Fury Whipped

High On Fire / Drunk Horse
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
December 18, 2008

This was the quintessential Umlaut show featuring two of my favorite local bands on a tight all killer, no filler bill... But before heading to the Great American, Lori took Rafa and I to the Holiday party hosted by Obscura Digital at their studio in SoMa. When we arrived the man with the clipboard at the door said those dreaded words: "You're NOT on The List.."

DOH.

However, he was quickly convinced that Lori had been invited by one of Obscura's bigwigs, so he allowed us entry... I mean, who would troll SoMa on a cold Thursday night trying to crash company parties? Anyway, long story short: There were interesting examples of Obscura's visual works on display (including a cool dome projection that required 3D glasses to view properly), excellent free food, and an open bar... Gawk, chat, eat, drink and then we were out of there. Dine N' Dash, baby!

Before heading to the Great American (again), there was a rallying of the troops at Edinburgh Castle for a quick pint... Then we few, we happy few, marched around the corner to gather our tickets at Will Call (THANKS to RSE for my +1). The Umlaut Nation was out in force, so a shout out to Lori, Timo, Johnny, Joey, Teri, Rafa, Jenn, Richard, Ray, Tom, Sven, Tim, and Billy.

Drunk Horse has been on hiatus of late (with Cyrus playing bass in those other local Rock Gods Saviours), but I find it hard to believe that I haven't seen them perform since 2006 (?!). It's been such a long time... and it was fookin' gleat to see their heavy groove, boogie, dueling Les Paul fire magic onstage again, with 'Reformed Asshole' sounding especially awesome.

It's funny to me that I've been following High On Fire long enough to have done the Music Geek "love 'em > bored with 'em > love 'em again" cycle as their career steams along. When the band launched back in 1999 I was pretty fanatical about 'em since they were the first thing to rise out of the ashes of Sleep. Fast forward a couple of years and I was at the point where I'd leave their shows as soon as they played '10,000 Years' since that song encapsulated everything they did into one song. Fast forward again to 2008 and the band's latest album is by far their most crushing and they don't even play '10,000 Years' anymore. What goes around, etc. etc.

It's not often that I've seen a band 4x on a tour, but I was driven to that by High On Fire over the past year+. This was around the 12th time I've seen High On Fire since their debut album, and I have to say it was probably their best performance to ever spank my ears to date. Being on the road for over a year has sharpened the band to a finely honed volume machine.

Holy fuck, dude (and I actually said "Holy fuck!" out loud a couple of times during the set)... Matt and his custom 9-string axe were one flaming decibel-spewing beast and Des and Jeff held everything south of Heaven down with their massive hammer of volume. What gives this trio such power? Could it be... SATAN??! On a serious High On Fire connoisseur's note: I liked how they opened with 'Fury Whip' at the start of the tour and on this, the final date of the tour, they closed with 'Fury Whip'... which I consider a good song for these times: "Sin, sex, bad intent, making sure the money's spent... Watching as your dollars turn to dimes.."

IMO, High On Fire are the rightful heirs to Motörhead's kingdom... and I'm convinced that at some point in the future Lemmy will take Matt to the top of his castle and say "One day lad, all this will be your's.." I just hope Matt doesn't respond with "What, the curtains?"

If you bought one of every High On Fire merch item you would have paid $115. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags... Also on the way back to the car, Lori and I agreed that we preferred the homeless dudes in The Mission vs. the ones in The Tenderloin; the ones in The 'Loin tend to follow you while singing a Ray Charles song directed at your booty.

Click HERE to see Taija's High On Fire photos from the show!

March Of Guitars

DMBQ / Drunk Horse
12 Galaxies, San Francisco
March 22, 2006

Umlaut was all set to see this bill back in November, but the tour was cancelled due to the terrible accident that took the life of DMBQ's drummer Mana (R.I.P.). Triumphantly, DMBQ regrouped and returned to the States in a remarkably short time.

This gig was also a convenient excuse for Umlaut to have a platonic rendezvous with Caucasian House Boy. As the Jetta pulled out of the driveway, Little Steven's Underground Garage was on local Rock Radio station 107.7 and 'Shake Some Action' by The Flamin' Groovies was playing. Nice. The tone was set for the evening.

My Indie Cred took a hit when I decided to arrive late and miss the opening set by Yikes!, the band that's staggered out of the ashes of the Coachwhips. Oh well.

I walked in just as Drunk Horse was starting. I really dig Drunk Horse. Their latest album In Tongues has been a favorite on Umlaut's iPod since its release. Dueling Les Paul Stomp 'N Roll straight outta Oakland. Gotta support the local boys! Any band with a song that references H.P. Lovecraft, as Drunk Horse does with 'Howard Phillips', has me in their merch line. Also, they did a credible cover of the Jeff Beck instrumental 'Beck's Bolero' .. I was impressed! Guess I'll be seeing the Drunk Horse boys at Jeff Beck's S.F. show in a couple of weeks.

Afrirampo are two girls from Osaka who have that Cool Kid appeal.. Anyway, I know I'm blowing cred with The Kidz but... I'll simply say I found them tolerable as I hung out on the sidewalk with Caucasian House Boy and Todd during their set.

BEST QUOTE - While standing out on the sidewalk, a guy came up to Todd and said "You look like a guy who I used to know in Philly named Todd". Yep. A Philly reunion on Mission Street after 20 something years. Magical in a Old School Punk way... I guess.

As DMBQ took the stage I was only intending to stay for 2 songs since I was TIRED and it was already past midnight on a school night.. But I ended up not leaving until after 1:30am.. Goddam but DMBQ TORE IT UP! Even more amazing when you remember the tragedy they experienced only 4 months ago.

When was the last time you saw a band's frontman held aloft by audience members ala Iggy Pop in Cincinnati 1970??

Iggy Pop - Cincinnati International Pop Festival - 1970

Well, my answer to that question is now 3/22/06 at 12 Galaxies.. "That's peanut butter!"

(Kudos to the Music Geeks who are laughing out loud right now..)

I wish I knew DMBQ's song titles, because they constructed a 20 minute song that blew my mind. If Japan had won World War II and Zeppelin wrote 'Dazed & Confused' while jacked on wasabi it would have sounded like that song.. Amazing. Plus, it was long enough so Caucasian House Boy went to the can, got another beer, and still made it back well before the song reached its climax. Someone once described DMBQ as being a fistfight between Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and I'd agree with that.

It's easy for an old fart like me to be cranky about this generation's Mission Kidz.. However, on this night I was proud of 'em. Umlaut was one of them 15 years ago (DOH!) and it was good to see Mission Kidz in all their drunken glory appreciating a great band like DMBQ. Fuck the rest of the S.F. Hipster Kidz: The Mission Kidz are keeping it real! Old man look at my life, I'm a lot like you.

DANKE to Todd for the pestlist and to Dema for just being Dema. Thanks to Caucasian House Boy for turning the world on with his smile and for taking a nothing day and suddenly making it all seem worthwhile.

Number of shirts with the pic of the Scorpions from the back cover of the In Trance album seen = 1. If you bought one of every Drunk Horse merch item you would have paid NOTHING 'cause they weren't selling anything. Every piece of DMBQ merch would have set you back around 8,000 Yen (around $70 USD). On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. I stayed out 'til almost Bar Time on a school night. I still got it.

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INTERMISSION: In addition to the comeback of DMBQ from tragedy, I read this week that Guitar Wolf are back in action with a new bassist to replace Billy (R.I.P.). Good news for sure, like, Gamera is the friend of all children. Totally.

===
The Hellacopters / Nebula
Slim's, San Francisco
March 24, 2006

The Hellacopters haven't toured the U.S. in 4 years, so I should have known there would be some Rocker Hype surrounding this show. The gig brought a number of Umlaut friends out of the woodwork. Very nice.. So, a shout out to Timo, Old Metal Erik, Captain Fireball, Mark D., and Craig B. (Two Bit Thief!). Slim's was packed and you could tell it was gonna be a good night by how early the floor was sticky from spilled beer. Friday night Lock 'N Loll!

Space Geeks take notice, Nebula's new album is called Apollo. Tranquility Base, the Eagle has landed. Sometimes when I listen to Nebula at home I think "This is one of my favorite bands!" but then I go see them and I'm feeling that way for, like, 4 songs. Then I find myself wandering to the bathroom, or over to the bar, or over to the merch table. During their set I found a promo poster for their new album on the bench next to the Coat Check. I folded it up and put it my pocket. The Iggy thread I started earlier in this piece with DMBQ can be continued here because Nebula did a credible cover of the Stooges' 'I Need Somebody'. If Nebula were a NASA program they'd be the Space Shuttle 'cause some of their stuff flies and other stuff has O-ring failure during launch.

I missed The Hellacopters on their last tour in 2002... but I did see the Swedes on their previous Stateside treks in 1998 (12/18/98 @ The Justice League, S.F. w/ Fu Manchu and Acid King) and 1999 (12/99 @ Slim's w/ the Supersuckers and Zen Guerrilla). Remember when they were, like, one of the ultimate Music Geek bands?! Releasing a bazillion things on vinyl only!? Me too.

As they geared up for their final encore I thought it was odd that Front Man Nicke had strapped on a cheapie Epiphone Les Paul. The reason why came midway through the next song, which was a credible cover of MC5's 'Kick Out The Jams'. Midway through the song Nicke took the guitar off and tossed it in the crowd. An excellent example of planned spontaneity! Of course, an entertaining tug-of-war fight ensued between punters for the free axe.

The struggle came down to 2 guys, neither of whom wanted to let go of the guitar's neck. They were eventually ushered out the back door by a bouncer; maybe they settled it with fists outside. It was pouring down rain, so that would have been kinda cool. I suppose that since it was a left-handed guitar it was probably worth, what? 150 bucks? So the fight was worth it I suppose. I assume The Hellacopters are making the most of an Epiphone endorsement deal... for The Kidz!

During all of this, Nicke had already strapped on his real guitar and the band continued to channel Rob Tyner & Co. one last time for the night. Then Drummer Robert kicked his drum kit over. The wailing guitars, the crash of the drums, makes me wanna keep a-rockin' 'til the morning comes.

BEST QUOTE - Hellacopters Bassist Kenny stepping to the mic to give a shout out to Old Metal Erik's old band American Heartbreak. HA!

Unfortunately, the Swedes didn't play my favorite song ('Hey!'). However, they did play the oldie 'Born Broke' and it was rock-tas-tic. Also, there were an inordinate number of cover songs performed on this night:

• Nebula: 'I Need Somebody' (Stooges), 'Suffragette City' (Bowie)
• Hellacopters: 'Rock & Roll Is Dead' (The Rubinoos), 'Kick Out The Jams' (MC5)

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Music Geek Note: As far as I know, The Hellacopters are the only band to have recorded covers of songs by Venom ('Angel Dust'), the Rolling Stones ('Gimme Shelter'), the New York Dolls ('It's Too Late'), and the Misfits ('Bullet') as bonus tracks over the years. If you can prove me wrong, please do.

After the show Timo and I continued our tradition of a post-gig meal, this time at the classy 24-Hour eatery Sparkey's on Church St.. I had the Umlaut Classic (a 2-egg combo breakfast and a beer). As we drove through The Castro, Rock Radio 107.7 appropriately played Judas Priest ('You Got Another Thing Coming').

If you bought one of every Hellacopters merch item you would have paid $193. All of the Nebula merch would have set you back $49. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. For the 2nd time in 3 days I was out 'til almost Bar Time. I still got it.