#Helmet

The 90’s Return w/ Quicksand, The Pixies & Weezer + Helmet & more

Summer is in full swing & with lots of fun nostalgia for Summers past – Alot of the bands that were huge in the 1990’s are still bringing it hard & quite a few with new LPs & tours that make them just as relevant today & not an oldies act at all.

The Pixies & Weezer – June 27th –  Dos Equis Pavilion – Dallas, TX

To go to an outdoor show in Texas in the Summer is a rite of passage but with that comes serious commitment. You agree to shake hands with the devil, dress as loosely as possible and take on the heat to see your favorite act in person. This was the case for those of us wanting to have a lit Summer & checking out the Pixies & Weezer at the newly names Dos Equis Pavilion (or whatever their calling Starplex these days).

Stragglers cheered as Pixies frontman Frank Black entered the stage followed by bandmates Paz Lenchantin, Joey Santiago and David Lovering. The Pixies started their roughly 70-minute set to seated but enthusiastic fans like us. While I can say that I’ve become “accustomed” to seeing the Pixies indoors & smaller, more intimate venues, that in itself is a strange statement as it’s still insane to be able to say we are seeing the Pixies at all.

I come from that unfortunate generation that was too young to see their original go around when they playing small age restricted clubs who waited 12 excruciating years waiting for the impossible to happen & when the reunion did actually take place in 2004 you bet your ass I was at Coachella up front.
I mention that show & a few other times I’ve seen them since outdoors, ACL that year, Voodoo in New Orleans the next etc but those shows didn’t feel unengaged, they felt like you were still witnessing history. Now that it’s 2018 & Kim Deal is gone (& for some it’s no Kim = no Deal) & they are essentially opening for Weezer & a modest slot it’s difficult to know exactly how to react. This says nothing about the band’s ability to deliver as I just saw them headline a small theatre last year & it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

The Pixies performed on a stripped-down stage with no pyrotechnics or screen with flashing images which was perfect & in stark contrast to what was to come later in the evening. When Here Comes Your Man started its first few notes, standing had become a requirement if you wanted to see the show. Approaching darkness as the heat started to drop, crowd & band continued to loosen up to an explosive room screaming lyrics right back at them.

Setlist – 

Ed Is Dead
Nimrod’s Son
Where Is My Mind?
Winterlong (Neil Young cover)
Ana
Mr. Grieves
The Holiday Song
Vamos
Silver Snail
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
All the Saints
Here Comes Your Man
Gouge Away
Bel Esprit
Caribou
Hey
Gigantic
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Classic Masher
All I Think About Now
Debaser

As the amphitheater darkened once again and the crowd roared its approval, the curtain dropped to reveal Weezer on a set re-creating Arnold’s diner from the music video for Buddy Holly. Rivers Cuomo was front and center, adorned in a sweater and tie, with bandmates Scott Shriner, Pat Wilson and Brian Bell immediately jumping into their original breakout hit.

The crowd sang along word for word, not only to this song but every song, during the 75-minute set as Weezer played most of its much-revered Blue Album, skipping only three songs. It played with the same earnestness and heart that made the Blue Album the anthem for everyone who felt like the underdog as a teenager.

Weezer’s show was the exact opposite of the Pixies;, with streamers shooting into the crowd and three set changes that took them from the set of “Buddy Holly” to a mock-up of a suburban garage to an ’80s-inspired set, hanging cold metal designs ablaze in pyrotechnic glory that would look at home at a Van Halen concert. Cuomo changed into four outfits while performing. It was usually a simple jacket change, but the effort was there to create an experience for the fans.

Demonstrating the timeless appeal of Weezer and its poppy, candy-coated heartache brand of music. To put in perspective, someone who was 10 when Weezer’s first album released in May 1994 is 34 now, so people who were babies when the “Sweater Song” slipped onto the radio still found its message relatable.

Cuomo, in his awkward way (is it real or the greatest character ever played?), proved to be a more than capable showman — at one point jumping on a scooter and riding into the fans. He jumped on a stage where the seats met the lawn and played an acoustic version of Islands in the Sun for the screaming cheap seats.

As the night came to a close with the final song, Say It Ain’t So, the crowd was still in full attendance, no one taking part in the beat-the-traffic shuffle. Work or no work the next day, there was a shared feeling that leaving early might make you miss something, which is a rare feat to accomplish now. When the last words were sang and Cuomo made his hands into a ‘W’ to the audience, the packed amphitheater did the same.

Set list:  

Buddy Holly
Beverly Hills
Hash Pipe
Undone — The Sweater Song
Franks and Beans
A Perfect Situation
My Name is Jonas
El Scorcho
In My Garage
No One Else
Happy Together (The Turtles cover) (with a snippet of “Longview” by Green Day)
Keep Fishin’ (Brian on vocals)

B Stage 

Island in the Sun (Rivers solo acoustic)
Wonderwall (Oasis cover) (Rivers solo acoustic)

The Good Life
Feels Like Summer
Africa (Toto cover)

Encore: 

Tired of Sex
Say It Ain’t So

Helmet – July 4th – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill – Dallas, TX

Getting spoiled with Helmet shows in the Dallas area this year as this marks their second time this year & seemingly a handful in just the past 12 months (mostly at this very venue). the NYC legends returned once more for a special afternoon show in order not to compete with the evening’s festivities celebrating our nation’s independence.

This show was so loose & fun & the early start time & it being a holiday made it feel more like a private show than a tour stop (in fact I think it very well could have been, like the owner just wanted them here, or they were looking for a pickup date cause this show wasn’t announced to soon before the actual event). Running through tons of their classic material as well as songs from their most recent LP 2016’s Dead to the World.

At one point after the main set, it just became fan’s choice (& I’m gonna take a bit of credit for them treating us to Sinatra haha)
Good times & the perfect way to spend a Summer Holiday afternoon.

Setlist –

Like I Care
Life or Death
Driving Nowhere
Blacktop
Red Scare
Bad Mood
Renovation
Drunk in the Afternoon
I ♥ My Guru
Milquetoast
Give It
Bad News
Wilma’s Rainbow

Encore:

Unsung
Sam Hell
Sinatra
Turned Out
In the Meantime

Quicksand – July 25th – Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX

Let’s get one thing straight: The first 2 Quicksand LPs released between 1993 & 1995 had as big of impact on me as just about anything else. Couldn’t overstate the influence, joy & longstanding memories this beloved band of mine has brought me for most of my adult life.

Having them back in my life after 22 years is a gift & last year’s Interiors topped our year end list. I didn’t get to see their show last year, their first time back in Dallas in almost 20 years but was dissapointed to hear that guitarist Tom Capone wasn’t participating & sadly for the reasons why.

Was excited to hear they were returning, even as a three piece, but let me say this: It didn’t work & this show was very weird for me.
Here’s why: I don’t know if it’s a case of You Can Never Go Home Again (see Chainsaw Kittens) or that they were dressed more likely to attend a volleyball game (though I can’t blame them, it is Texas in July) or that they were going on so early etc – But this show felt almost like a cover band.

Once I got past the sheer excitement that these guys were in front of me again (as Quicksand) it felt more like a rehearsal to the show – I kept waiting (subconsciously) for Capone to come out to fill out the sound & add his imitable solos & riffs. Bassist Serge & main man Walter did their best to pick up the slack & for all intents & purposes it is Walter’s band but it’s sheer arrogance to think they continue this way.

Also, I’ve changed alot in 22 years – I had no idea how much they sounded like Fugazi in 1993 cause I was new to that band too then. It never occured to me how much Walter sounds like Ian Mackaye when he sings & seemingly purposefully so.
Don’t get me wrong, I love these guys & want them to succeed & love the new record & it wasn’t all bad. I found myself tearing up during Freezing Process & it brought a strong wind of nostalgia but largely this show was embarassing & unnecessary & I hope that will change & soon cause I can’t get these songs out of my head again.

Setlist – 

Head To Wall
Brown Gargantuan
Omission
Divorce
Freezing Process
Illuminant
Warm and Low
Fazer
Blister
Shovel
Cosmonauts
Under the Screw
Lie And Wait
Thorn in My Side
Landmine Spring
Dine Alone
Delusional

Photos – 

Roy Turner

March Madness w/ Beck + we check in with George Clinton & P-Funk & so much more (March/2018)

Though we skipped SXSW this year to take a break after an already insane year, we stayed plenty busy this month.
Catching up with some of faves from the 90s that are still going strong + innovators & the world of Hip-Hop, Funk, Metal & beyond.

Beck – March 23rd – Toyota Music Factory – Irving, TX

We were just talking about Beck the other day & checking out his new LP Colors a rejuvenating foray into full-blown pop, when it occurred to me that I’ve only seen Beck perform twice & the last time was 1997.
Now I’ve been all over the world & lived in NYC & LA during that generational span of time so it never occurred to me that now back in my hometown of Dallas that he doesn’t play here that often & this show was something of a rare appearance. A reality he acknowledged early in the show:

“It’s been a long time — much too long, We’re going to try and make up for lost time tonight.” 

Beck Hansen is 47 now and doesn’t seem to have aged appreciably (notwithstanding the occasional unforgiving close-up in high-def) in the interim between dominating MTV with his year-end fave list & decade-defining Odelay LP, though his publicist still made me shoot the show from the soundboard.

Before the set started I worried if I was gonna be familiar with any of the material or if he still remembers that stuff. I was completely blown away the first five songs all came from when his left-field music saturated the airwaves. Kicking off with powerful live versions of Devils Haircut & Black Tambourine, then The New Pollution, Que Onda Guero & Mixed Bizness, a dazzling showcase for his particular strain of boundary-blind alt-rock.

Seven band members, all of whom breathed life into the singer-songwriter’s famously dense compositions, backed Beck. The man himself alternated between electric and acoustic guitar, often forgoing any instruments at all to roam the stage and whip the room into something resembling wildness.

“That was a party,” Beck observed after he and the band brought “Loser” to a crashing close.

Opening the show was Twin Shadow who has amassed a strong body of work over the course of his relatively brief career, enough so that an hour show can be presented without lulls or giveaway tracks.

I’m Ready” sounded as confident as the rallying cry of its title. Lewis & Co. clearly has a lot of support from Warner Brothers at the moment & we are all better for it.

The Toadies w/ Helmet – March 2nd – The Bomb Factory – Dallas, TX

As the 90’s nostalgia continues (see above) two of my faves, old friends The Toadies & the unstoppable Helmet takes to the stage and immediately get the party started with tracks from their early years before showcasing several tracks from their most recent 2016 album Dead To The World. 

And they just kept pounding, I was really wanting the light guy to fuck off with this annoying spotlight into the crowd that wasn’t doing anything but turning people off, but with my eyes closed even I could feel how powerful Helmet was as they kicked into high gear.

Setlist:

Role Model
Ironhead
Life or Death
Red Scare
So Long
Exactly What You Wanted
Unsung
Drunk in the Afternoon
I ♥ My Guru
Blacktop
Wilma’s Rainbow
Renovation
Milquetoast
Like I Care

In all fairness you can’t really call either one of the bands nostalgic acts because they never really stopped & continue to make great albums. Sure their most critical & monetary success in the mainstream came during that time but still kicking ass & the case of the Toadies, they may be more popular now than they’ve ever been, certainly that’s the case in Texas where they have established themselves of something of a Classic Rock outfit that is your birthright as a Texas to witness at least once.

Though I’ve seen them probably a hundred times since, it also occurred to me that I hadn’t seen the Toadies in this building since the night 1995 became 1996 during the Bomb Factory’s original run in the mid 90s. They struck back hard last year with The Lower Side of Uptown that this rollicking set featured most of.

Setlist:

Quitter
Push the Hand
Mexican Hairless
When I Die
Rattler’s Revival
Backslider
Mama Take Me Home
Song I Hate
You’ll Come Down
I Want Your Love
You Know the Words
Away
Take Me Alive
I Come From the Water
Hell in High Water
Little Sin
Polly Jean
Possum Kingdom
Hell Below / Stars Above
Tyler

Encore: 

Pressed Against the Sky
Broke Down Stupid
I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover)
I Burn

 

George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic – March 3rd – House of Blues – Dallas, TX 

For the second straight year, George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic hit the road for the funk legends’ Mardi Gras Madness Tour. The legendary songwriter, bandleader, and record producer, at 76 years young, put on a rapturous, stunning, extraterrestrial funk fest The audience of Clinton and his band Parliament Funkadelic was a delightful mix of the aged and the not-so-aged, all races and walks of life, but essentially the young at heart.

On a personal note, last Spring was my girlfriend (now fiancee’) first date & I took her to see Parliament/Funkadelic & being recently engaged, this was a special celebration for us. The show was amazing & they dug deep into the setlist, however a major critique would have to be that the actual sound (particularly the volume) perhaps not the fault of the band, though I’d be quick to defend the staff here as they have been long trusted professionals that I’ve known personally for years.

The sound was so loud at times it became distorted & while this may sound like an easy fix, at a P-Funk show, the music never stops so if theirs problems you are forced to endure them. Still couldn’t believe Blackbird did all of Maggot Brain & it made it all worth it.
Added for this tour was Brandi Scott a striking (& quite resourceful) dancer (barely) dressed in current EDM Festival attire shamelessly self-promoting as she would often walk onto the stage with a giant sign that had her Instagram account of nakid87 on it (when she wasn’t taking selfies on the wings of the stage).

Setlist:

Funkadelic Set:

Butt-to-Butt Resuscitation
Get Off Your Ass and Jam
Cosmic Slop – 1973
Pole Power – 2014
Baby Like Fonkin’ It Up – 2014
Get Low – 2014
(Not Just) Knee Deep
Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You? – 2014
One Nation Under a Groove – 1978
Maggot Brain – 1971
Dirty Queen – 2014
Alice in My Fantasies

Parliament Set:

Flash Light
Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)
I’m Gon Make U Sick O’Me

Encore:

Atomic Dog

Photos – 

Roy Turner
James Currie
Susie Wolcott
Andrea Jaeckel

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.

SXSW 2011 w/ Jack White, QOTSA & more

March 16th (Wed) – The official start of the music

So after a long morning of meetings and filling out endless forms, by noon I was already sick of the biz aspect, and decided to walk down Congress and get something to eat. I hadn’t walked 100 ft, when I turn the corner to see a sizable crowd forming around this yellow truck, that if I hadn’t looked twice, I would have mistaken for a school bus. What got my attention besides the crowd was a logo that I’m very familiar with, (and have flirted with the idea of it being my next tattoo) the Third Man Records logo – As a subscriber to its Vault Series, and dedicated fan of everything Jack White blesses, you could say it had my undivided attention.
As I got closer, before the crowd really started to build, I recognize two people right by the door of the bus, Alison Mosshart (the Kills/Dead Weather) –

Something is about to go down, you could feel that everyone was waiting on who was coming off this fucking bus next, and I had heard about a rolling record store, so this must be what I had been hearing about. Then the bus door flies open, and the Captain himself, Jack White steps off, sets up a microphone, and immediately goes into Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground –
Right there, out of nowhere, in a freaking parking lot at noon on a Wed, one of the most memorable, musical moments of my life just went down. If you know anything about Jack White and his style, then you have heard about during the White Stripes days, where they would do impromptu shows on city buses etc. and here it was happening to me, so completely unexpectedly.
He did one more song, Buddy Holly‘s Not Fade Away – before making a short announcement about the record store and introducing the next singer. Had I been hungry 5 mins later, I would have someone telling me this story instead getting to experience it firsthand.
Not a bad way, to start the first official day of music.

I get there early before the insanity, and I go around back and the first person I see is Hutch, Queens’ long-time soundman. The jokes start immediately and he walks me in so I don’t have to deal with the bullshit around front. I let him get back to work, and when I walk into the backstage bar area, that is doubling as a interview/photo op for Rolling Stone  (they were the hosts of the party)- I approach the bar, and suddenly I’m surrounded by one of the most surreal scenes I can ever remember. I take my beer and sit down at the only seat available, and its at round table that is being occupied by, Duff Mckagan, J Mascis (who had just performed) Dale Earnhardt Jr., a few members of the Strokes and someone’s grandmother. I heard Jack White was hanging around too, but I didn’t see him till near the end of the show, standing behind the soundboard.

Shortly after midnight, the show starts and you could feel the anticipation in the air. I heard that the line outside was stretched for six blocks.

First U.S. gig in three years What better way to remind people who you are, than playing your debut LP in it’s entirety, during the week of it’s re-release?
Of the current QOTSA line-up, Josh Homme is the only one who played on the debut. Drummer Joey Castillo has now been in QOTSA since 2002, and is a totally solid drummer in his own right, but former Kyuss drummer Alfredo Hernandez’s style really gave that first record its unique shape, so I was interested in seeing how this would be duplicated.
Josh looks as if he has bounced back from his recent health scare, guzzling Ketel One onstage and smoking cigs during and in between songs. He was his usual sarcastic and randy self with the crowd, at one point remarking that the band had “the only Mexican drummer in town.” He also swatted down the stringent “no photos” rule at the door,
halfway through the show

Setlist –

the Self-Titled LP

Regular John
Avon
If Only
Walkin’ on the Sidewalks
You Would Know
How to Handle a Rope
Mexicola
Hispanic Impressions
The Bronze
Give the Mule What He Wants
I Was a Teenage Hand Model
You Can’t Quit Me Baby

ENCORE –

Turnin’ On The Screw
Misfit Love
Make It Wit Chu
Little Sister
Tangled Up In Plaid
Go With The Flow

March 17th
We finally find the Ginger Man, only to be told that we had missed Mike Watt by a couple of hours and now we had like two hours to kill before their was something worthy of us walking all the way back to 6th St for. So we just chilled at the place and relaxed for a little over an hour before heading back down.
We get to this shithole, appropriately named the Dirty Dog, for what promised to be a double-bill of crushing metal with Saint Vitus and Helmet. I figured we would catch the last half of Saint Vitus and be all primed for Helmet, one of my all-time favorite bands.
When we got there, they had switched set-times with Saint Vitus and were already 40 mins into their hour long time slot. While I was reading Field and Stream in a mock-speakeasy, they were well into doing all of Aftertaste.
Damn the luck, first Watt, now this? My only reprieve is that the sound was so incredibly shitty that if this is what it sounded like the whole time, I may have done us a favor.

Halloween w/ Helmet, Samhain with Clutch & more (Oct/2010)

Clutch (opening for Black Label Society) – Verizon Theater – Grand Prairie, TX – October 30th

So I checked in with Oscar (Clutch‘s Tour Manager) and the gang the day before the show to see what was what. Tonight, the night of the show was Game 3 of the World Series that was happening just down the street. Since they are from Maryland, I expected they probably hadn’t been to a World Series before either (oooohhhh damn haha) – and I tried in vain to secure three tickets for Neil (Singer), Oscar and I, but no such luck. That plan changed to meeting at a restaurant to watch the game and eat, to simply just watching the first few innings on the bus. Shame too, as it was the only game the Rangers won of the Series.
Now comes showtime, and I take a seat in the front row, dead center. I hadn’t seen the guys in almost 9 months and the last time I did, they seemed pretty road weary (as we all were).
Now they seemed re-energized and as sure as I am that opening for Black Label Society was probably not their first choice, knowing them as I do, they were excited for the chance to play to a larger, different crowd that they could expose to, to their brand of rawk.
This was a good show and their was alot of love for them, and they made some quick converts as well.

 

Setlist

Who’s Been Talking?
Algo Ha Cambiado
Texan Book Of The Dead
Struckdown
The Mob Goes Wild
Big News I
Big News II
Pure Rock Fury
Abraham Lincoln
Burning Beard

After they played I went back to the bus, but to no fault of the bands’, their was a weird scene happening with some people hanging around they were really hard to take. Since I was in my hometown, I knew I had some friends in the audience, so I bailed on the hang and went to go see who I could find. My bff since I was a kid, Chris couldn’t make it, but I thought maybe his brother might have. Instead, I run into his brothers closest friend and his wife, who are huge Clutch fans. I hang with them a bit, and I knew how much it would mean to them to go backstage, so I went back to see if the scene at the bus had dissipated and when in fact, it had only increased. Also security was raking everyone over the coals, so I just decided against putting them thru all of that noise.

Helmet – The Loft – Dallas, TX – October 31st

(Editor’s Note: – much of the following entry originally appeared in my article for Jam Magazine here – )

The first thing we should establish is that you are most likely wrong about Helmet. At least wrong about their current state of existence. Your tendencies to do so are not inaccurate but the results are and here is what I mean:

Usually the formula of band gets real popular, breaks up, only to reform six years later with one sole original member and three new hired hands. They make a record to seem legitimate and that record always sucks, and which they usually ignore in concert anyway like it doesn’t exist, and just play updated versions of the hits and the whole thing has the feel of holding on too tight in a playing at the State Fair sorta way. If this is the conclusion that you have reached about Helmet since their breakup in 1997 and their re-formation in 2004, than yes you are wrong.

It’s okay, I had the same ambivalence – I was excited yet, suspicious because of the aforementioned formula, when they dropped 2004’s Size Matters – but that went away after I heard it, and saw them on tour that year. They followed that with 2006’s Monochrome – which, I know I’ll get a lot of flak for, stands up nicely to anything they did in the 1990’s. Well hell, even that’s been four years, so I was even more surprised by the intensity of this year’s Seeing Eye Dog. Released very quietly just a few weeks ago, to further that wrong impression, I get the feeling that even those interested might not even be aware of the album’s release.

Granted there was a lot going on that night – The Rangers were in their first World Series, and even within the same building, you had the dude from Staind playing a set, and around the corner, there was a certainly befitting of Halloween show by Danzig. But still about 100 people, who most didn’t bother with costumes showed up and they knew ever word, even the new stuff.

Would I prefer the “classic” lineup and have them do 1992’s entire Meantime? Of course, but don’t count them out man, the new lineup is totally solid and they rolled out over half of the album, like a relevant, current entity and the new stuff sounded fantastic.

In recent shows, I’ve come to the conclusion that 1997’s Aftertaste is founder/main dude Paige Hamilton’s favorite record to play live. It was the final record before the breakup and maybe he feels it’s didn’t get enough attention, as this show also offered over half of that record too. In recent years I’ve seen Helmet perform the record in its entirety.

Hamilton was so polite that he actually apologized for having the show on a Sunday night, then greeted a couple in the crowd who’d followed the band through its shows in Houston and Austin to Dallas. Later he acknowledged an attendee’s costume.

“Are you dressed as Hunter S. Thompson?” he asked, then told the fan he won the prize for costume of the night. Drummer Kyle Stevenson came out in a mask and costume; Hamilton and the rest of the band wore T-shirts and jeans.

Still rocking and still relevant, and I’m proud to say that. I remember worshiping this band in High School and seeing them in much bigger places, but this third act still packs a punch.

Setlist:

So Long
Exactly What You Wanted
Birth Defect
Welcome to Algiers
See You Dead
Ironhead
White City
Street Crab
In Person
Unsung
Seeing Eye Dog
Blacktop
In The Meantime
Milquetoast
Driving Nowhere
Crisis King
It’s Easy to get Bored

Photos –

Roy Turner