Every now and then, you just need to take a little time for yourself and do something fun. When I saw that Twiztid was making another stop in Louisville on October 18th, I thought it was a great excuse to take a little mini-road trip and hang with my Louisville fam. While the Twiztid show in Nashville had been great, I thought the opener lineup was lackluster at best. I had really enjoyed Aqualeo, but had been left wishing that there had been someone else big on the bill that I was already a fan of.

Well, that was certainly not going to be a concern for this show. Aside from the Gatherings, it had been quite a while since I’d seen Blaze perform, so I was stoked to see him perform on this tour. Then, after Madchild had to be dropped from the tour, I was super excited to see ABK added as another opener on the rest of the tour since he’s one of my favorites! And what’s more is that even the local opener on this particular date was someone that I was familiar with (Bukshot). Add Aqualeo and their incredibly unique performance back into this mix, and the lineup for this show was incredible!

I was a little late arriving to the venue, so everyone had already gone inside by the time I got there. When I entered, I recognized quite a few of the security guards from the Gathering. One of them was someone who had threatened a really drunk guy next to me one night at Mainstage, so I thanked him again, and he said that he’d be working there next year as well (Confirmation of another Gathering at Hogrock?? You be the judge). Inside the venue, everyone was having a good time, and the crowd was reasonable but considerably thinner than at the ICP show I went to back in the spring. As I stood there, the guys in front of me got the best laugh out of seeing someone in a Michael Myers mask walking around and drinking a Red Bull out of a straw hahaha They were cracking me up. So Michael Myers guy…it’s all love, ninja, but you drinking that Red Bull from a straw looked so funny!

Once it was time for showtime, Bukshot was the first artist to perform. It was refreshing to have an out-of-town show start with someone that I’d actually heard of before. I’ve seen some great local openers in the Louisville area before, but since I was familiar with Bukshot because of the Underground Avengers, it was cool to see him there. The crowd didn’t really seem to care much about it, but his performance was solid. Afterward, he went to his merch booth to hand out CDs and sign autographs while the crowd prepped for Aqualeo.

So I still haven’t listened to any of Aqualeo’s music, but after the show in Nashville, they are definitely on my radar as someone I want to watch. For real, I really need to do better and just get one of their albums and check it out. The set was very similar to the previous one I’d seen, and I found them to be just as entertaining as before. I still love their appearance…black and red face paint, suits and ties with Chucks..they’re so unique looking. And I love how they choreograph their movements with the songs and with each other. Man I hope these guys don’t drop off the radar once this tour is done since I think they’re great.

Even with as many times I’ve seen ABK perform, I’ve never seen him open for anyone else! He’s always the headliner since he does so much solo touring, and since he always headlines one night at the Gathering. I’ve got mad love for Killa since he shows Nashville so much love, not to mention that I think his music is great. For his set, he did sing quite a few of his most popular songs like Gang Related, One Last Chance, Ghetto Neighbor and I’m Coming Swinging, but he also included quite a few that were new. A lot of people didn’t know some of the songs he played, so there was a lot of standing around and NOT singing along or getting excited. Sucks, but Killa knows which songs play well to crowds, so it was odd that he threw in so many that were not tried and true. But whatever…I love Killa, and he always performs well, IMO, even if the crowd isn’t quite so into it.

By the time it was time for Blaze to perform, everyone had packed into the venue, and were starting to compact at the barricade. I really love Blaze, and have always felt that his live performances were the best among the solo artists I follow (with the exception of Tech N9ne, maybe). So I found it odd and a little disappointing that Blaze did the exact same thing as ABK, and picked a bunch of songs for his set that the crowd didn’t know! :-( I didn’t even recognize a couple of them, including the one he made his entrance to (which I think was Zombie King from the Gang Rags extended version, which was a tour exclusive album…I mean, how many people have even heard that song?). After the initial excitement of his arrival, people were just kind of standing there watching him sing a song that none of them knew. But fortunately, Blaze did redeem himself with crowd favorites like Blaze Up, Damn Bitch, Juggalo Anthem, Walk It Out, Escape Artist and Nasty. Y’know, I totally get that artists need to switch up their sets so they’re always offering a different show to the fans, but maybe this set was just TOO switched up for me. But I still love Blaze, and still think he’s one of the best performers out there, IMO.

When it was time for Twiztid, the crowd compacted even more, to the point that the person behind me was full-body pressing herself into me almost the entire time we waited. When they dropped the lights and came onstage, the crowd went crazy…like, I promise that this show was crazier than the ICP show I went to earlier in the year, at least from where I was standing!

For this show, the song they started off with was the first verse of Screaming Out, immediately followed by They Told Me, which is always a great and energetic way to start off the show! I can’t really find much fault with Twiztid’s live show…every time I see them, they’re awesome, and this show was no exception. We got to hear long time favorites like Murder Murder Murder, Buckets of Blood, First Day Out, Diemuthafuckadie, Bagz and So High. But they also added quite a few newer ones, including Coin Flip Lunatic, Lift Me Up and Bad Side. The set ended with LDLHA-IBCSYWA, and if I had to find fault with the set, it would have been with this song. They seemed to really rush into it and treat it just like any other song, when in the past, they’ve really paused and let the crowd calm down before singing it very deliberately. It’s one of my very favorite songs of theirs, so I’d rather see them slow down a little and not rush through it.

At the end of the set, they talked to the audience a bit and thanked us by bowing to us, then headed off stage. The show, as always, was fantastic. Among all the other ways that I can gush about how much I love Twiztid, I’ve got to give them props for being so consistent with their shows. I’ve been to three shows recently, all of which have come after months and months of touring on the part of both Twiztid and Aqualeo, and this show was just as good as any previous show I’ve seen. These guys are beasts, for real. Love it.

 

As the touring season is winding to an end, I certainly hope that I have as many opportunities to catch great shows next year as I did this year. If you haven’t caught Twiztid yet on this tour…DO IT! You won’t regret it!

-Jules

Location:

• Expo Five
• Kentucky
• United States

Guests:

• Twiztid, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Anybody Killa, Aqualeo, Bukshot

Tour:

• Twiztid’s Abominations Tour

Reviewer:

• VeryTwiztidRaven

Review Date:

• 10/18/2013