I left off any bands I happened to see but didn’t really enjoy, and five of the bands listed I saw at Gods of Metal in Italy, but that still leaves 23 sets from quality mid- to big-name metal bands. And 14 were from Europe.

Opeth: Exceeded my expectations (Milwaukee Metalfest)

Anathema: Amazing emotional performance, exceed my expectations by about 10 times. (Metalfest)

Dark Tranquillity: Highlight of the Gods of Metal fest, Stanne just rules.

Iron Maiden: Their show in Chicago wasn’t nearly as cool as their one in Italy, but it’s Maiden, so both shows still rank near the top of the list.

Arch Enemy: 2 shows in one weekend, blew headliners Nevermore away both times.

Immortal: Great stage presence from three guys, and I’m pretty sure guitarist Abbath is really Jon Schaffer in corpsepaint.

Mayhem: Blood, corpsepaint, and black metal. Plus, they can play! (Metalfest)

Demons & Wizards: Hansi and Jon in Italy, yeah that’s fun.

In Flames: Their music might be a bit stagnant, but it’s still fun to hear at a show.

Moonspell: What a good-looking band.

The Kovenant: Cool show, not enough of a crowd there though, and not enough songs.

Sentenced: One band I would have rather seen on a small stage rather than at Gods of Metal

Maudlin of the Well: Ten people on stage, it must be good!

Shadows Fall: Good live band, I should probably get their CD.

Children of Bodom: Like In Flames, not the most exciting music on disc, but it’s good for banging your head to.

Amorphis: Cool stuff, maybe a little too laid back though.

Dream Theater: would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t so far back in the crowd.

Nevermore: Always decent, never mind-blowing. Think I’ve seen them too many times.

Rain Fell Within: hooray for skinny chicks!

Garden of Shadows: hooray for guitar-playing chicks!

Edguy: The only Euro-power-metal band I’ve ever seen.

Queensryche: just seemed soulless.

Halford: Eh?

Ok, I think I got ’em all. If I’m able to see this many good bands next year, I’ll be quite happy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2000 at 11:52 am and is filed under concert. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.