Bucket List Shows: The Bands I Need to See

I'm fortunate to live in Chicago, a city that has a staggering number of music venues across all shapes and sizes, including multiple joints that pull in a terrific number of metal bands.  Rare is the tour that misses Chicago, and even then, there's a 99% chance the band is playing Milwaukee, which is a short drive north.  Like I said, fortunate.  That said, occasionally there are shows I miss out on, for any number of reasons, and that makes me sad; I love seeing bands live, and I love seeing bands I love live even more.  In thinking about some of the gnarly concerts coming up, I started thinking about the bands I've missed over the years, and came up with my ten "Bucket List" bands, the bands I most want to see before I shuffle off this mortal coil (hopefully not anytime soon).  I stayed away from bands that have broken up (or Isis would have made the list) or older bands whose members aren't going to do it (same for Pink Floyd).  A few honorable mentions before we get this show on the road: Tool, Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Anathema, Sleep.  All would be amazing to see, but they don't quite crack the Top Ten.  So... here goes!

Review: Nightwish - Imaginaerum

When Nightwish released their last album, 2007’s Dark Passion Play, fans were reasonably skeptical.  After all, the album was the band’s first following the highly acrimonious split with former lead singer Tarja Turunen.  New vocalist Anette Olzon was a relative unknown, and it was legitimate to question whether chief writer and band leader Tuomas Holopainen could keep the magic.  He did, and then some; Dark Passion Play is as soaring and ambitious an album as anything in Nightwish’s then decade-long discography.  Olzon’s vocal prowess was a perfect fit for the band, and Holopainen’s songwriting was as sharp as ever.  Fans breathed a sigh of relief, and when a new album was announced, it was greeted with enthusiasm; surely the album would rise to even higher heights than Dark Passion Play now that the group was familiar with each other and free of off-stage issues, right?

More after the jump.