Hey there, readers!

As you all should know, I went and saw Disturbed on Tuesday. Here's my Removed. -Kohaku, official review:

The show started off with some stupid emo band called Art of Dying, that was a bore. All they did was whine, and play their instruments in an ear-aching, atrocious manner typical of any emo music. Sad thing is, they were the only Canadian band there. >> There was a two-man, wussy emo mosh pit going on during their excruciatingly painful set, complete with recess-style pushing, over-dramatic actions, and lame lyric-mouthing.

Once that garbage got off the stage, the other backing band, Egypt Central came on. I, personally, am a fan of this band, having heard them a few times on Sirius satellite radio. As I'd imagined, the didn't let me down, coming out strong, energetic, and pumping, giving me renewed vigor after the aforementioned emo band. They rocked their set, and we had a nice mosh pit going, which definitely got us prepared for the headliners. As well, I failed to mention; they have an extremely talented bassist.

After that, we waited about 20 minutes, listening to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden blared through the speakers, as Disturbed's techs were setting up their equipment. The intermission was good, though, as it allowed us to get within 10 feet of the stage.

Finally, the lights went out; the Maiden stopped. A quiet, suspenseful electronic number began to play, and red light flooded the stage. A man (Dave Draiman) was strapped to a dolly, with a straitjacket and Hannibal-esque mask on. After being lead out, and freed from his prison, Dave tossed off his mask, and the band appeared, opening up with an overly fitting 'Perfect Insanity'. The mosh pit was crowded, cheerful, and strong at this point. The played through many great hits, including 'Just Stop' (my favorite), 'Prayer', 'Liberate', 'Haunted', 'Land of Confusion', 'Voices', 'Deify', and of course, 'Indestructible'. Somewhere along the way, my friend tossed me up, and I crowd-surfed for several minutes, bouncing along the heads of the crowd. Eventually, I neared the front, and was pulled down by a security guard, and directed out of the area. While I went a grabbed a drink, Egypt Central's bassist moshed with my friends, which made me kinda upset. But, the crowd surfing was worth it. Later on, the music stopped, and Disturbed said goodnight. Myself and a friend began vocally demanding an encore, causing a large uproar in the crowd, with a massive foot-stomping, hand-clapping cadence. Soon thereafter, the band walked back on, and fired up again, playing a few more songs, including 'Inside the Fire'. The band stopped after two songs, and Mike continued, blowing the crowd away with a mind-blowing, three-minute drum solo, which lead into their finale, a slightly-faster, high-energy version of 'Down with the Sickness'.

As the show ended, I looked down at my bruising, cuts, and sweaty new t-shirt, and grinned. This concert, although it had an initial downfall, was completely satisfying. I suggest, if you ever get the chance, that you go and see them.

Aside from that wonderful tale, not too much is new. I've been working over the past couple days to master the solo to Disturbed's 'The Night'. It's going pretty good, I have all but the tapping and sweep-picked sections down.

As well, I officially announced it today: due to a busy spring schedule, I won't be entering Wasteland in RPG Contest 12. Instead, look to see it come Contest 13.

Otherwise, I'd better get going. I've got Biology this afternoon, and I'm gonna need some food energy if I hope to not fall asleep in it again.

So, until next time, BZP.

CJ.