High On Fire12 Galaxies, S.F.
January 18, 2006
Ahh, can you smell that?? It's the smell of the first gig of the New Year.. Here's to Umlaut's 27th year of seeing live gigs! Let this one be as rewarding as all the others have been.
Trivia: High On Fire (HOF) were the subject of one of the first posts on this space almost 2 years ago. Time flies, etc. etc.
As the signs taped to the front of the club said, the show was "Completely Sold Out" (in advance no less). This was the first time I'd seen High On Fire with Joe Preston in the lineup. Of course, while Matt was in Sleep, Joe was in the Melvins during their classic Lysol era. Trivia: When Lysol was released, black stickers had to be put over the title because "Lysol" is a registered trademark and the Melvins / Boner Records didn't obtain permission to use it.
There were a number of years when the Melvins were Umlaut's absolute favorite band. Remember when each member recorded a solo album ala 70's KISS? A great Music Geek stunt... However, like most things, my Melvins fanboy days ran its course.I saw Joe in 1993 after he'd "left" the Melvins.. It was backstage in Portland at a Neurosis / 7 Year Bitch show.. Of course, I happened to be wearing my Melvins Army shirt, so I felt obligated to talk to him.
Click HERE for a PDF of Umlaut On Tour With Neurosis / 7 Year Bitch from Umlaut #9 (Fall 1993). Find out what Umlaut and Joe talked about (sort of..)!
It was good to see Joe back onstage again. When they launched into the first song his contribution to the band was obvious; like a herd of bison thundering across the plains. His command of the bass adds a great Old School bottom end to HOF's foot-on-monitor wall of sound.
Even if they are the Nu Motorhead, HOF's '10,000 Years' is still one of the most godhead songs ever. The fact that they played it was reason enough for me to be there. If you're a newbie and want to fit in with the HOF fanbase you should get (1) a black hoodie and (2) a neck tattoo.
This was also the first show of HOF's almost 5 MONTH U.S. Tour, which doesn't end until the beginning of May. DAMN! Umlaut likes to see a band do things the old fashioned way.. Lock 'N Loll.
It's always nostalgic for Umlaut to attend a Rock Show in The Mission again, but the large number of Neurosis shirts in the house was kind of disturbing... Are they selling them at Hot Topic now??
THANKS to Todd Leafy Green for the +1 on the Pest List. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. Unfortunately, Umlaut forgot to do a merch tally... sorry 'bout that. The new HOF hoodie was sweet, but I didn't want to spend 35 bones on it.
In light of a stunning announcement at work today, I'm listening to the HOF song 'Hung, Drawn & Quartered' as I finish this up... 'cause that's how I feel right now.
