a concert year in review of sorts (including Devin Townsend Project live x2)

2011 wasn't the busiest of concert years for me... Does that mean I was working harder than usual, or budgeting myself for key events? Hard to say. Maybe the latter, since I was thinking of running down some highlights from this list of live shows but couldn't decide what to leave out. Then again, there were also lots of killer performances I missed...

My own schedule and concert choices aside, it's pretty sweet when too much quality live metal becomes a serious dilemma. And to mark that sweetness, here's a retrospective and chronological look at what 2011 in live metal looked like for me.

I took a break from live music in January but got back at it in February with some serious Finnish metal representation.

• Eluvietie, Death Angel, Lazarus AD, 3 Inches of Blood @ Opera House, Toronto, Feb 6
• Finntroll, Ensiferum, Rotten Sound, Barren Earth @ Opera House, Toronto, Feb 22
• Cradle of Filth, Nachtmystium, Turisas @ Phoenix, Toronto, Feb 26

Only one event for March and April but it was one hell of a memorable show:

• Agalloch, Worm Ouroboros, Musk Ox @ The Music Hall, London, March 25

Something a little lighter and punkabillier in mid-May:

• The Creepshow @ The Casbah, Hamilton, May 14

And then a mega-metal-event to end off the month:

• Maryland Deathfest IX @ Sonar, Baltimore, May 26-29

On a smaller scale in Montreal, some intimate indie metal:

• Unborn Dead, Forsaken Flesh @ Pub La place Dupuis, Montreal, June 18

Then some metal and poetry:

• The Wrecking Ball with Vilipend, Sylvus, and more @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, July 9

A delicious dose of summer doom:

• YOB / Dark Castle / Sons of Otis @ Courthouse, Toronto ON July 15

And Toronto's idea of heavy metal festing:

• Heavy TO (Megadeth, Rob Zombie, Slayer, Motorhead, MAdM, Opeth, Diamondhead, Testament, Anthrax, Death Angel, Billy Talent, etc...) @ Downsview Park, Toronto, July 23-24

Some heavy sounds in my hometown:

• Mares of Thrace, Enabler @ Casbah, Hamilton, August 13
• Secret Chiefs 3 @ Casbah, Hamilton, August 31

And a road trip!:

• Katatonia @ The Montage, Rochester NY, Sept 24
  

With headliners ranking high on my list of best live metal bands:

• Enslaved, Alcest, Junius @ Opera House, Toronto, Sept 30

Two of my favourites (after a vegan dinner at The Cornerstone):

• Opeth, Katatonia @ The Guelph Music Hall, Oct 30

And what more fitting conclusion to a year's live music adventures than watching the Devin Townsend Project perform two nights in a row?

• Devin Townsend, Today I Caught the Plague @ The Opera House, Toronto, Dec 10
• Devin Townsend, Today I Caught the Plague, MDM (& American Hell) @ L3, St Catharines, Dec 11
  

(Note, as pictured, the latest additions to my Hevy Devy merch collection: a DTP wooden puzzle, and a tour shirt featuring a live photo by the one and only Adam Wills.)