Don't Go Away Mad

Mötley Crüe / Alice Cooper
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California
July 23, 2014

Tonight was the first time I would be in the same geographic location as Motley Crue since this show 32 (!) years ago:

I hated Motley Crue in 1982; hairspray posers. I'm sure Nikki Sixx would be amused if I told him I was one of the Bay Area Metal gang in the front row in Concord on Halloween '82 who flipped him off during their entire set. I'm sure he remembers that, right?! Sixx finally flipped us off which only made us dislike Crue more. We got so enthusiastic in our dislike of Crue that at one point a security guard or roadie came over and told us if we didn't stop he'd have us thrown out. True story.

One thing led to another on this warm Summer day and I found myself at this show under the guise of being a "professional" type guy sort of...  After some pre-show Will Call drama was sorted out I had the required pass to wander around the venue like a free range chicken.

Best random conversation overheard backstage: 

Pregnant Woman: "He (her husband) took me to see King Buzzo... It was AWFUL!!" 
Husband: "It was awesome!" 
Pregnant Woman: "It was AWFUL..."

Also, this happened:

SLAAAYEER!

I will cut right to the chase:  Alice Cooper completely blew Motley off the stage despite his abbreviated time onstage.  Before Alice came out I was shocked by how empty the reserved seats were in the amphitheatre... WTF?!  Where were all the Sick Things!?   Thankfully, when Alice and band hit the stage the seats quickly filled and Alice had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand beautifully, from the VIPs down front all the way back to the lawn.  It seemed like many in the crowd had not seen Alice before BUT they knew all of the songs which was a rare organic music thing, man.

It was magical and unrelenting with hit after hit after hit coming off the stage:  'Hello Hooray' into ' No More Mr. Nice Guy' into ' Under My Wheels' into ' I'm Eighteen' into 'Billion Dollar Babies'.. DAMN.. and that wasn't even half way through the set.  Combine those iconic songs with Alice's standard stage props (the Frankenstein machine.. the guillotine!) and it was easy to forget who the headliner was tonight.  All of the pyro that Motley had later that night could not compare to Alice having his pet boa constrictor wrapped around him during 'Welcome To My Nightmare'.   Sometimes the old, low-tech ways of doing things are the most effective and bad ass.

 [Photo courtesy of Cable Car]

Trivia: The Nurse in Alice's show is his wife.  As Alice introduced his band I loved how he said "... and starring tonight as Alice Cooper.. ME!"  

Right before Motley came on there was a very excited commotion in the crowd in the rows ahead of us... and low and behold it was douchbag celebrity chef Guy Fieri making his way to his seat.  He obviously shares the same fanbase as Motley Crue because the men and MILFs were losing their shit at the sight of him.  Now I'm kind of hungry... Anyway..

It was pretty funny that the only times I've seen Motley Crue were on their first tour and their "final" tour;  I'm almost positive I didn't miss anything in the years in between.  As their set started I quickly became fascinated by how *off* the stage production seemed.  There were odd pyro cues that didn't seem to be synced to the songs.  The background vocals by the band and the "background singers" were a bit too "perfect" (if you know what I mean..) which only made Vince Neil's voice sound more ragged. 

The staging looked half thought through with no theme to make it, you know, a stage show.  I'm not saying all of this as a Crue hater... I'm saying it as someone who took a step back and tried to see the show objectively since the vast majority of the 14,999 people around me were losing their shit over the same things I was seeing and hearing.  Motley Crue shout AT The Devil and not WITH The Devil and I guess that's been my issue with them since 1982.   Anyway, I made an early exit as the encore started to beat the crowd... and that meant the Prius was out of the parking lot and on the freeway heading back to Casa de Umlaut in less than 10 minutes.  Too fast for love.. or something like that.

Number of people who commented on my Slayer shirt with a "WTF??" tone:  2.  It's nice to know the Slayer / Motley Crue crossover still has not happened here in the 21st Century.  If you bought one of every Alice Cooper and Motley Crue merch item you would have paid around $400 and $1,100 respectively.   On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag.  I'm sure somewhere Baloff was unfriending me because I had seen Motley Crue again.

"Don't go away mad... Just go away." 

Fairies Wear Boots

Black Sabbath
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California
August 26, 2013

I originally wasn't planning to see this tour due to all of the drama around this Sabbath "reunion" not including Bill Ward on the drum riser.  However, something clicked in my jaded old head when I thought how I'll never see Ronnie James Dio again.  I remembered how his final appearance in San Francisco with Heaven & Hell (aka Dio-era Black Sabbath) wasn't even sold out... which was fucking criminal when you think about it.  Then I reminded myself that Tony Iommi has always been my favorite guitarist.  My Inner Teenage Metalhead then chimed in that I needed to seize the moment and see my old heroes again since I might not have the chance again.  Dio never got his victory lap the way Ozzy is getting with this tour.  According to The Umlaut Archives, I've been in the same venue as Tony Iommi 12 times dating back to 1980.  The Hand of Iommi has guided me for so long, man.... so long.  I owed it to him to be at this concert.

At approximately 8:30pm Pacific Standard Time the piercing scream of an air raid siren blasted out of the PA to announce the arrival of Sabbath; the siren was like a call to arms and I got chills down my spine.  Yes, I'm a dork.  It was cool how understated Sabbath's arrival onstage was as they simply walked out to the wail of the siren and then lurched into 'War Pigs' and then kept steamrolling over The Bay Area with 'Into The Void' and then into... 'Under The Sun'!!?  Holy shite!  Even the most jaded hater could not possibly resist geeking out that they pulled that Vol. 4 deep cut out!  THEN then went into 'Snowblind' as Ozzy said "I don't do it anymore, man..".  COCAINE!

It's been very easy to be indifferent about Ozzy here in the 21st Century.  Back in The Day he was the Prince of Darkness but in recent years he's been the Court Jester.  However, maybe redemption is a real thing because Ozzy hasn't been this good in forever!  It was rather stunning to hear Ozzy sing so well.  I kept waiting for him to stumble into talking / mumbling the lyrics as he's done on past tours... but goddam if he didn't keep it together!  It was inspiring to hear Ozzy sing so well as he did his old man shuffle across the stage clapping his hands and flashing the peace sign like his younger self.  Oh Lord, yeah!

 [Photo courtesy of Cable Car]

Needless to say the rest of the band was spectacular and whoever is doing their sound on this tour should be considered a 5th member because the mix was the quintessential balance of pounding volume and clarity; the sound was absolutely perfect.   Geezer was as nimble and godlike on the 4-string bottom end as I've ever seen him... but I don't think I've ever seen Tony as engaged with the crowd as he was tonight.   Besides reaffirming himself as my favorite guitar player he was constantly smiling and playing at the lip of the stage.  Perhaps his brush with cancer has given him a renewed sense of purpose... and dog bless him for that!  Finally, and with no offense meant to Bill Ward, but Tommy Clufetos on drums absolutely killed it.  Although his drum solo (that began as part of an abbreviated version of 'Rat Salad') went on about 5 minutes too long.  Okay, you made your point Mr. Drummer... you are definitely heir to the Ward drum stool... but there's no need to beat Ward's memory to death with your 10+ minute solo spot.  Of course I understand that the solo was to give his aging bandmates a break, but 5 minutes would have gotten the point across.  Just saying.. but kudos to you Mr. Drummer. 

Also, aside from stylishly appropriate videos shown behind them, Sabbath played with minimum production and this no frills approach made the show even more amazing.  Without the standard pyro, inflatable props, or other distractions like confetti cannons the focus was entirely on the songs and the performance.   Other aging bands would wither under such naked scrutiny, but Black Sabbath seized their 2 hours onstage and made us all remember they were the first great Metal band and also how many bands basically copy their sound in one form or another even today.   My Inner Teenage Metalhead got all emo as he was reminded how much Sabbath meant to me as a kid and my adult Metalhead got all emo realizing how much Sabbath still means to me.

 [Photo courtesy of Tim Healy]

The setist included 3 songs off Sabbath's new 13 album... and they were alright... not terrible.. but the rest of the set was pretty unrelenting with ancient songs that have been seared into my soul and psyche since I was a teenager.  There was a stunning version of 'Black Sabbath'... Then another mind blowingly great deep cut with 'Behind The Wall Of Sleep'.. Then Geezer laying down his brief solo spot that slid straight into the eternal romance of 'N.I.B.'.. but it was 'Fairies Wear Boots' that crushed me the most tonight.  

I genuinely enjoyed the overplayed 'Iron Man' for the first time in ages and my Inner Teenage Metalhead was ready to fuck shit up to 'Children Of The Grave' all over again.  As on past "reunion" tours, 'Dirty Women' seemed like an odd song choice, but it still worked if only because it features one of Tony's longest guitar solos to end the song.  Sabbath teased with the intro of 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' before saying "Thankyougoodnight" with 'Paranoid'... and my Inner Teenage Metalhead banged his head to his original heroes to the song that I actually learned how to play on guitar once upon a time.

The last time I saw Ozzy with Sabbath (including Bill Ward) was at OzzFest 2005 when Iron Maiden completely blew them off the stage and on that night I left before their encore to beat the traffic because Sabbath were so listless and appeared to be going through the motions.   Fast forward to 8 years later and I wanted to stay until the final note of Sabbath's set rang into the night sky; I didn't care if I got caught in traffic afterwards.  This was also fueled by the realization that this might be the final time I would be seeing Black Sabbath ever again.  

[Photo courtesy of Cable Car]

I did get sad at one point during 'Paranoid' when I remembered that Dio-era Sabbath is now very much in the past.. and for a split second at the end of 'Paranoid' I half expected them to go into the 'Heaven & Hell' outro that they used to do when Dio sang with them.  Ozzy-era Sabbath was the soundtrack to when I first discovered Rock music.  Dio-era Sabbath was the Sabbath I actually grew up with and saw as it happened; it's always meant a little more to me.  Hell, I even saw the Ian Gillan-era Born Again lineup and the dubious Tony Martin-era Cross Purposes version of Sabbath.  I had also seen the first "reunion" tours with Ozzy (and Bill Ward) twice including the first time around in 1999.  However, after tonight's show I finally feel like I've seen Sabbath with Ozzy at their full power and glory together... and for that I'm eternally grateful.

If you bought one of every Sabbath merch item you would have paid around $600.  On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags.  As we made our way back to the car after the show I started to regret not bailing a little early to beat the traffic... but the Metal Godz work in mysterious ways... and it only took mere minutes to get out of the parking lot and onto Highway 101 back to Casa de Umlaut.  Oh Lord yeah!  Black Sabbath forever, man.  Forever.

"Fairies wear boots.. yeah.. you gotta believe... I saw it..  I saw it.. I won't tell you no lies!"

Then Sabbath posted this statement from Tony that confirmed what I felt watching them at Shoreline:

Lazy From The Heat

Mayhem Festival 2013
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California
June 30, 2013

I realized the day before this show that I've attended every Mayhem Festival except one since the debut trek in 2008.  Weird.  Anyway, I'm going to keep this short since it was that kind of day.  It was hot but not unbearably so.  Unfortunately, the lower temperature was compensated by more annoyances this year.  Huntress and Battlecross were onstage and wailing in the background as I dealt with Will Call drama upon arriving at the venue.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here's 1,000 words about Mayhem Festival 2013:

The Wristbands to Nowhere

Anyway, the day basically went like this:

Side Stages:

• Butcher Babies - Awful.
• Born Of Osiris - Watched them until my mind wandered and I found myself having a profound conversation with a cold beer.
• Job For A Cowboy -  I've seen JFAC several times but I still can't name 1 song and I still find their name annoying.
• Machine Head - During the first 40 seconds of their opening song 4 beers and 2 different shoes were thrown in the air above the pit action.  Home cooking rules.

 [Photo courtesy of Photo Ray]

• Children Of Bodom -Their stage backdrop showing a Finnish snowstorm scene was ironic but also made me hungry. I soon found myself having a delightful conversation with a plate of overpriced "organic" amphitheatre food.

Despite the 18 bands playing today, THE MOST METAL moment was this random Murder In The Front Row reunion:

 Ted of Death Angel!!  Rick Hunolt!

Bonded by blood 4-ever, man.  Anyway after that glimmer of awesomeness the hot day continued with..

Main Stage:

• Amon Amarth - The Swedes brought their awesome Viking long boat drum riser to America for the first time... but I think it lost something in translation to a crowd that was primed for some Five Finger Death Punch.   I think "Amon Amarth" in Swedish means "Dethklok".  I actually like the Swedes quite a bit.. cheesiness and all.  What's the Viking word for "cheese"?

  [Photo courtesy of Photo Ray]

• Mastodon - Maybe it was because I had just seen the band at a rare club show, but the energy level seemed low; this was my 15th time being in the same venue as Mastodon.  Their vocal mix seemed *off* but I still enjoyed their brief time in the direct sunlight.
• Five Finger Death Punch - Since I don't own any Affliction or Tapout this was how I watched 5FDP:

If there is one band that represents everything I hate about Metal in the 21st Century it's 5FDP.  Jocks and the Jock mentality ruined the soul of Metal a long time ago.  Remember when Jocks had no clue who Lemmy was?  Me too, man.  Me too. 

• Rob Zombie - I have to say tonight was the best Zombie performance I've seen in years.  He was engaged, funny, and the set and song choices were focused.  This probably means that an hour set might be the perfect length for Zombie to play before my attention starts to wander.  That being said, his Hippie stage clothes started making me hungry for some organic food again..

  [Photo courtesy of Photo Ray]

There was way too much merch to do a merch audit, but I have to say that Zombie, Mastodon, and Machine Head had the best looking merch; their merch company nailed it.  On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags.  This was not the smoothest or the most fun Mayhem Festival for Umlaut by a long shot.   Let's just move on with this year, shall we...

My Oldest Best Friends

When I was an insecure, dorky teenager my record collection was my best friend. My record collection and my turntable kept me company when I was lonely and entertained me when I was bored. Last weekend two of my oldest best friends, like, ever visited me again.

Iron Maiden
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California
August 3, 2012

Iron Maiden. Always.

After having seen one of the first shows of Maiden's current tour last month in Boston, I was curious to see Maiden as they neared the end of another North American Tour. It's always interesting to see a band early in a trek as they're fine tuning their performance versus a dozen or more shows later when they've played to thousands of more people and (hopefully) gotten into their groove. Also, at this point in history, Umlaut has seen Maiden double digit times so I'm always interested to see if I can still geek out over seeing them.

The last time I saw Iron Maiden at this venue was for OzzFest 2005 when they absolutely blew the reunited Ozzy-fronted Black Sabbath off the main stage and made Rob Zombie on the 2nd Stage look silly.

[From the Umlaut Archives]

What can I say about Maiden that I haven't already said many times in this space? If you have time to kill go back through some of my older Maiden posts from years past (Click HERE to see all of my Maiden posts). Whenever I start to rant about Maiden here I feel like I'm repeating myself, and I don't want to bore the longtime readers by plagiarising myself again. However, I will say (again) that my Inner Teenage Metalhead lost it when 'Doctor Doctor' by UFO was turned up over the Shoreline PA to clue longtime fans that Maiden were hitting the stage in around 4 minutes. For the newbies: Maiden have played 'Doctor Doctor' before they come onstage since Day One. Umlaut LOVES tradition!

On this tour Maiden are doing what is basically a "Greatest Hits" set focused on a certain time period in their history. On this tour the focus is on the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son era (1988) which was a time when Umlaut wasn't engaged in what Maiden were doing. However this was one of those shows that reminded me way more people became Maiden fans after I discovered them during the Paul Di'Anno years. Does that make sense? Discuss amongst yourselves.

As in Boston, the high water mark of the night was the mighty mid-set 1-2-3-4 punch of 'The Trooper' into 'The Number of the Beast' into 'Phantom of the Opera' into 'Run To The Hills'. However, I have to say my favorite songs of the night were 'Two Minutes To Midnight' and 'Aces High' because it's awesome when a crowd sings along to them. At one point Bruce announced that Shoreline was unable to accommodate the band's full production tonight, which I found to be a very odd thing to happen here in the 21st Century. No matter, Maiden still performed with the same intensity that they had back in The Day and Steve Harris is still my hero.

One thing that I love about Maiden now is how much fun they look like they're having onstage. All of them are smiling, either at the crowd or at each other. Alot of jaded old fans will complain about what songs they didn't play or should have played but fuck that attitude. Personally, as much as I want to hear my fave Maiden songs live, I'm cool at this point in history to simply watch them perform as they attack a stage with the level of charisma and musicianship that very, very few bands now possess. Here in the 21st Century I'd rather watch 15 minutes of Iron Maiden onstage than 60 minutes of a band, like, Hatebreed. The right hand of Steve Harris über alles!

If you bought one of every Maiden merch item you would have paid just over $1,000 (one thousand dollars); Maiden's merch company rules! On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. It cannot be understated how amazing it was for me to have Iron Maiden visit the Bay Area again and then 24 hours later it was...

Aerosmith / Cheap Trick
Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
August 4, 2012

Cheap Trick. Always.

Before I discovered Iron Maiden and Metal, there was Cheap Trick. Umlaut was fanatical about them in Junior High and my first concert was Cheap Trick supporting Blue Öyster Cult at San Jose State on the At Budokan Tour. Yes, Umlaut is old and Cheap Trick are still one of my all-time favorite bands. Also, at this point in history, Umlaut has seen Cheap Trick double digit times so I'm always interested to see if I can still geek out over seeing them.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and no matter how tepid Aerosmith's creativity has become over the past 20 years it was hard not to have my Inner Classic Rock Teenager be awakened by seeing this bill on paper. Aerosmith with Cheap Trick is so 70's... but I didn't make any plans to attend. However, the Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and 24 hours prior to the show I found out that I'd be visiting Oracle Arena again on a Saturday night. The last time I saw Cheap Trick in this building was on the Dream Police Tour in 1979 (!):

[From the Umlaut Archives]

Reality check: In 1979 the ticket price was $9.50. In 2012 parking was $35. Crazy, right?

As I just said, the Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and one thing led to another and I found myself sitting in a front row reserved seat. WTF. As the houselights went down I stood at the rail for the first time in I can't remember how many years as some of my first Rock Star heroes walked onstage and jammed into 'Hello There' and went straight into 'Big Eyes' and then into 'California Man'. Holy shit! It seriously felt like 1979 all over again except I was in the front row this time! My head was in a haze watching Cheap Trick as half my brain was immersed in their performance and the other half was flashing back to the show almost 33 (!) years ago.

Cheap Trick are pretty much the only band that can erase every jaded thought out of my old man mind. When I see them I'm immediately that 16-year old dorky kid whose best friend was literally his record collection. My oldest best friends from Rockford, Illinois owned the stage in Oakland again for an hour and played all the hits you would want in an abbreviated Cheap Trick opening set. 'On Top Of The World'... 'Ain't That A Shame' (featuring Brad Whitford of Aerosmith joining them onstage)... 'I Know What I Want'.. and closing with the full tilt sprint of 'Dream Police' into 'Surrender' into 'Goodnight'. Yes, sadly Bun E. Carlos retired from touring a couple of years ago... but having Rick Nielsen's son Daxx on drums is working just fine and it's cool they kept it in the family. Also, this NEVER gets old:

[Photo courtesy of Cable Car]

The one difference seeing Cheap Trick in the support slot was that Rick was more subdued and didn't work the stage in overdrive like he normally does... and he didn't toss out as many guitar picks into the crowd either. Thankfully I managed to get one:


Me. Love. Cheap Trick. Long Time!

The last time I saw Aerosmith in this building was in 1984 (!) when these same band members attempted their first Reunion Tour; this was a couple of years before Run-DMC brought Aerosmith back from the dead. The show was filmed for MTV but it was never aired. Steven Tyler was fucked up and fell off the stage (TRUE!) and Joe Perry smashed apart his Stratocaster at the end of 'Sweet Emotion'. This venue on that Friday night in 1984 was also less than half full; here in 2012 on a Saturday night the same venue looked pretty much sold out.

[From the Umlaut Archives]

Reality check: In 1984 the ticket price was $13.50. In 2012 parking was $35. Crazy, right?

During the changeover after Cheap Trick there was the strong smell of incense coming off the stage; Aerosmith are such Millionaire Hippies now. I think 99% of the people reading this will agree that Aerosmith were better when they were younger and fucked up before they started writing songs geared specifically for film soundtracks. It's still hard to fathom that the same band who wrote 'Lick And A Promise' did that awful song from the movie Armageddon.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and I found myself on the rail preparing to see Aerosmith for the first time in 17 years (the last time I saw them was in 1995). The band's stage was the same style as AC/DC and Foo Fighters had used in this same venue in recent years: A long ego ramp from the main stage that ended at a smaller stage in the middle of the arena. I understand that bands claim to have this stage configuration in order to bring fans at the back into the show. However, Umlaut hates this modern day stage because it diffuses the energy of a Rock concert if some of the band members are on the main stage and the others are 100 yards away. Doesn't that make sense? If you're a BAND you should all be on the same stage at all times... but that's just me.

Aerosmith popped onstage (literally) at close to 9:15pm with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry suddenly appearing on the small stage to lead the rest of the band (aka the less popular original members) on the main stage into a surprisingly great version of the old classic 'Draw The Line'. For the next 2 hours I was both entranced and dubious about watching Aerosmith again. Of course, being in the front row directly in front of Joe Fuckin' Perry was awesome, but the fact that Tyler spent at least half of the set behind me on the smaller stage was annoying. Also, having Tyler perform away from the rest of the band so much gave Aerosmith 2012 a weird energy. It was sort of like a "That Judge from American Idol and The Rest of the Band" feeling. So, I spent most of my time taking advantage of where I was standing and watched Joe Perry at work. Despite everything else about Aerosmith 2012, Joe Fuckin' Perry is still a badass.

[Photo courtesy of Cable Car]

Perry performed like the old school Guitar God that he is, especially when he pulled moves like jamming the headstock of his guitar into the battered grill of one of his vintage Marshall cabinets to strangle more feedback out of them. Magic. Thankfully, Aerosmith included a satisfactory number of vintage songs in the setlist. 'Same Old Song And Dance' and 'Last Child' were good. 'Rats In The Cellar' was the best song of the night with Tyler joining the rest of the band on the main stage and leaning forward into his mic stand to sing like he did back in the old days. Aerosmith wrote such GREAT fucking songs back when they were fucked up, man. When they announced 'Combination' I raised my fists in the air, but it was a weird version with only Joe Perry front and center singing and Tyler basically offstage behind the backline and drums. SO FUCKING WEIRD! That was one of the songs The Toxic Twins would sing together in the same mic when they were onstage fucked up on coke or whatever back in The Glory Days of the 70's. Weird. Anyway, if I never hear 'Dream On' again I'd be happy.

If you bought one of every Cheap Trick merch item you would have paid $210. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. Aerosmith's "Day Pass" was basically All Access... as long as you stayed in hallways and didn't go into any rooms backstage. Ooookaaay. I've always been a much bigger Cheap Trick fan than an Aerosmith fan anyway.

Summer's Over

Green Day
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
September 4, 2010

According to the Umlaut Archives this was my 21st time seeing Green Day dating back to the first time I saw them at a warehouse art space in The Mission in 1992. I'm too old to worry about if it's "okay" to like Green Day or if they're "Metal" or not; I dig 'em. Also, since Skychick isn't into The Metal, Green Day are one of those bands that we have in common so we can actually attend a concert together once in awhile. Awwww.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and Umlaut saw the first warm up show of Green Day's current tour cycle last April at The Indepedent and tonight was the sold out final show of the band's U.S. Tour. I was still on a METAL high from my 48 Hours of Carnage earlier in the week so I thought I'd be a smartass and wear a SLAAAYEER hoodie to the show... but almost immediately upon entering Shoreline there was a kid wearing a Cannibal Corpse shirt. Nicely played, young man... nicely played. You are indeed more Metal than me.

The Local Heroes hit the stage right at 8:00pm and stayed onstage for a solid 3 HOURS... which was basically the same amount of time all 3 American Carnage bands were onstage combined. Say what you will, but Green Day gives their fans complete value for money at their shows.


Apologies to my photographer friends, but I thought it was cool that the band allowed kidz (I assume fan club members) to fill in the empty space in between the rail and the front row of reserved seats. It brought some sense of immediacy to the otherwise sterile Shoreline environment. However, the lack of space for the photographers made for them having, like, the worst night ever. Oh well, dudes. Sometimes the kidz rate higher than the zoom lens.

The setlist was basically the same one the band played on last year's arena tour, but with some old song audibles mid-set that weren't part of the printed setlist. Kudos to the band for pulling out 'Going Back To Pasalacqua'. As they've been known to do, Green Day also busted out some Classic Rock covers which included Guns 'N Roses, Led Zeppelin, and The Who this time. I cracked up because Jason on guitar at stage right did the trademark stage move from each band during each song: The Axl shimmy, Jimmy Page's duck walk where he held his Les Paul at his side, Pete Townshend's stomping around in a circle and then the windmill with his pick hand. Music Geeks shall inherit The Earth!

As he does at every show, Billie Joe pulled fans onstage at various times during the set, which is not something every band can pull off succesfully. Tonight's lucky fan who sang 'Longview' with the band was given the guitar Billie Joe was playing... and for those cynical people who think a stunt like that is fake, we met the young lady backstage after the show with her new guitar.


You can't fake starstuck happiness like the look on her face. No band takes care of their fans like Green Day.. seriously... and that's why Umlaut digs them so much. Adults and kidz leave a Green Day show with a smile on their face... and there's something to be said for that in this day and age. Umlaut may prefer Death Metal... but experiencing "joy" at a show gives me perspective to appreciate "the dark"... I guess. Oh, and guess what... Rob of Death Angel and former Death Angel guitarist Gus Pepa sat in the same row as us with their families. So, yeah, Umlaut wasn't the only Bay Area Metalhead in the house.

The End of The Tour after show was pretty tame; Slayer had Jaeger backstage and Green Day had pizza... but there were beerz. We hung for awhile with The Talent and Skychick saw Tre Cool break dance... and then we were back at Casa de Umlaut by 1:00am.

As always, THANKS to Tour Manager Doug for sorting my +1 into his All Access World. 'Til the next tour, my brother!

I didn't do a merch audit and actually didn't even think about doing one.. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. That's kinda all I have to say about this night... Not Metal but a completely F-U-N show... and now Summer 2010 is over.

Click HERE for Photo Ray's shots from the show.

Limelight

Rush
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
August 9, 2010

I've never been a big Rush fan, but I've always had their albums in my collection even if they've never been in heavy rotation for me. Before tonight, the only other time I'd seen Rush was in 1994 when I was a guest of the Melvins. The majority of the 17,000 Rush fans in the Cow Palace HATED the Melvins... and I mean REALLY HATED them! I've never been in an arena where the booing was so loud between songs; the Melvins played slower just to piss the crowd off more.

(From the Umlaut Archives)

Fast forward to 2010 and I recently watched the new Rush documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage and it made me a Rush fan. Seriously. The band's story is pretty epic and the band members are... TOTAL GEEKS. I had no idea that one of the most successful Rock bands ever were such dorks... Just like me! WOW. The Geeks shall inherit The Earth.


I didn't know I was going to the show until less than 24 hours before, but The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways. Long story short: I found myself in Sec 101, Row A, Seat 6; sometimes my job has its advantages.


The theme of the current tour is "Time Machine" and the stage design was all Steampunk with Neil's drum kit looking more like the inner workings of a Steampunk clock than a drum kit. The rest of the stage design was deceptively simple but once the show started it was one of the most magical Rock shows I've ever seen. Rush do not do anything half ass and while other bands who play huge venues like Shoreline go for over the top bombast, Rush's approach was subtle to the point of being sublime. The stage was so detailed I can't imagine more than a few hundred people out of the 20,000 in the house even noticed everything.

There was so much detail! Such as the little video screens in the orbs on the drum riser that showed different animated graphics depending on the song... A marker moved between Real Time > Half Time > Bass Time > Sausage Time on the Steampunk meat grinder behind Geddy; a roadie in costume came out several times during the set to put more "meat" in the grinder and sausages came out of the machine the entire set... and the meat grinder was even miked.. HAHA! A Steampunk style date counter came onscreen when they played an old song and would dial in the year of the song before they launched into it.. Time Machine Tour! Geddit? They also showed short animated film clips to introduce other songs which gave the concert a theater feel... and the band's strategic use of pyro and flames onstage was downright classy.

The show opened with a clever short film about a time machine featuring the members as various characters. It was actually hilarious and extremely well done... and it segued straight into the band almost casually coming onstage with 'Spirit Of The Radio' and for the next 2 1/2 hours it was full-on Rush World.

'Spirit Of The Radio'

As a Music Geek, there was so much to take in that it was overwhelming... The musicianship... The production. To be honest, I'm having a hard time remembering everything. The first part of evening was an 11-song set that included older songs, recent songs, and a new song that played into the time machine theme of the tour: past, present, future. Since I'm a casual Rush fan I can only claim to have known 4/11 of this set but it obviously hit a chord with the hardcore fans because a couple of longtime Rush Geeks told me it might have been the best hour of a set they'd ever seen the band play. Nice... I guess.. but I don't know 'cause I'm a poser.

After the 1st set there was a 30 minute intermission and the time machine year counter was shown on the video screen behind the stage. As the intermission ended the houselights went down, the counter clicked over to "1980", and the band returned to the stage to play the Moving Pictures album in its entirety. Right before the band came onstage another short film was shown that depicted a movie set with Geddy as an "English" filmmaker and Alex as a fat "German" filmmaker. As a trio of German Beer Maids walked past them carrying trays of beer, "German" Alex said "Look... Moving PITCHERS!" RUSH ARE SUCH DORKS!! I LOVE IT!

Best Quote: "Play that Mark Twain song!" - Umlaut Nation friend Junior.

Since I grew up on FM Rock Radio it was hard not to get caught up and enthralled as Rush delivered 4 of their most famous songs consecutively: 'Tom Sawyer' > 'Red Barchetta' > 'YYZ' > 'Limelight'. Dude, where's the bong!? My personal geek moment came as 'YYZ' ended and the opening riff of 'Limelight' lit up the night. I've always liked the opening riff and 'Limelight' is still the best song ever written about a "normal" person dealing with fame. Admittedly, the last 2-3 songs of Moving Pictures after 'Limelight' sound dated to me, so I spent a good bit of this time watching the crowd who were obviously way into it. I noticed a woman on the complete opposite side of the amphitheater who was jumping up and down and singing every lyric. Impressive... and despite the cliche that chicks don't dig Rush the crowd was pretty Milf-tastic. I'm just saying that maybe this particular cliche isn't true anymore.

Photo courtesy of Photo Ray

It should also go without saying, but the level of musicianship that Rush displays is almost beyond human comprehension sometimes. Even for a casual Rush fan like myself, the musicianship transcended the songs at times. Plus, they've played as a band since 1974 with no lineup changes; somehow I don't think bands like Avenged Sevenfold will be in a similar position or have as great of a musical legacy in 30 years... and if I'm wrong come and find me in 30 years.

Anyway... I can't stand drum solos, but the way Neil Peart shows off his stick skills was cool. His onstage kit is basically 2-3 different kits ringed around him on the riser; as I said earlier the drums looked more like the inner workings of a Steampunk clock than a musical instrument. As Peart's solo spot lifted off, the drums rotated so he could do different things: Rock... Tribal.. and some jam thing with sound triggers. I couldn't sit through it every day, but it was at least interesting. It was also impressive how the stage design included strategically placed cameras above, below, and on the drum kit to give all the Neil Peart Geeks a complete view of his show on the video screens. Dude, where's the bong!?

Right after the drum-gasm, Alex played a brief acoustic interlude that dovetailed into 'Closer To Heart'. NICE. However, that went into the '2112 Overture' > 'The Temples of Syrinx' Rush Geek-gasm and that's when I saw heads exploding in the crowd. Dude, where's the bong!?

One of the best parts of the night was noticing Robert Trujillo of Metallica totally geeking out in front of Geddy during the first encore 'La Villa Strangiato'. He was jumping up and down, pumping his fist in the air, taking pics with his cell phone. It was cute; even Rock Stars have heroes. The night closed with an extended version of 'Working Man' and that... was... it. Then it was exit stage left and Rush were gone as magically as they had appeared.

Exit Stage Left

After they left the stage, another short film was shown, this one featuring the actors Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. It was both a slap in the face and a homage to their über fans. It was hilarious... and heartwarming. WOW! Are Rush, like, the coolest band ever? Maybe. (Note: Umlaut Nation friend Micki informed me that Segel and Rudd reprised their characters from the movie I Love You, Man for this short film... I haven't seen it! Next stop: Netflix queue..).

If you bought one of every Rush merch item you would have paid around $675. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags... but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatters the illusion of integrity.... yeah.

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the evening.

Classic Rock

Umlaut Nation friend Bret sent over these action shots from this past week's Def Leppard / Poison / Cheap Trick shows:

Shoreline Amphitheatre
Mountain View, CA

A random fight down front being broken up during Cheap Trick's set:


The guy next to me (not pictured) was telling me in all seriousness how he was going to KILL the other guy if he came back, etc.. Can I please watch Cheap Trick's 40 minute set in peace????

Sleeptrain Amphitheatre
Marysville, CA

A bra from the previous show at the venue...


THANKS for the stellar photojournalism, Bret!

Umlaut did some research and the previous show in Marysville was... Nickelback. So there you go!

Send The Kidz To The Gallows

The exciting sequel to SPF 666!

Warped Tour
Shoreline Amphitheare, Mountain View, CA
August 20, 2009



For the 4th time this year I found myself in a parking lot watching bands, but thankfully this time it wasn't under blast furnace Summertime heat conditions. As it has in recent years, the Warped Tour visited The Bay Area twice: In June it blazed inside S.F. city limits and here in its final days it returned to the gravelly confines of Shoreline. There were a whopping 82 (eighty-two!) bands spread across 8 stages and 9 hours on the bill today.. Yes, it's Warped Tour, but that's ridiculous, man! Not to slam my friends at Vans (Hey Kurt!) but there's truth to the saying "Quality over Quantity".. I'm just saying... but more on that in a bit.

Fishbone: I hadn't seen Fishbone since 1993... and they seemed ageless onstage here in the 21st Century. I've never really liked anything Ska related, but watching Fishbone on a gorgeous Summer afternoon was the shit... especially as Angelo dove into the crowd several times.

D.O.A.: Joey Shithead & Co. were great, but when they started playing there weren't many people watching them.. which bummed me out. However, after a couple of songs the area filled up nicely to the point where security took notice and brought in reinforcements... and as the band launched into 'Police Brutality' a pair of ginormous security guys sandwiched me against the soundboard rail... "Police, police, police brutality.. that's reality!"

However, the best part of D.O.A.'s set were 2 older bald punkers who gave off a total old school hooligan vibe.. One of the dudes was wearing a Manchester soccer jersey and the other a white tee with a vintage pic of a young punk flipping off the camera. For awhile, the oldsters watched The Kidz try to get a pit going... Then, as if on cue, the shorter of the pair (the one in the Manchester jersey) suddenly launched himself into The Pit and commenced slamming old school style and mowed through the kids, sending a couple of them flying.. It was actually pretty funny and reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes karate lessons with children and beats the shit out of them.

Meanwhile, his buddy expertly directed The Pit old school style and pushed the passing slam dancing kids to keep them moving... Watching the pair of oldsters take command like that only magnified the feeling I had all day that kids today don't even know.. Then, as suddenly as it began, Manchester Jersey returned to standing next to his buddy as if nothing had happened. As he did this, his buddy took out his Blackberry to check a message... Meanwhile, The Kidz in The Pit were still recovering from their old school slamming and seemed to be saying "Gee, Mister.. why'd you have to be so rough?" The oldsters repeated this a couple of more times, and by the last time one of The Kidz had given up and stood at the rim of The Pit flipping his elders off. Hilarious.

The Adicts: They hit the stage in full Adicts regalia and if it had been any other band it might have looked silly, but the band's songs and presence made it great! The Adicts also had the most youngsters sporting Liberty Spikes watching their set, which included some of the best songs of the day. After they left the stage, the line at their merch tent was massive. "I don't wanna die for England!"

UK Subs: During their set Photo Ray and I were standing at the edge of The Pit and a little Punker Kid slam danced past us and shoved Ray.. His "aggression" was so cute that Ray and I looked at each other and laughed. As with the other Old School bands, UK Subs may have looked older onstage but they sounded great. Their songs served as a massive reality check about how a good song is timeless and how attitude can make age irrelevant. However, the most entertaining part of UK Subs' set was watching the crap new band on the stage next to them (The Architects) waiting for the old Punks to finish their allotted set, which ran over by several minutes. The look of impatience on their young faces was priceless. As the UK Subs finished and they started playing, I flipped the young band off with both hands before heading off to wander the merchandise tents. Respect has to be earned, kidz.

Unlike past Warped Tours, where the Old School Stage has left me feeling sad because the bands performed like old men, all of the "old" bands who I watched this year were GREAT! Also, the dichotomy of the Old School bands having good SONGS versus the awful crap of the new bands was stunning. When I wandered past The Main Stage, The Kidz broke my heart with the crap bands they were worshiping. I tried to watch All Time Low and was completely stunned by how awful they were (Jonas Bros. style Pop songs marketed as "Punk") and the screaming adulation they received from the huge crowd of mostly little girls was soul sucking.

The massive crowd of young sheep watching All Time Low..

Then, while Photo Ray and I took a break for a cold beer next to one of the concourse stages, we witnessed Medina Lake take the stage in front of maybe 80 kids and the singer spent several minutes giving directions to the crowd BEFORE they started to play and then said "Let's have a Punk Rock show!" which cued one of the most godawful crap songs I heard all day. I literally slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand and said "What... The... Fuck...".

Thank Dog for Gallows!!

Gallows: If you follow Gallows you know that the band has been very outspoken in their public disdain for most of the bands on this year's Warped Tour. It's beyond refreshing to hear a band being outspoken and stating their opinion, even if they are biting the hand that feeds them. As they took the stage the look of road weary bile on Frank's face was searing; he wore his anger and fatigue on his sleeve... so when the band detonated into the first song it was first authentic outburst of Punk outrage I saw all fucking day. When Frank spit out the the line "We hate you!! We hate this city!" during 'London Is The Reason' his bile was like a gob in the face of Mountain View. As they did at the Warped show in S.F., members of the band performed most of the set from The Pit (!) and Frank again got a pit going around the soundboard during 'Gold Dust':

(Vid by Umlaut)

Note the kid ON CRUTCHES who jumps in at the 0:18 second mark and then again at the 0:33 mark!! FUCKING AWESOME! Right after this moment, Frank stopped the song because he was annoyed by all of the photographers standing around the edge of The Pit. I thought he was going to tell them to fuck off or something, but instead he announced that when they started the song back up it would be a photographers only pit... and then he said "Get ready to run!!".. the song kicked back in... and around a dozen people (including Photo Ray), all carrying expensive camera gear, kicked up some dust. HILARIOUS!

Warped Tour at Shoreline was where Umlaut was first punched in the face by the Gallows live assault back in 2007... This was my 5th time seeing the lads and they are one of the greatest live bands I've ever seen.. seriously. It's extremely rare to witness a band who seizes a moment like the Gallows and who can turn a short 30 minute set into an epic experience. They're the type of band that makes me fanatical about Music again. "Bring me famine, bring me death! Bring me more pestilence!"

Dog Bless Gallows!!

Somehow I left the show with a Gallows hoodie and a shirt.. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. After the show, Photo Ray and I returned to S.F. for an After Show at Toronado for beers and a delicious sausage from next door at Rosamunde as the likes of Mastodon played on the bar's jukebox. Fucking perfect.