The Year Of The Rabbit

Vintage Old Metal Decal

To quote Metallica: "Welcome to where time stands still..."

Long story short: 2011 was a surreal and amazingly great year for Umlaut. A profoundly huge amount of events and things came full circle in my life this year... most of which can basically be traced to the release of Murder In The Front Row. The book was meant to be a yearbook and tribute to the original Metal days in The Bay Area... and I think it accomplishes that... but enough shameless self-promotion. Ironically (or maybe not) Umlaut's sign in the Chinese Horoscope is The Rabbit and 2011 was The Year Of The Rabbit. Maybe there is something to the superstitious mumbo jumbo of my Yellow ancestors after all.

I've said this many times in the past, 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 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 2011 scorecard:

1. 01/08/11 - Melvins - Great American Music Hall
2. 01/15/11 - Neurosis / Yob / US Christmas - Great American Music Hall
3. 01/16/11 - Neurosis / Saviours / US Christmas - Great American Music Hall
4. 02/02/11 - Motörhead / Clutch - The Warfield
5. 02/04/11 - Social Distortion - The Warfield
6. 02/21/11 - Prince - Oakland Coliseum
7. 02/24/11 - Prince - Oakland Coliseum
8. 03/01/11 - Motörhead / Clutch - House Of Blues [Boston]
9. 03/20/11 - Acid King / Carlton Melton - Bottom Of The Hill
10. 04/03/11 - Helmet / Saint Vitus / Crowbar / Kylesa / Red Fang - Mezzanine
11. 04/08/11 - Volbeat / The Damned Things - The Fillmore
12. 04/09/11 - Jeff Beck & the Imelda May Band - The Fillmore
13. 04/14/11 - PJ Harvey - The Warfield
14. 04/23/11 - Metallica / Slayer / Megadeth / Anthrax - Empire Polo Club [Indio]
15. 04/28/11 - Accept - The Regency
16. 05/18/11 - Rammstein / Combichrist - Oakland Coliseum
17. 05/28/11 - Tony Bennett - Davies Symphony Hall
18. 06/03/11 - Orchid - Club Cocomo [San Francisco]
19. 06/07/11 - Orange Goblin / The Gates Of Slumber - Bottom Of The Hill
20. 07/10/11 - Megadeth / Machine Head / Testament / Suicide Silence - Shoreline Amphitheatre
21. 07/22/11 - Soundgarden / The Mars Volta - Bill Graham Civic
22. 07/25/11 - Fucked Up / Trash Talk - The Independent
23. 07/29/11 - Black Dahlia Murder / White Chapel - The Fillmore
24. 08/07/11 - Slayer / Rob Zombie / Exodus - WaMu Theater [Seattle]
25. 08/12/11 - Eyehategod / Impaler / Brainoil / Laudanum / The Burial Tide - The Metro [Oakland]
26. 08/17/11 - Diamond Head / Evildead / Slough Feg - Elbo Room
27. 08/27/11 - High On Fire / Black Cobra / Embers - Uptown
28. 08/31/11 - Metallica - Moscone Center
29. 09/16/11 - Rorschach / Brainoil / Needles - 924 Gilman
30. 09/29/11 - Saviours / Bison B.C. - The Independent
31. 10/03/11 - Warbringer / Lazarus A.D. / Landmine Marathon - The Key Club [Hollywood]
32. 10/09/11 - Orchid - Thee Parkside
33. 10/19/11 - Foo Fighters / Cage The Elephant - Oakland Coliseum
34. 10/23/11 - Anthrax / Testament / Death Angel - The Warfield
35. 10/27/11 - Judas Priest - Concord Pavilion
36. 11/03/11 - Mastodon / Dillinger Escape Plan / Red Fang - The Warfield
37. 11/07/11 - Warbringer / Landmine Marathon - Thee Parkside
38. 11/19/11 - Kyuss / Black Cobra / Papa Wheelie - The Regency
39. 12/05/11 - Metallica / Apocalyptica - The Fillmore
40. 12/06/11 - Iggy & the Stooges - The Warfield
41. 12/07/11 - Metallica / Armored Saint - The Fillmore
42. 12/09/11 - Metallica - The Fillmore
43. 12/10/11 - Metallica / Death Angel - The Fillmore
44. 12/16/11 - D.R.I. - Slim's

The last part of this year has been a blur and, for the first time in the 7+ year history of this blog, I blew off ranting about some amazing shows. To be honest, I hit a wall with writing and ranting... but I'll do my best to salvage something right here, right now.

2011 Shows: I'd say my favorites were (in no specific order)...

The year started off with two of my all-time favorite bands, the Melvins and Neurosis, obliterating San Francisco with sets that transcended being merely "concerts". In a year where I was submerged in my past a good amount of the time, looking back at these shows reminds me where I went after the Old Metal Days and where I ended up. In a perfect world these shows would have come at the end of the year instead of at the very beginning.

I caught Motörhead at two stops on their never-ending tour in Boston and San Francisco; my 14th and 15th Motörhead shows for those keeping score. It's still a charge for me to see Lemmy, Phil, and Mikkey onstage.. but this was my highlight from these shows in Boston:

'Sweet Emotion' meets 'Ace Of Spades'
(Pic by ümlaut)

Rammstein was the greatest spectacle I saw all year and it was made even more amazing because I was in Frankfurt, Germany the day before the show... and Prince was hands down the most talented musician I saw this year. The man has more musical talent in his little finger than all Death Metal musicians combined. There... I said it.

I witnessed sets by my friends Acid King, Black Cobra, and Landmine Marathon that were among the best that I've seen them play. In a year where I revisited the old days with bands from my past, it was so awesome to stay connected with newer bands who I'm friends with NOW. The past isn't that bad, but I've found myself feeling weird about mentally spending so much time there. Meanwhile back in the 21st Century...

I saw Metallica 6x this year; the last time I saw them that many times in 365 days was back in 1983. This included the band's 4-night, 30th Anniversary celebration at The Fillmore here in San Francisco on December 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th. These shows were completely overwhelming to me. The band treated this event in the same way they had 2 years ago for their Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame induction... They sought out and invited as many original fans as possible... which made the shows feel like the high school reunions I've never attended.

Unfortunately WAY too much happened at these shows for me to attempt to relate here, but you can get all of the details about the amazing guest appearances on the Internets. What made the shows overwhelming to me was not just what happened onstage. The most epic aspect of the week was that SO MANY old friends from near and far were at The Fillmore; I saw friends in double digits every night... I reconnected with old friends... was able to hang out with local friends... and I even met friends from back in The Day who I'd never met face-to-face before. AMAZING. These shows went a long way to wash the bile from my mind that was created by the bizarre corporate gig that I saw Metallica play back on August 31st.

I will say that the absolute musical highlight was MERCYFUL FATE reuniting onstage for the first time in 18 YEARS!! HOLY. FUCK. I knew that it was happening in advance... but when King Diamond, Hank Shermann, Michael Denner, and Timi Hansen walked onstage I lost it. At that exact moment a kid wearing a denim vest covered with band patches pushed past me and I instinctively followed him all the way to the front. As Metalli-Fate launched into the 'Mercyful Fate' medley everyone down front was singing along, including me, and it felt like 1984 all over again! "Howl like a wolf... and a witch will open the door!" Dude, I almost started crying. Seriously. Fate were a VERY special band for alot of us back in the original Murder In The Front Row Metal days... and to see them again left me speechless... literally... because I ended up losing my voice over the next couple of days due to the late nights combined with a long term cold / cough that I was battling. The Fate reunion was made even more profound because The Fillmore is practically across the street from where the Kabuki Theater used to be. In 1984 Fate played their first San Francisco show there and before the encore that night King summoned Metallica to the stage; Lars, James, and Cliff climbed out of the crowd to air guitar. Full circle, man. Full circle.

FATE!

(Pic by ümlaut)

Anyway, my brain is starting to get overwhelmed again so I'm not going to rant here much longer... but I do need to add that SLAYER were the most METAL band I saw this year; the more things change the more they stay the same. Their performances at The Big 4 show in Indio and later in Seattle with Gary Holt standing in for Hannemann were pure magic. The fact that Gary has been playing with Slayer after all these years is so Murder In The Front Row full circle it's mindblowing... There is so much history there; when Kerry King joined Exodus onstage in Seattle for 'Strike Of The Beast' it basically symbolized everything that's been going on for me this year. SLAAAYEER!! Also, it was appropriate that the final show I saw this year was a sold out D.R.I. show on December 16th with my co-author Harald O. tearing it up on his home stage the week that our book came out. Special.

Harald onstage in San Francisco
(Pic by ümlaut)

However, The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and my year did end in the same Umlaut Real World vein that it began. Iggy & the Stooges played a show in the middle of the Metallica - Fillmore run on December 6th and it could not have been more perfect for me. From my arrival at The Warfield's entrance to my Lower Loge seat I ran into a roommate from 20 years ago... 6 or 7 friends... a reporter who interviewed me about Murder In The Front Row... a stranger who recognized me because she reads my blog... and my boss who I thought was still on a plane flying back from London... and then Iggy & the Stooges destroyed San Francisco.

The latest incarnation of the Stooges detonated onstage with ‘Raw Power’ that went straight into ‘Search And Destroy’ and the energy was unrelenting for the next 80 minutes. Iggy is 64 years old (young) but he was in the crowd at least 7x during the set. By comparison, Marianne Faithfull is also 64 years old but she didn't even attempt to dive into the crowd during her guest appearance with Metallica at The Fillmore. Just saying..

Witnessing Iggy’s surreal and timeless energy in person has always made me think that anything is possible. As unbelievably special as the Metallica shows were, the energy level was nowhere close to being as raw and primal as what the Stooges created both onstage and in the crowd. As the Stooges raced through 'Search And Destroy' it was as if they were channeling all of the angst and anger ever experienced by every person in the room. As Metallica started 'Seek And Destroy' as the final song each night at The Fillmore it signaled a balloon drop. It was disappointing that the most violent crowd action at all the Metallica - Fillmore shows happened during the balloon drop as greedy fans fought each other for the commemorative coins that were in the balloons. 'Seek And Destroy' made me want to fuck shit up back in the Murder In The Front Row days; now it's the balloon and beach ball drop song at Metallica concerts. Sad... but true.

THE STOOGES!
(Pic by ümlaut)

Just as the Melvins and Neurosis had reminded me of my post-Old Metal self at the beginning of the year, seeing Iggy again did the same thing for me at the end of this crazy year. "I'm the world's forgotten boy... The one who searches and destroys.." On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Upon returning to Casa de Umlaut after the Stooges show I made toast.

2011 Reality Check Moment:

• Goodnight Dixie
  

Anyway, this has been my quick 'n dirty review of 2011... THANKS for all the support, readers and friends. 2012 will mark the 8th Anniversary of this space... so let's see what happens next. I'll see you on the other side.

Iggy Says Goodbye

In case you haven't seen it, here's the obituary that Iggy Pop wrote for Rolling Stone about his childhood friend Ron Asheton.


"What else could he do? Join the Monkees?"

Search And Destroy

THANKS to Umlaut friend Loren for sharing this trivia with Umlaut:

For the newbies: James Williamson joined The Stooges on guitar in 1973 (when Ron Asheton moved to bass) and it was Williamson who played all of the guitar parts on the Raw Power album, which just might be the greatest album ever recorded IMO.. depending on which day you ask me.

Iggy and Williamson - 1973

After the demise of the Stooges, Williamson also worked with Iggy on several other projects... including the classic Kill City album.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and Mr. Williamson is now a highly respected Silicon Valley executive! The man behind the epic and slutty guitar riffs of songs like 'Search And Destroy', 'Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell', and 'Raw Power' is now a Captain of Industry... Umlaut LOVES that!! Mr. Williamson is proof that you can lead a prosperous and fulfilling life after Rock 'N Roll debauchery..

Click HERE for Mr. Williamson's professional bio. Yes, this post is 100% true.

"Look out honey 'cause we're using technology.. Ain't got time to make no apologies!"

Real Cool Time

Umlaut friend Dan is hosting a tribute to his late, dear friend Ron Asheton tomorrow (Saturday - January 24th) from 3:00PM to 7:00PM PST on KFJC 89.7..

Dan will be playing several interviews that he did with Ron on WCBN (Ann Arbor) dating back to 1978, as well as playing lots of his music.

If you're outside of the Bay Area, you can listen to KFJC online HERE.

R.I.P. Ron Asheton

REST IN PEACE RON ASHETON

Holy shit... Fuck... FUCK. To be honest I can't properly articulate anything about this. Asheton was one of my Rock Heroes... Guitar God... The heart of one of my all-time favorite bands..

FUCK.

Iggy's Statement.

Heroes - Part One

The Stooges
The Warfield, S.F.
April 21, 2007

"I took a ride with the pretty music..."

(Pic by Timo)

Of all my Music Geek heroes, I have to say Iggy and the Stooges are ones I'm beholden to the most; I've been waiting 4 years for the Stooges reunion to finally make it to NorCal. Fuck The Police reunion; STOOGES!! This was the second of two sold out S.F. shows and, in a cool bit of scheduling, it fell on Iggy's 60th Birthday! How cool is that!?

True story: In 1997 when Raw Power was reissued I went to a local Tower Records to buy it. As the very young goth punk girlie cashier picked up the CD to scan it, she stopped to stare at the cover and asked me "Who's THAT!??"... Love, exciting and new.

Hopefully, in the 10 years since then, that goth punk girlie cashier did her homework and knew that tonight's version of the Stooges wasn't performing any Raw Power songs. If she'd completed her studies, she'd also know that Funhouse is their best album anyway. One can only hope she's managing a Hot Topic store now.

"I stick it deep inside, 'cause I'm loose...

Holy shit.. You've got to be kidding me: 'Loose' > 'Down On The Street' > 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' to OPEN the set!!? FEROCIOUS... and Iggy was in the crowd for the first of many times during 'Dog'. How he manages to deliver like that every night is one of the mysteries of The Universe. What does Iggy take to come down after a show? A double espresso?? Also, does Iggy buy his jeans off the rack?

Happy Birthday! (Reuters photo)

I've seen Iggy solo many times over the years, but the Stooges songs are profoundly more molten with Ron Asheton and his Marshall stacks driving them. Admittedly, the set was top heavy with most of "the hits" coming early, but the new songs were great in the "live performance" setting.. Scott Asheton and Mike Watt were steel reinforced concrete with a titanium outer shell wrapped in razor wire, man.. and sax player Steve Mackay pushed the boogie factor into overload.

I'm not kidding: During 'T.V. Eye' I had the urge to dive off the balcony; I was *that* caught up in the moment. Thankfully, I didn't have any voices in my head telling me that a leap from the railing would be cool. However, I must say I got teary-eyed during 'Real Cool Time' > 'No Fun' when Iggy did his usual invitation for fans to invade the stage and 50 or so punters obliged him, including Jello Biafra and Umlaut's Old Metal friend Mike Poser. My favorite gig moment this year: Iggy singing at the front of the stage flanked by Mike dancing up his shake appeal on one side and Jello attempting to dance on the other side. Priceless.

(Pic by Mike Poser)

Sidebar: I guess it was kinda "punk rock historic" to have Jello and Iggy onstage next to each other like that.. Maybe? Discuss amongst yourselves.

In celebration of Iggy's 60th (SIXTIETH!) Birthday: A fan threw a shirt onstage that said "Birthday Boy Iggy" in the Stooges logo font; Iggy looked genuinely surprised and touched. As the band came back for the encores they ad libbed 'Happy Birthday'; Iggy looked genuinely surprised and touched... after which they launched into '1969' that triggered a huge balloon drop from above the stage; Iggy looked genuinely surprised and touched. The sight of Iggy gleefully careening around the stage amidst the black and white balloons (the black ones had his image on them!) was beautiful... simply beautiful. Fuck Mick Jagger; IGGY!!

This was one of those shows where the Umlaut Nation was out in full force, so a shout out to The Sheriff, Capt. Fireball, Timo, Teri, Joey, Chris, Dan, Vicki, Loren, Mike, Erik, and Lisa. I left the house at 8:15PM and was back in my kitchen eating leftover sushi from dinner at 11:14PM.

As a nod to Iggy's birthday, and also to quality Rock merch, I wore my vintage Brockum-tagged 1988 Iggy tour shirt from the Umlaut Archives. If you bought one of every Stooges merch item you would have paid $281. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. After the month I just had, I couldn't think of a more appropriate show to see at this moment in my life... unless it was Black Sabbath with Dio on vocals.. and what are the odds THAT would be happening at this same moment in history too??

To be continued.....