Black Magic Nights

Slayer / Suicidal Tendencies / Exodus
The Fox Theater, Oakland, California
November 11, 2014

Yeah, these shows were almost 2 weeks ago... but better late than never in the name of this "blog".  Anyway... This year is closing out with a tidal wave of great heavy shows here in The Bay Area (Melvins, Satan, King Diamond) but I have to admit I had been looking forward to this event most of all.  It's not often that a big Metal show rolls into town at a proper venue featuring a bill of this historic caliber... and when was the last time there were 2 sold out nights of Metal in a large indoor venue here... and it wasn't a lame 15 band bill in the local amphitheater and its parking lot.  Impressive.  I will also be honest and admit I got emo thinking about how it's been 30 years since the last time these same 3 bands shared a Bay Area stage at the legendary Day In The Dirt show back in August 1984:

[From the Umlaut Archives]

Of course, getting to the show on a Tuesday meant driving into the teeth of Bay Area rush hour traffic... and it sucked... but it didn't kill me so that's all that matters.  I should come clean and say that I used the commuter lane to get onto The Bay Bridge eventhough I didn't qualify to use it and risked a hefty fine... but I didn't get caught and it probably saved me 45 minutes getting over to the 510.  To quote the headliner:  "Blasting our way through the boundaries of Hell!"   Upon arriving I was pleasantly surprised that, despite it being the first night of the tour, there was zero Will Call drama.  If only all shows were this easy:

Since I arrived later than expected I quickly made my way downstairs to give my regards to the hometown heroes and old friends Exodus before they went onstage... and then watched from stage right as they hit the stage before moving out front.  For the newbies:  Although it might seem cool to watch a band from the side of the stage the sound sucks.  

Anyway, 6 songs was criminally too short of a hometown set for Exodus.  After opening with 2 songs off the new album the local boyz sprinted home with a solid punch of 'Blacklist' into 'Bonded By Blood' into 'Toxic Waltz' and closing with the old warhorse 'Strike Of The Beast'.   Exodus with Zetro back is great too. No more instructing a crowd to do a Wall Of Death but just letting the crowd action happen naturally.  As I said back in July, no disrespect to Dukes, but Zetro brings the East Bay vibe back to Exo that had been missing. The way he talks to a crowd, etc.. 

I guess I'm not a Suicidal For Life because I spent their set downstairs catching up with and chatting with old friends from near and far.   However, for the newbies: Backstage isn't as exciting as you might think.  Tom Araya used the dressing room blender and made a fruit smoothie while chatting.  Metal.

Back upstairs later:  Slayer pulled out an excellent setlist that was a cross section of their catalog but, since I'm having writer's block and still recovering from a flu thing, I think this photo courtesy of Umlaut's iPhone sums up the night accurately:

This dude standing in front of me took his shirt off because Slayer started playing 'Dead Skin Mask'.  SLAAAYEER!

As good as the show was performance wise I was a bit put off by how many hipster types were in the house... I mean the types who wear fashion correct denim vests with "the right" vintage looking band patches but who drunk dance to SLAAAYEER.  Anyway, who am I to judge... It was still a great show.  Then 24 hours later it was... 

Slayer / Suicidal Tendencies / Exodus
The Fox Theater, Oakland, California
November 12, 2014

Tonight I stepped up my game and arrived earlier and was able to watch some of Suicidal's soundcheck.  In the end, they were fucking with me subliminally.

War. Inside. My. Head.

After this I popped back outside to the civilization of downtown Oakland and met some friends for a pre-show dinner at the supernaturally convenient Rudy's Can't Fail.   The vibe at tonight's show was definitely cranked up a couple of notches from the previous evening as the crowd was more Metal, a little more liquored up, and a little more East Bay in general.  It was obvious that the bands picked up on this as well.  The set Exodus played, while again criminally brief, was one of my favorite sets by them in years.

Strike. Of. The. Beast.
[Photo courtesy of Photo Ray]

Again, I proved that I wasn't a Suicidal For Life as I managed to not watch their set.  Homies can bitch slap me and call me a poser the next time you see me, 'kay?  Suicidal still wanted a Pepsi but all this guy wanted was a beer... and I got one.. as well as good hang time with some old friends from near and far again.

Yes, Slayer played a different setlist tonight which was awesome. I took advantage and watched the set from different spots in the venue.

South. Of. Heaven.

Obviously, Slayer 2014 is different than the "classic" version but, as I've said before in this rant space, this lineup is so rooted in history it's profound. Both Gary and Bostaph are from the orig Bay Area Metal scene of the early 80's so the fact OG Bay Area and L.A. have joined together is profoundly full circle. More importantly this lineup has completely jelled and has a vibe that's better than you should hope for post Hanneman and Lombardo. Haters will always hate and complain because that seems to be what Metal fans do best now. Whatever.. The past is the past. Slayer 2014 is fucking great.

 Seasons. In. The. Abyss.

If you bought one of every Slayer merch item you would have paid around $500 I think.  On both nights on the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. All in all, a very great pair of nights in beautiful downtown Oakland amongst old friends and old bands.  Hope I die before I get old.

"Cursed... Black magic night.. We've been struck down.."

No Shoes No Service

Quicksand / Mastodon / High On Fire / Saviours / Hot Lunch
Slim's, San Francisco
June 26, 2013

 

Converse landed in San Francisco to host a series of 5 free shows over 5 nights at Slim's.  Each night showcased a different "sound" or "genre" as defined by the Marketing brains at Converse (and their parent company Nike) I assume.  Civilians had to enter an online lottery for tickets in the weeks leading up to the events; the shows were part of the marketing blitz for the opening of a new Converse store in this fair city.  You have to admit that Converse has balls to totally bite Vans style with this event especially since the latter has worked with some of the featured artists in the past.  In shoes there is no loyalty I guess.  Since the capacity for the shows was capped at 500 the demand to get in was probably pretty high.  The lesson that I learned was this:  Never delete an e-mail address even if it's 3 or 4 years old.  Long story short:  THANKS to that old business associate of mine at Converse for sorting me.  Also big kudos to the Slim's staff who got me inside after I was given incorrect instructions by a Converse rep after I left Will Call.  Anyway, tonight was the "Metal" night. 

I learned later that the guitarist in Hot Lunch was in the early-90's San Francisco band Mensclub.  Interesting.  I didn't recognize him and I only caught the last part of their set.  Mensclub ruled The Mission in the cheap free swinging pre-dotcom days of the early-90's.  Good times. Moving on...

Although 1/2 of Saviours no longer live in The Bay Area, it's always great to see the guys again.  I was glad to see Austin and bassist Carson keeping it real and removing their shirts prior to starting their brief set.  Given the corporate nature of the night the band was only allotted 20 minutes to do their damage and they did it up right.   Boom boom, riffs, solos, and Brent of Mastodon joined them onstage for a Ted Nugent cover. Pretty cool, right? Thankyougoodnight!

The Bay Area flavor of the night was continued next by High On Fire who steamrolled through a fantastic but short set.  'Frost Hammer' ruled the night and how heartwarming was it to be standing at the bar as most of the dudes around me shouted "FROST HAMMER!!" along with Matt?!  VERY!   Given the corporate nature of the night, the band's set was noticeably stopped short by the stage manager as they probably went over their allotted time.  Oh well... 31 minutes of HOF is better than a full set by a lot of other bands, man.  

According to the Umlaut Archives this was my 14th time seeing Mastodon over the years.... It was also the 4th time I've seen them at Slim's.  I have to admit that I was a little giddy about seeing them in a club again.  Seeing the band play their recent songs onstage stripped down without the A/V trappings of their current live show was almost an epiphany.  An 11 song, 45 minute set that was a nice cross section from their song arsenal with 'Dry Bone Valley' being my favorite of the night as I sipped a beer.  Solid.

Besides having 2 of the best local bands on the bill tonight, the local vibe was further exaggerated by the presence of quite a few friends, acquaintances, and band dudes from Death Angel and Acid King.  At one point 'Sucking My Love' by Diamond Head played over the PA in between bands. Nicely done, Converse DJ.

Anyway, the Quicksand reunion after over a decade of inactivity is a big thing to a lot of people; I shrugged my shoulders.  I did see Quicksand twice in 1992 including this show in downtown San Jose:

Nine dollars...

[From the Umlaut Archives]

Anyway, Quicksand were the obvious crowd favorite tonight and a couple of guys seriously lost it when they started playing.  I shrugged my shoulders.  Quicksand sound so dated and I was taken aback by how much they sounded like Jane's Addiction here in the 21st Century.  Oh the 90's...  I bailed early and stopped at Taqueria Cancun to grab a post Rock Show burrito.

Number of Bolt Thrower and Mercyful Fate shirts = 3 and 2 respectively.   There was no band merch for sale but Converse gave out a free event tee.  On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag.   Then 24 hours later it was:

Suicidal Tendencies / Rocket From The Crypt / The Bronx / Ceremony
Slim's, San Francisco
June 27, 2013

Tonight was the "Punk" night.  Prior to the show I met up with Sensory Abuse and Photo Ray at the awesome Cathead's BBQ for food and libations.  Umlaut says visit Cathead's prior to seeing a show at Slim's next time.  Best good number one!   With the Supreme Court's ruling on Prop 8 earlier in the day and Gay Pride weekend approaching the mood on the streets of San Francisco felt downright giddy tonight.

I didn't know anything about Ceremony but evidently they've played Gilman St. in the past... so I guess the obvious question is will they be allowed to play Gilman again now that they've played a Corporate gig?  Oh the politics..  Discuss amongst yourselves.
.
The Bronx RULE.  That is all.  My favorite band from these 2 shows.  That's all I'm gonna say.  Go see them the next time they come through your town... they'll help you party down.

Vid courtesy of Umlaut's iPhone

As I waited to see Rocket From the Crypt for the first time in 17 years, 'Warrior' by Thin Lizzy played over the PA.  Nicely done, Converse DJ.  It was obvious that the RFTC reunion was a very big deal as the crowd was jammed down front and going nutters with the band from the first note.  The band's infectious San Diego horn infused guitar punk-a-billy was still F-U-N after all these years and they played all the hits.  John is still a charismatic goofball front man and the rest of the band was tight;  I'm sure it helped that drummer Mario has been keeping sharp by playing with OFF!.  A pretty great set and I'm glad I saw RFTC again since they're only playing a few select shows worldwide and it's unclear how long this reunion will last.

The crowd noticeably thinned out during the changeover for Suicidal which I guess shouldn't have been surprising.  Kidz these days probably think they'll get shivved at a Suicidal show like it was 1986.  Mike Muir and his current band took over the stage and surprisingly played 'Institutionalized' only 3 songs into the set.  It was obvious that this was the only Suicidal song the majority of the crowd knew.  Less than 3 songs later literally 1/4 of the crowd left as Mike and the boys played a good version of 'War Inside My Head'.  Maybe all of those people had to meet their parents out front for a ride home or something.  Oh well...  Punks not dead... Just bored I guess.

All in all it was a F-U-N pair of nights as guests of Converse and their parent company Nike.   The shows were well organized and they were FREE so there really is nothing for me to complain about without sounding like a dick. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag.  For the record, Umlaut doesn't wear Chuck Taylors any longer because I need arch support.  Hope I die before I get old.

This Week In Music Geek

Earlier this week in Umlaut's mailbox: The 25th Anniversary reissue of Suicidal Tendencies' debut album on Limited Edition 140 gram colored vinyl (natch) and CD with "expanded booklet" (natch)..


Umlaut remembers buying the original vinyl album with Big Wayne around when it came out.. I think at a Punk record store in Saratoga... I think (Wayne?). Are 25th Anniversary reissues Punk? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Berkeley 1984:

Slayer, Exodus, Suicidal, Tour Manager Doug..