28 Years Ago Today

Umlaut's First Backstage Pass!
(From the Umlaut Archives)

Halloween 1983.. The Keystone in Palo Alto, California. Metallica had finished their debut U.S. Tour supporting Raven almost 2 months earlier with a trio of triumphant hometown shows in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco; this was their first headlining hometown area gig in 7 months. It was also the first time 'Fight Fire With Fire' and 'Ride The Lightning' were played live... A rather historic moment, right? The show was a Metal Monday show sponsored by local Rock radio station KOME 98.5 (R.I.P.) and the ticket price that night was $5.98 (geddit!?).

There was a costume contest before Metallica went on, but I can't remember what the winning costume was and, NO, Metallica did NOT wear costumes onstage like every other band who plays on Halloween. However, for those who care the setlist that night was:

• Hit The Lights
• The Four Horsemen
• Jump In The Fire
• Fight Fire With Fire
• Ride The Lightning
• Phantom Lord
• When Hell Freezes Over
• No Remorse
• Seek And Destroy
• Cliff solo
• Whiplash

'When Hell Freezes Over' was an early version of the instrumental 'Call Of Ctulu' that ended up on the Ride The Lightning album. Less than 3 months after this show Metallica left for their first European Tour... and things were never the same.

Shameless self-promotion: Live and backstage photos from this night will be seen in Murder In The Front Row...

Victim Of Changes

Judas Priest
Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
October 27, 2011


When it was announced earlier this year that K.K. Downing had left Judas Priest on the eve of their "Farewell" Tour I decided there was no way I wanted to see them again. K.K. and Glenn Tipton have been the most enduring axe duo in Metal; for me and most of you reading this we've never known a time when that guitar team was not blazing the planet. Now that team is no more. I decided there was no fucking way I was going to this show.

Then days before the show I was put on a guest list via work... What's a good Priest song to symbolize me being a hypocrite?

Unbelievably horrible traffic out to Concord as usual but zero drama at Will Call = A trade off. Calling a band Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott is a complete abomination and I want no part of it; but we arrived late and completely missed their set anyway. I can't stand Black Label Society; evidently Zakk Wylde wore an Indian head dress onstage this time. I thought he was from New Jersey?? I'm so glad he's not "part" Chinese so he doesn't wear a coolie hat onstage. Thankfully my mates and I spent most of their set eating some dubious venue food and having a beer. Then I had some work related responsibilities to take care of so I ducked backstage, but it was all good. Just another day at the office...
I reemerged into the Real World from the magical world of Backstage mere minutes before Priest were due to take the stage. After being directed around a couple of times by ushers we found ourselves in 4th row seats, dead center. To be honest, the seats made up for K.K. not being in the building; this was my 7th time seeing Priest and I've never been that close to the stage. Sorry K.K... but I can be fickle and shallow like that. "I'm made of Metal.. My circuits gleam.."

The focus on this "Farewell" Tour is that Priest are playing at least one song off of every studio album. A VERY cool idea... if only they'd done this when K.K. was in the band! Anyway we were only in our seats for a couple of minutes, beers in hand, before the houselights went down... the intro tape started... the curtain covering the stage fell... and Priest were right in front of us as 'Rapid Fire' announced the start of the set. It was fucking awesome... until I glanced to the left side of the stage and saw Fake K.K... Buzz kill.. However, I quickly got into the mindset that I was going to have a good time instead of obsessing on K.K.'s absence... and thankfully Priest made it easy by going from 'Rapid Fire' into 'Metal Gods' into 'Heading Out To The Highway'. I sipped on my beer and sang along like the aging Metalhead that I am... and it was good.

Photo by Umlaut iPhone

The high point of the 21-song set for Umlaut was the one-two nostalgic punch of 'Starbreaker' (HOLY SHIT.. They played 'Starbreaker'!) that went into 'Victim Of Changes'. The latter is probably my favorite Priest song and watching the middle solo without K.K. playing it felt wrong even with lasers lighting up the stage... but I still sang along to it. For whatever reason, Slayer and Judas Priest are the only bands that cause me to sing along when I see them live. I have no idea why. Discuss amongst yourselves. However, watching dozens of dudes singing along with Halford to 'Turbo Lover' made me think of a 70's San Francisco bath house... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Because I like to nitpick, I was bummed that the Rocka Rolla track performed was 'Never Satisfied' which Halford had performed on his solo tour last year. However, I tried to stay focused on having fun instead of being a jaded old fart... and the return of 'Beyond The Realms Of Death' to the setlist had me singing along again.. "He'd found a place in his mind and slammed the door..." still gets me every time after all these years, man.

Although I hate to admit it, this was the most F-U-N show of the year! Probably due to the beers, but I made the mental leap and simply got caught up in the songs and tried to ignore Fake K.K. onstage as much as possible. Granted, Fake K.K. did a good job... but it just wasn't the same... but I had F-U-N despite myself. I genuinely felt like I was that 16-year old Judas Priest fan again. "Breaking the what?!"

Photo by Sensory Abuse iPhone

Although I should have, I didn't do a merch audit, but Priest did have the best merch IMO. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Going into the show I ignored any spoiler posts online about the setlist... but I ran into Gary Holt in the concourse before the show and he blew it for me when he rattled off some of the songs Priest were going to play (Exodus had just supported Priest in Poland in August..). Thanks, Gary.

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

The Big 4, 6, & 7

Anthrax / Testament / Death Angel
The Warfield, San Francisco
October 23, 2011

It's taken me several days to get my head around this night. This show represented A LOT of things in Umlaut's past and present that have come full circle this year... and it was kind of overwhelming a couple of times. This was the biggest Metal show to hit The Bay Area in 2011 and was the perfect bookend to Umlaut's epic experience at The Big 4 show in Indio back in April. However, tonight's bill carried more emotional weight because 2 of the 3 main bands were playing in front of their hometown! EPIC.

Prior to the show Photo Ray, Sensory Abuse, and I performed the all too common pre-show ritual of pints and food at The Irish Bank. Then we few, we happy few, made our way to The Warfield for a night of vintage Metal. Within literally a minute of arriving at The Warfield two people commented on The Record Vault shirt I was wearing, including Ted of Death Angel who said he was wearing his Vault shirt onstage tonight! The Bay Area Metal pride was thick in the air and I hadn't even gone inside yet... Once inside I was overwhelmed by the number of old friends who were at the show; it felt like the high school reunion that I never attended in so many ways. However, before I could really socialize I had to take care of some work related responsibilities, but it was all good. Just another day at the office...

(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

Death Angel were the only band that had the crowd chanting their name before they hit the stage. The hometown heroes detonated immediately with one of their newer songs 'I Chose The Sky' before blazing into 'Evil Priest' from their classic 1987 debut album. The band has been on the road for 18 months and it showed; they were simply awesome. No band works a stage better than Death Angel and their San Francisco hometown pride was in full effect with Ted wearing his Record Vault tee and Will on drums wearing a Niners jersey. I literally got chills down my spine as the hometown crowd (including the balcony) went off during the band's set. It was very special and the first time Death Angel had played The Warfield since 1990 (!). 'Seemingly Endless Time' is always the highlight of a Death Angel set for me... Oddly the band did not play their original war cry 'Kill As One' which was kind of a bummer; it would have been cool to hear the big crowd singing that chorus with the band. It was a criminally short 35 minute set but Death Angel was my favorite band of the night. It's so fucking great to see the band rising above the lineup upheavals of recent years to recapture that fire which made them special to begin with.. and it warmed my heart to hear the crowd chanting "Death Angel... Death Angel.." again after they left the stage.

Death Angel
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's Death Angel shots!

For the only time on this tour, Testament had their full stage show for tonight's hometown appearance. Whenever Testament walks onstage I get kind of overwhelmed because the band is so larger than life to me now. There's Chuck Billy's gigantic charisma of course, but the rest of the band also exude a swagger that makes me proud to call The Bay Area home along with them. Their hour long, 13 song set exploded with a 1988 double shot of 'The Preacher' into 'The New Order'.. WOW. Testament were even more crushing tonight than usual, with the mix and volume being more thunderous even by their standards. 'Into The Pit' is always the set highlight of a Testament set for me... especially when Chuck Billy holds his half mic stand like a Metal Wizard churning a cauldron of metal to get the crowd action going. The set was so solid, heavy, and loud it kind of left my head spinning... At that point I should have gotten a beer but I don't think I did.

Testament
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's Testament shots!

Not long after Testament's set one thing led to another and I found myself having an enlightened chat with Alex Skolnick in his dressing room. It made me wish for a day when all Rock Stars were cool and intelligent human beings... Just saying. I then managed to duck upstairs to the stage just as the stage changeover was completed for Anthrax. As the houselights went down I found myself at stage left with Joey Belladonna doing his vocal warm ups right in front of me. I'm not a singer so I found it interesting...

It had been 5 years since Anthrax last played inside the San Francisco city limits. To be honest, the set Anthrax played was very strong but it didn't blow me away. The new songs work well live, but playing a cover of Sepultura's 'Refuse / Resist' seemed misguided when they have so many of their own songs after 30 years. However, the old classics like 'Madhouse', 'Antisocial', and 'Metal Thrashing Mad' were top notch and Belladonna proved he's still a great front man.

While Anthrax raged onstage, the area around me at stage left filled up with a Who's Who of Metal featuring Kerry of Slayer, Gary of Exodus, Robb of Machine Head, Mark of Death Angel, and Kirk of that band Metallica. Impressive, right?! I was also impressed when Scott Ian gave a shout out to San Francisco and mentioned his band's first show here in 1984 at The Kabuki with Raven and Exodus. Who else reading this was at that show besides Umlaut?

Mr. Kerry Fucking King
(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

The end of Anthrax's set turned into one of the quintessential Old Metal moments of the year. As they launched into the set closing 'I Am The Law', Kirk Metallica snuck behind the PA stack at stage left watching the song. It was cute watching the kids in the front row notice their hometown hero and lose their shit. Then when the chorus of the song came, Kirk and Mark Death Angel casually walked onstage to share vocals with a surprised Scott Ian. When you think about how much shared history Metallica and Anthrax have together it was cool seeing it all come back around onstage in Metallica's hometown. As the song ended Anthrax suddenly started an impromptu version of 'Whiplash' during which Ian took off his guitar and handed it to Kirk... and the impromptu version of the song took flight for several more minutes. So. Fucking. Cool.

(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

Although I should have, I didn't do a merch audit, but Anthrax did have the best merch IMO. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. It was an epic night and I didn't roll back into Casa de Umlaut until 1:00am.. and it was a school night... but the Metal Godz had blessed us with a spectacular night... and it was cool to be able to catch up with two of my favorite non-Caucasian band friends:

Ted Death Angel

Not Dave Mustaine

(Photos courtesy of Cable Car)

"DROKK IT!"

20 Years Ago Today

This show went on sale the same week Nevermind was released. If you look at the date on the ticket stub, I actually bought my ticket on the day the album was released (September 24, 1991)… which probably means I bought the album at the same time at Tower Records. Kinda cool, right? Lucky 13 dollars... and it came 2 weeks after THIS other historic Bay Area concert.

The support acts were local San Francisco favorites Sister Double Happiness and those awesome crusty ladies L7. By the day of the show a month later, Nirvana Mania was starting to engulf the world and the show was way sold out; a mob of people were out in front of The Warfield looking for tickets. During the headliner's set I was around the middle of the main floor and the crowd went absolutely berserk during ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. At some point during the evening my glasses got broken in the crowd action. People were climbing on the drink rail at the back of the main floor and diving off the entire night. It was a fucking great show. “Here we are now.. entertain us..”

Ironically, legendary San Francisco promoter Bill Graham had died the night before in a helicopter crash (on his way back from a Huey Lewis & the News concert.. which made it even worse..). This Nirvana show was one of the final shows he was personally involved with… It was obvious the Bill Graham Presents staff working the show were grieving and there was a large portrait of Graham hanging behind the bar in the lobby. I bought a Nirvana "Flower Sniffin, Kitty Pettin, Baby Kissin, Corporate Rock, Whores" shirt at the merch booth... which I still have.. but since the same shirt was later sold at Hot Topic no one gives a shit now.

Later in the show, as Nirvana came back onstage for their encore, Novoselic said some condolences about the show's deceased promoter… and I've always wondered if someone backstage asked him to do that.. because his tone sounded a bit sarcastic.. something like “This show is dedicated to Bill Graham… you know… Rock Legend…” To be honest, I don’t think many kids at The Warfield that night gave a shit about Bill Graham.

I was way into Nirvana and Grunge initially; the early days reminded me a lot of the early days of the original Old Metal scene, where image didn’t matter next to volume and mayhem. Also, Cliff Burton wore flannel shirts and Kurt Cobain saw Metallica on the Ride The Lighning Tour in Seattle (TRUE!)... Just saying. Unlike most Metal people, I don’t think Nirvana and Grunge caused the downfall of 80’s Metal. I will argue forever that it was the rise and popularity of the bullshit MTV Hair bands that dragged all Metal bands down and caused Metal to become irrelevant for most of the 90’s… but then the same thing happened to Grunge eventually. Either way, I’m glad I was there to witness both pre-MTV Metal and pre-MTV Grunge.

“I’m a negative creep and I’m stoned…”

For those who care, the October 26, 1991 set list was:

• Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam
• Aneurysm
• Drain You
• School
• Floyd The Barber
• Smells Like Teen Spirit
• About A Girl
• Polly
• Breed
• Sliver
• Lithium
• Love Buzz
• On A Plain
• Negative Creep
• Blew
• Dive
• Rape Me
• Territorial Pissings

One Man Show

Foo Fighters / Cage The Elephant
Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
October 19, 2011

I was way into Nirvana before they were hijacked by the mainstream, but I can't say I've ever been a Foo Fighters fan. Not because of any "loyalty" to Dave Grohl's former band, but because they were just average to me, with their albums maybe good for 2 decent songs max to my ears. The last time I saw Foo Fighters was on their debut tour back in the 20th Century.

San Francisco - 1996

(From the Umlaut Archives)

Here in the 21st Century, the Foo Fighters have obtained an odd mainstream popularity and are pretty much a household name. Recently I watched the documentary Back And Forth that tells the band's story and it's not bad as Rock documentaries go. Dave Grohl has also unabashedly championed Metal starting with his excellent Probot project almost a decade ago. Which is cool, but that doesn’t make him or Foo Fighters Metal IMO. Part of me still thinks most people "like" Foo Fighters because they represent 1/3 of Nirvana. Just saying.

As we approached the Will Call window I was surprised to see a couple of Christian "You Are So Going To Hell For Liking This Music" protesters screaming at the people entering the show. Uhhh, was it a slow day in Christianity?? The Foo Fighters are about as Satanic as whole milk... but I did laugh out loud when a guy yelled "SLAAAYER!!" at the protesters. Nicely done.

After getting a beer we found our seats right before Cage The Elephant took the stage. I've seen the band's name before and thought it was stupid... but they actually weren't terrible. The band are from Kentucky and play a sort of retro Brit Pop / Grunge hybrid thing. The singer was entertaining to watch as he worked the stage in a 3rd tier Iggy sort of way. He even closed their set by diving into the crowd and standing on people's hands ala Iggy with the Stooges - Cincinnati 1970.

Iggy Pop - Cincinnati 1970

Nice try, Cage The Elephant singer... but everything's already been done.

Foo Fighters hit the stage at 9:00pm sharp with the new songs ‘Bridge Burning’ and ‘Rope’ and remained onstage for a solid 2 ½ hours. Impressive. Although I just said I can't call myself a Foo Fighters fan, I have to admit I know all of their radio hits... 'My Hero’… ‘The Pretender’.. ‘Learn To Fly’.. ‘Everlong'. I was surprised how many songs I actually recognized.

We had good seats in the band guest area... but of course the downside of sitting in comp seats is sharing a row with tall skinny girls with short attention spans. Tonight it was a pair who bopped along to a song and then left, and then came back, after literally every other song. Yes, girls, you're pretty and I'm sure that works for you, but I so want to shove you down the stairs because this is the 5th time you've interrupted the show for me... and the band has only been onstage for 40 minutes. On the flipside, in an Old Metal small world moment I found myself sitting 2 seats over from my old friend Rick Brackett, who I had not seen since we both attended Metallica's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shindig in 2009. Somewhere Cliff Burton smiled.

Anyway, Foo Fighters onstage should really be called The Dave Grohl Show since he pretty much does everything onstage and the rest of the band basically just stand there. The band had a monster stage show that included video screens, an ego ramp, and a runway down the middle of the arena that went all the way to the soundboard. The small soundboard stage was also on a riser that rose KISS-like at one point during the set for Grohl to give the bad seats the front row experience. Pretty cool, but it was weird that only Grohl utilized the staging and was the only one who even ventured past the stage monitors. However, I guess that onstage dynamic works for AC/DC with Angus.. so what do I know. That being said, Grohl is an excellent front man.. which is good since he’s the only one who looks like he breaks a sweat onstage.

Besides the odd onstage band dynamics, the sound was also kind of weird too. It seemed to be heavily weighted towards Grohl’s vocals and everything was mixed way too clean for my liking. I mean, there were THREE guitarists onstage but you could never tell because that’s not what the band’s live sound is about. It should have sounded huge... but it didn't. Bizarre… but THREE guitarists looks cool onstage. However the Foo Fighters are not Iron Maiden or Lynyrd Skynyrd... or even The Outlaws.

All in all, it was a fun show but of course no Probot songs were played. Besides the big radio hits, Grohl and the band pulled out a very good cover of Pink Floyd’s 'In The Flesh' (with drummer Taylor on vocals and sounding eerily like Roger Waters). During the encores they also trotted out a guest appearance by Bob Mould for the new song ‘Dear Rosemary’ (on which he appears on the new album) and then for a cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Breakdown’…. I know… Tom Petty.. but it made me realize that Dave Grohl is the Tom Petty of Hard Rock... Entertaining... not terrible.. but safe. On that note, I was fascinated that evidently NO dudes with long hair seem to like Foo Fighters. Out of the 13,000 or so people in the house I saw no dudes with long hair outside of myself and maybe 3 others. It was downright bizarre to me.. Safe Rock.

Number of Metallica shirts = None. If you bought one of every Foo Fighters merch item you would have paid around $300. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Again, it was a fun show and a good night out, but I just realized I could have simply said a Foo Fighters show is kind of the opposite of a Slayer show instead of writing this whole thing.

29 Years Ago Today

Click HERE to download a FREE soundboard recording of this show... Metallica's 2nd visit to San Francisco in 1982. It's an authorized download so no need to worry about Lars going Napster on your ass here in the 21st Century. My buddy Rich and I helped Metallica load-in before this show. We somehow managed to steal a beer keg from The Waldorf in the process... which ended up in the trunk of my car. Rich remembers:

"Kirk Hammett (then still in Exodus.. who were opening the show) saw us coming out of the freight elevator with the keg and had the funniest puzzled look on his face."

Kirk was still underage like us. Maybe he had never seen a keg before..........

"This one is for all you Rivetheads.. This is our ode to Headbangers song..."

20 Years Ago Today

October 12, 1991… Metallica headlined a Day On The Green at Oakland Stadium. It was an epic day made all the more special because I had been away from the Metal scene for around 5 years. In that time I had listened to other music, tried college, made new friends, etc… but when this show was announced I was struck by an intense sense of nostalgia about the early Metal Days and the time spent with a pimply-faced band called Metallica before they were millionaire Rock Stars. Also, the fact that the hometown heroes were headlining one of the iconic Day On The Greens was a historic moment for the band and Bay Area Metal. The show was also the first time Metallica ever headlined at a stadium.

Big Wayne and I took BART to the stadium and arrived in time so see the relatively unknown Soundgarden play their Grunge on the home field of the Oakland A’s (For the newbies: The Raiders were still in Los Angeles and wouldn’t move back to Oaktown for another 4 years..). Faith No More were good and had a smart ass attitude about playing such a enormous hometown show. Queensryche were riding high with their craptacular MTV hit single / Pink Floyd rip off ‘Silent Lucidity’ and during their set we wandered around the concourse eating and drinking. It was during this wandering that my life came full circle with my Metal past again as I ran into numerous old friends from the original Bay Area Metal scene; it was like the high school reunion I never attended. During our wandering I also saw a guy round house kick another guy in the head, who hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Metal.

This was still back in the days when a stadium show was simply a huge general admission mob scene; there was no “gold circle” reserved seating on the stadium floor. It was general admission the way a huge Metal show should be where mayhem could run free and not be tethered by reserved seating and security. Trivia: This was the final Day On The Green that promoter Bill Graham personally worked on because he was killed in a helicopter crash less than 2 weeks later. Spooky.

As dusk fell onto Oakland, Metallica’s standard intro tape of ‘The Ecstasy Of Gold’ started playing over the P.A. and all hell started breaking loose on the field in front of the stage. A storm of beer cups and other debris erupted in the air as the thousands of primed, stoned, and drunk Metallica fans started a mini-war amongst themselves. Cups and garbage flew up into the air as well as big chunks of the outfield grass that was torn up by the Metal mob. Then when Metallica hit the stage and opened with their new single ‘Enter Sandman’ the most massive pit I’ve ever seen opened up and for the next 2+ hours the band and The Bay Area were one. As darkness fell it was medieval watching multiple pits swirling in the shadows and darkness of the stadium floor. The stadium was packed with 50,000 people and I had a hard time comprehending this was the same unknown band who I had met less than 9 years earlier on their first visit to San Francisco… when Lars drove his AMC Pacer up from L.A.. For those who care the setlist was:

• Enter Sandman
• Creeping Death
• Harvester Of Sorrow
• Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
• Sad But True
• Wherever I May Roam (1st live performance)
• Through The Never (1st live performance)
• The Unforgiven (1st live performance)
• Master Of Puppets / Seek & Destroy
• For Whom The Bell Tolls
• Fade To Black
• Whiplash

Encore:

• No Remorse / The Four Horsemen
• One
• Holier Than Thou (1st live performance)

Encore 2:

• Last Caress
• Am Evil?
• Battery

It’s an over-used cliché, but time really does fly, man… Twenty years… A LOT has happened to Umlaut since that day. Enter night, exit light.

"Don't get stupid."

Early Show

Orchid
Thee Parkside, San Francisco
October 9, 2011

This show was attached to the annual Indie Mart street fair that took place on the closed-off street next to Thee Parkside. The mart featured a typical S.F. mix of artsy fartsy craft vendors to kill time looking at… but the best part of the event was the Chairman Bao food truck was in attendance so I could snack on their godlike steamed tofu bun. Arriving early also meant watching a band called Nectarine Pie who had obviously studied 60's British Invasion bands... which isn't a bad thing... but I was there to see something heavier… so I got a beer at the bar and wandered off to find my friends outside on the patio.

Evidently Orchid were stuck in cluster fuck traffic and late getting to the venue (it was an unusually busy Sunday afternoon in S.F. with the Blue Angels, a Columbus Day parade, AND the Niners being in town). As a result the band only played about half their scheduled time. Despite the brief performance I was surprised that I had an epiphany about Orchid: I was finally enlightened on how the band is hot wired into a vintage Santana vibe, which is not as obvious to the casual listener as their Sabbath vibe.

Since Orchid are older dudes they pull off the vintage angle a lot more convincingly than most of the young bands attempting the same thing these days. I mean, when Orchid step onstage wearing vintage clothes it doesn't look like they’re in costume; they look and sound like the real deal. Carter and Keith lay down a heavy groove on drums and bass that most bands attempting to do the “vintage” sound in the 21st Century fail to grasp… and Mark and Theo lead the bell bottom charge with the former wielding epic TONE on his SG and the latter having a voice that’s both other worldly and powerful. Orchid in a live setting creates an aura in any room they’re playing and don’t simply fill it with volume.

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

The truncated set opened with the new song 'Saviours Of The Blind' and for the next 35 minutes the band transported the room to another place. Following the opening song the band followed with another new one 'Nomad'... and then eased through 4 songs from their current releases.. with the highlight being 'Eyes Behind The Wall' before they closed things out with 'Eastern Woman'. It was a clean and mellow set… made all the more so by having the young kids of the band members and friends standing at the rail. I trust the youngsters were all wearing ear protection… because I believe that children are the future… teach them well and let them show the way.

I didn't do a merch audit... but Orchid did not have any girl's tees in size Small. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. All in all it was a super mellow Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. I was glad I got see Orchid again before they leave on a European Tour next week that includes shows in Poland, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Prost!

Click HERE to see more of Sensory Abuse's shots from the show!

Street Of Metal

Warbringer / Lazarus A.D. / Landmine Marathon
The Key Club, Hollywood, California
October 3, 2011


As fate would have it I was in Hollywood for some work business on the same day as Sunset Boulevard was invaded by this Metal package tour. Prior to showtime Umlaut was able to have a summit meeting with a friend who used to live in S.F.; it was almost like the "old days" at Thee Parkside and DNA Lounge again. Then we few, we happy few, made our way to Sunset Boulevard and The Key Club.

Tonight was the first date of this 31-date package tour that ends on November 7th in San Francisco. The pre-show activities included witnessing an encounter between my friend and the gross lecherous father / manager of the local support band in front of the venue. I imaged the guy had prowled Sunset Boulevard back in the 80’s when he was maybe 50 pounds lighter and had hair. I’m sure it was hard for 80’s Hair Metal guys to age… Bummer, dude. No more Cherry Pie for you.

It had been 10 months since I last saw my kindred spirit band friends Landmine Marathon. Their new album (Gallows on Prosthetic Records) really captures the live fury of the current lineup and it's their best since 2006's Wounded IMO. Landmine are rooted in the Hardcore Punk scene and I wondered how they would fare on this bill featuring two bands from the current retro Metal thing. I was also reminded how problem-ridden the first night of a tour can be and the band’s 40 minute performance was somewhat affected by these distractions. This included the house monitor guy rudely walking onstage in the middle of the set to switch out Grace’s mic even though there didn’t seem to be any problem with the one she was using.

Despite the bumps, the setlist was a good mix of songs with 3 off the new album; opening with ‘Three Snake Leaves’ and closing with the old standard ‘Red Days’. It was also good to see Landmine fill a big stage again since the last time I'd seen them in a "major" venue was at Scion Rock Fest 2010 in Ohio over a year and a half ago. Since I had missed Landmine's last visit to San Francisco back in August, it's always a win-win when I can see and hang out with one of my favorite bands.. even on a less than perfect night.

The Key Club is one of those soulless venues whose interior looks more like a bad suburban strip club than a concert venue. However, one advantage of seeing a show there is that the legendary Rainbow is only a half a block away. It’s so easy to escape The Key Club and go to The Rainbow for a drink and hang out in between bands... which we did... twice. Unfortunately, Lemmy was not in the house tonight.

I’ve probably seen Lazarus A.D. before but they annoyed me a whole lot tonight. Lazarus A.D. are from Wisconsin (dontcha know..) and their choreographed headbanging (which included the drummer!) made me laugh out loud. It really did… which is a shame because the Midwestern kids have decent chops on their respective instruments. Still, it’s a fine line between being Metal and being silly looking. I also couldn't help wondering what hair products the band uses on the road to give it that silky smooth sheen.

Warbringer means well and I think their Metal heart is in the right place. It was cute how the band members lined up at the front of the stage during songs and their shirts looked like a page from the Rockabilia catalog: Discharge (guitar), Bathory (vocals), Carnivore (bass). Left out of the mix was the 2nd guitarist at stage left; he looked out of place with his short hair and non-band plain black tee. Note to 2nd guitarist: Grow out your hair and stop at Hot Topic and buy a Slayer shirt to wear onstage so you look like you belong at the party, ‘kay? The singer is also one of those vocalists who talks in a growling “Metal“ voice. It was cute how he sometimes slipped out of character and used his “normal” voice. Dude, if you just use your normal voice when talking to an audience it will make it easier for everyone.. Just saying. Still, I don’t want to bag on Warbringer too much because, out of all the current retro Metal bands going today, I do think they are one of the better ones. It's just that I've seen it before... in 1983.

All in all, my night on Sunset Boulevard was more about seeing friends and band friends than anything else. Thanks to Matt Landmine for letting me say I was in the band to the venue staff so we could get food inside the venue before the doors opened... 'cause food is where it's at..

I didn’t do a merch audit… but I did finally have a burger from Grill ‘Em All (a "Waste 'Em All" burger) and it was awesome. On the way back to The Bay Area, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. The next morning I flew back home and went straight into the office and put in a full 8 hours. No Sleep 'Til Casa de Umlaut.

Early Exit

Weedeater / Saviours / Bison
The Independent, San Francisco
September 30, 2011


A busy but great work day dovetailed into a meet up with Photo Ray and Sensory Abuse at The Irish Bank for some pre-show pints and fish 'n chips. My good mood was harshed a bit by the large number of suits who crowded The Bank for Happy Hour... but ultimately it was all good. Then we few, we happy few, jetted across town to The Independent for a Thursday night of volume.

You know you're seeing a show in The Bay Area when Matt Pike is standing behind you in the Will Call line. Once inside we chatted with Scott of Saviours about subjects ranging from album art to Motörhead merch to the fact that Bison B.C. had lost one of their guitarists after their hometown show in Vancouver only 2 days earlier. DOH. Not long after we were told this gossip, Bison (do they still use B.C.?) walked onstage as an awkward looking 3-piece. This was odd at first since I've seen the band before and as the set started it just didn't feel 100% right. Thankfully the set settled into more of an old Bison groove and got better. I noticed that bassist Masa only had 3 strings on his bass with the 4th peg removed. Has he always done that? I didn't know if it was an avant-garde instrument customization or if his 4th tuning peg had simply broken off. Whatever the case, by the time the newly trimmed version of Bison (B.C.?) walked off stage they seemed like a band again.

I almost had my beer(s) spilled twice during my time in The Independent on this night. Once by an overly excited hipster Metal girl who backed into me... and again by a guy trying to do a stationary kickflip on a skatedeck in front of the bar. What kind of idiot tries to do a stationary kickflip on a skatedeck inside a crowded club?! The look that I gave him must have been authoritative because the kid apologized in a way that gave me grim satisfaction. Now go outside and play in traffic out on Divisidero, you stupid kid..

Saviours are bona fide chick magnets; the shirtless ones drew more females down to the front of the stage than any band I've seen in awhile. Nicely done, lads! I've seen Saviours almost more times than any other current Bay Area band... and I love how the East Bay dudes are complete Road Dogs who constantly tour, tour, tour. Saviours are such a well-oiled Classic Rock-fueled juggernaut now it's awe inspiring.

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Guitarists Sonny and Austin effortlessly channel the Allman Bros. to Thin Lizzy at the drop of a hat.. and Scott on drums is the second coming of Philthy Animal Taylor both in skills and attitude.. and current bassist Carson would not look out of place in Black Oak Arkansas. The songs from the band's new album (Death's Procession) translate full tilt boogie perfectly live with my favorite song of the set being 'To The Grave Possessed' and its stellar groove dueling axe action... with the old gem 'Into Abaddon' being a close second for me on this night. Well done, men of Saviours... Now put your shirts back on and go forth and do what Rock Star chick magnets do after playing a killer set.

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Okay, as much as I like Weedeater I bailed before their set started... Yes, a pussy move but I was really tired; I'm old and not afraid to cut my loses when my body asks me "Please can we go home now?" Having seen Weedeater before I have no doubt they laid waste to the Lower Haight... but by the time they were halfway through their set I was probably halfway asleep.

Thanks to Ron Crawlspace for sorting me for the show!

I didn't do a merch audit... but I regretted not bringing cash for the limited edition, embossed, tour only vinyl of the new Saviours album; rookie mistake. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. When I woke up the next morning it was Friday... and I had no regrets about my early exit the night before. Everybody's working for the weekend...