Aug 2014 Pt II – Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, Anti-Folk Tour w/ Helmet + the return of Aerosmith & more

A great Summer month where we attended to two rock festivals in a single day & got to hang with a couple of old legends. Not too shabby ?
Enjoy!

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival – August 9th – Gexa Energy Pavillion – Dallas, TX

Staging an outdoor metal festival in the middle of summer seems like a disaster waiting to happen (especially in Texas). I did a couple of dates on this tour in 2012 and caught it as a fan last year and for the task at hand the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival actually comes together quite well. Security was even kind enough to hand out free water to tenacious fans who were determined to stay near the front of the stages The rest of the audience benefited from ample shade, misting areas, and free Rockstar, which doesn’t do much to stave off dehydration, but getting metal kids hyped up on caffeine was an entertaining sight.

Body Count

Ok, if you don’t know what this is, it’s because you were born in the late 1990’s (or later) but if you were a young person in the early 1990s you recognize Body Count as rapper Ice-T‘s Metal Band who stirred up a world of controversy in the wake of the Rodney King beating and the LA riots that followed with a song off their debut LP called Cop Killer.
If you already knew this,than your next question might be to ask who is actually in this band now besides Ice-T? because sadly most of the original group are all dead and even more tragic, not from old age. Drummer Beatmaster V died of luekemia in 1996, rhtymn guitarist D-Roc died of lymphoma in 2004 & in a case of bloody irony, bassist Mooseman was killed in a random drive-by shooting in South Central LA in 2001.
Ice-T hyped the crowd by mentioning that he plays a cop on TV. The song is much less controversial in 2014 thanks to picturing Ice-T as Fin from Law & Order: SVU while singing “tonight we get even.” Although Body Count may seem tame by today’s standards, the group,  back after almost a decade away put on a great set.

Cannibal Corpse

Cannibal Corpse – a band that while I know practically nothing of, have always been fascinated by. I don’t know a single song name, lyric or album title yet, their a band that I’ve always wanted to experience live. Goes to show the power of aesthetics.
Their fans presented some of the festival’s best people-watching opportunities. Vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher has long, glorious hair that he frequently whipped around in a circular motion — think Willow Smith whipping her hair, only every 30 seconds or so. Corpsegrinder encouraged fans to try headbanging like he does, but assured the crowd that no one could keep up.

He was right, but it was hilarious to see the large crowd try, then get dizzy.
A few fans gave up on headbanging and started dancing as if kicking an invisible hacky sack.

Trivium

Not fucking around in the least with their abbreviated set time, Trivium’s set was one song led right into the next one, these guys were practically flawless in their technical ability to play well. Amazing how it didn’t stop from the minute they stepped on stage until the end. Great band.

Asking Alexandria

Either Asking Alexandria is one of the hardest working/touring bands on the road currently or someone just really wants me to see them – over and over and over again.
I don’t know a single song of theirs, nor do I care to know, but if asked if I’ve heard of the band of have seen them live, I’m forced to answer “yes, & I’ve seen them live EIGHT times now.”

It’s not that their a bad band, it’s just that their isn’t anything special about it. Their an interchangable group of dudes with emo haircuts. A t-shirt band on the wall at Hot Topic – nothing more.

Korn

Another band that after 20 years I still see usually once a year, the difference here is that they still put on a killer show. Either by circumstance or on purpose I still find myself at a Korn show ever so often and no matter which current foray into whatever trend their after, the show always remains solid and today was no different.

Avenged SevenFold

The best act of Mayhem Festival hands down was Avenged Sevenfold. The band rightfully earned its place as a headliner—A7X’s set was everything a fan would expect out of a metal show. There were theatrics and fire, but most importantly, a lead singer who commanded the crowd’s attention. The guitarists were entertaining to watch, but M. Shadows was a sight to see. The singer was constantly in motion, pacing between the onstage risers against a backdrop of a gothic cathedral and pyrotechnics to boot.

…and of course the jewel of any music festival….the fans. However I must disclaim that while Metal and Rock N Roll is outsider music, I don’t know if geography played into it or not, but this crowd was suspiciously conservative. My girlfriend Jessica was prepared for the hot day by wearing short shorts paired with a tiny crop top and endured guys following her taking creeper shots and girls leering at her all day.

(later that night) – The Anti-Folk in Drop D Tour w/ Filter/Helmet/Local H – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX

…ok so TWO festivals in ONE day, outdoors in Texas? Am I crazy? – Answer: exponentially

However, follow my logic – I was only interested in seeing Helmet, I was on the list and it was on the way home. We also had only been at the Mayhem Festival for less than 3 hrs so we still had some fuel left in the tank.
I should say I THOUGHT we were on the list – we weren’t & I really didn’t care enough to argue that point and we were actually headed back to the car when I ran into a friend of mine that was going in. Then I see some guys from Helmet’s crew I recognized, said hello and just followed them in. Problem solved.

Local H

Ok, all disclaimers aside, if this was some gawd-awful one-hit wonder from the 1980s I would’ve been beside myself with nostalgia. But since this was some gawd-awful one-hit wonder from the 1990s, a period I hold mostly in disdain, I however was hoping just to get threw it.  I remember interviewing Local H’s singer in 1997 and he was an insufferable prick, I couldn’t wait for the interview to be over so I could get away from him and go (futile) hit on the girls in Veruca Salt.

As we’re walking in we see a guy we recognize but don’t actually know. We’re both huge wrestling nerds & in that world theirs this fan that has gained some notoreity for showing up to like EVERY show, and he is always somehow in the FRONT ROW at every wrestling show, and just so you can’t miss him, he wears the same red ball cap, backwards Fred Durst style with the same blue work-shirt over white t-shirt that bears his unofficial name – THE SIGN GUY, that stemming from his further attempt at getting attention by bringing along a stack of humorous homemade signs to the events, and again you can’t miss them, because he’s always in the
FRONT ROW. He’s parlayed this into a bit of internet fame – seriously, google WWE Sign Guy and you’ll get a crazy surprise.
So if that didn’t sound annoying enough and his need for attention not transparently desperate enough, when we saw him he was doing this –

Helmet

Page Hamilton and the latest incarnation of Helmet, featuring guitarist Dan Beeman, bassist Dave Case, and drummer Kyle Stevenson.
Knowing their time was short, they quickly locked in their signature groove and it was sort of like getting hit by a Mack truck by a wall of sound that only this band can produce. Fucking amazing.

Was so happy to be upfront, right in front of Paige Hamilton watching them kick so much ass – just one punch after the other. We were so closely pressed against the barricade and against each other that when Hamilton threw a pic into the crowd, our bodies collectively caught it.

Setlist – 

Swallowing Everything
So Long
Crashing Foreign Cars
Welcome to Algiers
Better
Rollo
Unsung
Impressionable
Just Another Victim
The Silver Hawaiian

Encore –

Milquetoast
Wilma’s Rainbow
In the Meantime

Filter

Lastly was the headliners Filter that I could care even less than Local H – Not to mention it had been a long day, but as we were headed for the exit we passed two old friends of mine, Trace & Patrick. I had thought I might run into them, Trace being such a Helmet fan that he named his daughter Paige.
Ok, so I met these guys in 1994, right at probably Filter’s peak so it was a nineties thing that I was willing to stick around for at least one song/one beer for.

First of all I was dismayed by how packed this place was to see this shit. I had been here for several near empty shows from Fu Manchu, The Sword and Anvil but tonight it was sold out for this garbage. Secondly, it occurred to me that I had taken my girlfriend not only to see Cannibal Corpse earlier in the day, but now I had taken her (a folk singer) to a show called the Anti-Folk tour – all in the same day.
The last thing was how ridiculous their singer Richard Patrick looked – Has their ever been someone that suffered more from imposter than this guy. This dude off-stage is clearly an unfuckable nerd that’s been doing his best to look the part besides his natural instincts and short-comings for 20 years now. That certainly counts for something.
One beer down and we were out.

Chris Issak – August 15th –  Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX

Tonight was to serve as a bit of a farewell to Summer – Though we still had months of warm weather to look forward to, school was starting on Monday and for my girlfriend Jessica that meant the start to her first day at her first year as a full-time school teacher.
I wanted to do something cool and different and something that my closest friend Chris and his wife Tammy would be into as well.
She’s also a school teacher and we also had gotten their daughter a pair of tickets for the One Direction concert in a few days so we needed to do a hand-off.
We first met for dinner and headed over to Billy Bob’s, a place that even if Country Music is your first language isn’t something that you would reguarly frequent, it’s mainly for tourist and sometimes its fun to be one in your own city.

We were there to see Chris Isaak but after arriving discovering that we had like 3 hrs before he went on so we decided to indulge in something is all of the maybe dozen or so times I have been to Billy Bob’s over the years I never actually attended the rodeo demostration. Neither had any of them so the “this is our first rodeo” joke began as we headed to the back to watch it all unfold.

It was really intense and very enjoyable and would definitely see it again. Not long after it was showtime as Issak and his band took stage.

He captured the audience’s attention the moment he walked onto the stage. He was wearing a blue sequined suit, after all. But wardrobe aside, he and his band of thirty years dazzled the crowd throughout a 28-song, two-hour set. A set that featured classic Isaak tunes, tributes to the legends of Sun Records, and even a surprise guest in the form of local legend Johnny Reno.
He thanked the audience for coming out to support live music. “Without you, I’d just be wandering around Fort Worth in a sequin suit with nothing to do,” he said. “People would come up to me and ask, ‘Are you a figure skater?’”

Though Isaak didn’t have to wander around town aimlessly, he did wander out into the audience to perform Don’t Leave Me on My Own as Reno then stood up with his saxophone in hand. Reno had played in Isaak’s band for a while in the ’90s, and before that was an original member of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble. Reno played along with Isaak as they strolled through the crowd.

Near the end of the set, Isaak welcomed Johnny Reno back for a five-song set of covers four songs that were as eclectic as the performers on stage. Reno shined on the instrumental Harlem Nocturne and added a bit of swagger to Diddley Daddy.The rockin’ Bo Diddley number had Isaak grinning ear to ear, and featured a scorching organ solo by Scott Plunkett

Setlist – 

Gone Ridin’
Somebody’s Crying
I Believe
Don’t Leave Me on My Own
Notice the Ring
Let Me Down Easy
American Boy
Wicked Game
Goin’ Nowhere
You Don’t Cry Like I Do
Blue Spanish Sky
Harlem Nocturne (Earle Hagen cover)
Diddley Daddy (Bo Diddley cover)
Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash cover)
Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)
Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis cover)

Aerosmith – August 22nd – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX 

Let’s unpack this a bit:
You know who Aerosmith is naturally but let me set this up for ya – My friends Mike & Tim whom I’ve known for 20 years (I met them at an Aerosmith show not-ironically throw the same gentlemen mentioned above in the Helmet story) and they are Aerosmith lifers.
Tim, about 8 years ago, became friends with a pair of super fans, Linda and Michelle, and has maintained a friendship with them.
In that time, Linda has actually gone on to marry drummer Joey Kramer and Michelle is now his assistant on tour and she generously invites Tim & Mike to the shows whenever they are in Texas (or sometimes nearby).

By proximity I’ve been invited to join them a few times and because of that have also become friends with Michelle. So Mike graciously extends his extra ticket to me but asks if I wouldn’t mind allowing his mom who was also going (super cool lady, former co-worker of mine & who was actually also at that Aerosmith show I met them at 20 years ago) to have my backstage pass. Naturally I said yes, not to mention it was her birthday ( but not like it needed to be for me to be convinced to do the right thing). I enjoyed presenting it to her as a birthday gift for which she was truly shocked and excited for which was cool.
Ok, so I was just gonna hang with them until they went backstage but what I didn’t realize is that Michelle was coming out to get them, and what they might not realize is that you only need a pass if your backstage unattended but if your not you don’t need one. So when Michelle came out she escorted all of us backstage to say hello to Joey Kramer before the show.

Joey had just suffered some major physical ailments and it was an altogether miracle that this show was happening at all as it was previously assumed it would be cancelled. This was his first show back.  Hanging out in the hallway I saw Steven Tyler in his dressing room getting into charachter but there was no interaction.
After thanking Joey & Michelle for having us, we filed back into the arena ready for the show to start to discover our seats were in the second freaking row!

Opening the show was former Guns N’ Roses guitar god Slash and his band the Conspirators with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy who appeared onstage to pump out a few hits of their own.

Every bit as physically ageless as the Toxic Twins, Slash certainly looked like he’s been working out, and his famous Gibson Les Paul still rang out clear on Appetite-era touchstones like Night Train and Paradise City.
Kennedy, proved to be a great partner for the axeman. crucially, he was able to hit all of Axl Rose‘s throat-shredding notes without attempting anything close to an impersonation. He kept pointing and fucking with me all night in a mock-lack of participation that was only made more enjoyable when he saw that I caught on.The title track from the band’s forthcoming album, World on Fire, was received relatively warmly.

Intermission hit and the oddest thing happened – While waiting for Aerosmith to come on, this crowd of old rockers, young girls and their moms hot for Steven Tyler and anyone else amassed from his time at American Idol were anticipating a party, a silly party song, Lil Jon’s Get Low came on and I think it got the biggest reaction of the evening, suddenly everyone looked like your parents did after they sent you to bed when their friends came over in the 80s.
Soon the band appeared to really give them something to cheer about –