#2011 – Tricky-Kid.com

Trickykid Top 20 LPs of 2011

Ok so every year around this time, people start making their Best of list(s) which can be entertaining or completely unneccesary depending. I like to have fun with it and its a bit of a thrill to look back and see what provided my soundtrack for the year. I disclaim that these are/are not arguably the best records to have come out this year (and some were even released late 2010) but these are the albums that shaped my 2011: I had to expand to a Top 15 as an indication that it was a very good year for music.

Hip Hop

10)

7) Atmosphere

6) Wu tang Clan/Raekwon

4) Talib Kweli/ Gutter Rainbows

3) The Roots/Undun

2) Saul Williams/Volcanic Sunlight

2) DJ Shadow – The Less you know

1) Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

Electronic

3) IAMX/Volatile Times

2) Britney Spears/ Femme Fatale

1) Lykke Li

Top LPs

20)

19)

18) Joe Lally/Why Should I Get Used to it

17) Human League

16) Juliana Hatfield/There Is Always Another Girl

15) Tres Mts/Three Mountains

14) Foo Fighters/Wasting Light

13) Steel Panther/Balls Out

12) Roxette

11) 311/Universal Pulse

10) Mike Doughty/Yes and Also Yes

9) PJ Harvey

8) Gang of Four – Content

7) Cake – Showroom of Compassion

6) TV On the Radio

5) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi/Rome

4) The Death Set/ Michel Poiccard

3 Motorhead/The World is Yours

2) Bjork – Biophilia

1) Anthrax/Worship Music

The Big Four of Thrash Metal finally comes to the States! (West Coast) (Apr/2011)

Since we got here, we hit the ground running, first with the Revolver Golden God Awards, then two nights of Prince and then now today we are taking a ride out in the desert to one of the country’s premiere outdoor venues to witness the culmination of a 30 year dream of all four bands of Thrash Metal, the only genre I can claim as my own – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, playing together for the first time ever in the United States.

The Big Four of Thrash Metal – Empire Polo Fields – April 23rd – Indio, CA

It was strange to be taking that long drive out to the Coachella Valley like I had done 9 of the last 10 years in April, without the vibe/buildup of the Coachella Festival experience (that this year’s edition was just held the previous weekend) and that we were about to have a completely different experience and memory of this now almost sacred ground and witness something for my money to be even more special.
For one day, the site of the most prestigious music festival in North America became the center of the metal world as the Big 4 Festival materialized for its one and only time in the United States after successful Big 4 gigs in Europe last Summer.

After the rigors of parking and getting our credentials and clearing security we were finally on the grounds and ready to take this in.
Erin had never been out here before so it was great to show a first-timer.
The outdoor setting, an oasis in the desert that had drawn an entire community of men and women who bonded over nothing other than a shared love of the very canon of heavy music was home that night to something special.

An aspect I am most appreciative to Goldenvoice about is the lack of over-saturation of sponsors or flagrant “branding.” The aforementioned Playstation area and some of the other corporate residency was never distracting or annoying. Avoiding commercialization when featuring four of the most popular bands in the world is silly, but like I said before the value of the event and the sincerity of the history of this one-time gig never felt compromised. The music and the legendary bands that were the centerpiece of the day were never marginalized.

We make our way backstage to get settled, Trickykid was one of the sponsors for one of the tuning suites backstage and this time the Curse of just missing Taylor – was nowhere to be found, as one of the first things we see is Taylor Momsen walking around back there in a Metallica shirt and no pants, and it appeared maybe not much else:

There is no one in the freaking world right now as sexy as her – Ok so now down to business:

Anthrax –

The order of bands followed its way up the poster – and make no mistake about it, as if you didn’t already know, this wasn’t a festival of equality, this was from beginning to end a Metallica production with three opening acts, but having said that, the sets never felt abbreviated.
Anthrax kicked things off pretty early at 4 p.m. with Caught in a Mosh and I almost immediately got emotional. This is the only truly American musical art form since jazz and the only one I claim as my own since I’ve lived it since its beginning. If you had told me and my buddy Steve when we were 14 and my sister was dropping us off to see Exodus and Anthrax, that 20 years later you would be out in the California desert with all 4 bands and at a working capacity and being literally onstage with these guys, our heads would have caved in.
This and the longevity of it all swelled as pride within me and I was beaming.
Equally proud of Anthrax who have just totally got their shit together this year. After being in pieces for so many years they have returned so large and unthinkably strong with vocalist and the person you want singing for Anthrax, Joey Belladonna and perhaps their best record ever, Worship Music. I’m not sure if its just Belladonna’s return, who sounds better than now he has in the band’s 30 year history and the dude hasn’t aged a day – He looks exactly the same! or it gave the band the kick in the ass it needed or just the need to want to do their best in front of their peers, and also the only band on the bill not from California so they came to represent andt this is a band totally reinvigorated and literally back from the dead.

In contrast with other outdoor festivals, the Big 4′s powerhouse lineup meant that the crowd did not have to work its way into showing enthusiasm and letting the music take hold. While the crowd grew larger as the day progressed the right atmosphere was always present – I just really can’t say it any better than that – and especially for Anthrax, this was easily the biggest show the band has ever played in America.Setlist:

Caught in a Mosh
Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
Madhouse
Among the Living
Antisocial (Trust cover)
Indians
Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t
A.I.R.
Metal Thrashing Mad
I Am the Law

Megadeth

The crowd officially enthused; Megadeth continued the day’s music -Their slot time seemed to make sense too as if they went on right before Metallica it could have potentially agonized things and secondly no one wants to see Slayer in the daylight – so this was a perfect fit.
The sincerity of the performers was not lost in appreciation of the reception from the fans, and as Dave Mustaine and Megadeth took stage in the late afternoon it was clear that the unique experience that was promised at the beginning of the year had truly taken shape.
I won’t bore you with what you probably already know about Mustaine’s history with Metallica and the 30 years of acrimony (largely coming from Mustaine) that somehow until recently still existed. Megadeth playing with Metallica? – This would have been unthinkable even just two years ago. And one could argue that the two camps made nice in the interests of posterity and prosperity but we were privy to a pre-show photo session and experienced the vibe first hand with some photos you will see later in this post and it just seems that for whatever reason, all of that is over. It was like seeing Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels shaking hands in the ring.

And they came to play too and played well. Their was something very expectant of their performance from the crowd and something even more sinister about their delivery.

Erin made it clear that she didn’t really like them – she enjoyed Anthrax who she was somewhat familiar with and she equates with Hip-Hop which she likes.

Setlist:

Trust
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Wake Up Dead
Poison Was the Cure
She-Wolf
Sweating Bullets
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

Slayer

The sun began to set for Slayer and shit was getting real. Their is just something imposing about a Slayer crowd who are undeterred and ready to strike and very, very vocal. So it felt like the sun was setting on all of us haha.
Another point of praise is that the downtime between sets never deviated significantly from the posted schedule and kept the crowd very happy. As with most metal shows there can be some rough patches in the crowd, but from my perspective security did not seem to intervene to the point where it detracted from the enjoyment of the show, and they are to be commended on helping keep people safe but not turning the mosh pit into a police state (something that can happen all to often).

Slayer didn’t come without their own dramas as a big question mark was if guitarist Jeff Hanneman was gonna be able to perform. He had to take a temporary leave of absence due to contracting a rare flesh-eating disease, necrotizing fasciitis. How tragic would it be for the fans after waiting all these years to get these four bands together and here it was finally happening only to be served a Hanneman-less Slayer? Not to mention how tragic for him to miss playing the biggest show of the band’s career in America and personally this was a bit of hometown show for them as Los Angeles is only a few hours away. I wish Jeff a speedy recovery, but I think even he would have to agree that that’s about the coolest-sounding disease a Slayer guitarist could possibly contract. believed to have been caused by a spider bite.

(Editor’s Note: More tragedy struck the band as almost one year later of this show – Armand “Butts” Crump who was Kerry King’s guitar tech, beloved member of the whole Metal community and all around badass, whom also allowed me to take the above life-changing photo, passed away, way too soon. I only met Butts the first time at this show and only a few more times after this, but he was teasing me about everything in the first two seconds in a rapport that would carry over to when they took this to the East Coast and until the last time I saw him at a Slayer show in Austin later in the year. So long pal.)

Ok so the faint sound of the clank of Kerry King’s signature chain adornment that signaled their arrival. The question of Hanneman was immediately answered as we saw Gary Holt from Exodus coming out in his place. Their wasn’t some loud groan because I think most expected it and take nothing away from Holt who is a total badass in his own right, but for the sake of solidarity and this special evening, we wanted Hanneman to play and I felt bad for him.
The band ripped into a fairly new song, World Painted Blood but went onto classics like War Ensemble and Silent Scream.

And what’s this? After a brutal set that just tore a fucking hole in the desert, out for the encore comes Jeff Hanneman and the one-two combo of South of Heaven and Angel of Death. The crowd (and myself) went positively batshit

Their was this young dude who had come all the way from Argentina next to us that was almost as entertaining as the band and who could barely speak English. When Jeff walked out this kid starts losing it and in half cry-speak in broken English starts shouting “Hanneman, its Hanneman!!!” and looking over at us to make sure we notice as we had a brief conversation about the debatable issue if he would appear. For whatever reason this is the single main thing that I remember from the day and the emotion in his voice has stayed with me.
A strong finish that had the crowd primed for the main event.

Setlist:

Word Painted Blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Postmortem
Raining Blood
Dead Skin Mask
Silent Scream
America
Circle of Beliefs
Seasons in the Abyss
Snuff

Encore:

South of Heaven (w/ Jeff Hanneman)
Angel of Death (w/ Jeff Hanneman)

Metallica

Now you had to have a different special pass to be on the stage’s wings during Metallica, once again if their was any doubt who was putting this thing on so we were a little bummed that after spending all day up here we had to resume down to the masses. However, as Metallica’s signature Ecstasy of Gold intro came on the screen and the thousands of people behind me all sang along with Morricone’s soundtrack it felt like nothing I had experienced prior, even as a Metallica veteran. I called my friend Ryan for whom Metallica is a religion and one of the only times I’ve seen them without him, just so he could hear it and share if only a brief moment of it with me.
For the previous four hours there was a progression toward those first few notes of Creeping Death and the arrival of America’s metal pride and joy.

They played a stupefying set of 18 songs which encompassed their entire career.Even playing Orion in a touching tribute to former bass player Cliff Burton. James spared no moment to show endearment toward the crowd.
I have to show some endearment/gratitude right now to Erin and I normally wouldn’t share something this personal but its just too good not to share.
Ok so I know that a big moment is coming up not to mention that I don’t want to miss one second of this show but I have to piss so bad my back teeth were floating, I mean as in like absolute agony. This was stupid, I couldn’t even enjoy the show any longer I had to go so bad plus it was freezing now in the desert night making matters worse. So a compromise of time and dignity was made (that was actually her idea) – I had been drinking all day and she’s from out in the country so certain scruples were over-looked as we proceeded with our mission. We were in a comfortable space where no one was within 10 feet of us from all sides and it was so dark that you couldn’t really make anything out till you were right on top of it. We used this to our advantage as she said “Just keep looking straight ahead” as she gave me her hoodie to dangle in front of me. She then while I’m holding the hoodie and looking straight ahead as I was told, frees my aching penis from my pants takes our empty beer cups with one hand and directs my penis into one of them with her other hand. She is literally pissing for me! – and here’s the fucking bonus round – I had to go so bad that I filled BOTH cups and she was able to take my penis out of the first cup and place it into the second cup without spilling a drop from the first cup! Totally trashy I know, but totally amazing nonetheless.

Ok so, as the show reached a climax, the stage finally went black to provide a moment long enough to absorb the power of live music and the shared connection. We all knew what was next and it came together as a massive jam session of all the day’s performers on the Diamond Head song Am I Evil?
In introducing the members of the other three bands immediately prior to the performance, James said, “Can you believe it? Thirty years, man I don’t know how many of you have been around that long, you know?! It doesn’t matter; you’re here right now to see the ‘Big Four,’ and we’re getting this prepared for a big jam, alright?
Before starting, James made me laugh outloud (as he often does) by sarcastically asking “Is everyone’s hair ok?”.

While there are far more pressing matters to an adult in the world today, for the 10 minutes I had an opportunity to see Kerry King, Scott Ian, Dave Mustaine and Kirk Hammett stand almost shoulder to shoulder and shred it felt as if everything else was collectively insignificant.
I’m gonna let James speak here now as this sums it up best – This is word for word of a recording I made from the show:

“We just wanna take the time to say ‘thank you’ to all of you metal fans out there who have supported all the bands — not only the ‘Big Four,’ but the big however many out there. There’s many, many other bands that have been around as long as us, and, unfortunately, broke up because of business or some other crap. There’s a lot of great bands out there and we’d like to celebrate all of them, and especially the ‘Big Four’, getting out here and jamming, and just saying ‘thank you’ to the world of metal fans for just giving us your support, giving us your heart and giving us your passion, man, ’cause that’s what it is for us.”

Metallica closed out the show after this with two songs from their first album Kill ‘Em All fittingly after just acknowledging their NWOBHM beginnings to complete the career retrospective. The historical show closed with more gratitude from Hetfield and a “see you next time” which opens up plenty of room for speculation.

Setlist:

Creeping Death
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fuel
Ride the Lightning
Fade to Black
Cyanide
All Nightmare Long
Sad But True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Orion
One
Master of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Encore:

Am I Evil? (w/members of Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth)
Hit the Lights
Seek and Destroy

Four legendary bands and a sea of their fans made the Empire Polo Fields a community that celebrated one of music’s most unique genres and its rich history. Not only am I extremely satisfied to have been part of the celebration, but also in that I feel it was done in a way that provided the best opportunity to enjoy to show and respected everyone in attendance.

(Editor’s Note: …and as we all now know, that they decided to do it one more time on the East Coast for a legendary day at Yankee Stadium that I’m also proud to say that I got to be a part of….stay tuned for the East Coast post of the Big Four)

Photos –

Roy Turner
David Andrako
Dave Bullock

The 3rd Annual Revolver Magazine Golden God Awards (Apr/2011)

.The 3rd Annual Revolver Magazine Golden God Awards – Club Nokia Theater – Los Angeles – April 20th

Arrival –

So after some strategic parking we make our way to the sprawling downtown complex that was waaay more over the top than I had anticipated. I grew up in a small town in Texas, so for a city to have multiple arenas is one thing, but to have several on the same block was intense. I’ve been coming to Los Angeles for years but have never made it down to the Staples Center complex. I tried to attend MJ’s funeral a couple of years back so we were seeing all of this for the first time. The show was held over at the Club Nokia Theater and we walk over there and grab our tickets at Will Call. I turn around after not seeing it the first time, to see a full on Red Carpet (or in keeping with the Metal motif, black carpet in this instance) event going on behind us.

Again, I totally underestimated this event, as we see limo after limo pull up, crowds screaming, a full media blitz (the event will air on VH1) the works. In a sea of nothing but old dudes in black I see only three females, but if I could pick any three, these would be my choices: I see my girl Taylor Momsen with Jenna Haze (Holy Shit!) and then turn to see Sasha Grey (Holy Fucking Shit!) who is actually interviewing William Shatner – we are off to a fine start:

The Show – It starts with another entry into:

Interactions with Dave Grohl in 2011 #3

Dave Grohl starts the night coming out and hitting play on a jukebox, which for some reason played Justin Bieber. And then walked off, and that was his entire contribution to the show. Was hoping he was gonna stick around and rock.

Then the perfect host for the show, Chris Jericho proceeds to come out and crush the boombox with a baseball bat. Primarily known as a WWE wrestler (and a recent ill-advised stint on Dancing with the Stars) Jericho is known as a devoted fan of all things Metal and he’s great on the mic.

So after he bashes the boombox, does a brief (but awesome) monologue introducing the show before his cover band, Fozzy opens the show with a metal medley (which will air on Vh1)

Setlist:

Children of the Grave/Black Sabbath
Stand Up and Shout/Dio
Wrathchild/Iron Maiden
No More Tears/Ozzy
For Whom the Bell Tolls/Metallica
Freewheel Burning/Judas Priest
Primal Concrete Sledge/Pantera
God Pounds His Nails/Fozzy

After another monologue, Jericho introduced Robb Flynn and Wayne Static to give away the Epiphone Best Guitarist Award:

– WINNERS: Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)

Nominees
– John 5 (Rob Zombie)
– Dan Donegan (Disturbed)
–Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind)
– Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)
– Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)

To show what a freaking square I am, and how foreign the Hot Topic generation is to me, I had never even heard of Avenged Sevenfold, and they looked like Emo douchebags so I didn’t really care, but what was intriguing was the groundswell of support. Every freaking kid here was wearing an A7X shirt, and when the nominees list was named everyone gave each nominee a courtesy clap, but when A7X was announced, the place went batshit.

Next up, David Coverdale comes out to award the Comeback of the Year: – It was awesome to hear that guy say the words Faith No More, who of course I was rooting for, if for nothing to see them make an appearance which they surely wouldn’t have even if they had won and I’m quite sure they didn’t know/care they were even nominated.

– Winners: Murderdolls

Nominees
– Accept
– Faith No More
– A Perfect Circle
– Soundgarden
– System of a Down

Right after accepting their award, the band introduced the Alice Cooper Group. I have always wanted to see Alice Cooper live, and have never had the chance to. Now, much like KISS, the music of Alice Cooper will prob not be historically revered, but his live show is something of legend, not to mention, I’ve always thought he was real sharp and I have alot of respect for him so I was pleased to be finally seeing him live, even if it was in such a sterile environment. Obvious fan Rob Zombie joined him for the inevitable School’s Out:

Setlist:

Under My Wheels
Eighteen
Is It My Body
Schools Out (with Rob Zombie)

Rob Zombie presented Alice Cooper with The Golden God Award.

Next up, Mike Portnoy and Charlie Benante came out to present the Best Live Band award: – Though Avenged Sevenfold was a nominee, and again the fans shook the rafters when their name was mentioned, I think the only thing that prevented them from revolting at their loss was that presenter Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) filled in on drums on their recent tour.

– Winners: Rammstein

Nominees
– Avenged Sevenfold
– Gwar
– Iron Maiden
– Megadeth
– Sevendust

This was followed by Jamey Jasta coming out to introduce Asking Alexandria who were the epitome of everything I hate right now with popular rock music. This was total mall shit – They were all really young dudes, so I give it up to them for doing their thing, that I’m sure they will grow out of eventually but for now, shitty name, shitty sound, and just all around generic and forgettable.
Early on in the set, the singer actually dropped his mic and if rolled under the drum riser. Dude dodged for it as fast as he could, it was hilarious. They did bring out Sebastian Bach for a rendition of Youth Gone Wild however suffering another embarrassing moment, was they kept missing the opening cue from Bach. When he introduces the song by going “We are the Youth (drum break) – Gone (another drum break) – Wild!! – (song starts) – the drummer wouldn’t respond with the drum break so he could continue the intro and Bach kept looking over at him, and it took like 4 tries to get it right. Luckily for them the show was not airing live.

Setlist:

The Next Episode
Morte et Dabo
Youth Gone Wild (Skid Row cover w/ Sebastian Bach)

This was followed by a tribute to the fallen heroes of metal, which in turn brought out Wendy Dio and Geezer Butler. This was to be expected, but what followed was kinda confusing/unnecessary. Corey Taylor (Slipknot) just seems like this super likable dude that everyone shoots pool with and is just everywhere. So I guess to have him involved they found him something to do and that was to give The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award to Motley Crue. So Wendy Dio and Geezer Butler came out to introduce someone else to give the award that bears her late husband’s name on it, to them?? – Why couldn’t/wouldn’t they have given it to the Crue themselves? – Taylor’s speech was really great and clearly inspired, I just thought it was unnecessary.

Another example of me underestimating this event was knowing that most of the Crue hate each other, I was thinking like only a single member would be here to accept and which one? Probably Vince since he’s such a famewhore, but as Corey Taylor was doing his speech, I could see all four members lining up behind us, getting ready to take the stage!

Mötley Crüe received the first Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award – whose final public appearance was at last year’s ceremony. “It really means a lot to me because Ronnie was one of the biggest influences on my life since I was a kid,” said Crüe singer Vince Neil. “Heaven and Hell was with us last summer in Europe, and every single night I watched, going, ‘Where does that voice come from?'”

Vince Neil always seems to be isolated from the other members of Motley. Nikki, Tommy and Mick showed up together, all dressed in metal black, and looked like had just come from a speakeasy around the corner, where as Vince showed up alone and in a tux, looking a little out of place even for him as someone who is notorious for having zero self-awareness. Erin and I were making bets that the other three guys were pulling a practical joke and told him: “Dude, its an awards show, you gotta wear a tux, we are all wearing ours”. But ultimately we decided that he came to that decision all on his own.

Next up, Max Cavalera introduced Volbeat. We had missed them when we went to Austin to hook up with Clutch and Motorhead on my birthday, as they were the first band. I thought they were pretty cool, not really my thing, but I couldn’t help but stand up and notice when Scott Ian joined them for the last song, an odd cover of Dusty Springfield’s I Only Wanna Be With You.

Setlist:

Fallen
Sad Man’s Tongue
I Only Wanna Be With You (Dusty Springfield cover w/ Scott Ian of Anthrax)

Then in another awesome moment Scott Ian was then joined by comedian Brian Posehn, who is known for his love of Metal to present the aforementioned Shatner with the Honorary Headbanger award. Ian had a funny line about the shortage of Canadian Metalheads, when Jericho (who is Canadian) does a lilting refrain, for which Ian simply retorts ” Dancing with the Stars…”

This was followed by Brendon Small and Dino Cazares introducing Devildriver‘s set. They were awesome, and after doing one original launched into a four-song Black Flag set:

Setlist:

Dead To Rights

Black Flag set: –

Rise Above
Nervous Breakdown (with Mike Valley)
Thirsty & Miserable (with Jamey Jasta)
Six Pack (with Max Cavalera)

Next up, Duff McKagan then presented Best New Band: Of course I was rooting for Taylor Momsen and her band The Pretty Reckless who have just blown me away this year-

but sadly they lost to some total cheesy Nu Metal band they won’t be around next year.

-Winner: Black Veil Brides

Nominees
– Asking Alexandria
– The Damned Things
– The Pretty Reckless
– Times of Grace
– We Are the Fallen

Right after, Mckagan stayed onstage as Dave Navarro came out and introduced Duff McKagan’s band Loaded: who played a quick but cool three song set, ending with a great version of Judas Priests’ Electric Eye where they were joined by Corey Taylor & Steve Jones.

Setlist:

Executioner’s Song
Dead Skin
Electric Eye (Judas Priest cover w/ Corey Taylor & Steve Jones (Sex Pistols)

Next up, Vinnie Paul presented the Best Drummer Award: And again when Portnoy’s name was listed as the nominee and then eventually the winner, the place was going ape shit – it was almost like they were afraid to not give it to him by their reaction. It was like being at an Avenged Sevenfold concert, with little award interruptions thrown in:

– WINNER: Mike Portnoy

– Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osbourne)
– Abe Cunningham (Deftones)
– Joey Jordison (Rob Zombie)
– Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour)
– Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)

I could see Sebastian Bach & Taylor Momsen lining up behind me to go on as the next presenters to give the award for Best Vocalist:
Didn’t wanna be creepy fanboy, but she was standing literally right next to me, so we chatted briefly while she was waiting for her cue.
Dude, she literally glowed, and looked ridiculously hot – like wildest rock and roll fanboy dreams are made of kinda hot –

They had a fun little rapport making the presentation for Best Male Vocalist –

Of course a member of A7X was nominated, and the singer no less, but was he really gonna win over that list? – Look at the competition – I was then convinced they were afraid to not give him the award for fear of 3k mall kids revolting:

-Winner: M. Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold)

Nominees
– Glenn Danzig (Danzig)
– Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)
– Chino Moreno (Deftones)
– Ozzy Osbourne
– Corey Taylor (Stone Sour)

So now this made me think I was correct in not taking this event very seriously – I mean cmon on, it was like they were giving the awards to whoever showed up. I also learned that A7X are from here, so they also had that hometown support and the rest of the night just seemed like the Avenged Sevenfold show.

Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez came out to award the Album of the Year: Guess who won this? If you guessed A7X, you would be correct.

– WINNER: Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare

Nominees
– Black Label Society, Order of the Black
– Deftones, Diamond Eyes
– Ozzy Osbourne, Scream
– Stone Sour, Audio Secrecy
– Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven

It should also be noted that every member of Iron Maiden, including all three guitarists were nominated for awards and didn’t take home any.

Then, in an another pointless appearance, but yet still awesome and cool, was right after A7X won the big award and went backstage to gear up for their show ending set, suddenly I see Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo (Metallica) –

It seemed their only purpose was to announce that A7X was about to come out and play a set – but I was still impressed that this event got these two heavyweights out here. Not to mention, I was thinking of my friend Ryan, who thinks of Metallica as more of a religion than a band, and how excited he would be for this moment.
Lars says: “In 2005, I heard a song on the radio called Bat Country that blew me away and I found out later that the band was Avenged Sevenfold” –
Then A7X took the stage and the place just fucking exploded –

They looked kinda douchy and the singer was still wearing Aviator shades indoors and kinda moved like Axl Rose if Axl was the manager of a Hot Topic at a mall somewhere in southern California. But I was totally getting off on the crowd and how super into it they were. I was really enjoying these two young dudes next to us, both about 15, and both clad in A7X t-shirts, just going for it. You could tell also that this band was their gateway to something, and being someone that has spent plenty of time making sure he is fully aware of the bands that the girls wanna fuck, I could relate and envied their excitement.
Clearly the Guns N Roses influence wasn’t too far off as on the third song here comes Duff Mckgan out to do It’s So Easy with them.
I thought this was a cool choice of song –

I finally leaned over to one of them and said, “Who ARE these guys?” – and he gave me a brief summary without missing a beat of rocking. Then one of my hometown heroes, Vinnie Paul (Pantera) came out to play drums on a track. This was winning me over, and I thought it was cool that the singer acknowledged how tired playing Walk has become, so he insisted on changing it up and they played Mouth For War and the crowd responded in kind. I did as well as seeing Vinnie play a Pantera song again was excellent. I leaned back over to the dude and said “I know THIS song” – and we exchanged high-fives as nerds are prone to do.

They also played the song Bat Country that Lars mentioned that was six years old and I’m just hearing it for the first time, but he was right, the song kicked ass and the guitarist played a solo that melted me and Erin’s faces off, so by the end of the set I was into it.
I seriously doubt I will ever be a member of the tribe, but it was fun to get such a crash course and live no less. I always say that the crowd is more interesting than the band, and this was a genuine, die-hard fanbase.Setlist:

– Nightmare
– Beast and the Harlot
– It’s So Easy (Guns N Roses cover w/ Duff Mcgakan)
– Bat Country
– Mouth For War (Pantera cover w/ Vinnie Paul)
– Almost Easy

Ok, so Jericho returns to say goodnight,signaling the end of the evening, and that closes the show. We stick around for just a bit, but keep in mind we had flown all day and basically came straight here, so we wanted to eat before hitting the after-party.

After-Party

I hadn’t heard of any official announcement of an after-party but with all of these people in town, we were certain their had to be a few happening somewhere regardless that it was a Wednesday night. I figured the Rainbow Bar & Grill would be the best place to go. They ironically had held the press conference there regarding the Awards show, just a few weeks back.
After grabbing a quick bite and dealing with the impossible mission that is parking on Sunset Blvd, we get out in front of the Whiskey-A-Go-Go,

But then we had some competition as we were approaching the Rainbow, out front Vince Neil was stealing the show. I didn’t even see it at first, she did and got my attention and pointed. I was so happy cause I’ve been to the Rainbow on nights where Lemmy is there and it looks MTV 1984, and other nights where their is more action at the Applebee’s around the corner, so on her first time here, I wanted it to be outrageous, and here is Vince Neil making a huge spectacle in front of a ridiculous car, with two blondes that looked like Super Heroes.

We make it inside and the place is rawking pretty hard but since it was close to 1am it was also starting to die down, as we realized that Vince was actually making his exit instead of his entrance. Regardless we had a good time sitting on the patio and me showing her the place and telling her stories till closing. Finally we headed back to the hotel, after a long day of traveling and rawking. Not bad for the first day eh? And we had actual weeks to go.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Justin Borucki
Mario Anzuoni
L. Paul Mann
Frazer Harrison

Concert For Japan Benefits w/ Yoko Ono, Lou Reed & More (March/2011)

An astonishing couple of days that I’m still in total disbelief that even happened let alone twice and the fact that I got to attend both is nothing short of a miracle so I am so grateful for. Sad for the reasons behind the events but something wonderful truly came out of it.

Concert for Japan w/ John Zorn, Mike Patton, Sonic Youth and the return of Cibo Matto & more –
Miller Theater at Columbia University – March 27th – New York, NY

This was an event that was put together in just a matter of days and look at what these amazing people were able to accomplish in that short amount of time. Sadly, what necessitated the event, Tohoku, the devastating earthquake & tsunami that devastated Japan a few days earlier, what heartbreaking and tragic, however after hearing of this benefit concert I couldn’t have been more excited and it was for such a great cause, and inspiring how quickly they took action.
It was organized by the legendary saxophonist and composer John Zorn, who has lived and performed in Japan and for decades has collaborated with, promoted and released albums by Japanese musicians.
The program, rounded out by Yoko Ono and Sonic Youth, reaffirmed longstanding ties between what were (in the 1970s and ’80s) known as New York’s downtown improvisers and their Japanese counterparts and co-conspirators. Sold out in two hours, the concert was also broadcast on Japanese television and to Columbia students. It raised $34,000 for Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund.

The musicians have stationed themselves where genres blur: noise, jazz, rock, funk, electronics. The program juxtaposed straightforward songs with open-ended improvisations. And, from Sonic Youth, an amalgam of both, as terse, punky verses dissolved into scrabbling, squalling, ringing guitar passages, cataclysmic and monumental.

The show fittingly started with Zorn and a trumpet player, introducing the event and playing an incredible but brief set. That’s what made this so cool, was their were no egos, no silly headliners or bullshit, just great music for a great cause, each playing brief sets. It was amazing to see not only the camaraderie between them all, but you could detect long establishing relationships, personally, professionally, musically, etc.
So much so that alot of the acts were very incestuous, using each other’s members, or whoever was available to get this done.

Next up was something that outside of the reasons we were all here, was something I had completely different (and admittedly selfish) reasons for being so excited for – the return of Cibo Matto.
One of favorite bands of the last 15 years and perhaps ever, who broke up over 10 years ago, and I never got a chance to see them.
I have been fortunate to see their two core members Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda perform separately in different projects (of course never breaching the Matto catalog) and it was kinda understood that their was some bitterness that would prevent them from ever reforming as Cibo Matto. Their was so hope on the horizon however last Fall, when for Honda’s 50th birthday they played a brief set at a private party. So when something this tragic happens, it puts things into perspective of what truly matters. Motivated by the cause and surely wanted to represent Japan as they are both Japanese obviously and having just played together a few months prior, the choice to play publicly though for the first time in over 10 years was an easy choice I’m sure. And boy was I happy they did.

Though the set was only three songs, it was three songs more than I had ever seen live, and I had been waiting soooo long for this.

Setlist:

Birthday Cake
Le Pain Perdu
Aguas de Marco

They were keeping it tight at this place, as their was a strict understanding of no pictures/cell-phones, that when I went to move my phone from one pocket to the other for comfort reasons, their were two ushers on me like stink on shit, really intense.

Up next was Mephista — Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Susie Ibarra on drums and Ikue Mori on laptop (who’s in a legendary band with Mike Patton and John Zorn called Hemophiliac) — played the concert’s most abstract set. Their intent improvisations had Courvoisier plucking inside the piano when she wasn’t’t riffling impressionistic chords and ostinatos against the whistles, clanks, rustles and crackles from Ibarra and Mori. Their pieces had a moment-by-moment suspense; each plunk counted.

Speaking of Patton (and if you know anything about me, I’m totally one of those Patton is God dudes haha) was backed by the redoubtable pianist Uri Caine in old Italian pop tunes — sung with tongue-in-cheek melodrama — like those on Patton’s 2010 album, Mondo Cane. Caine’s opening solo took Honeysuckle Rose through kaleidoscopic transformations, from ragtime to free-jazz clusters.

The guitarist Marc Ribot accompanied Akiko Yano, one of Japan’s best-known rock and jazz singers. With Yano on piano, they performed a playfully splintered version of the Gershwins’ Our Love Is Here to Stay. But their second song was serious: Funamachi (Waiting for the Ship), which is based on a folk song from the region of Japan hit hardest by the tsunami. It had a sea-chantey-like drive and a chorus that was a fervent exhortation: to persevere.

Probably the act people seemed to be most familiar with (besides Yoko Ono of course) were NYC noise legends Sonic Youth. One of my all-time favorite bands, and again I know what we were here for, and I’ve seen this band all over the world, but their is just something about seeing them in NYC that is always so special.

Setlist:

The Sprawl (Daydream Nation)
The World Looks Red (Confusion is Sex)
Hey Joni (Daydream Nation)
Shaking Hell (Confusion is Sex)

Zorn returned, and unexpectedly, gave one of the concert’s least noisy performances. His Aleph Trio — with Trevor Dunn (from Mr. Bungle) on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums — delivered a Latin-flavored, two-chord vamp as Zorn revealed his melodic side: bluesy, agile, genial, dramatic and thoroughly swinging.

If their was a headliner, it would be the final act Yoko Ono, and whatever your opinions of her might be, it did feel appropriate. I don’t necessarily have a negative preconception of her and if fact think its pretty cool that at her age she is still getting up there and doing it.
However the results are certainly left up to interpretation.

Starting with this totally weird song, seemingly called It Happened, I was a bit put off as it seemed the first thing out of her mouth was not the current tragedy and why we are all here, but the tragedy she is known for, the death of John Lennon. Think about it, everything you have ever heard or seen her do as long as you have been alive, all seems to stem from that and her perpetuation of it is what defines her and her in her first song, was she really recounting the death of John Lennon? here?? – I don’t know, it was totally weird. She was flashing peace signs as she entered and exited.
Seemingly fragile at first, she was anything but as she strutted across the stage and turned into an electronically looped banshee, and was in a world totally only known to her.

I guess she’s used to being backed by such incredible musicians, but it felt lost on her. She had Trevor Dunn, her son Sean, Yuka Honda and the drummer for Cibo Matto, she could not fail with that lineup. But I wasn’t here to judge.

just to enjoy and support a great cause, while seeing an incredible night of music, in the perfect building for it. The Miller Theater is inside the Columbia University campus and so I had some fun strolling the grounds before and after the show.

To Japan with Love w/ Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, Patti Smith and surprise guest Lou Reed – Le Poisson Rouge – March 29th – New York City

What’s this?, no Cibo Matto for over 10 years and now I’m seeing them twice in three days? I could never get tired or used to that.
This, in a series of events around NYC to aid the relief effort for Japan, though she performed at the quickly assembled hodgepodge just a few days earlier (see above) was totally curated by Yoko One and you could totally tell. Her tastes and John Zorn’s vary quite differently as gone were the younger, noisier acts and in place where heavy-hitters of old.

As I mentioned, one act that remained was Cibo Matto,(and for good reason, they are Japanese and three of its members make up Ono’s live band, one namely her son Sean). What a difference venues make, and maybe they got some rust off with their show a few days earlier, but where as the Miller Theater revue was extremely formal and sedate on all accounts, now we were in a small club in the West Village, now I was at the very front of the stage, dancing my ass off right in front of Miho Hatori, and they went ballistic!

Setlist:

Birthday Cake
Le Pain Perdu
Aguas de Marco
Beef Jerky
Sugar Water

This was a show like I had heard about, and they were fucking shit up and got to a play a longer set with adding two extra songs from the show two days ago, and were even joined by Honda’s husband Nels Cline of Wilco, who is a total badass.

Up next was Patti Smith, a NYC institution that embodies an event like this, and someone that I have always wanted to see, but not a member of the tribe enough to every really do anything about it. I have nothing but respect for her and at times have been fascinated by her. I was at CBGB’s on their very last night, but like most people I was standing outside with a droves of people and watching what I could as they kept the door open. She also represents a demographic that I’ve always been quite annoyed by, a bygone generation before me, that seems to think they can affect real change by reading poetry and eating vegan food and high on pseudo-intellectualism.
Now I was gonna have a chance to decide for myself, and let me tell you something, people in NYC freaking love Patti Smith.

She appeared raggedly yet regally with her full band, including Lenny Kaye, and people were losing their shit. She spoke a heartfelt dedication to the Japanese people, and began the evangelic Peaceable Kingdom. And naturally ending with People Have the Power that she dedicated ‘‘To Sean and his mom, who have done so much work for the people, and whose family has always had so much care for the people“.Setlist:

Peaceable Kingdom
Beneath The Southern Cross
Ghost Dance
Pissing in a River
People Have the Power

Kinda douchy, but clearly proud Sean announced, “Yoko Ono has entered the building!’” Within seconds, she appeared, singing that crazy fucking acapella song It Happened just like she did at the show a few days ago. Her delicate singing abruptly morphed into screams of terror and convulsions, and scared the shit out of me and everyone there, just so bizarre and almost humorous, but yet anything but.

She told a funny story about how the next song Mind Train originated. It was about 16 minutes long and she mentioned that John Lennon insisted on playing it for an unnamed famous musician, and Yoko expressed her regret of having this person endure the whole 16 minutes. Another special guest, Antony Haggarty, came crooning along.

Ono also performed the hopeful Rising, and the blues jam It’s Been Very Hard and – Why? – an intense rocker featuring a free form guitar/vocal duet between Sean and Yoko, that is eerily similar to the John & Yoko version. Greg Saunier from Deerhoof was on drums just for this song and Sean’s girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, who is one of the most attractive people I think I’ve ever seen, played bass all night.

Yoko and Haggarty, who is hermaphroditic is speech and appearance performed this cringe inducing song, I Love You Earth because as Ono explained it, “The earth is angry now and needs to hear it” – ummm…sure. Yoko had Haggarty sing it, but then the two of them got into an I-Love-You fest that just wouldn’t’t quit.

Everyone sang and spoke something heartfelt and respectful in dedication to the people of Japan. All night the show had been directed like a conductor by Sean, who kept hinting/hoping of a final/major guest appearance that deemed too unpredictable to guarantee was now getting excited and now it was a reality as he could now announce the next person walking up to the stage, that being Lou Reed. Holy fucking shit –

He shuffled onstage, cranked up his guitar to eleven and blasted out Leave Me Alone. You may remember my criticisms of anyone that uses lyric monitors, and I totally called Reed out in my post about his performance/behavior at Lollapalooza a few years ago. Tonight, he brought along an iPad with a scrolling TelePrompter – which was hilarious and pretentious because all he sings is, “Leave me leave me leave me leave me leave me alone’!” (Yoko had sheets of musical notations too – when most of her songs are purely improvisational one-word mantras like ‘Why?’!)Lou’s song was ear splitting. He worked Yoko’s band to the bone – making them play louder and harder. It was as if he was telling Yoko, “Look! I’m even crazier than YOU are!” She stood beside him, glancing at his TelePrompTer, chiming in with a few inaudible screams, but she politely surrendered as Lou hijacked her band. He mumbled something about how we all must be shocked, but to the contrary, it’s just what one would expect from Lou Reed. I am not saying that it wasn’t’t great. I just hate to admit it because Lou is so damned arrogant.
Sean stood between Lou and Yoko, watching in awe, as if he’d bought a ticket to the show himself and forgot that he was in it. He seemed amazed at organizing and pulling this off and how spontaneous, chaotic, and enthralling it felt.

Sean jokingly introduced the final song as a great one written by Neil Diamond…Give Peace A Chance.
While it seemed a bit silly, it was designed as a simple song to reassemble everyone who had performed tonight to sing a song all together and it was the most practical and somewhat perfect.

As I was exited the venue, Yoko was handing everyone a cool little gift:– a piece of sky (jigsaw puzzle piece) in a drawstring pouch with a card inscribed:

The sky is cracked now above Japan.Let’s come together in our dreams to heal.

A dream you dream alone is only a dream But a dream you dream together Is reality.

I love you!

Yoko Spring, 2011

A pretty unforgettable couple of days, that I will not soon forget.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Eric Sanders
Shawn Brackbill
Bob Gruen

Queens of the Stone Age Rock NYC + Helmet & More (March/2011)

Ok so after only being able to go to Fort Worth and see my family and recover from SXSW and all its insanity for about four days, I head back to NYC. Of course I had forgotten about the cold while in Texas, but I got an intense reminder the second that I landed that it was still Winter here. But shit got off to a right start and I ended up finishing out the month with some great experiences. Here are a few:

Queens of the Stone Age – Terminal 5 – March 25th – New York, NY

I had been back all of five minutes before I find myself heading to midtown to catch up with the Queens guys for soundcheck. No catch up was needed as I had just spent time with them a week prior in Texas during SXSW (see last few entries). After soundcheck I’m just hanging around talking with Josh and few of the other guys who are listening to stories from this guy and totally entranced. I don’t recognize him right away, but quickly learn its Mike Gordon from Phish, who was playing later across the street. I immediately text Erin back in Texas, as she’s a huge Phish fanatic.

The opening act was named the Dough Rollers. None of the members were fat, but they wherein’t talented either. A website had advertised that the Dough Rollers were a band consisting of a female vocalist/violinist, a mandolin player and a guitar player. They wherein’t. All they were, was a traditional four-piece, two guitar band.

After a brief intermission the show starts, and obviously its going to be similar to last week’s as the whole point of this tour (first in three years) is to perform the entire self-titled record, and the show began just as it did in Austin last week.

Homme was both cordial and antagonistic to his audience. Berating those throwing him the finger by saying:

“Oh sure, you do that while you are in the audience, but if you were up here you would be doing this” and begins to pantomime fellatio. “Some people say that because you see everything that you’re spoiled,” – “I think you understand things that other towns don’t understand. You understand that you can’t try to be cool, that’s impossible. Cool is, you like something and that’s it.”

Cool class came with a caveat: “But what do I know, I have a mullet,” he said. “I’m from the desert, I dunno jack shit.”

After the show I didn’t stick around to do the after-show thing, they were leaving that night, and I had been there all day hanging with them after a long flight and I was determined to get over to Irving Plaza to catch what I could of Helmet, who I had missed most of last week in Austin and was hoping to make up for that. Sadly, Irving Plaza was 40 blocks away.

(later that night) Helmet – Irving Plaza – March 25th – New York, NY

It just doesn’t seem like its in the cards for me to see Helmet this tour. After what happened in Austin last week at SXSW (see last few entries) – this show had to be on the same night at QOTSA. I still made my best effort to get over there for the show and I walked in just as I did in Austin, just in time to see the last few songs of the encore.

They sounded freaking awesome and thankfully went on last or I wouldn’t have seen any of the show.
Here is what I DID hear:

Encore:

In Person
Wilma’s Rainbow
Bad Mood
Milquetoast

Encore II:

Crisis King
I Know

What I DID NOT hear was them playing the ENTIRE Meantime LP which started the show. Why did these have to be on the same night?? – Regardless, I was grateful for what I did see, and headed home after a long day, a long flight and two awesome shows.

Motorhead Day in Austin w/ Clutch & more (March/2011)

Motorhead & Clutch – Stubb’s BBQ – Austin, TX – March 8th

So how do we conclude Birthday Week? By going to see two of my all-time favorite bands, in one of my favorite cities, at one of my favorite venues. I couldn’t have been more looking forward to this.
And this was no ordinary tour stop – something the breathes the very essence of Austin, TX – was the day before, the Mayor had actually (and officially) declared today – to be Motorhead day in Austin – as in like no shit – with an official proclamation –

So they spelled Lemmy‘s name wrong, (which I heard him laugh at later) but never let it be said that Austin doesn’t have some truly metal moments from time to time.
My history with Clutch both personally and professionally is long lineage that has been well-documented/over-explained in this blog so no need to reiterate that, other than to say, that their invitation as a b-day gift was truly awesome as their Tour Manager Oscar, knows that I’m a huge Motorhead fan.
By the time we got to Austin, parked, got our passes from Will Call and got inside we had missed the first band Valient Thor, which would have been cool to see, but I was so jazzed about seeing Motorhead, it honestly didn’t matter.

Out comes Maryland’s finest

Their set was freaking awesome as always and they even debuted a new song that sounded really cool. Neil said it was just a work in progress but it sure sounded great.

Setlist :

Gravel Rd.
Child of the City
Nuevo Riffs
50,000 Unstoppable Watts
Struck Down
Cypress Grove
Hobgoblins (new song)
Open up the Border
The Soapmakers
Immortal

Then here comes the bloodstorm that is Motorhead – One of the things that I really appreciate about Austin (especially after living in NYC) is that crowds are fanatical some of the best fans in the world no matter what band it is.
For a band that is known for their sheer power and volume, you could hear the crowd almost as loud.
Starting perfectly with We Are Motorhead it just set the pace and never let up.

Setlist :

We Are Motörhead
Stay Clean
Get Back In Line
Metropolis
I Got Mine
Over the Top
The Chase Is Better Than the Catch
Rock Out
I Know How to Die
In the Name of Tragedy
Just ‘Cos You Got the Power
Killed by Death
Going to Brazil
Ace of Spades

Encore:

Overkill

After the show we head backstage to say hello and thanks to Oscar and the Clutch guys. As we are being let in through the fence, right behind us are three hottie little groupie chicks (not counting the one on my arm) but security is giving static to one of them, so I do my best to rescue her and it actually worked. They were looking at me like “All right cool, who is our new friend here?” but little did they know I was as surprised as them that it worked 🙂
We find Oscar, and of course our smartass rapport ensues instantly – and I thank him for having us – good times.
We go into the hospitality area where Lemmy and Micky Dee are sitting and Lemmy has the proclamation sitting in his lap laughing in disbelief but genuinely flattered at the gesture.
We weren’t in there 2 mins before they are clearing us out. We go out back and the three rocker chicks are still out there and they come to thank me, and ask if we will be here for SXSW.
Before I can get it out about our showcase in the boxing ring, they all three already knew about it and were freaking out excited about it.
Word was starting to spread.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Trent Lesikar

Jack White Rocks Conan & El Rey w/ Wanda Jackson (Jan/2011)

Wanda Jackson w/ The Third Man Records House Band (featuring Jack White) – El Rey Theater – Los Angeles, CA – January 23rd-24th

So its Sunday night, so I’m watching my favorite show – Californication – which is a little more fun when you are watching it in California – before heading down to one of my favorite venues,the El Rey Theater tonight for what promises to be a legendary evening. To make it all the more real, after I claim my ticket at Will Call the first person I see when I walk in is Hank Moody‘s hot lawyer, Carla Gugino, (who was standing next to Kirstie Alley who was in a deep conversation with Beck and Marisa Ribisi) standing next to me at the bar – Did I somehow will her into existence?

Fearing it could be a Scientology pow-wow, I bolted quickly. It was surreal for certain, not to mention the reality of being here tonight to see one of my all-time idols, Jack White, performing with the legendary Wanda Jackson in such a great, intimate venue. Billed as Wanda Jackson and the Third Man Records House Band (featuring Jack White) they were only doing four of these special show – 2 on each coast (LA/NYC). My history with the El Rey Theater actually starts with Jack White, as over 11 years ago, on my first trip ever to Los Angeles, I came here to see the White Stripes literally incinerate the place. I bought a record at the show that I could probably make a down payment on a house with now. To add to the surreality, I met up with Hutch (soundman for Queen of the Stone Age) and Josh Homme. I’ve been with friendly with both since the days of Kyuss and have maintained that naturally through my work with Claude Coleman Jr. and Ween. It was great to see them both, and all this was happening before a note of music had been played.

El Rey’s red curtain opened to reveal the Third Man Records House Band dressed in pink and black swing-goth formal wear. The band teased Shakin’ All Over as Jack White rambled on stage with a swagger that is totally unmatched by anyone. This dude is a freaking pimp. The band was tight as hell and to call the bass player, Olvia Jean (the Black Belles), “hot”, would just be cheapening the whole experience. This girl had style/grace/chops that could kill.

A true raconteur, Jackson amused the crowd with tales from her past that were so charming it got as much of a response as the songs did. Before playing the classic lament Busted, she pointed out that she’d seen Elvis play in Vegas, then fluttered a piece of paper: “If the King of Rock can have notes, so can the Queen.”
The crowd explodes at this and was red hot for the whole show.

Setlist:

Shakin All Over (just the band)
Riot in Cell Block # 9
Busted
Mean Mean Man
You Know I’m No Good (Amy Winehouse cover)
Like a Baby
Right or Wrong
Blue Yodel
Rip It Up
Nervous Breakdown (Eddie Cochran cover)
Fujiyama Mama
Funnel of Love
Dust on the Bible
Let’s Have a Party

Encore:

Heartbreak Hotel
Shakin All Over (reprise w/ vocals)

Conan O’ Brien Taping (musical guest: Wanda Jackson & Jack White) – Warner Bros. Lot 4 – Culver City, CA – January 25th

So the other night at the El Rey Theater for Wanda Jackson and Jack White, I meet up with some of the guys from Queens of the Stone Age, and they graciously gave me an extra ticket they had to the Conan O’ Brien taping where Wanda and Jack where set to perform.

Score right? – I wouldn’t say that I’m a dedicated Conan fan (though you couldn’t tell it by me catching 3 of the shows on his tour last summer) and my main motivation was to see Wanda and Jack again, but was very excited to see it in this setting. I’ve been to a few TV tapings before and I’m always fascinated by the process so I was really looking forward to this. I’m sure you have heard the whole story about his shakeup with Jay Leno, etc. and it showed just what a chord he strikes with young people as a groundswell of support rose up for him, so these tickets were impossible to get, so I was very grateful to the Queens guys.
I get to the lot and its a lot of standing around and waiting, and be filed like cattle in a series of different lines. Then you are walked into the studio exactly like how you were walked into the museum on Field Trip back in elementary school, (except holding hands was forbidden). So that was a little silly, but it was interesting to see the studio.

The other guests were Patton Oswalt, who I’m also a huge fan of, so this was like the ideal episode for me to attend (then again Motorhead was on the next night haha) and Steven Ho, a martial artist that trains people to do fight sequences in movies. He ran Conan through one of these exercises that was really entertaining and funny.

and then it was time for the musical guests and for me the main reason I’m there, of Wanda Jackson and the Third Man Band w/ Jack White. Having seen it the previous two nights at the El Rey, I knew what to expect but still no less thrilled.

Photos –

Lainna Fader
Jackie Canchola
Roy Turner
Meghan Sinclair