Kerensky97's Last.fm Journal

Aquabats in SLC

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:53:25 +0000

Cross posted on my blog.

Friday the 19th of June The Aquabatscame back to Salt Lake and its always worth catching them if you can.

I barely caught the first show, Resistor Radio but I decided it was worth getting the EP to see how it is. They had a good punk feel to them, with a bit of polish they could be good, seems they're being produced by Rancid's Drummer Branden Steineckert so they could have some good backing while starting out.

Next was Two and a Half White Guys, I’d seen them before in Provo but in a real show at in the venue it was a bit different, they had more energy, and it was a bit more like a real show. They’re a good local ska band that doesn’t sound like just a local band; good two tone ska music. Good music to chill out to, and the band was good at engaging the crowd even during take-down the lead singer was still engaging the crowd and taking pictures of the fans. They also ended it with a good cover of Oingo Boing’s Who Do You Want to Be

Aquabats had a new intro, they could make their performance into the cheesiest tv show and it would be awesome. But yet again the local sound tech sucks; I can barely hear MC Bat Commander. And I love the clips they play during the music, they could make a DVD of the videos on the projector and I’d seriously buy it. But “In the Venue” has draconian security, nobody gets on stage or on the crowd before the security pulls them off by their feet.

For their song “Baked” they brought on a ton of baked goods from Dick's Market in Bountiful and proceeded to throw them into the crowd, cookies, muffins, and whole frosted cakes. Then for pool party they had beach balls and even an inflatable pool, they threw on top of the crowd. And if you have a pool on top of the crowd why not throw one of the kids on stage into the pool, luckily the security saw that pulling the kid out of the crowd would have caused the band and crowd to riot.

Another excellent Aquabats show.

CD's Bought:

Resistor Radio - Beggar's Cuisine

Two and A Half White Men - Gringo

Already have all Aquabats CDs!!!!
Make more guys!!!

Cannibal Corpse was good but Obscura stole the show!

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:47:26 +0000

April 6 was the Cannibal Corpse show at Club Vegas . I really didn’t intend to go, it was more of a whim. Luckily a friend of mine wanted to go so I got off my ass and headed.

Waiting in line I realized a new pet peeve. Metal head kids who sing the lyrics to death metal songs, try to do the death metal growl and fail miserably. It just seems pathetic seeing a kid growling to himself to try to be cool.

I’ve never been to Club Vegas, driving past it always seemed like it would be a lame secondary venue if you couldn’t book a decent place, but I was completely wrong it’s a great medium sized venue and beats most of the other similarly sized venues for size layout and design. It think a lot of bands should make use of this place; the only drawback being that it’s usually a bar/club catering to a more intense biker/metalhead clientele. Definitely not a place a chirpy upbeat ska show should be held unless you want to see a bunch of ska kids get beaten (on second thought, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…). It’s also a 21 and over venue so it seems like a bit more grown up venue, you won’t see high school kids getting picked up by their mommys after the show.

And this is probably only of interest to artists but the stage was large and deep, at least 15 feet deep, plenty of room to setup and move around while playing. Plus the venue is just a simple long rectangle with the stage at one end and pillars off to the sides. So you don’t get a pillar smack dab in the middle of the mosh pit or blocking your view from the back.

The first band was Obscura from Germany on their first US tour, and I must say they were off the hook! In my opinion they were the highlight of the night and made the $20 tickets completely worth it. They were pretty badass and I’m so glad I came to the show. They had a couple initial technical glitches but not bad enough to distract from the music and they still easily stole the show.

First off the bass player was amazing (Jeroen Paul Thesseling according to the last.fm bio), easily one of the best bassists I’ve seen. Besides just giving the bass an incredible workout he was totally into the music and you could tell he wasn’t just phoning in a performance for a midway stop on a tour, he was making a performance out of it. Although at first he kind of reminded me of the German guy in the IT Crowd when Moss takes a cooking course (I think it was the hair).
The lead singer/guitar (Steffen Kummerer) could definitely hold his own, even thought this is a death metal show there was a good balance of growling and actual singing making for good all around music and very accessible to people who aren’t avid DM listeners.
Lead guitar (Christian Muenzner) was amazing to watch him play, although he was totally engrossed in the music. It looked like nothing could faze him, if the roof collapsed all around us he’d probably keep playing with no knowledge of what was going on. Although with the technical difficulty of some of his playing I’m really not surprised, I’m impressed somebody can focus enough to play like that when surrounded by a screaming audience.
The drummer (Hannes Grossmann) was really good but unfortunately I couldn’t see him as well so see what he was doing. However being able to keep up with music like this is a challenge for any drummer, being able to make it sound good takes real skill.

Neuraxis was good too but didn’t appeal to me as much. It was mostly a break time for me to mingle. They tried to get a good moshpit going but people just didn’t get into it. Depressing since I had seen better moshes for the openers bands at the Suburban Legends gig a few days before.

The lead singer was really good and good at engaging the crowd but people just didn’t want to move. I don’t get why people “save their energy” for the last band. If the music is good and you go to a show to mosh, don’t hold back.

Next was The Faceless. The lead singer could growl a great show, and I saw the drummer practicing before the show. He was using double bass drums and manual pedals to get the speed for the songs, which is impressive considering the speed metal drummers use to get the highspeed bass beats.

It was cool by now that even the security is encouraging a mosh pit out of the audience (and they were starting to move a bit). Most shows the security seems to be keeping people from doing anything but stand there, here they were encouraging just about everything (except the few tussles the broke out and were stopped).

The way death metal singers growl is kind of impressive in a way, to go a few hours like that has got to be hard on the vocal chords. I saw the Lord of the Rings making and to do gollumn’s voice Andy Serkis had to drink special juice to keep up his voice, he should learn from death metal singers.

Cannibal Corpse was a stereotypical death metal, in good way. If you want to try out some new styles of music or go to an more aggressive show than you’re used to you should check them out… but wear black.
The head spins were intense, you have to build up some good neck muscles to whip your head around that fast without snapping your neck. The mosh pit really got moving and went insane, it was a great show!!! Cannibal Corpse is one of the main death metal bands for a reason, people may give them a hard time for being old or for having the same sound as they always have, but it reminds me the criticisms of AC/DC nowdays. People say they sound the way they used too like it’s a bad thing. I like bands the explore new ideas and new music but bands I love I love for a reason, and if they change to something else it’s interesting but I’m not going to Cannibal Corpse to not hear Cannibal Corpse. Know what I mean?

I wish I had brought more money for merchandise. I got a couple CDs but I wanted to get a cool Obscura Hoodie too. But I did get my copy of Obscura’s CD signed by all 4 members and got to talk with the band in between shows. I wish more bands spent more time hanging out where they can be engaged by fans rather than hiding in a tour bus all night and only popping out to play a set (looking at you Cannibal Corpse!).

All in all an excellent show! I’m so glad I made the decision to get out and see some music I don’t usually listen to as much.

CD’s purchased:

Obscura – Cosmogenesis

Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

Suburban legends show at Kilby Court

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 18:19:24 +0000

Friday was Suburban Legends at Kilby Court, I didn’t have any desire to go to the show until Suburban Legends went on the lineup. It seemed to be kind of last minute as if they were passing through and just wanted to do a show. I knew it would be good no matter what if they were playing.

Kilby court gets alot of play as the local "indie" place for shows. And alot artists show up, some are quite big. However I wish the effort of exerted to play shows existed with a better venue. Kilby Court is basically a 3 car garage with a raised platform in the corner for the band. It’s an all ages show which means that it’s mostly populated by high school kids and their local bands.

Ska kids can really piss me off sometimes and this place was full. The acting nerdy just to be anti-popular bugs me and I noticed a lot of people like that. However a lot of other people were legitimately there just to have a good time.

First up was Illegal Beagle, they were ok but very rough around the edges. Typical local band, I wonder if they’ll still be around after the kids graduate high school? So many things change then that it’s very doubtful. They had guitar string issues but handled it well in the down time in between.
The stupid venue doesn’t allow covers because they don’t pay the licensing fees; but at least they waited until the end of “Nightclub” before cutting them off.

When The Skaficinados started warming up they played a few chords of “Nightclub” before the owner cranked up the house sound to drown them out. Which is ironic because they were playing house music off an ipod and I believe and that means they need to pay royalties on that.

Suburban Legends still have decent swag table but not the out of print CD I want; but I needed a new hoodie anyway.

I’ve heard The Skaficionados before and I remember that they were surprisingly good for a new local band. They need to get some cds for sale and start venturing out and about. The lead singer has got good energy to lead a band and the horn section makes a good backup. The songs are a good variety of slow and fast although I’d stick to the more upbeat ska-punk songs rather than so many old 3rd wave ska songs.

Unfortunately Patent Pending didn’t show up.

Suburban Legends were awesome as usual, but Kilby Courts no covers rule cut into the fun. Making lemonade out of lemons the just played the 30 seconds of about 10 songs (I guess they’re allowed to do upto 30 seconds). Even though it is a small venue they did a good job of getting everybody gong and filling the room with energy, even coming back for a 20 minute encore.

All in all a good show, but not the best venue.

Hilarious Album Covers

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:02:34 +0000

I’d probably believe in Jesus too if I had married him.

I’m speechless. And in awe of the 70’s.

Once again the 70’s were an amazing time in the US, whenever I think we’ve gone over the top I think back to the 70’s. I notice the bottom center “facet” of roger is the porno blow-job facet.

I’m a skinny white computer nerd and I don’t need two spotters when doing a military press with 25’s, yet he’s getting the girls. Even the spotters are wondering why the hell they’re there.

Whenever I think the 70’s were over the top I remember the 80’s.
Amazingly “First Strike” wasn’t their last strike.

I don’t know if it’s possible for more bad ideas to collide on one album. I think the start was naming their band “Fireballet”. There isn’t a lot of good ways to make a rocker band out of that name. I guarantee whichever member it was that suggested this has been secretly dressing like this in private for years. I pretty sure it was the guy on the far right.

This album is mildly disturbing except for the guy on the far right. He’s way too pumped for this picture. Although the scarf around the neck is faaaabulous!
The blond guy in the middle is demonstrating how tight black jeans pulled up past the belly-button can perform home vasectomies.

I was going to make fun of this but decided against it considering I have their greatest hits album.
S, A, T-U-R, D-A-Y, Night!

After going to Japan and getting used to Asian music, this Korean album is far less frightening.
America Santa Claus Christmas Number 1!

Do you know how many baby demins were killed and skinned to make the outfits for for this picture?

Nothing scares me more than Christian Music. Marilyn Manson has nothing on these people.

You know when somebody making the cover for Arthur Fiedler asks, “What should be do for an album cover?” And somebody replies, “What about Saturday night FIELDER! HA-HA-HA!”
That’s your cue to say, “No, seriously what should we do.” before an accident like this happens.

I remember that guy in the middle telling me I “Need more flair” on my uniform.
What a Bevis.

…Steve Irwin’s songs of the sea.
-ouch, too soon?

Seriously, if the photo shoot for your album cover doesn't turn out well, take the time to get another self portrait.

Slightly disturbing, kind of absurd… That’s right, it’s another Christian Music Record.
The cool thing is that she doesn’t just drink a glass of water while the Dummy is talking, she walks on the water.

And talks to trees too apparently.

How come none of these “Music to by” records we’re ever sponsored by condom companies?

More of the fun Christian Recordings. Except the woman on the far left; that girl is an alien here to take over their organization from the inside. I saw it on “Mars attacks”.

I’m going to hell. I see an Christian album cover and all I can think of is how I want those four daughters on the left to feel MY “salvation”.

I'm God's Child?? …That may be but the three kids on the right were Satan’s children and went on to become a heroin dealer, a serial-killing prostitute, and the CEO of Enron.

Workout videos are really invented for bored husbands to fantasize over.

But back in the 50’s-60’s all men could do was get a vinyl album and listen while they looked at the cover.

I’m pretty sure the end comes in a Sex Scandal.

Well I guess anybody can get their own album.
There’s a guy at work who look exactly like this, he’s second on my list of “People most likely to go on a killing spree at work.” behind the gun nut who likes to talk about the best way he would dispose of a body.

I guess this proves pedophilia existed in the 70’s. What parent would condone and album like this?

I don’t believe Frat House Parties ever took place without at least 5 kegs and 10 gallons of KY.
Although the thought of fully clothed girls at a frat party is nice, if quaint.

I know people who drive hummers, wear combat boots, and get hard-ons listening to military cadences. But mention the fact that the Army is in desperate need of new recruits and watch the excuses come flying.

Comrade! You will have state sponsored fun! Or the KGB officer dancing with the 12 year old will arrest you!

How can you look more stereotypically Jewish? If this was really a non-Jewish comedian taking the piss you'd see people up-at arms about how racist they were.

So which came first, ripping off Kiss’s makeup/outfits, or Ripping off Kiss’s double consonant name?

Duude. Laser Floyd at the planetarium.
...
Duuuuude.

I think a lot of albums started with an excuse to get hot chicks. “Good, now the inside cover is going to be the toga girls punishing me by spanking. Places Everybody!”

This is the pickup line I use on women at the bar.

Aquabats + Suburban Legends = Good show guarantee

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:54:14 +0000

Saturday the 6th was the The Aquabats!: Hooray For the Holidays! event at In the Venue. It was also the night of my family Christmas party so I was a bit late to the show and missed the opening act by the local group Super Heroes, I’d seen them before and they’re a good local band but I was looking forward to the antics of The Aquabats anyway.

I made it in time to see the end of the DJ Lance Rock who I was totally unfamiliar with. If it had been any other show I’d have thought I was in the wrong place. The stage had a guy dressed in orange with matching marching band leader hat (seriously what are those hats called?), a talking yellow robot, and a green monster. The music was catchy in a childish sort of way but mixed well that it could be use in a dance club if you didn’t listen to the robot’s lyrics. It all became a bit clearer when I learned the backstory of DJ Lance and Yo Gabba Gabba!

During the break I chilled out in the bar and listened to the band next door, a really intense hardcore growling death metal group with a bassist that looked like Bullet Tooth Tony from Snatch. It was way too intense for me, I don’t mind a little hardcore music sometimes but I can only handle so much angry intensity, especially after listening to a song about “A party in my tummy!”

Next up was Suburban Legends which I wrote off as just a pop ska group to steal money from teenagers before I heard them. I caught part of their show at the Goldfinger show in July and completely changed my opinion of them. It’s not a fad of popularity that makes people want to see them, they’re really good!

They’re a lot like Reel Big Fish in that their music is upbeat and almost comedic at times and focus on enjoying yourself and having a good time. There’s also a strong infusion of 70s disco funk style to the music that makes it really easy to dance to; the lead singer, Vincent, and the two horns play into it even more by popping out some pretty good dance moves during the songs. And I don’t know why but I’ve found I like songs that have the “Oooo! Oooo!” in them (I know that doesn’t make sense, you have to hear the song).

I’ve noticed that having dedicated lead vocals in a group can really make for a great live show if they know how to get the crowd involved during and between songs. Vincent Walker is a perfect example, Mike McColgan from my favorite Street Dogs is another. However it doesn’t always help, take for instance the band next door where the lead was writing around like he was being consumed by flesh eating parasites while he growled out his lyrics. Sure it’s intense but not very engaging with the audience.

Anyway Suburban Legends are quickly on the way to one of my favorite all time bands, good music on it’s own but a GREAT show to see live every chance you get.

Booh-Yah!

The Aquabats came up and if Suburban Legends put on a great show, then there’s a good chance they may have learned a lot of it from The Aquabats. Even if you’re not enamored with their music you have too see them live at one of their shows; it’s a whole different dynamic actually seeing them perform. They know how to work the crowd and they know how to keep it interesting.

People who have only heard the music and maybe saw their CDs know that they wear costumes and take on the persona of a fictional superhero team. Mix in with that music synched to movie clips from 60s Monster flicks, attacks onstage by evil monsters, anime style pics of the band (a throwback to Christian Jacobs time in Japan?), and their own commercial for the Aquabats Pudding Dispenser Belt and you got a crazy fun Aquabats concert.

And it’s not just that they put on a good show but everybody was so into the music and the show that it was a huge party for everybody, you couldn’t even hear MC Bat Commander over the crowd singing during “Super Rad”. Their guitarist was pretty good when he let loose too. It’s not really a group you think of going to see for the guitar work but they knew what they were doing. And every time the Bat Commander would mention a lyric that happened to be part of a famous song the guitarist was there with a short from that song.

All in all a great show. The one thing that irked me was the people who were too pussy so skank up in the skank pits like everybody else and instead had to do it in back where some of us didn’t want people spilling our beers. But whatever, it’s not biggie. I just have an issue with people who skank because they bitch and moan if you bump into them or shove them around like in a real pit; but they have no problem knocking the beer out of your hand while they swing their arms around in looking like fools in the furthest corner from the stage (no skanking in the corner by yourself doesn’t make you cool!)
Sorry. *ding* Turn the Page.

But The Aquabats and Suburban Legends are definitely both on my “See them every time they come to town” list.

CDs Purchased:

The Aquabats – Yo! Check Out This Ride! EP
*Now have full discography!*

Suburban Legends – Dance Like Nobody's Watching

THAT. WAS. AWESOME!

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:31:46 +0000

For once I got to the show early. Today was the Tue 21 Oct – Apocalyptica show at In the Venue, checking on last.fm I noticed that the venue was double booked with a ton of people going to The Notwist and two of us for Apocalyptica. Naturally I assumed that Apocalyptica was in the Club Sound stage which luckily didn’t have a line. But it turns out the huge line wrapping around th building was for Apocalyptica.

Sweet. Good turn out, I was wondering how they'd fit drums and 4 cellos on that small Club Sound stage.

Once again the start time was completely off. So I wandered and got a few beers at the bar. The shwag table was horrible. No CDs for sale at all, just T-shirts. You can’t listen to a T-shirt! And I’m not the kind of prick that wear tour shirts around work bragging that “I more kvlt that you!”

I actually bumped into a friend that I met while on a trip to Japan 2 years ago, but by now my bordom drinking was catching up to me and I was a little out of it. It was 8:30pm by now (been waiting for nearly 2 hours) and still nothing; meanwhile the place is packed and techno/ dance music is playing making the whole place feel like a dance club (some good music though). If it wasn’t for the fact that 4 chairs with backs that looked like a cross between cellos and skulls were being setup the music wouldn’t seem so out of place.

While I waited I decided to snoop in on the show going on next door from the bar. I never seen so many guys in a sports coats and T-shirts with long hair or beards; talk about indie nerd nirvana. Two guys were mixing music on stage, with a laptop setup hooked to some synth equipment. I don’t want to seem demeaning here but to me it just seemed like a complex version of playing Funky Town on a touch-tone telephone. I’m not sure who the artist was but I just wasn’t impressed, it reminded me of when I used to tap out beats over the demo background on my old Casio keyboard (but with better equipment, a sound system, and a crowd).

Finally Apocalyptica came out and I have to say it was worth the wait.

The show was surreal for me. I grew up with my parents imparting a huge impression of classical music and opera on me. I first remember seeing a live classical orchestra when I was barely in school (it might have even been before that). My mother likes telling me about the time she went to see the symphony play while I was still in the womb and the piece (Wagner I think she said) had a long gentle intro then thundered into the piece with a sudden "BOOM" and it nearly caused me to jump out.

Anyway I’m well exposed to the complexities of playing cello enough to recognize its amazing range and how difficult it can be to really explore its full possibilities... This was 100% completely different from any cello playing I had ever seen but the skill and complexity was still there, if not more so to move at the speed and rhythm of metal music.

Holy Fuck it was a good show! The mix of cello and power/thrash metal is so unique and so great at the same time. It’s like a triple fried egg sandwich with chili sauce and chutney (inside joke). The band rarely spent any time in their hairs and were too busy roaming the stage rocking out, which is a lot different lugging at cello rather than a guitar. They did what they could engaging the crowd but the English was really broken, not surprising since it’s not their first language. But knowing how hard languages are I think they did well and it’s great when the band involves the fans in the show. The fog machines were pumping at full power making the whole room a colored haze of light. And the music itself was a good mix of metal and classical with metalfied classical in-between.

By the end of the show my cheeks hurt from smiling just because I enjoyed it all so much, seeing what they could do with a cello was amazing. You really have to see and hear it to believe it. This could be one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, but it’s so different it’s hard to classify it with other good shows.

On the way out closing my tab at the bar I caught some of The Notwist and after the show I just saw I couldn’t get into it at all. The crowd was enraptured with the band but it’s so much different with everybody just standing there listening rather than “rocking out” and surging to the stage. It’s just so chilled out and at a different level from the energy of the show I just saw. So rather than watch any more I just headed home.

CDs bought:
NONE! WTF!

Wow, talk about an excellent show!

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:46:30 +0000

Friday October 10th was the Street Dogs show at the “Club Sound” half of In The Venue. I rolled in a little late because of work but got there just as Flatfoot 56 was getting setup.

I’ve never heard Flatfoot 56 before but being at a punk show and seeing the lead singer onstage with a scally cap and a bagpipe player setting up next to him is a good sign. And I wasn’t disappointed, they rocked! I only wish I was more familiar with their music so I could shout and sing in time with the band. But even not knowing the lyrics there were plenty of songs that were easy to sing along with. These guys fit in perfectly in the sub genre of punk occupied by Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs, The Briggs, etc.

It’s something about Street Dog show but every time they come to town I find a new band to get interested in. They have great choices in tour partners. Since the show I’ve been listening more Flatfoot 56 and learning more about them. Turns many classify them as a “christian punk” group which makes some sense listening to specific lyrics. But it's not really that overt, I don’t think many people would realize this without being told. It’s just good punk music.

And I have to say something to those who have a problem with “Christian Punk” music, some say that the beliefs of religion go against the anarchist nature of Punk.
-First is the hypocrisy of having a closed mind for judging music based off the members' individual beliefs, yet claiming you know more about punk.
-Second is the fact that believing in a higher power does not contradict punk mentality. As the Street Dogs lyrics go:

Not without a purpose and it's not without a fight
Another poor kid caught up in a fire fight
I don't believe in Jesus but I pray to God tonight
Not without a purpose, not without a fightIt’s these kind of pretentious kids that think you have to follow specific rules and wear specific clothes to be a punk that piss me off at shows.

Anyway I took a break after Flatfoot 56 to grab a beer in the bar. It’s great having a bar at a venue that doesn’t require an additional $10 cover charge (lookin’ at you Saltair). The problem is that they run people out as soon as the last song of the last band is played. In the Venue has a big problem with this due to their double booking. Shows are early and you can only get drinks during the performance, with no time to rub elbows afterward. Keep it mind if your watching a pub band and want something to drink along with it while you’re at In the Venue/Club Sound.

Next up was Time Again, another great band I recently discovered while they were touring with another band. I had Time Again’s last CD which was good but not one of my favorites. Since then I notice their sound has drifted more towards my type of punk and their latest album is great. Their show was awesome and full of energy. I only regret it took me some time to get out on the floor because I hadn’t finished my beer yet.

Finally Street Dogs were up. Every time I see them the crowds double in size. The first few times the crowd was so small it was an intimate showing but I couldn’t help feel that a band so great deserves more attention. Well the word is getting out, they’re packing Club Sound now and it’s only a matter of time before they’re forced to move to bigger venues while in Utah.

I’m probably a bit biased in my opinion of the show, after all they are officially my favorite band. I used to be a huge Rancid fan, then became a Dropkick Murphys fan before moving to Street Dogs (I still love the other guys though). If this sounds at all like you and you weren’t at the show you need to start watching the local shows for when they come back. And in the meantime buy up all their CDs at their site, if you’re still not sure their music is on last.fm so go listen to a bit.

Remember that this is Mike McColgan, the original singer for Dropkick Murphys, so the live shows are as great as the CDs but multiplied 100 times for how energized and involving they are. And this show was no different. Mike knows how to involve the crowd and make everybody feel a part of the show. Meanwhile he’s got so much energy himself he’s constantly roaming from one side of the stage to the other getting the crowd participating and he literally climbed up one of the speakers onto a narrow ledge lining the wall and sang from the rafters above the band.

Well that’s enough gushing, but if you were there you'd know what a good show it was. It’s just so great when a band keeps coming to town and every time make it better and better. If you weren’t there you really missed out on one of the best shows to come to our remote neighborhood.

New CDs:
(And again major tanks to the bands for selling CDs at $10 and having older CDs for sale too)

State of Grace

Knuckles Up

Jungle of the Midwest Sea

Darker Days

Children of Bodom Blooddrunk Tour 2008

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:41:47 +0000

Thursday the 25th was the Children of Bodom show at Saltair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many dudes with long hair. And they’re still charging 5 fucking dollars for parking, I thought it was ironic that when I got to the ticket counter they had a jar for tips. Thanks for providing the service of handing me a piece of paper though a window, you want tip then go ask the parking guys, they got my last $5.

Between the Buried and Me didn’t interest me too much, I’m not sure where they’re from but they seemed like local band. The lead singer reminds me of a friend of mine, but it was interesting to see a lead singer that spent some time on keyboard during a metal show. However his growling clashed with singing parts.

The Black Dahlia Murder had good stage presence, I might be more into it if this was more my kind of music. The lead singer could really growl but it mixed well with actual singing and wasn’t just a constant rumble like Cannibal Corpse or some death metal group like that.

I noticed behind the floor divider was a poster setup for Hot Topic, I’m not sure if they sponsored the show or if it was left over from another show but fuck Hot Topic. When are they going to give in and realize they’re just a load of corporate bullshit?

Some girl and her date went up into the vip balcony but were there just to bee seen. In two songs the dude left the show; fucking posers. But I have to admit the girl had spectacular legs. She spent most of the Children of Bodom set posing up in the VIP balcony and looking bored. Sorry honey, we're here to see the show, you might seem less two dimensional if you were getting into the music as much as everybody else.

There was also a guy giving out free CDs of his band’s music. Good Idea and I think it’s good for local groups to get some exposure but then the dick ass security took his CDs from him. “Sorry this is a concert, it not a place for music.” Apparently.

Children of Bodom brought in their own soundboard they had to switch to for their set. A nice setup, hooked up through a windows laptop which seems different to me. Seems most people hookup Apple computers to their sound gear. One thing I’ve noticed is that I seriously think the sound is mixed for people wearing ear plugs now. I go to enough concerts that I don’t want to screw up my hearing so I wear them anyway, but the sound is better with them in. If you adjust the ear plugs right it filters all the excess noise so you can actually differentiate the singer and instruments.

COB opened with America, Fuck Yeah which is hilarious, everybody knew the song but I doubt anybody ever actually listens to the lyrics. Alexi Laiho T-Shirt was perfect for the occasion, ”Smoke Crack and Worship Satan”. And it’s good to see a band’s keyboardist get some good play time, in so much metal music people focus all their attention on the Guitars, they overlook how much skill the other members of the group have.

Children of Bodom just kept going without much break to rest in between songs. The crowd tried to keep up but by the end of the night everybody was drained. A lot of people took off before the encore and I think half of it was just fatigue. But it was a great show, although afterwards I was “all metaled out”, for the drive home I was striving to listen for anything that was a bit more toned down. About the only thing I could find on my playlist was some bouncy jpop but even the punk was a bit too exhausting after a couple hours of that show. Can’t complain, but I was happy when it was over and I could rest.

CDs Bought:

Nocturnal

Blooddrunk

Hatebreeder

Tokyo Warhearts

Cancelled due to broken arm!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:56:35 +0000

Bummer. The Sep 16th – Rancid, Less Than Jake show got canceled because "The bass player broke his shoulder and was in the ER."

Sucks for me, I was looking forward to the show. But I'm sure it sucks more for Matt Freeman.

Buying tickets I noticed that Smith's Tix was pricing was $20+$9 in fees. 24tix was $20+$4 in fees. All the more reason to not to buy from Smith's Tix; they're a rip off and they give you the wrong time for the show to start anyway. My sister was literally brought to tears forced to wait outside knowing she was missing Polysics because Smith's Tix told her brother (with the tickets) the show was at 7pm when it was at 5pm.

I'm not sure about Smith's Tix policy for canceled shows but 24tix refunds the money back to the credit card automatically sans additional fees.

Edit: 24Tix refunds the service fee too!

Lewis Black and a night of angry comedy.

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:20:29 +0000

I just happened to catch that Lewis Black was going to be performing here Sat 23 Aug but as soon as I found out I made sure I had tickets reserved for the show.

The show was a Kingsbury Hall, a good larger venue perfect sized for a show like this. I guess it could also be good for pop music style performances but I’m not sure how good the acoustics would be for a show like that. It’s usually for plays and other things that don’t have the intensity of pop music performances.

At the door into the show Lewis Black goods were being sold; T-shirts, CDs, a vinyl, and a bobblehead?! Much to my appreciation was all of Lewis’s previous albums! I love artists like this, so I grabbed a couple CDs, but they didn’t have the newest CD! How messed up is that? Although in their defense it’s a VERY new CD and they have probably been on tour the since before it released.

First up was John Bowman to warm up the crowd, and he did a good job, very funny. It’s good to see a comedian that is quick enough improving jokes when asking audience members what their job is that it makes you wonder if they’re plants so he can do certain jokes.

Lewis Black came out after a short intermission and was in full form. Anybody who has heard his act knows that he’s a bit… excitable… easy to anger… energetic. Anyway he was great, “flipping out” where it’s entirely justified (seriously, sometimes it’s a wonder our country is still running), but keeping himself in control enough to deliver the jokes.

Having purchased the new CD the day after at the local CD shop and comparing, I think the live show was definitely better. There was some similar jokes but with the elections coming up soon it had a lot of topical political jokes that weren’t part of the CD. I’d say about 50-75% of the show was new material that isn’t on any of his CDs.

And it was so upto date that Lewis was already working in the Obamma+Biden ticket which I hadn’t actually heard yet (it announced early that morning).

And unbeknownst to me I guess Lewis had actually lived in Utah for a few months and being familiar with our back-asswards quirks here was delivering a lot of great material specific to the state that perhaps only works for those of us who have lived here with the same issues.

Anyway, an excellent stand-up comedyshow. At first I balked at the high ticket prices but it was all worth it; this isn’t Joe Schmoe who was a background extra in “Suddenly Susan” playing at the Chuckle Hut. This is Lewis Black!

CDs Purchased:
(Got his whole Discography now!)

The End of The Universe

The White Album

Anticipation
Purchased day after.