Rocking with Anvil + Goblin hits the States, RSD 2014 & more

A great month of great music and fun times. I usually spend April in Los Angeles attending the ASCAP Expo & Coachella Music festivals but I’ve grown tired of both and enjoyed some good times in Texas instead. Here goes:

Anvil – April 16th – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX

If you haven’t seen the Sasha Gervasi’s documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Netflix that shit this weekend, you won’t regret it. You don’t have to be a fan of the band or its genre to enjoy the movie, it’s an amazing account of friendship & dedication.
Though I’m a born Metal Head, I, like alot of people didn’t come to the Anvil party until after seeing the movie. Yes they had been doing it for almost 30 years at that point and I was aware of who they were vaguely which is to say not really at all.
Be it the isolation of the Canadian market or the baffling dysfunction that’s plagued their lives & careers (see the movie) they just didn’t get the chance to be on my radar.
Now five years later they’ve since made two more records and are on tour in support of the latest one – Hope In Hell

Full disclosure, an unforgettable documentary a great band still does not make – Led Zeppelin they are not, and not much of the new record really deserves mentioning but I still have seen ever tour since the movie came out and will continue to do so because live, they are so much fun.
You can’t fake the smile that singer/guitarist Lipps Kudrow has on his face the whole show. Sure he could just be really stoned, but it’s so genuine and infectious seeing someone do what they were truly born to do.

Live versions of new tracks “Hope in Hell”, “Eat Your Words” & Bad Ass Rock n Roll” were actually really great & Mothra (dildo solo, must be seen to be believed, see above), and of course the metal anthem of Metal on Metal.
Lips wasn’t as talkative between songs as he has been other nights, but he did joke around about seeing Ozzy recently and accusing Black Sabbath of ripping off Anvil by naming their new album “13”, in reference to their 2007 album “This is Thirteen, whose recording is the center of the film.
Old friends Ian and his brother Liam joined me for this show and was great to hang with those guys. It was middle of the week and sadly there were probably less than 100 people there, but Lipps was still smiling all the way through the show. Good times.

Setlist – 

March of the Crabs
666
School Love
Badass Rock ‘n’ Roll
Winged Assassins
On Fire
This Is Thirteen
Mothra
Thumb Hang
Swing Thing
Hope in Hell
Eat Your Words
Metal on Metal

Encore:

Forged in Fire
Running

Record Store Day – April 19th – Doc’s Records – Fort Worth, TX

I look forward to Record Store Day every year, and I’m happy to report that it seems to grow larger & larger every year. For some it’s the only day they visit a record store, because:
a) They are prompted to
b) It’s a happening
c) To get the new/limited releases

For me, record store culture and vinyl hunting is in my blood and have spent a percentage of my life earnings on the pursuit & capture of cultivating my collection.
I even helped run a mom & pop shop from 1997-2000.
I do most of my shopping online these days and don’t get a chance to do some real crate digging for records – Regardless, this day is no less special and it gets alot of people either back into the actual stores or introduces the medium to a new generation.

Usually on this day, I’m Dj’n an event or at a record store but this year the only obligations I had were to myself to just show up and shop.

Showing up proved more difficult that anticipated as we agreed to meet my bff Chris & his wife at noon, an hour later than what they had originally wanted and then we still didn’t make it until a bit after 1pm. We are dicks.
As we were walking in we see my old friend Randy going in at the same time and spent a little time with him before finding Chris & Tammy.
When we do, they are already about to check out with their purchases and hit the road.
Sucked to dog them, but we had just got there, their was afternoon of great music ahead, kegs of free beer in the corner and Doc’s mom was out back cooking for everyone. We weren’t going anywhere –

The first band we saw was the Cush –

A great band made up primarily of longtime couple Burrette & Gabrielle Douglas. I remember they used to be a band called Buck Jones and one of my oldest friends Brent Miller was their drummer, and then I think they moved to Vermont or something, rebranded as the Cush and has had some minor success. I believe they are now based once again in Fort Worth, and the city are lucky to have them back, a great, great band.

While shopping, I run into another old friend Ashley Cromeens, she’s usually in like 12 bands at any given time so it was no surprise that one of them was playing here today, but no less welcomed. She claims this project, Def Rain is her sole project currently.

A fun, dance-y trance kinda thing, would be more fun in a club where we can actually dance so I’m looking forward to seeing it in a different setting soon.
Check out that Love Symbol LP era Prince poster on the wall to her left – I tried buying/stealing it from the store but alas, it had already been sold.

We did pick up a few records while we there that were exclusive to this year’s Record Store Day:

Motorhead/Aftershock Picture Disc
Devo/Live at Max’s Kansas City

& these two gems below.

Air Show featuring the Blue Angels/Prairiefest – April 26th – Tandy Hills Park – Fort Worth, TX

Jess and I had a great, full day planned. We started out doing something that I haven’t done since I was a kid and that was seeing the Navy Aerial Aviation stunt team the Blue Angels perform at an airshow.

I’ve always been obsessed with aviation and love planes, even worked at an airline for awhile and some of my fave memories as a kid was of my Dad taking me to see these guys and having inflatable Blue Angel planes hanging from childhood bedroom ceiling.

From there we headed over to Tandy Hills for an event Jess suggested – Prairiefest

A free outdoor festival celebrating nature & a great place  to see wildflowers in north Texas.
Kind of like a mini-version of one of those Taste of Enter City Name Here, along with arts, and local food and beverages their were wildflower tours, storytellers and nature-science hikes on rolling hills, and green exhibitors.
And of course music – Though splitting my time between North Texas and Brooklyn, NY the last 8 years I still have never seen two mainstay acts in this area that I’ve heard about for over 20 years – Pablo & Hemphill 7 and Brave Combo.

Pablo & Hemphill 7

Shows you what I know, I didn’t even know they were a reggae band – I really enjoyed them and Jess recommended seeing them in a club where their fanatical following can be really felt and heard.

Brave Combo

How have I never seen these guys before. I’m certain that I’ve been at least one festival that they were performing at & just happened to have missed them. Their from Denton, been around as long as I can remember, do this crazy, awesome polka thing and its a genuine good time. Simpsons creator Matt Groening has claimed that their his favorite band and they even have the distinction of actually appearing in an episode.

(later that evening) Warpaint – Trees – Dallas, TX

So after leaving there I hauled ass home to meet up with Chris and said goodbye to Jess so he & I could have a dude’s night, that we took advantage of by going to a show where the band is made up exclusively of really attractive girls haha.

Seriously though, these girls can play – Chris turned me on to them about four years ago after we saw them open for the XX.
Besides a seriously abbreviated set this year at SXSW, I haven’t seen them perform since so I was looking forward to a headlining set.

The atmosphere they create within seconds is bewitching.

By all means, it shouldn’t work. Live performances are supposed to make you feel inclusive, but the distance you feel from the band makes the experience feel borderline voyeuristic. Their undeniably awkward turn-by-turn attempts at engaging their public shouldn’t be endearing, but it is.
Here’s the thing though: all of the awkwardness, the distance, the coldness and initial confusion goes out of the window the second they start playing. With a rhythm section that possesses you from the waist down with all of the force of an old Motown outfit, you can’t help but be mesmerised by the musicianship on show.

Trading instruments, vocals and centre-stage throughout the gig, they perform renditions of songs that appear to change from night-to-night, inserting riffs and extending songs whenever the mood took them.
You probably already know that actress Shannon Sossamon used to be in the band and her sister Jenny is the driving force on the bass.
Sister Jenny is also unspeakably hot and is just as mesmerizing all her own.

Setlist – 

Hi
Composure
Bees
Biggy
Love Is to Die
Undertow
No Way Out
Keep It Healthy
Disco//Very

Encore:

Drive
Feeling Alright (Jenny on acoustic bass)
Elephants

Goblin – April 27th – Texas Theater – Dallas, TX

Anybody who saw this show or tour in the United States will probably start off their account the same way: I NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE THESE GUYS PLAY
Coming to America last Fall for the first time to play in the band’s almost 40 year legendary career because Phil Anselmo had the awesome idea to have a horror/music festival in Austin and decided you couldn’t have such a thing without the one group that personifies it.

They did a few shows around that gig, and naturally the demand was so intense that tickets sold out immediately and were going for super-high prices.
I guess they were unaware of the original demand in the first place, so to capitalize, they have returned to do a proper tour of the States.
This is one of those bands that you need to see once in your life and I was clearly not the only one that felt that way.
It felt like a High School reunion at this show as it seemed everyone I have ever known ever, was there.

Even our good friend Darren was on board which I couldn’t have been happier about.  Darren has a physical handicap that can make attending live rock shows at times challenging for him, which he doesn’t let stop him, especially if its something he really wants to see.
My good buddy Tony had gotten me a ticket to this show for my birthday and so I went and picked up Darren who I have not seen in person in over 5 years and off we went to Tony’s place.

Always the gracious host, Tony had prepared an amazing lunch for us all to enjoy and it was such a pleasant afternoon getting to catch up with everyone over a great meal. We laughed the entire time until my stomach hurt.

Finally we were off and they couldn’t have been playing a better venue – the Texas Theater – Famous for being were Lee Harvey Oswald was captured, but lately they’ve been hitting home run after another with their bookings of repretory films, themed dance parties & comedy events. A perfect cinematic environment for a group that is the very essence of the power of music in film.