October 21, 2008
The Grand
San Francisco, CA

By Dan Wall

Set List:
In Sacred Flames, Behold the Wicked Child, Invasion/Motivation of Man/ Setian Massacre, Burning Times, Declaration Day, Vengeance is Mine, Ten Thousand Strong, Storm Rider, Pure Evil, Watching Over Me, The Coming Curse, I Walk Alone, Dracula, High Water Mark.

Encore:  Melancholy, My Own Savior, Iced Earth. 100 minutes. 

Iced Earth is another one of those bands that you’ve probably never heard of, but if you are a fan of classic metal, you are definitely missing out.   Oh, you might have heard of the name, or seen the very cool t-shirt in the mall, but let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t know a member of Iced Earth if he was at your family reunion. 

The band swung through San Francisco on its current tour to support its The Crucible of Man record, and for the 500 or so diehards gathered in a small concert hall, it was heavy metal heaven. 

The band hasn’t created its own sound or style, but band leader Jon Schaffer knows who to borrow from, and he’s picked some of the biggest names in metal for influences. The group mixes the majesty of Iron Maiden, the crunch of Judas Priest and the technical proficiency of Metallica into a metal stew that could make any fan of heavy metal happy. 

And these fans were ecstatic, not only to see the band back in town for only the third time this decade, but also to see vocalist Matt Barlow back in his rightful place in the band. 

Barlow first left the group at the height of its popularity, right after 9-11, because he wanted to do more for the country than sing in a heavy metal band. Ripper Owens replaced him, the band put out a couple of good records, but just about everyone associated with the group admitted there was something missing, and it was Barlow. He re-joined the group earlier this year for the recording of the new record and its current tour, while still maintaining his job in law enforcement. 

Barlow’s voice is an impressive tool, at times shrieking like Rob Halford, and at others sounding like Paul Stanley on steroids for the more melodic (yet still heavy) moments. Unlike some of the older singers who have been doing it for decades, Barlow has re-energized the band’s live sound because he can still hit the notes (six years off will do that for you). 

Make no mistake though; this is Schaffer’s band. He runs the band with an iron fist; if you can name every member of this group during its nearly 20-year history, then you are a rare bird. He writes all the songs, plays guitar, sings (very well, I might add), does the marketing, drives the bus and writes the checks. It’s his band, and Barlow gets special treatment only because he is his brother-in-law. 

Onstage, Schaffer has enough going on upstairs to hire a great live band, and I thought that this unit was the best band I’ve seen him assemble. Drummer Brent Smedley is a double-kick machine, a man/robot that beats the hell out of drums. Bassist Freddy Vidales is as solid as they come, and guitarist Troy Seele could play heavy metal with any outfit. 

The group does have one classic album to push, Something Wicked This Way Comes, which was featured more in this set than any other record. But Schaffer did a great job to mix in some oldies (“Storm Rider” was particularly impressive, as well as “Vengeance is Mine”), and even the songs from the Owens era sounded impressive with Barlow singing them. 

It all adds up to a pulverizing live sound that is both brutal and beautiful. Barlow hits all of the notes, the band locks into a groove behind his spectacular voice, and the fanatics out front shout out all the words to the band’s best known songs. I saw one couple, a young man and his girlfriend who couldn’t have been over 24 years old, singing every word to every classic song during the set. If they were 24, it means they were both around seven when the band’s first record came out. 

Too bad there aren’t more like them; perhaps Iced Earth would have become a household name, much like the band’s that they idolize and emulate.