Procreation Of The Wicked

Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza
Slim's, San Francisco
Rocktober 23, 2010

Art/design: Kevin Gan Yuen // www.viraloptic.com

As rain fell on San Francisco I was nailed to the couch at Casa de Umlaut watching Game 6 of the NLCS swearing at the t.v. as the game's drama went ballistic; it was baseball at its very best! When the Giants finally nailed the coffin on Philadelphia, I was out the door and into the wet night as neighbors set off fireworks (I assume they keep a stockpile of them for such occasions..) and celebrated in the rain-soaked streets. Pretty cool... I'm not necessarily a fan of Jocks, but I am a fan of the GAME of baseball and it's cool how a winning team can inspire a sense of community. What a GREAT way to start the night and what a GREAT night to be in San Francisco and The Bay Area!

I stepped into Slim's as Yakuza were onstage performing their Metal / Jazz / Prog Rock hybrid. The last time I'd seen a "Metal" band have a saxophone onstage was during a horrible Queensryche performance several years back. Can a clarinet and saxophone ever be Metal?? I'm still not sure, but Yakuza make interesting use of the instruments to create an ambient tone in their sound that other bands would create more traditionally with guitar.

Yakuza saxing up Slim's
(Photos courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

It was an interesting and dynamic performance that reminded me of watching bands like Isis and OM. However, my opinion about the wind instruments went back and forth between (1) this is cool to (2) this is a gimmick. Overall, Yakuza earned my respect and at least I didn't pay more attention to the beer in my hand while watching them. However, I can be fairly dogmatic about my Metal... and a dude coming at me with a clarinet will never be as effective as a dude coming at me with a guitar. One time at band camp.....

Those corpse-painted Norwegians 1349 came onstage with dark confidence and I have to say it was the strongest performance I've seen them play to date. Given his work with Satyricon, Frost on drums is the focus of interest for many... but 1349 are a solid presentation across their lineup. As I said after the last time I saw them back in May, 1349 exudes that real deal Norwegian vibe but, let's be honest, if they were from Sacramento and came onstage dressed like that they'd be hilarious. Also, the band's evil aura was somewhat diminished by the young girls shouting "I LOVE YOU!" at vocalist Ravn in between songs. CUTE.

1349 seducing Slim's
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

This was a co-headlining tour (with Triptykon and 1349 switching off headlining slots each night) so the Norwegians played a full 70-75 minute set. To be honest, they came out of the gate very strong for me as I watched them from down front... but by the end of their set I could be found at the back of the room with members of the Umlaut Nation and also 3/4 of Saviours.

It had been just over 4 years since the last time I had witnessed Tom Gabriel Warrior (TGW) take the stage. I've lamented in this space before how most bands today have no concept of TONE when it comes to their all-important guitars. Guitarists simply cop someone else's sound and pawn it off as their own to an audience who is either too young to know better or too lazy to care that what they're hearing isn't original. As with my other favorite Masters of guitar TONE Tony Iommi and Dave Chandler, TGW's TONE is completely his own. When you hear the unholy wail of his signature Ibanez Iceman it can only be one beast. TGW's TONE makes me subconsciously raise my hands in the air to form a claw in defiance against all that is normal and mainstream and safe. His TONE can be like a time machine that echos back and forth between my Inner Teenage Metalhead and my 21st Century self right here, right now. His TONE is holy and unholy at the same time.

TGW and his weapon of tone: The H.R. Giger Iceman
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Going into the show I think everyone expected the setlist to lean heavily on Triptykon material, but TGW surprised us by weaving a set that was a profound balance of Celtic Frost material and his new songs... and the result was one of the most compelling sets I've seen all year. For those who care, the setlist went like this:

• Procreation Of The Wicked (Celtic Frost)
• Goetia (Triptykon)
• Circle Of The Tyrants (Celtic Frost)
• Abyss Within My Soul (Triptykon)
• The Usurper (Celtic Frost)
• Synagoga Satanae (Celtic Frost)
• The Prolonging (Triptykon)
  

Yes, "only" 7 songs... but with 3 of the songs clocking in at 15-20 minutes each on album (probably a bit longer live) it wasn't about the quantity of songs but the quality of the performances. The band walked onstage and immediately engaged the audience with the old school blast of 'Procreation Of The Wicked' and it didn't take long to realize that Triptykon isn't simply TGW using anonymous backing musicians to "recreate" Celtic Frost. For the educated follower and listener of the man's work, Triptykon is TGW taking his Celtic Frost vision to another level and place. It's denser... even darker... and as a live act Triptykon has a different feel than his old band as well... Onstage the new band are tight but also agile... They played as any great band should play: They looked hungry onstage... Hungry to create... Hungry to express themselves... Hungry to connect both with the audience and themselves.... Hungry for the blood of success.

Triptykon Onstage
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Despite the focused attack and blanket of darkness that the band weaved onstage, I was surprised to see TGW smile a couple of times... and the vibe between him and Vanja Slajh (bass), V. Santura (guitar), and Norman Lonhard (drums) was palpable. They performed grounded in the present instead of chasing something from the past.

It's not often that a musician with a legacy like TGW can successfully join the shadow of his past with something new.... but that's exactly what Triptykon represents and at Slim's it was an almost incomprehensible beast of volume. The new songs were never a distraction and they were even elevated when presented alongside the older Celtic Frost material. The show closed with the new song 'The Prolonging', a 20 minute journey that was beyond epic... and when it ended I was literally stunned. It was a damp and chilly night in San Francisco and I felt like I had just been tucked into bed under the song's crushing promise for retribution... and it was inspiring.

For the newbies, Umlaut has been following TGW's career since the very earliest days of Hellhammer. Also, in his magnificent book Only Death Is Real, TGW actually namechecked my old Metal 'zine Whiplash...

From page 109 of Only Death Is Real

Whiplash #1 - 1983

Having something that I created (along with my friend Sam Kress... R.I.P..) being recognized like that by one of my Music / Metal heroes made my head spin. How did Hellhammer even get a copy of my 'zine in Switzerland back then!? Anyway, at one point in the evening I had the opportunity to finally meet TGW after all these years... and my life came full circle in an instant:


Me: "Do you remember the 'zine Whiplash?"
Tom G. Warrior: "Of course I do..."
Me: "That was my 'zine.."
Tom G. Warrior: "Are you Brian?"

Did you hear that? That was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. To say that I was left speechless by that conversation would be a complete understatement... The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways, man.

It was an amazing night to be in San Francisco... First, the Giants moved on to the World Series for the first time in 8 years (SPORTS!) and the city had played host to one of THE best Metal shows of the year! The entire night was very life affirming for me and a huge THANKS to Steve at CM for making sure I was taken care of at the show.

I didn't do a proper merch audit, but if you bought one of every Triptykon merch item you would have paid around $150 (I think). On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. The next day I attempted to visit the nearby Giants Dugout store. There were almost as many people waiting in line to get into the store as there had been at this show. Crazy... Winning Sports Team = Procreation of the Wicked!

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night... and click HERE for Tom G. Warrior's blog post about tonight! Amazing..

Last Minute

Black Diamond Skye Tour
Alice In Chains / Deftones / Mastodon
The Event Center, San Jose, CA
Rocktober 11, 2010

Back in February, Alice In Chains played a stellar show in Oakland that ranks as one of my top gigs of 2010. When the Bay Area stop of the Black Diamond Skye Tour was announced it was a letdown because it was booked at my least favorite local venue. The February show in Oakland had been at a historic art deco theater while this show would be in a concrete box on a college campus. I decided I would pass on it.

Fast forward to the day of the gig and at 5:50pm I received a text and e-mail from the Mastodon camp saying I was "on the list" for tonight's show... DOH. To make it even more last minute, Mastodon were due to go onstage at 7:00pm and the drive from Casa de Umlaut to the venue is around an hour with Monday traffic. Long story short, Skychick and I got our shit together and made the mad dash south down Highway 101 to the valley of my birth... and on the drive we listened to the Giants wrap up Game 4 and win the NLDS in Atlanta on the radio. FUCK YEAH!

An envelope with my name on it was waiting at Will Call as promised, but unfortunately we had completely missed Mastodon's brief opening set and caught about 1/2 of the Deftones. I've never been a Deftones fan and the only other time I'd seen them was last October when they supported Slipknot in this same venue. The kidz on the floor were certainly into them but the band were definitely a contrast to Alice In Chains. I was curious how AIC's more cerebral volume would compare following the Deftones testosterone-fueled party. Missing Mastodon was the perfect reason for someone to develop an affordable transporter ala Star Trek. Can some Science Nerd get on that, please? Thanks..

As the Deftones stirred the crowd up, we walked around the concourse in search of a cold beer and a glass of classy Event Center wine. It was then I was reminded that I had seen Alice In Chains on the Dirt Tour in this very same room:

(From the Umlaut Archives)

Life and Lock 'N Loll come full circle, man. Alice In Chains were one of my favorite bands back then and here in the 21st Century they are again; what goes around comes around.

After the Deftones' set ended, and with drinks in hand, we made our way to the safe confines of the guest area at stage left. We immediately ran into several people I know including that guy who I see at alot of shows... the manager of that band... the guy who I haven't seen in a while... the tour manager of that band... and Umlaut Nation members The Bassist and Wexford Girl. The guest area also included a rather surreal mix of Bay Area Jocks and Rock Stars with 4 players from the San Jose Sharks, 1/4 of Faith No More, 3/4 of Machine Head, and local resident Tony "I Didn't Make The Playoffs" La Russa. Again, a transporter ala Star Trek would have been nice so some of the S.F. Giants could have been there to rub their NLDS victory in La Russa's Cardinal face. Can a Science Nerd PLEASE get on that...

The changeover between bands was pretty quick (20 minutes tops..) and AIC took their places onstage behind a white back lit curtain as their intro tape played right on schedule. As the intro tape ended the curtain dropped as the band went straight for the throat with 'Them Bones'... and then proceeded to play the first 3 songs off Dirt back to back to back ('Them Bones' > 'Damn That River' > 'Rain When I Die').. WOW... Epic... and, yeah, I had a flashback to that 1993 San Jose show. Pretty cool. Trivia: My hair was Jerry Cantrell-long in '93.

Umlaut's view from stage left..

Whenever I watch a band from the side of the stage my attention tends to wander as I notice things about the production... or the staging... or something in the crowd... or something a band member is doing in between songs. Tonight I became fixated on watching Sean Kinney's drumming.

Kinney's playing has kind of an odd flow about it; he plays with more of the swing and swagger of a Jazz drummer than with the caveman pounding of a Rock drummer. Kinney's demeanor is also less hyper compared to other Rock drummers which was especially evident as the band played 'Rooster':

• As Cantrell and DuVall began the song's intro, Kinney casually puffed on a cigarette ("Ain't found a way to kill me yet..."). Then he..
  
• Took a sip from a beer ("Eyes burn with stinging sweat...")...
• Puffed on the cigarette some more ("Seems every path leads me to no where...")....
• Stared up at the lighting rig ("Wife and kids household pets.. Army green was no safe bet..")....
  
• Took another sip from the beer ("The bullets scream to me from somewhere...")...
• Put the beer down next to him and took a last puff on the cigarette ("Here they come to snuff The Rooster...")...
• Picked up his sticks ("Yeah, here comes The Rooster... You know he ain't gonna die..")...
• Raised the stick in his right hand and waved it above his head ("You know he ain't gonna die..")...
• Pointed the stick at the crowd and brought it down to hit his first beat of the song ("Here come The Rooster.. yeeeeaaahhh.. He ain't gonna die...")

Pretty Lock 'N Loll... and Rock Drummer 101 in a nutshell. I should also note that I can't remember the last time I saw a band smoke onstage as much as AIC.. At any given time at least one member of the band had a fag on his lip. Lock 'N Loll. Also, it's always interesting to me what shoes Rock Stars wear onstage; it was nice to see Jerry and Mike wearing Rock Star issue pointy boots to go along with their cigarettes. Plus, I'd like to know where AIC buys their jeans.

As far as the set tonight, San Jose wasn't as transcendent as the AIC show in Oakland earlier this year. It was still a great performance and the band were definitely on the top of their game (despite Cantrell being sick). In general, it was a solid workmanlike performance by a band that's been on the road for a year. That being said, I couldn't help but notice the contrast between AIC 1993 and AIC 2010: AIC '93 onstage were powerful because of the charisma coming off the stage but the band didn't move around as much. AIC in the 21st Century are a band reinvented and with DuVall they're a more dynamic live band in some ways. It's not often a band can reinvent themselves and have their old self meld so effortlessly with the new incarnation to create something special all over again.

Anyway, it was a solid 100 minute set that was a healthy mix of old AIC and the newer songs (which I like as much as the Layne-era material). I have to say 'Rain When I Die' was the top old song for me tonight but 'Lesson Learned' was my overall favorite moment of the night. The show ending encore sprint of 'Nutshell' > 'Man In The Box' > 'Would?' was perfect. At the end of 'Would?', as he's done every time I've seen AIC, Cantrell took off his guitar and literally threw it at his tech... who caught it. As the band made their exit stage left, Cantrell came over to Tony "I Didn't Make The Playoffs" La Russa and gave him a greeting and a hug. Awww. Jocks and Rock Stars getting along... but have all Rock Stars forgotten that it was The Jocks who were the biggest assholes to them in school?? I'm just saying...

If you bought one of every Alice In Chains merch item you would have paid around $360. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. All in all, it had been an unexpected Monday night out that reminded me (once again) that The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways. To quote AIC: "In your darkest hour you strike gold..."

Not At Budokan

Cheap Trick
Mountain Winery, Saratoga, California
Rocktober 8, 2010

Umlaut is old and I grew up in a time before Iron Maiden... and before Metal there was Cheap Trick. Cheap Trick are one of Umlaut's all-time favorite bands, but I didn't know they were playing this show until 4 days before. To be honest, I generally ignore the annual schedule at The Mountain Winery because it's the type of venue that just isn't my scene: expensive tickets in a beautifully expensive location. However, The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and 48 hours out I unexpectedly found myself with comps to the show.

Back in August, The Mountain Winery was the scene of a bizarre suicide by an audience member during a set by the band Swell Season (Click HERE for the full story). Morbid... but also pretty Metal as well. Just saying... According to the Umlaut Archives, this was my 9th time seeing Cheap Trick dating back to my very first concert in 1979. Here in the 21st Century I'm a jaded old fart... but Cheap Trick are the one band that I still become a complete dork over... and I broke the unwritten concert code and wore my weary Cheap Trick shirt to the show.

We thought we'd run into nightmarish South Bay Friday, holiday weekend, commute traffic but the run down to Saratoga wasn't that bad. One thing I didn't take into account was that even though The Winery is one of those enclaves of yuppie hoity-toity entertainment, that also means it's not run like your usual concert venue. The security search at the entrance was beyond polite and couldn't even be called a "search"... and Will Call took literally 10 seconds. I'll think fondly of this the next time the security dude at The Regency is grabbing my ass checking for a shiv or a contraband pack of gum.

For the newbies: Back in March, Cheap Trick announced that Bun E. Carlos had retired from touring. He's still a member of the band but drumming on the road is now handled by Rick's son Daxx. This was a huge bummer because part of the ongoing magic with the band was that it was still the original lineup AND they were still great. So, going into tonight I was prepared to be distracted by Bun E.'s absence... but I ended up being pleasantly blown away.

The time machine kicked in right at 8:30pm as Rockford's finest bounced onstage and slammed straight into an opening Power Pop punch of 'Way Of The World' > 'California Man' > 'Clock Strikes Ten' back to back to back. It's always amazing when songs instantly transport you back to a specific time in your life; I was a 15-year old Cheap Trick dork again in a flash.

I feel weird saying this, but I kept forgetting that Bun E. wasn't behind the drums. Daxx Nielsen NAILED it and his playing was dead on with the songs and the band. At the conclusion of 'Clock Strikes Ten' I expected Daxx to pull out the giant baseball bat-sized drum sticks like Bun E. used to do back in The Day. Daxx's drumming was a clone of Bun E.'s and all he needed was a cigarette between his lips to make it complete. You have to admit that it's pretty cool that Rick's son is enabling Cheap Trick to keep their flame alive... Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, etc.

As far as the rest of the band: Robin's voice was amazing and he was the star of the performance for me and worked the stage like it was 1979. How old is that guy!? As always, Tom held down the bottom end with his 12-string bass as the not-so secret weapon of Cheap Trick; they're a Power Pop band driven by the firepower of 3 bassists! HEAVY. Rick was rock solid as always and played a different guitar for every song as usual... Although he kind of fucked up the solo during 'The Flame' he saved his 5-neck guitar for 'Goodnight Now'.

Tonight was a robust 90-minute, 20 song set and, while the 3 new songs were good, it was scary how I can still identify an old song within seconds... My Inner Teenage Cheap Trick Dork instantly recognized the start of the extended intro to 'On Top Of The World'... How do I still have that in my head?? Time Machine stuff, man...

Rockpalast, Germany - 1979

These days Cheap Trick pull out an obscure old school rarity each night... and tonight it was 'The Ballad of T.V. Violence' from their 1st album and my Inner Teenage Cheap Trick Dork jumped up and down like a little school girl. After the set closing 'Surrender' the encore sprint to the finish surprised me by how lengthy it was... 'The Flame' > 'Dream Police' > a GREAT extended version of 'Gonna Raise Hell' > Goodnight Now'... During the encores Tom and Rick came out wearing San Francisco Giants caps! NICE... even though the Giants had blown a 4 run lead as they played their set. Then my childhood heroes were gone and my time machine journey ended and my head returned from 1979 back to the 21st Century. Bummer.

No one committed suicide during the set... and if anyone was considering it they should have done it during 'Auf Wiedersehen' but (for better or worse) that song was not in the setlist tonight. Unfortunately, there was a tight photo policy in effect so Umlaut doesn't have access to any killer shots from the show... So this will have to do:

From the Umlaut Archives

An original At Budokan 2-sided, promo, cardboard thing (17" x 13")..."The Biggest Thing Since Transistors".. I need to get it framed.

This was the 3rd consecutive year that I've seen Cheap Trick and it's the first time I've followed the band this closely since my Salad Days. Here in the 21st Century, most Rock bands of Umlaut's generation are considered "oldies" bands. For most of them that title is warranted; the relentless march of time as aging Rockers play for aging Rock fans. It's the way of the world. However, an exception to this is Cheap Trick; tonight they were as energetic, engaging, spry, and GREAT as they ever were when I first saw them as a pimply-faced teenager! Cheap Trick are the one band who still makes me want to wear their concert shirt to school the next day after their show. Hope I die before I get old.

If you bought one of every Cheap Trick merch item you would have paid around $400. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. On the drive out of Saratoga we listened to the closing moments of Game 2 of the NLDS as the Giants lost in extra innings... Buzz kill... but me still love Cheap Trick long time.

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night!

Lock 'N Loll

Guitar Wolf
Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco
Rocktober 4, 2010

It's hard to believe that it's been over 5 YEARS (!) since Guitar Wolf's last U.S. Tour and visit to San Francisco. The fact that original bassist Billy (aka Bass Wolf) died of a heart attack only 2 weeks after that S.F. show is still unbelievable; he was only 38 years old, man. In the years since, Guitar Wolf has been on hiatus for quite awhile until they reemerged last year with new guy U.G. on bass. The Bottom of the Hill was the final stop on the band's brief 7-city U.S. Tour and my anticipation leading up to tonight was off the charts.

By the time I got to the club the “Sold Out” sign was already posted on the door... and bummed fans stood around outside in disbelief.


Rookie mistake, kidz... If you wanna see a band really bad you gotta buy in advance. Anyway, as 11:00pm rolled around, the crowd was pressed down front and I was reminded how uncomfortable Bottom of the Hill is when it’s sold out packed… but I stood in basically the same spot as I did 5 year ago to witness The Beast From The East up close and personal again.

Number of beer bottles thrown onstage before Guitar Wolf came onstage = 4. Number of beer bottles that hit their roadie in the head before they came onstage = 1. There is more excitement in the first minute of a Guitar Wolf show than most bands have during their entire set! As they took to the stage, Seiji worked the crowd as U.G. and Toru (aka Drum Wolf) laid down a groove… Then Seiji put on his guitar, grabbed the can of Kirin sitting on top of his amp and slammed it, tossed the empty beer can into the crowd, held his guitar pic dramatically aloft… and then brought it down to hit his first chord of the night… and ALL HELL broke loose!! The Wolf was loose in San Francisco again!

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Guitar Wolf and their fans detonate together like no other combination of band / fans; the only other mutual concert mayhem that I can compare it to is the Dillinger Escape Plan live experience. It’s simple chemistry: You mix an alcohol fueled and volatile Japanese Punk band with 250 of their alcohol fueled fans, jam them all in a small space, and ignite them with volume. The result is terrifyingly fantastic! At the height of the mayhem bodies were literally flying everywhere… Off the stage... on top of the crowd… and people were hitting the floor face first at an alarming rate as the set got crazier and crazier.

(Point & Shoot by Umlaut)

It’s hard to describe the Guitar Wolf live experience with mere words. I’m sure it's not unlike when World War II vets attempted to convey how combat against the Japanese was on Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima to civilians. Words are simply inadequate to describe the smells, the sweat, the fear, the crushing of bodies, and the volume of close combat with the Japanese. Every song of Guitar Wolf’s set was a Banzai Charge of leather jackets, sweat, and volume that ended up in our foxhole to impale us on its bayonet.

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

At one point, Seiji brought a dude onstage to play his guitar, which was pretty funny… but the guy could play and looked vaguely familiar; I wondered what band he used to be in... Then during the encore Seiji pulled people onstage to form a human pyramid (!?) which he then tried to climb. It was like he was trying to build a throne of Westerners upon which The Rising Sun could Lock 'N Loll.

How do you say "Human Pyramid" in Japanese?
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

As the human pyramid shenanigans went on and on, I realized that I was super dehydrated so I pushed my way from the front towards the back. I mistakenly thought the pyramid was as crazy (or as us Orientals say “Clazy”) as it was going to be for the rest of the set… but I was wrong! The human pyramid ended with an onstage brawl between U.G. and Seiji… and the night closed with the band spewing out one more song and leaving the stage… Only then Seiji returned to the stage alone to play solo completely out of tune. This went on for 10 minutes as the crowd thinned out as both band and fans admitted the battle was over; Samurai Seiji finally threw down his guitar and crawled offstage... another city conquered with sweat and volume. Thanks to Sensory Abuse for filling in the details.

Number of Motӧrhead shirts = 3. If you bought one of every Guitar Wolf merch item you would have paid only $15… because they only had 1 (ONE) shirt for sale. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. The best thing about seeing shows at Bottom of the Hill is that I can be home in 10-15 minutes... Lock 'N Loll!

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night!

Die By The Sword

The Sword / Karma To Burn
The Regency, San Francisco
Rocktober 2, 2010

The Sword are one of those bands that is polarizing: people seem to either like them or hate them for some reason. I'm too old to worry about peer pressure and I've always liked The Sword. It's been interesting watching them since their first visit to S.F. in 2006 when they were awkward and seriously lacked confidence onstage. I admired what Road Dogs the band were on that first tour when they came through S.F. 6 times; not many new bands work that hard these days! Fast forward 4 years and the kidz from Austin have supported Motörhead and toured the world with Metallica... but it had been almost 2 years to the day since I last saw The Sword live.

Prior to the show Photo Ray and I participated in the time honored pre-show tradition of meeting friends and dining at legendary Tommy's Joynt. For the newbies: Tommy's has been around since 1947 and it's where Jason Newsted was asked to join Metallica so he could become a millionaire by being the band's punching bag. To be honest, eating at Tommy's can make your stomach feel like a punching bag... but it's Old School San Francisco. After the meal we few, we happy few, made our way down Van Ness to The Regency.

I knew absolutely nothing (zero... nada) about Karma To Burn. The first thing I couldn't help noticing about them was that the singer looked like he was 7 feet tall... Literally. The dude seemed taller than his Marshall stack and with a Les Paul strapped on he looked like Treebeard fronting the band. Karma To Burn were GOOD in a solid slow burn Stoner / Classic Rock way... Equal parts boogie and riffs.. Actually Karma To Burn were really good; it's not often that Umlaut is impressed enough to buy a support band's CD after their set, but I did this time. It turns out the band is originally from West Virginia (!) and has been around for almost 15 years (!)... AND the band's giant frontman is the son of DAVE DAVIES of THE KINKS (!)... AND they've worked and recorded with John Garcia of Kyuss... and the band is basically the lineup of Year Long Disaster as well. Well, call me a poser, 'cause I didn't know all of that... but better late than never.

Karma To Burn
(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Uhhh, I don't know how to tell Karma To Burn's bassist... but that's a girl's Motörhead shirt he's wearing. I'm not kidding... Umlaut recognizes that design from Lemmy's 2008 merch line... Not that there's anything wrong with that!

A Texas flag covered The Sword's drum kit during the opening sets, which was a nice geeky homage to the band's homeland. I like how instead of "growing up" past their original Dungeons & Dragon song themes, The Sword cranked their Nerd wattage up with the new album and drove off the Geek cliff by doing a Sci-Fi themed concept album! The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth..

Texas is the reason: The Sword onstage at The Regency
(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

The lads from Texas opened up with the Sci-Fi geek double shot of new songs 'The Orb' > 'Trej Brujas' before surprising me by playing their signature song 'Freya' next... which went into 'How Heavy This Axe'. Nicely done... The one down side to The Sword for me is John's vocals, which have always been monotone at best... and tonight it was also the fan at stage right that kept blowing Kyle's long blonde hair. However, despite all of that, this was the best performance I've seen the band lay down to date. In contrast to how unseasoned they were on their first tour 4 years ago, the band is now a no-nonsense seasoned Lock 'N Loll Machine onstage. I know alot of Stoner Rock traditionalists hate The Sword, but to me the band is more Classic Rock / Metal than anything else and tonight their first encore was their take on Thin Lizzy's 'Cold Sweat', which only supported my opinion of them. As their 70 minute set galloped to a close I thought how it was a good difference seeing The Sword on a big stage instead of in a club; their big sound translates very well to a big room. Is everything really bigger in Texas?

All in all it was an easy, fun night and the local vibe was in full effect with members of Machine Head, Saviours, and Black Cobra in the house. Not to be a smug Bay Area mofo, but most other cities can't have a Rock Star roll call of that quality just hanging out in the bar at a gig. Just saying...

If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid around $220. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. There was some good SFPD action just off the intersection of Golden Gate and Larkin; an SUV had flipped upside down and lay in the middle of Larkin like a shot elephant. Obviously somebody's Saturday night wasn't as good as mine had been... Bummer.