Metal November w/ Special Motley Crue Club Gig + Judas Priest, Slayer, Exodus, Metal Comedian Brian Posehn & more (Nov/2014)

A crazy month of Metal – the hits just keep on coming –

Motley Crue – November 1st – Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX

On their final tour (they took a blood oath & formed a legal pact so to that I’m actually convinced) Motley Crue, a band that has provided the soundtrack to so much of my personal history that I feel like the unofficial 5th member of the band. I saw the tour over the summer & took my hetero lifemate Chris for whom Motley was the catalyst of how we met & witnessed a great retrospective complete with over-the-top spectacle and bittersweet ending.
When we were leaving the show we had no choice but to accept that was probably the last time we would see the Crue but entertained the idea of trying to see it somewhere else before it ended.
So imagine my surprise when just a few months later I hear that they are returning to Dallas but under very different & exclusive circumstances.
To unpack things a bit here – you’ve probably seen a series of Dodge commercials all year long that feature the band and some of their songs & that’s because their entire final tour is sponsored by Dodge who are celebrating their 100th year as a company.

To help mark this occasion enter Richard Rawlings, star of reality show Fast & Loud that details the growing empire of Gas Monkey Garage who are now opening a larger venue Gas Monkey Live, just a few hundred yards from their current Gas Monkey Bar & Grill.
So to celebrate Dodge’s 100th anniversary & the opening of the new venue how about a private concert by legendary rock band MÖTLEY CRÜE?

But how do you get in? – That was a question that plagued me for weeks as I couldn’t imagine getting to see the Crue in such a small setting nor seeing the show without Chris, I was on a mission to find out.
They made the invites exclusive to Dodge owners of any classic or newer model Dodge Charger, Challenger and Viper to show off their vehicles at this one-and-only car show and concert. The event was free, as the $100 vehicle deposit due at registration was refunded on site. The car show package included up to two general admission passes to the event and concert at what most likely is the most intimate venue MÖTLEY CRÜE has played in decades.

It was so commercial & corporate that it hurt (& I think as part of their deal with Dodge, they were obligated to do a few of these gigs this year) but when the four members pulled up in Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats with more than 30 years of swagger, it was difficult not to get excited.

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Having rushed here from Mesquite where we were attending the World Class Wrestling reunion with the Von Erichs, we made it just in time for their grand entrance.
Then we made an entrance of our own into the new Gas monkey Live, a very nice, new place that only holds around 850 people, easily the smallest gig the Crue has performed since the early 1980’s and we couldn’t be more proud/excited to be here to see them play such an intimate show.

Besides the obvious smaller stage, the show itself in terms of the setlist stuck pretty close to the touring version as I assumed this would be an abbreviated set, but besides not being able to do most of the pyro or Tommy Lee’s insane rollercoaster drum solo it was pretty much faithful to the big arena show. Obviously their was no need to transition to a smaller B Stage for the encore (as the touring version’s climactic end includes) as they were already on a small stage!
They cut the touring opener Saints of Los Angeles but the rest remained as did their ability to still kick total ass.

Setlist – 

Wild Side
Primal Scream
Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
Looks That Kill
On With the Show
Too Fast for Love
Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room (Brownsville Station cover)
Without You
Mutherfucker of the Year
Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols cover)
Dr. Feelgood
In the Beginning/Shout at the Devil
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Live Wire
Too Young to Fall in Love
Girls, Girls, Girls
Kickstart My Heart

Encore:

Home Sweet Home

I was grateful that we were able to make it and were invited. In spite of not being an owner of a new Dodge anything, I had done some social media ambassadorships for Dodge over the summer that led to my invitation and was so happy to be a part of such a cool event. Leaving I couldn’t help but feel like I did over the summer, is this really the last time I’ll see the Crue? I surely hope not.

Judas Priest & Steel Panther – November 6th – Allen Event Center – Allen, TX

The Crue AND Judas Priest in the same week?! – Welcome to 80’s Metal Heaven – I was very excited about this show for several reasons:
Namely the last time Priest were in town they came to this same venue a few miles north of Dallas and it was one of the best experiences I had that year.
Next, I was anticipating a fun night with my old friend Chris Adcock who I’ve not seen nor spoken to in over 10 years, who loves Metal & we had recently spoke on the phone but this would be our first outing in over a decade.

Another thing was that the mighty Steel Panther were opening the show! In my recent talks with Chris we had bonded over how ridiculous & ridiculously awesome they are so this was perfect. I was eager to see how the normally very conservative Republican-leaning crowd was gonna react to their schtick.

“The Priest is back,” Halford crowed screamed and the claim rang true as new numbers like the set opener Dragonaut, Halls of Valhalla and March of the Damned sounded quite at home adjacent to old crowd pleasers.Halford was in fine voice throughout, especially on the latter. where it becomes evident how he inspired a whole school of imitators.
His stage presence was as nonplussed as ever. Mostly he paced the stage & often wandered in the backstage area to change from one S&M-looking jacket to another. At some points, he started singing a few bars before emerging from the wings.
The dual guitar work of Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, who with his first recorded work on Redeemer of Souls has proven to be a worthy successor to Downing. They positively soared during Victim of Changes & Love Bites, a song that hadn’t been on a Priest set list since 1986, you got to see how much of a badass the underrated Tipton is.

Of course what would a Priest show be without Halford emergingon his Harley for “Hell Bent for Leather ?
Pantera drummer & local stalwart Vinnie Paul who was sitting directly in front of us yelled his approval.

Setlist –

Dragonaut
Metal Gods
Devil’s Child
Victim of Changes
Halls of Valhalla
Love Bites
March of the Damned
Turbo Lover
Redeemer of Souls
Beyond the Realms of Death
Jawbreaker
Breaking the Law
Hell Bent for Leather

Encore #1

You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

Encore #2

Living After Midnight
Defenders of the Faith

Brian Posehn – November 8th – Hyena’s Comedy Club – Fort Worth, TX

Second time this week we were running late from an indie-wrestling show to catch something else Metal related.
The Crue, Priest & now Heavy Metal Comedian – Brian Posehn

We managed to make it time to the late show, his second sold-out show of the day and four total for the weekend. These show served as pick-up dates for his appearance at the Fun Fun Fun fest in Austin. That ironically was the last time I saw Posehn perform when he played that festival a few years ago, going on right before Slayer. Jess had never seen him & we had been talking about going to a comedy show so this was perfect.

Besides his love of Metal the bulk of his material can be boiled down to the basic idea that flatulence is funny. It’s simplistic stuff, for sure, but there’s something endearing about Posehn’s sophomoric outlook, which also focuses on subjects like weed and masturbation. But Posehn, is 48 years old, and as he explains he doesn’t get high anymore, and he masturbates much less frequently, leading him to compare weed and his wiener to Buzz and Woody from Toy Story 3. (“They’re like, ‘What happened? You used to play with us all the time!’”) So, yeah, he’s grown up a little, but that doesn’t make him any less funny. Posehn is your old nerdy high school friend who’s the same dude he was when he was 17 and still likeable. Much smarter than he lets on and one of hell of a storyteller, his stand-up deals in bathroom-graffiti witticisms and boozy tall tales and pairs best with a cheap beer or three—because even when he broaches serious subjects, this is proudly puerile stuff. Together his laconic delivery and trademark snarky tone always hint at a fart joke lurking around the corner.
After expressing fear that his son will grow up targeted by bullies like he did, Posehn explains how passing gas worsens when you’re pushing 50: “Every fart smells like the final fart.” Some things never change. – Good times.

Slayer/Exodus/Suicidal Tendencies – November 19th –  Verizon Theater – Grand Prairie, TX

Ok, I guess when it rains it pours right? What a way to finish up a month of non-stop Metal with an awesome triple-bill headlined by Slayer!
After having such a blast at Priest and catching up, Chris Adcock was once again joining me for this gig.
This was a lineup that was not to be missed by anyone who has truly been a fan of heavy metal. All three bands collectively have 100 years of writing, recording, performing, and influencing the genre. Secondly, the array of hits that spans across these acts are enough to get anyone headbanging.
Originally I was set to photograph all three bands in addition to reviewing the show for this blog but then came several complications as it always tends to be when dealing with this venue.
Chris & I show up and they have two tickets for us (that were not together) and for some reason my name that was on the photo pass list was suspiciously scratched off. It’s not like I don’t have some idea of what happened – For one their is an employee that works here that historically doesn’t like me telling her how it is over the years so she could have been the culprit, or it could have been the predatory nature of some of the current staff members (volunteers as I call them) of some local rags that I used to right for.
Regardless, I did have to take the camera back to the car which really pissed me off but I was able to get our seats together and get us inside just as Exodus was starting.

One of my all-time favorites and one of the first bands I ever saw live, Exodus came back LARGE this year returning with classic era singer Steve “Zetro” Souza and killer new LP Blood In Blood Out that was one of my faves of this year. I was anticipating their set as much if not more than any of the three bands here tonight that was sadly reduced to a mere 20 mins that was riddled with sound issues not of the band’s vilition.

Setlist – 

Black 13
Blood In, Blood Out
Blacklist
Bonded by Blood
The Toxic Waltz
Strike of the Beast

Next came Suicidal Tendencies, a band that was always more punk and had that Southern California vato image and it was my interest in skating when I was younger that led me to their music. Admittedly it wasn’t until they had more Thrash-leanings in the early 90s that really got my attention.

Launching into You Can’t Bring Me Down, the sound hadn’t improved (and in fact it seemed worse than ever) the band really does feel like more of a solo project of leader/singer Mike Muir as he was always the face/driving force of the band. The band is down to him and besides guitarist Dean Pleasants, a rotating rhythm section that tends to change with every tour.
Although Pleasants has been in the band almost 20 years, he will always have to play 2nd fiddle to Classic Era guitarist Rocky George. A band who helped pioneer crossover thrash, Muir seemed as agile today as he was back in the mid-’80s & projected fantastic charisma despite losing bassist Tim Williams who passed away a few months ago. Muir’s stage antics always seemed more silly than menacing and that is one thing that certainly hasn’t changed.

Setlist –

You Can’t Bring Me Down
Freedumb
War Inside My Head
Subliminal
Possessed to Skate
I Saw Your Mommy
Who’s Afraid?
Cyco Vision
How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
Pledge Your Allegiance

Now it was time for the Main Event – If you’ve never seen Slayer, despite all their recent changes, it’s Metal incarnate Their opening was simple yet super-metal — a slow reveal of a the band’s silhouettes behind a curtain that was lit up in blood-red lights with spinning Slayer emblems. The reveal was sweet and slow; one that quickly changed pace with the start of “World Painted Blood” and a background of four giant inverted crosses hanging from the ceiling.

The sound (magically) improved by the time they reached their third number – Kerry King was impressive as always, nailing his killer guitar solos and giving fans up front a fantastic vantage point. However, while you could hear King’s solos the best, you could rarely hear Holt’s parts. Was this an ego thing on King’s part? I wouldn’t put it past him. While Holt, who also performed with the band he’s known for Exodus at the beginning of the show and has been doing as excellent of a job as anybody could be expected to do filling in for departed guitarist Jeff Hanneman – an act that is impossible to follow.

Maybe that’s why this show was so under attended? Some say it was just under promoted and to that I say hardly – I needed not to worry that our seats originally were not together as once we entered the theater, we pretty much had our pick of wherever we wanted to sit as the place was less than a third full.
Maybe it was a combination of purists not feeling that this is really Slayer without Hannemen nor original drummer Dave Lombardo whom if your a Metal fan he’s THE DUDE – along with a really high ticket price & also this venue just really blows and is not really the place to see a Metal show. It’s expensive, parking is inconvenient & also absurdly expensive and the place is just really sterile and no fun.
Some call this Slayer-lite, and thought I miss Hanneman & Lombardo as much as anyone, when it comes to the current live incarnation of Slayer their isn’t anything Lite about it.
The exceptions I have is that they tend to come through every year (with the exception of last year’s rarities set) with typically the same setlist and the act though still is not one to miss, just doesn’t carry the same urgency as it once did.

Setlist –

World Painted Blood
Postmortem
Hate Worldwide
Die by the Sword
Chemical Warfare
War Ensemble
Mandatory Suicide
Necrophiliac
Spill the Blood
Hell Awaits
At Dawn They Sleep
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
Disciple
Seasons in the Abyss
Snuff
Dead Skin Mask
Raining Blood
Psychopathy Red
South of Heaven
Angel of Death

Photos – 

Roy Turner
Joe Bernard
Kevin Estrada