ümlaut: Best of 2010

Showing posts with label Best of 2010. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Done And Done

Vintage Old Metal Decal

Long story short: 2010 was a good year for Umlaut... a really good year actually. I've said this many times, but I rant in this space mainly to keep my mind sharp; I like putting words together. The fact that I mainly rant about bands and music is kind of secondary. I'm not out for narcissistic glory since I get plenty of that in my professional and personal life (HAHA!). I rant here for fun and I just do my own thing. Umlaut will continue to fight the hordes, sing and cry, and we will see what the next 8,760 hours bring.

I will now quote that British band: "Let The Music be your Master, will you heed The Master's call?"... and with those words, here's my 2010 scorecard:

2010 Bands: The bands that were special to Umlaut this year were Landmine Marathon and Ludicra. Landmine Marathon are friends and remind me alot of Metal bands from my Salad Days with how they go about their business and music. They did 2 tours of the U.S. and Canada behind their new album Sovereign Descent and are a band who leave some blood on the stage every night (sometimes literally). Ludicra took their game to another level with their landmark album The Tenant, which is the best album by a Bay Area band (any band) in years. They also had one of the most dramatic U.S. Tours that I've followed in recent memory! A tough and majestically brutal band.

2010 Shows: There were so many good shows last year but, if I have to narrow it down, I'd say my favorites were (in no specific order)...

2010 Records: In alphabetical order...

Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit (Track: 'The Watcher's Monolith')
Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave (Track: 'Ain't No Grave')
Grinderman - Grinderman 2 (Track: 'Mickey Mouse & the Goodbye Man')
High On Fire - Snakes of the Divine (Track: 'Bastard Samurai')
Killing Joke - Absolute Dissent (Track: 'This World Hell')
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow (Track: 'Distance Closing In')
Landmine Marathon - Sovereign Descent (Track: 'Rise With The Tide')
Ludicra - The Tenant (Track: 'In Stable')
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones (Track: 'The Prolonging')
Withered - Dualities (Track: 'From Shadows')

Honorable Mention because it's not a "record" (yet): Vastum - digital EP (Track: 'Master's Mark')

2010 Music Geek Moment:

8/14/10 - Lovers of Covers: The Album Art of Storm Thorgerson - San Francisco Art Exchange

2010 What-The-Fuck Moment:

LEMMY played a BAR in DOWNTOWN OAKLAND and most Metalheads IGNORED it...

2010 Reality Check Moments:

Anyway, this has been my quick 'n dirty review of 2010... THANKS for all the support, readers and friends. 2011 will mark the 7th Anniversary of this space... so let's see what happens next. I'll see you on the other side.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

At The Mountains Of Madness

Click HERE to read the H.P. Lovecraft story At the Mountains of Madness.

DO... IT... NOW.

High On Fire / Archons
Brookdale Lodge, Brookdale, CA
December 30, 2010

"Doubt of the real facts, as I must reveal them, is inevitable; yet, if I suppressed what will seem extravagant and incredible, there would be nothing left." - William Dyer from At the Mountains of Madness.

It was a pleasant surprise when local boyz High On Fire announced a trio of hometown-area shows to close out the year and to start the new one: Brookdale, New Year's Eve in San Jose, and New Year's Day in Oakland. Of course, the obvious show for Umlaut to hit was the night at the HAUNTED Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz Mountains! Click HERE to learn about Brookdale's paranormal history. Metal in a haunted mountain lodge?! FUCK... YEAH! I just hoped I wouldn't end up on the wrong side of an axe fight or in the trunk of a car by the end of the night...

Brookdale is approximately 70 miles south of San Francisco so we hit the road early in order to make it into the mountains, check into our room at the Brookdale (Metal Slumber Party!), and meet up with friends for a pre-show dinner at Scopazzi's, an Italian restaurant that's been in nearby Boulder Creek for 98 YEARS (!). It was a full-on Umlaut Nation onslaught with Skychick, Lori Acid King, Timo, Teri (Italia!), Mary Ann, Jerry, and Crow joining me for my final gig of 2010. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... Well here's 1,000 words about The Brookdale Lodge:

Karaoke...
High On Fire...
Gator Alley Band (a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band).

After checking into our room and dropping our bags off we returned to the lodge and found our way inside. There were 2 fireplaces blazing and 2 bars serving up drinks (actually 1 1/2 bars since one was in the middle of being renovated and only had beers in a cooler). One advantage of seeing shows in the mountains: CHEAP BEER! $3.00 for beers that normally cost $6.00 at shows in The City. FUCK... YEAH. I might have laughed out loud when I saw that the stage was not much bigger than a drum riser, with Dez's drum kit taking up practically 1/3 of it.

I got that "tingly" Music Geek feeling that I get when I know a show is going to be a F-U-N epic experience. Archons from San Diego played a good opening set that reminded me of some of the AmRep bands that I followed back in the 20th Century. They also sold the merch item of the night: A white glove packaged with a monocle and labeled with the phrase "Adds More Class To Your Act". I never found out the reason for this item but the band sold out of them. Hmmm.

Although they hail from the 'burbs / big city, High On Fire have always wandered "the mountains" psychologically. Appropriately they opened the night's set with 'Frost Hammer' and then charged straight into 'Turk'. So perfect... and I think I had the biggest smile on my face from the onslaught (or maybe it was from the beer). As it got colder and colder outside, the lads blazed through a great set.. 'How Dark We Pray'... 'Waste Of Tiamat'... 'Rumors Of War'.. 'Blood From Zion'.. 'Bastard Samurai'. I never looked at the clock but the set lasted 3 beers for me and finished off with a nice version of 'Snakes For The Divine'.

This was my 4th High On Fire show this year (in 2 states and 4 cities) and easily my favorite. The crowd and the vibe of the show felt like I was seeing the band 10 years ago again... They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well here's 1,000 words about the vibe during High On Fire's set:

Fireplace blazing in the foreground... High On Fire blazing in the background. 'Nuff said. After High On Fire finished we hung out near the bar... briefly said "Hi" to Matt... and I looked at my watch and it was only 11:00pm. WTF... I imagined our evening ending in very boring fashion back in our room drinking beer and watching t.v... and that's when MAGIC struck.

We talked and chatted amongst ourselves as the vast majority of the crowd trickled out and left to find their way out of the mountains back home. The dozen or so people who were left were either Brookdale employees or guests who were staying overnight like us... and that's when one of the employees got our attention and asked "Do you guys wanna go on a ghost tour??!" FUCK YEAH WE DO! So for the next 2 hours we followed a skitchy female Brookdale employee on a rambling but informative tour of the Brookdale Lodge and the surrounding grounds.

There is a secret entrance to a tunnel at the back of that fireplace that was built by gangsters in the 1950's (!). At that time the lodge was in decline and a criminal element took over The Brookdale and built a series of secret passages and tunnels on the property (!). In its glory days from the 1920's through the 1950's the Brookdale was a secluded getaway destination for A-List celebrities including Marilyn Monroe (!), James Dean (!), Rita Hayworth (!), Mae West (!), who were among other movie stars and politicians who stayed at The Brookdale. The debauchery that took place within those walls back then must have been EPIC!

Marilyn, Joltin' Joe... and James Dean at The Brookdale

The Meat Locker: During the 1950's when The Brookdale became a hub of criminal activity, The Meat Locker is reportedly where mob murders took place because it was soundproof. Only the locker's door remains intact in a wall and the actual space has been opened up to become part of a bar area that's currently being renovated.

The Mermaid Room: What remains of The Mermaid Room is around 20 feet from the stage where High On Fire played. Back in The Day it was a bar area and features a large window that looks into the lodge's swimming pool (which we visited a bit later in The Pool Room). At one time in The Brookdale's sordid history, prostitutes in bathing suits would swim past the window wearing numbers so patrons could select them ("Mermaid Room"). Once selected they would rendezvous across the road in The Brookdale's cottages; the patrons would be discreetly delivered to their "dates" via a secret tunnel that began in a closet behind The Mermaid Room's bar.

The Mermaid Room's window looking into the swimming pool..

In 1972, a 12-year old girl drowned at the bottom of the swimming pool in full view of guests in the Mermaid Room... and the pool has been closed ever since. Yup, there's been an unusual amount of death at The Brookdale!

The Brookroom Dining Room: This mindblowing space was built in the 1920's and encloses an existing mountain stream so that the water runs down the center of the restaurant!

The Brookroom from downstream at night and in the morning..

It's hard to describe just how brilliant The Brookroom is in person... the sight, sound, and smell of the mountain water gives the space a magical quality. I could almost imagine the room packed with Hollywood-types 60 years ago partying and living like they were immortal... but now they're dead and The Brookdale is a reminder of their faded fame and beauty. The debauchery that took place within those walls back then must have been EPIC!

The Brookroom from upstream..

The Brookroom from one of the dining areas..

In the 1940's, 9-year old Sarah Logan (the neice of the Brookdale's then-owner) fell into the stream and drowned. Sad... but her ghost is evidently the headlining paranormal entity at The Brookdale. Upstairs from the stream on the 2nd level is the room that was Sarah's playroom. Our skitchy tour guide wouldn't go inside because it freaked her out... but of course we did:

Kind of spooky.. but not really... and Sarah didn't come out to play. She was probably scared of that guy's Down hoodie.

The Pool Room: Located behind the main building, this is where the indoor swimming pool featured in The Mermaid Room is located.

The swimming pool..

The Pool Room (where a 12-year old girl drowned in 1972) was huge, cold, and dark. We hung out in there for a bit as our tour guide told a few more stories... and as we were leaving there was a loud noise and "something" hit one of the far walls. I shit you not... and I was not drunk. I think the ghost of the 12-year old girl was pissed at us for disturbing her.

After a short break back at The Lodge to gather more beers, our guide led us across the road to the cottages where hookers had serviced their customers back in The Brookdale's bad old days. Here in the 21st Century they serve as staff housing.

Stumbling around in the woods at 1:00am in the Mountains of Madness...

As our guide led us into a specific vacant cottage I had a VERY intense sense of deja vu and realized that I had been there before... and then it hit me that our friend Mary Ann (who was with us) had LIVED in this very cottage for 5 months when she had rented it 10+ years ago from the Brookdale's previous owners!! We had even helped move her into the place! I had completely forgotten about it... BIZARRE!! If the guide's story was to believed (and at this point her skitchy, speedy demeanor was wearing thin) a man had murdered his wife and 3 children in this cottage back in the 1960's or 70's. However, as compelling as I thought our friend Mary Ann's story was... and eventhough Mary Ann was sharing details about living in the cottage with other members of the tour group ("YOU lived HERE??!")... the skitchy guide blew us off and continued on with her "tour". Oh well... As the clock passed 2:00am our tour ended up back at The Lodge and we made our way to our room and promptly passed out... and, for better or worse, none of us experienced any paranormal weirdness during our slumber. Bummer.

Despite its glamorous and bloody history The Brookdale here in the 21st Century is kind of a dump that's in the middle of numerous renovation projects under its latest owners (who bought the property 3 years ago). Some of these projects seem kind of half ass and sloppy... but I wish the owners all of the very best because The Brookdale has so much potential to be a really cool and kitchy destination spot again. The fact that The Brookdale is so infamous for all of the murder and death that happened on its grounds makes its revival potential even cooler. By the way, although High On Fire stayed at The Brookdale like us, they opted not to participate in the Ghost Tour. Not very Metal of them... Just saying. However, I will now forever associate the song 'Frost Hammer' with The Brookdale...

Beer count = 5. If you bought one of every High On Fire merch item you would have paid around $150. On the way back to San Francisco, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. According to the Umlaut Archives this was my 78th and final gig of 2010... and I visited the Mountains of Madness and escaped with my sanity intact (I think...).

"At the time, his shrieks were confined to the repetition of a single, mad word of all too obvious source: "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"" - from At the Mountains of Madness.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Lost In A Forest

Agalloch
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
December 22, 2010

"I need to see a Metal show." It was with those words that I ended my last post in this space after being underwhelmed by a certain Hippie Classic Rock band. Thankfully I only had to wait 3 days for Metal to center me again.

Prior to the show I *had to* attend my work’s fancy Holiday dinner at the always excellent Slanted Door. After the celebration I sped over to the Great American and I knew it was going to be a perfect night when I scored a parking space just around the corner from the venue. After a quick stop at Will Call to get my ticket I walked inside a mere 15 minutes or so before Agalloch’s smoke machine started up onstage. My apologies to Dispirit and Allerseelen for missing their sets completely.

As I chatted with friends in the minutes before the headliner came onstage, I felt my body starting to fall into a food coma from my massive dinner. Oh man… I leaned back against the front of the soundboard for a bit while attempting to hold up my end of conversations… and I managed to fight off the coma de food. Note to self: A big dinner and a 750ml bottle of Bière de Miel (Umlaut’s favorite Belgian honey beer) is not the best thing before a big Rock Show in a crowded and hot room.

Agalloch's latest album is arguably the most lauded Metal album of the year, from being raved about on NPR (!) to being named Decibel magazine's Album of the Year as well as topping many other "Best of 2010" lists. All of this well-deserved attention paid off as the 600 capacity Great American was sold out. Pretty crazy because I think the last time Agalloch visited San Francisco was 4 years ago at the bar-sized Elbo Room.

Agalloch's brand of Metal is elegant in the same way that a hand-crafted edged weapon is elegant. I read a recent negative review of their new album that complained Agalloch "take too long to make their point". I'd like to mention that the source of that review has raved about Jarhead favorites Hatebreed in the past. Whatever… Agalloch are the Metal equivalent of being lost in the woods as darkness falls and you only have a stale Clif Bar and a half empty book of matches with you. What will you do… What will you do..

Darkness fell inside the Great American as smoke filled the stage accompanied by the new album's intro track 'They Escaped the Weight of Darkness'. As the symbolic water sounds of the intro track faded the band lit a torch with the opening song 'Into the Painted Grey' and Agalloch proceeded to lead the crowd down a path that was barely visible... but easy to follow if you let yourself sink into the volume.

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Agalloch get inside my head with their profound hybrid of Metal aesthetics, Post Punk dynamics, and Prog / Folk elements. As the set unfolded I kept doing mental double takes over the sounds that the band’s virtuoso guitarists John Haughm and Don Anderson weaved... and their volume path as laid down by the solid 5-string bottom end of Jason Walton and the mighty Aesop Dekker on drums (He of Ludicra fame and who also spawned the mighty Crud Wizard!) was just as compelling. Agalloch do not bludgeon their audience but instead slowly drowns them… preferably in the cold waters of a mountain stream as a bull elk drinks indifferently nearby. Your lungs fill with cold, cold water as your eardrums implode.

An older favorite 'Limbs' segued into my favorite song of 2010: 'The Watcher's Monolith' (aka The best Death Metal song The Cure never wrote..). Stunningly great. My favorite bands are those who make me confront my inner darkness in order to appreciate them. It's not something "normal" people want to do, but without darkness there is no light... etc.. cliché.. etc.. If you’re willing to make an effort to weave Agalloch’s music into your head it’s like looking into a black tinted mirror that reflects back on yourself. Is that weird? Oh well… I think I saw some Hatebreed CDs over there in the bargain bin. Only darkness has the power.

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

It was a stunning set.... completely amazing... and some of the best 100 minutes I've spent appreciating a band onstage all year. It was one of those shows that was life-affirming... and I was extra careful crossing Polk Street afterwards because it would have been a total buzz kill to get hit by a car after this show.

If you bought one of every available Agalloch merch item you would have paid $100; evidently they only had size SMALL shirts left! DIY Metal needs a real merch company running things for them sometimes... Just saying. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. While I was at the show there was a drive-by shooting less than 1/2 mile from Casa de Umlaut: 3 dead, 4 wounded related to local Hispanic gangs. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Full Moon Metal
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Click HERE for Photo Ray's shots from the night!

Thursday, December 09, 2010

The Wall

Roger Waters: The Wall Live
HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
December 7, 2010

Because of my FM Radio Classic Rock upbringing it was hard to ignore the hype around this tour… but the steep ticket prices made me say "Oh well..." and I had a flashback to the hyped up, expensive, but underwhelming Rolling Stones show I saw back in 2005. However, The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and an hour before show time we were at Will Call picking up comp tickets. Thanks to The Talent for hooking me up!

Tonight's show was the 2nd of 3 Bay Area shows (1 in Oakland and 2 in San Jose) and it was also the 61st Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was also the day before the anniversaries of the murders of both John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell (It's trippy that both of them were shot on the same date, right?). Before the houselights went down a couple of Lennon songs were played over the PA… but they didn’t play any Pantera. I guess Roger Waters is as sick of hearing 'Walk' as I am.

I’ve never been a Pink Floyd aficionado so I was gobsmacked to learn that one-time Thin Lizzy guitarist Snowy White would be onstage and has been a long time member of Roger Waters’ band. He also performed with Pink Floyd in the 70’s and on some of the original Wall concerts in 1980. How did I not know this before??! My Inner Music Geek is a poser.

I went into the show with preconceived ideas about what it was going to be like. I was expecting the show to be somewhat cheesy and overblown. I was expecting myself to have a detached experience because how "intimate" could such a massive arena show be? I've been going to concerts for well over half my life at this point and I've seen it all, man... or so I thought.

To my surprise, seeing The Wall live was the complete opposite of my expectations in almost every way. Eventhough we were up in the nosebleed seats, it was like watching an amazing theater production AND a mind blowing concert experience. There was more pyro and drama during the opening sequence of 'In The Flesh?' > 'The Thin Ice' than I've seen during entire concerts, including a plane "flying" across the arena to crash into the stage at one point!

Holy Shit!
(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

I thought the performance would be a straight clinical run through of the album. However, a couple of times Waters paused to address the crowd in such a personable and humble way that it gave the massive show moments of intimacy and personality. His intro before 'Mother' about the course The Wall has taken over the past 30 years was really cool and the performance of the song (with vintage footage of himself from 1980 performing the song projected across the entire stage) was a haunting audio / visual time machine.

The fact that the album's story about self-imposed isolation from society still resonates so profoundly 30 years after its release speaks volumes; the more things change the more they stay the same. It was also profound for me that a performance of this ALBUM has been drawing such big ticket sales and it seemed like everyone around me was completely mesmerized and caught up in the performance. Despite being up in the nosebleed section, there was barely any of the idle chatter and short attention span crowd behavior that usually accompanies a massive arena show like this. It was inspiring to see so many people getting caught up in the performance of an ALBUM that obviously meant a lot to most of them, especially when we live in a time in Music History when singles rule and albums are a dead art form. Either that or they were all tripping on some good acid or stoned on some prime weed.

It's very hard for me to write about this show because it was so visual and was an astonishing mix of modern digital technology and video combined with old school theater production. Dude, they actually BUILT The Wall onstage brick by brick! Once The Wall was completed (at the conclusion of the song 'Goodbye Cruel World') it acted as a massive video screen for the rest of the show.

'Another Brick In The Wall' in San Jose

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

I marveled at how any band could possibly pull a show off of this magnitude. Usually my Inner Music Geek notices details of a production as they happen, but the production of this show was so seamless it appeared to be magic at times. Props appeared out of nowhere. Waters and the band emerged to perform on the audience side of The Wall seemingly from out of nowhere. Guitarist Dave Kilminster appeared on top of the wall to solo during 'Comfortably Numb'. The choreography and precision of the production was staggering... and the performance of the iconic songs was flawless.

"Teacher! Leave them kids alone!"
(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Dude, I guess Pink Floyd really were an amazing band. For the newbies: I don't have the time or brain cells to explain what The Wall "means" or "symbolizes" or "represents"... All I can say is that seeing the album performed live was like having one of your most disturbing and haunting dreams brought to life. It... was... mind blowing.

'Outside The Wall'...

Another thing that blew me away during the night was how brazen, ballsy, and aggressive the bootleg t-shirt vendors were selling their $20 tees (which compared to the $40-$45 official tees). The pirate vendors were swarming everywhere: in the restaurants / bars near the venue, on the sidewalk in front of the venue, and even INSIDE the venue! BALLS!

I tried to do a merch audit but gave up, but I think if you bought one of every The Wall Live t-shirt alone you would have paid around $480. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. I've listened to The Wall album all the way through twice since witnessing this show and I still don't have my head around the concert and what I saw... Mind blowing.

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

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Just What I Needed

Grinderman
The Warfield, San Francisco
November 29, 2010

On another November 29th MANY years ago, Umlaut was at this show:

Trivia: It was Metallica's first headlining show in San Francisco and Exodus with a baby-faced Kirk Hammett opened the night. Fast forward to the 21st Century and I found myself seeing Nick Cave grace The Warfield's stage for the 9th time; previously I'd seen Nick at The Warfield in 1990, 1992, 1998 (2 nights), 2002, 2003, 2008 (2 nights). So, yeah, I have ALOT of Music Geek history with Nick.

Three years ago Grinderman played a mere FOUR shows in North America and TWO of them were CLUB shows in San Francisco. It was AMAZING.... Click HERE to read Umlaut's reaction to those pair of special nights. To be honest, I haven't really gotten into the new Grinderman album compared to how enamored I was with the first album 3 years ago. However, I was more than ready to witness the new songs live since that's where Nick is best... and I was hoping the new songs would win me over onstage.

The band swaggered out from the darkness of stage left and launched into the new opener 'Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man'... and Cave immediately charged to the lip of the stage and I knew right away it was going to be a great night. According to the Umlaut Archives this was my 18th (!) time seeing Nick live. It was like seeing an old friend again.

Photo courtesy of Photo Ray

Nick was in full blown swagger and he was on a par with some of the best performances that I've seen in years past. I was glad to see that he has shaved off the 70's porn star moustache of 3 years ago and he worked the stage in that bad ass way that only he can. Part Preacher... Part Rock Star... All Bad Ass Motherfucker. It's funny to think of Grinderman as Nick's "side project" when the rest of the band are in his band the Bad Seeds. It's not much different seeing Jim Sclavunos on drums and Martin Casey on bass... but Warren Ellis is a whole new demon in Grinderman than he is with the Bad Seeds and his own band the Dirty Three. Remember when Warren was sort of that dorky Australian guy who told funny stories onstage with Dirty Three while wearing an AC/DC shirt?? Me too... In recent years I've been both fascinated and a bit concerned by Warren's transformation from the dorky intellectual of Dirty Three into the bearded, multi-instrumentalist mad scientist that he is with Grinderman and the Bad Seeds.

The 90 minute set was fairly balanced between songs from the first Grinderman album and new songs. The band were ferocious... They were inspiring... They were badass. Grinderman were exactly the band I needed to see at this point in my year. The new song 'Palaces of Montezuma' was like a Bob Dylan anthem that I've been wanting to hear again for the first time; I found myself completely caught up in the song... which was cool because I'd ignored it when listening to the new album. On the flipside 'What I Know' is one of the worst songs Nick has ever done IMO; it just seems too forced trying to be lyrically clever. However, even Nick's "bad" songs are better than most others' "good" songs... but I still liked the songs from the first album more tonight. Those first Grinderman songs have that extra bit of badass that puts them over the top... 'No Pussy Blues'... 'Get It On'... 'Honey Bee'. Nick dedicated 'Honey Bee' to someone name Tara Jane who he's dedicated songs to at shows in the past. What a lucky girl, right?

I've been going to way too many Metal shows recently and feeling burned out and jaded about most Metal bands. Thankfully, leave it to my hero Nick Cave to revive my faith in music and the live music experience. Nick is the only musician who I've followed blindly over the years since I first discovered him back in 1989. I still buy all of his releases and see him live even when I haven't liked what he's created... but in the end Nick has always won me over. As I said earlier, it was like seeing an old friend again.

To bring this November 29th full circle with my past, evidently Kirk Hammett was in the house tonight as well. Metal Militia! As a friend later observed, I was doing the same thing tonight as I was doing exactly 28 years (!) ago: Seeing a concert. Hope I die before I get old.

If you bought one of every Grinderman merch item you would have paid around $250. For such an artistic and intellectual guy, Nick has always had THE WORST tour shirt designs; this tour was no exception. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Man, I'm ready to ditch alot of the Metal bands that I've been listening to and going to see lately. They just bore the shit out of me... We'll see how this plays out.

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

Sunday, October 24, 2010

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..

Saturday, October 09, 2010

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!