Live: Norma Jean/Impending Doom/Of Legends/A dream Asleep

WAREHOUSE LIVE — 2/26/2011: This time I arrived at Warehouse Live right on time for the interview with Cory Brandan Putman, lead singer from Norma Jean. When I called the tour manager, he told us to come inside and hang out during sound check. It was then when I realized this show was going to be very insanely amazing: no barricades. So even though I had a photo pass, there would be no photo pit. At this point, I had no idea how hard this was going to be.

The first band of the night was A dream asleep — local band and Drunk Vocalist; that’s pretty much how I remember them. I first met them during sound check before the show and had no idea who they were, but the bassist was a jerk to me and talked to me very rudely. Later on when they went on stage, it started out good, then it went to to complete tragedy!

The vocalist seemed to be drunk and very insane. He kept running around screaming with no melody, and to top it off, he pretty much attacked a girl right next to me. He jumped right on top of her, even though she was tiny in comparison to him. He went into the crowd, hit a guy with the mic, and punched a kid.

It was terrible, and I was sure hoping things would get better. This was also when I realized that no barricades meant being not even an inch from the stage and being at risk of getting manhandled; this was only the beginning.

Dallas band Of Legends was on their first tour ever, the third show in. I truly enjoyed their performance, however — they definitely didn’t sound like amateurs. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it, as well, and although I had never listened to them before, many people were singing along to them. They had a great set, and people were talking about buying their CD. I’m sure they will be building a big fanbase throughout this tour.

No barricades, no security on top of you, no photo pit — this could only mean complete destruction during Impending Doom. There are no words that can describe how much I loved their set and how crazy it all got. I think perhaps “crazy” is an understatement. They more than killed their set; I guess you could say they murdered it. Stage diving was a must among the crowd. It was all fun and games for them, but for me and my camera it meant death. It had never been so hard for me to shoot a show.

The band opened with “There Will Be Violence,” and it definitely described what was going on. It was followed by “Anything Goes” and “Nailed. Dead. Risen,” and while at this point the band’s intensity was just starting, the crowd was already going insane. The pushing kept increasing at the sound of every note, so I, along with the rest of the people in the front row, were now pretty much on top of the stage and trying to keep our balance. Photographing was completely out of the question for the other two photographers there, but I kept trying. I have to say it was the most difficult task ever.

Impending Doom’s set list also included “Love Has Risen,” “The Great Fear,” and “Children of Wrath.” singer Brook Reeves, who was very interactive with the crowd, expressed his feeling about religion and love and told everyone, “I love you, even if you hate me or my music, I respect you and love you for being here listening to us, and I don’t care what you think about my religion and my beliefs, I love God.” They closed their set with “More Than Conquerors” and with the “Are You Listening” breakdown.

I thought Impeding Doom had a brutal and amazing set, but when it was time for Norma Jean, it all seemed like nothing compared to the intensity the crowd brought. This has to be the best show I’ve ever been to at Warehouse Live. It was incredible how insane everyone got. There were too many stage dives to count, and I was very surprised the Warehouse let that happen; they’re usually on top of that. I swear, it felt like I was at a different venue.

As promised, Norma Jean played a lot of old songs they hadn’t played in a long time, even some they said they never played at all. Their set list consisted of “Bastardizer,” “Face:Face,” “A Grand Scene for a Color Film,” “The Anthem of the Angry Brides,” “Falling from the Sky,” “A Small Spark vs. A Great Forest,” and “Murderotica.” They closed with the “Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste” outro.

Although the set list also had “Vipers, Snakes, and Actors” listed, they didn’t play it. The show just kind of ended rapidly, and everyone was told to go outside. I heard it was because it was getting too crazy and there had been a huge fight, but I didn’t see it. Whatever the reason was, it was an incredible, brutal, and amazing show. END

(Photos: Of Legends; Impending Doom; Norma Jean. All photos by Ana Pacheco.)