February 28, 2003
Toad Holler
SOLD OUT
Des Moines, Iowa
Noise Therapy
Social Burn
RA
Seether
A hand written sign reading “SOLD OUT Must be have ticket or be on guest list to enter” hung on the entrance door. What every band wants to hear, and what no fan with out a ticket likes to see. This is not an unusual sign for Toad Holler to post. Fans had begun to wait in the cold at 3 oclock in the afternoon; despite 30-degree weather and a four-hour wait for doors to open. People had come from as far as Omaha, Minneapolis and Chicago to see this show.
Playing Des Moines for the first time, Canadas Noise Therapy was the first to take to the stage, feeding off of the energy of performing in front of a packed house. Surprising many on lookers, the band was not even listed as being on the bill. “They just pulled up in their bus and said Can we play? Shawn Taylor of KAZR, Des Moines Lazer 103.3 told us. Even though their appearance was a pleasant surprise, fans were already familiar with GET UP, which is currently being played on KAZR. A few were even caught singing along to their favorite tracks, bobbing their head with the beat and even crowd surfing. Not a very bad start for a concert that would eventually last 5 hours!
Social Burn took the stage, picking up where Noise Therapy left off. Not holding back, Social Burn plunged into a set full of heavy beats and head banging rifts.
RA, playing Des Moines for their second time, took off and didnt look back. A crowd favorite, RAs music set the bar for crowd response that night. Starting heavy and not backing down for their time on stage.
Seether, having built a strong fan base by playing Des Moines summer outdoor festival, LAZERfest, was more then welcome as they came onto the stage. Not one person was caught standing still and nearly everyone was singing along. Seethers set lasted over and hour and it left fans only wanting more. We were even treated to a new song, only recently played live. Des Moines really does seem the place for bands to test newly written songs.
After the show was finished members of all four bands were found milling about the crowd, having fan photos taken, signing autographs and making new friends in the middle of Iowa. I doubt if any of these bands, after the incredible response, never again played in Des Moines.
