Fu Manchu / Early Man / Acid King - Slim's, S.F. - Nov. 10, 2005It was a very rough week for Casa de Umlaut but, as usual, when such times hit Umlaut can depend on The Rock Godz to look after him. With Skychick safely at home once again, Umlaut was able to venture out and this gathering was a much needed reality check. Life is indeed good and the Amigos de Rock are a huge part of it. So, just a quick shout out to Lori, Joey, Johnny, Timo, Dave, Robin, Rafa, Kirk, and Al 'cause it was good seeing y'all.
Two thirds of Acid King are like family to Umlaut and a month in Europe had done wonders for them...All them fancy hotels and fine eatin' I guess. Fuck me, but the set-closing version of War Of The Mind was like an epiphany of volume.
Dear Early Man: Kids, if you're gonna be an Old Metal band you MUST do your fucking homework!! That rhythm section is NOT Old Metal. That's all I will say.
It's trippy that I've been seeing Fu Manchu gigs for 9 years. I say it every time, but they still lay it down like few other bands these days. I'm still a sucker for their fuzzy volume groove machine.
Geek Moment: I was thinking to myself "It would be cool if Fu played Squash That Fly".. and goddam if they didn't launch into it seconds later (Note: Umlaut, like, totally loves that song because its filled with references to the movie Valley Girl... one of Umlaut's favorite movies. That Techno Rock you listen to is gutless..).
The next best thing was Fu playing Superbird during the encore for a guy in the front row who was celebrating his birthday. "Solid!"
Beer count = 2. If you bought one of every Fu Manchu merch item you would have spent $187. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. I can't believe Timo finally ditched the truck for a car.
Coming Up: Dema's Birthday Bash with Mudhoney (!) and Umlaut returns to London.
