#TaylorMomsen

KEGL 97.1 The Eagle’s BFD Festival w/ The Pretty Reckless, Fozzy & More (May/2017)

KEGL 97.1 The Eagle’s BFD Festival – May 28th 2017 – Starplex Pavillion – Dallas, TX
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If you have ever read this blog or met me for 10 minutes you probably know that I’m an outspoken, monstrously huge fan of Taylor Momsen & the Pretty Reckless
Proof of this is that their isn’t another band on this roster left that I could give two shits about. In fact, most of what was left I actually despise.
So much so that if Taylor wasn’t playing today I would have skipped this being in unspeakable Texas heat at 3pm on a Sunday, however if you have ever seen her perform, you know that missing it wasn’t an option.

Did arrive just a tad bit earlier to catch WWE Superstar Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy he formed over 15 years ago with the guys from Stuck Mojo that he has been putting at the forefront this year with the release of a new record Judas, that’s been getting some respectable airplay.

Literally as a life-long wrestling fan just wanted to check it out as a curiosity & maybe seeing two bands to make the trek that much worth it
I did see Jericho perform a few songs with these guys back in 2011 at the Revolver Golden God Awards that he hosted that year. Jericho seemed like he was just simply living out some rock star dream and moving like he thinks he should. He also seemed like he was having a blast & that’s all that really matters.

Now it was time for the real deal, the main thing: The erotic moaning sounds that are heard on the recording of Follow Me Down played through the speakers, before the four-piece took the stage, Taylor coming out last & ripped into the song,

You couldn’t help but feel for her & the band – just a week prior they opened what became the final Soundgarden show in Detroit after the devastating loss of frontman Chris Cornell sometime that evening, a tragedy shrouded in mystery that will never make sense and never not be painful.
Following Taylor’s career from the start, I know what a massive fan of Cornell’s she is & it was her dream to be on the road with Soundgarden so to accomplish that & have your hero die the last night of tour your on is a darkness most will never comprehend. This was the last night of the band’s own tour, she just had to get through one more before the grieving process could truly begin. She did the best as anyone could expect to given the circumstances & without a word ended the set & this very strange tour with a cover of Like A Stone that relieved the tension of what was on everyone’s mind.

Taylor & the band still had press, meet & greets and other duties to get through as well which they did gracefully.

To the left of Taylor is longtime radio personality Cindy Skull, on-air talent for the dreadful radio station that’s hosting today’s soiree. In spite of her employer’s appropriation of everything once sacred, Cindy was very nice and totally cool and I know that she’s been outspoken on the air in favor of Taylor & the Pretty Reckless so it was cool to see her excited & seems to have a genuine friendship with Taylor whom still very guarded seemed fragile, given the circumstances & candid in a way like I’ve never seen her.

Just like when she performed at this event back in 2014 I bailed right after to avoid whatever nonsense was coming up after. However, the crowd at these things are almost always more entertaining than the bands.

 

Definitely starting to look alot like Summer around here! Have a great one ?

Girl Power: Stevie Nicks, Chrissie Hynde, Taylor Momsen & Die Antwoord’s Yolandi Visser: (Nov/2016))

Last entry we profiled four different creative men doing extraordinary things in their respective fields.
This entry we focus on four very powerful & very different women using their talent, strength & voices to create something legendary & unforgettable.

Four powerful & very different women kicking serious ass

Stevie Nicks – October 30th – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX  

Finally in her presence – I had only seen Stevie Nicks briefly once before at a special performance with the Foo Fighters for a series of gigs they were performing as the Sound City Players with a revolving door of guests that were part of the documentary Dave Grohl had produced about the legendary studio Sound City.
She announced early that she would be shaking things up a bit, not playing the kind of set list her fans had been used to been hearing for decades. Then she and her band quickly played her 1983 hit If Anyone Falls, a reassuring sign that although she’d be playing some unfamiliar material, the show wouldn’t be all obscurities.

And it wasn’t. But it was weighted heavily toward deep cuts and non-hits, including a song that dated back to 1973 and her Buckingham-Nicks days, and others that for one reason or another never made it on to an album — at least till the 2014 release of 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault found a home for songs such as Starshine (which Nicks said she wrote while hanging out with Tom Petty) and Belle Fleur.

But about a third of the show was hits, from Nicks’ solo career and from Fleetwood Mac, with some excellent twists and turns —
extending Gold Dust Woman with Nicks going into her iconic spin with the shaw thing she’s known for.; singing Leather & Lace with background singers Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin doing the Don Henley parts; the expected but still climactic intensity of Rhiannon, a song Nicks somehow manages to invest her entire self (and possibly more) in every time she performs it.

There was warmth and humor in Nicks’ show, during which she told the stories behind several songs (including how she wrote Leather & Lace for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, then asked for it back when they split up, and how Prince’s Little Red Corvette helped inspire her hit Stand Back, which he played on). I had thought that she may pay some tribute to Prince like alot of people have in their performances this year & she did something very powerful & unique.
It started with the last song over the PA before the show began was Sign ‘O The Times & after that Prince held an almost constant precense.
Instead of just a moment of silence, she told stories & his image would appear from time to time, most notably during Edge of Seventeen.
She said it best when she delcared it being “completely unnacceptable that he is gone”.

Setlist –

Gold and Braid
If Anyone Falls
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (with Chrissie Hynde)
Belle Fleur
Outside the Rain
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac song)
Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Annabel Lee
Enchanted
New Orleans
Starshine
Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)
Stand Back
Crying in the Night (Buckingham Nicks song)
If You Were My Love
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac song)
Edge of Seventeen

Encore: 

Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac song)
Leather and Lace

Chrissie Hynde

Opening the show was the second woman in our profile – Chrissie Hynde & her band the Pretenders who Nicks brought out early on to do the Tom Petty parts on Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

Her along with the Pretenders blasted through a tight first act, with Hynde in a great mood, greater voice and appealing loose form. She came onstage wearing a cowboy hat and, a few songs in, doffed her jacket to reveal a sleeveless “Everything is Bigger in Texas” T-shirt.

They were on fire — starting off great and really getting locked in about midset, especially showy guitarist James Walbourne and Martin Chambers, the band’s longtime, sledgehammer-force drummer, with bassist Nick Wilkinson and pedal-steel player Eric Heywood making more subtle contributions.

Back in 1984, Hynde wrote the lines, “I’m not the kind I used to be/I got a kid, I’m 33, baby.” That was more than 30 years ago, but she seemed like she was 33 again, just so equally powerful, playful & ultimately unforgettable.

The Pretty Reckless – October 27th – Gas Monkey Live – Dallas, TX

Back after two years with the just released Who Ya Selling For? – Taylor Momsen & the Pretty Reckless were firing on all cylanders from beginning to end of this amazing performance. Her work as an already iconic frontwoman is next level business.


Anyone that reguarly reads this blog or knows me personally can attest that I’ve followed the band from the very beginning and witnessed her transition from child actor to a powerhouse singer, stunning front woman & just one bad ass rock star.
She along with the band have matured quite a bit in the six years since their debut & even a bit drastically just since their last record Going to Hell just over two years ago.
Taylor did what alot of young girls do when they are exploring their sexuality while under the spotlight, they push the limits as far as they can & for someone like her, so profoundly attractive, the results jaw dropping at least & scorched earth at her most extreme.
Her completely naked frame on the cover of Going to Hell & cathartic sillhouette on the inside sleeves might be the greatest example of tear inducing perfection science has to offer.

Taylor seems even that more confident now at the ripe old age of 23 & with that she appears to no longer see the need of the truly outrageous over-the-top sultriness as before. Even her voice is finding this bassier Janis Joplin thing & heart seems to be in allegiance with Classic Rock.

 

 

She still knows she’s dead sexy however & can effortlessly flip that switch at will which she did several times during this performance.
The transition is complete, enough time & she’s put in enough miles now to be known as the singer for the Pretty Reckless, not that chic from teen soap opera Gossip Girl which I’m sure is to her great delight.

Setlist – 

Follow Me Down
Since You’re Gone
Oh My God
Make Me Wanna Die
My Medicine
Sweet Things
Living in the Storm
Just Tonight
Goin’ Down
Heaven Knows
Going to Hell
Take Me Down

Encore: 

Fucked Up World

Die Antwoord – October 1st – House of Blues – Dallas, TX

The fourth ass-kicking female in our quadra-focus is the incomparable Yolandi Visser from Die Antwoord.
Those crazy and creative group we all love and admire for some reason, Die Antwoord, also consists of the intriguing, strange, talented and egocentric Ninja & producer DJ God.
Though Die Antwoord, or “The Answer,” may seem a little strange in the states with their wild antics and love for violence, sex and shock value, they’re actually representative of “Zef,“the counter-culture movement in their home country of South Africa.

Recently the band announced the end of their musical career, having always said that they would only make five albums. And that they did. Die Antwoord isn’t done making headlines by any means, given that they’re moving on to filmmaking after their involvement with recent cult hit Chappie.
Yolandi is seemingly fearless, has the most unique style I think I’ve ever seen, could give the aforementioned Miss Momsen a run for her money for Best Body Ever & does it all with an effortless cool that feels irresistably dangerous.

 

 

 

An instrumental introduction began before the floor lights faded out, creating an anticipation throughout the crowd that cannot be explained with words. The audience was shouting, clapping and masked with faces painted in unbroken stares. DJ God came out first with an instrumental opening. Spiritual electronica with diverse instruments and heavy beats streamed from the speakers as Visser’s voice crept in.

In the middle of the stage was an LED screen with an elevated walkway behind it for the duo to navigate through, and by navigate I mean pace, jump, dance and then some. Die Antwoord were active to say the least, living up to their talked-about stage presence and exceeding any expectations you may have had. Ninja immediately jumped into the crowd and Visser joined him soon after, tearing off her hoodie and aggressively whipping her hair free, before completely mooning the crowd in act of gleeful defiance & exhibitionism.

This was one of those concerts where the front of the crowd was truly blessed.
At this point in the show, Ninja had the crowd chanting Visser’s name. And they selflessly did so. Yo-lan-di, Yo-lan-di. Ninja disappeared off stage just as Visser returned wearing a hoodie dress covered in banana icons. She frolicked aimlessly around the stage, often bending over just enough for the audience to see what was under the hoodie.

Visser often left the stage for costume changes but departed with awesome electronic jams performed by DJ God and then returned in magnificently hilarious yet somehow fashionable wardrobes.

She along with the rest of Die Antwoord ended their set thanking the audience and then raging to some deep electronic music alongside their dancers. When the beats faded out the trio bowed at the front of the stage, and all I could think of what that we collectively should be bowing to her.
Good times.

Photos –

Frank Hoesch
Meg O Neil
Frances Noescen

Spring Rocks! w/ The Pretty Reckless, Marilyn Manson, Korn, The Melvins + At The Drive returns & more (Spring/2012)

This was a crazy & busy month that completely threw my normal schedule into a tailspin. I was crisscrossing all over the country, mainly between NYC and Los Angeles and stopping in Dallas for weeks at a time for various personal reasons, such as Mother’s Day, my sister’s birthday, and unfortunately, Jury Duty.

At The Drive-In – April 10th – Trees – Dallas, TX

The last time At the Drive-In graced played Trees, they looked like a band falling apart. Vocalist Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez stayed on stage right, bouncing off each other while the other guys kept things tight on stage left. The songs sounded sloppy; the chaotic side of the band overpowered the melodic side.
Tonight they were doing something pretty cool where on their way to Coachella for the real reunion show, they were doing a series of warm-up shows in clubs. Only announce the day before and sometimes the day of and tickets obviously selling out instantly. Given this was a Tuesday night and the show was just announced yesterday is a testament to the band’s legacy in their absence.
It really reminded me of the Pixies, a band criminally unappreciated the first time around and they reform to play stadiums for people who finally got the message over all the years the band had been apart.
Even their pre-Coachella strategy is almost identical as though it appeared to the rest of the world that the Pixies first show back was at Coachella, they had done a week of dates in Canada at small clubs to get ready.

The legendary El Paso quintet unleashed ripper after ripper, starting with Arcarsenal.At various points, all of the members smiled and acted happy to be together again. Bixler twitched to the beat as he sang, and often used his microphone like a yo-yo. Rodriguez, usually a firecracker onstage, was reserved and restrained yet didn’t miss a single note.

As far as song choices, the audience didn’t mind if it was a rager or a slowdance. If you were on the floor during the 75-minute set, you walked away with a few bruises, as pushing and crowdsurfing were almost nonstop.
Not surprisingly, the band focused exclusively on material from In/Casino/Out and Relationship of Command, as well as the Vaya EP. Bixler and Ward sounded as good as they did when they toured on those releases in the late ’90s.
Microphone problems were a persistent issue: Both Bixler and Ward’s went out at various points in the set. Choosing to move forward with “One Armed Scissor” without Ward yelling, “Cut away,” the audience gladly took over that part.

For a reunion show, this certainly showed why the band is beloved. There was nothing phony about the emotional catharsis they brought, even back when five people watched them play a house show in the mid-’90s. Now back after 12 years, the band didn’t look or play like they were worn out or out of touch. They gave something that a long-timer and newcomer could appreciate.
I was extremely skeptical about ATDI reuniting. Rodriguez might not have been like Roger Waters in terms of talking about estranged bandmates, but years upon years of shit-talking made a reunion sound nearly impossible. So everything’s magically cool now?

Set list:

Arcarsenal
Pattern Against User
Chanbara
Lopsided
Sleepwalk Capsules
Napoleon Solo
Quarantined
Rascuache
198d
Enfilade
Metronome Arthritis
Pickpocket
Non-Zero Possibility
One Armed Scissor
Catacombs

Korn – April 23rd – The Palladium – Dallas, TX

If you read the last entry for April 2012 – you will wonder too (among other reasons) what the fuck I was doing here. Because if you look at the date you will see that this was a Monday and after having an 18 hr Record Store Day, staying up all night and then going to Edgefest a few hours on no sleep, what the fuck was I doing back in Dallas, the very next day, at a fucking Korn show no less?
Well the answer is that I was on assignment from a magazine to cover it and also I am fucking Superman (or maybe the Hulk?, tough but not very smart).

Believe it or not I have a small but tenured history with this band – they came on the scene right as I was getting out of High School. This was before their brand was cemented with NuMetal and trapped in their current and forever lame image. At the time they sounded like no one else and we didn’t even know what they looked like before we saw them in concert. They had such a crazy vibe I thought we were going to see something similar to the Cramps. They were first on the bill of a show that started at 6pm on a weekday with Sick of it All as the headliner. The only people that were their to see them were my friends and I.
Thanks to technology you can see this here (and see me get my face busted open at the 3:19 mark) –
I showed this video to them not long after it happened and between that & them seemingly in town every month I got to be friendly with their singer Jonathan Davis. I would get to the shows early and we would go get something to eat or goof off or just shoot the shit. Really cool guy.
By the time of their third album I was on to other things and so were they and those things didn’t really interest me much. They also got so big that even if I wanted to just hang with Davis that was no longer an option, so we kinds just went out separate ways.

So now its a million years later and now the thing they are onto now is Dubstep, the thing I might hate the most in the whole world at the moment. So again, what the fuck was I doing here? – Oh yeah, I was on assignment, and admittedly curious.

The new record The Path of Totality, released in December 2011, finds Korn collaborating with dubstep and drum-and-bass musicians, DJs and producers. The record takes the Korn sound – hard metal textured with grunge and hip-hop – and laces it with bassy electronics. I got there just a few minutes before they started.

 

 

I don’t know if the new stuff has turned people off or because it was a Monday but the place was less than half full. Now again I HATE that Dubstep shit, but I have to admit its a pretty bold move for a band to take on 20 years in. But at the same time, what would normally be seen as them lacking any originality and just doing what’s popular at the time (and their are valid examples of that – doing grunge in the early 90s, Numetal in the late 90s, doing Punk in the mid 2000s and so now naturally they are to Dubstep) – but I will say that it did seem a pretty seamless fit for them.

That doesn’t mean that I personally care for it, but it wasn’t the African Child it could have been. The sound however at the Palladium is always shit and the bass heavy stuff was at times unbearable plus I didn’t know the material. So after the first 4-5 songs I found myself out on the smoker’s porch talking to this incredibly cute girl Tabitha. It was a scenario where you are talking just out of proximity but know that you don’t have a chance in hell so don’t embarrass yourself, but surprisingly she was encouraging. Even after seconds after talking to her I dropped and spilled my full beer all over the place. Nice one dickhead –
So we go inside and she needs to find her friend and it really seemed like she wanted me to join her but I feared I was cramping her style so I went to go get a refill, kicking myself for not joining her.
The band finished up strong with songs that I did know that I hadn’t heard in a very long time and that was enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

Setlist –

Old and Rarities –

Divine
Predictable
No Place to Hide
Good God

New Album

Narcissistic Cannibal
Kill Mercy Within
Chaos Lives in Everything
My Wall
Get Up!
Way Too Far

Greatest Hits

Here to Stay
Freak on a Leash
Did My Time
Falling Away From Me
Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd cover)

Encore:

Shoots and Ladders / One (Metallica cover)
Got the Life
Blind

 

The Melvins –  May 7th – Trees – Dallas, TX

Super excited about tonight as not only would I be seeing the Melvins, one of my all time favorite bands but I was gonna be seeing it with two of my oldest friends, Duane and Tony. I told a story last year about how I was in town (the last time we were all together ironically) and we all went to see Melt Banana and this girl I brought kinda put a monkey wrench into the program.
So I had been planning this for weeks that I was hoping we could all get together for a rare night when we were all in the same city at the same time.
Just hours before the show I heard that the Hooters Swimsuit Pageant (which totally should have been the opening act) was happening tonight as well and almost decided to change my plans (I’m kidding, kinda).
The plan was I was gonna meet Tony and Melissa at their place for dinner and then we would all meet Duane at the show.
However my terminal tardiness and the isolation that their residence enjoys caused me to be quite late, so when I got to Tony’s we hurriedly ate and rushed to the show.
While parking behind the venue we could hear them taking the stage to orchestral gladiator music as if we weren’t pumped enough, and by now we are practically running to the venue. As we were in a short line to get in we hear them kick in hard with Dog Island.
Tony who had been cool all night about my tardiness then turned to me and smiled and said “Ok NOW I’m mad”.

If you were expecting the band to have any interaction with the crowd, this wasn’t the night. They kept to themselves, rolling through one song after another without any considerable time to take a breather. Dynamics and tempos varied, from the demented pep rally chant of The Water Glass to the slow ride down the highway of Manky.
Duane joined us about half way through the show just in time as they started Youth of Today as we looked at each other smiling as our collective jaws hit the floor.
As great as the tones of Osborne’s guitar and Warren’s bass were, they didn’t overpower the nuances of the double-drumming. With identical Tama kits placed next to each other, Crover and Willis beat every inch with marching band-sized drumsticks. And they wore matching gladiator garments to boot. The overall power never started to wane as the band finished with a neverending version of The Bit, but we stayed all the way to the end.Setlist:Dog Island
Hung Bunny
Roman Dog Bird
The Water Glass
Evil New War God
Manky
A History of Bad Men
Youth of America
A Growing Disgust
The War on Wisdom
We Are Doomed
Friends Before Larry
A Really Long Wait
National Hamster
The BitUnsane opened and I had no remorse for missing them until I had heard that with their regular drummer Vinnie Signorelli recuperating in a hospital, Willis and Crover filled in. A chance to see Dale Crover hit drums and cymbals like a punching bag and I missed it. Good times though and great seeing old friends. Tony and I stayed up late talking and I wanted to hang much later but I had the dreaded Jury Duty in the morning.Marilyn Manson/The Pretty Reckless – May 11th – The Palladium – Dallas, TXEven if you are just a casual browser of this blog, or even if you have just met me briefly, you know that I’m a huge fan of Taylor Momsen and her band the Pretty Reckless. Her face (and impossible body) have appeared many times on this blog and I’ve written many of story on her.
So when they came through town opening for Marilyn Manson, it was never a question of not going.

Originally I was going to cover it for that magazine that I have spoken of in the past – the one where the so called editor has actively tried to screw me out of tickets and opportunities only for them to blow up in his face by my handiwork. Well he was up to his old tricks again and I decided that this was the final straw. I had spoken to Taylor’s manager John a few weeks prior to give myself some insurance independently from the magazine.

It proved to do nothing as far as my luck was concerned as when I arrived to the venue. nothing was working out down to the tiniest detail
Here’s what happened:

I know it was a Friday night, but forgive me for underestimating Marilyn Manson’s relevancy but I had no idea he was still this popular as when I pull up to the Palladium expecting my usual parking spot one block over, it looks like everyone in Dallas is at this show. I ended up having to park about as far away from the venue as possible without having to take a cab there.
I get to Will Call to discover that of course my ticket is not there. Glad I trusted my instincts and not trust that kooky editor – but wait – I’m not on the Pretty Reckless’ list either. The people in the Will Call office here are normally very helpful but I didn’t recognize a single person in there and the guy I was speaking to was super rude and unhelpful. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind calling back to production to straighten things out and he seemed super put out and told me all he could do was sell me a ticket for $60 but oh wait now I can’t because we just sold the last one sorry.

I decide to take matters in my own hands and this is where things get cartoonish. I go around the side of the building where I know crew load-in is and I see every member of the Pretty Reckless (sans Taylor of course) hanging out and smoking, minutes from taking the stage. I see that the drummer is wearing a Clutch t-shirt, perfect. We start chatting and he’s a huge Clutch fan (they had just shared a festival bill in South Dakota that week) and we are having a good time swapping stories. I then see Sean, the Tour Manager whom I recognize from a conversation he and I had via Twitter a few weeks back.
With this tour coming to end soon he was looking to jump onto another one and I told him I might have something for him and we could talk about it when they got to Dallas.
I go up to him and introduce myself, let him know who I am, and we start talking about his qualifications and experiences. Basically it turns into an informal job interview. I tell him about the tour I had in mind and he seems interested and tells me he’s qualified and we exchange contact information. When that ends I tell him of the snafu at Will Call and he commiserates by telling me he’s not surprised by how forgetful Taylor’s manager is. He double checks his information and concurs that I’m not on there. He shakes his head as almost to apologize like the next thing he’s gonna say is “Don’t worry, I gotcha covered”.
If for nothing else to ensure a little advantage for him to get me to hire him for an upcoming tour.
We switch subjects for a second and then he has to get back to his Tour Managing duties- Ok cool, I can only assume that he does indeed got me covered.
Losing confidence by the second, I swallowed my pride and flat out asked him how he wanted to cover this.
Incredulously, he just says “Oh their’s nothing I can do sorry”, and continues to ask me about the job.
Stunned, I just say “Well you just wanna walk me in then?” – to which he replies “No, sorry I can’t” – and continues to press me about potentially hiring him.

Shocked but remaining dignified I said “No worries, have a good show” – and went back to the drummer for more Clutch talk.
He makes a call on his walkie talkie and like something out of a movie I realize that the call was to Taylor’s assistant as in the distance I see her helping Taylor (who I thought was already inside the venue) off the bus and walking toward us. Like the priestess has been summoned.

As Taylor and her assistant get closer and eventually reach hand-shaking proximity to me, I purposely removed myself to avoid any notion that I was any threat or seemingly waiting for her like some lovesick fan. I purposely looked away, and made no eye contact to enforce this.
In doing so, I saw enough to have several moments of pristine clarity which are the following:

1) When describing Taylor the word that you often hear or read is perfect – Like Mila Kunis is hot, or Meghan Fox is sexy, but with Taylor the talk always turn to the fact that physically she is seemingly the perfect specimen. She has as many (if not more) female fans than male for this very reason and I must tell you that being this close to her, I would be hard pressed to disagree with them.

2) However, by the same token I also had this overwhelming burst of maturity and clarity by in an instant the whole thing seemed ridiculous to me. Like what the fuck was I doing hanging by the back door like some old dog trying to get in to see this obnoxious, bony teenager that looked like she had been playing dressup in her older sisters’ stripper closet?

The odd thing was how civil and friendly the tour manager remained to me while he was corralling Taylor and the other members to take the stage by still talking to me and even introducing me to Taylor and her assistant who I learn who’s name is Alie.
If not for standing next to Taylor, all eyes would be on Alie as she is quite attractive herself.

I talk with them both as I finish my cigarette and then the tour manager signals that its time to go in and cordial to the end he waves to me and cheerfully says “See ya Roy” for which incredulously inspired Taylor and Alie to turn and do the same. I say goodbye and as the door closed behind them with me outside, as if on cue, it starts to pour down rain. A new low reached.I stood there for a second contemplating what to do – give up and go home, commit ritual suicide or fucking do something about this –
Suddenly out of desperation I found courage and I waited a few mins and went for broke – I opened the backstage door like I belonged there and saw several people that recognized me from all the times I’ve been there managing my own artists.
Without a single credential, I walked in there like I owned the place and because, again of my previous knowledge of the venue I knew how to get out to general seating with a quickness and that’s just what I did.
I did it so quickly that Taylor hadn’t even taken the stage yet – Fuck the World
Now I was in and even had time to go get a beer. I needed one because my adrenaline was a little high from my little stunt and as I’m eying the never-ending beer line deciding if I wanna get in it, I hear someone calling my name loudly.
Its one of the bartenders whom I don’t recognize until I get right up to the bar and see that’s its an old buddy of mine. I don’t recognize him because he had shaved off his huge ZZ Top beard that he’s had since I’ve known him but his voice is unmistakable.
He high fives me, asks me what I’m drinking and hands it to me without even charging and says “Here dude, fuck that line”. Bless you old friend.
Things were looking up and in a hurry – literally 90 seconds ago I was a chump without a ticket in the rain and now I’m walking to the front of the stage with a free beer in my hand.Though they were the opening act, when Taylor entered last onstage, their was this collective gasp that’s hard to describe if you were not there.
The set kicked off with Hit Me Like a Man, from their recently released EP of the same name that the music of, believe it or not decidedly sounded Clutch influenced. .

Despite her slutty bad girl shtick, the girl can sing. Taylor immediately established her rock credibility with her signature throaty, growling vocals and it seems she’s finally hit a point where she knows how to own the stage. An improvement over the angsty teenager who was solely focused on trying to be a bad ass.

Speeding through each song, she carried the band and their musicianship was flawless, but clearly the audience was there to see her – and she delivered.
She urged the crowd to sing along, and they obliged at every offer as she listened and smiled, especially on fan favorites Just Tonight and Make Me Wanna Die. While some singers use audience participation as a cop out, Her voice never wavered.
Another standout was Cold Blooded, offering a haunting duet between her and the guitarist as they sang back and forth as though trading quips.
The set was short, but it was definitely what the fans came out for and a good display that they’re all a bit more seasoned as performers.

Setlist –

Hit Me Like A Man
Since You’re Gone
Zombie
Miss Nothing
Just Tonight
Goin’ Down
Cold Blooded
My Medicine
Make Me Wanna Die
Under the Water
Factory Girl

Ok now I needed a cigarette (not like that creep) as I was relieved to have seen the show after all. I almost forgot that I still had Marilyn Manson to go but that was immediately hard to ignore by all of the awesome people watching I was enjoying on the smoker’s porch. People watching doesn’t get any better than at a show like this. At this point I had got what I came for so everything else from here on out was academic. I waked back to the bar, skipping the line once again as my bartender hands me a refill and asking in his unmistakable voice “Who was that little slut?” – This is awesome.

Now it’s Manson’s turn and as the curtain dropped the presentation was as simple and stripped down as Manson has ever been.
Aside from a microphone that resembled a large butcher’s knife, the only indulgence was a hat rack, situated next to the drum riser, with a modest selection of headwear. He’d grab a hat, emote and grimace for the audience, then throw it on the stage for a crew member – his “hat tech”? – to fetch.

But I gotta tell you I have seen a dozen Manson shows and this was unlucky number 13 as the sound was awful and he just seemed like a mess.
He appeared winded, a little wiped out. Even the act of leading the crowd on his trademark chant, “We hate love, we love hate,” felt perfunctory and passionless.
The last time I saw him perform was 8 years ago (sadly the night that Dimebag was killed) and on this night he just seemed fucked up and almost embarrassing.I’ve always admired Manson for being an outrageous reactionary, a provocateur whose ideas were more intelligent than most were willing to admit but it’s questionable whether the subtleties – yes, subtleties – of his statements necessarily translated well.
Musically, his band performs rudimentary Industrial Rock, that’s big and dumb and should be the foundation, not the focus, of the live show.I was hoping that Taylor was gonna come out and duet with him as they had done at the Revolver Awards to liven things up but that didn’t happen.

Fall Fun w/ The Pretty Reckless, Anthrax & more (Oct/2011)

The Pretty Reckless/Evanescence – The Palladium – Oct 19th – Dallas, TX

Ok so if you have been reading my blog or any even the occasional entry, you know that I’m completely in love with Taylor Momsen and believe it or not her band the Pretty Reckless kicks total ass. To give you a brief recap earlier in Feb of this year I just happened to be working with a band at the House of Blues when someone told me that Taylor Momsen was upstairs and that she was about to perform in a band that I didn’t even know she had. My plan was to just peek in a for sec, drool over her another sec and then leave. I stayed not only because she looked so goddamn hot but her band really kicked ass. I hate that shit like when Keanu Reeves decides to be in a band and its sold out with gawking girls that could give a shit about the music and just state at him and swear the music was good. This was not one of those situations, this was the real deal and I was blown away. (you can read about that experience here)

Ok so fast forward 8 months later, now by this time, I now know all the songs and I’m ready to rawk. I had written a lengthy review of the record for a magazine (which you can read here) and was completely invested in the music and had been looking forward to the show for a while now.

A few things entered the picture that threatened to comprise the evening a little bit. First of all I was having transportation problems, and was gonna have to take the train out to Dallas for the show and leave before the headliner even came on if I wanted to be able to get home. Thankfully I don’t give two shits about Evanesence, but its pretty sad that I was willing to take a train out to Dallas just so I could see Taylor strut her stuff, what a creep.

Another thing was that on the way there, this girl whom I haven’t spoken to in awhile called me with a bunch of her depressing weird dysfunctional drama. I tried to shrug it off but she really got to me and I had her words in my ears for most of the night.
None of that shit mattered when Taylor and the band took the stage, not only had her stage presence/confidence tripled since Feb, somehow so had her hotness:

I mean can you even deal with this???? – No one in the history of rock and roll has been this perfect, this stupyfyingly hot, she is simply sex incarnate. Even crazier is this, ok we all have cute girls on TV we have celebrity crushes on, but did Mila Kunis or Katie Holmes go on to be the ultimate rock slut of your dreams? No, and her Taylor was all that and more and right here in front of us like a dream come true. I’ll take even further by putting this to you – What’s hotter a girl who dresses slutty, or a girl who is interested and inspired to be as sleazy and nasty and slutty and the law will allow and trying to push the envelop even further? and she’s only 18!!!

The set was plagued with sound problems, but her voice was still in top form and she sounded great. And look at the pics, its like she’s inspired to come up with exciting ways to be as slutty as possible to torture us.

Setlist:

Since You’re Gone
Zombie
Miss Nothing
Just Tonight
Goin’ Down
My Medicine
Like a Stone (Audioslave cover)
Make Me Wanna Die
Factory Girl

After the show and before Evanescence was coming on, I went outside to have a smoke, though I loathe this band, I still was gonna watch at least one song of theirs to give them a chance and to have more of an informed opinion. Regardless if they sucked or not, I still had that looming transportation problem of having to get back to the train station before I found myself stranded in Dallas.
While I was out there smoking I saw this girl that I had been seeing all night. I noticed her because she was wearing the smallest and shortest pair of short shorts I’ve ever seen, that was accentuated by that she wasn’t exactly a small girl. She looked a little ridiculous, but she still kinda owned it and looked pretty good.
Anyway, she was standing in a circle with a some other girls when one of them, a 40-ish looking gal of the white trash variety, approaches me with the proposition/charity case of me buying a beer for short-shorts girl who was now introduced to me as Sassy – you can’t make this stuff up.
I obliged regardless of the length of her shorts, and now the potential to hang out with Sassy and the gang all night was prevalent, but how would I get home?.
That’s when I pulled a coup de grace to see if their was any real interest, by telling Sassy that:

a) We can dance and drink all night
but…
b) I don’t have a ride home, so if you will give me a lift, I will provide the drinks

She passed it off on to the older gal and who gave it a thumbs down, so now I was still headed back to the train station, but now this time minus a five dollar bill and girl in super short-shorts named Sassy.
But I did stick around for one Evanescence song, and I one thing I will say is that I was little moved by how passionate the fans are. When the singer Amy Lee came out, the place went batshit and she actually seemed like a pretty decent performer.

..but alas even if I had a car there I’m not sure how much longer I would have stayed. Once you have seen Taylor, what else is there?

.

Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel –  Southside Music Hall – Oct 28th –  Dallas, TX

So coming off the biggest show of the band’s career last month at Yankee Stadium that I’m proud to say I was present for (that entry is here) – timed simultaneously with the release of Worship Music their first in 8 years, and the first with singer Joey Belladonna in 21 years, that is such a strong comeback that it stands amongst the best records they have ever done. No small feat for a band that’s essentially been in pieces for the last 15 years. To come back this strong and this hard and super legit is a true miracle that has been a pleasure to witness.
So after all the hoopla surrounding the Big Four they are now on their own tour to support the record, bringing along fellow Thrash Metal heavyweights Testament and Death Angel along with them.
However, I would be lying if I didn’t mention that tonight was Game 7 of the World Series,and after last night’s game (see above) I was praying for tonight that we become world champs for the first time. They were blasting the game on about 12 screens in every direction and what a setting it would be to celebrate than at an Anthrax show.
Sadly, when I arrived it was already the 3rd inning and we were losing 3-2 and their was a chill in the air that we would not recover.

Death Angel

If their was a Big 5,6.7, of Thrash Metal it would be arguably be Exodus, Testament, and Death Angel – all from the Bay Area. Death Angel is one of the original Thrash bands that I’ve never seen, who were opening the show along with Testament. They broke up in 1991 when their drummer was nearly killed in a bus accident. They reformed with the drummer but not with crucial member, guitarist Gus Pepa like 10 years later, ironically to perform at a benefit for Testament singer Chuck Billy and the magic was there enough to keep on trucking. . From then till the night of this show they lost several more key members, now down to just the original singer and rhythm guitar player.

I only knew one of the songs that was the only song they played from the only Death Angel album that I ever owned, their first one The Ultra-Violence.
I had once again met up with Ryan to pick up where we left off at the Judas Priest show to rock the fuck out. He, like the faithful student of Metal that he is has kept up with this lineup’s latest releases and knew the material. The set was too short, but I was glad I finally got to see some version of this band.

 Setlist:

I Chose The Sky
Evil Priest
Claws In So Deep
Relentless Revolution
Seemingly Endless Time
Thrown To The Wolves

Testament

Testament is band that I absolutely loved when I was 13-14, I loved that whole Bay Area thrash sound and I was super into Exodus that led me to these guys. However for some reason they don’t visit Texas very often and because of that I actually didn’t attend my first Testament concert until 2004, 17 years after I bought their first album with my allowance. And now I’m only seeing them again for the first time since.

They were really awesome, and I enjoyed this show and the setting of this performance ever more than I did that first time 8 years ago. This was also one of the last shows featuring drummer Paul Bostaph. Ryan and I were in full on rock-the-fuck-out mode, and having a great time, despite the Cardinals 2 run 5th inning creating an insurmountable lead.

Setlist:

The Preacher
The New Order
The Persecuted Won’t Forget
Envy Life
Over the Wall
Souls of Black
Into the Pit
Electric Crown
Henchmen Ride
More Than Meets the Eye
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days in Darkness
Disciples of the Watch

Anthrax

I’m sure the band was keeping close watch on the game as well, not just as the known sports fans that they are, but because they know what a freaking a party this will turn into if we win, potentially making this the show of the tour. Sensing defeat, they started the show in the 9th inning as a distraction from the heartbreak and so people wouldn’t have time to dwell on the loss.

I put baseball aside for the moment and I had Anthrax in front of me kicking serious ass to take my mind off of it for the next two hours, and it was the perfect consolation prize. Three of our fave thrash bands in one night? Ryan and I were downright absurd with our rawking that some people in proximity were watching us instead of watching the band haha. This is the first Anthrax show that I have seen with Joey Belladonna since he returned to the band that wasn’t part of some festival where they had to play an abbreviated set, finally a full set with Joey!

Still not the longest set in the world, with only 14 songs including the encore that was mostly covers. One being specific to the long relationship that Anthrax has had with local legends Pantera, by combining their own N.F.L. with This Love.
I saw another Joey I hadn’t seen in many years, an old buddy of mine who was distracted by mine and Ryan’s unbelievable rock power, and recognized us, so we grabbed him and pulled him into our circle of unparalleled rockdom. This was a really fun show and despite the Rangers losing, a really fun night.

Setlist:

Earth on Hell
Fight ‘Em Till You Can’t
Caught in a Mosh
Madhouse
Antisocial
Got The Time
I’m Alive
The Devil You Know
Indians
In the End
Be All, End All

Encore:

Efilnikufesin/This Love (Pantera cover)
I Am The Law/Refuse/Resist (Sepultura cover)
Metal Thrashing Mad

Epilogue – Ok so above in the Judas Priest section where I’m discussing the baffling dysfunction of the editor of that magazine that is out of his mind and was pulling that bullshit on me and I had to set him straight? – Well tonight was what he thought was going to be his smirking revenge. I had been working with Anthrax all year and had just done a major blitz with the Yankee Stadium juggernaut last month. This asshole calls the Anthrax organization to say that I’m not coming so that when I get to Will Call, I’ll have egg on my face – Can you imagine a 50 year old man behaving this way?
And he succeeded at first, because when I got to Will Call, sure enough my stuff wasn’t there, so I called their rep (I had also missed a call from her earlier and now I knew why) and that’s when I got to hear the whole story. I didn’t want to involve her, but I told her that I was never not coming and she said that’s why she called me to verify. She was furious that he would try to pull some bullshit like this and he only succeeded in pissing off the wrong people.
I had Harvey, Charlie Benante’s drum roadie,  take this picture (below) of me and I sent it to that screwball editor that only simply said:
“Nice try motherfucker”

(Side Note – Dane Wolf who was working the tour who usually works with Forbidden wasn’t here because a few days prior to this show he literally got his skull fractured in Colorado (where else?) in an unsolicited attack – you can read about it here)

Hope you have enjoyed one of the longest, controversial and more serious-minded posts I have made yet. Stay tuned for the next entry where I finally document and conquer the Fun Fun Fun fest in Austin, TX –

Photos –

Roy Turner
Elizabeth Lavin
Jon Gitchoff
Mike Insuaste
Amanda Hernandez
Ian Whitlen
Harvey Melt

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

SXSW 2011: The Parties – Perez Hilton, Village Voice, Fader, Spin & Vice Bring the Noise

So now getting into my fourth day at SXSW and its usually around this time that I’ve only slept for a few hours a day and surviving on free bbq and beer, and with constant ringing in my ear, my ability to absorb much more becomes a bit cynical haha.

 

Perez Hilton One Night In Austin

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton drew a huge crowd for his annual SXSW show at the new ACL Live venue Saturday night.
I was here for one reason only & that was to se Taylor Momsen & the Pretty Reckless. I had caught her live a few times already and she is the real deal. Forget all that shit about her being an actress that is trying to sing, this is where she belongs & will be so from now on.

Taylor Momsen

Village Voice Showcase – Austin Music Hall

I got there pretty early (around 7pm) and the place was already a madhouse of people swarming to get in. This was one of the most anticipated showcases of the entire festival. I go up and get my credentials that thankfully (and I don’t care about being pampered and all that shit) gave me access to a private room with a nice bathroom, couches, earplugs and free booze, cause this place was like the fraternity in Animal House.

After taking advantage of that situation I went out to the main room to check out Wild Flag that couldn’t possible have lived up to their hype. The band is made up of key members of Sleater-Kinney and the Jicks, and while I’m a fan of both of those bands, and clearly I’m not the only one feeling the absence of SK, but you would think that Led Zeppelin had re-formed with the press they have been getting. So, either their following was far more dedicated than I realized, or they have a killer PR team – and with singer Carrie Brownstein post SK foray into journalism, I’m thinking that she knows just how to get it done.
Regardless, they were pretty good and exactly what you think it would sound like, the songs that Brownstein sung for SK, not an antithesis of Black Flag.

Wild Flag

 

–  Fishbone who was up next (and probably the act I was looking the most to seeing)  probably played for less time than it took to set up all their horns and the Theramin-in-a-suitcase. Lead singer Angelo Moore, was behind the stacks wearing an Andy Warhol wig and practicing his cartwheels, so this was gonna be as nuts as he is and I was getting excited but were taking forever. 
With the crowd getting antsy, they sent out comedian Donald Glover (who I had just seen last night host the MTVu Woodie Awards) to do a brief set as his rapper alter ego, Childish Gambino – it felt planned, but it gave the party an awesome burst of spontaneity and he was super entertaining that you had already forgotten the shittiness of the previous two acts and did exactly what it was designed to do, get you hyped and keep you entertained.

Fishbone finally takes the stage and shit gets real weird/awesome real quick –

 

Their shit was so great, how are you gonna top that? Well again I’m a hip-hop fanatic and a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan, but if you have read this blog or had the misfortune of trying to see any of them in concert, individually or collectively in the last 5 years, you don’t know what to  expect, which is half the fun/misery, but I’ve learned sadly, not to expect much.
Having said that, they still managed to greatly disappoint with their shenanigans they just keeps lowering their stock and legacy, who but me will still keep putting up with their shit?
Their was literally over 90 mins after Fishbone finished before they finally got their asses onstage – and during that time, I had personally seen two dudes piss themselves, three get escorted out of the music hall, and the bartenders had basically given up trying to keep service in order. It was that kind of party – As always, when its billed as Wu-Tang, their shit is so dysfunctional, the thing you do is try to guess/hope who is actually going to show up. For those who have been down this road a few times, you know to automatically dismiss the notion of the RZA and while your at Method-Man. It’s like you have to go “Ok, which ones’ career is suffering the most right now?” and that’s how you can guess accurately of who your gonna get.
After all that wait, only four of the nine members showed –
The GZA
U-God
Inspectah Deck
..and surprisingly – Ghostface Killah

 

They did their run of the “classics” with irritating mic problems the whole show (hey guys, with all the people onstage with wireless mics, that might be your problem?) that lasted about an hour. The best thing about the show was their joined by Erykah Badu for the last couple of tunes. Even with the feedback problems she still sounded great as always.
Around 2 a.m., Wu-Tang Clan called it a night and turned the party over to Badu, who switched to her other identity, DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown and played a great set of vintage dance tunes and modern hip hop for the stragglers who had made it through the night.

Next Day….

Spin Magazine Party – Stubb’s BBQ
   We get down there around 4pm and get checking in and take time to say hello to some of the staff that are friends of mine before heading toward the stage. The Spin Magazine party used to be the premier party during SXSW before turning into a day thing at Stubb’s a few years ago, and its still cool and always one to look forward to. One of the things you survive on during this festival is the free boze/soda/food – and its almost always not what your first choice would be, as anything free usually isn’t. It’s most likely something you have never tried/seen before because the sponsors use the festival as a test market, so you will find yourself drinking chocolate flavored water and chewing fish flavored gum.
Today, we each grabbed a tall can of this lemonade drink – that’s kinda like Sparks – and though I know I’m a serious lightweight when it comes to drinking and it was early in the day, I swear we both were shitfaced after three sips of this poison.
With my new drunk induced inflated ego, I seriously almost punched this total asshole that was being insufferable as the Killls were starting their set.
They were having serious sound issues – so much so that I thought they were actually doing a soundcheck onstage, because they were stopping and starting literally dozens of times – it wasn’t until singer Alison Moyer – finally relented and quietly made a few apologies.
I can’t make my mind up about her – I like the Kills and I’m all about the Dead Weather, her voice and image and super-cool swagger is totally hot. However sometimes I see pictures of her and I’m kinda like – meh – and sometimes she seems a little too cool. But hey she probably is – they finally got it together and turned in a decent set.As always they had DJ’s playing between sets and between these two acts, Skrillex (didn’t I tell you this guy was freaking everywhere) doing a set –  His extremely punchable hipster face is enough to make me want to take him out, but holding him responsible for the rise of dubstep is truly worthy of ball-kicking trespass –
Up next was TV on the Radio who has just attacked this festival – usually a band with their visibility comes here to do one high-profile show and doesn’t really have to slog through multiple-show days like the smaller bands unless they just want to, but TVOTR I think had like 8 gigs this week. Like I said earlier, Jah from The Death Set is playing drums for them now and he couldn’t have been more excited.
(Check out the awesome Clutch sticker hanging there in the back)

 

This show was really good and they are an incredible live band – sadly however this was one of the last performances with bassist Gerard Smith as he died just a few weeks later of lung cancer.

 The Fader Fort Party –

After TV on the Radio finished at Stubb’s we ran across the freeway over to the Fader Fort (running from show to show is a time honored tradition at SXSW) As a testament of how busy I’ve been this week, this was my first (and only) sojourn over to the Fort this year. This place is usually a destination for me and last year I practically lived there all week. Where else in the world let alone at SXSW can you go to a place for free, drink free booze and soda all day, get fed, free clothes, free internet, free magazines and get entertained by the best at that time? – The place is a goddamn utopia and my greatest dream of a totalitarian state come to life, and this year didn’t disappoint either.
Remember my earlier post about open RSVPs? – The Fader Fort is the most popular of them , (see above description as to why) and if you just do the open RSVP you have little or no chance of getting in – those public wristbands are worthless, you gotta go the extra mile if you wanna get in – thankfully I had an advantage – and we were ushered right in – I’m not talking about some elitist, velvet rope Studio 54 bullshit, I’m just giving a tip, that its best to contact someone involved ahead of time so that you don’t waste your time standing in line when you could be doing other rad shit.

As we are heading backstage, we are finally seeing Odd Future and what all the hype is about as they are causing a literal riot with them as the aggressors. Various members would either flat out threaten photographers in the photo pit and others would challenge the entire crowd to a water bottle fight. Debris, empty bottles, clothing and other general garbage started flying during every song –

Near the end of their set, the group prompted the entire audience to chant “Fuck tha police!” – Together, they are truly aggressive to the point of intimidation. Though I appreciate how youthful and overflowing with energy they are, I have to admit, instead of just having some good fun, it really seemed like they are assholes, going out of their way to be bigger assholes.

Speaking of overflowing energy, (but used for something COMPLETELY different) it was after 7pm and somehow I had gone all day without seeing Matt & Kim (something I had yet to do all week) so here they come and the crowd greeted them ecstatically.
Toward the end of their set, making her second cameo of the festival,  they were briefly joined by Erykah Badu who I saw strolling around backstage.
…and not to be outdone by the previous antics of Odd Future, what is normally a staple of their live show, this time Kim’s bootie dance atop the crowd seemed to have an added interference.

The Vice Party –

The Vice Party has replaced what the Spin Magazine party used to be: a last night of the festival blowout in some hidden/non-obvious location that you wouldn’t think/know about till the night of, where doors don’t even open till midnight and it goes all night, way past 2am and this one was listed as going till 6am.
This time it was at the Starr Building, some non-descript place you would imagine holding law firms not some crazy party and the bands that were set to play were Keith Morris’ (Black Flag, Circle Jerks) new band Off! and one last detonation from Odd Future who has literally stunned this festival. You couldn’t go anywhere without people talking about them and having some story involving carnage in their wake. I personally have already seen two partial performances this week and I think tonight was something like their 12th show of the week, (and third of the day).

 

We get there and of course the entry to get in looks like Tienanmen Square – just complete and utter chaos. You would think people’s infant children were trapped inside the way they were rabid to get in. The hype of Odd Future plus the exclusivity and free booze in an environment that craves such things? It was 1984 and this was the only place that had Cabbage Patch Dolls.
I’ve been around this stuff for over 10 years and it even frightened me a bit, and poor Erin has never seen shit like this before, but suddenly a knight in shining armor arrived.
Eric and Kim Castillo, a couple from Houston that are good friends of mine and who I stay with when I have the misfortune of being in Houston, arrive.
Eric is a professional DJ, who goes by Ceeplus Badknives and has been on the scene for a long time, and we have done gigs together in Houston and during SXSW for the last several years. His wife Kim is the salt of the earth and one of my favorite peoples.
Though we all had invites they were at capacity but Eric had the juice and got us in no problem and ironically said that they had just been talking about me and was hoping to see me. Boy were we glad to see them.

We get in and the four of us grab some of the free booze and this place just looks dangerous – like total lawlessness.
Perfect for a punk legend to fuck shit up – and that’s exactly what Off! proceeded to do:

 

They were crazy, unreal loud – and it had that feel that it should – volatile punk band playing at 2 in the morning in some abandoned building. Totally brown –
Outside I could only imagine what people were dealing with to get in to catch the Odd Future 3am slot – the hype was off the charts – this was their last show of the festival and given the late hour probably the last show of the festival, its 3am and its gotta top all of the other ones, so this was the one to catch according to the hype. Matt was texting me from outside so I told him to go around back and I had security let him in.

Going from Hardcore Punk to Hardcore Rap seamlessly is what makes an event like this so memorable and fun to attend. It’s 3am and here comes Odd Future:

 

Their show was as violent as the punk of Off! but I have to say I was more impressed with the intensity as well as the crowd as compared to any real musical gratification. In fact I would have to say, it was so super sloppy, it never seemed like the show ever actually started. It just seemed like Tyler the Creator and company, came out, got the crowd worked up, complained/cursed alot, and seemed to go out of their way to be destructive assholes.

 

Now I’m not exactly old, just a bit older, but I will be the first to admit, that this probably has something to do with why I just simply can’t relate to these guys. In a generation of constant self-promotion and being ruthlessly crass breeds huge rewards by your peers, that’s something I will never identify with. But as a life-long student of Hip-Hop, it really wasn’t that good – I was super excited about seeming them, and I loved their story. Totally all about their DIY punk ambition and did all of it themselves. Some young guys looking like the next Wu-Tang Clan, but I just didn’t get it. They def got some talent, but instead of showcasing that, or even having some knucklehead fun a la Beastie Boys cira License to Ill era, instead that appear as actual dickheads.

I didn’t sweat it though, the spectacle still provided weird entertainment on what had to be one of the weirdest nights of my life.

After they played, the whole place turned into a dance party, with these two DJs playing all this great 60s garage soul music that was fantastic and it 4am in the morning.

 

We shook our asses in celebration of a long week, and a day that felt just as long, and I just couldn’t leave – I just had to keep going somehow. Finally after the clock struck 5am, people really started to clear out and we danced the last song, to finally put this year’s SXSW to rest.

 

Photos –

Roy Turner
Nate “Igor” Smith
Brenna Rushing
Todd Seelie
Heather Browne
Joe Gall
Max Blau
Samantha Marble

Girls that Rock w/Grace Potter,The Pretty Reckless and The Genitorturers (Feb 2011)

Great month of Rock N Roll with some rawking gals who are kicking so much ass this year!

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – House of Blues – Dallas, TX – February 18th

I get to Will Call and let me tell you something – I’ve been in this business for awhile now – and I have never received the kind of hospitality that welcomed me when I got there. Most people know the process but I will walk you through it:
If you are fortunate enough to have been invited by the artist either as a guest or press or radio/retail or just a contest winner what you can expect is:

(2) tickets to the show

Sometimes but rarely will you also get after-show passes

and even rarer would be more than two of anything.

What was waiting for me at Will Call was not to be believed – I get there and there are:

(2) tickets to the show

and a freaking All Access laminate that is good for the entire tour – that is only given to band/crew

The phone number to the Manager and Tour Managers and insisting that I call when I arrived.

Then someone came out from the Box Office to escort me in!!

It was like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America where were my rose-bearers?

A brief history: For the past year with Ween doing festivals almost exclusively – we keep running into this crew or just missing them by a day or two. It seems like every festival we are on Sat and they are on Sun. I forget where we were, but I remember Claude and I seeing Grace walking around (not knowing who she was or anything about her) and she is like ridiculously sexy just sitting on a golf cart (let alone how she performs) and then we see her later walking off the stage that Ween is about to perform on, and we both looked at each other like “Sorry I missed that”.

I had spoken to some of the guys in the Nocturnals before and they are all super cool so when they invited me to the show I jumped at the chance to go.
I make my way up to the dressing room as the band is now on stage and I have a great talk with their manager and we have a few laughs, before I head down and check out the show parked behind the soundboard –

The show was amazing – Grace is a ball of feverish energy – a voice like Janis Joplin and crazy stage swagger that rivals even Tina Turner with the moves and body to match. I was freaking mesmerized by her (and her bass player wasn’t too shabby either).
And chops to spare, the encore was a cover of Heart‘s Crazy on You if that tells you anything.

After the show I meet up with them in their dressing room and I’m finally formally introduced to Grace and for all her femininity and good looks, she was totally one of the guys. A hardened road dog that’s put in the miles – I know that voice well, so when I heard I can recognize it immediately and she had it.
I shot the shit with the rest of the guys in the band who were all totally cool and huge Ween fans. Thankfully it wasn’t that forced after-show talk, we really got on great and had a good time.
They invited me to a party they were having in the Foundation Room which is another part of House of Blues. I mean again the hospitality was off the charts.

We are ushered into this roped off section of the club (which I’m embarrassed by and the band seemed to be too) and they are treating us to all these drinks etc.

Ben (Tour Manager) is a really cool and fun guy and we have a great rapport so he pulls me to the side for a second to say goodbye to me. Great dude & good times.
I was coming right back here tomorrow for another rawkin’ show!

The Pretty Reckless – House of Blues (Cambridge Room) – Dallas, TX – February 19th

(Editor’s Note: A portion of the following post originally appeared in my article for Jam Magazine – you can read the entire article here – )

After meeting Celeste the previous night I now had two meetings, and thought it would be a fun chance to indulge in a guilty pleasure and see Taylor Momsen strut her stuff afterwords. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a huge Gossip Girl fan and have written about Taylor more than once in this blog.
I grab our tickets and we head inside for the show. Now, though I’ve been to this venue dozens of times now, their is yet another smaller club inside called the Cambridge Room where tonight’s show was going down. A very small space that only holds a couple hundred people, and I was happy about that. It added to the intimacy and made it feel more like a dirty rawk show.

When the show starts and the band starts to take the stage, it is literally almost pitch black in there, and they came out into a sea of dry ice – just the band, not Taylor – in that dramatic-singer comes out last-thing. There was more than enough time for the tension to build so that finally getting a glimpse of her was becoming mythical, so when she finally slowly slithered onstage, the whole crowd just kinda gasped (myself included).

I had heard all the Courtney Love comparisons and even seen evidence that supported it, but here live, I didn’t think so at all, it was more of a less-animated Cherie Currie thing – She just slithered around, back-length hair in her face, with an air of arrogance — almost as if she was striking poses for the camera. And let me be clear – it was one of the hottest fucking things I’ve ever seen.

Keep in mind, I hadn’t heard one note of this band yet and was just being a total poseur/creeper there just to gawk at her for a few songs and then take off. Celeste even had another event to attend (hence the expensive dress) so I hadn’t planned to stay that long.
Besides the above photo – believe it or not – the music made me an easy convert.

At one point, she asked the crowd, “Have you guys ever heard of Oasis and Muse?” as her band jumped right into a Supersonic/Time is Running Out mash-up and Taylor even went so far as to accurately mimic Liam Gallagher’s mannerisms.

The next cover, Audioslave‘s Like a Stone, didn’t seem to go over as well. It just didn’t fit the momentum, and let’s just say the guitarist probably should have sat out the Tom Morello guitar solo.
What solidified my fandom was the song Going Down – which is not about fellatio (per say) but no less twisted – that had me singing the chorus all the way home.

One point of interest was that the crowd kept chanting “Little J” (the nickname of her character on Gossip Girl) in between almost every song. This is interesting because the whole production of the Pretty Reckless seemed to be a rebellion to not only that character specifically but to the entire culture that it represents, fictional or otherwise. Having said that , I don’t believe they were taunting her in the least, in fact I think they were chanting it as you would the name of your favorite song in support of Taylor, but for the life of me I can’t understand how they wouldn’t get that this would completely irritate her (you could tell she was as dumbfounded as me, and took it as complimentary but her silence proved she was aghast at the cluelessness).

By this point everyone was rawking and getting into the show as well, and by the end of it Taylor was just down to her bra (and I down to my last fingernail haha).

Set List:

Since You’re Gone
Light Me Up
Miss Nothing
Zombie
Just Tonight
Goin’ Down
Supersonic (Oasis cover)
Time is Running Out (Muse cover)
Like a Stone (Audioslave cover)
My Medicine
Factory Girl

ENCORE:

Nothing Left to Lose
Make Me Wanna Die

So after the show it was still somewhat early and Celeste and I still hadn’t had a chance to discuss her participation in our upcoming SXSW showcase, but she had another event to get to that was just a few blocks away and she invited me to come along.
We  discussed details for the showcase and then I called it a night, eager to get home to download the Pretty Reckless record.

The Genitorturers – Trees – Dallas, TX – February 21st

Back in the 90’s when the band was first garnering attention, and my friends and I were seeing some of their first tours, they had two advantages: bondage gear, PVC, tattoos and piercings were still quite out there, and Marilyn Manson hadn’t yet saturated mainstream culture. Now, the Genitorturers seem to be just another band with a few tricks up their sleeve that will hopefully bring in paying customers.

While the band’s performance was tight and passably energetic, the exposition side of the engagement was sorely lacking. Seeing a few gimp masks, rubber dolls dressed up as if they’ve been ripped out of the uterus and some nipple pasties on a burlesque dancer lacks the impact it may have had a decade ago.

Audience desensitization or not, this night felt particularly no-frills. A band that once boasted a stage-encompassing set of toys such as spinning wheels, massive crosses and an onslaught of potential sexual casualties was pared down to a shadow of its former self with costumes and props pulled from what could easily have been big-box store shelves, as opposed to custom-crafted den of iniquity gear. It was deflating after not seeing the band for so long and having such high expectations.
That’s not to say that their wasn’t some craaazy shit going on cause there totally was:

As a band, Genitorturers still capably deliver their sterile synthesized rock’n’roll. As a stage show, however, at least on this night, they seemed to have lost that internal spirit for a rousing performance, delivering a bare-bones S&M-influenced show as opposed to the sensory overload S&M extravaganza they are renowned for and have easily been capable of in the past.

After the show, I go outside to find my buddy Patrick and he’s talking to this crazy gal Jacqueline, who was telling us about an upcoming event she was gonna be participating in – something insane called the North American Bodypainting Championship – (that ironically I get a call the very next day from the producers of, asking me if I would be interested in being one of the judges – I detail this experience in Part III). I love people watching and at a show like this, you couldn’t ask for a better parade of wild shit, and we hung out and met and talked with a bunch of really interesting people.

Photos –

Roy Turner
Barry Brecheisen
Robert Easley

 

Taylor Momsen Joins Victoria’s Secret to Launch Love Rocks

Taylor Momsen

 

Gossip Girl’s youngest bad girl ventured downtown last night to help Victoria’s Secret launch their newest scent collection: Love Rocks. With its tough red and black packaging, Taylor Momsen is an ideal fit to help launch this edgy new fragrance collection. “I love it. It’s kind of a more masculine scent from the other Love collections, which is really cool,” Taylor tells PEOPLE. “And I love the packaging. It looks really pretty on the dresser.“ The young starlet, who also doubles as a model and singer for her own rock band, Pretty Reckless, might be certain when it comes to her scent, but when it comes to creating her signature smoky eye, she doesn’t play favorites. “It depends on what happens to fall into my bag that day,” says Taylor. “I’ve probably got every brand of black eyeshadow I could possibly own.” Shop Victoria’s Secret’s new Love Rocks collection at victoriassecret.com.