In Flames at the Medley- Why are my ears bleeding?!?

When I think of hardcore metal bands, I think of longhaired, underweight dudes, often heavily tattooed, hanging out in their parents' basements and ripping away on guitars, hoping someday they'll make it big. Then I picture the typical venue of choice for these bands: some dark, dank, dirty club. Y'know the kind that you don't even want to get within 5 feet of the urinal for fear of catching something. And these guys always seem to come from LA, having slept in some one room apartment on the Sunset Strip.

I definitely don't think of Sweden. Maybe it's because the country's biggest musical export is still ABBA? Or maybe it's my childhood memories of the Muppets' Swedish Chef? So how the hell did a group like In Flames come out of Sweden??? Well, maybe it does make sense. After all, there's nothing like a few rousing choruses of Dancing Queen to make me want to start breaking things and running amok.

I hadn't ever heard of them before last week. Phil had an extra ticket for their show at Le Medley, so he asked if I wanted to go. I listened to a couple of their songs and thought, "Why not?" I hadn't been to a metal concert since I saw Judas Priest back before Dré's wedding, so this would be good for a few laughs. I really had no idea what I had gotten myself into.

In preparing for the soirée of sound, I decided to pick up a pair of earplugs. I knew I had an interview over the phone Monday morning and really didn't need to have any ringing in my ears. Wise choice. I don't think I've heard something that loud... um... ever. One of my ears bled. No joke. Anyway, there were 3 opening acts: ZAO, Devildriver and Trivium and with each set, the decibel level got louder and louder. By the time In Flames hit the stage, I felt like I wasn't wearing the earplugs at all.

The place was packed and I was surprised at how much French I heard being spoken by the other spectators. Apparently the Quebecois love their death metal. I'm not sure what the capacity is for Le Medley, but the place sold out. Since it was general admission, Phil and I made our way to the orchestra section in front of the stage. I pretty much lost him somewhere after the first couple of songs. I've never been in a mosh pit, nor did I have any real inclination to try it, but ol' Phil loves that stuff, so he got himself right in the middle of the crowd. Considering his slight frame, I'm surprised he didn't get snapped like a twig in the middle of all that chaos.

Sure, it was chaotic, but that being said, the crowd didn't seem to be much in the mood for moshing. There were the occasional crowd surfers, of course, but it was more tame than I expected. I spent most of my time jammed up against the railing near the soundboard. By the time the headliners hit the stage, the place was ready to explode. I'll say this about the band: their fans are pretty intense.

All in all, I definitely preferred In Flames over their opening acts. I look at them as a cross between Dream Theatre and Megadeth. Though there's still an element of the thrash sound that people mosh to, they seem to try and incorporate melody to their music--something absent from the hard driving riffs of the opening acts. I think they're still an acquired taste, but I'm tempted to pick up (or at least download) one of the albums to see what I think. I ended up wimping out before the end of the show, though. I stayed for the first hour and a half of their set, but that's when my clausterphobia took over and I just needed to get out of there. I lasted long enough to hear the two songs I recognized and then that was it. I grabbd my coat from coatcheck and headed home. And yes, as mentioned, there was a little touch of blood on one of my earplugs when I took it out. Not cool.

Now the big question: would I go see them again? I think I would... I would just be sure to go closer to their showtime and spend a bit more time near the bar. Overall, a good night, though.