“Get Outta Your Mind” was an event by HD Management at Nova – Sin El Fil. The general atmosphere of the event was “Core & Rap”: 15 year-old couples dancing in between bands, background rap music, and newbies/posers headbanging with a 1 sec latency to the drum rhythm (especially during breakdowns). Many metalheads were outside and didn’t attend the event, and unfortunately there were more kids (under 18) in the pub than adults. As usual the sound was a bit crappy, although the management was good. The event was to begin at 8:30, but it began around 9 since some attendees entered late. All photos were taken by Franck Oueis.
The event began with Shake Well Before Use. I admit, I do not listen to punk, and that it’s music that isn’t technical, and meant to be fun but there are limits to that. The band’s songs were repetitive and short, and the vocalist (girl) was inarticulate. I was expecting some style. Don’t get me wrong, the members are good at what they do, but their originals were simply not enjoyable.
Shake Well Before Use
Next came Relics of Martyrs, the Jordanian band. I can safely say they were very good musicians; they played thrash/death metal originals with nice solos that had a middle-eastern feel. The vocalist/growler had a recognizable low pitch growl and they all delivered a good show with a heavy presence on stage. It sucked that the one of the lead guitarist’s solos was interrupted for a couple of seconds due to some wiring problem. Finally, they ended their performance with a cover of Amon Amarth’s “The Pursuit of Vikings”. Best of luck to them.
Relics of Martyrs
After that came Before We Drop Dead. These guys’ reputation precedes them. They played their style very good, playing originals and covering Parkway Drive and Killswitch Engage. Their show was great with a good stage performance that kept everyone headbanging. I’m not a core fan, but it was obvious that the band was well prepared and by that gave a good show.
Before We Drop Dead
Element 26 were supposed to play, but they were replaced by Highway 69. The latter covered SOAD songs at their best, too bad they didn’t play for long. The vocalist kept a good contact with the audience, not to forget the great drumming and guitar play. It’s a shame few people were left in the event.
The event ended with Demonz, a band from Tripoli. The guys covered Lamb of God songs. But as much as I hate to say this, there was no synchronization whatsoever between the drums and guitars, especially on the breakdowns. I know LoG riffs are hard, but one has to come prepared to a gig. Anyway the members have some talent but definitely need more practice. It’s the only thing they lack since their stage presence was pretty good.
All in all, the event wasn’t too bad: management was good and so were half the bands. What could’ve been done was to play metal or core songs between the bands, not 50 Cent, The Game, and Lil Jon 😛
