The fantasy themed doom metal band The Sword is coming to the 9:30 Club on Monday, the 6th of December (yes, that’s this coming Monday). The folks at the 9:30 Club have awesomely decided to let me give away a pair of tickets to this concert to one lucky DCHeavyMetal.com fan! Will it be you? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post below that tells me what your favorite metal concert at the 9:30 Club was and why. If you haven’t been to a metal gig at the 9:30 Club before, then tell me why you’re excited to see the Sword there. Be sure to use a valid email that you check regularly when you post your comment as that is what I will use to contact the winner (you don’t have to put your email in the comment itself though).
I’ll pick one lucky winner at random from all the valid entries at 11:59pm on Friday night (Dec 3rd) to win the pair of tickets. Multiple entries will be disqualified, so don’t be a dick. I’ll know if you’re using multiple email accounts! If I haven’t gotten a response back from the winner within 24 hours, I will pick another winner Saturday night at 11:59pm. Note that this concert is at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC so if you cannot make it to the show there Monday night please don’t enter. Also of note, I will not add your email address to any mailing list or sell it to junk mail spammers or anything annoying like that. I hate that shit too. I just need it to get in contact with the winner.
This concert was originally scheduled for Oct 20th as part of the tour supporting their new album, Warp Riders. The tour was abruptly halted when their drummer suddenly quit the band, but a new drummer, Kevin Fender, has joined the Sword and the tour has been rescheduled. Tickets from the previous date will still be honored. Also appearing is West Virginia instrumental metal band Karma To Burn and openers Mount Carmel from Ohio. Tickets are available from Ticket Fly here for $20 ($28.75 after fees) and the doors will open at 7pm. Please help spread the word about this contest, I’d like to give as many people as possible a chance to win. Now check out this video the Sword just released for their song Lawless Lands:
UPDATE: Congratulations to 7th commenter Matt! I used the website Random.org to generate a random winner from the 17 commenters below, and he was the lucky winner. I have already contacted him and he has responded with his info so there will be no Saturday night drawing. Don’t worry though, you can still get tickets to this show here. And keep reading DCHeavyMetal.com because I’ll be holding another contest soon that will be giving away a pair of tickets to see Gwar at the 9:30 Club on December 29th. It was a blast reading all the great stories you guys have of metal shows at the 9:30 Club, thanks to everyone who shared one!
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Man, there have been a lot over the years, but one that sticks out was Halloween 1996. Type O Negative, Life of Agony and Manhole. This was Type O’s October Rust tour, and it was phenomenal. A club setting was so much more fitting to Type O than a sunny hot Ozzfest stage, and this show did not disappoint. LOA was touring for Ugly, and killed. Manhole was pretty damn aggressive.
I miss Peter Steele, and this show is an extremely fond memory of his time with us.
\m/ \m/
Top metal shows at the club (too early to remember years/dates):
Mastodon touring Blood Mountain, with Priestess opening
Motorhead around 5 years ago (kicked out halfway thru for sipping from flask)
Slayer 2-3 times since the 90s
I’ve never been to a live metal show, ever, so I think it’d be awesome to make this my first one. As an Austinite, The Sword would be very fitting. I’m sad enough I missed them at ACL this year! So yeah, pick me and let me have my first live metal experience. XD
My favorite metal show always at 930 is the yearly Clutch show. Sure, more stoner-rock than metal, but I still think they count. Slayer was pretty awesome last time, and of course, Motorhead are always incredible!
For me, it had to be last year’s Rob Zombie show. Getting to see such a large act in such an intimate setting was the tops. Zombie came into the crowd.
I haven’t seen too many metal shows at the 930, but the one that comes to mind is Queensrÿche! They were my favorite band when I was like 13, but I’ve only seen them once, when I was a decade older, in 2000. Totally fun nostalgia trip, even though Chris DeGarmo had left the band by that point. For some reason they covered U2’s “Bullet the Blue Sky,” and it turned out not to be the worst song in the set.
I think I still have a ticket stub somewhere. Also I found the setlist:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queensryche/2000/930-club-washington-dc-3bd78c08.html
I’m still kind of bummed that I didn’t get a ticket to see Megadeth at the 930 Club last winter, it would have been a similar thrill.
I’ve seen a bunch of metal shows at the 930 Club, such as Megadeth, Mastodon and Isis/Melvins, but the best was definitely Boris this fall, because it was loud as hell! I was in awe of their insanely elaborate guitar rigs, and they sounded just as cool.! I know the Sword won’t be as loud, but their new album is excellent. Best of their career, I think.
I just looked it up and the Boris show was actually Aug. 3, not “this fall” even though it feels like I saw them last month. Yikes, time flies!
You won!
My favorite metal show was my first show at the 9:30 Club – Sevendust, Powerman 5000, and Staind in 1999. Staind was completely unknown at that time but they put on a great show, everyone was in to them. After a few songs lots of people were moshing and crowd surfing. Powerman 5000 put on a fun show with their lighting, stage effects, and weird outfits. And Sevendust put on an incredible show, very energetic. Since that show I always go see Sevendust any time they’re playing in the area.
One of my favorite and most memorable shows at 9:30 club was the first show I ever went to there. It was in 1997 and it was Gwar and the Misfits. I don’t even remember what tour Gwar was on but the Misfits were on their American Psycho tour and they fucking owned that place. I realize everyone thinks Glen Danzig was the man as far as singers go for the Misfits but since I didn’t grow up during that time period and I’m not a huge Danzig fan to begin with I think Michael Graves ruled the stage with his vocal abilities. Both Gwar and the Misfits were spot on that evening…..I’d kill to go back in time and see that show again. Second up would probably be Slayer, Sick Of It All and Meshuggah….and the list goes on.
My all time favorite show has to be Slayer February 19, 2007. I don’t know if it was because it was just two days before I shipped out to Iraq or if it was because Slayer playing in the smallest venue I’d ever seen them in? I was right up front, right in front of Kerry King who took my beer from me and chugged it only to repay me after the show with a bunch of picks and an autographed set list. Apart from that, Slayer was just on fire that night. I’ve seen them 9 times and this was by far my all time Slayer show.
I’ve never been to the 9:30 club, as I only recently moved close to DC, but man let me tell you, I can’t wait to see The Sword live. They’re one of those small bands that few people seem to know about that really deserve all the fame of the big four. I’ve heard some good things about the club, I think seeing The Sword my first time there will be one hell of an introduction to a venue I will probably frequent for many years to come.
The Sword is a band I really like, but I’ve just never gotten the chance to see in concert. I’m ecstatic now that I finally get to.
My favorite 9:30 show was definitely In Flames, Between the Buried and Me, 3 Inches of Blood, and The Faceless last October. I was front row for the whole thing. I sang along to every word of 3IOB’s set, and I must’ve been the only guy doing it, cuz the dudes in the band looked me at me like “Fuck yea! this guy knows our songs!” And of course, In Flames was outstanding. Anders had a great stage presence and worked the crowd well. Someone on the upper deck actually called out the whole band for playing ‘lame metal’ or something to that effect, and with the whole place as quiet as funeral, Anders holds out the mic and says “Can you do better? Come on down.” It was brilliant
I have not been to a metal gig at the 9:30 Club before, however, I am thrilled to hear that The Sword will be performing there. Many of my friends do not listen to Metal or any sort of heavier Rock, leaving me as a solo concert goer. I will most likely attend the concert on my own, and hopefully with these free tickets I will hang them from my zipper and hope to lure a chick that is dying to see The Sword, chances of that?
It would also be perfect to leave the drone of the professional world, rip off my suit, and relive the glory days by wearing my worn dimmu borgir shirt from their live concert in Athens, Greece 2003. Now there is a new face of metal/rock arising from the roots of 70s Black Sabbath and it begins with bands like WolfMother, Earthless, and The Sword. I am ready for something new, I have had too many white shirts bloodied at Gwar and enough elbows to the face from Slayer concerts. I haven’t been to a concert of this genre so I am ready to explore The Sword and make 9:30 Club a potential venue of choice. Who knows, maybe I meet my future wife with these tickets.
Does Anvil count as metal? …….if so, that’s my fave metal show at the 930 ;)
I have been blessed with seeing many great metal shows at the 9:30. My favorite so far has been Clutch! I saw them several times. Their December 2005 show when Wooly Mammoth, Fireball Ministry and The Hidden Hand opened up might just take the cake!
Keep the good times rolling!
Probably have to go with Down a few years back when they did the “Evening with Down” tour. Killer pre-show video and music warm up, and a devastating performance from Down. The crowd was pumped, and the band gave off great energy. The 9:30 Club is easily one of the best venues of it’s size on the east coast, if not the country. I’ve seen well over a hundred shows there, love the sound, the setup, and the staff. Keep metal coming there forever!
My favorite metal show at the 9:30 club was the Mastodon tour for the Blood Mountain record, with supporting acts Priestess and Converge. Great triple bill, and all three bands killed it, especially Converge. They are one of the craziest bands I’ve ever seen. Love the Sword’s new record and would love to win the tix. Thanks.