Metal Tribute Night

Metal Tribute Night
Date : 08/25/09
Place : House of Blues, Anaheim CA
Review By: ~Aniruddh (Andrew) Bansal

The show kicked off at 8 PM with a bit of a surprise. I didn't even know that a Cult tribute band named The Electric was going to open the show. I'm not really familiar with the music of The Cult, so I'll avoid making any judgments. All I'll say is that kind of music did not fit in with the other bands in the line up. They ended their set at 8.30.

The next band to hit the stage was Dia, a tribute to Dio and Dio era Sabbath. When I saw them the last time at the same venue, I thought they were the best band of the night. They didn't disappoint this time either. They really got the crowd going with classic songs like Stand Up And Shout, Mob Rules and Heaven And Hell. The crowd were singing along really loud for them. Two thumbs up!
Here's their full set list. Please note that I'm writing down these set lists purely from memory, but I'm pretty sure that they are complete and in correct order.

1. Stand Up And Shout
2. Don't Talk To Strangers
3. Mob Rules
4. Rainbow In The Dark
5. Heaven And Hell

The next band was Electric Funeral, tribute to classic Black Sabbath. This band never fails to impress. They brought a lot of energy to the stage and definitely pumped up the crowd.
They managed to pull out a couple of surprises in Turn Up The Night and Into The Void. Its always good to see tribute bands changing up the set list and not sticking to the same set of songs.

Set list :
1. Symptom Of The Universe
2. Turn Up The Night
3. Iron Man
4. War Pigs
5. Neon Knights
6. Into The Void
7. Embryo
8. Children Of The Grave

Just Like Priest hit the stage next. The opening song was quite a weird choice in Out In The Cold, but the other songs were great. I personally was happy to see two songs from the Angel of Retribution album, as I feel even Priest haven't played it enough in the last couple of years. They closed it out with Hell Bent For Leather.
Their costumes and guitars were exactly like how Judas Priest have it. The vocalist Frank has an amazing range in his voice and he is definitely perfect for singing in Rob Halford style.

Set list :
1. Out In The Cold
2. Judas Rising
3. Freewheel Burning
4. Exciter
5. Dissident Aggressor
6. All Guns Blazing
7. Painkiller
8. Hellrider
9. Hell Bent For Leather

The last band of the night were the awesome Metallica tribute band Damage Inc. They hit the stage at 11.30. Their regular drummer was not doing this show. Gare from Just Like Priest filled in for him and he did a great job. I don't really have any more superlatives left to describe this band other than what I already have in my previous posts. They were tight with their performance, great with their choice of songs and had the crowd totally rocking out with them at full speed. They must be one of the most popular tribute bands in town. The crowd went crazy for them. There were even roses and bras being thrown at them on stage. Seeing that kind of atmosphere, it was hard to tell that they are a tribute band!

Set list :
1. Battery
2. Master Of Puppets
3. Shortest Straw
4. For Whom The Bell Tolls
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. One
7. Seek And Destroy
8. Creeping Death

All in all a really fun night of some classic heavy metal. Whenever any of the last four bands play a show in town, I will surely try my best to be there. I would recommend other fans to do the same!