Technical death metal band NILE was founded by Karl Sanders over 20 years ago.
In 2005, they opened for King Diamond at the very same venue with their relatively new drummer at the time, George Kollias.
They made a stop into Hollywood for the third leg of their “At The Gate of Sethu” headlining tour.
Local metal quarter Kaustik opened the show early with a short, decent set of death metal songs to the early bird head banging crowd.
The intermission between bands lasted longer than the opening set.
During this time, the music in the concert hall was pretty hysterical – they played a Crowded House song and an entire side of an old Whitesnake album. It was rather amusing.
Nile’s set started and the madness ensued. Nile has an Egyptian theme to their music and, in many ways, experiencing their show was somewhat reminiscent of going on the Revenge of The Mummy ride at Universal Studios. With their growling vocals, super-fast guitars and super-human blast beats, it was fast and a bit scary. Long time member Dallas Toler-Wade sang and played guitar alongside Karl Sanders and newest band member, bassist Todd Ellis. Karl rocked the Egyptian Ankh with a black T-shirt while Dallas had a beer and flipped off some Lynyrd Skynard fan in the crowd.
The fans thoroughly enjoyed being flipped off.
George Kollias was in the back perched up high on a drum riser firing off vicious blast beats. It was difficult to see him perform since he was in the far back with no lighting on him. It would have been nice to be able to get a glimpse of his footwork on the bass drums and powerful approach to playing drums, but at least his playing was aloud and easy to hear. Each song he plays is a drum solo in itself and the endurance and precision he displays is beyond impressive.
- Sacrifice Unto Sebek
- Defiling the Gates of Ishtar
- Chapter for Transforming into a Snake
- Kafir!
- Hittite Dung Incantation
- Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame
- Supreme Humanism of Megalomania
- As He Creates So He Destroys
- The Blessed Dead
- The Howling of the Jinn
- The Inevitable Degradation of Flesh
- Iskander Dhul Kharnon
- Sarcophagus
- Lashed to the Slave Stick
- Unas Slayer of the Gods
- Black Seeds of Vengeance
Speaking of George Kollias, I first saw him play live in 2005 with Nile when they opened up for King Diamond at The House of Blues on Sunset in LA. I had never heard anything like that before. I went home from the show speechless and in utter disbelief over his drumming skills.
This week, George Kollias has his first ever upcoming boot camp in Woodland Hills, CA from MAY 15TH – 18TH
This is a rare opportunity to see a drumming giant perform and/or get personal instruction from a really great guy with really fast feet.
Last summer (July, 2013), George traveled all the way from Greece and made it in time for the first day of Thomas Lang’s Big Drum Bonanza.
With George’s extreme metal precision and execution, he was a great choice for “The Men Of Metal” portion of the intense 5 day class.
Immediately upon arrival, George was one of the most pleasant people ever and his biggest immediate concern being in America was finding a Starbucks and a Subway. Luckily, both places were within clear site of the event. Once that was out of the way, he was ready to teach.
George was the featured classroom instructor the following day and made his way over to the Drum Channel several times for a few tapings and to give private lessons. His friendly ways and ferocious technique made for a great instructor. Studying with George is an experience that will make you a better drummer and a great way to witness such a phenomenal musician in a non-mosh pit-type setting.
Some students travelled even greater distances than George to the event.
Heavy Metal Hill 
Reblogged this on 2014 Concerts.