Offspring/The Vandals 5/24/1995

 

I admit that when punk rock was in it’s heyday, I wasn’t a fan.  I was sheltered at the time and lucky to find metal, let alone punk rock.

This was a time when pop punk was exploding and invading MTV and the music charts.  Green Day, The Offspring, and a shit load of others were enjoying mass amounts of success.  I had a good friend who cooked with me at TGIFridays and he was from the California area and knew of all of these bands before their rise to stardom.  He introduced me to The Offspring before the hit it big.

Their 2nd album was titled Session and was phenomenal.  It’s still great.  It’s a shame folks will write this band off without exploring their back catalog.  But I digress.

The show was coming to an odd ‘venue’.  It was held in a building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  It was shaped like an egg and had an all-dirt flooring.  I believe this is where the held horse shows during the state fair.  Very strange indeed.

The stage was quite large and there was some cork flooring placed in the pit.  The rest was dirt.  When you combine punk rock with dirt, you can imaging what the air turned into.

The Vandals were up first.  I was vaguely familiar with the band from my close friend who introduced me to The Offspring.  I was the type of guy that if I trusted someones musical taste, I would just buy it.  Keep in mind, I had Internet or free streaming.  I had to take a chance.  Sometimes I was burnt, other times it was quite rewarding.  The only album I could find was Fear of a Punk Planet and it still holds up in 2012.  Songs like “Pizza Tran”, “Join Us for Pong”, and their rendition of the Grease classic “Summer Lovin’” are fantastic.

Their live show did not disappoint.  These guys were all over the place and didn’t let up for a second.  Once their show was over, they jumped into the crowd and start fraternizing with the fans before The Offspring took the stage.

The Offspring also put in a high-energy set.  They played some old stuff, but most of the songs were off the album Smash.  “Bad Habit”, “Gotta Get Away”, “Self Esteem”, and of course “Come Out and Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” were all played.  “Come out and Play (Keep ‘em Separated)” started it all for this band and I would guess they’re sick and tired of playing it (yes, they’re still around putting out music).

I know folks poo poo this type of music and I can see why.  But at the time, it was exciting and fresh and opened a lot of doors for myself and many other fans.  Unfortunately, it also influenced bands like Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and Fall Out Boy to take pop punk and put more emphasis on the ‘pop’ than the ‘punk’.  More power to ‘em I suppose.  I just hope the kids who love these bands do their homework like I did and go back to the roots and discover Sex Pistols, The Misfits, and Black Flag.

Pantera/Type O Negative 3/13/1995

This was a special treat for us in Central IL.  You have to realize that shows likes this RARELY came close enough for us to be able to drive to the show and back and not be dead tired when we arrived home.  Typically, we would trek to Chicago or St. Louis.  This show was about 25 miles from us!

Pantera was at the height of their popularity as was Type O Negative.  They were playing anywhere and everywhere and you’ve ever been to Danville, you know what I mean.

This show felt more like a party then a serious metal show.  Type O Negative came out and played all the “hits” (“Black No. 1″, “Christian Woman”, etc.).  However, Peter Steele (RIP) was joking with the crowd and just having a good time which was rare for a Type O show.

I met some friends there and during the Type O set, a friend of mine went to crowd surf.  He was a rather large dude and was dropped right on his head.  He was out.  Security had to come get him and take him to medical.  I went back with him and they kept asking me, “What did he take?”, “Is he on drugs?”, etc.  I had no clue because I didn’t ride with him but they didn’t believe me.  Odds are he was on something, but I had no knowledge.  They took him away and I never saw him the rest of the night.  Back to the show.

Pantera came out and also played all the “hits”.  I don’t remember a whole lot about the show but remember admiring Dimebag while he played.  I’m a guitar player myself and seeing him ‘dance’ around the stage and play was awesome.  The crowd was into it and fun was had by all.

Found out later by buddy had a mild concussion and was released from the hospital.  A fun show and given the current circumstances of both bands, I’m glad I was able to see both of these bands multiple times throughout my life.

Danzig/Type O Negative/Godflesh 12/9/1994

This show was actually moved to the smaller venue The Riviera just down the block from the much larger Aragon Ballroom.  I was probably the most pumped to see Godflesh.  I knew they were great at the time, but I didn’t know their influence and praise would extend to where it is today.  My friends hadn’t really heard them, but we were smoking and I heard the drums start and I took off running.

Justin Broadrick IS Godflesh for the most part (Paul Raven MAY have played bass but I honestly can’t remember this far back).  I remember Justin at the mic yelling and playing guitar with a lot of gadgets behind him for the drum machine.  It was quite a crushing moment for me on a musical level.  True artistic appreciation was all that mattered.  It was no secret that Danzig is/was a HUGE Godflesh fan.  I’m glad I got to see Godflesh live.  Definitely a ‘bucket list’ moment.

Next up was Type O Negative.  They were largely popular thanks to MTV and that constant rotation of the videos “Black No. 1″ and “Christian Woman”.  We listened to them all the way to the show and all the way back (about 5 hours in total).  I was a big fan of theirs and they put on a great show as well.  Peter Steele (RIP) made a lot of jokes and drank a bottle of wine that looked like a bottle of beer due to the fact that his hands were so large.  They played all the hits and even an extended version of “Black No. 1″ to close out the set.

Danzig was up next.  I was not a HUGE fan of Danzig, but I did appreciate his background and the first few Danzig albums.  He came out in a black mesh shirt and didn’t sing many of the songs as he was too busy posing.  He settled down a bit and the show got a little better as time went on.  John Christ (guitar) and Chuck Biscuits (drums) were the highlights.  He played “Mother”, “Twist of Cain”, “She Rides” and many others I can’t remember.

Overall one of the my favorite shows mainly because it was my first time seeing Godflesh and Type O.

No apologies for Jef Whitehead?

What I’m about to write is something I found missing in the ‘mainstream’ metal media.  I’m no professional writer, but I do have a bone to pick with folks involved in the metal ‘scene’.

We all have personal bias.  I get it.  Some of us lean left, some lean right, some in the middle.  However, when one of our own was charged (not convicted) of unspeakable crimes against a female, many in the ‘scene’ jumped on the bandwagon about how metal is misogynistic and couldn’t wait to demonize a man who WASN’T FOUND GUILTY at the time.  He was arrested and many in our ‘scene’ had already found him guilty in their own minds.  Some even went as far as to refuse to listen or review his album True Traitor, True Whore.  The album was obviously directed at a certain female and many criticized him for releasing the album with a such a blunt title given the circumstances.

This summer, most of the 36 or so charges were dropped against him and he received 2 years of probation.  Many blogs, magazine, etc. posted the new and that was about the end of it.  It was almost as if the story died for the metal media similar to some celebrity who no longer sells papers for the National Enquirer.  Those in metal who found Jef Whitehead guilty before he was proven innocent should apologize the fans and to Jef himself if they haven’t done so already.  Those of us who like metal and are involved in metal have a hard enough time trying to explain how we even like such music.  Now we have resorted to condemning one of our own THE DAY the news broke?

I know folks like to flex their opinion on sexism, racism, and any other ‘ism’ you can think of any chance they get.  I was disappointed to see the metal community perform such actions.

I doubt Jef really cares either way.  While I don’t know him personally, he appears to be the type that couldn’t care less of what folks think of him.  I can’t help but think there’s a part of him somewhere that is completely disgusted with those in the metal media who can’t wait for the next ‘story’.

So if you read this Jef, know that some of us in the scene are not drama queens/kings and appreciate your art and your dedication to your craft.  To those in the metal media who jumped all over this story like a reporter for a tabloid and used Jef’s situation to spout off your opinion on your ‘ism’ and condemn a man before he faced a judge, shame on you all.

Exvotos – Oh, Believe All Believe OUT TODAY!

The time has come.  Exvotos hit the streets today on CD/digital.  You can buy it just about anywhere except the big, crappy chain stores.  This is NOT METAL but it’s damn good.  If the song “Heartache” doesn’t get stuck in your head upon first listen, you’re not alive.  You can listen with a link to buy here:

Bandcamp

If you’d rather, you can buy from others here:

Amazon
Rhapsody

Exvotos Pre-Sale UP!

As previously announced, we will be releasing the Exvotos CD/digital to you all on 10/23/12.  If you want it before the street date, you can pre-order on our Big Cartel site: http://http://tpltr.bigcartel.com/

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure:

As always, thanks for the support!

Bereft – Leichenhaus

Those familiar with my blog know that I am fan of music in general and also use my blog to write small reviews of what I’m listening to.  I have neglected to do this in recent times so I’m planning on doing this a lot more.  I don’t plan on reviewing stuff you’ve probably read about on countless other music blogs.  I hope you get something out of this.

With that comes an album called Leichenhaus by Bereft.  They’re based out of LA and contains members of The Faceless and Intronaut.  I’ll admit I’m not a big ‘doom’ person.  I often feel the songs take too long to develop into something that is memorable.  Somehow, Bereft manage to play this style of music and make it hit and punch all the while having songs well over the 5-minute mark.  The bookends of the album are “Corpse Flower” and “…And You Are But a Thought” which are primarily instrumental.  The other 5 songs average about 6 minutes each and contain some of the catchiest doom these ears have ever heard.  I know most don’t relate the term ‘catchy’ to doom, but you’ll find yourself humming these riffs long after you’ve stopped listening.

If you’re on the lookout for catchy doom that isn’t boring and will keep your attention over and over again, pick this up.  This will definitely be in my top 10 of 2012 list.  As the liner notes say: “Real music is birthed from pain, hatred, despair, suffering, and regret…and this is our bastard child.”

[9/10]

The Band
Derek Donley – Drums, Backing Vocals
Sacha Dunable – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Charles Elliott – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Derek Rydquist – Bass, Backing Vocals

The Tracklist
1. Corpse Flower-3:23
2. Mentality of the Inanimate-6:17
3. Withered Effloreescence-7:09
4. The Coldest Orchestra-6:50
5. A Cruel Mirage-5:43
6. Ethereal Dispersal-8:19
7. …And You Are But a Thought-2:54