Impaler Punishes The Entry

Thursday night was legendary in Minneapolis with GWAR at First Avenue and Impaler at the Entry. Two bands with nearly 70 years of metal between them only separated by a door. The play times were staggered so it was possible to see the starts of all of the 5 bands between the 2 venues. So of course I got photo passes for both shows! The GWAR show is in another article, this article addresses the Impaler show.

Opening for Impaler was Semtex. Semtex is a thrash metal band that has been around since 2017. They refer to their style as Black Irish Beatdown music. I don’t care what their style is, I like it! They are high energy, loud and in your face. The audience got close, high fived the band and sang along to their songs. That’s one thing that I love about the Entry, you can get up close to the band.

Plague of Stars was up after Semtex. Plague of Stars is another band I’ve seen multiple times and always look forward to seeing them again. They are fun to watch and Melissa Ferlaak’s melodic vocals are wonderful. Thursday was another great show and I can’t wait until I can see them again.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Impaler, but they are always a blast. During their shows, I’m not sure if Impaler is having the most fun or if the audience is. Lead singer Bill Lindsey frequently held the mic out for audience members to sing into and most of the audience was singing along for each song. When they played “Krampus Has Returned”, several members of Minnesota Krampus came on stage and sang and danced with the band. Afterwards, Krampus mingled with the crowd, which packed the Entry. Another great performance from the masters!