@ Val Air Ballroom

I'll be there! Can't wait because it's the last show so it should be a fun one. I'm hoping to meet up with Cristina and Jim maybe before the show sometime, but we'll see...

I'll be there too. I heard an advertisement the other day on the radio and I think they said something about a 4th band, a local one playing too. I hope not, they have to quit playing by a certain time because of local ordinances and that would shorten everyone elses set I would guess. Has this happened at any of the other shows?

we had a 4th band in St. Louis too. but the show started 30 mins earlier. it was also a local band and it wasn't half bad. lacuna coil was the direct support for stone sour but they played the same time as shadows fall. cuz i caught both set lists and they both played 7 songs. i must say it was about 7 songs too short. should have been around 14 song set for LC :p

Wow, what a fantastic show! I was lucky enough to end up backstage with VIP passes (THANKS SID!!), so I was able to watch the Shadows Fall and LC performances at the side of the stage backstage. That was especially nice because the show was sold-out and I was glad to not have been surrounded by a huge group of people, since the Val Air is known as a particularly hot venue. For Stone Sour, we were standing at the sound booth area, inside the barrier.

LC put on an amazing show as usual; I have a few pics that turned out somewhat okay, though I had to use no flash which made the pics blurry, since using a flash didn't work at all. A few of the better ones are posted. I will also post a couple different videos I took, including one of "Swamped", as soon as I get a chance to upload them on youtube.

Since I was backstage, I took the opportunity to try and catch Cristina after the set to possibly sign my Revolver cover from last year and Karmacode CD cover. The Val Air has an immensely tiny backstage area, so I made my way to the back hall and happened to see Cristina coming out of a door and caught her attention. She had just finished the set so she was understandably a little sweaty and hot (again, the Val Air apparently does not believe in a/c or any kind of outside air flow). She may or may not have recognized me from before, but said "Ciao!" when she saw me and immediately made me feel like I had known her forever. Being the genuinely nice person she is, she happily posed for a pic with me and signed my Revolver cover and Karmacode cover. She said they had a signing to do, see you later, and off she went.

I looked behind me and there was Andi! I hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet either so I grabbed a quick pic and had him sign my CD cover as well. He was also hot and sweaty from being on stage, but I didn't care! I also had a chance to chat with him about Italy and touring a bit after the whole concert was done and he was hanging out backstage outside, where it was much cooler!

Stone Sour put on an incredible show as well and I was happy to have finally seen them live. It being the last show and a hometown crowd for the band really made the show seem special. It was great hearing Corey sing "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Ring of Fire". The band also seemed happy to be performing their last show in front of their hometown.

After the show, we caught up with Jim again, and as I said, I was able to talk with Andi for a bit (incredibly nice!!) while waiting for the parking lot to clear out some. Throughout the show, I managed to snage a couple of Jim's picks and a guitar string, and a couple of LC picks, which I will try to post a pic of as well.

That night was truly an unforgettable experience. I know to some people it's no big deal to go backstage and hang out, but to me I was grateful for the opportunity. I had a great time and met some great people. Hopefully my account of the night wasn't too boring!

katie









I'm not looking the best in these photos! I was very hot and my hair was very frizzy. Though I don't think Andrea and Cristina minded...





I will try to get the videos posted as soon as their uploaded onto youtube.

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I said hi to Pizza and Criz, from what I remember, as they left the stage as well. Talk about a gracious band! They're all hot, sweaty, and tired and they take the time to say hi. Very cool!

oops- double post, sorry!

Here's a pic of the stuff I got from/at the concert:



Also, here are the video clips I have up:
Fragments of Faith clip (warning: crappy sound quality!): ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30y66rK5Xpg

sillyworld intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7YlfjUQ0Mc

Swamped full song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udixkbt09Vo

Bother clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95yVAlwZyPk

Wow! VIP passes! What exactly does a VIP pass entail other than getting backstage?

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That was mostly it, though we also got to stand inside the barrier where the sound guys where at the front of the house during Stone Sour's set. Even when we were backstage, the security guys kept asking who our "All Access" person was, since apparently even though you had VIP passes you had to be with an All-Access person. I happen to know Sid from Slipknot, so he was our go-to guy! I was very grateful to him for getting those passes- it was an extremely cool experience!

Wow, that's awesome!

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Very cool, thanks for posting all that. Looks like it was really hot there.

It was insanely hot. I was down in the pit. Did a bit of moshing. Finally during Stone Sour it got to the point where I was just getting too dehydrated, so I had to leave for a couple of songs. After the show I was completely soaked, I could literally wring sweat out of all of my clothes. A smart person would have brought something dry to put on after the show!

I agree, it was an incredible show! I was kind of shocked how no one really recognized Lacuna Coil. I was walking by the barricade to the buses and Maus came out. There were people standing there, but he walked right on by without anyone so much as saying hi. So I walked up and talked to him for a little while. Then I said hi to Jim Root. Of course I forgot my sharpie so I couldn't get my ticket signed! Would have hung around a while longer but I had lost a friend during the show and figured he was waiting back at the truck.