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Dazed and Confused: Zepparella, The Dave Rude Band @ Bottom of the Hill, 11/28/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 7 days ago.]

“Tribute bands often reflect what I like about rock ‘n’ roll more than the authentic bands they replicate”

-’Dude Rocks Like A Lady’, Chuck Klosterman IV

The tribute band is an interesting thing. I always wonder how it feels for the original band, to know that their music has inspired such a thing, but also that someone is out their performing their material, and probably not as well. And then I also wonder what the tribute band thinks; do they want to play their own material, but just know that wouldn’t draw a crowd? How does it feel to know that everyone in the crowd is, somewhere in their mind, pretending that they are the original band?

I have loved Led Zeppelin since before I can remember. Obviously, I never got to see them…the closest I’ve come was seeing Robert Plant play a free show in Golden Gate park last year. I have always felt like their music knows the answer to some of life’s secrets. There’s a certain mystique about the band that has always drawn me in, and this has always been magnified by reading Pamela Des Barres’ books from an early age. Whenever I have conversations with people about what happens when you die, my vision has always been that I’ll have a private concert with every band I never got to see in their heyday. Zeppelin would be the headliners (followed by Nirvana, a Layne fronted Alice in Chains, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Elvis).

To me, Zeppelin represents an era that was a perfect combination of a lot of things. It seems like life was simpler back then, people were happier, and the world was just generally in a better place. I realize this may have not been the case for people who lived it, but my perceptions are my reality. There were great social movements taking place- the sexual revolution, women’s lib, civil rights- progress was happening in front of people’s eyes. And true creativity existed: Zeppelin was the first heavy metal band. A genre was defined. I feel like I live in a time where every thing has already been created, and now the only way to make something new is to combine things that already exist in new ways. This makes me sad.

And that brings me to Zepparella: an all female tribute to Led Zeppelin. As far as tribute bands go, I would say that I find the all female ones most interesting. Rather then feeling like a sad imitation of the real thing, the all female aspect puts a spin on the concept that makes me feel better about being there.

Bottom of the Hill is full of a different kind of concert-goer this evening; the average age is much higher, their expectations presumably different than a typical show. As if precisely timed, The Dave Rude Band takes the stage at that moment. Dave Rude is the current guitarist for the band Tesla, who you may or may not remember from the early ’90′s. Somewhat ironically, their most famous song was a cover of ‘Signs’. There is no doubt that Dave Rude is a very good guitar player; he plays effortlessly while executing tried and true rock star moves usually reserved for the big stage. Their sound is straight from the ’90′s…which I can’t decide if that is a good or bad thing. It’s unfortunate that many bands that try to pull off a purist classic rock sound can end up sounding dated; as I said above, everything now is just a combination of things that already exist. The set felt really comfortable to listen to, though, because it sounded familiar (my friend, after every song, would say ‘Soul Asylum! Collective Soul! Faith No More!) I always enjoy watching a good guitarist work on a small stage like that, though. I was pleased.

Found a video from last night on youtube:

I was tripping out on the crowd- mostly older men- who lined the stage. One of them hopped up to sit on the speaker, breaking glasses in the process. Another guy was wearing a knit sweater with the American flag on the front and back. Yet another one had a Led Zeppelin shirt on.

The girls come out on stage dressed in white. As they launched into their first cover, ‘The Lemon Song’, I’m struck by how well they pull this off, how seriously they take it, and how much fun it looks like they are having. The drummer plays with her eyes closed and a satisfied smile on her face; the guitarist exudes the same quiet confidence of Mr. Page himself; the bassist is a wide-stanced headbanger; and the singer is on point without sounding like she’s doing karaoke.

Thanks to BOTH bartenders for making my vodka cran way more vodka than cran, I closed my eyes and thought about what it must have felt like to see Zeppelin live. The beginning of ‘When the Levee Breaks’, where the drum beat flows into the harmonica….to the intro lick to ‘Whole Lotta Love’…..to the bass line for ‘Dazed and Confused’….to the slow build that is ‘Kashmir’; these are some of the best songs ever written. And the fact that they can still make me feel the way they were probably intended to make people feel, forty years after they were written, in a tiny club in San Francisco, as played by four women, speaks volumes.

I look at the crowd around me, and I imagine that some of them probably saw the real Zeppelin, probably at The Fillmore or Winterland. They have their eyes closed with a smile on their faces, probably recalling what it felt like to be there, in the summer of love. I’m extremely jealous. But who knows…if I make it to be 60, perhaps I’ll stand in a club one day, listening to an all female tribute to NIN, or Mastodon, or White Zombie, and I’ll close my eyes and reminisce.

From a show earlier this year at the same venue:

“Been Dazed and Confused for so long it’s not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
Soul of a woman was created below.”

-Led Zeppelin, 1969

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3054Comments (0)2009-11-29+22%3A47%3A13hardrockchick

The Teaches of Peaches: Peaches, Amanda Blank, Wallpaper @ The Regency Ballroom, 11/27/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 8 days ago.]

It was one of those nights that happens about once a month where I wanted to clone myself and attend multiple shows: Cannibal Corpse at The Warfield, Norma Jean at Slim’s, and Peaches at The Regency Ballroom. I chose the least likely show, Peaches.

It was one of the increasingly rare nights where The Hipsters and I cross paths. The metal and industrial shows are increasingly becoming home to me, but I make no apologies for my eclectic tastes. And, Peaches and I go back a while.

The first time I saw her was in 2004 at Emo’s in Austin. I had never seen a show like this in my life- up until this point I’d been to some large, high production shows, and small, no production shows….but never something that was such a multisensory show in a smallish venue like this (it’s a 1000 capacity venue). There were dancers, costume changes, props, and her duo with Iggy Pop on ‘Kick It’ was performed with Iggy projected lifesize on a white screen right next to her. But mainly, it was the most ‘controversial’ show I had ever seen at that point: there was nudity, strap ons, and she spit ‘blood’ on the crowd at the end. I liked the way being at this show made me feel, and I never turned back after that.

I found an old review of that show here.

The next time I saw Peaches would be opening for Bauhaus and Nine Inch Nails on the last day of the near two year long With Teeth tour. It was still light outside when she performed. The show was definitely toned down for a large crowd, so while I was excited that she was part of this amazing bill, I was a bit worried that she had lost her edge. The next couple of times that she came through town, I always had a conflict; so tonight I was finally going to see if Peaches could live up to that first show again.

Local band Wallpaper was on stage when I arrived. At first, I rolled my eyes at the auto-tuned disco beats. But then I realized they are more making fun of today’s hip hop than anything. Their songs are pretty funny, and I’ll admit that most of them are catchy, but what really made the set a non-failure for me was the live drums. If they had just employed a drum machine I would have written it off. I’m a sucker for bands that go back to basics with the simpler hip hop beats, and they do that well. Plus, their cover of Bel Biv DeVoe’s ‘Poison’ was fun. That song never gets old.

The stage was set for Amanda Blank- 2 DJs on either side, and a small drum set in the middle. The DJs come out and start spinning, shortly followed by the drummer. And they played for about 10 minutes just like this- I got to a point where I thought she just might not be coming out. But then she ran out to the front of the stage, wearing a short hooded cape and not much else. She lost the hood after a song, revealing a skimpy yet somehow tasteful romper outfit with fringe on one ankle and the opposite arm. And she surprisingly pulled off that outfit barefoot- without heels to create a skinnier than reality leg. It was gym inspiring. The group next to me knew every word to every song. Her electro dance rock is definitely Peaches-like in sound and sexually charged tone; but more girly. And she knows her crowd, at one point saying how she loves ‘all the homos out there’. At one point, she did something that can’t quite be described with her tongue, wiping her face off afterward and commenting that she now had ‘blow job face’. Wow. Her reimagining of the Romeo Void song ‘Never Say Never’ was a highlight, as was ‘A Love Song’.

“I need love….I’m a lady”

As soon as the Peaches set started, I knew a) she’s still got it, and b) we were in for an interesting evening. Three people in black shuffled out to the front of the stage, with their heads shrouded in black. They then split off to their spots as the drummer, keyboardist/guitarist, and bassist/keyboardist. And then out came Peaches, wearing some large black piece that sat up on her shoulders and went above her head, her face completely shrouded in black. It immediately made me think of Lady Gaga, which is a sad, sad thing. It was an impressive thing to witness- and unlike Gaga, Peaches has the music to back it up.

The first part of the set was almost entirely her new album, which I’m not familiar with yet. After losing the black head casing, she was joined by two women in black lingerie and huge blonde wigs, who twirled around dancing without being able to see. They had to be escorted on and off the stage.

Peaches’ assistant walks out with a white cloth, which he unfolds in front of him so that the guest on the next track, ‘Billionaire’ featuring Shunda K, can be projected life size next to Peaches, just like I remembered seeing Iggy Pop in her first show. It’s still a cool effect to this day.

It was already apparent at this point that Peaches’ assistant is one of the hardest working stage hands- she is VERY demanding of him. He hopped down to the photo pit to assist her for her traditional walk down the barricade, and then she crowdsurfed. This was followed by her telling everyone to stop tweeting and put their cameras away (YES, MA’AM!), for she was going to do something only for those here. “Jesus walked on water…Peaches can walk on you”. So she had everyone hold up their hands, and she walked on the crowd. Soon after she began that precarious trek, I could here her go, “YOU FUCKING PERV!”, and I knew exactly what happened. But she completed the song, and her walk on the crowd, as security ran over and dragged some guy out of the crowd, out the back door, and presumably out to the end of his evening, where he probably awoke this morning sore from having his ass kicked for being a perv.

When Peaches completed her walk, she got back on stage and addressed the crowd. “That only happens like once every 100 shows…and some PERV had to ruin it by trying to put his fingers in my ginch”. Yes, she called it a ginch, like in her song ‘The Inch’. “It’s a consensual thing!” While I felt bad for her, there was something humorous in having Peaches call some guy a perv- and she handled it well, even dedicating the next song to “The Perv”.

It seemed like she injured her thumb at some point during all of that, because the assistant kept bringing her towels, set out an ice bath by her water, and even taped her up while she was singing. ‘Shake Yer Dix’ was the first old song to pop up, which I LOVE, but then that was near ruined when a huge fight broke out behind me. And somehow, all security had disappeared. So the fight went on for a while until we had to get one of the photographers to run and locate security. It was kind of ridiculous.

The next song utilized a green laser and the guitarist and bassist on keytars that lit up neon green as well. At one point in the song, Peaches sticks her hand in front of the laser and it bounces back all over her in an interesting effect.

Then, she employed this light saber device, which she stroked to the beat of the music. She was joined by Amanda Blank for this song. Afterwards, she told the crowd that she is actually playing the light saber, telling us that she’s read many reviews that didn’t believe it actually did anything. So she had all the musicians hold their hands in the air while she played it- and here you go; a review that can definitively say that Peaches plays a light saber during her set.

At this point, she started delving into her back catalog, playing almost all of my old favorites: ‘Boys Wanna Be Her’, ‘Fuck the Pain Away’, and ‘Operate’. She sprayed a bottle of champagne all over the front at one point. She came out wearing a towel wrapped on her head and around her, and during certain parts of the song, she’d open the towel and she was projected on the sides singing parts of the song. She donned a gold hooded cape and performed in front of a fan with a blinking crotch light. ‘Kick It’ was performed with her bassist wearing an Iggy-like wig trying to imitate his moves while singing his part (and when his wig fell off, Peaches put it on and they switched roles).

And then someone threw a bra on stage:

At the very end, a mock fight broke out in the band, and I thought she was going to end the show by spitting blood on the crowd like she used to do, but I’m not quite sure what it was:

At this point, a group of people wearing very little pushed there way around me, and Peaches asked everyone to take their shirts off. “Come on, San Fran-disco! Portland did it!” Nothing like a little peer pressure. When everyone started removing their clothing, I bailed to the back. And as soon as everyone around me got half naked, it was over. So I guess Peaches kind of served as foreplay for the rest of these people’s evenings.

While some of the eyebrow raising edginess of that first show of hers I saw are no longer a part of Peaches live (there aren’t any simulated sex acts or blatant gender bending antics going on), she still puts on a creative, entertaining show.

“What else in the teaches of peaches?”

Setlist:
1. Mud with Blade Runner intro by Vangelis
2. Talk To Me
3. Billionaire
4. Serpentine
5. Show Stopper
6. Shake Yer Dix
7. I U She/Tombstone mashup
8. More
9. Boys Wanna Be Her
10. You Love It
11. Lose You
12. I Feel Cream
13. Mommy Complex
14. Fuck the Pain Away

Encore:
15. Operate
16. Slippery Dick
17. Take You On

Encore 2:
18. Kick It
19. Rock ‘n’ Roll
20. Set It Off

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3049Comments (0)2009-11-28+22%3A33%3A49hardrockchick

Far Beyond Driven: Vader, Decrepit Birth, Warbringer, The Amenta, Augury @ DNA Lounge, 11/25/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 11 days ago.]

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving…

I had anxiously been waiting for Vader- the other Polish metal band- to come to town after becoming obsessed with Behemoth this summer. However, when the show was downsized last week from the Regency Ballroom to DNA Lounge, I began to expect a drive by performance- a small crowd, a group of unenthusiastic musicians, and a bad time. Boy was I wrong.

DNA has quickly become one of my most favorite places for shows, mainly because I can perch myself in the balcony above the stage and have an unobstructed but still close view. After entering the venue (no guest list drama- yay!) I saw the rear venue curtain (sign one of an undersold show) and a mostly roped off balcony (sign number two). The one stretch of balcony that was accessible was full already- so I grabbed a drink and decided to stay downstairs.

Augury is on stage, and I don’t know if it was just that I hadn’t settled in yet or what, but they weren’t really doing it for me. Except when they spoke in their French-Canadian accents, it made me think of Gojira, which slightly improved my mood. I noticed the drummer- who didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the band- and I would find out why very soon.

At this point a woman standing near me asked if I was HRC- which always trips me out- especially when I can tell that they’ve actually read my stuff. We had a great conversation between sets, until the next band hit the stage, and I went into ‘the zone’

One song into The Amenta’s set, and I turned to this woman and said, “wow.” Then I took a step or two closer. I had noticed a member up in the balcony during the last set in black and silver face paint, wondering what that was all about. But it was the singer, a tall, cat-like growler that hooked me. Black-lipped and pale-eyed, he moved as if in slow-mo, growling and squealing with a kind of graceful fury that stole my heart. His demented eyes would seek out targets in the room, hypnotizing them with his stare. He actually reminded me of young Marilyn Manson. I took another step forward. When I go into a set cold like this- I didn’t even know their name at this point- I go through a cycle of thought: “wow, I think this could be really good”->”hmm…singer is pretty attractive”->”wow- this actually might be amazing!”->”am I giving them too much credit because I think the singer is hot and I’ve had a drink or two?”->”no, they are really REALLY amazing!”. As I’m thinking this, I focus on the crowd, and realize that the people around me have changed. Suddenly, all the girls in the room have surrounded the stage….like the singer is a death metal tomcat screeching for a mate, and here is the interested female contingency! It was actually kind of hilarious. But seriously, I loved it. In fact, I wish that I had been up in the balcony to film it because very little exists of them with this vocalist (they replaced the vocalist recently- good move on the band’s part). And- it wasn’t until more than halfway through the set that the singer spoke and informed us that they are from Australia. AUSTRALIAN DEATH METAL! Wow. Also, the drummer from the previous band is actually from The Amenta- doing double duty.

I was so compelled by this set that I did a rare thing- I found the singer behind the merch booth, tapped him on the shoulder, and told him “nice set”.

After that, I was so extremely giddy from finding a new band to love that I feared for the rest of the night. But it speaks volumes for the next band that I was equally as pleased.

Up next was Warbringer, a band I had missed the last few times they were in the area, and had been eagerly awaiting. I’d heard really good things, and they blew away all my expectations. I’d have to say the show is really about the singer and the lead guitarist, who pull off that delicate happy-yet-hardcore energy in the face of the crowd beneath them. Their enthusiasm is contagious- the crowd got going into a nice circle pit after being fairly docile for the previous bands. By the time they hit their song ‘Total War’, I had decided that I would walk away in love with two new bands this evening. There’s something very old school cool about them. If the night had ended after Warbringer, I would have been just fine.

(from another show- but you get a taste of it):

After the set, the singer, John, stopped and talked to me for a bit- super nice guy. They are from Ventura, and get to spend Thanksgiving as a day off with their families. Then they finish up this tour and head out with Megadeth. Can’t wait to see what comes next from these guys.

Decrepit Birth is another band I’ve heard good things about, and they are practically local, from Santa Cruz. And they were pretty good- I think I was just spent at this point from being so excited about the previous two sets that they barely stood a chance. The singer dove into the crowd once- which was pretty ballsy considering how sparse it was.

Vader’s set seemed so mature and serious compared to the ones before it- indicative of the 20 year gap in birthdays for the other bands. I was very afraid that the smallish crowd would offend the Polish since, I mean, they had come all the way from Poland and all. But they played a strong set regardless, and everyone seemed pleased about it. I’d have to say they were exactly what I expected from listening to them- powerful, yet lacking in the over the top wow factor that Behemoth has down.

And as the clock struck midnight, I walked back to my car thinking to myself, ‘I’m thankful for nights like this’.

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3043Comments (0)2009-11-26+10%3A54%3A32hardrockchick

Red, White, and Green: GWAR, Job For a Cowboy, The Red Chord @ The Regency Ballroom, 11/24/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 11 days ago.]

Back in 2006, when I was still new to SF, I went to see GWAR at The Warfield. I had always wanted to see them. However, I had spent most of the early 2000′s out of the metal scene, trying to learn to love hip hop and indie rock because that was what the guy I was dating was into. But I somehow made it to this show, and I went by myself. It would be the first of many solo metal shows for me.

I remember walking into The Warfield, and the band was already on stage. I walked closer and closer to this live action horror film, getting more and more excited. It was amazing! I left that show remembering how much I loved metal, crazy spectacles like this, and horror films….another thing the guy I was dating didn’t like. While it would be nearly three years before I left that guy, this show was the turning point for me realizing that I had lost part of my identity. I started slowly working on gaining it back from then on.

GWAR seems to come through SF every October or November like clockwork. I saw them one more time after that first show (to which I dragged indie rock boy, and even HE had fun), and then missed last year’s show because I was “sick”. So I had been eagerly awaiting this night for a long time.

GWAR devotees often wear white to their shows, so we can see all of the stuff that is sprayed on us. Last time, I just wore a white shirt, but this time I decided to sacrifice a pair of jeans I had tired of, and a bandana as well. Feeling like a painter, or a very casual bride, I walked up to the Regency Ballroom, attracting a few stares. This is the venue that doesn’t allow pens or gum to enter the premises- and I had emptied my bag of such- but I was chewing gum at the time AND THEY MADE ME SPIT IT OUT. I laughed in their faces at that one- ummmm…do you know what is about to happen inside there? I think a little gum should be the least of your worries.

However, when I walked inside I started dying of laughter at everything being covered in plastic. So exciting! I saw Photo Ray waiting to take pictures, so I got him to take a before shot of me.

The Red Chord, from Boston, played a short, but heavy set. I first became aware of them through this hilarious video taken at the Maryland Deathfest. And the humor came through during their set- they like to make fun of the crowd. It kind of turned into death metal comedy half hour up there. “I like you guys.” The singer gave the finger to someone. “See, I’m fucking you from the stage”. Of course, they made a lot of SF gay jokes. They’ll get over that for next time. They sound good; I’m interested to see where this band goes.

Job For a Cowboy quickly set up and literally turned around and started playing. I saw snippets of their set several times at Mayhem Fest this year- they either came on before or after Behemoth- but I always kind of wrote them off because I disliked the name. However, I’ve changed my mind. I actually quite enjoyed their set. The vocalist goes from deep growls to shrieks as he paces back and forth in a diagonal on the stage, using hand gestures to kind of mime whatever he is saying. Despite watching him blow snot rockets and spit all over that stage (I think he might be sick….at least, let’s hope)….a good shower and a little grooming and he’d actually be one of the better looking frontmen of this metal generation. The guitarist near me just props his foot up on the monitor, puts a demented half smile on his face, and headbangs at the same rate the entire set, like a bobblehead. In comparison to The Red Chord’s set- they made little crowd connection, and their energy could have been a little better, but they sounded really good. The crowd seemed pretty into it- they got the first crowd surfer of the evening, who fought security when he went over the barrier and I’m pretty sure was thrown out as a result.

Time for GWAR! The monitors were covered in plastic, and security put on plastic rain ponchos. The photographers had their equipment covered in plastic. The crowd started yelling GWARRRR!!!! GWWWAAAAAARRRRRR!!!! And then the lights dimmed, and a long video started, which I couldn’t see at all as the screen was behind a stack of speakers. But apparently it went through the GWAR legacy, as this is a 25th anniversary tour. 25 years! That’s a lot of touring. I’ve discussed this with several people- many of us who love GWAR pretty much hit their shows whenever they come through town, but we don’t listen to them much outside of this. And I’m pretty sure GWAR knows this.

It’s so exciting when they walk out on stage; their costumes never stop being impressive. I snapped a couple of pictures before things got messy. Only two songs in, and they’re on to one of my favorites, ‘Saddam A Go-Go’ and some monster thing was carted out on stage and pieces were sawed off and he was eviscerated all over us. I had never done rail at GWAR before, so it was interesting to see how carefully choreographed everything is. The GWAR slaves work hard- they are as much a part of the set as the band.

So I’m getting completely covered in fluids, laughing at the photographers scrambling around in the pit- when all hell broke loose. I was standing at an extension of the rail, and it couldn’t withstand the crowd crush, so it flew forward up against the stage, me along with it. Security started freaking out about this and ended up having to designate a guy to try to hold the rail in place. It was a little iffy at first- I thought I might have to bail. At a GWAR show, about half of the danger is that it’s a rough pit made up of a weird cross section of metal fans, and the other half is that it gets slippery and no one can hold their balance. People were coming over the rail and they were totally eating it and taking security with them.

The fun thing about getting sprayed like that is that it turns all of us into demented little children. In front of me, I can hear the band, but just as loud behind me is an ongoing soundtrack of evil laughter. I mean, all pretenses float away when you are jumping up and down asking for a band dressed as monsters to spray you with fake blood and space jizz.

One thing to note about GWAR is that, despite the ornate costumes, they are pretty exposed up there. but none are more exposed than the slaves. Tip for future GWAR goers: if a slave bends down in front of you…LOOK AWAY! I got my fill of man ass for a while.

I was very interested to see who they chose to kill during this set, and the first one was definitely a crowd pleaser. First they brought out this deformed baby looking thing, and then out comes Michael Jackson to, ummm, make it with the baby, for which he was killed and had his face torn off. And while the blood is spraying from his face, he’s doing all the signature MJ dance moves. It was almost too much…evil laughter.

Time for ‘Tormentor’, another favorite of mine, and probably the song that sent the crowd into the biggest frenzy. I got elbowed in the face by some chick behind me that was screaming the words along with me, to the point that I had to look down at my shirt and try to determine the fake blood from real blood. Fake blood- all good.

“Festooned with finery
You’ll find him in the winery”

“This is his story
An allegory”

Various monsters and such were executed and eviscerated throughout the evening. Oderus sprayed us with his giant space penis….which always makes me feel a bit odd….but honestly not nearly as odd as a SHAT show. I remember thinking, I wonder if when he takes that thing off, his real manparts seem smaller in comparison, kind of like when I wear tall heels and feel shorter when I take them off.

I was REALLY hoping that Sarah Palin would get the GWAR treatment this time around. However, it was President Obama that made an appearance. I am beginning to wonder if GWAR are Republicans…especially since Oderus is on Fox News a lot!

When it was over, I turned around to look at the crowd, covered in fluids, still screaming GWAAAARRRR!!! GWWAAAARRRRR!!!! which they did all the way out the venue.

When I got home, I ran inside as to not scare my neighbors.

Until next October/November, GWAR.

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3036Comments (0)2009-11-25+20%3A56%3A19hardrockchick

Made in Japan: Dir En Grey @ The Fillmore, 11/23/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 12 days ago.]

Over the years, Dir En Grey has come up as a band I should check out. I had tried listening to them several times, and it just never stuck. But when I read this article that talked about fans lining up the night before to see these guys- I knew there had to be some merit to the claims. I have done this myself one time for my favorite band- NIN- and I know it takes a certain passion that stems from a band’s X-factor that can never be fully explained- only witnessed in person.

So I found myself standing in The Fillmore on this Monday evening, looking at the tightly packed crowd, camera in hand. I thought about how last time I was here was for Alice in Chains. A threesome of Japanese girls roll up with shopping bags in their hands, and casually stash them behind the garbage can, adjust their sporty-metal style outfits, and take a position in front of me. It’s obvious that they’ve done this before. They would become the star of the show for me.

I’d never photographed at The Fillmore before. When the band’s intro music started and I filed into the photo pit, I was struck by how narrow it is. Honestly, I wanted to photograph the people at the barrier more than the band, but it was hard enough to maneuver in there. Plus, as soon as I stood there waiting, some girls behind me at the rail- ‘rail bitches’ as they are referred to in NINland- started saying, “OH HELL NO! She’d better not be standing there the whole time!!!” I laughed.

When the band came out- one by one- the sound was near deafening even with earplugs. High pitched girl shrieks- immediately I thought ‘wow, I had avoided going to see New Moon for this very reason!’ Especially for the singer- a small, blonde haired guy who’s face read that this was exactly the reaction that he expected.

The barrier is rocking behind me as the crowd goes crazy. No crowd surfing, no slam dancing- just a sea of individuals losing their minds. The singer hops onto a platform and doubles over, growling like a wild animal. The lighting was too dark for my little camera, so I left the photo pit pretty early.

The music is incredibly interesting- death metal with the occasional J-Pop vocal filtered in. It’s two genres I would never think to combine- but it’s fascinating how they pull it off. Not to mention their intense stage presence- it’s as if each guitarist and the bassist have carved out a section of the audience to constantly….umm….undress with their eyes would perhaps be the cleaner term here.

A girl standing near me has her palms at her cheeks, as if barely holding herself together. She barely removes them the entire show. But it’s the Japanese girls in front of me that were the most amazing to watch. One of them would essentially air piano to certain hooks in the music, with her arms extended in front of her, and ferociously headbang in between. It was so perfectly timed that I started watching her as if she were in the band. The other would just bend down in that one foot forward metal stance and headbang, without even looking at the band much at all. Between songs, they would look at each other and giggle. At the very end, they turned towards each other and headbanged at each other. It was obvious this was not their first show….in fact….I wouldn’t be surprised if they follow the band around.

About midway through the set, the music mellowed out and became very spiritual sounding- Buddah Rock, if you will. It lost me for a while, but when they came back for the encore (there might have been a riot if they hadn’t- more deafening shreiks…) it got heavy again.

All of Dir En Grey’s lyrics are in Japanese. Despite their nonverbal communication, they never said a word to the crowd….until right before the final song. The singer starts screaming, “Last song! Last song! Last song!” over and over and the crowd REALLY went nuts. And when it was over, he left the stage while the rest of the band made a big production of throwing out picks and drum sticks for the crowd to fight over.

Seeing Dir En Grey put a lot into perspective for me. I saw a bit of myself in those girls in the crowd- it was almost like having an out of body experience. I left the show thinking, no matter what happens, I never want to lose sight of being that passionate fan, chasing after that feeling that I could see on the faces of the crowd at Dir En Grey.

Read my friend’s account of last year’s show here.

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3031Comments (1)2009-11-24+19%3A38%3A35hardrockchick

The Greatest Show on Earth: KISS, Buckcherry @ Oakland Coliseum, 11/22/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 13 days ago.]

KISS may have very well been my first concert shirt. I have a vague memory of being a little kid, back before my family’s business became successful and I wore hand me down shirts from my uncle (my mom’s little brother and I are closer in age than they are). I can remember wearing this shirt in early elementary school, thinking KISS meant the thing my mom did before I hopped out of the car to go to school, and not a band of guys wearing platform shoes.

Unfortunately- or maybe fortunately considering the timing in the band’s career- I never got into KISS. By the time I got into music, their songs sounded dated, their merchandising strategy was a huge turn off, and they were a bunch of old dudes wearing platform shoes. But I have always wanted to see the show.

Fast forward to 2009, and KISS is coming to town. Since this is my crazy year of now-or-never shows, I wanted to go. I tried my luck with a press request, and was rudely rejected. I can take rejection- you just don’t have to be so rude about it! However, the show wasn’t selling well, and an email went out GIVING AWAY TICKETS. Decent tickets, too! So I snatched one up for $6 in fees, and prepared myself for an interesting adventure.

After getting over the sticker shock from paying $30 for parking (!), I started the long walk into the venue. I passed people tailgaiting- grills and beers galore. As I got closer to the coliseum, I started to see the costumes. Facepaint was the most common nod to the band, but there were full on KISS costumes- ranging from tin foil and spandex home creations to what I can only assume were licensed costumes from the band. Oh- and there were a lot of protesters….JESUS SAVES! Honestly I thought that protesting this show was a pretty weak claim on their part.

I get to the venue and find my seat, at the top of the first level. Not bad for free! So I decide to go in search of a drink. It was already this early in the evening that I pledged to never go to an arena show by myself again. Everyone seemed to be there in huge groups of people, either all substantially older than me or families. So I got ‘the stare’ a lot, and questions. It got so uncomfortable by the end of the evening that I almost split early….can’t a girl go to a show by herself?

I go hide in my seat (after walking past a pack of Santas, where one extends his arm for a fist bump from me) and start people watching. Beyond the costumes, there’s an astounding amount of sparkly clothes. There are even two people who wear glitter helmets the entire show. It was like being at a Star Trek convention without ever having seen an episode of the show (which is true- I have not)…I felt VERY out of place but it was all highly entertaining.

I had heard of Buckcherry before but I knew nothing about them. When I was getting a drink, the bartender asked me if I knew them, and I said no, and the ladies next to me said that they had looked them up on youtube (which I found VERY interesting) and thought they were “scary”. I found this to be a promising piece of information.

When the band came out, I was struck by the amount of tattoos they have. Then, I listened to the music, and found the first few songs to be surprisingly unobjectionable for mainstream rock. The singer was intriguing- I can spot an ex-junkie from a mile away (or in this case, however far away the back of the venue is). They seemed to fare pretty well on that gigantic stage. However, the end of the set- and what I can assume are their most popular songs- took a turn for the worst. I think there was something said about NASCAR and then lyrics which contained ‘Stroke Me’ which was paired with the appropriate gestures…cock rock at it’s finest.

It wasn’t long before the lights dimmed and everyone jumped to their feet. The video monitors showed the Earth (which, ironically, or maybe not, is how the Dethklok video sequences start their show) and it slowly zooms in to show the arena via Google Earth. Then the screens show the band walking out onto the stage. And there they are, in their silver and black costumed, face painted, platform shoe-ed, and wigged glory.

Not since seeing Daft Punk had I been to a show where I didn’t feel a strong desire to want to be any closer. It’s really cool that they take every person in the expansive venue in mind when creating the spectacle. And it is quite a spectacle.

There are lights and fire and screens that not only project what is going on up there, but they are edited with slick transitions and effects to the point that I wonder if they are prerecorded. But they’re not- the whole thing is just a well oiled machine. Actually, it’s a circus. It’s carefully choreographed with danger moments that elicit ‘ooh’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ and ‘oh my God he might fall!’ reactions from the crowd.

And then there’s Gene Simmons’ tongue. I’d seen it before on TV (I watched a bit of his reality show….pretty disgusting), but nothing beats it in real life, on a jumbotron. I mean really, it’s the fifth member of the band. I hope when he croaks, they preserve it and stick it in a museum.

Oh right- they were playing music! I kind of forgot at times. They sounded good- I’m just not terribly familiar with the music, but the crowd seemed pleased. And to play with that kind of energy in such a constrained atmosphere must take skill. I mean, I’ll never complain about uncomfortable shoes again watching them jump around in those platforms well into their golden years. One time a guitar shot off fireworks!

The highlights of the show were definitely watching Gene get lifted up to the top of the lighting rig and playing from up there, and then Paul getting lifted out to a platform I had been eyeing near the back of the main floor. Apparently these must be staple moves for them- because the people around me were not nearly as impressed.

The endless rain of confetti during ‘Rock and Roll All Nite” was pretty impressive- though I do always think about the poor people who have to clean all that up. I think the best part of the set- the part that felt most like a genuine concert to me- was the beginning of the encore, where they played some of their oldest material.

But KISS is about the spectacle, and they definitely didn’t disappoint in that regard. I can now cross that one off my list. But I do have to say that as I left the show, all I could think about was the GWAR show on Tuesday. That is MY kind of spectacle.

Read about my friend Umlaut’s VIP experience here.

And check out my friend Photo Ray’s AMAZING pictures here. Wow!

More awesome pictures from Alan here.

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3028Comments (0)2009-11-23+22%3A31%3A15hardrockchick

Go Forth and Die: Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge @ San Jose Event Center, 11/21/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 15 days ago.]

It was my fourth and final show of what was nicknamed the Mastoklok tour. From the first show of the tour in Portland, to two Texas shows last week, to tonight’s final show of the tour in San Jose, I’ve followed the local metal legends, one of the most polarizing hardcore bands, my heavy metal heroes, and the fictional band from my favorite TV show across the span of their seven week tour. It’s been a sort of mellow but highly meaningful journey.

I had bought a ticket to my three previous shows because I never rely on guestlist for out of town travel. However, for my final show I was to have a ticket and photo pass waiting for me. And, to keep with the theme from this week, that was not the case when I got to will call. However, this time I was not alone.

At first, I thought I was just too early. I was told that the lists hadn’t been turned in yet. Then the lists came as the doors opened for the general public, but I wasn’t on it. My photographer and blogger friends started arriving, and none of them were on it either. The people running will call told us to wait and they would try to sort things out. So Photo Ray, Umlaut, Photo Alan and I stand there shivering in the cold tapping our feet while everyone else goes in. It’s 6:30p, and I know High on Fire is on stage. I longingly stare at each person who successfully picks up their little envelopes at the window. It’s now 7p, and we’re told that we can get a ticket, but a photo pass will not be included.

Converge is on stage by the time we make it in, and I march up to the rail and grab one of my usual spots. I’m frozen from standing outside, but getting to that spot was comforting- by now I know everything about this show, and it’s like coming home or something. There really is nothing more for me to say about these bands- which is why I had planned on just photographing- so here’s what you would have seen in my pictures:

-Bannon twirling across the stage
-Ballou’s guitar intro to ‘Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast’
-Newton confronting someone in the front row who must have been yelling at them or something, telling them “you really hate us!” And then something with the words “fuck” and “pussies”.
-Koller tossing drumsticks and flipping off said audience members while never missing a beat.

The crowd actually booed them- there was only a minor disruption the first show of the tour during their set, but this was outright rude. I felt terrible for them, to end with an audience so disrespectful like that. I may not be in love with their music (though ‘Dark Horse’ and “WWF/RWF’ have really grown on me over the course of the tour), they put on the highest energy show of the four bands, and there is something to be said for that.

Within 5 seconds of Mastodon walking out on stage, I knew that this would be their best set of the tour. They brought the fire tonight. That said, it still didn’t hold a candle to that GAMH show earlier this year….but not much could. I really was hoping they would take some time off after this- but more shows have been announced…so they will continue to be one of the hardest working bands in metal.

If I were to take pictures of this set, you would have seen:

-The Sanders’ back bend with his beard pointed in the air. Also, the point at the end where he beats his chest and points at the crowd. By the way, he completely violates my don’t-play-with-your-keys-hooked-to-your-belt-loop rule, and I don’t care.
-Hinds playing the double neck guitar during ‘The Czar’, and the face tat of course
-Kelliher the lion guitarist roaring into the mic during his only vocal contribution during ‘Where Strides the Behemoth’
-Dailor singing while drumming, because I still don’t get how that’s possible
-The keyboardist- because I always forget that he exists…sorry, dude.

Towards the end of CTS, I saw Brendon Small walk out to watch part of the set from side stage. Other than that, it was the always great but same set I’d seen all tour.

For Dethklok, I moved up into the seats, you know, so I could see the cartoon better. This season of Metalocalypse has been so amazing….having 30 minutes has just made the show even more enjoyable. While I think the musicians that comprise Dethklok are much better than people give them credit for, it is a hard set to watch multiple times. This is mainly because I hate listening to the “you’re the best crowd” type stuff when I know that’s said every show. If I were to take pictures of Dethklok, here’s what you would have seen:

-Brendon Small

Yep, that’s about it. I mean, it’s dark up there, plus I’m a little infatuated with him because he’s one of those multitalented types, and he makes my favorite TV show. And he makes me laugh. The end of the show was the only variance in the set, where Small actually broke out a piece of paper and thanked all of his crew, and then the guys from Mastodon who had been sitting side stage walked out to say goodbye.

Multiple times during the set Brann Dailor walked out near me to talk to people. It was interesting because at one point all of these girls emerged from the crowd to have their pictures taken with him. Where had these girls been the rest of the show? Then at the end of the show he was there again, but I couldn’t go up to him. I had two choices of things to say: 1) “This was my 6th time seeing you this year/I followed the tour around” which just sounds creepy probably; or 2) “Thank you for writing CTS; your pain from your sister’s suicide led to an album which has really helped me through the year” which is just too heavy for a one line conversation. So I chose silence and a smile.

In hindsight, this was probably not the best tour to follow around. With a static setlist for all four bands, I had the tour memorized by the end. I also went to every show mostly alone, and out of the four tours I followed this year, this was the only one where I never met anyone in the tour (though I had met Small before in SF last year). Varied shows, show buddies, and meeting the band are all things that add a layer of excitement onto following a tour around and writing about it. But I recall the excitement that hooked me when this tour was announced, and I know that one day I’ll look back and remember fondly following Mastodon around in 2009. It’s interesting to think that what really came from following this tour were the things that it allowed me to do that were less related to the show itself. I visited Portland for the first time, I got one of Bill’s guitar picks and a nice poster in Houston for great keepsakes, I took a roadtrip through Texas with my mom, I drove by my childhood home for the first time in many years, I saw my dying grandfather for probably the last time, I visited my grandmother’s grave for the first time, I went to my first show in Austin since I had left, and I visited a family friend’s grave who had recently passed away. The Mastoklok tour may not have given me any of the best shows of my life, but it definitely served it’s purpose in the grander scheme of things.

“I guess they would say that we could set this world ablaze
Please, please take my hand
Please take my soul to rest
So we can always be around”

Mastodon – ‘The Last Baron’

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3020Comments (0)2009-11-22+11%3A01%3A23hardrockchick

Totally Folking Metal : Ensiferum, Blackguard, Lazarus A.D. @ DNA Lounge, 11/19/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 16 days ago.]

My night, like this tour, didn’t start off well.

While immigration issues forced Hypocrisy and Ex Deo off this tour, list issues almost had me turning around and going back home. When I was greeted with that look and “I’m sorry but you are not on the list”, I almost left. Two times this week I had been denied press passes because my site isn’t big enough, and now this…but I had the tour manager’s phone number, so a quick text and a minute later I was whisked inside.

Lazarus A.D. are on stage as I make my way up to my usual perch in the balcony. Because Lazarus was a last minute addition to fill the empty space from the drop offs, they aren’t melodic metal like the other bands on the bill. They are thrash metal, and the Metallica and Dimebag shirts that they are wearing point to their heroes. The camo shorts and sneakers slightly edge them into the jock metal / Hatebreed direction, but for the most part I rather enjoyed them. They are young guys with fire in their eyes. They were loving the very receptive crowd- you could tell by their comments and the looks on their faces that they’d come off a string of shows where the crowd wasn’t good to them. The drummer was separated from the rest of the band at the back of the stage- the other bands’ equipment making a big divider across the stage…I felt kind of bad for him. They have the synchronized helicopter headbanging down, and surprised me with some synchronized guitar lifts at the end of their set.

I got a drink and commended the bartender on his Behemoth shirt.

Let me preface the rest of this write up with a personal bias: I don’t love folk metal, or melodic metal, or whatever you want to call the music the next two bands make. I like my metal dark and heavy, and the keyboards don’t really do it for me. I liken it to ordering chocolate cake for dessert, and having it come out with raspberry syrup on it- I just wanted the cake, man. That said, I kinda wish I loved it for several reasons. One: it seems to have the reputation of being a smarter and more acceptable form of metal. The references and imagery feel kind of like I’m going to a renaissance faire where you learn history while having fun. It also feels like, if I were to say that one of the bands in tonight’s line up was my favorite metal band, I would get a more positive, approving “oh!” instead of the disapproving “oh….” in response to saying Slayer or Behemoth, like I would say. Also, everyone seems to be happy and having fun. The bands on stage look like they want to be there, and not like the want to kill everyone in the crowd, or are too cool or even bored. The crowd, while still getting rough, seems happy. But I just can’t go there….the folk metal imagery makes me giggle a little. I dunno, I guess once you go black metal you never go back.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Blackguard really bring the energy. Six of them are squeezed on that stage- and they move around in an organized chaos. They pull off perfectly coordinated guitar lifts sporadically throughout the set. The vocalist lunges towards the crowd and screams in their faces; the guitarists and bassist stick the arms of their guitars over the crowd like they are blessing them with a sword. And of course I have to mention that they have a pretty kick ass female drummer. I’m not sure why, but their set was really short- they had to cut their setlist when they were informed that they only had 10 minutes left.

It was hard not to get a little giddy when Ensiferum hit the stage in their war paint and kilts from the faraway land of Finland. And when someone in the front row lifted their little plastic sword…..I lost it. Hahaha I love this metal subculture, even though I will always be an outsider looking in. I was thinking back to being a kid in elementary school, watching He-Man and She-Ra (one of my first excellent Halloween costumes), Beastmaster, Conan, Willow…..going to school with folders decorated with unicorns and vikings. The imagery is fun. Their female keyboardist is on a pedestal at the back of the stage, with the four blonde Scandinavian warriors at the front. I watch the crowd- there are a lot of girls in that pit. I’m thinking about the hero and battle imagery in the lyrics and presence of this band, and start thinking about how the whole thing is like a metal Medieval Times, a reenactment of a bloodless battle. Which is funny, compared to something like a Behemoth show, where it’s like an actual bloody battle. They played a 100 minute crowd pleasing set, which ended with people in the crowd raising their plastic sword and staff high.

This was my 100th show of the year, and I celebrated accordingly, thus the tardiness of this write up. In hindsight, I should have borrowed the plastic sword for a commemorative picture.

Youtube Find:

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3014Comments (0)2009-11-21+06%3A48%3A33hardrockchick

Keep Austin Weird: Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge, High on Fire @ Austin City Music Hall, 11/13/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 22 days ago.]

Friday the 13th. Normally, I like this day- but this day was far from normal.

My reason for being in Texas was mostly for family. So on my trek from Houston to Austin, I visited my grandfather in a nursing home for what would probably be the last time. Then I visited my grandmother’s grave for the first time since she passed away two years ago. It goes without saying it was an emotional day. Then I got to my hotel, and hotels.com had screwed up my reservation. And then, my high school friend who was supposed to attend the show with me canceled at the last minute. Well…at least I have my health.

I almost didn’t go, but this show was sort of symbolic to me. It would be my first concert in Austin since I moved away 4 years ago. Also, the venue- Austin City Music Hall- had been closed for renovations for a while before I left, so this would be my first show there since 2003.

I walked into the venue a bit late, as High on Fire was finishing their set. I’m flooded with memories from this venue- my first time there was sneaking into a rave in the mid nineties at fifteen years old. Then I was back a year or so later for a show that I can’t even remember who it was- someone local- but I have this epic picture of me and my girlfriend by the entry in patent leather pants…..jailbait. Total jailbait. Then, in 2001 I saw a pretty epic show there: Outkast with Ludacris as the opener before many people knew who he was. These are back in the days when I went to shows with large groups, stood in the back, and partied to the point of not remembering much.

I walk straight up to the front and take a spot at the extreme right side of the stage. This happened to be an interesting landing spot for me because a) I could see the VIP area very well, and b) I was right in front of what apparently was the only door to the backstage area.

Converge time: it’s the same set as the day before, only I can hear it better. From my angle, I can see how crazy the drummer, Ben Koller, is. All four limbs move in a frenzy, and the way he sits behind the drums has his knees coming up higher than normal. I could also see all of the spit these guys sling around- as Bannon made one of his leaps and turns across the stage, he became a saliva helicopter. Also, I particularly remember at the very end of the set, guitarist Kurt Ballou just had a stream of saliva pour out of him. I guess it’s just a sign of the energy they put into their set.

During setup for Mastodon, I notice something on the screen- even though it’s halfway obstructed for me: the entire center panel has gone black. Ruh-roh. Guys with flashlights are working from behind, and then in front of the screen. They take a panel out and turn it around- I’m reminded of trying to get a string of Christmas lights to work as a kid. Then everything goes out…..and then back on except for one panel. The show must go on.

As soon as Mastodon come out I can tell that things will be better then last night. Their energy all throughout CTS was better, and I could hear and was not getting kicked in the head the entire night. CTS was good medicine for my day for sure- so I geeked out on the album along with a smattering of other people around me. Many were jonesing for the old stuff- and I could tell this was a Dethklok crowd. There were only a few crowdsurfers….Austin, like SF, is always a pretty mellow, stoner crowd. However, I did see one guy get pulled out that looked like he was having a seizure- yikes. The band were even more on fire for the second part of their set- Bill kept coming out on a stack and playing, at one point teasing the crowd’s outstretched fingers with his guitar…which reminded me of the kid from the day before. I’m glad I blend well into a crowd, because at this point, I’ve seen them five times in the past six months…and I don’t think many girls follow Mastodon around. Otherwise I might be labeled a weird groupie stalker chick…who knows, maybe I am. But- they are one of my favorites. And this is what I do.

After Mastodon, lots of backstage door action occurred. First, Gene Hoglan walked in with his mini entourage…man is he big. He practically had to bend down to go through the door. At first I thought it might be The Undertaker- who lives nearby (go ahead, laugh at that reference). Then some guy tried to talk his way backstage: ‘It’s my 21st birthday and I’m a real big fan of Mastodon…how do I get back there?!’ I laughed as the security guard explained the system while several bodacious women walked backstage. Then Bill came out to escort some friends back there, and then Brann. I kept thinking I would see some of the guys from The Sword, and I thought I spied one up in VIP, but that will go unconfirmed. What I did see in VIP was the Lizard Man! I had forgotten about him….until I scanned VIP and was like….’is that guy GREEN?!’ Oh yeah!

Posted by the backstage door

The best thing about the Dethklok setup is the rather beastly dude who goes from mic to mic growling ‘yeah’ repeatedly. He looks like a cartoon character. All the while, people are still fiddling with the screen to fix that one panel, and they succeed and the crowd cheers.

Then, this girl comes up behind me and starts petting me- my back, my hair…..maybe she could sense I had been having a bad day. I was thrown off guard so much I didn’t exactly say stop- then she started asking questions about how I was feeling- and then as quickly as she came up she was gone again. It was weird.

When Dethklok came out, I decided I was only going to stay up front for a bit since I couldn’t see the screen well. I watched the crowd go nuts- heads down headbanging- including a pair of 13 year old or so girls. Chicks dig the Dethklok, man. One new thing I noticed about the set was that when they go offstage during a sketch, Hoglan plops down on a chair, aims a personal fan at himself, and chugs water while watching the sketch. He is a big dude.

Can you spot The Lizard Man?

I decided to go to the back of the room to watch the encore…but only lasted a song before I started looking around at the people back there thinking about how it can be possible for anyone to enjoy a show from so far away. But then I remembered- I used to be like that, right there. Things change.

I left early. It’s been a long time since I have left a show early…but it was just that kind of day. I took a stroll down 6th Street- my old stomping grounds- for old time’s sake. Things have changed there as well.

When I got to my parents’ house the next day, I realized that my room had an item in it that was symbolic of the trip- an artifact my grandfather found when he worked as a geologist on oil wells: a Mastodon tusk.

I will catch the final show of the tour next Saturday night in San Jose, where I will be photographing and hopefully witnessing some of the final show antics that make catching the last show of a tour great.

Genre(s): My Musical Adventures

3006Comments (1)2009-11-15+07%3A21%3A11hardrockchick

Houston, We Have A Problem: Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge, High On Fire @ Verizon Wireless Theater, Houston, TX 11/12/09

by hardrockchick [about 9 months, 22 days ago.]

As I’m walking to the Verizon Wireless Theater from my hotel, where I’ve just left my mom who frets like I’m still 16, I get to thinking…I was born about 10 miles away from here! I went to my first concert maybe 5 miles away, at a rodeo at the Astrodome, which may or may have not been George Strait. I left Houston at 13 years old, and while most of my extended family still resides in the area, I never claim it to be my home…it is just a place I was born.

I walk up to the venue, which is next to a Hard Rock Cafe (the other HRC), and join the 100 person or so line. As if on cue, a swarm of birds start flying around, making a huge racket. While I’m eying cover to protect myself from the inevitable poop storm, the guys behind me start mumbling about taking too many shrooms and are freaking out about the Hitchcockian atmosphere.

We’re quickly let in, and while many went to buy merch, I scored a top notch spot at the rail on the right side. As the crowd settles in around me, I notice that it is both very young and very male…the dude a couple of dudes down from me went to his FIRST concert ever the night before at that very venue- and it was Rob Zombie- so I whip out my phone and show off my pic with Zombie and tell him that one of my first shows was White Zombie…..now I’m the concert vet….whoa.

As soon as High on Fire stroll out I am reminded why I’m here: a) great lineup and b) to see how a show progresses as a tour goes along. I saw the first show, where everything was shiny and new to them, confidence was wavering, and kinks were being worked out. Now, they’re close to being done, and they look road weary, comfortable, and confident. I was standing right in front of Matt Pike, and he’s a lot of fun to watch. Sure, he’s rough around the edges, but he’s got an interesting swagger when he plays. Sometimes he one arms it, throwing his free hand in the air like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

Between sets, a kid on the other side of me asks if I saw Bill from Mastodon out front. I said no, and the kid gets all excited because Bill asked him directions to something, and the kid was a like “OMG I touched your guitar when you were here in April”, and Bill was all ‘how did you touch my guitar?’, and the kid says….I dunno, I stopped listening because it was too cute. Turns out that the ‘supervisor’ (dad) for that group of kids doesn’t like Dethklok and didn’t even know the band was attached to a cartoon…I tried to explain, and failed, just like when I tried to explain it to my mom….

As Converge is setting up, I can see singer Jacob Bannon warming up on the side of the stage- it’s like a boxing warm-up. I find him to be a very interesting front man to watch. When he runs out on stage and starts growling into the mic, I wonder how many times he’s chipped teeth on the thing. It really looks like he’s slamming into his mouth…ouch. I love when he runs from side to side of the stage, like those awful calisthenics exercises we had to do in high school, especially his signature move where he spins around and throws his arm out midway across the stage. He’s incredibly intense, but reminds me of a little boy at the same time. He takes time to talk to the crowd, promoting their recently released album, and thanking everyone multiple times for supporting hardcore music by being there, especially with such a diverse lineup.

As Mastodon is setting up, a security guard approaches me an asks for my name. I’m thinking, ‘oh great, what now…’, when he pulls out his camera. He asks if I would mind taking pictures of ‘his boys’ (the security guys) with Mastodon and Dethklok in the background, especially if they come out to the front part of the stage. I really couldn’t say no. However, I ask him to give me any guitar picks that fell on the other side of the barricade. He told the guys to make sure no crowd surfers hit me since I was photographing them for their website. It was….unusual. I leaned forward and looked up and down the barricade….yep, I probably looked the most ‘mature’ and harmless out of the bunch. If he only knew….

Mastodon came out, and I got very excited and then very disappointed in the span of about a minute. When Brent started singing in ‘Oblivion’, I couldn’t hear him. I had thought the Converge and HoF vocals were a bit muffled, but I wasn’t paying attention to their vocals as much. So I look to the side of each stage- no speakers. So I already know what I’m going to see when I look up- the speakers are behind us. This has happened to me once before- at the final NIN LITS show in Las Vegas- the Planet Hollywood theater is designed the same way. Epic design fail in my opinion. So, I’m fuming for a minute over that while I settle into the set. I realize that the guys look really tired and disconnected from the crowd. I wonder how many times they’ve played Crack the Skye from start to finish this year- is this the 52nd time? 76th? Who knows….but when they finish up this tour next weekend I hope they give it a good long break. Now this is not to say they didn’t play it well- of course they did an exceptional job.

When the set reaches ‘Quintessence’, I’m thinking, wow- this crowd is soooo mellow! No one has bumped me, nothing. It’s as if someone heard me think that, conspired with everyone behind me, and decided to make me their bitch. It began slowly, kids started crowd surfing just for the sake of doing it. There were some guys behind me yelling for the older, harder stuff, and they started crowd surfing perhaps to amp up their enjoyment. At first, the surfers were contained to the usual middle of the pit. By the time we got to ‘Crack the Skye’, there were no less than four surfers up at one time, spread out across the entire width of the barrier. I spent most of that song and ‘The Last Baron’ (13 minutes long) ducked and covering my head as people were getting pulled out from on top of me. There were several repeat offenders- one who was a small guy who came over no less than 12 times. By the end, me and the guys around me had decided we wanted to take this guy down. So we turned around waiting for him and gave him what he had coming. Hope that asshole has some good bruises now.

Once they launched into the second part of their set: Circle of Cysquatch, Aqua Dementia, Where Strides the Behemoth, Motherpuncher, and The Bit; things got worse. The security got tired I think, and I missed being able to duck and got kicked in the head hard enough to see stars (but it was by a chick, so I gave her a pass), and then got kicked in the shoulder blade bad. The weird thing was that there was never a crowd crush except for maybe once or twice- so people weren’t surfing to escape the crush or anything like that. Apparently Houstonians just really like to surf…I mean, they are crazy enough to surf this. I’ve never had security personally come up to me and ask if I was ok during a set- they offered to bring me cups of water and everything- but I’m a pro and I can take it like a man. Don’t treat HRC like a princess. Well, sometimes it ok….

Mind you, I’m trying to take pictures for this security dude, as well as enjoy this amazing unobstructed view of one of my favorite bands, and take in their awesome visuals on the back screen. As I mentioned in my write up of the first show of this tour, the band comes alive when they finish CTS. This was even more apparent here, and I remembered why I made the trek for this and all the being beat up by crowd surfers became worth it. They just look like they are having more fun, and are more dynamic in moving around on the stage. While I love each of of the guys in this band for their amazing musicianship and hair, as readers know I am particularly fond of Troy, and the second part of this set proved it to me once again that he is one of my favorites.

At the end of the set, Bill threw out a couple of picks and one landed on the ground in front of me. The security guard scooped it up and handed it to me for taking the pictures for him. It might be my favorite guitar pick I have now.

During the set up for Dethklok, a clip came on that featured the main character for Brutal Legend with Dethklok- a clever little ad for the captive audience. People are chanting ‘Dethklok’, and I brace myself for more crowdsurfers when the bands comes out. It was funny, the first three crowd surfers were all girls. Chicks dig the Dethklok, man. I spent most of this set enjoying the animations and watching Brendon Small. You know, he is really a good guitar player. He’s effortless- his fingers just dance along the frets as he looks out at the crowd…he doesn’t have to look down. And he’s playing some pretty fast and complex stuff, too. I’m impressed- and it’s always the ones that are multi-talented, too: comedian, writer, composer, guitarist….jeez.

I love singing “Do you folks like coffee?” with a crowd full of people. Also, ‘Murmaider’…..check…check….check……hahaha good times. People really know the words to all of these songs. In the encore, ‘Nathan Explosion’ and ‘Pickles’ and ‘Skwisgaar’ made fun of Texas, talking about the Dallas Cowboys and cheerleaders and such. And then as quickly as it began, it finished…and I gave the camera back to security, luckily in one piece.