Personally, I hate it when writers are genre snobs (though I do tend to hate on really over-produced poppy shit). We all have our preferences but as a journalist you have to be fair and document what is really going on as social phenomenon in the world. The Korn in one fan's crap is another fan’s life-saving, musically inspiring gold, and you have to respect that. I have, in my more cynical moments, called Disturbed "butt-rock" in print before, a term I use to describe bands like Nickelback or Saliva who can be a bit ham-fisted at times and are vastly more popular than,say, Alabama Thunderpussy. I guess it's mostly out of wishing bands of a more challenging nature that I like also got the wider props they deserve. I do respect a lot that Disturbed has done, and they were especially publicly cool after the death of Dimebag Darrell in consoling lots of metal fans. David Draiman's staccato faux-rap cadences in the verses of many of his songs can be annoying at times, but he has a great singing voice and, like Sully Erna of Godsmack, is an undeniably powerful front man whether you like other band's music better or not.

Going into the day, I was mainly excited to be seeing my first partially outdoor event of the year as well as satiate my curiosity to see the very young (we're talking 14!) Crooked X on the second stage to find out if they were totally full of shit or not. (They aren't.) I also have been a longtime Killswitch fan and my boy Kwame of Weerd Science fame used to be Killwitch's merch guy and was going to the show. I'd also just talked to Mark Hunter of Chimaira recently for this very publication and had gotten gassed up hearing how great the tour was going, and eagerly anticipated hearing some of the new Chimaira material from their absolutely back-breaking new album The Infection. As it was, I got a whole lot more out of the experience and walked away with a lot more respect for what Disturbed put together.

I definitely took advantage of the fact that there was nothing stopping me from leaving between second stage bands. I thought I was going to be drinking overpriced horse piss all day, but within a few blocks of the venue was a freakin' awesome brewery called Davidson Brothers AND a little Mexican restaurant called Raul's that had great food, cold Dos Equis plus outside tables to watch people try and navigate the numerous highway roundabouts. It's fun to watch people almost crash into each other as they speed through Yield signs. People need to be told what to do. You can't trust motherfuckers to just take turns nicely while driving. This is America.

Anyway, so I was more than covered on the good beer front and having a fun time walking back and forth and catching the bands. Dead Season from Maine put on a solid, nu-metal influenced performance. The band has a new album coming out this year and warmed up the crowd, especially during their best song "Cancer", which I heard rumors was about the death of a close relative of singer Ian Truman. Look these guys up on MySpace and check them out if you're a fan of Ozzfest influenced acts.

One thing about Glens Falls that should go on record is that there was definitely a high ratio of dudes who looked like they lived too close to the power plant from The Simpsons. Hands down some of the weirdest looking people I've seen in a long ass time. They need the rock too, I know, but whoa.

Crooked X, from Oklahoma, were fun. The band are, as mentioned above, very young, but I was pleased to see they really do have the very hefty chops present on their self-titled debut. I was worried some of it might be studio trickery because they are so young, but they proved to everyone gathered around the Ernie Ball stage why they have already opened for KISS and Alice Cooper! Crooked X combine a lot of rock traditions that some might find cliche, heavily indebted to ‘80s and ‘70s giant rock bands, but their passion and skill transcends and the band is obviously doing what they love. As they grow older and develop their sound, it is going to be really interesting to see how good they get, because they already have a great live show. They may act a bit swaggery to silence skeptics, but it will be cool when they can relax a bit more and have less to prove. Either way, they already are capable of holding their own and packed a real wallop on the Skid Row influenced "Another Nail In The Coffin" and a heavier version of "Another Brick In The Wall" that had the crowd singing along. It was cool to see a young band more concerned with rocking than with being emo-snobs who can't back it up onstage, like far too many shitty younger bands these days. Crooked X made me recall when I was younger how much I wanted people to respect my own teenage bands. I was pleased they silenced a lot of my skepticism and shook hands with them after the show.

It really is very cool that Disturbed care enough about heavy music that they found such a cool cross section of bands. They could have slapped together a package tour that was all one genre. It isn't always financially as viable to mix and match line ups, though you'd think having more types of people to draw from would be.

On to the headliners… Inside the venue, which looked deceptively smaller from the outside, fans flooded the seats and floor. As the day went on more and more people flocked to the Civic Center and it was a testament to the power and popularity of the bands playing that even on a Monday night the place was fucking packed. We weren't missing this show!

Lacuna Coil played a glorious set, probably the most uplifting moment of the day. The band are supporting their new release Shallow Life, and proved Milan can rock as hard as wherever-U.S.A. I loved their Comalies album but hadn't followed the group much and was psyched to see them live. Christina Scabbia held court with her amazing, ethereal range over complex and weaving rhythms. Co-vocalist Andrea Ferro rallied the crowd with animated movement, though I wish he and Scabbia didn't sing so many choruses together. It works a great deal of the time, but as they usually sing different parts over one another, sometimes you want to hear just one or the other. This is, of course, one of the best international acts in metal, however, so don't get me wrong. That is the most minor complaint that I have about them. "Spellbound" was particularly captivating, as the band poured their hearts’ into the new tune, producing pure onstage magic.

Chimaira was up next, with Mark Hunter saying how good it was to be there and just owning the stage. This band has paid their dues time and time again and it is great to see them reaching bigger audiences every year. Andols Herrick just killed it on the drums, delivering locked-in grooves. "Secrets of The Dead" from The Infection was the highlight for me, because it has such an immediate, killer marching attack, though you of course can't have a Chimaira set without enjoying screaming along to "Pure Hatred". "The Flame" from Resurrection was another highlight, with guitarists Matt Devries and Rob Arnold battering their guitars, feeding the crowd the anger beneath the song’s dark theme. I can't wait until they can play more of the new album live, as The Infection is my favorite in their career, but this set was a good mix of their catalogue.