Back in the 20th Century, ümlaut was a xeroxed fanzine that existed from 1992-95. Despite limited distribution, loyal readers ranged from coast to coast and included Rock Stars of various credibility, including Neurosis, Sonic Youth, Melvins, and Metallica. This 21st Century version of ümlaut has been ranting since 2004 and is also the co-author of the book Murder In The Front Row.
The Sword are one of those bands who I've followed from almost Day One but over the years I've taken for granted. I still buy their music but have tended to skip shows every once in awhile. Long time Music Geeks know what I mean: Sometimes you just forget how much you like a band. Out of sight and out of mind.
The opening bands were solid for the night. I'd seen American Sharks somewhere before (although I couldn't remember where..) and their front man's chatty nature combined with their competent Rock groove was an entertaining start. The only reason that Castle was on my radar is because Death Angel's drummer Will is touring with them... but I then learned that Umlaut's old friend Billy Anderson also produced their latest album. Interesting. Not bad, but I got the sense that most of the crowd were focused on Elizabeth the bass player and not the songs at first... but by the last note the songs seemed to have won over the crowd. I hope they had a long line at their merch table after the show.
According to the Umlaut Archives this was the 8th time I've seen The Sword dating back to their first tour in 2006. The fact they were holding court at Slim's for 2 nights was impressive and what they pulled off tonight made me a Sword fan all over again. Prior to their set Jason Black Cobra introduced me to the Texans and they mentioned how they were going to "wing it" and play their debut album Age Of Winters front to back tonight. DOH! Because they were playing 2 nights in San Francisco they didn't want to play the same set twice.
The Sword's glamorous backstage spread
As the band started into 'Celestial Crown' the crowd warmed up... Then came 'Barael's Blade' with it's semi-iconic chorus that got the crowd lit up more.. THEN came 'Freya' and the crowd realized exactly what was happening and the energy level went through the roof. Pretty damn cool. I liked how The Sword didn't say a word to the audience the entire time and didn't pander to the fact they were playing a special set. They simply let the music do the talking and understood their fans would *get it*. Kinda epic.
It was only after all 9 songs from Age Of Winters were unleashed on San Francisco that John finally spoke to the crowd with a "Thank you".. Then The Sword returned for a 5 song encore that included 2 songs that I'm pretty sure are only on singles... followed by 3 selections from their most recent albums. Special setlist, man.
I couldn't help but flash back to the first time I saw The Sword on their first tour in 2006. They looked and acted inexperienced onstage (which they were..)... but fast forward 7 years and they're now all growed up and a well-oiled Rock Machine. The fact they effortlessly and flawlessly pulled out their debut album tonight is a testament to how far they've come. Pretty cool.. However, they're still those nerdy D&D guys at heart as witnessed by their intro tapebeing from theDune movie soundtrack. The Geeks shall inherit The Earth.
If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid around $180. Oddly, while The Sword hot sauce was for sale, they only had the picture disc of their latest album for sale and not the CD or regular vinyl. Oh well... On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. Anyway, it's now a Saturday afternoon and I have a total craving for an egg salad sandwich for some reason.. How do you boil eggs again?
The Sword are one of those bands that is polarizing: people seem to either like them or hate them for some reason. I'm too old to worry about peer pressure and I've always liked The Sword. It's been interesting watching them since their first visit to S.F. in 2006 when they were awkward and seriously lacked confidence onstage. I admired what Road Dogs the band were on that first tour when they came through S.F. 6 times; not many new bands work that hard these days! Fast forward 4 years and the kidz from Austin have supported Motörhead and toured the world with Metallica... but it had been almost 2 years to the day since I last saw The Sword live.
Prior to the show Photo Ray and I participated in the time honored pre-show tradition of meeting friends and dining at legendary Tommy's Joynt. For the newbies: Tommy's has been around since 1947 and it's where Jason Newsted was asked to join Metallica so he could become a millionaire by being the band's punching bag. To be honest, eating at Tommy's can make your stomach feel like a punching bag... but it's Old School San Francisco. After the meal we few, we happy few, made our way down Van Ness to The Regency.
I knew absolutely nothing (zero... nada) about Karma To Burn. The first thing I couldn't help noticing about them was that the singer looked like he was 7 feet tall... Literally. The dude seemed taller than his Marshall stack and with a Les Paul strapped on he looked like Treebeard fronting the band. Karma To Burn were GOOD in a solid slow burn Stoner / Classic Rock way... Equal parts boogie and riffs.. Actually Karma To Burn were really good; it's not often that Umlaut is impressed enough to buy a support band's CD after their set, but I did this time. It turns out the band is originally from West Virginia (!) and has been around for almost 15 years (!)... AND the band's giant frontman is the son of DAVE DAVIES of THE KINKS (!)... AND they've worked and recorded with John Garcia of Kyuss... and the band is basically the lineup of Year Long Disaster as well. Well, call me a poser, 'cause I didn't know all of that... but better late than never.
Uhhh, I don't know how to tell Karma To Burn's bassist... but that's a girl's Motörhead shirt he's wearing. I'm not kidding... Umlaut recognizes that design from Lemmy's 2008 merch line... Not that there's anything wrong with that!
A Texas flag covered The Sword's drum kit during the opening sets, which was a nice geeky homage to the band's homeland. I like how instead of "growing up" past their original Dungeons & Dragon song themes, The Sword cranked their Nerd wattage up with the new album and drove off the Geek cliff by doing a Sci-Fi themed concept album! The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth..
Texas is the reason: The Sword onstage at The Regency (Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)
The lads from Texas opened up with the Sci-Fi geek double shot of new songs 'The Orb' > 'Trej Brujas' before surprising me by playing their signature song 'Freya' next... which went into 'How Heavy This Axe'. Nicely done... The one down side to The Sword for me is John's vocals, which have always been monotone at best... and tonight it was also the fan at stage right that kept blowing Kyle's long blonde hair. However, despite all of that, this was the best performance I've seen the band lay down to date. In contrast to how unseasoned they were on their first tour 4 years ago, the band is now a no-nonsense seasoned Lock 'N Loll Machine onstage. I know alot of Stoner Rock traditionalists hate The Sword, but to me the band is more Classic Rock / Metal than anything else and tonight their first encore was their take on Thin Lizzy's 'Cold Sweat', which only supported my opinion of them. As their 70 minute set galloped to a close I thought how it was a good difference seeing The Sword on a big stage instead of in a club; their big sound translates very well to a big room. Is everything really bigger in Texas?
All in all it was an easy, fun night and the local vibe was in full effect with members of Machine Head, Saviours, and Black Cobra in the house. Not to be a smug Bay Area mofo, but most other cities can't have a Rock Star roll call of that quality just hanging out in the bar at a gig. Just saying...
If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid around $220. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. There was some good SFPD action just off the intersection of Golden Gate and Larkin; an SUV had flipped upside down and lay in the middle of Larkin like a shot elephant. Obviously somebody's Saturday night wasn't as good as mine had been... Bummer.
When I was a teenager in the late-70's / early-80's Journey represented S.F. Bay Area Rock to the rest of the world; they were massively popular, headlined stadiums, and sold out arenas from coast to coast. Chicks dug the shit out of their ballad 'Lights' and some guys didn't mind them because Neal Schon was a pretty good guitarist. According to the RIAA, Journey has sold over 75 million albums worldwide. Also, Journey had a video game based on their exploits and in 2008 they had a Filipino guy singing.
Fast forward to the waning days of 2008 and Metallica represents S.F. Bay Area Rock to the rest of the world; they are massively popular, headline stadiums, and sell out arenas from coast to coast. Chicks dig the shit out of their ballad 'Nothing Else Matters' and some guys don't mind them because James Hetfield is a pretty good frontman. According to the RIAA, Metallica has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Also, Metallica will soon have a video game based on their exploits and their guitarist is half Filipino.
Am I saying Metallica and Journey have eerie similarities? Maybe..but who wouldn't want to see a knife fight between each band's departed members?? Jason Newsted vs. Gregg Rollie?! Cliff Burton vs. Steve Perry!? GAME ON, I say.. Discuss amongst yourselves.
What? Oh yeah...
For the record, Umlaut hated the new Metallica album 'Death Magnetic' when it came out... Hated it... Dismissed it. I still wasn't sold on the album even after attending the band's tour rehearsal in October. So what happened? To be honest, I don't really know.. other than one day within the past month I realized I was listening to 'Death Magnetic' all the time.. Weird.. but it's definitely riff-tastic.
Prior to the show, Timo and I fueled up at The Irish Bank where the waiter recognized us and said "Do you guys even need menus?"... and we didn't 'cause we order the same thing every time.. Metal. Our evening remained surgically precise as Will Call was absolutely painless; THANKS to Paschke and Wiig for sorting my +1.
We missed The Sword, but saw most of Lamb Of God's set. Umlaut likes LOG quite a bit, but it was weird seeing them playing on Metallica's in-the-round stage. The best part of their set was watching a young fan who was against the rail singing along to every song, even when a LOG member wasn't in front of her.. Metal... That kid is gonna be alright.
Seeing Metallica in front of a sold out hometown crowd is still just as cool as it was back in The Day; the overwhelming "local boys make good" vibe in the crowd is a rare thing. Straight up, I thought this was the best performance I've seen the band give since the 1991-92 Tour... On recent tours the band has seemed robotic and going through the motions onstage more often than not IMO. Tonight the band was loose and having a good time on their home stage, especially James. To paraphrase Journey: Don't stop believing... in The METAL. The setlist for those who care:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Creeping Death
For Whom The Bell Tolls
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Last Caress
Whiplash
Seek and Destroy
Fave Moments: Saxon's 'Heavy Metal Thunder' blasting out of the PA leading into the houselights going off and the band's 'Ecstasy Of Gold' intro tape... The pummeling 'Creeping Death' > 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' > 'One' triumvirate of Metal... and then later 'Master Of Puppets' > 'Blackened'... Wow.
Also, the new songs were riff-tastic live, which was nice compared to recent tours when the new songs made me want to count the number of Slayer shirts in the crowd. OH! But the #1 Metal Geek moment was caused when Kirk played the beginning of 'Sails Of Charon' in his brief solo spot! You could hear the Old Metal types in the house screaming like little school girls... seriously.
It's pretty fashionable amongst my generation of fans to nitpick what Metallica does these days and, granted, they've done some lame things over the last 12 years (waging war on Napster, etc..)... but here in the 21st Century they seem to be trying to atone for those past transgressions... and I'd MUCH rather see Metallica selling millions of albums than any of the crap that the record industry is spewing out these days.
That being said, this was the 34th time I've seen Metallica since 1982 (Yes.. 34 times.. Umlaut is old..) and I realized just how jaded I can be about this band: During a blazing version of 'Master Of Puppets', with thousands of people going bonkers around me, my mind totally wandered and I noticed a guy on the complete opposite side of the arena who was wearing a Motörhead - England shirt; I felt like trying to get his attention and point out the Motörhead hoodie I was wearing. DUDE! HEY DUDE!! OVER HERE!
What? Oh yeah....
During the final encore ('Seek And Destroy'), and with the houselights on, the band dropped dozens of black balloons from the ceiling emblazoned with the Metallica logo. Evidently they are doing this at every show and, I'm sorry, but a balloon drop is more HIPPIE than METAL. They should at least have metal spikes on each balloon to make it more exciting. Oh well... Although the balloons became a mere footnote to the evening after the band and crew celebrated Lars' birthday early by assaulting him with shaving cream pies and silly string as the song ended. Funny.. Really funny, actually. You don't see Millionaire Rock Stars being humiliated in public very often.
After the encores, Paschke waved his Magic Laminate and Timo and I found ourselves at the after show "party".
Paschke waves his Magic Laminate
Long story short: Free food, open bar... 300 guests jammed into the arena's club.. 3/4 of the band showed up to get mobbed by most of the 300 guests.. Umlaut chatted with The Lead Guitarist for a tiny bit and interacted with The Bass Player for a wee bit.. To be honest, the high point of the "party" was being introduced to the band's private chef who had made all the excellent food. Metal.
I didn't do a merch audit for political reasons, but Rock Star sightings = Ted of Death Angel, Chris Isaak, and Mike Dirnt of Green Day. On the way back to the car, some pimply-face teenagers called us fags. Sorry, but I have to close with one more Journey vs. Metallica comparison: Each bands depiction of "The Road" in song and video:
Both videos show each band aboard their private Rock Star planes, but I think Journey wins because of the insanely dramatic scene where Steve Perry shaves off his moustache, which symbolizes the personal sacrifices the band is making on "The Road". Discuss amongst yourselves. Bay Area Rock Stars... Is there anything they can't do? Don't stop believing... in The METAL.
Click HERE to see Ray's 'Tallica photos from the show.
Up until around 6:00PM, Umlaut was going to skip this show (Showtime = 9:00PM)... but then I decided to take Johnny up on his +1... The tiebreaker was the fact that Umlaut friend Lori was gonna be in the house and she was leaving for Istanbul (!) the next day, so seeing her was the real headline event of the night (Awww..). The Umlaut Nation was nicely represented by Timo, Lori, Dave, Joey, and Rich... as well as Rafa and Jason onstage as Black Cobra of course.
Black Cobra are the definitive Rock Road Dogs; Rafa and Jason are ALWAYS on tour.. For those who aren't aware, The Sword have taken Black Cobra out as their direct support act on three U.S. and European tours over the past year and a half... Because of this, I was curious how Black Cobra would go over on this bill, because the two bands seem like an odd pairing to me. However, to my surprise, Rafa and Jason went over quite well with the crowd.
The young kid in front of me wearing the denim jacket and doo rag initially seemed confused by Black Cobra's wall of sound and their lack of traditional song structures... Plus the fact that it was only 2 musicians onstage... but after a couple of songs the kid was nodding his head in time to every chord that Jason struck and every beat that Rafa hit.. That kid is gonna be alright.
It's been interesting following The Sword over the past 2 years as they went from a rookie band on their debut tour to a seasoned act opening stadium shows for Metallica in Europe... However, no one can say success was given to them; The Sword have toured their asses off and this was their 6th time through San Francisco... Also, two years on and the band has developed an almost Southern Rock swing to their sound. Remember when they covered ZZ Top's 'Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings' in their set? Me too.
That being said, I have to say that I'm over The Sword now; I am done. All of that touring may have given the band confidence onstage, but it's also made them a slick Rock band... and I don't mean that in a good way... Although only 4 months have passed since I last saw The Sword and liked the performance, in that time the band's live sound has become really clean and safe.
Much to my dismay, even their signature song 'Freya' lacked the teeth that made me love it in the first place... but I suppose that will happen when you become Lars Ulrich's favorite new band and learn from The Master how to appeal to a more mass market Rock N' Roll audience. I mean, more power to the Austin lads, ya know? I'm just gonna get off this train here, okay? I can say I saw The Sword 5x and it was a fun ride while it lasted, but now I can wear my Sword shirt while I'm painting the house and not worry about ruining it. I also couldn't help but notice the sizeable Jock element that kept bumping past me with their beers.
Best Quote: "When Jocks start coming to your shows you're making money, but then you start leaving friends off the guest list." - Umlaut
Scorecard: According to the Umlaut Archives, this was my 57th visit to Slim's dating back to when it opened in 1988. Yes, I keep score... it's on an Excel spreadsheet... I think it's about 90% accurate documenting every concert I've attended since losing my gig cherry in 1978. The Geeks shall inherit The Earth.
Bootleg Motörhead hoodies = 1. If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid $170. However, I FINALLY scored the "Eagle / Cthulhu" Black Cobra shirt for a mere $12. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Black Cobra won't be home from tour until December, so if they're playing in your town and you like your music LOUD check 'em out and tell them Umlaut sent you.
Saros DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA October 12, 2008
This show was originally scheduled for The Metro in West Oakland and because of that I was going to pass on it.. Not because of the distance, but because I'm in fucking West Oakland every work day. Maybe when I'm not visiting The Ghetto on a daily basis I might feel differently, but only time will tell. However, The Rock Godz work in mysterious ways and the show was moved to the DNA, which made attendance mandatory since I could go from driveway to venue in no more than 20 minutes.
Prior to the show Timo, The Coal Miner's Son, and Umlaut used the show as an excuse to eat dinner at The Irish Bank. It must be noted that my eyes were bigger than my stomach on this evening.
Apologies to Wolves In The Throne Room, Nachtmystium (say that 3 times fast!), and Embers, but the only band on the bill I wanted to see was Saros. The band's 35-40 minute set consisted of all new songs from their upcoming album Acrid Plains. The new songs were, like, GREAT and leaned more towards the band's Progressive Rock side (hence Tim's Rush shirt onstage, natch!), with intricate melodies guiding the hammer of volume.
One thing that I realized while watching Saros this time was how much they remind me of bands from the early-80's San Francisco Metal Scene (aka Umlaut's Salad Days). Back then, most S.F. bands were not concerned about image; bands from L.A. cared about that bullshit.. Most of the best S.F. bands back then simply got onstage armed with musicianship and well crafted songs; it was about the music, man. Yes, loud aggressive dark music... but when you looked past the volume you'd hear musicianship of the highest order... and that's what Saros' art is all about too.
Note: The new Saros album was produced by the man, the myth, the legend Billy Anderson and will be out on Profound Lore Records in early 2009. Start saving your pennies now, kids!
I spaced on doing a merch audit, but the Saros decal / button package was only $1 (ONE DOLLAR). On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. After Saros were done, we said our goodbyes and were out the door and headed home. A surgically precise evening fo' sho'.
On another note: Based on the urging of a best selling music journalist friend, Umlaut got a copy of the book All Known Metal Bands that was published by San Francisco's own McSweeney's in May.
The names of 50,000 Metal bands were collected in a beautiful hardbound book done with that attention to quality that makes McSweeney's my favorite publisher... Also, at least 9 bands that Umlaut knows are listed, so kudos to the "author" for that... Although I can't really call Dan Nelson an "author" since he probably stole the name list from The Metal Archives web site, but who am I to say, right?
Whatever the case, I like how the book is presented as a pseudo-religious text for future generations to examine and to "read in it a fallen civilization". Would a similar book about Indie Rock be as fun? Nope.
Oh... Before I forget, it was THIS news that made my Music Geek Week:
Out on DVD on November 18th is The Who at Kilburn 1977, otherwise known as Keith Moon's final full concert with the band (!). The Who when Townshend still threw himself and his Les Paul around the stage with disregard for his own safety and Keith Moon sat behind the kit.
Also included in the set is a 1969 London Coliseum show from the 'Tommy' Tour.. DOH! Umlaut has always said that if he could go back in time to see one band, it would be The Who circa 1969 when they were at the top of their creative game.
The Sword / Slough Feg Slim's, San Francisco April 19, 2008
That Little Ol' Band From Austin blew into town again and, ironically, Umlaut friend Miatomic has been locked in a secret laboratory in Austin recently. That's ironic, isn't it? I think so... maybe not?
For whatever reasons, The Sword are like politics: You can't seem to talk about them in mixed company 'cause people either love 'em or hate 'em. So unless you're in the mood for some fisticuffs or a wrastlin' match avoid them in conversation and talk about something safe..... Man, can you believe the price of gas these days?!
I dig how The Sword do things the old fashioned way and tour their asses off. Tonight was the 4th time I've seen The Sword at Slim's in the past 642 days. The Umlaut Nation made up around 1% of the sold out packed audience on this night; our numbers were like a black tide washing over the room! Or maybe a puddle... or actually a drop.. or less.. Anyway, I'm doing one of those Hip Hop Nation "Hit my chest with my fist and then point at you" things to Timo, Joey, Mike, Johnny, David, T-XIII, Allison, and Raymond. Yo-Yo Ma, Yo.
Best Random Conversation: T-XIII and Umlaut geeking out over the 70's Aurora Tar Pit model kit that we had as kids. It's frightening how I remember every detail of it... Like how the Woolly Rhino had a chunk of flesh missing from its back and how there was a chunk of meat that you could put in the vulture's beak. I also had the Saber Tooth Tiger kit! The Geeks shall inherit The Earth!
As The Sword glinted onstage, I couldn't help but notice how the lads have changed over the past 2 years... Like how Kyle has ditched his glasses and now wears contacts.. That's a bummer, Kyle; 4-Eyes should ALWAYS fly their flags high! Contacts are for pussies! I also noted that over the past 642 days J.D.'s onstage guitar evolution has been as follows:
2006: Red B.C. Rich
2007: Red Les Paul
2008: Brown Explorer
I predict that on the next tour he will be wielding a guitar shaped like a dragon.. maybe something like this:
What hadn't changed was Trivett having drum problems just like he did at their debut Slim's show 2 years ago... Me thinks a witch has cast a cursing spell thingamajig on his drums in San Francisco.
I have to say that the new song 'The Black River' was probably my fave song of the night, although the boogie groove of 'Maiden, Mother, & Crone' (Umlaut LOVES how The Sword embrace their Inner Swords & Sorcery Geekdom in song!) was another fave. As with all good bands, hearing the new songs made me appreciate them and I can now say the band's new album will be in heavy rotation at Casa de Umlaut.
Trivia: Evidently several of The Sword's songs were inspired by Fantasy writer George R.R. Martin. Umlaut tends to be into bands who read books.. but that's the way he rolls.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to The Sword over the next year.. They're still an Indie band, but they were recently anointed as Metallica's new favorite band and will be supporting the Millionaire Rocks Stars in Europe this Summer... and Old Metalheads know what that meant for Anthrax back in The Day.
Anywho, after seeing the band live again I have that same I feeling I had after seeing a band when I was 16: I want to wear their t-shirt to school the next day! I also want to find one of those Aurora Tar Pit model kits and put it together while listening to the band's new album.
Iron Maiden shirts = 2. I didn't even bother trying to do a merch audit because of the crowd crush. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Man, Umlaut is tired right now.. maybe I'll take a nap. To quote The Sword: "We shall build a cairn beyond The Black River, where no one will disturb your rest.."
Dudes.. The band used the word "cairn" in their new lyrics.. How can you not like that!? Oh yeah? Fuck gas prices.. bring it on, mofos! Wait.. let me take my glasses off first..
Later that week...
Chatty Kathy said: I really like the part about the TarPit model kit! I used to work at the La Brea Tar Pits in the lab and pits. It was really fun. There was a telephone in the pit and we used to call the local country radio station and request 'I've Got Friends in Low Places'. I guess the fumes made us a bit stupid....
Reynolds said:Dude, I CANNOT BELIEVE you mentioned that plastic model kit of the Tar Pit. I had that ... and I think my parents might still have it. I played with that toy so much when I was a kid. Looking back at it, there was probably so much lead paint on that toy that rubbed off on my hands and into my bloodstream, that it may explain how I can listen to Debussy and Slayer in succession =) Warped, man
The thing I remember about the piece of flesh that the vulture had was that I would always lose it. Then a month later, I would dig under a couch, feel this plastic thing and be like "Hey! I found the flesh!". Good times!
Umlaut says: Why was Tar Pit the subject of conversation at The Rock Show?? Because T-XIII had revealed the inspiration for his latest amazing art piece:
Woah... Evidently Umlaut friend Rafa and his band Black Cobra will be supporting The Sword on their upcoming U.S. Tour! I can't think of a better match of road dog bands: If The Sword make it back to S.F. it would be the 5th time they've been through town since 2006.. and Black Cobra have already hit The States, Europe, and Japan this year alone. Nicely done, Rafa!
Trivia: Readers will also know Rafa from his fine work laying down the bottom end for Acid King.
Indie bands like Black Cobra and The Sword who take their war to the people still rule... and, yes, The Sword are an indie band.. not that it even matters in this day and age. What year is this?? 1990?!
Dynamic, Austin, TX based quartet The Sword has announced a U.S. headlining tour, its first in nearly a year. The scheduled 17 city trek will launch this December and will see the critically acclaimed metal band perform many of the brand new songs that will comprise the bulk of its highly anticipated new album, due in early 2008 via NYC’s Kemado Records.
Unquestionably one of heavy music’s most talked about new bands, The Sword delivers explosive songs, gripping live performances and a unique vision that combines metal`s beloved past with the forward-thinking enthusiasm of today’s hard music elite. The band will enter a Texas studio shortly to record its as-yet-untitled sophomore album and plans to up the ante with its new material, which is being described as “more ambitious, more accomplished and simply bigger.”
Tickets for The Sword headlining shows in NYC, Philadelphia and Cambridge, MA went on sale this Saturday (September 29), with the tour’s remaining dates expected to be announced in the coming days. Support on The Sword tour will be provided by Valient Thorr and San Francisco’s Black Cobra. The first-announced dates are as follows:
December 6: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom December 7: Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church December 8: Cambridge, MA - Middle East (downstairs)
With its debut album Age of Winters, The Sword firmly established itself as both one of metal and hard rock’s most looked-to new artists. The album was named as one of Decibel’s “Most Anticipated Albums of 2006” and was hailed as "the new classic-Black Sabbath platter you have been waiting forever for the old Sabs to make" by Rolling Stone while yielding the colossal singles “Winter’s Wolves” and “Freya.” The Sword`s purpose and aim would see them named as one of Billboard`s "Faces to Watch", one of AP’s “Bands You Need to Know” and an MTV News "You Hear It First" artist.
Ludicra / Giant Squid / Black Elk / Grayceon Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco March 10, 2007
Earlier in the day I got the new Arcade Fire CD. I'll cut to the chase and say that it's not close to being the epiphany their debut CD was for me. Before I heard the Funeral CD, I was told to check the band out when they were still playing clubs.. but I blew them off. When I finally heard the Funeral CD I kinda got obsessed with it for a short time, but the tour was over by then. I can now add Arcade Fire to my list of "Bands I Missed The Boat On". Now all the Marina Hipsters are grooving to Arcade Fire and they're booked for 2 nights at the 9,000 seat Greek in Berkeley in June, and I hate going to the Greek... so that boat has sailed.. Bon Voyage!
Unlike my brush with Arcade Fire, I didn't miss the boat with Ludicra. In fact, I'm a bigger fan now than I was 3 years ago. However, one of my ideas of Hell is having to sit through 3 opening bands when I don't want to... Nothing against the other bands, but I just wasn't in the mood for anything non-Death Metal tonight. Also, Bottom of the Hill's typical late start time and 4-band bill really threw a wrench into the surgically precise Rock Night that Timo and I have perfected over the years.
Jello Biafra was in The House supporting Ludicra, the cash cows of Alternative Tentacles. Longtime readers will remember that I have a long history of standing next to Jello at shows around town dating back to 1992. As I stood next to him on this black night, I thought his presence was akin to Steve Perry attending a Classic Rock show in S.F.. When the lights go down in the city, too drunk to fuck.
Ludicra delivered the goods as expected, but it's scary to think how destructive they would be if they played and toured more regularly. Perhaps that's best, since the world probably couldn't handle such a horrifyingly perfect display of Metal Fury.
Pentagram (the band) shirts = 1. If you bought one of every Ludicra merch item you would have paid $110; all Ludicra merch was a mere $10. . On the way back to the car, some pimply faced teenagers called us fags. If I need an alibi for a crime I didn't commit on this night, you can verify my attendance with either Timo, Ray, Loren, Mike, or Max.
The Sword Slim's, San Francisco March 13, 2007
Unlike my brush with Arcade Fire, I didn't miss the boat with The Sword. Yes, I blew off their debut visit to S.F. because I thought they were simply pretenders, but I was subsequently proven wrong by the time they returned. The Sword also ingratiated themselves to my Rock sensibilities by proving they are truly old style Road Dogs. They've been touring almost non-stop since last February when their debut album came out; this was their 4th time through S.F. on this tour and their 3rd stop at Slim's in less than a year.
However, I must shake my finger at Slim's for using the same layout for this show's flyer as they did for the show 8 months ago:
Not very imaginative, Slim's.
When I saw The Sword for the first time 8 months ago they were decent but still unpolished rookie Rock Stars; when the drummer broke his bass drum pedal the band looked like they wanted to go home and hide. This time around they were a seasoned Rock N' Roll Machine onstage; it was cool to see the improvement and remember that road work was the way bands used to do it before the Information Superhighway made bands and fans lazy.
I don't use the word "bludgeoning" very often anymore, but I'll drop that adjective now. The version of 'Freya' was particularly satisfying and if the entire set had been a meal it would have been massive slabs of meat on spits roasting over huge open flames washed down with The Kingdom's finest wine served from giant flagons by lusty buxom wenches.
The lads also played a couple of new songs and if they had been a meal they would have been the meat from a freshly hunted beast that had been tracked through an unnaturally harsh snowstorm conjured by a renegade wizard. It would be your first meal since you began your quest to vanquish the wizard, he who killed your father and subjugated your kin.
That being said, I was a bit disappointed to see that J.D. has ditched his red BC Rich Mockingbird for a red Les Paul, which improves his tone but doesn't look as cool.
Dude, The Sword's first encore was a cover of ZZ Top's 'Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings'! Yeah, yeah, I'm fully aware the Melvins covered 'Nasty Dogs' over a decade ago for the Amphetamine Reptile Melvins 7" Single of the Month Club (Music Geek Note: 'Nasty Dogs' appeared on Single #11... clear vinyl...), but since The Sword are from Texas I'll give them the points here in the 21st Century.
Iron Maiden shirts = 1. If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid just over $100; t-shirts were a mere $10. . On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. If I need an alibi for a crime I didn't commit on this night, you can verify my attendance with either Timo, Johnny, or Any.
This was a completely weird night. Bad vibes were in the air as soon as we left my house. Things didn't feel right... The night just felt wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it. It was unusually warm too, even at 9:30PM.
Timo and I have been to over a hundred shows together. Our gig experiences are legendary for being surgically precise since we've been to all the local venues dozens and dozens of times and we have a Music Geek routine for each place. However, on this night, the Rock Godz had a lesson for us.. Perhaps we had become like Icarus and thought ourselves equal to the Rock Godz and we foolishly flew too close to The Sun (cue that Iron Maiden song).
As we neared the entrance to Slim's a band was playing; there were supposed to be 2 support acts before The Sword and judging from the time (just before 10:00PM) the second act should have been finishing up... However, as we got to Will Call I knew immediately that it was The Sword playing. FUCK. Then I saw the sign on the Will Call window announcing one of the two opening bands (Protest The Hero.. whoever they are..) would not be playing that night. FUCK. The Sword had gone on early. FUCK.
Timo and I quickly got inside and The Sword were pummeling the crowd with 'Iron Swan'; they sounded really good. Then the song ended, they said their thanks, and JD announced "Trivium are up next".. FUCK. That's right, Timo and I missed their entire set.. I can't remember the last time that's happened. FUCK. The Sword also played a cover of the Pentagram song 'Forever My Queen' in their set, and I missed it. FUCK.
I wasn't so much pissed as I was in utter disbelief that we'd missed The Sword. To console myself I bought the cool silk screened poster The Sword were selling for a mere 5 bucks. I loved how their merch was so indie: shirts were a mere $10-$15.
The Sword are still one of my favorite bands, but I'm obviously losing my edge... The band has been through town 3x this year and I only managed to see them 1x + 1 song. Hope I die before I get old.
After The Sword the club became noticeably less crowded as people left before the headliners. Timo and I should have taken that cue and exited as well, but we didn't.. and we paid a spiritual price.
Trivium's cheesy 'n dramatic intro tape (complete with smoke machine and arena rock lighting) was almost as long as the amount of time we saw The Sword. As the intro production played out I actually shouted "Excalibur!" (The movie, not the sword... pun intended).
Sidebar: The next day T-XIII sent me an e-mail about the show and he commented how Trivium made him think of Excalibur too, but the Vegas casino (not the movie or the sword). Hi-larious! Old Metal minds think alike.
Trivium have been touted as "the next Metallica" and they hit the stage in passable Metal fashion... and they did sound better then my first encounter with them over the Summer... but they soon lost me (again).
Metal is supposed to sound hard and tough; Trivium are not hard and tough. As I watched Trivium's "metal-by-the numbers-show me-the horns" act again, I was completely dumbfounded by how safe and clean their sound is... and I'm not exaggerating (ask Timo) that their guitar tech had a harder guitar sound during his pre-set tuneup then his band had when they hit the stage. WTF?
To be perfectly blunt, Trivium offends my Old Metal Soul... They're nicely sanitized and appeal to the "I-want-to-be-Metal-but Slayer-and Slayer fans-scare-me" people.. You will not get your ass kicked at a Trivium show (either literally or figuratively)... and that's why Trivium is False Metal IMO... That being said The Kidz buying their merch loved 'em and I suppose that's all that matters, but we bailed after 4 songs.
Iron Maiden shirts = 3. If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid $67. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. I wish we'd seen The Sword, but the Rock Godz obviously had a bigger plan for Timo and I on this night and our journey had not yet run its course.
Back at the car we agreed we needed food. While driving down Market Street the vibe was still just wrong in the city... Probably due to the warm weather, the homeless zombies were everywhere and they shared the night with weaving drunk kids and adults in pre-Halloween costumes. My sense of unease didn't abate and rather than hitting one of our usual post-gig late night eateries in The Mission / Castro area, Timo and I inexplicably found ourselves at the Denny's in Japantown.
After parking the car we walked past the site of a murder that had happened only a couple of days earlier in Japantown Plaza. I'd heard about it on the news and seeing the site fit with the dark vibe of the night.
I'm pretty sure I hadn't been to the Japantown Denny's since the Clinton Administration, but at least I was able to order the Umlaut Special (2 egg breakfast and a beer). Note: The Umlaut Special at the Denny's in Vacaville was much better.
Back at the car we attempted to cleanse what was left of the night by putting Slayer on the stereo ('South Of Heaven') to invoke the Healing Power of Metal. A block after turning on the stereo we came to a stoplight and noticed smoke / steam rising into the midnight sky and saw that 2 cars and a taxicab where crushed together in the intersection. The accident had just happened and people were running towards the scene to help the victims. As we got closer we could see why.
CARNAGE.
One of the cars had obviously ran a red light and hit the cab broadside at a high rate of speed.. The cab had then been slammed into the other car by the impact. There were people in the back seat of the cab but no movement from them or the cab driver. The offending car's front end was completely obliterated and there was no movement from its driver either. It looked very, very bad. Blood on shattered glass. Death was in this intersection. We kept going.
Thankfully Timo and I made it home safe and sound. Something was definitely "off" on the 27th night of October in the year 2006 on the streets of San Francisco. Christians will say it's because Halloween was only days away and San Francisco is full of sinners, which is bullshit of course 'cause Satan, like, totally rules.
To me it was just "one of those" nights where shit happened and you can't explain why... sorta like Trivium. What was that? How would I sum up the night in 8 words? Hmm, okay, here ya go:
Wear your seat belt.
Death to False Metal.
SLAYER.
=== Now, Umlaut doesn't have a personal vendetta against Trivium, but you gotta admit the following is hilarious (THANKS TOM).
I was with Machine Head on the Sounds of the Underground Tour. They had to share a dressing room with Trivium and they were fucking lame. They're not Rock. PERIOD.
The bass player has that Motörhead backpatch going now (on his onstage denim vest), right? Well on the Sounds of the Underground Tour, he was sporting a Destruction backpatch.
Phil Demmel (ex Vio-Lence, current Machine Head) called him out on it... Phil told him to name one Destruction song. Of course the kid couldn't...a day later the Motörhead patch had replaced Destruction.
Yes, The Sword stole most of their riffs from Sleep. I know there's a backlash amongst Old School Rockers towards "Hipster Metal" bands like The Sword... but I like The Sword.
Sidebar: Do you remember when Sleep were called "Melvins Jr." when their first album came out?? I do. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Earlier in the day I was listening to Sepultura's Beneath The Remains on the iPod and then switched over to The Sword's Age Of Winters, and damn if the guitar tone wasn't exactly the same (I forget what Sword song it was..)! Let's just say that The Sword seems to have a decent album collection and leave it at that. I'm also a sucker for their cheesy swords 'n sorcery album art.
As a homage to Sleep, I wore my vintage 1992 shirt with the glow in the dark 'Stoner Astronaut' design to the show. After all these years it STILL glows in the dark! Try finding *that* on Ebay (you won't). Unfortunately, no one made a comment about it the entire night. Posers.
As Timo and I walked into the club the opening band was just leaving the stage and the DJ played this exact sequence of songs over the PA: Iron Maiden ('The Trooper') > Slayer ('Raining Blood') > Thin Lizzy ('Jailbreak') > Motörhead ('Dead Men Tell No Tales').
Halfway through the Sword's set I ran into the lovely John & Robin in the crowd ("McBain!!"). As Timo said afterwards, The Sword were "good but not great". IMO they were a bit lazy onstage and when the drummer broke his kick drum pedal I thought they were going to either (1) leave the stage or (2) call the drummer's mom and asked to be picked up out front.
Part of me wants to believe The Sword creates their own D&D adventures based on the Rush song 'By-Tor & The Snow Dog'... Part of me knows that The Sword are as much a product of timely marketing to the MySpace crowd as they are to any allegiance they have to the Rock Godz.
Note to The Sword: Do NOT wash your newly grown-out hair right before going onstage. A Stoner Rock band should have long greasy hair, not long shiny clean hair. At least use some products to keep the flyaway hair under control, for dog's sake!
That being said, I do like The Sword; I'd rather see a band like them getting hyped than some pussy Indie Rock Singer / Songwriter.
"Iron ships sailing on seas of blood, black winds fill their silver sails..."
Iron Maiden shirts seen = 1. If you bought one of every Sword merch item you would have paid around $100; I left my pen in the car and couldn't take notes. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Yes, I can remember exactly what sequence of songs the club's DJ played over the PA, but I can't do simple math in my head. Ray Davies The Warfield, San Francisco July 13, 2006
From the Umlaut Archives
The kids in the 'hood used to marvel at how many times 2Pac was shot and survived (before he was finally shot dead of course). Ray Davies has been shot AND he wrote The Village Green Preservation Society album!
"God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties..."
It's been 10 years since I last saw Ray. The last time was when he did a 2 week run at a tiny downtown S.F. theater. I sat in the 2nd row completely gobsmacked as I watched him perform a magical set from less than 10 feet away.
Fast forward to the 21st Century, and my date for this evening was the lovely Joey Acid King. It was strictly platonic, but he could have at least combed his hair... but at least he drove.
I went into the show expecting to be completely enamored with the performance. I'll cut to the chase and say I was very disappointed. It's admirable that Ray is able to create new music at 62 years of age. It's unfortunate for ME (because I'm selfish that way) that he denied so many of his legendary songs in favor of the new material... I didn't want to hear 4-5 new songs in a row (because I'm selfish that way). The introspective old man new songs simply do not hold a candle to his extroverted young man old songs.
The thing was, when Ray strapped on his Strat and went electric with the old Kinks numbers it was like 20-30 years were lifted from his body language. With the Strat on he had that legendary swagger again. When he played the opening 3 chords of 'Till The End Of The Day' my inner Music Geek screamed like a little school girl... and 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' and 'All Day And All Of The Night' sounded just as good too.
After each old song I said to myself "Please keep the Strat on... Please keep the Strat on.." but he'd return to the acoustic guitar and the old man stuff. If he just kept the Strat on and FRONTED the band (instead of playing WITH the band) he would be the Grandfather of Punk again... but I suppose that's not what he wants. He's in the singer /songwriter phase, which is unfortunate for ME (because I'm selfish that way).
Thinking about it now, I don't think I've been this disappointed by a concert in a long time, but it's only because I'm such a Music Geek. Sadly for ME (because I'm selfish that way), there was no 'Victoria', 'Misfits', or 'Waterloo Sunset'. That being said, The Kinks are still mightier than The Sword.
If you bought one of every Ray Davies merch item you would have paid $165. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. The next morning at work I was talking to a co-worker about the show and someone else overheard our conversation and asked "Who did you see?" and when I said "Ray Davies.." the response was "What kind of music does he play?" (cue chirping crickets)
The Geeks shall inherit The Earth but no one else will care.
POSTSCRIPT: As this week drew to a close I was a bit bummed because The Sword and Ray Davies hadn't lived up to my expectations. Then the Rock Godz sent the following my way and I smiled again. From 1981:
I bought the Motörhead/Girlschool 10" EP hot off the import rack when it came out (and I still have it) but I've NEVER seen this footage before! What Metal Fanboy didn't have a Rock Star Crush on Kelly Johnson and / or Kim McAuliffe back then?! Girlschool circa 1979-83 were a FOOKIN' GLEAT band.
Girlschool The Old Waldorf, San Francisco - April 23, 1982 (Pic by Umlaut)
