despised Icon, Veil of Maya, For the Fallen Dreams etc) (8/15/2009), Hatebreed/Cannibal Corpse/Unearth/Hate Eternal/Thy Will Be Done (12/19/2009), NEMHF 2010 Day 2 (Amon Amarth, Job for a Cowboy, Whitechapel, Skeletonwitch, Eluveitie, Municipal Waste, Cattle Decapitation, etc) (4/24/10) Summer Slaughter 2010 (The Faceless, All Shall Perish, The Red Chord, Veil of Maya, Animals as Leaders, Decrepit Birth etc.) (7/31/10), Rock and Shock 2010 Day 1 (Suffocation, Suicide Silence, The Faceless, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Dawn of Ashes, Decrepit Birth, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Molotov Solution, Conducting from the Grave) (10/15/2010), NEMHF 2011 Day 3 (Hatebreed, Between the Buried and Me, Born of Osiris, Times of Grace, Carnifex, Dying Fetus, Skeletonwitch, 3 Inches of Blood, Revocation, The Ocean etc.) (4/16/2011), Children of Bodom/Devin Townsend Project/Septic Flesh/Obscura (7/19/2011), Summer Slaughter 2011 (The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Powerglove etc.) (8/12/2011), Machine Head/Suicide Silence/Darkest Hour (2/4/2012), NEMHF 2012 Day 1 (The Black Dahlia Murder, The Acacia Strain, Nile, All Shall Perish, Skeletonwitch, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse, The Contortionist, etc.) (4/20/2012) NEMHF 2012 Day 2 (All That Remains, Dragonforce, Overkill, Protest the Hero, Unearth, Periphery, iwrestledabearonce, etc) (4/21/2012) Worcester Deathfest (Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Revocation, Fit for An Autopsy, Vattnet Viskar, etc.) (6/10/2012) Summer Slaughter 2012 (Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil of Maya etc.)(8/10/2012), Coheed and Cambria/The Dear Hunter/3 (9/28/2012), NEMHF 2013 Day 2 (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Katatonia, Terror, Born of Osiris, After the Burial, The Contortionist, Within the Ruins etc.)
Upcoming Shows: Summer Slaughter 2013 (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Unearth, Cattle Decapitation etc)

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