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Posted on 08.11.08 by hardrockchick @ 10:09 am
I’m sitting in the car of the parking lot at SOMA in San Diego, downing a minibar bottle of Malibu and a can of Dole Pineapple juice when I realize that I must really fucking love The Faint. It’s my first time to San Diego, and this city seems rife with technical difficulties. 1.5 hour wait to get a shitty rental car. 1 hour wait to get a shitty hotel room. And now I am outside of a music venue that doesn’t sell alcohol, drinking in a car like a 16 year old, surrounded by actual 16 year olds. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 3 Comments |
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Posted on 08.11.08 by hardrockchick @ 8:38 am
It’s 8/8/08, and while many around the world gathered to watch the historic Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, about 1200 slightly insane people gathered to watch the US Air Guitar Championship. And I’m serious when I say slightly insane. To watch and enjoy an event like this, you have to be willing to go there. It’s like watching karaoke on steroids. Wigs, blow up props, large foam devil horns…the crowd was decked out and mostly wasted, thanks to the free Cuervo shots at the door. The Master of Airimonies, Bjorn Turoque, introduced the show, reminding us that it was the first time for the championship to be held in SF (because we ‘get it’ here). After going over the rules, he introduced the judges: Jeff Davis from Whose Line is it Anyway, a writer from the SF Chronicle, and Marc Hawthorne from The Onion- also a judge from the regional round- was a last minute replacement for Jello Biafra, who apparently had to drop out due to suffering some sort of injury. Apparently Ben Fong-Torres of Rolling Stone fame turned them down. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 3 Comments |
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Posted on 08.08.08 by hardrockchick @ 6:59 pm
I walk into the cavernous 12 Galaxies a little saddened, since it was announced that day that it would close at the end of the month. It’s a grimy dive-y place, but they put on in-the-know shows that are always unpredictable and fun. The complimentary bucket of earplugs by the ticket taker was indicative of the sound vibrating the place. Droid was crammed on the stage- 4 big beefy guys pounding out their metal music. The lead singer spent a lot of time on the floor, walking around screaming in people’s faces, even moshing a little while singing. Never seen that before. Moshing at 12 Galaxies can present a different set of dangers than other, larger venues. I once was almost knocked onto the soundboard. Equipment cases were scattered all around the perimeter, causing people to trip but also serving as bumpers. Since OTEP brings out the crazy metal chicks, they were having their way in the mosh pit…which unfortunately sometimes mean swinging around arms at an insane speed in a multidirectional bitch slap- which tends to keep the guys at bay to watch the spectacle. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 08.06.08 by hardrockchick @ 11:46 am
It’s night 2 of 3 for following The Faint this week. Does it get any better than The Fillmore show? The opening band, Jaguar Love, was a bit better on my ears than last night’s disco stinker, Glass Candy. The lead singer has a very high register voice, and paired with his blond mop of a haircut, I thought of him as a ’00s hipster version of David Lee Roth. Then I thought, I would love to hear him say, “I’m Dr. Rockso…I Do Cocaine…K-K-K-Yeah!!!!”. But I digress. The band didn’t seem to gel together- they have the aforementioned DLR vocalist, the bassist looks like he should be in the Black Crowes, I couldn’t even hear the keyboards, the guitarist was not memorable, and the drummer seemed bored. But, I think the name fit them well- the vocalist does this scream/roar a lot that I can only imagine sounds like jaguars in love. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 6 Comments |
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Posted on 08.05.08 by hardrockchick @ 10:13 am
It’s night 1 of 3 this week for seeing The Faint. The Fillmore is teeming with in-the-know music junkies. Shy Child, a New York duo, is mid set on the stage as we make our way to our usual stage right spots. The vocalist, who sounds a lot like one of The Rapture vocalists, plays the keytar, which is complemented by a drummer. They’ve toured with Klaxons and Hot Chip, and are very much in that vein of music. It’s fun and dancy, but lacks the sophistication and substance of its headliner. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 9 Comments |
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Posted on 07.27.08 by hardrockchick @ 11:48 am
It amazes me that, while I write about NIN on a regular basis, this will be my first official HRC review of them. It was almost exactly 2 years ago that I saw the last show of the With Teeth tour in Mountain View, though I was lucky enough to see Reznor solo at Bridge School a few months later. The anticipation has been mounting for months…maybe years. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh and Nine Inch Nails Comments: 7 Comments |
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Posted on 07.23.08 by hardrockchick @ 1:19 pm
My professional grade earplugs couldn’t save me from the wailing and screaming of last night’s bands at The Rickshaw. The first band, SF’s The New Up, was really sub par. It’s unfortunate, because I can tell that the female lead singer has one killer set of pipes, they just weren’t being taken advantage of. The rest was rather sloppy. And the dancing was bad. And the flute was weird. Next was MC Rut, or Middle Class Rut, from Sacramento. It’s rare that I see a two piece, and there is usually no middle ground, it’s either good or bad. But, I’d say MC Rut is in the middle. There were times when I missed a bass, or thought the guitar got a little sloppy when the singing got really intense- and this singer is really intense, but at the same time it’s different and kinda charming. That is, when it didn’t borderline on emo, which it did from time to time. Their sound is Jane’s Addiction meets Filter, which is not a bad place to be. The drummer’s heavy breathing on his mic between songs cracked me up. MC Rut have fans that travel to their shows already, and help them carry equipment, etc. This could be good, we’ll see. They have some catchy songs. Before the headliner went on, we noticed a quite preggers woman walking around the stage. It’s always funny when you see a pregnant lady in a bar. Well, it got even funnier, because Ms. 6 Month Preggers is the totally rockin’ bassist for the Burning Brides. Seriously, I was ROFLMAO, or whatever. It was awesome. That baby is gonna RAWK! So, Burning Brides, from Philly, have a very impressive background by virtue of the bands that they have toured with, though they have not seen much commercial or popular success. A Perfect Circle. Fu Manchu. Trail of Dead. Queens of the Stone Age. Eagles of Death Metal. Peaches. This trio is loud loud loud. They are really quite phenomenal live…however, I found that the songs started to blend together. They definitely gave a Nirvanaesque vibe, which come to find out they have been featured on a Nirvana tribute CD, performing ‘Something in the Way’. Ah, I miss grunge music. They are heavy, distortion filled, and definitely satisfy live. The killer was when they signed off at the end. “See you next year, after the baby’s born!”. Teehee. From Flickr: OVERALL: 8/10 Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 07.20.08 by hardrockchick @ 4:29 pm
It’s my first, and apparently last, Pop Roxx. Pop Roxx was a 3 years running monthly party playing a mix of ‘electro-rock-indie-new wave-goth-mod-bastard pop’ music, with buzz bands playing a set somewhere in there. Upon walking in to an empty, cavernous club at 10p, it is apparent why this party might be over. Dead clubs are sad, but it does pick up throughout the night, though never to the level of Bootie or other shows. Pop Rocks candy litters the bars and table tops. Project X is inexplicably playing on the screen in the background…that’s a little sad and serious for visual fodder, dontcha think? Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: None |
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Posted on 07.06.08 by hardrockchick @ 10:44 pm
A free metal festival could not take place in the majority of cities in the world. Total chaos would erupt, as metal heads would converge from miles around, causing traffic jams that would fuel more aggression than they already had to begin with. But for some reason, in Tidal Wave’s eleventh year, it remains metal’s best kept secret. With no signs to direct you there, ample free parking, no security, and bring-your-own-everything, Tidal Wave lives up to it’s name as a powerful force that you didn’t see coming. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 06.27.08 by hardrockchick @ 4:33 pm
It’s the most packed I’ve ever seen The Fillmore. Or, perhaps I usually arrive much earlier and am in the front row, unaware of what is going on behind me. I’m only able to stand in about the 10th row, and it sucks. Damn, I am spoiled. Billy Idol is an icon: the spiky white blond hair, those lips, great bone structure. At 52, he’s kept it up quite well. In this hit laden evening, he manages to do about 8 ‘costume’ changes- sporting different shirts each time. He plays some good air guitar and drums- and would probably beat many of last night’s competitors. There’s lots of fist pumps and dancing around. He’s energetic, and makes a lot of eye contact with the audience, pointing at people further back in the crowd, handing out drumsticks. His voice is still phenomenal, showing no age. Filed under: Live and In The Flesh Comments: 8 Comments |
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