Click here to check out the rest of the pics.
photos and review by Michael Hurcomb - Staff Photographer |
Wolfmother with The Heartless Bastards and The Newno2
Kool Haus
November 11th, 2009
Gotta get this out of the way. Andrew Stockdale (the singer) from Wolfmother looks like Carrot Top. There I said it. And while I'm at it Dhani Harrison from thenewno2 looks a lot like his dad George....Harrison....from the Beatles.
I'd like to 1st review the show lighting from a photographer's point of view. It was bad - too much red and green. But that's my only gripe. Thenewno2 are a great sounding band with some great lineage. You can hear the similarities between Dhani and his father but it's not in a bad way like Julian Lennon - sorry Julian but "Valotte" sucked. Thenewno2 was the band I was most looking forward to tonight and their 6 song set left me wanting more. Gotta get this Cd.
The Heartless Bastards came out screaming and didn't stop. There set was a mix of fantastic vocals and guitar from Erika Wennerstrom and a solid pulse from the rest of the band. The crowd really came alive when they hit the stage after being more subdued for thenewno2.
Wolfmother are back with their 2nd album "Cosmic Egg" and a new band. Founding members Chris Ross (Bassist and keyboards) and drummer Myles Heskett left the band due to "irreconcilable personal and musical differences" leaving Stockdale to bring in 3 new members and a new energy. The addition of a 2nd guitar really helped during "Woman" when Stockdale knocked his mic stand over, tried to recover it and dropped his guitar. Minutes later everything was OK but the band never dropped a beat. The crowd loved them but I really couldn't get into it. I like the music but the show was almost "paint by numbers". Jump here, riff here, pounding drums. Just stuff we've seen and hear before but nothing groundbreaking. Cool band but not sensational.
Saturday, October 10. 2009
by Bryan 'Venomdoc' Fry - Staff Writer
The crowd at the Megadeth/Slayer double-bill was mostly male unshaven tattooed sorts, so I fit right in. The few women around were wearing the latest-and-greatest fashions from Biker's Moll Weekly. Apparently black was this season's black.
The opening act (Double Dragon) did a workmanship job of warming the crowd up. Leading them on several drum-driven chants of MEGADETH! and SLAYER!!
Then came Megadeth, or as they are more rightly known, Dave Mustaine and three other guys. While Dave has a vocal capacity that spans the full range from A to B, he uses it with precision and devastating efficiency. Just like the Pied Piper, he led the crowd into a passionate pit. Peace may sell, but they crowd wasn't buying that. They were however eagerly lapping up all that he put out to tender. By the time Megadeth finished their scorcher of a set, the front of stage was a holy war indeed.
Slayer came on and the concert unfortunately descended into a true season in the abyss. The first song had sparing vocals but was the hardest wall of metal I have ever had the privelage to be assaulted by. Wrapping the crowd up in it's muscular arms just as one of guitart Kerry King's beloved pythons coils around a prey item. The drummer was hitting the frenetic pace that can only be fueled by enough red bull to give an elephant's heart a stop. After the first song, Tom Araya motioned for the crowd to be quiet and then informed everyone that his voice was shot and that there wasn't going to be much singing. The band then launched into a series of instrumentals. Not Spinal-Tapian free-form jazz, but rather something much heavier. However, in the absence of vocals, the pace could not be sustained and the band flagged.
The rapport with the crowd was also lost when there were complete blackouts between songs lasting a minute or longer as roadies wandered around with flashlights, perhaps looking for Tom's voice. Kerry may be able to sing as well as play guitar, but unlike walking and chewing gum, he can't do them at the same time. So the band brought on random people from backstage to sing. They did it in good spirit and while the crowd were positive about the attempt, none of them had the power of Tom in full-flight, when he has the voice of two mortals. The filler-attempt reminded me too-much of the movie Rock Star. I half expected one of the walk-ons to launch into a spirirted rendition of 'Stand up and shout' including the sustained vocal note. Slayer finished their set abruptly and without the obligatory encore.
One hopes Tom's voice hits its former glory and that this is not a harbinger of the tour to come. The show is worth going to for Megadeth alone though. Perhaps it should be re-billed as MegaDave!
Friday, October 2. 2009
by Jeff Barringer - Staff Writer
Headlining one of this years ACL main stages, and firing this years opening volley to start the fest, a new band, Them Crooked Vultures opened the festival with a sold out pre-fest gig at Stubb's BarBQ last night.
Begun as a special project in 2005 by super-musician Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, the band played a handful of disparate gigs in the United States and Europe back in August, but the Stubb's stop is officially the very first stop on their very first American tour.
It is a wise man that attends one of Dave Grohls' side project bands live gigs with no pre-conceived notions. Much like his experimental Probot project, nothing about the sound of this band bears any relationship to either Foo Fighters or Nirvana. In fact it probably derives more of it's sound from 60's classic "heavy" bands such as Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly than anything produced in the last 20 years.
With the legendary John Paul Jones of Led Zepplelin on the bass and the keyboard, the bands direction was probably inevitable, and yet there was a twinge of frenetic "Jack White" experimentalism which when layered with that deep late 60's blues rock, creates a melange different from anything else you'll hear today. With the off key vocals of Queens of The Stone Age's Josh Homme highlighting and accentuating the esoteric nature of the music, these songs wouldn't sound out of place in 1968 London. I think they need to ask Blue Cheer to open for them. THAT would be a great double bill.
But this is a chimera, a once in a lifetime chance to see these musicians play together, something that after this tour is never likely to happen again. With the tour selling out in record time few people will get the opportunity. Luckily for all of us, they taped a set for the Austin City Limits TV show on PBS Thursday. Look for it to be aired sometime in early 2010.
Click here to check out the rest of the pics.
photos by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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Friday, September 25. 2009
by Jeff Barringer - Staff Writer
It didn't feel quite like a Raul's reunion in the audience at the Psychedelic Furs show at Stubb's last night, more like a VH1 80's retrospective as brothers Richard Butler and Tim Butler brought the seminal 70's punk cum new wave band to Austin.
The Fur's have a long history influencing the Austin alternative music scene, in fact going all the way back to their show at Raul's in 1980, Austin's legendary well-spring punk club down on the U.T. campus. Many Austin bands sprang from that gig, and as one of the first foreign punk acts to play an Austin club, the Fur's's helped to establish Austin's punk/alternative music scene on an international level.
This iteration of the Fur's has changed somewhat, with the Butler's being the only remaining original members, but with Rich Good on guitar, Mars Williams on saxophone, Amanda Kramer on keys, and Paul Garisto drums providing able accompaniment the songs sounded album perfect. And what songs there were too, a litany of FM radio favorites of the 80's and 90's. If I had only one complaint about thesong mix it would be that aside from "Sister Europe" they didn't play anything else off their first album. Those songs were so much darker than their later work, less radio friendly, and more experimental for the time. Certainly tame by todays standards, in the FM world of the 70's & 80's where The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac ruled the airwaves, those songs were groundbreaking.
But I digress. Looking at the set list I don't see anything I didn't enjoy hearing, and I would be hard pressed to pick songs to cut to find room for others. Great show, great set, I could watch the Psychedelic Furs again and again.
Click here to check out the rest of the pics.
photos by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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Friday, August 21. 2009
Pat Benatar at the Austin Music Hall - more photos...
photo by jaime butler - staff photographer |
by jaime butler - club kingsnake staff
The first I thing I noticed walking into the Music Hall was the ridiculous line leading to will call. The second thing I noticed was the lack of security. Usually that would excite me but in this case it resulted in the venue having no barricade thus no pit for us photogs. Hurray!, my favorite shooting environment. Thankfully what security guards there were and a few fanatics helped me push to the front of the stage.
To be honest I didn’t really care whether or not I saw Pat Benatar's set and I had already missed the Donnas but once I was in front of her I was enthralled. She’s nothing short of an amazing vocalist and her calm cool attitude on stage made me want to befriend her. Pat was by far the star of the evening, the never ending roars and waning crowd by the end of her set made it obvious. I was most excited to see Blondie and naively assumed the others were as well but once I realized every song in Benatars set was once a top 40 hit it all started to make sense. This chic is HUGE. Bigger than huge and her presence is as strong as ever.
During “Love is a Battlefield” I was lucky enough to witness a middle aged woman, dressed as if she had fallen asleep in 1984 and abruptly awoke ready to go see one of the most famous pop stars of the decade, get roughly escorted out of the building. Once she realized how long she had been passed out she must’ve been filled rage directed at the fans of “this century”. The core audience didn’t seem to notice. They kept right on dancing and reciting every lyric to songs such as “Hell is for children”, “We Belong” and the most popular “Heartbreaker”.
Blondie at the Austin Music Hall - more photos...
photo by jaime butler - staff photographer |
Despite the happy go lucky crowd the rage didn’t stop there. There were some 10-15 fights that broke out that evening. All women might I add. Why were they so angry? Not sure but I bet it had something to do with alcohol and coca cola perhaps? If security wasn’t so lacking the house may have been half empty by the time the headliner went on. Speaking of, right when I made my way to the front of the stage for Blondies “Tide is High” I hear a young woman scream “F you Bitch!” and immediately I got lucky again and got to watch her be carried out by one of the two stage security guards. I still don’t know who she was talking to.
Besides all the ladies spilling their mixed drinks down both my legs I had a really good time. What folks that remained from the Pat Benatar set were true Blondie fans. They went crazy for tunes like “Call Me” and “One Way or Another” with Harry handing the microphone over to the audience for the majority of the songs. There were a few songs the crowd and myself didn’t seem to recognize and I’m hoping it’s safe to assume they are going to be on an upcoming album.
But I’ve always been half ass when it comes to doing my homework. Mostly at this show I was just a fan thrilled to be experiencing a band I was too young to at their prime. And that’s not to say their flame is dying. These guys and girl are every bit as good as I can imagine them being and they are still just plain cool. Harry still has the power to draw you in and make you go “Wow! She’s something”, even if you have no idea what that something is. Debbie wasn’t alone in the glory, she was accompanied by originals Chris Stein and Clem Burke along with Paul Carbonara and Alex Leigh and some Shandon Sahm looking guy on keys. I had to look it up but I believe that was Matt Katz-Bohen. Forgive me if I’m wrong. As much as this show rocked nothing could touch the amazing encore with Chelsea Bono on the bongos. Talk about a hoot. No I’m kidding. But that would be cool huh?
I’m sorry for those of you that weren’t there. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to miss this show or any Blondie show in the future. My advice? Wear boxing gloves and a raincoat and leave the earplugs at home.
Blondie at the Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jaime butler - staff photographer
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Sunday, August 2. 2009
Dr. John at the Austin Music Hall - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by harrison davis - club kingsnake staff
Despite an underwhelming crowd presence at the Austin Music Hall, both Dr. John and the Neville Brothers turned in fantastic performances at the Austin stop of the Mardi Gras Mambo tour.
Dr. John was first up and his blend of Cajun, rock, and blues had the crowd moving right away. Dr. John himself only moved from behind his piano a few times during the set, but he stayed solid all night, especially when he picked up a guitar for a song. His band, The Lower 911, was probably the most impressive from Dr. John’s set. They were able to lay down a huge groove with every song and every solo they took was very impressive. It was clear that the highlight of the show for many was the most well known song “Right Place Wrong Time”.
The Neville Brothers set was dominated by the performances of two people, saxophonist Charles Neville and guitarist Makuni Fukuda. Both players blew the crowd away with solos, especially Fukuda. From his first solo early on in the set, I loved the surf funk sound he got out of his guitar. Charles Neville took longer to get into the show, as did all the Nevilles, but his solos on the slower songs were fantastic and left the crowd speechless. Aaron Neville did little more than just sing the songs and often left the stage during the extended musical breaks. All the energy of the show came from Art Neville who really got into some of the classics, which really got the crowd into as well and turned the first few rows into a dance floor. It stayed that way the rest of the night.
Neville Brothers at the Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Saturday, July 4. 2009
Chris Barker of Anti-Flag at Warped Festival - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
The San Antonio stop on the 2009 Warped Tour was, above all, excruciatingly hot. The 100+ degree temperatures and cloud free skies were not helped at all by the fact that the whole thing was being held in a huge parking lot which effectively became a giant reflector oven. Just dragging all the gear from the car and wandering around looking for our passes was an ordeal. After getting badged up and finding an area to use as shelter in between bands, I headed out to see the first band on the main stage, The Ataris.
I had heard of the band, but wasn’t sure if I had ever actually heard them. They turned out to be one of my favorite bands of the day. They had a great energy on stage, which could not have been easy given the ridiculous heat. The most important thing is that their songs were usually pretty catchy, especially their unexpected but strangely fitting cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”.
It took only one half hour set for me to start feeling the heat, so for much of the day I watched the main stage bands and then hid from the sun during set changes. The next band up was Anti-Flag, one of the few bands I was familiar with. I’ve never thought of them as anything more than a generic punk band but they were surprisingly good. They showed a great amount of energy and were actually pretty good musically, which is not something you see often with punk bands. Bassist Chris Barker tried desperately to get the crowd to ignore the heat and actually managed to for a lot of the set, getting several large circle pits happening.
Roger Manganelli of Less Than Jake at Warped Festival - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The next band on was Less Than Jake, a ska band who I had been a casual fan of for a while. They showed up and just played their show, they tried to put energy in the set but the day had clearly taken its toll. The music wasn’t bad it didn’t feel like the band wanted to be there, which is unfortunate because they much more talented than many of the bands that did.
In between some bands I took time to walk around the grounds and look at the different booths and things. Every band on the tour has a booth to sell merch at on the grounds and many bands hang out at their booth. The unfortunate thing about it is that bands have their booths put up even if they weren’t in town for that stop of the tour. It hurt me to walk by the Flogging Molly booth knowing they weren’t playing. There were other booths around for sponsors and vendors too, none of which I checked out. Walking around unfortunately meant seeing some of the side sage bands that I had no interest in. Every band sounded the same. Heavy guitars, double bass, and a combination of whining and screaming vocals. It was all terrible.
Frank Carter of Gallows at Warped Festival - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The one band that wasn’t on the main stage that I did really enjoy was Gallows. I had been blown away by them at SXSW and was really looking forward to seeing them again. Just as he had done before led singer Frank Carter wasted no time in getting out into the crowd and getting things going. I never saw the circle pit slow down at any point. The best thing I heard all day wasn’t any music, but a piece of banter from Carter, who was greeted with a mixed reaction when he said that most of the Warped Tour bands were “terrible”. I was certainly one of the applauding ones. The action was nonstop the entire set and it was running at full speed. The band left the stage and realized that they still had time left to play another song or two, which they made full use of. They were hands down the best band of the day.
After taking an extended break from the music, I figured I should get back outside even if there was nothing interesting happening. I decided that the lesser of all evils would be Thrice, who happened to be fantastic. I had them pinned as just another scream band cashing in on the current fads, but they turned out to be the most musically talented group on the tour. Lead guitarist Teppei Teranishi was fantastic. His playing was the only thing I ever got around to listening to really. His guitars had a very unique sound. He created an almost shoegaze sound, which sounded great against the heavy rhythm guitar. I have completely changed my mind about Thrice and look forward to getting into their studio output.
The last band of the day was punk legends Bad Religion. They were who they have always been, a good straightforward punk band. They played through much of their older work which everyone appreciated. They showed some energy, but in the end were just another band who was tired of the tour, albeit with a much better back catalogue than all the others. I tried to get interested since I enjoy a couple of their records but in the end both me and the band were too hot and tired to make it work. It wasn’t a bad show; it’s just that playing at the end of a festival where the real headliners have already played, it’s hard to keep the crowd interested.
Bad Religion at Warped Festival - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Tuesday, May 19. 2009
You would think that a band that hasn't had a hit single since the Clinton administration would welcome press coverage, but such is not the case on The Offspring's current "The S*** Is F***ed Up Tour" (their asterisks, not ours). I can confirm that not only are they denying most media requests, they denied ours as well as several other media outlets, but they are hand selecting any photos taken by the media before they allow their use, as per the pre-show release that media must agree too.
Perhaps it's a good thing as their show has been moved from the 4,400 seat Austin Music Hall to Stubb's Barbq in Austin, a venue that holds considerably less than half the Music Hall AND as of an hour before show time tickets are still available. And thats WITH Alkaline Trio as an opener! Maybe they are just trying to limit the "damage". I mean who wants to see pics of a band playing to an almost empty venue? If they were still booked into the Music Hall it would be an embarrassment.
As much as we like The Offspring , (I have been following them since their debut release in 89 and own all their releases except the current one, and have seen them perform 4 times), it's sad to see them fall so far, especially when just about every other road show in Austin seems to be selling out their Austin venues. It's disappointing as well when the other bands of the same era, Rancid, and Pennywise to name two, never seem to have problems granting media access when they tour the same venues.
We can only surmise The Offspring don't feel they need the coverage, though I suspect their ticket sales numbers might disagree. At least at Stubb's the show won't seem nearly as empty. If you go have fun, but don't look for us there.
Monday, May 11. 2009
The Willowz at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
As much as I like the Toadies, I was excited about their show at Stubb’s more because of the openers, The Willowz. I walked into Stubb’s as The Willowz were beginning their set up. The crowd seemed a lot more casual than most shows that I go to. That’s probably because Toadies are playing here all the time these days. The Willowz came on to some enthusiasm, but not much. The band however, was full of energy and they played just like any good garage rock band should, fast and messy. I loved it. While some of the more impatient members of the crowd started a Toadies chant, I didn’t want Willowz to leave the stage. I definitely want to see them again and I will definitely go and pick up a record or two of theirs.
I’ve never really been a huge Toadies fan. I’ve heard the first album like everyone else but never thought it was as great as some people claim it to be. Toadies came out and opened with one the hits, “I Come from the Water”, which, as expected turned into a huge sing along. The band continued to mix in the hits with cuts from their recent album, but those tracks went by without too much of a reaction from the crowd. The biggest reaction surprisingly wasn’t “Possum Kingdom” but my personal favorite Toadies song, “Tyler”, which was by far the high point of the show. It was over pretty quick, but it was a great show. I did put in Rubberneck for the first time in a long time after the show, so I guess they did their job.
The Toadies at Stubb's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Friday, May 1. 2009
Dope at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
I had no idea that Black Label Society had the kind of hardcore followers that they do. I walked into Stubb’s to a sea of denim jackets with huge BLS patches enjoying the end of Cycle of Pain’s set.
I only caught the last song or so of Cycle of Pain, but what I saw was awesome. The band’s groove metal sounded great and the audience liked it even more than I did. The keyboard player was unexpected as I had never heard the band before and just went on the assumption that a band called Cycle of Pain wasn’t likely to have keyboard. I really enjoyed the one full song that I heard and I’ll probably look into hearing their debut album.
Dope is a band that I had heard of but never really heard. I have a few friends are huge fans, but I never really got into them, mostly because I never really gave them a chance. Dope’s set was full of energy. I was immediately impressed by the drumming of Angel Bartolotta and spent most of the set watching him. Frontman Edsel Dope also brought a lot of energy to the stage, especially during a cover of N.W.A’s “F**k the Police” which came out of nowhere. I wasn’t really pushed to seeing them headline or listening to studio material, but it was a pretty good show.
Sevendust at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
It seemed to me like Sevendust had a difficult time getting the crowd, mostly because the crowd wanted Black Label immediately. Lead singer Lajon Witherspoon did everything he could to get the crowd going and while it worked temporarily, nothing really stuck. The band was good but not great. They were good at what they did, but I don’t have a particularly strong interest in them.
Just after Sevendust left the stage, a huge Black Label Society banner dropped over the stage and the crowd erupted. Unfortunately for them, there was still a wait until they graced the stage. The sound guy kept them occupied by playing many Pantera songs which almost always ended in a huge sing-along. When the curtain finally lifted, the band wasted no time in starting the show. At the beginning of the show, I found it difficult to concentrate on anything but lead singer/guitarist Zakk Wylde’s massive amp set up, which took up nearly the entire stage. The band fed off of the incredibly high energy of the crowd song after song. The show eventually slowed down for an emotional performance of “In This River”, a tribute to the late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrel. Then the band took a break and let Zakk play a long and impressive stand-alone solo. The band sounded great the entire set. It was my first time seeing BLS, although I had seen Zakk play with Ozzy before, and I will definitely be seeing them again.
Black Label Society at Stubb's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Tuesday, April 28. 2009
by Jeff Barringer - club kingsnake staff
On their very first tour this new, old, band formed by J.D. Deservio of Black Label Society are working hard to get their live set perfected. Having spent some time with their new CD I can tell you that some songs work well live, others not so much, but with a set list that is pretty much limited to songs from their first release and maybe not getting the best mix you go with what you got.
That said undoubtedly the song "Dead Man Walking" was both mine and the crowds favorite with a monster bass crunchiness that sounds like it's straight from the disc. This song should be getting massive airplay on the harder FM and Satellite stations and should be the song that makes their disc chart.
Frontman Gregg LoCascio belted out vocals that were more than a little reminiscent in rang and pitch of Chris Cornell, and JD's bass lines were straight from the Ozzy/Sabbath playbook. Both worked the audience hard while guitarist Joe Taylor stood like a statue, strangely Iommi-esque, intensely focused on his riffs as they tangled their way in and out of the rhythm. The band works well together both in terms of their sound and their stage show and was a good (almost perfect) match to open for Black Label.
This is most definitely a band I will be putting on my "see again" checklist. It will be interesting to see them gel and put out a few more releases, they could turn into something much bigger than just an opening act.
Cycle Of Pain Austin Set List
5
down witcha pain
14 devils
reign down
dead man walkin
do my work high
pungle
Click here to check out more Cycle Of Pain pics at Stubb's.
photos by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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Monday, April 27. 2009
Pennywise at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
Pennywise and Pepper are two bands that I had no idea were big enough to playing the outside at Stubb’s. I had heard of both but didn’t have a real knowledge of either outside of Pennywise’s 1991 debut so I had no expectations at all going in.
I walked in about midway through the Expendables set. They really sounded good; it kind of felt like one of Iron Maiden’s guitarists had joined Green Day and thrown in some ska for good measure. The band had the crowd so into it that I thought for a second that it was one of the headliners. It was very impressive to see that much command out of an opening act.
Pepper at Stubb's BarBQ - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The crowd was very hyped for the whole show but they got most excited for Pepper. It was clearly Pepper who had pulled most of the crowd because the place was filled with girls that looked fresh from the sorority house and guys that knew they were going to be there. Apparently Pepper knew this as well.
The now California based Hawaiian ska band came out 0 for 3 on shirts, which the girls seemed to be very appreciative of, so much of so that some of the decided to lose their shirts as well, which the guys clearly appreciated. The music was nothing really special, but they completely owned the crowd, often taking requests because as they said several times, they don’t make a setlist. The show didn’t make me want to go out and buy all their records, but I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing them again sometime.
Pennywise is a great live act. They brought more energy to the stage that any of the other bands and did it sounding the best as well. While some the crowd had left after Pepper, the people that stayed were glad they did. The pit erupted almost immediately and the band fed off of the crowd’s high energy. I really enjoyed the music as well, better than I ever did on their records. The highlights off the set were probably “Land of the Free?” and their most well known song, “Bro Hymn” which had the whole crowd singing along with the chorus. The show was great but didn’t have the same power on record. I would see them again, but I doubt I’ll be listening to them any other time.
Pennywise at Stubb's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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Friday, April 24. 2009
Cannibal Corpse at The Rave - more photos... photo by brian rampacek - staff photographer |
It's the first real day of spring. I even put on shorts. I am dreading the fact that I will have to wear jeans all night. New tattoo, The Rave is kinda dirty, people spill stuff. Infection is a bad thing. At least when it is on my body. I'm also excessively tired, having rolled in from a meeting the night before at around 2 am and had to be to work at 8, let's just say I was wiped. But I was far to excited for a nap. So instead I lounged, worked on stuff for HR669, and stared at the clock. Time passes slowly sometimes.
We arrived at The Rave just before the rain started to fall and that was mighty fine by me. Temps were dropping because of the spring showers, and even though The Rave's lot was packed, we got our favorite parking spot as usual. (For those who attend shows at The Rave, for $10.00 you can park a block away on 23rd street just east of Wisconsin at the Irish Community Center and its fenced and secure.)
Cannibal travels simply. We have covered them a few times and they are a no frills band. No sticky photo passes. So after we get my ticket, its off to call the tour manager. This has happened for every Cannibal show. It's not their fault. They prefer to keep things simple, and like tour managers from the past, Jeremy was a super nice guy and got us handled with security and got us wrist bands. Too bad this was a time where Brian only brought one camera.
Cannibal Corpse at The Rave - more photos... photo by brian rampacek - staff photographer |
I am a huge Cannibal fan from way back. I honestly can't tell you the true number of times I have seen the band perform. I tried to actually count and got a bit foggy around 15. Its part because I see them in twos. This summer we should be seeing them as well. I really TECHNICALLY should find them so very wrong. I am the type of girl who can not only take a punch, but give it back. Honestly a band that historically closes with a song "Striped, Raped and Strangled" should give some offense to me, but I think we metal heads really know to take a joke. Or maybe I just have an amazing sense of humor.
Cranking out with their opener of "The Time To Kill is Now" to a totally packed house. I'm sure there was room to fit a few in, but it was a far better turn out than the last solo show in the basement we saw. Having a new perspective to the show, sitting at the side of the stage, writing my notes on the stage I made an AMAZING discovery. Corpsegrinder's neck is larger than the average man. He has a red wood for a neck. I was TOTALLY fascinated by this for the entire show. He has muscles upon muscles on his neck. It is insane. Of course he does spin his head at approximately 400 miles an hour, but I had never seen or noticed this in any other musician. Another thing that was very visible from the side of the stage was the fact that when the lights went down, George was blowing his nose. I know most people think anyone can sing Death Metal, but unfortunately that is not true. Well I suppose anyone can sound like Cookie Monster having a seizure, but a classic and true death metal band is intelligible in their growling presence. It is more than growls and screams. While I suspect he was sick, honestly it never once interfered with his performance. I also learned that if you vibrate a set list fast enough the black ink falls off temporarily as the set list on the monitor would go solid white. Once again something that totally amused and fascinated me. ![]()
Cannibal Corpse at The Rave - more photos...
photo by brian rampacek - staff photographer |
But I will skip back to the concert again. Cannibal hit the spectrum of their albums with song going all the way back to the first album Eaten Back to Life. They have always been really good about remembering to play the old stuff while incorporating the new stuff. "Priest of Sores" was of their new album, Evisceration Plague which was released earlier this year. As always "Fucked by a Knife" was dedicated to all the women in the crowd. And oddly enough I notice the younger generation of female attendees seem more into the music than the boyfriends they came with. I love to see that! Closing with the old one, two punch of "Hammer Smashed Face" and "Striped, Raped and Strangled" this was a show any old school death metal fiend would love. The entire band had a really relaxed feel to them. Regularly interacting with people against the barrier between songs, they are comfortable in their skin and remember to love the fans. My only real complaint was that once again I was denied hearing "Meat Hook Sodomy" a true classic Cannibal song.
OK ready for the TRUE plus of both of us standing behind the photo barrier? Easy access exit from Stage Left. We were able to walk right out the loading doors and avoid the crush of the audience. Since I had already hit the merch booth and bought my smashing new purse (ok it is technically a messenger bag, but I shall call it my Cannibal Corpse purse) we were able to leave quickly and run to our truck in the rain. I had planned on going home and straight to bed, but Cannibal has always gotten me hyper. Oh well, I will just be wiped out at the real job and suffer.
I would like to once again thank their tour manager, Jeremy, for helping us get set up for the evening. He made the point to check that we made it back stage to the photo area and made sure we were set for the evening all while getting the stage and band ready. You rock Jeremy!
Thursday, April 23. 2009
Click here to check out the rest of the pics.
photos and review by Michael Hurcomb - Staff Photographer |
Kings Of Leon
Air Canada Centre
April 21st, 2009
My first thought was "Really? The Kings of Leon can fill the ACC?" Well, they came damned close. Only this past November they filled the 2,500 capacity Kool Haus in Toronto and five months later they're headlining the Air Canada Centre (19,000 capacity). What happened in those five months? "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" happened--songs built for arenas full of singing & screaming fans. Mind you they haven't been an overnight success. The Kings Of Leon have built a huge and loyal following since their 2003 debut but the success of "Only By The Night" (Released on September 23rd, 2008 and on the Billboard charts for 29 weeks- currently sitting at #31) has pushed them past the tipping point. The unique part of this show was seeing that they might not be ready for the next level of stadium stardom.
This was the first headlining band that I've ever seen with such a minimal stage setup: no walkways, ramps or props. Their guitars - only one each (except for Caleb who plays electric and acoustic) - were tuned by the musician using them and placed in guitar stands beside them when they weren't using them. Dressed in the same clothes they'd go out to the mall in, they've either decided to forgo the rock star chic that you'd see the Killers preening in, or they don't know that those clothes are needed for a stadium level band. They're not playing signature guitars, using signature drum sticks, striking "Bon Jovi" poses at predetermined points in a song or going off on a political rant to work the crowd into a frenzy. All of these things that they didn't do were so refreshing. The Followill boys simply play great music without an agenda.
You'd think that a band with some huge singles would save one for the encore, but instead "Sex on Fire" fell midway through the show, followed closely by "Milk", "Four Kicks" (which sounded amazing) and "The Bucket". The show started with "Crawl" and "Use Somebody" came just before the encore. For the encore the crowd was treated to a new bluesy song "Devil's Song", mixed in with "Closer", "Manhattan", & "Knocked Up" . The band, especially Caleb, seemed to loosen up once they dug into their older rougher material, and all of the material was performed flawlessly. Nothing about their sound is studio polish - they just sound amazing.
It'll be interesting to see where their success takes them. Caleb has described the material for their next CD to have a "bluesy feel" that I'd think long time fans would feel comfortable with but newer fans expecting more "Sex On Fire" style songs might not receive as easily. Their success has come from talented and daring songwriting and whatever comes next will surely be fantastic. WIll they start to enhance their shows with more lights, bigger stages and bigger personas like other stadium level bands? I hope not. Seeing one of the best bands of this decade playing a giant venue with a minimal setup and a non-rock star attitude was an unforgettable experience.
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Wednesday, April 22. 2009
My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
Despite the fact that their latest release came out 18 years ago, My Bloody Valentine has managed to retain all the relevance they held back in their heyday in London, and managed to give an absolutely mind-blowing performance at the Austin Music Hall.
A big part of the legend of MBV is their sudden disappearance from music. They released Loveless, their second of two albums, in 1991, they played a few shows and then went right back into the studio for the third record. That was the end of it. The third record was never released and the band did not play together again until 2008, when they reunited for the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in New York. They’ve played a handful of show since and Austin was lucky enough to be part of a 5 city tour following their appearance at Coachella.
Needless to say, I was beyond excited to see My Bloody Valentine. It was because of this that I really couldn’t remember much about the openers. What I do recall though, is that they were very good. The first band, Lift to Experience, had a shoegaze/bluesy sound that I really enjoyed. Then singer-songwriter Kurt Heasley took the stage. He played some nice little pop songs on a 12 string guitar, but I think the only reason I could hear was because I was close to the stage. The rest of the crowd was not into it at all and Kurt was mostly ignored through his set.
My Bloody Valentine quietly took the stage armed with massive pedal boards and wall of amps. Following an extremely short hello from guitarists Belinda Butcher, who was looking very good for her age, and Kevin Shields, the band tore straight into one of the many classic Loveless tracks, “When You Sleep”. For the rest of the show the band continued to hit the back catalogue hard, generally sticking with cuts from Loveless and the prior EP’s.
My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos...
photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The two guitarists stood still on stage for most of the show, or when they weren’t changing guitars between every song, but the rhythm section gave a full out performance. Drummer Colm O Ciosoig and bassist Debbie Googe were high energy in every song, Googe practically strumming her bass to produce as much noise as possible.
There were clearly 3 hits with the crowd. The obvious one’s were “Only Shallow” and “Soon” from Loveless. Both sounded different than they did on record, but were just as good. In “Only Shallow”, Ciosoig’s snare didn’t have the effect it did on the album, but the song didn’t lose anything as a whole. “Soon” sounded the same on the surface, but held a different vibe with the audience, the opening making the place feel almost like a rave until Shields guitar tore the whole thing apart.
Finally, the band played their traditional closer, “You Made Me Realize”. The reason it’s the closer is because of the notorious noise freak-out known as the ‘Holocaust’, a solid 15-minute block of the most powerful noise that could possibly be produced. I was worried before that I would be bored by the ridiculous amount of white noise, but I wasn’t. It was one of the most incredible musical experiences of my life. The sound washed over the audience in a very oddly soothing manner, like new age music, but turned up to ear splitting levels. I loved every second of the show and hope that one day MBV goes for a full reunion tour.
My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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