Cormorant flew onto my radar late last year, after reading the articulate writings of lead singer and bassist Arthur von Nagel on MetalSucks. When it came time to assemble end of year lists for 2009, Dan from Bay Area Metal Scene and I agreed that Cormorant’s Metazoa should be one of the Loudest Bay Area […]
I was ‘on call’ for this show. I have read so many love letters from my fellow bloggers about these three bands that I knew I needed to check them out. I’d seen Cynic before and disliked them, but that was a year ago, so I thought maybe things had changed. I tried to get […]
I’m driving back to SF from LA on about 5 hours of sleep, which is actually pretty normal for me, but nonetheless it led me into a long span of introspection on the open road. What am I doing with my life? I’m on the final countdown for an age milestone….and I’m following bands around […]
I’m flying down the 5 at 90 mph, alternating between listening to the bands I would later see that evening and the Juliet, Naked audiobook, Nick Hornby’s latest work, which is, in part, about what it means to be a fan. It would be my first of two nights of Behemoth shows, where I would […]
I live approximately 8 blocks from Thee Parkside, towards the top of Potrero Hill. It’s a weird neighborhood, man…I love it, everything is right there, but once it gets dark there is no one on the street. So my 9pm walk to the dive bar is completely silent. I’m having a moment, viewing the bay […]
Dez Fafara, formerly of Coal Chamber and currently of DevilDriver, is one cool guy. Before the second date of the Bound By the Road tour at Slim’s, I sat down with Dez in the smoke-filled back room of the tour bus to discuss life on the road, upcoming DevilDriver material, and Twitter. HardRockChick: So last […]
It would be my first show of the year, and if this set the tone for the rest of 2010, I’m buckling up now because it’s going to be one hell of a ride. We left off in December, which was a tumultuous month with great shows that were bittered by loss, and I spent […]
It’s challenging to write about what happened to a genre of music in 2009 when it’s as loosely defined as Alternative. What exactly is Alternative music, really? It’s hard to put into words, but our ears can pick it up. And that’s the beauty of music. Early ’90s alt-rock bands Dinosaur Jr., Meat Puppets, The […]
2009: the last year of the first decade of the new millennium. It proved to be a year rife with innovation, comebacks, breakthroughs, and goodbyes in rock music. Thrash metal began in the ’80’s with Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, who, incidentally, will tour together for the first time in 2010. Their influence can be […]
{ Thank you for a perfect piece on my favorite band. You were somehow able to cature the ephemeral nature Of a VT show... It is... } – Oct 20, 12:49 PM
{ Thanks, Paul! It's in eBook form only...if you're into that, there are direct links to get it on Amazon/iTunes/Nook in the right column of this... } – Sep 24, 9:26 AM
{ Thanks HRC. How do I get a copy of your book? } – Sep 23, 4:42 PM
{ I couldn't agree more with your assessment of the situation. I felt the same way in Chicago, only with super shitty NIN-presale seats. } – Aug 27, 6:21 PM
{ As usual Jamie, you nailed it. (See what I did there?) Soundgarden had the stronger set for sure--- and while I never had any kind... } – Aug 27, 11:02 AM
{ I felt the same way. Always like to see NIN but wish it wasn't a festival set that they were kind of sleepwalking through (there... } – Aug 27, 10:20 AM