NOT LISTENING TO A BAND FOR SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE SEEING THEM LIVE IS METAL

So Vince and I and some friends of ours all piled into my car and went to see Tool a few months back. At the time, I hadn’t listened to Tool in what was probably an entirely unacceptable amount of time to allow to lapse without listening to Tool, but it was cool because not only was the concert awesome, but it was made even more awesome by the fact that I hadn’t actually heard any Tool in months (got all that?). It’s not as though I could ever completely forget about Tool songs, but there was just something about not being overly familiar with the material… it’s hard to articulate (gee, I’m such a great writer, aren’t I?). Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess.

Then, last week we went to see Insomnium, and it happened AGAIN. Hadn’t listened to Insomnium in weeks if not months, and even though I’m sure it would have been a great gig no matter what, my enjoyment of the performance was most certainly amplified by the fact that I wasn’t in any way “tired” of Insomnium.

So new rule: no listening to a band for as long as possible prior to seeing them live. Chimaira just announced a tour with Kataklysm and Terror, and I can assure you, painful though it will be, I will not be listening to any of these bands between now and November 15, when I go to the show (I also won’t be listening to openers Fear Factory Jr. – uh, Divine Heresy – but that won’t be as much of a challenge because they’re not very good). But in the end, I think it’s gonna pay off in spades.

-AR