Sign Of The Wolf

Pentagram / Radio Moscow / Kings Destroy / Bedrücken

Bedrücken

Bedrücken

Bedrücken

DNA Lounge, San Francisco
February 25, 2014

Okay, this rant is just under 2 weeks after the event so I appear to be getting caught up with this space.  I'll cut to the chase and say this was the SHOW OF THE YEAR so far for Umlaut.  I was surprised it was sold out and the space was packed with young hipster and metal types... and also hipster metal types.  This surge in Pentagram love has to be a result of the Last Days Here documentary, right?  Makes sense, right?   Prior to leaving Casa de Umlaut this happened: 

Coffee after 6:00pm can only mean one thing:  Gig.

I walked into the DNA as the first band of the night was finishing up and I was surprised to see Umlaut friend Ami Lawless onstage fronting the band Bedrücken.  I had no idea!  I'll have to pay closer attention to the bill next time.  Apologies to Kings Destroy but I spent most of their set catching up with friends outside where it was easier to chat.  Good times. 

Radio Moscow were a very pleasant surprise!  My friends and I were bagging on their name while chatting outside, but when the band landed onstage with their Blue Cheer-like virtuosity and groove I was hooked.  It was also a pleasant surprise to watch the young hipster and metal types... and also the hipster metal types.. get behind Radio Moscow's retro volume curtain that was driven by guitarist Parker Grigg's magical right hand holding the plectrum.  It's not very often that my jaded head is impressed by a band sight unseen... but thankfully Radio Moscow hit me upside my noggin tonight and made me appreciate leaving Casa de Umlaut early enough to see them.  How do you say thank you in Russian with a Cali-San Diego accent by way of Iowa?  Evidently the band is originally from Iowa but now plants their feet in San Diego, which makes perfect sense.

Having original guitarist Victor Griffin teamed with Bobby Leibling is the key to Pentagram being a relevant band again instead of merely an oldies act.  Griffin's tone isn't thick but it's distinctive.  Having that tone in place onstage next to Leibling's sorcerer aura takes Pentagram to that ethereal level that few bands ever achieve.  The explosion of energy that the opening riff of the first song 'The Deist' set off in the room scorched me.

[Photo courtesy of Photo Ray]

'Forever My Queen' was dropped as the 2nd song of the set and launched the night into a magical and mystical level where it was masterfully maintained for the entirety of the 16-song set..  The crowd taking over the vocals for 'All Your Sins' was pure uncut awesome ("You can never win... Pay for all your sins..").  Then the sublime crowd action that broke out during 'Sign Of The Wolf' combined with the downright crushing performance made my month.  The bond between the band onstage and the sweaty crowd of hipster and metal types... and hipster metal types.. was profound and gave me hope for the future here in the 21st Century.  There was more crowd action and stage diving during Pentagram tonight than at all of the Metallica shows I've seen in the past 20 years combined.  I am being completely serious.  It obviously says a lot about the charisma and power of Bobby Leibling & Co. to elicit such a fevered response out of a Tuesday night audience.

The fantastic evening closed with a stomping version of '20 Buck Spin' and I kind of staggered out of the DNA.  Pentagram here in the 21st Century are still the real fucking deal. Amen and hallelujah!

I didn't do a merch audit because Pentagram didn't have the prices posted.  Odd.  On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags... but at least we didn't suffer the same fate as 2 of the bands on the bill who had their vans broken into and stuff stolen during the show.  Bummer.  However, I would like to think those bad vibes were leveled out by us ending the night at Taqueria Cancun for a celebratory midnight burrito.  I've been going to this Cancun location for over 20 years now and every time I'm there I remember that night circa 1992 when a guy came in trying to sell a chainsaw.  True story.

"Stories unfold but they've all been told when he sold his soul to the Pentagram..."

There's No Place Like Home

Pentagram / Ludicra / Slough Feg / Orchid
DNA Lounge, San Francisco
March 24, 2010

After having seen my last 8 shows in Ohio and Austin, it was nice getting back into the routine and see a show on my home turf again. Not long after getting into the Will Call line we ran into Bob, who used to work at the legendary Record Vault back in The Day. It was nice going to a show and see alot of familiar faces and Umlaut Nation friends.... The Scene... Home.

Once inside I had a flashback to a conversation I had last week in Austin at SxSW with someone about Orchid. We were sitting on a curb in Austin, killing time, and my friend was saying how they should have chosen another Black Sabbath song title for their name since there are, like, a dozen other bands named Orchid. He had a point. I'll cut *this* Orchid slack because I DO like them and I dig their new CD... but, man, they do cop ALOT of Black Sabbath circa 1970-71... The Orange amps... The Red SG. Their song 'Into The Sun' is the riff from 'Symptom Of The Universe'... The riff in their song 'Eastern Woman'... err.. "pays homage" to the riff from 'Children Of The Grave'. Their song 'No One Makes A Sound' is a bastard child of 'Supernaut'... but at least the bassist doesn't play a Rickenbacker. Sorry, Umlaut is a massive Sabbath geek... and anyone who's listened to their first 4 albums as intimately as me knows what I'm talking about. However, I don't mean to harsh on Orchid.... Hopefully they will bring something of their own to the Sabbath template in the future, like how Sleep used the Sabbath template but brought their own shit to the mix. I dig Orchid... and if I smoked weed they'd be playing during my nod time.


During Orchid's set there was some unnecessary drama with security over me accidently spilling some of my beer on a lady. Dudes, I was NOT drunk... sometimes gravity and an awkward move causes beer to spill... and I apologized to the lady and she accepted. No harm, no foul.. No need to go Jock on me.

Slough Feg has they've been around S.F. FOREVER. Back in the early-90's, when Umlaut was a xeroxed 'zine, the 'zine buyer at a now defunct comic store on Haight Street was an Umlaut fan and he always carried my issues... and he was the bassist in Slough Feg at the time (I forget his name). Fast forward to the 21st Century and I know people revere Slough Feg's brand of retro Metal and their longevity... but I've never connected with this band. As with Orchid, I understand why the kidz like it... but my old Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden albums still hold up for me.

LUDICRA... NOW we're talking! They were the main reason why I was at the DNA tonight; THE undisputed headliners of The Bay Area Metal Scene! Having just seen Ludicra at Scion Fest in a basement I was beyond psyched to see them play a full set on a proper stage with a proper sound system behind them. Umlaut had some quality hang time with Ludicra in Ohio... and prior to their set I had some Ohio deja vu moments as I touched bases with Aesop at the merch table, Photo Ray and I chatted with Laurie about her Scion Fest experience... and I watched some of Slough Feg with Cobbett. The Scene. Home. As Ludicra were setting up their gear somebody came up to the stage and gave Cobbett a copy of George Benson's Weekend In L.A. live album.... and Cobbett played the riff from Benson's 'On Broadway' on his Les Paul. HILARIOUS! Music Geeks in The House!


According to The Umlaut Archives this was my 10th time seeing Ludicra. It's not often that I feel compelled to be against the stage for a band, but Ludicra are one of those bands who I've always been right up front for... They opened with a double shot of the new songs 'Stagnant Pond' > 'In Stable' and I was immediately sucked into the Ludicra universe as I've always been since the first time I saw them.

Ludicra's diabolical mix of Metal and Prog Rock is a force of unholy nature whose fury always catches me off guard when they play live. No matter how many times I've seen them, I'm never prepared for the intensity of their onslaught. The band is one of the most compelling and undeniable live bands I've ever seen. Ludicra create a wall of darkness and volume that is simply impenetrable.

During their set, as I have in the past, I've simply closed my eyes and let the band's music get into my head. Yeah, that's probably kinda Hippie Shit... but it's the reaction I have. Ludicra on this night was a religious experience... and I don't mean a "God" experience... I mean their songs and fury took me to a different place. The complexity of Ludicra's music (the interweaving guitars, melodies, vocals, heaviness, dynamics) is something that seems to translate BETTER onstage than on their recordings, which is the opposite of alot of bands. The new songs are just mindblowing and as brutal as Ludicra are I find their volume strangely and profoundly calming. Inner peace through mayhem. HAIL!!

I missed Pentagram last year when they played S.F. because I was out of town. Oh, man... Pentagram 2010... or aka The Bobby Leibling Band as a friend described it. Seeing Pentagram was in stark contrast to the Saint Vitus show a couple of months ago. Saint Vitus, another resurrected band from the past, were in top form musically and sounded completely relevant.... 2010's version of Pentagram not so much. Alot of it was probably due to the fact that the band's guitarist quit a week ago the day before the current U.S. Tour was scheduled to start... and evidently the new guitarist was hired within 6 HOURS. As we were waiting in the Will Call line, an old friend told me that during soundcheck Bobby told him their set would run 5 songs plus a "jam session". Uh-oh..... "Jam session".....

As Pentagram took the stage I knew what was coming. Whereas Ludicra came onstage as a unit, Pentagram looked like "The Bobby Leibling Band": The singer with some musicians. They didn't look like "a band"... and during the first song Bobby stood behind the new guitarist and I don't know if it was to coach him through the song... but it started getting a bit too homoerotic to me and I started feeling uncomfortable watching it... Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just prefer my Rockers to ROCK and not RUB. Just saying...


Anyway, I was just hoping they'd play the one song I wanted to hear earlier rather than later... and, thankfully, the 2nd song of the set was 'Forever My Queen'... and so we hit the exit. From what I heard later, I'm glad we made an early retreat before the 20 minute train wreck jam session...

I didn't do a merch audit, but before heading back to Casa de Umlaut we stopped for a midnight burrito in The Mission. Perfect. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. As I said earlier, it was nice to be seeing a local show again... The Scene. Home.