Talk about getting a case of the munchies. In another strange tale from Axl Rose's surrealistic fight club, according to police in Sweden Axl bit - yes BIT a hotel security guard on the leg. Axl was promptly arrested by Swedish law enforcement. According to Swedish health authorities since he was unable to provide his vaccination records, Axl's head will now be removed and sent away for rabies testing.
This of course follows Axl's now infamous foxy boxing episode with Tommy Hilfiger in a New York night club. One is left to ponder who is next on the Guns 'n' Roses lead singer's hit list or whether Rose's career plans include professional boxing as a featherweight.
What a weird day. If it happened to somone else and they related this tale to me, I would view them as either a liar or a crank, but here goes, believe it or not.
This week the IHS reptile symposium was happening in San Antonio. I was at the event on Friday intending to zip back to Austin that night to review the Sonic Youth show at Stubb's, but fate, coincidence, or maybe the positioning of the stars and planets had decreed this was not to be. Little did I know that shortly I would be racing through Texas in a car with a rock star on a mission to get him to the show on time.
I was talking with a friend, Kamuran Tepedelen of Bushmaster Reptiles, at the symposium and as we were chatting he received a call from Kerry King of Slayer, scheduled to play in San Antonio that night. Turns out Kerry was in a bind. He had flown home to watch his carpet pythons hatch and was planning on flying in to re-join the tour. Due to forces beyond his control he was unable to make his flight into San Antonio, and the nearest place he could fly in on time was Austin, but his plane wasn't going to land until 4:30 pm and he had to be at the venue by 7 pm. Considering this was all occuring during the Friday rush hour and we had two major cities to traverse, it was destined to be a close thing. Since I was more familiar with the area, I was asked along to act as a human GPS. Having met Kerry more than once in the course of reptile work, I heartily agreed knowing that to do so would destroy any chance I had to do the Sonic Youth review.
We hopped in the car and raced to the airport, easily arriving 30 minutes early. It was 30 minutes after the plane had landed before we had Kerry and his luggage packed away in the car and we sped off off only to immediately encounter Austin's world famous traffic congestion. It took us a full 45 minutes to get from the airport, and back onto IH-35 pointed the right direction, maybe 3 miles total. The clock was ticking much faster than any of us cared to note. Once on the interstate the traffic began to thin and we raced south. Kerry popped in a pre-release copy of the new Slayer CD to provide us traveling music as we weaved and bobbed among the 18 wheelers. Along the way Kerry and I had a nice chat about his snakes, his music, the tour and the new album. I got a chance to mention that we had just launched the music site and that I was supposed to review the Sonic Youth show but probably wouldn't be able to make it. Kerry, seeing my dilema, offered to get me a photo pass to his show instead so I would still be able to review something.
How could I refuse an offer like that.
Well obviously I didn't.
We made it to the venue with 10 minutes to spare, and shortly afterward I had one of the coveted Slayer photo passes taped to my bag, and I was in the coliseum. This was my first show in San Antonio since my 20s, my first since launching my music journalism career, and I was definitely "odd man out" in the camera pit, the regulars all wondering how this "rookie" rated a photo pass. After relating my tale of travel I could tell that they thought I was probably full of shit, but they suffered me well even though I didn't know the venue's etiqutte or rules and committed more than one major faux pax.
By the time we arrived Mastdon had been completeing the last song of their set leaving only Lamb of God, and then Slayer. We really did just barely make it.
I used Lamb of God to zero in my new Nikon D200 during their first three songs before being booted from the camera pit til Slayer. I am not that familiar with Lamb of God's music but it was apparent that the crowd was, and the band was really in sync with them. They roared through their set, which lasted about 45 minutes. I wandered off midway through to get a coke at the concession stand, but their music seemed to follow me in the form of a very large obviously-inebriated man in the next line over who insisted on screaming along in a vocal accompanyment with the band on stage, to the ambivalence of the others in line.
Lamb of God did deliver a hot set, and really got the huge mosh pit warmed up, but it was obvious that the crowed was ready to see Slayer. After a short break, we photographers were ushered back into the pit. Using a heads up from Kerry I planted myself in the right hand side of the pit between Kerry and Tom Araya and stuck like glue.
The stage darkened, then with a flash and a crash Slayer launched into their set, steaming through "South of Heaven." I started blasting away with the camera at everything I could, not paying much attention to the music, as I grabbed as many pics as possible. Much too quickly the tap on the shoulder came and we photographers were then escorted out of the pit and literally out the front door of the venue, as per the venues standard policy. I tried to get Kerry's attention to flash him a thank you for the pass as we were escorted out, but the security guard knocked my arm down before I could do so. Once I had returned my camera to the car I was able to return ticket in hand to watch the rest of this blazing show.
Slayer was on for what seemed like forever but was in fact only about 90 minutes, returning to do two encores. They played a total of 14 songs, and I know I heard "Chemical," and a cut from the new disc called "Cult." I am trying to get a copy of the set list and will post an addendum should it happen. A great show, Slayer rocked the Freeman and its audience, literally to its foundations, all the windows in the place were buzzing and shaking. It was somewhat strange for me to see Kerry, a guy I know pretty much as just another snake guy, literally in the role of rock star doing his job and entertaining a couple thousand people. Slayer is off to Dallas next and I am going to take a few days off, at least until I can hear again.
I managed to produce about 50 usable Slayer photos, with a couple real gems of Kerry and Tom. It is all the work of the camera and the location, as I am still extremely unfamiliar with my D200. Still it was a great feeling to know that I had corrected at least some of the issues that flummoxed my ability to get some quality Les Claypool shots from the other night and had some really nice photos as a result.
Kerry if you read this, thanks for the photo pass, great show, and I look forward to our podcast interview. And if you do - have that Lizard Man guy get in touch with me, we need him in our tattoo photo gallery, though you're certainly no slouch yourself in that arena;)
We had an awesome time at the Slayer concert in San Antonio last night. Should have the review up soon. In the meantime chedk out these neat Slayer Concert Pics from the show in the photo gallery and can someone hand Kerry that fire extinguisher. Thanks.
Quit playing with your pod and do something with it.
Today is now officially WTF Friday where YOU tell US WTF is on your IPod or other music player. Hit the Random or Shuffle button and jot down the first 10 songs that come up. A random sampling of my music player today comes up with the following:
1. "Earthquake Shake" - The Skunks
2. "Long Live Rock & Roll" - Rainbow
3. "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" - Ramones
4. "Just One Fix" - Ministry
5. "Satisfaction (I can't get no)" - Devo
6. "Sex Machine" - James Brown
7. "There She Goes" - The La's
8. "When Autumn Comes" - Bill Evans
9. "Walk" - Bjork
10. "Loops of Fury" - Chemical Brothers
How can so much funk exist in one skinny white boy?
Fresh from playing two sets at Bonaroo, one with his own band and the other with Oysterhead, Les Claypool, frontman for the rock band Primus, brought his mask collection, his bass collection, Gabby La La, her theremin and sitar, and the rest of his hipster band, which included Skerik, Mike Dillon, and Paulo Baldi, for a smoking thump-fest at Austin's La Zona Rosa. Not only were fans Austin there, but a motley collection of camp followers from as far away as Australia who have been following the tour to watch his legendary work with the bass. He did not disappoint.
Les Claypool has gathered what must be the caucasian equivilent of Parliment/Funkadelic, as if assembled by John Waters, to play his 90+ minute set. Songs were primarily from from his solo projects with a few Primus nuggets thrown in for good measure. Touring in support of his new solo Of Whales and Woe, lots of material from this disc was evident including the title track. Crowd favorites and mine certainly included the funked up "Off White Guilt," "Vernon the Company Man," as well as "Phantom Patriot." He also covered such gems as "Holy Mackerel" and "One Step Beyond" from the band Madness.
This concert was a blast, Les changing into his masks mid-set, appearing in such things as an Elvis mask and at one point what appeared to be a gorrilla mask, but I was too far back to see. Les has a very darkly humorous vein to him, and it was great to watch him sarcastically lambast a fan who made the mistake of flipping him off. Gabby La La, herself an interesting presence onstage, alternated wailing away on the sitar and the theremin, which oddly complements Les' music. I think I could watch Les and his various bands play every night and be entertained.
Opening for Les was a band that literally defies any genre classification I can come up with. I am stumped. Rasputina consists of three musicians playing two cellos and a set of drums, all in Victorian period costume. It was amazing to hear them fill the room with sound, playing a number of their own songs as well as part of Sir Mixalot's "Baby Got Back" and a smoking rendition of Heart's "Barracuda." I have heard many bands cover those songs, but never with cello, and they absolutely rocked. I would really like to see them pursue the Sir Mixalot song further than the tempting little morsel they delivered here. I look forward to seeing them headline their own show so I can see their full set.
I love seeing shows at La Zona Rosa. With its small indoor stage (air conditioned, a must), open air porch and awesomely stocked jukebox, it's a great little venue. Thanks go out to the Direct Events staff and Les Claypool for hooking us up with the photo credentials.
Beck
Hometown: Los Angeles, California http://www.beck.com
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 The Backyard (Austin, Texas)
Also:Jamie Lidell
With a logistics trail that must rival the 3rd Armored Division, the artist known as Beck brought his happy band of minstrels to Austin to sing, dance, and perform a puppet show. No joke. Puppets.
The trek out to The Backyard from where I live is one of those "pack a sandwich for the drive" trips, so long in fact I completely missed the warm up band. I don't know if that was a good thing or bad thing, as at least one concert goer said, and I quote, "They sucked." I couldn't offer an opinion not having seen the show, and can only offer that this particular fan probably would have thought everybody sucked until Beck came on.
If the drive out was long, the walk from the parking lot seemed just as long. Apparently disagreements over parking required The Backyard to park us in an even backer 'backyard" and had us wandering over the river and through the woods on a 20 minute walk to the front gate. I wondered, aloud, whether I should have taken the GPS coordinates of my truck to make it easier to find when I was stumbling through the woods when it was dark later. I hope they get their parking issues resolved soon, I think I got chiggers.
Camera security was at an all time high, with a stout shakedown at the entrance. I don't know what Beck's policy was, this was the venue's. Luckily I had called ahead to inquire about the camera policy or I would have been one of the many that had to stumble all the way back to the car to put theirs away. The policy worked though. I daresay I saw maybe three flashes total from the audience all night. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough off the line to secure a camera badge for this event, so sadly I have no photos for us.
Beck's band trundled onstage, behind them a huge video screen, and were soon followed by an extremely mop-topped Beck wearing a fedora. The band launched into "Black Tambourine" and the crowd just ate it up. From my vantage point at the side of the stage, I could see what appeared to be the band's image projected on the video screen. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't the band but marionettes dressed in the exact same clothes, and moving to the exact same rythyms. Moving further out I could see that nestled in the back next to the drum kit was a ministage and there were actually 3 or 4 puppeteers working the marionettes live. They did this the whole show. I must have seen well over a thousand concerts and this is the first time I have ever seen anyone use puppets onstage. Maybe its just my latent pupaphobia coming home to roost but I seemed to fixate on the damnable things through the whole show.
I have always liked the way Beck juxtaposes bits and pieces to make a whole in his funky almost whitebread hip-hop kind of way. Beck bounced all over with the show, covering something from just about everything he released. Lots and lots of stuff from Guerro and Odelay, including "Loser," "Devils Haircut," "New Pollution," and some stuff off of Sea Change. Many of them sounded like they were straight off the disc, others were arranged quite differently. I think my favorite song for the night was "Rental Car." On Guerro it has a summerish almost beach boy feel, live it had a growl and bite that they don't really capture on disc. I also enjoyed the the Ray Manzarek-like keyboard vibes on some of the songs. I don't think I heard much I didn't like.
I was glad to see Beck reference Austin, and its world famous bat colony, several times in the show, and at least once in song. He does really seem to enjoy the Austin crowd.
I have never understood Beck's "dancing" guy. I found him intriguing during Beck's SNL appearance, annoying for 90 minutes, and his whole fake banjo routine near the end detracts from the performance and needs to go. Maybe I missed the reference or the context.
I think that the only problem I had was an energy related one. It seemed to me that in such a big open air venue much of the band's energy (not their sound) dissipated the further you got from the stage. While most of the audience probably missed this, I bet that had the same show been held in an enclosed, smaller venue it would have been a much better show. I guess the same could be said for most outdoor shows. Perhaps if the big screen had been showing the actual band instead of a bunch of puppets it would have alleviated some of this.
This show clocked in at 90 minutes and I can recommend it to anyone that does not fear puppets.
According to Michael Barnes over at the Statesman, long time music landmark, and ex-smoky dive The Back Room, will close on July 29th, victim of Austin's ravenous development. Metal fans across Texas are encouraged to wear black leather or T-shirts to note the bars demise and it's becoming just another footnote in Austin's music history. In its 30 year battle millions of braincells were killed and potentially hundreds of children conceived on its premises.
Over the years The Back Room has hosted literally thousands of bands on its stages, and it's closure will leave a great venue gap in Austins metal scene. The Back Room can be added to that list of dead venues now marked by the cold steel and concrete headstone of developement that has already claimed such famous venues as the Armadillo World Headquarters and Liberty Lunch. Luckily other stalwart clubs such as The Continental Club and Emo's have survived, and newer venues such as Stubb's and La Zona Rosa have come onto the scene and risen to the legendary status. Lets hope that Austin's metalheads find a new place to call home.
A very very partial listing of some of the bands that have appeared there include the following:
Of all the surviving musical landmarks in Austin that were missed by the wrecking ball in the 70s and 80s, Threadgills' venues are unquestionably the most famous, being best known as the starting point for Janis Joplin's career in the 60s. Threadgills is still giving that same support to local and up and coming bands(and still serving up a mean chicken fried steak which is great 'cause I can use a break from all the Bar-B-Q).
Down on West Riverside Drive, within the shadow of the office building that is the the grave of Austin's Armadillo World Headquarters where I conned my way backstage as an impetuous high schooler to see the REAL XTC in 1981 and got to interview Andy Partridge, Threadgill's outdoor venue with its tables and chairs and park-like environment was a great place to see the XTC tribute band Dukes of Simpleton, especially after the early rain showers had knocked 10 degrees off the temperature.
I don't normally subject myself to "tribute" bands, as I would much rather see the actual band, or in most cases have seen the actual band, but as it's unlikely we will see the members of XTC tour anytime soon, it was great to hear their music live again. I was fortunate as a young pup to have the chance to see and hear XTC live in 1981 on their first U.S. tour supporting the Drums and Wires album (an album is a black shiny plastic thing that is the analog equivalent of today's CD, sometimes referred to as "vinyl"), and at least one other time later in their career. For those not familiar with XTC, they were for their time one of the most artistic, interesting and inventive bands to rise from England's punk scene in the late 70s/early 80s, and their intricately crafted songs have long made them favorites among musicians. Despite seeing much early success, and building a substantial core audience, issues with their record label left band members literally parking cars for a living at one point.
It says much for XTC's musicianship that to duplicate their sound so well, the Dukes of Simpleton needed twice as many people to cover their work. Still, it was a wonderfully light and frothy show that lasted a little over an hour, if you extract out their set break. Although the lead vocalist, Kirk Kellam, doesn't have quite the same sound as Colin Moulding or Andy Partridge, he was in tune and sounded clean and it worked well. The rest of the band's sound was indistinguishable from the original, and songs such as "Dear God" and "Peter Pumpkinhead" sounded wonderful live, and they brought in brass for "My Bird." Only their third show, and a still a little rough around the edges, Dukes of Simpleton are well on their way to having a fine tight band, and they will only improve with more experience playing together live.
This tribute band is packed chock full of local Austin music veterans, musicians who for years have focused on their own work. That they would take the time to cover one of their own favorite bands and do it so well says alot both for the work of XTC and for the Dukes. The audience sure seemed to be peppered with a lot of faces from the "old school Austin punk" days as well, many I hadn't seen in years. To see photographs from this show please click here
Props go out to Dennis Bruhn and Shelly Vlcek and Threadgills for hooking me up with a press pass on very short notice for this event. I don't know if Eddie Wilson is still the owner of Threadgills but if so, long time no hear. I am glad you're still picking good bands for your venues. You still owe me that chicken fried steak. ;)
Welcome all the guys and girls over at Metal Blade Records to club.kingsnake. We like all different genres of music here, including of course all flavors of metal, so Metal Blade's support of our web site is much appreciated. We approached a number of record companies and Metal Blade jumped in with both feet. We are glad to have you on board.
We will be working with Metal Blade to bring you lots of neat stuff like reviews of their shows (including Ozzfest) and their artists (like Cannibal Corpse) and podcast interviews with some of their artists. HOPEFULLY we can talk them into letting us give away some neat Metal Blade swag along the way.
For those of you not familiar with Metal Blade Records, their first release contained songs by some then-unknown bands called Metallica and Ratt, and the label has been the home of many of todays bigger metal acts, like Slayer and Gwar. Started by Brian Slagel in 1982 on a shoestring and a dream, Metal Blade has been an important influence in the careers of many bands.
A special shout goes out to Michelle at Metal Blade, who not only has a thing for metal, but is also a ball python owner (natch!) and was able to hook us up with press access, photo badges and more, making our job so much easier. You guys at Metal Blade should give her a raise, she talked us into giving her all our prime ad spots. ;)
It's time to quit playing with your pod and do something serious with it.
Today is now officially WTF Friday where YOU tell US WTF is on your IPod or other music player. Hit the Random or Shuffle button and jot down the first 10 songs that come up. A random sampling of my music player today comes up with the following:
1. "The Weed Song" - Butthole Surfers
2. "Too Many Puppies" - Primus
3. "Blackstar(Acoustic)" - Radiohead
4. "Cracking Up" - Nick Lowe
5. "Hear my train a comin" - Jimi Hendrix
6. "Blue in Green" - Miles Davis
7. "Johnny B. Goode/Roadrunner" - Sex Pistols
8. "Spiders" - System of a Down
9. "Daisies of the Galaxy" - The Eels
10. "The Dregs" - 3
According to Pollstar, a blood disease has sidelined Korn's lead singer, Jonathan Davis, sending him to the hospital and forcing Korn to cancel the remainder of their summer tour. Snow Patrol's lead singer Gary Lightbody's throat problem has not improved forcing them to cancel the remainder of their tour as well.
Those looking for that cure to the summertime blues might try looking at the new Beavis & Butt Head Collection DVD that released on Tuesday.
You never know where legendary Texas musician Kinky Friedman will show up next, with his trademark black hat and big cigar, it might be in Dallas leading the St. Patty's day parade or talking with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show.
Saturday he showed up to chat with us and we had a great talk about Texas Music, Dogs, and other interesting stuff. Oh, and I think he MIGHT have mentioned (once or twice)that he is running for Governer of Texas as well. Click on the player below to listen or on our Podcast Page.
It's awfully hard to think of any band that sounds stranger than Primus, but Primus frontman Les Claypool apparently finds even Primus too constricting at times. Thus begat Les' latest solo project "Of Whales and Woe."
This disc is a lot like eating sushi with a a variety of tastes and textures, flavors and smells. Some of the dishes you want to go back for seconds on, others just may not be your thing. Certainly his music is not designed to appeal to the great unwashed masses, but to push the boundaries of what music is and what it is composed of at the nuclear level.
My best description aurally of this new release is that of an MTV deathmatch between Primus and the Mothers of Invention with the blow-by-blow commentary provided by Buck Owens of Hee-Haw and a guest appearance by Ravi Shankar. Les is flat out all over the place on this disc as usual (was that a theremin I heard?), and being un-bounded by the restrictions (?) of Primus, it gets kinda funky and kinda freaky.
Some of the tunes are annoying at best, filler at most, some of them are wonderfully bouncy and funky. "Vernon The Company Man" is a strange tale with some odd sitar work. "Iowan Gal" is a bluegrass tune that left its harmony in my head and took days to shake. The song "Nothing Ventured" sounds like a something taken from the King Crimson's Discipline song book . "Of Whales and Woe" and "Phantom Patriot" have a Mothers-esque vibe that is helped by some neat xylaphone work. "One Better" and "Rumble of the Deisel" are just flat out funky in a Parliment/Funkadelic meets Zappa kind of way. "Robot Chicken" is pure Primus and "Filipino Ray" and "Off White Guilt" have some of the wickedest bass riffs you'll ever hear.
Not for beginners, Les Claypool is definitely an aquired taste.
Favorites:
One Better
Nothing Ventured
Rumble of the Deisel
I went to this show with a lot of preconceived notions about this band based on their press and television appearances, and was completely ready and willing to dismiss them as a bunch of immature, pretentious, young British snots. After winning both "Best New Band" and "Best British Band" at the 2006 NME, and then being touted at SXSW as leading the next British Invasion, only to see them trash the SXSW 2006 critics, and then later their amps on their SNL appearance, I was afraid I was being led down the garden path again, a la Spacehog and The Stone Roses.
Let's get something straight. The Arctic Monkeys are not bigger than Jesus, nor are they bigger than the The Beatles, and they aren't better than Oasis, at least in terms of musicianship. What they are, however, is a young, fresh, raw, talented band with a distinctive sound. Given time, they'll likely produce some really neat material. Lead vocalist Alex Turner has a voice that is unmistakeable in a way similar to, say, Stan Ridgway or Richard Butler, and it clearly helps this band distiguish themselves from the great grey cloud of other U.K. bands clawing for U.S. airplay.
I don't expect the Arctic Monkeys to produce an intricately worked masterpeice with "Dark Side of the Moon" longevity, nor do I see them producing any massive anthems of teen angst or tomes of deep political thought. With songs like "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor," I expect them to make good, fun, party music that a lot of people enjoy, and see a career similar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
This power pop foursome has been unfortunately and unfairly saddled with the label of being the "next big thing" from the U.K. to invade North America, and the monstrous P.R. machine behind that promotion was very much in evidence at Stubbs (even though it somehow missed us when handing out camera passes). That is an enormous amount of pressure for a bunch of literal 20 year olds in their first band to expect to live up to, and it's pretty obvious that the band is uncomfortable with all the hype.
Aside from that, it was only the 100+ heat, the sold out crowd, and the long lines at the beer stands that made the audience at the show uncomfortable. All of that was forgotten when the band took the stage. Looking every bit like a high school garage band, these guys blasted through a short set of only about an hour. Simulcast on KROX 101X, the band had a very smooth mix from the sound board and did not sound much different than they do on disc. Very twangy, jerky and poppy, in a White Stripes-meets-Mersey-tone, they ripped through essentially everything on their only album and their EP, stopping occasionally to banter with a woman in the audience requesting they remove first their pants, then their shoes. All I can say is that at least she didn't request "Free Bird." I really like this band and would pay to see them perform again when they have more material. It would be a shame to see this bands rough edges sanded off by some slick producer, or to see them succumb to the hype that preceeds them.
Opening for the Arctic Monkeys was the California band We Are Scientists with about a 30 minute set. This is another good band but unfortunately I wasn't familiar at all with their music. They have a good sound and are very much a college band, with a substantial Austin audience that germinated with their 2005 SXSW performance where they were labeled as one of the "Must See Unsigned Bands."
Tony Jones has joined our staff to cover the live music scene in and around the U.K. Based in London, Tony is a well positioned to write about one of the greatest live music scenes in the world and we are glad that we can extend our coverage across the pond. Tony just got back from touring a bit with New Model Army around the U.K. and though he's a bit bruised and bloodied he's back and ready to write.
We always are looking for new writers to join our staff. Right now we especially need authors and photographers to cover the live music scene in Southern California and New York City, but really we are interested in the live music scene around the world. If you like alternative music, punk, metal, indie, like to go clubbing for live bands, like to write or take pictures, and are interested in joining our music community as a staff blogger, contact us. This is a lot of fun!