Friday, May 9. 2008
Dimmu Borgir at Stubb's photo by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer | by Nokturnel Tom
club kingsnake staff
Dimmu Borgir
Hometown: Oslo, Norway
http://www.dimmu-borgir.com/
Dimmu Borgir Concert Photos
Monday, April 21st, 2007
Stubb's Bar-B-Q (Austin, Texas)
Also: Keep of Kalessin, Behemoth
Ah, it seems like yesterday that these three bands were "new." Here I am standing in a sea of hundreds of people on a Monday night. Now understand, Austin is not bad for national acts as far as metal is concerned, but it's not often the famous Stubbs BBQ hosts a night of black metal.
This tour would have been considered underground ten years ago; now it has come full circle. These bands are veterans and this is considered mainstream by most. It's safe to say these are bands that may have lost their original fans and gained ten times as many new ones.
This is not my idea of "true black metal," nope, not at all -- though I will give respect to Dimmu for keeping the theme evil. Dimmu has always been pretty much the same, although the sound of the records gets better with every release and they have really perfected their style of metal.
Continue reading "Concert Review: Dimmu Borgir at Stubb's BarBQ, Austin, Texas"
Thursday, May 8. 2008
Rush at The Frank Erwin Center - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer | by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Rush
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario.
http://www.rush.com
Rush Concert Photos
Wednesday April 23rd, 2008
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
When I was in 8th grade I bought 7 albums, my first major music purchase. It set me back about $50 which back then was about 5 tanks of gas in the family station wagon. For a long time they were my only records. I remember most of them, Kiss Rock And Roll Over, Pink Floyd's Animals, The Eagle's Hotel California, Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains The Same were a few of them, but my favorite of the bunch was Rush's 2112. Of all the albums it took me on a wild journey. Neal Peart's drums on "Passage to Bangkok" blew me away, and the whole masterful 2112 opus combined hard rock and progressive rock in a way never done before.
Shortly after I saw Rush play down in San Antonio on their Farewell to Kings tour and it was almost a religious experience. I had all 5 of Rush's first albums before I even heard them on the radio here in Austin. I even owned them all on 8-Track tape. Clint, our Toronto based writer always gives me crap over my Rush fixation but back in the day, in the 70's before even AOR stations were playing Rush, they had a huge fan base in Texas, emanating out from San Antonio. KISS-FM, San Antonio's hard rock FM station, and more specifically Joe Anthony, had a pipeline to great metal and rock talent and was responsible for introducing bands like Rush, Moxy, Legs Diamond, April Wine, Judas Priest, Budgie, and AC/DC, to Texas. Without Joe's influence on the scene down in San Antonio, I doubt that metal would have thrived as a genre like it did, and I don't think that Rush would have grown as big as they did without the audience they established here in the 70's.
Continue reading "Concert Review: Rush, Frank Erwin Center, Austin Texas"
Wednesday, May 7. 2008
by clint gilders - clubkingsnake staff
The Arrow Hall. Toronto, Ontario.
April 30, 2008
Jeff recently posted his Ten Bands I Have To Shoot Before I Die, and while mine is maybe a little more ever changing and ever growing I knew with the announcement of a Gigantour stop in Toronto I would be able to tick two bands off my list.
Fighting an ass-kicking cold that had been speading through my home, family, friends, and city I fortified my self with the potentially lethal combination of Contact-C and Amp energy drink and headed to the airplane hangar come concert venue known as the Arrow Hall to get my metal on.
First to take the stage were California's High on Fire. This power trio plays pretty straight forward metal that harkens back to Motorhead and Venom. They were a good warmup act, but didn't light me on fire.
Job For a Cowboy were a band I have wanted to see for a while. Yeah, they have one of the coolest band names in rock, but there's also something about their brand of Death Metal that raises it above the rest of the genre. Seeing them live simply confirmed my initial impressions. The musicianship is exceptional, and their stage presence is fantastic. I will go on record as not being a fan of Death Metal in general. Job For A Cowboy has won me over (to the dark side?) though and I'll be exploring this genre more deeply in the future. Maybe I'll find a few more gems like JFAC.
Continue reading "Concert Review: Gigantour 2008, Toronto, Ontario."
Tuesday, May 6. 2008
Al Jourgensen of Ministry - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer | by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Ministry
Hometown: Chicago, Il.
http://www.ministrymusic.org
Ministry Concert Photos
Tuesday April 15th, 2008
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
Also: Meshuggah
I had a sense of dread when I showed up at La Zona Rosa for this gig. Don't know what or why. Maybe it was because they'd turned me down to shoot their last tour, maybe it was the predictions of other photographers that had shot them before, or maybe it was the evil smile of the red-headed roadie vixen as she looked at the ominous chain link fencing behind the opening band, and smirked at us photographers.
It could have also been the fact that their was an electricity in the air caused by something other than the adrenaline, or meth, running through their audience. Securities short hairs were up because the opening band was a no show and the venue was afraid that the late start might cause a riot. Actually the crowd was pretty oblivious to the no show, and I am sure the bartenders did their best to keep the crowd occupied. I don't think anyone even noticed.
Continue reading "Concert Review: Ministry at La Zona Rosa, Austin Texas"
Monday, May 5. 2008
Chris Conley of Saves The Day - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer | by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Saves The Day
Hometown: Princeton, N.J.
http://www.savestheday.com
Saves The Day Concert Photos
Thursday April 10th, 2008
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
Also: Armor For Sleep, Set Your Goals, Metro Station, Lydia
I started my night at La Zona Rosa, but had to miss the middle band on the bill to scoot over and cover The Mars Volta around the corner. I almost didn't come back. The fact that I had to pry myself from the Volta's set is more a factor of how blown away I was, and not reflection on the quality of the bands at LZR.
In almost a repeat of the previous night La Zona Rosa had packed the venue with a multi-band touring bill, booked as the Bamboozle Road Show, with a slew of neat bands to check out.
Opening the set was the band Lydia out of Gilbert, Arizona, which has a richly layered sound. A dark, rainy day gray kind of music, not so cheerful or pop driven. Big sweeping epics of angst. These were probably my favorites of the night and it will be interesting to see how they mature out over time. Their debut album is out on the label HourZero and is called This December; It's One More and I'm Free. I think it's worth checking out based on their MySpace cuts and their live set.
Continue reading "Concert Review: Saves The Day at La Zona Rosa, Austin Texas"
Thursday, May 1. 2008
Geddy Lee of Rush- more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer | by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Ok, music photographers out there know what I am talking about. We all have bands that we would like to shoot but haven't yet either through lack of touring, not having the stones to get the credentials, or draconian photo policies.
I got to take one of those bands off my list last month when I got an opportunity to shoot Rush, a band on my list since the 70's when their album 2112 was one of my first album purchases. What a fantastic show to shoot too, I want to thank Alex, Geddy, and Neil for giving me the opportunity and for inviting me to stay to watch the whole show. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to shoot the gods of my youth, and how appropriate that I should get to shoot their Snakes and Arrows tour!
That got me to thinking, again, about all the other bands that are on my "must shoot before I die" list, who ranks, why, and just how far would I go to shoot them. After much internal dissension, here is my list, but I am terribly conflicted. Now a few disclaimers, the majority of the important band members must be alive, and there must be more than a small hope that they will either tour or play together again.
1. Led Zeppelin - I would go anywhere in the world for an opportunity to shoot them. I don't see it happening
2. The Rolling Stones - When they played Austin they only allowed 3 photogs to shoot. Next time I plan on being one of these 3.
3. U2 - They will never play Austin, but if I had a photo pass I'd fly to either coast.
4. The Sex Pistols - I would go anywhere in the states to shoot them. I would fly to London if the photo shoot included at least 2 minutes of verbal abuse directed at me by Johnny Rotten.
5. Pink Floyd - Who wouldn't want to shoot an inflatable pig? Got to be the whole band though.
6. KISS - This would be a can't miss for me, BUT it would have to be the original 4 members.
7. Judas Priest - This one may come true this summer! Not bloody likely, but it might.
8. ZZ Top - This one may come true THIS MONTH! YAHOO! And at The Backyard too, one of my favorite venues!
9. The Cure - This one may come true in June! Got my fingers crossed for their stop at the Austin Music Hall. If I don't get it I will be hosed all the way around since the show is way sold out and I didn't get a ticket.
10. Motorhead - This one may come true this summer, but very unlikely. They clamped down on photogs like the hand of god reaching down from the heavens to smite them at their recent Stubb's gig during SXSW
What bands would be on YOUR list and how far would you go to either shoot them or see them?
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