Music

Two Texas Traditions – One great month

The Toadies – December 30th – Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX 

Beloved DFW outfit The Toadies annual day before New Year’s Eve shindig at Billy Bob’s now it’s 7th year (& 8th overall appearance) is not only something locals look forward each holiday season, it now officially has it’s own day in the band’s hometown of Fort Worth.

Long time friends of mine, that I still try to see a few times a year still kicking ass. They are so beloved in this town, it’s always a treat to hear the hometown crowd sing back every lyric. I think of their appearances at Billy Bob’s this was my 6th.

This show is always unique as it straddles a very fine line as they are not the normal demographic of Billy Bob’s clientele nor is their audience whom the majority of have probably only seen the inside of this tourist institution thanks to the Toadies.Though it’s not NYE, it definitely has that year end vibe & is always the last show of the year (at least these last 7 years) for the band so their’s this kinda mean “fuck it” vibe that’s endlessly enjoyable.

Setlist: 

Backslider
Little Sin
Polly Jean
I Come From the Water
Push the Hand
Rattler’s Revival
Song I Hate
You Know the Words
Quitter
When I Die
Hell in High Water
Possum Kingdom
You’ll Come Down
In the Belly of a Whale
No Deliverance
Mexican Hairless
Take Me Alive
Tyler

Encore:  

I Burn
Away
I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover)

Stuff

ZZ Top – December 31st – Choctaw Casino Grand Hall – Durant, OK 

But now it IS New Year’s Eve –

Same three guys. Same three chords. That’ s how Billy Gibbons assessed the ZZ Top 50th Anniversary Tour touching down in Durant, OK just across the Texas border for a NYE blowout.

Gibbons was being modest about the trio’s chord simplicity. Truth is, the band treated a crowd of about 6k to a dazzling display of fret work, squeezing all sorts of heavy, blistering blues rock out of an assortment of cool-looking guitars.

His two and only bandmates this past half century, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard, did their parts well, providing a propulsive, vibrant beat to a parade of classic-rock hits, starting with “Got Me Under Pressure,” ZZ Top’s popular Sam and Dave cover “I Thank You” and the traditional pairing of “Waitin’ for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago,” in all its slow-stomping, guitar-screaming glory.

It was best just to accept things as they are, as Gibbons’ voice took on a weathered beauty, like an old painted barn, as ZZ Top kept blasting through guitar-drenched hits like “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Pearl Necklace” and a sensational “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” all bluesy, boastful and gritty.

This casino crowd was old enough to sing along with a cover of the old coal mining country ode 16 Tons as the band dusted off the old gem.In another MTV classic, “Legs,” they busted out the fuzzy white guitars. As on other numbers earlier, the duo did a few tandem boogie dance steps.

Gibbons’ vocal grizzle fit the down-and-dirty sound of encore opener “La Grange,” which sounded great, as did follow-up pick “Tush” with Hill customarily on lead vocals. Fans got a second encore with Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock.” What they didn’t get was a New Year’s Eve countdown or really any acknowledgement of the holiday & impending end of the year & decade. I wonder if when people bought their tickets they knew that?
I bet when asked “What are you doing for NYE?” – they enthusiastically replied “Ringing in the New Year with ZZ Top !” only for the band to completely done by 10pm (which may have been late enough for some of this crowd).  Hell, with the right transportation they could have been back in Houston by midnight. Happy New Year!

Setlist: 

Got Me Under Pressure
I Thank You (Sam & Dave cover)
Waitin’ for the Bus
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Gimme All Your Lovin’
Pearl Necklace I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
I Gotsta Get Paid
My Head’s in Mississippi
Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis cover)
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
Just Got Paid
Sharp Dressed Man
Legs

Encore:  

La Grange
Tush

Encore 2:  

Jailhouse Rock (Elvis Presley cover)

Pics – 

Roy Turner

My visits to Los Angeles are always an adventure packed with tons of fun, this time was no different.
How about three nights of intimate Pixies shows?

The Pixies – December 1st – No Vacancy – Hollywood, CA 

I’d been to this very unique spot in Hollywood last year while doing some filming for our King’s X documentary. While the place is hopelessly for Hollywood hipsters who think they are in on some major secret that makes them feel special by patronizing the joint, it doesn’t make it’s decor & ambience truly one of a kind. Kind of feels like a Haunted Hotel with bar service. So I was happy to return, especially as the Pixies were gonna make a brief appearance ahead of their 2 intimate nights at the legendary Troubadour. Leave it to the Pixies, to outdo that by playing a place even smaller the night before.

Also to be clear, this isn’t a music venue, it’s very much a hipster bar with a dance floor and theme that’s made to feel like an old Hollywood mansion. The band setup on the “porch” where you would enter the courtyard to do your best Ella Fitzgerald impression. A brief, no frills, but fun mini-set consisting of three songs from their new LP Beneath The Eyrie as well as one of their biggest songs at the end.

Setlist: 

Catfish Kate
On Graveyard Hill
Bird of Prey
Monkey Gone to Heaven

The Pixies – December 2nd-3rd – The Troubadour – Hollywood, CA 

The group is playing only six Close and Personal North American concerts with a rare stop at Troubadour for Opening Night.

Night 1 

When I arrived the line wrapped around the block & I was eagerly excited to get inside. Not only was I about to see The Pixies in a tiny spot (again) but here at this Rock N Roll institution, a place I somehow, in all of my years of galivanting the world in the name of musical adventure, I’d never been here.
Once inside, I was truly taken aback by just how intimate it really is. We had just seen the Elton John biopic Rocketman & of course that story includes his infamous star turn here back in the year of my birth & I couldn’t imagine it was so tiny. Motley Crue played here during the earliest days of their career. Man what I would give to have been at one of those.
But hey, I can’t complain, now I’m here or two glorious nights with one of my fave bands of all time performing on their own terms, swept up in a torrent wave of creativity, improvisation and craftsmanship that was awe inspiring and mind blowing.

There was no small talk or banter from the stage, but the giddy audience didn’t seem upset or disappointed. Instead, fans were entranced and mesmerized by the raw and explosive combination of eclectic talents of the founding members Black Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago, drummer David Lovering and the newest addition to the Pixies lineup, bassist Paz Lenchantin who joined the band permanently in 2016 after touring with them in 2014.

With an expansive and generous set list of over 40 songs over two hours featuring material from their entire career + three covers while diving deep into their seminal catalog of material. All the songs that they performed stood as a testament and reminder of their legacy and enduring popularity that’s impossible to overstate.

Setlist:

Cecilia Ann (The Surftones cover)
St. Nazaire
Brick is Red
Break My Body
Wave of Mutilation
Classic Masher
Caribou
Cactus
On Graveyard Hill
I’ve Been Tired
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
Hey
Los Surfers Muertos
Planet of Sound
All the Saints
Death Horizon
Here Comes Your Man
The Holiday Song
Ready for Love
Bird of Prey
Nimrod’s Son
Silver Bullet
Gouge Away
Bel Esprit
Crackity Jones
Isla de Encanta
Something Against You
Bone Machine
Mr. Grieves
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Catfish Kate
This Is My Fate
Vamos (aborted)
Ed Is Dead
Where Is My Mind?
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Havalina
Daniel Boone
Motorway to Roswell
In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)

Night 2 

The second night began with a false start that they good naturedly laughed off. The show wasn’t quite as long & the place seemed to be more crowded but who can complain as they still performed a whopping 38 songs.

Close to two hours in, Black Francis announced, “We’re not going to do an encore, but we will play a little longer,” which was music to our ears. And so they played a couple of final songs, including one of their most aggressive numbers, the aptly-titled “Rock Music,” and “Debaser,” the latter an indelible pop tune about the Luis Buñel and Salvador Dalí short film Un Chien Andalou

Setlist: 

Vamos (false start, restarted)
Mr. Grieves
Brick Is Red
Nimrod’s Son
Blown Away
The Holiday Song
In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain
Ana
Death Horizon
Here Comes Your Man
Where Is My Mind?
Ready for Love
Daniel Boone
Ed Is Dead
Break My Body
Bird of Prey
Silver Bullet
Havalina
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Gouge Away
Tame
Cactus
Los Surfers Muertos
Hey
Caribou
Debaser
Planet of Sound
This Is My Fate
Catfish Kate
Velouria
Snakes
River Euphrates
On Graveyard Hill
Broken Face
Isla de Encanta
St. Nazaire
Bone Machine

I missed the Pixies during their first incarnation (1987-1992) but have done my best to make up for it since. Now I can add a legendary 3 night stand to the mix. Awesome.

(earlier that day) Beck – Jimmy Kimmel Studios – Hollywood, CA

Ok so earlier that day I (briefly) attended something that I initially thought would be cool (or at least worth my time that maybe quite wasn’t).
I was staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel which is literally across the street from the lot on Hollywood Blvd where they film the Jimmy Kimmel show and it’s end of show concerts. I got an invitation that Beck was playing but it being January (the concerts are generally held outdoors in the studio’s parking lot).
I thought “Cool, gonna see a private mini Beck show & I can walk there” – I wanted to be clear that I was NOT interested in anything to do with being a “seat filler”. You know when you watch TV that’s filmed in front of live studio audience, if you’ve never done it, you might think “Man, I’d love to be a part of that if I’m ever in LA or NYC (or wherever filming of these sorts generally takes place). Unless your the type of person who doesn’t mind trading the majority of your dignity to be near celebrity & can somehow tolerate others where that concept is completely lost, don’t ever do it, it’s a miserable experience.

I didn’t have much to lose as I was literally across the street, so I walked over at the requested “invite” time only to find out after waiting outside for an hour, that yes indeed this was one of those god dammned seat filler things. And even worse, you weren’t even gonna get the whole program (which for me was a blessing as I would have fight my way outta there). I thought, “Ok I can do this brief thing, learn my lesson (again) & gtfo”).  Come to find out after being herded like cattle with the most insufferable group every who’s entire collective self-awareness quotient was ZERO, this motherfucker is playing exactly ONE SONG.

I guess because he’s Beck (yawn) that he didn’t want his “performance” to be anything typical so instead of doing the two song thing most light night acts do, he wanted to do this full on conceptual video thing for the lame new single from his even lamer new album. So all of this was to flaunt his bad ideas on a whim and the dopey saps around me where more than happy to oblige. Never again.

Photos –

Roy Turner

In this article we explore the Sounds that have shaped Goth Culture, present, past & future!

Depeche Mode – September 22nd – Starplex Pavillion – Dallas, TX

I did it – It finally happened: I saw Depeche Mode perform live- For some reason the specific pleasure has escaped after being a fan for over 25 years. Everytime we were in the same town at the same time, something would ALWAYS come up to prevent me from seeing them.
I’ve ever been at multiple festivals they were at & STILL managed to miss them. I did catch Dave Gahan do his solo thing a couple of times in NYC about 15 years ago, but I was finally ready for a spin with the whole deal.

Now Depeche Mode per this article might be a be a band that you would equate more with the 1980’s but they enjoyed their greatest commercial success with 1990’s Violator & it’s follow up 1993’s Songs of Faith and Devotion.
With the latter album it started an LP-every-four-years cycle that still exists to this day leading up to this year’s excellent Spirit that this show is currently part of the tour in support of.

Beginning with Going Backwards they aimed for maximum impact, deviating occasionally from the studio arrangements but almost always in favor of more rather than less. Louder. Bigger. Busier. Admittedly, seas of dedicated fans demand a certain amplification, but the approach was at times exhausting, especially when it risked steamrolling the subtleties and nuance of songs like World In My Eyes

Principal songwriter and sometime singer Martin Gore delivered an emotional version of Home that stood out for its spare simplicity, as did his vocal turns on A Question of Lust and Somebody.

Not least because they were surrounded by so much bombast, older tracks like “Stripped,” the gorgeous new “Cover Me” and a gratuitous but lovely cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” turbo-boosted already reliable anthems like “Never Let Me Down Again” and “Enjoy the Silence” felt somewhat unnecessary no matter how well Gahan sold them with his swagger. It was as if the group, having made its hard-earned way to the top of the heap, was still hustling to justify the huge crowds by abandoning some of the traits that once set it apart.

Setlist –

Going Backwards
So Much Love
Barrel of a Gun
A Pain That I’m Used To
Corrupt
In Your Room
World in My Eyes
Cover Me
A Question of Lust (acoustic)
Home
Poison Heart
Where’s the Revolution
Wrong
Everything Counts
Stripped
Enjoy the Silence
Never Let Me Down Again

Encore:

Somebody
Walking in My Shoes
“Heroes” (David Bowie cover)
I Feel You
Personal Jesus

Drab Majesty – September 11th – Three Links – Dallas, TX

A group that would definitely fall in the future category – I stumbled on to them as I was already in the neighborhood at a separate gig & swung by this venue that my friend owns to discover this intense & visually stimulating freakshow by this futuristic duo known as Drab Majesty.

Comprised of former Marriages’ drummer Andrew Clinco and tourmate Alex Nicolaou, alter egos Deb Demure and Mona D respectively, the two performed tracks primarily from The Demonstration as well as a few songs off their 2015 album, Careless. Slow and brooding, Drab dug into the mesmerizing track for “Hallow” before delving into “The Foyer”, a hauntingly dreamy soundscape that kickstarts Careless.

Harking back to 80’s synth nostalgia, “Too Soon to Tell”‘s slick icy vocals with darkwave undertones flowed seamlessly into Drab Majesty’s contemplative track for “Not Just a Name”, commemorating Deb’s ability to mold his craft from something familiar to work that’s deeply personal and genuine alongside flawless transitions from the upbeat to the somber within his 40 minute set.

Lords of Acid w/ Christian Death – Oct 16th – Trees – Dallas, TX

As your disapproving parents might say, Lords of Acid leave little to the imagination. Their lyrics are unapologetically raunchy and sex-positive and their industrial-flavored dance music pounds with the subtlety of a jackhammer.

Perhaps because of these attributes, Lords of Acid were a key entry-point into the dance music scene as it took shape in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The group’s first two albums, 1991’s Lust and 1994’s Voodoo-U, were particularly influential on the sound and style of early rave culture. In recent months, Lords of Acid have begun reissuing these out-of-print classics on vinyl and now, the Belgian group are on this tour of the States (their first in 6 years) in which they are performing Voodoo-U in its entirety.

Pic here

Dubbed the Sextreme Fest ‘17 tour, the group, ever a rotating menagerie of artists and musicians, the one constant over the years being founder Praga Khan. Lead singer DJ Mea Fischer is powerhouse delivering a tour de force performance of slaying in style & smashing (literally) anything that was in her path & when she ran out of those, she actively went LOOKING for more things to break.

Not out of anger but seemingly out of sheer enjoyment to unleash the strength she was feeling & the band behind her tackled the music with equal attitude.

Assisting Mea on the mic was new addition Devon Disaster, who had joined the band and tour just a month before the show, seemed like she had been here her whole life & brought a veterans’ confidence of equal seductress & submissive.

The Genitorturers – November 5th – Trees – Dallas, TX 

The Genitorturers out of Orlando, Florida are an industrial metal band whom originated during the 1990 Florida hardcore music scene. The band, founded by lead singer Gen, was initially called The Festering Genitorturers, shortening their name thereafter.

In 1993, they inked a deal with IRS Records and released their début album, 120 Days of Genitorture. Since then, they have released: Sin City (1998 Cleopatra), Machine Love (2000 Cleopatra), Flesh Is The Law EP (2002 Cleopatra) and Blackheart Revolution (2009 Retribution Music). The band is currently out on their 25 Years of Depravity tour & Genitorturers wasted no time in diving in to the debaucherous live show they are known for, albeit a bit toned down from their earlier years. Nonetheless they were on top of their game even with a hobbled venue sound system due to circumstances beyond their control. No sign of aging rockers in this band as Gen took to the stage full of vigor, her sinister, sleek performance coupled with her powerful voice domineering the crowd.

Along with pornographic theatrics, they fuse elements of hardcore punk, metal, and industrial electronics into their music. Their provocative live shows have helped bridge the gap between the fetish scene and the music scene. They like to call their live shows the Fetish Music Realm, which utilize audience volunteers and are filled with sexually charged antics.

All systems were go; a hi-octane performance that never let up for a split second. They cranked through a couple dozen songs without any sign of slowing down, with the crowd well in to the show. At this rate they will be going for another 25 years, if not more!

Ministry – November 11th – Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX

Al Jourgensen, the maniac of my nightmares, front man for Ministry, the first band that I truly feared. Sure I was a little nervous first time we saw Slayer when I was 16 & sure my first taste of a mosh pit with Anthrax at 14 was a tad nerve racking but I’ll never forget my childhood friend Chris, who moved away as sophmore only for my family to relocate to his new town our Senior year. By then he had a whole new thing going & he introduced me to 1989’s The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste and it scared the bejesus out of me.

When we went to see them on the Psalm 69 tour they even had a chain length fence separating them from the crowd just to illustrate the potential depravity of the audience, having to protect yourself from your own crowd! It could have been a stunt but it worked & we were hooked. I know that time marches on & I’m glad that after a hiatus, Ministry is back but their was no semblance of that menacing machine that they once were here in this live setting.

Always forward thinking still, they did something very smart by partnering with Death Grips to introduce themselves to the current tastemakers which made for a very interesting night of music (see our separate review of Death Grips here) but by the time Ministry took stage the crowd had thinned considerably.

Inflatable chickens that resemble Donald Trump take the stage. Known as one of the pioneers of Industrial Metal, opens their set with “Let’s Go” and if you’re familiar with the bands albums, you know that vocal effects are common in their sound. I noticed immediately that Jourgensen had those effects turned down and seemingly cleaner vocals. He did have two separate microphones, presumably with different vocal effects. Even Jourgensen seemed surprised by apathetical the crowd was “I’ve never known Dallas to be this fucking tame!”

Sure it was a Saturday night but the post-millenials seemed indifferent & those that came for Ministry seemed old & it was more like date night for former goth kids turned parents. At best Ministry just seemed like a pretty good Metal band with a muscular take on dance music, at worst, they felt like a bad Prong cover band. Al I love you but your bringing me down. Thanks for the memories.

Setlist –

Punch in the Face
Antifa
Rio Grande Blood
Señor Peligro
LiesLiesLies
Wargasm
Bad Blood
N.W.O.
Just One Fix
Thieves
So What

Encore:

Gates of Steel (DEVO cover)

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Erica Vincent
Jen Cray