So it's 1AM, and I've just gotten home from seeing the Deftones live here in Las Vegas. They are a terrific metal band that I've been a fan of since their first album came out back in 1995. Due to unremembered circumstances, however, I wasn't able to see them live until they came around as co-headliners (although they went on first) with Alice In Chains a few months ago. They sounded so good at that show that my-friend-the-girl J and I decided right then and there to go see them whenever they came around as full headliners, and lo and behold, we didn't have to wait too long.
The only problem with this is the show was on a Saturday night, on the heels of a 6 day work week, and of course every day ran long. Good thing the checks keep clearing. And to combat the impending shutdown of my physical self, I just pop a couple of Excedrin...since I don't drink soda or coffee, it doesn't take much caffeine to keep me going on less than my usual 6 hours sleep a night. It also helps that I will be off for the next 2 days, and possibly 3, if they don't call me to work my scheduled day off Tuesday.
The summer concert season will have me getting many a sleep deprived night in, as I've got upcoming dates with Bill Cosby, Soundgarden with The Mars Volta as the opening act, Iggy Pop And The Stooges, Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society opening for Judas Priest, and the almighty and mostly reformed Kyuss, which happens to be my favorite band bar none. No matter how much I love things like The Doors, Metallica (up thru about 1989), Bjork, etc, if one were to do the proverbial desert island thing with me, Kyuss would be the one that would be chosen. Same thing with the gun-to-the-head analogy...Kyuss would still be the answer with a bullet pointed at my brain. The importance of their music in my life cannot be overstated.
Eventually I'll get around to a full post on Kyuss and what they truly mean to me, but since it's kinda hard to see the MacBook screen thru my getting-more-and-more-closed-eyelids, I'll just draw this mini-missive to a close. Hello, sleep, I've missed you...
...and right as I initially posted this, I see my Twitter friend Jessica Kausen is still at work in New York City...at 4 fucking 30 in the morning...after starting the previous 8AM or so...on the weekend...I'm a fucking wuss.
Blog Post Soundtrack; P.J. Harvey, Mercyful Fate, Monster Magnet, Foo Fighters, At The Drive-In, Metallica (live), Blondie
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Just Not Enough Time
As the last of my 4 days off winds down, I realize that since I've done so much over these days that I just haven't had any time to write. After having never been to Los Angeles prior to Thanksgiving 2010, I've now been there 3 times in the short span of time since then. I just made the third of those trips this past weekend, as I drove there Friday night to go see Henry Rollins give a speaking performance at the same theater I saw Tim Minchin at a month earlier. And, as with Minchin, I was able to meet and talk with Rollins after the show for a bit, even giving him a business card for Unseen Films, knowing his love of film and unquenchable desire to see more. This was part of the 2 week "50" tour for Rollins, having performed nearly a week in New York City, followed by a show in Washington, D.C. on his 50th birthday (he was born and lived in D.C. until he was 20, when he joined Black Flag and his world changed completely), and then did a week of gigs in LA. And, also as with Minchin, I immediately got in the car after the meeting and drove all the way back home to Las Vegas again, making it in the door at 4AM. Another 600 mile round trip with a stop for a show in under 15 hours. I'll have to do a full story about this trip at some point, as the rainy weather I encountered for much of the drive, as well as meeting Rollins, was rather entertaining.
This was followed by going to see The Black Keys (with Cage The Elephant opening) at The Cosmopolitian here in Las Vegas on Saturday night. A friend of mine that used to work at the Post Office with me introduced me to The Black Keys about a year ago by showing me an incredible performance they gave one night on the Late Show With David Letterman. As with most things, it took me a bit to really get into it, but once I did, I got INTO it. I've since acquired all 6 of their albums, and they really are something terrific to listen to. Perhaps the best thing about them is the fact that with their sudden immense popularity, they've made the blues a trendy and viable art form again. The last time the blues was this popular of a musical genre was in the early 1980's with The Blues Brothers of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. I've been a fan of that type of music since about then (I must have been 11 or 12 the first time I saw The Blues Brothers movie, and to this day I enjoy it immensely both for the comedy and the music), and I have since become a great fan of artists such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Albert King, The Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and The Doors, just to give a few examples of the many diverse talents that can one way or another be categorized as blues artists.
The fact that The Black Keys have gained the popularity and critical acclaim they have while performing what they wanted to play, and not catering to current trends, is something nice to see. Stick with what you like, don't worry about whether anyone else likes it or not. If it makes someone else happy, wonderful, but play it because you want to first. The friend that I went with to the show shares a lot of my musical taste, but is always looking for new stuff, and she likes The Black Keys so much that she now wants more blues music. The circle of life continues.
I then spent most of Sunday over at my Vegas adopted mom's house, helping her and her husband get their recently acquired iPhones set up with iTunes on their computer, showing them a good way to have multiple iPods and iPhones be able to plug into the same computer and work off of the same iTunes library. Even though I live alone, I have an iPhone and 3 different iPods all working off of the same iTunes library on my desktop computer. Only 1 iPod is capable of handling the entire media library I have, so everything else needs to be customized to make it fit. My iPhone has music only on it; no comedy or speaking of any kind. I leave that for the iPods. Even then, I still had to pick which music for the iPhone, as it's only a 32GB, and my library far exceeds that. So it's got stuff on it that I'm most likely not going to skip over, therefore I can go about my work day without having to worry about tracks coming on that I may not be that interested in hearing.
Over the course of this busy weekend, in addition to not writing, I'd also not been sleeping, so it was nice to go to bed early last night, and other than laundry, not do much else today. Seeing as how I've got to go back to a busy day of work tomorrow, I wanted at least one day of relaxing and not doing much. And I've enjoyed it very much, thank you.
I thought I was going to paste one of my Unseen Films pieces here to fill this out, but I see I've rambled on enough to make that unnecessary now. Maybe next time I don't have anything to say (good luck with that ever happening...).
Blog Post Soundtrack; The White Stripes (live), Jimi Hendrix, Audioslave, Bob Dylan, P.J. Harvey, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Soulfly, The Datsuns, Judas Priest, At The Drive-In, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bad Radio, Danko Jones, The Doors (live), Glenn Miller, Fear (live)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Unsane Misfits AKA 1,200 People Groaning In Unison
I was watching a DVD of Whose Line Is It Anyway yesterday. It's from the American version of the show, hosted by Drew Carey. I'm a big fan of that show in both its British and American incarnations. Eventually I'll do a blog entry expressing my appreciation for Whose Line in general, although I did one a while ago about Paul Merton. One of the games they played on this DVD I watched involved footage of skateboarders failing miserably, and it reminded me of this event that took place in my past.
Ever since Metallica covered Last Caress and Green Hell back in 1987, and a good friend of mine introduced me to the original versions, I've been a big fan of The
Misfits. The band broke up in 1983, and singer Glenn Danzig continued on with Samhain, then followed up with the eponymously named group Danzig, which afforded him his most commercial success. But in late 1995, 2 of the other members of the old Misfits, brothers Jerry Only and Doyle, formed a new version of The Misfits (pictured here). They started touring, and were initially playing shows only performing the old material with a new drummer and a new singer. Since none of us had been old enough to see the Misfits when they'd first existed, we were thrilled at the chance to see this material performed live, as we'd all become huge fans of the material over the years.
Sometime in 1997 the new Misfits released an album of new material, and toured to promote it. They came to Irving Plaza in New York City on Friday, June 20, 1997, and myself and I believe at least 2, maybe 3 other friends went to the show. The venue holds roughly 1,200 people, and it was pretty packed this evening. After the opening act was done (and I have no idea who that might have been that night), a video screen came down, and music clips were shown while the stage was being set for The Misfits. Song after song came on, with some horror film clips shown as well, generating mild interest from the crowd. Then, something changed...
A video clip came on with a pretty agressive song by a band called Unsane. I'd never heard of them before, but the music sounded pretty good. But what I, and all of the other 1,200 people in the room found intensely compelling was the video clip that accompanied the song. This was the official video released by the band, and it consisted of very brief clips of them playing, and 95% clips of anonymous skateboarders that had been filmed failing at performing tricks in spectacular fashion.
While that alone is interesting enough to watch, what made it even more entertaining was the fact that you had 1,200 people packed in a tight space...all watching the same thing. When you see someone attempting a skateboard trick and fail, and witness the inevitable crushing contact of groin and handrail, you instinctively let out a graon, even though you are just a witness to the action. It's funny stuff to watch, because it's not happening to you. But when you have 1,200 people all groaning and moaning in unison, it starts to take on a life of its own. The pauses were spaced perfectly, and whoever compiled and edited the clips for the band Unsane should be commended for his brilliant comedic timing. There was always a couple seconds in between harsh, awkward impacts with pavement; just enough time to capture your breath from the last moan to visually absorb what was happening in the next clip, and verbally sympathize with the next poor soul who met his painful fate. The volume of the crowd ooohing with each epic failure increased as the song progressed, and became almost as funny as the clips themselves. It was the perfect set-up for that evening's main entertainment.
I eventually was able to get a copy of that video, and of course now, with YouTube, it's instantly accessible, and still hilarious and very entertaining to watch...but nothing will ever top that first viewing with 1,200 of my closest friends on a hot and sweaty New York summer night.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Iron Maiden (live), Jimi Hendrix, Primus, The Police (live), Rush, The Bakerton Group, The Misfits (surprise...), Judas Priest, Pearl Jam (live), Queens Of The Stone Age (live), Pink Floyd, MC5, Rollins Band, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath...and, oh yeah, Unsane...
Ever since Metallica covered Last Caress and Green Hell back in 1987, and a good friend of mine introduced me to the original versions, I've been a big fan of The
Misfits. The band broke up in 1983, and singer Glenn Danzig continued on with Samhain, then followed up with the eponymously named group Danzig, which afforded him his most commercial success. But in late 1995, 2 of the other members of the old Misfits, brothers Jerry Only and Doyle, formed a new version of The Misfits (pictured here). They started touring, and were initially playing shows only performing the old material with a new drummer and a new singer. Since none of us had been old enough to see the Misfits when they'd first existed, we were thrilled at the chance to see this material performed live, as we'd all become huge fans of the material over the years.
Sometime in 1997 the new Misfits released an album of new material, and toured to promote it. They came to Irving Plaza in New York City on Friday, June 20, 1997, and myself and I believe at least 2, maybe 3 other friends went to the show. The venue holds roughly 1,200 people, and it was pretty packed this evening. After the opening act was done (and I have no idea who that might have been that night), a video screen came down, and music clips were shown while the stage was being set for The Misfits. Song after song came on, with some horror film clips shown as well, generating mild interest from the crowd. Then, something changed...
A video clip came on with a pretty agressive song by a band called Unsane. I'd never heard of them before, but the music sounded pretty good. But what I, and all of the other 1,200 people in the room found intensely compelling was the video clip that accompanied the song. This was the official video released by the band, and it consisted of very brief clips of them playing, and 95% clips of anonymous skateboarders that had been filmed failing at performing tricks in spectacular fashion.
While that alone is interesting enough to watch, what made it even more entertaining was the fact that you had 1,200 people packed in a tight space...all watching the same thing. When you see someone attempting a skateboard trick and fail, and witness the inevitable crushing contact of groin and handrail, you instinctively let out a graon, even though you are just a witness to the action. It's funny stuff to watch, because it's not happening to you. But when you have 1,200 people all groaning and moaning in unison, it starts to take on a life of its own. The pauses were spaced perfectly, and whoever compiled and edited the clips for the band Unsane should be commended for his brilliant comedic timing. There was always a couple seconds in between harsh, awkward impacts with pavement; just enough time to capture your breath from the last moan to visually absorb what was happening in the next clip, and verbally sympathize with the next poor soul who met his painful fate. The volume of the crowd ooohing with each epic failure increased as the song progressed, and became almost as funny as the clips themselves. It was the perfect set-up for that evening's main entertainment.
I eventually was able to get a copy of that video, and of course now, with YouTube, it's instantly accessible, and still hilarious and very entertaining to watch...but nothing will ever top that first viewing with 1,200 of my closest friends on a hot and sweaty New York summer night.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Iron Maiden (live), Jimi Hendrix, Primus, The Police (live), Rush, The Bakerton Group, The Misfits (surprise...), Judas Priest, Pearl Jam (live), Queens Of The Stone Age (live), Pink Floyd, MC5, Rollins Band, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath...and, oh yeah, Unsane...
Saturday, January 1, 2011
So It's 2011...
...now what? I've never been one for making a big deal out of the New Year thing...all you're doing is changing the page on the calendar. You do that every month, what's the big damn deal? But, everyone else seems to think it's reasonably important, so Happy New Year everybody.
I'm also not one for making resolutions. I feel if you think something is wrong enough about yourself that you feel you should change it, why wait for the beginning of a new year? Why not start to improve yourself the moment you detect a problem? If something is wrong with your car in October, do you wait until January 1 to fix it? Of course not, so the same would go for personal improvement. That's what it's all about; the constant effort to improve oneself, to better oneself, so that hopefully you can be a benefit in some way to those around you.
New Year's Day, to me, is a paid day off of work, and I'm taking advantage of it by getting some writing done, catching up with some things and friends on Twitter, and since it's on a weekend, actually getting to hang out with some friends as well. And this was something I noticed a while ago, but I'm mentioning it now just because; I worked 243 days in 2010. I have already taken steps to insure (and I looked it up in the best book I own, my dictionary, to see whether ensure or insure was more appropriate) that I DO NOT spend nearly that much time working in 2011. I really enjoy my job, I have a great set of co-workers in my immediate area in the office, I have a great group of people that I see every day on my route, and the money is terrific (especially for a guy like me, who completed just over a year of college...what the hell am I doing making this much money?!?)...but I need to spend more time doing things other than being at work ALL THE TIME! I've already got a few things lined up in January that will make for nice diversions.
First up, I'll be going to a friend's house tomorrow to be with her, her husband, and their 2 kids (from his previous marriage) for a few hours. She used to work at the big apartment complex on my route, and we became good friends. Since she left the company a few years ago, we don't see each other very often, and in texting back & forth a couple weeks ago, I realized this was one of the things I needed to change.
And in just a week and a half I'll be making a day trip to Los Angeles to go see Tim Minchin perform live at the New Largo At The Coronet. Apparently the venue seats fewer than 300, which is fine with me, should make for a very interesting and intimate evening. As big of a star as Minchin is in England (where he lives) and Australia (where he's from), he really hasn't had much of an impact here in the US...yet. He's an extremely funny and talented individual who I've written about before for Unseen Films, and I follow him on Twitter as well. Very much looking forward to the show, and I'm hoping to be able to meet him afterwards, seeing as it's such a small venue. I'm taking a friend from work who will be getting his first introduction to the comedic stylings of Minchin...curious as to his reaction.
I'll also be seeing 2 excellent bands in one night at the end of the month here in Las Vegas. One of my very favorite bands ever, Clutch, will be the main opening act for a legendary band in the hard rock world, Motörhead, who I am also a big fan of. I've been a fan of Clutch almost since their inception. I stumbled across them back in 1993 when I used to listen to a college radio station out of Seton Hall University in New Jersey (right across the Hudson River from New York City), 89.5 WSOU. They had a metal format, and I was introduced to many great bands by listening to them at that time. And remember kids, this was in the dinosaur pre-internet days, when radio was only what you could pick up locally via the airwaves, so I was real lucky to have a local station playing what I really wanted to hear. Off the top of my head I know that WSOU was responsible for my becoming a fan of Clutch, the Deftones, and Fear Factory, and that led to many more acts that have filled my ears and soul with amazing sounds ever since.
There are other things planned for January as well (got to see about taking in some NHL games live somewhere), so it's looking to be a pretty busy start to 2011. Should be fun.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Kyuss (while I'm not much on tradition at all, I do try to make them the first thing I hear every calendar year), Screamin' Jay Hawkins, TV On The Radio, Richard Jeni, Fear, Monty Python, The White Stripes, Elvis Presley, Pearl Jam (live), Deftones (live), Metallica (live), The Muppets, Lily Allen, The Dandy Warhols, Björk (live), Wagner's Ride Of The Valkyries as part of The Blues Brothers movie), Soulfly, The Vandals, Brant Bjork
I'm also not one for making resolutions. I feel if you think something is wrong enough about yourself that you feel you should change it, why wait for the beginning of a new year? Why not start to improve yourself the moment you detect a problem? If something is wrong with your car in October, do you wait until January 1 to fix it? Of course not, so the same would go for personal improvement. That's what it's all about; the constant effort to improve oneself, to better oneself, so that hopefully you can be a benefit in some way to those around you.
New Year's Day, to me, is a paid day off of work, and I'm taking advantage of it by getting some writing done, catching up with some things and friends on Twitter, and since it's on a weekend, actually getting to hang out with some friends as well. And this was something I noticed a while ago, but I'm mentioning it now just because; I worked 243 days in 2010. I have already taken steps to insure (and I looked it up in the best book I own, my dictionary, to see whether ensure or insure was more appropriate) that I DO NOT spend nearly that much time working in 2011. I really enjoy my job, I have a great set of co-workers in my immediate area in the office, I have a great group of people that I see every day on my route, and the money is terrific (especially for a guy like me, who completed just over a year of college...what the hell am I doing making this much money?!?)...but I need to spend more time doing things other than being at work ALL THE TIME! I've already got a few things lined up in January that will make for nice diversions.
First up, I'll be going to a friend's house tomorrow to be with her, her husband, and their 2 kids (from his previous marriage) for a few hours. She used to work at the big apartment complex on my route, and we became good friends. Since she left the company a few years ago, we don't see each other very often, and in texting back & forth a couple weeks ago, I realized this was one of the things I needed to change.
And in just a week and a half I'll be making a day trip to Los Angeles to go see Tim Minchin perform live at the New Largo At The Coronet. Apparently the venue seats fewer than 300, which is fine with me, should make for a very interesting and intimate evening. As big of a star as Minchin is in England (where he lives) and Australia (where he's from), he really hasn't had much of an impact here in the US...yet. He's an extremely funny and talented individual who I've written about before for Unseen Films, and I follow him on Twitter as well. Very much looking forward to the show, and I'm hoping to be able to meet him afterwards, seeing as it's such a small venue. I'm taking a friend from work who will be getting his first introduction to the comedic stylings of Minchin...curious as to his reaction.
I'll also be seeing 2 excellent bands in one night at the end of the month here in Las Vegas. One of my very favorite bands ever, Clutch, will be the main opening act for a legendary band in the hard rock world, Motörhead, who I am also a big fan of. I've been a fan of Clutch almost since their inception. I stumbled across them back in 1993 when I used to listen to a college radio station out of Seton Hall University in New Jersey (right across the Hudson River from New York City), 89.5 WSOU. They had a metal format, and I was introduced to many great bands by listening to them at that time. And remember kids, this was in the dinosaur pre-internet days, when radio was only what you could pick up locally via the airwaves, so I was real lucky to have a local station playing what I really wanted to hear. Off the top of my head I know that WSOU was responsible for my becoming a fan of Clutch, the Deftones, and Fear Factory, and that led to many more acts that have filled my ears and soul with amazing sounds ever since.
There are other things planned for January as well (got to see about taking in some NHL games live somewhere), so it's looking to be a pretty busy start to 2011. Should be fun.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Kyuss (while I'm not much on tradition at all, I do try to make them the first thing I hear every calendar year), Screamin' Jay Hawkins, TV On The Radio, Richard Jeni, Fear, Monty Python, The White Stripes, Elvis Presley, Pearl Jam (live), Deftones (live), Metallica (live), The Muppets, Lily Allen, The Dandy Warhols, Björk (live), Wagner's Ride Of The Valkyries as part of The Blues Brothers movie), Soulfly, The Vandals, Brant Bjork
Monday, August 16, 2010
What Is This Thing You Call Sleep?
So on Saturday night I went to see the band Rush on their Time Machine tour at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here in Las Vegas. I don't own any of their music, but I know they are very talented, and I enjoy some of their songs. I think my biggest problem with the band is Geddy Lee's voice. It just doesn't do it for me. I like a lot of their songs right up until the point when he sings, as the music is terrific. I just have a hard time with his high pitch. Fortunately they have quite an array of instrumental tracks, and they really are accomplished musicians, so I really like those pieces. Rush is the very favorite band of a friend from work, and he wanted me to go with him, his wife and daughter, so that's why I wound up being at this show.
Tickets weren't cheap, but my friend got them thru Rush's fan club, so at least we were seated close to the stage, about 25 rows up off to the right side as you faced the stage. It was nice to be able to watch Lee playing bass & synthesizer, and I was able to get a good view of Neil Peart pounding away furiously on the drums...and the giant video screens helped too...
Now the Rush show was scheduled to begin at 8PM. This being on a Saturday, I had to work that day. I started at 7AM, which is a half-hour earlier than normal, but I had put in a change-of-schedule so that I could only work 8 hours that day. I also did a no-lunch, so I was out at 3PM. The reason for all this was not so much for the Rush show, but for the fact that I would also be attending another concert that evening AFTER the Rush show.
I've been a big fan of the band Primus since around late 1991. Where Rush is a power trio of pretty much straight forward rock music, Primus is a power trio that is quite a bit different. Frontman Les Claypool has made the bass into the dominant instrument in that band, and they have a sound all their own. When people ask me to describe what Primus sounds like, the best answer I can give is, "They sound like Primus." They are incredibly unique, and nothing else sounds like them at all. The only possible similarity I could give you is that Les Claypool has a potentially off-turning vocal style as well...not that he sounds like Lee in any way, it's just that the biggest reason many people find not to like Primus is Claypool's singing. I think it's quirky in a good way, so it doesn't bother me.
Now Primus are huge fans of Rush, and with both bands touring, and both being in Las Vegas the same night, Primus decided they wanted to go see the Rush show. Consequently, they pushed the start time of their own show back to midnight. This being a Saturday, that's fine for most folks, but with me working for the Post Office, Saturday isn't a day off, so this was gonna be a LONG day.
I got home from work, showered, and a friend who I'd be meeting later at the Primus show later stopped by and dropped off my tickets for Primus. I then made the half-hour journey to my Rush friend's house, and we all headed out to eat. Leaving Pizzeria Enzo at a little after 7PM, we headed over to park near the MGM, and managed to get to our seats at just about 8PM. Part of my daily routine has me exercising for a bit in the morning, so I'd already been awake since 4AM. What with working and now having had a very filling (and good) meal, I took an Excedrin simply for the caffeine. Since I don't drink coffee or soda, a little bit of caffeine goes a long way for me...
At about 8:10PM a short film came on, and Rush hit the stage about 8:20PM. They played for about an hour, took a 15 minute or so intermission, then another short film played, then they played their 1981 album Moving Pictures in it's entirety. Following this up with a few more songs, they then left, returned for a few more encore songs, and left the stage for good...followed by another short film. It was about 11:25PM when we were able to finally start filing out of the Grand Garden Arena, having to head a short distance northeast to get to the Hard Rock Hotel, site of the venue for the Primus show.
Knowing we had a whole nother concert to get thru, we made a quick stop at the bathroom on the way out of the MGM. Once we made it to our vehicles, my friend's wife and daughter parted ways with us, as the older of the two wasn't a Primus fan, and the younger had to work at 8AM the next morning, so she wasn't going to be able to go. My friend (who didn't have to work on Saturday...bastard...) and I made the short drive to the Hard Rock, parked, traipsed thru the casino, and literally set foot inside The Joint just as Primus were about to hit the stage. We made it with all of 15 seconds to spare, and as this is a general admission, standing only venue, spent most of the first song looking for a good space to make our vantage point for the evening. We wound up about halfway back, situated just to the left of the soundboard, with a good sightline. Neither of this evening's concerts had an opening act, they were both "An Evening With..." shows, so there were no boring bands to sit thru...but it also meant a tight schedule, which actually worked out really well.
My Rush friend had never seen, or I believe even heard, Primus before, but since the tickets were VERY reasonably priced (t-shirts at the Rush show cost more than the tickets for Primus), and he used to play bass years ago, he was interested enough to want to go to this too. He came out of the evening very impressed, having really enjoyed the show, which I was very happy about. And it was a terrific show, what with Primus playing a nice healty mix from probably all of their albums. They even played a few songs I didn't know, which must have been from their more recent efforts. They were still excellent offerings, and I may have to go search them out. They only took maybe a 2 minute break a little over an hour into the set, and finally left the stage for good just before 2AM. In case you're wondering, I had taken another Excedrin on the short drive over to see Primus...
I met up with my friend who had dropped off the Primus tickets many hours earlier (we had been texting each other prior to and during the Primus show), so we got to talk for a bit while we checked out the merchandise table, and each of us wound up buying a shirt. I haven't bought a shirt at a show for years, simply because they just charge too damn much money, but since these were reasonably (enough) priced, I figured what the hell. There was a nice blue one with a couple astronauts floating in space on it, and what with 2 giant (maybe 12 feet high each) inflatable astronauts having been on stage thru the set, having moving images flashed on their helmet visors all evening, it made for a nice choice.
By the time we finished getting shirts and walking back to our respective vehicles, it was about 2:20AM. I now drove my buddy home, and by the time I finished the trek back to my house, it was 3:15AM. I was still a little wired from the evening's events, so it wasn't until 4AM, a full 24 hours after this day had started, that I got into bed. I think I made it as far as 4:01...
Blog Post Soundtrack; Deftones, Prong, White Zombie, Pearl Jam, Parannoyd, White Stripes (live), Doors (live), Refused, The Centurians, John Lee Hooker, S.O.D. (live), Eagles Of Death Metal, Clutch, Anthrax, Corrosion Of Conformity
Tickets weren't cheap, but my friend got them thru Rush's fan club, so at least we were seated close to the stage, about 25 rows up off to the right side as you faced the stage. It was nice to be able to watch Lee playing bass & synthesizer, and I was able to get a good view of Neil Peart pounding away furiously on the drums...and the giant video screens helped too...
Now the Rush show was scheduled to begin at 8PM. This being on a Saturday, I had to work that day. I started at 7AM, which is a half-hour earlier than normal, but I had put in a change-of-schedule so that I could only work 8 hours that day. I also did a no-lunch, so I was out at 3PM. The reason for all this was not so much for the Rush show, but for the fact that I would also be attending another concert that evening AFTER the Rush show.
I've been a big fan of the band Primus since around late 1991. Where Rush is a power trio of pretty much straight forward rock music, Primus is a power trio that is quite a bit different. Frontman Les Claypool has made the bass into the dominant instrument in that band, and they have a sound all their own. When people ask me to describe what Primus sounds like, the best answer I can give is, "They sound like Primus." They are incredibly unique, and nothing else sounds like them at all. The only possible similarity I could give you is that Les Claypool has a potentially off-turning vocal style as well...not that he sounds like Lee in any way, it's just that the biggest reason many people find not to like Primus is Claypool's singing. I think it's quirky in a good way, so it doesn't bother me.
Now Primus are huge fans of Rush, and with both bands touring, and both being in Las Vegas the same night, Primus decided they wanted to go see the Rush show. Consequently, they pushed the start time of their own show back to midnight. This being a Saturday, that's fine for most folks, but with me working for the Post Office, Saturday isn't a day off, so this was gonna be a LONG day.
I got home from work, showered, and a friend who I'd be meeting later at the Primus show later stopped by and dropped off my tickets for Primus. I then made the half-hour journey to my Rush friend's house, and we all headed out to eat. Leaving Pizzeria Enzo at a little after 7PM, we headed over to park near the MGM, and managed to get to our seats at just about 8PM. Part of my daily routine has me exercising for a bit in the morning, so I'd already been awake since 4AM. What with working and now having had a very filling (and good) meal, I took an Excedrin simply for the caffeine. Since I don't drink coffee or soda, a little bit of caffeine goes a long way for me...
At about 8:10PM a short film came on, and Rush hit the stage about 8:20PM. They played for about an hour, took a 15 minute or so intermission, then another short film played, then they played their 1981 album Moving Pictures in it's entirety. Following this up with a few more songs, they then left, returned for a few more encore songs, and left the stage for good...followed by another short film. It was about 11:25PM when we were able to finally start filing out of the Grand Garden Arena, having to head a short distance northeast to get to the Hard Rock Hotel, site of the venue for the Primus show.
Knowing we had a whole nother concert to get thru, we made a quick stop at the bathroom on the way out of the MGM. Once we made it to our vehicles, my friend's wife and daughter parted ways with us, as the older of the two wasn't a Primus fan, and the younger had to work at 8AM the next morning, so she wasn't going to be able to go. My friend (who didn't have to work on Saturday...bastard...) and I made the short drive to the Hard Rock, parked, traipsed thru the casino, and literally set foot inside The Joint just as Primus were about to hit the stage. We made it with all of 15 seconds to spare, and as this is a general admission, standing only venue, spent most of the first song looking for a good space to make our vantage point for the evening. We wound up about halfway back, situated just to the left of the soundboard, with a good sightline. Neither of this evening's concerts had an opening act, they were both "An Evening With..." shows, so there were no boring bands to sit thru...but it also meant a tight schedule, which actually worked out really well.
My Rush friend had never seen, or I believe even heard, Primus before, but since the tickets were VERY reasonably priced (t-shirts at the Rush show cost more than the tickets for Primus), and he used to play bass years ago, he was interested enough to want to go to this too. He came out of the evening very impressed, having really enjoyed the show, which I was very happy about. And it was a terrific show, what with Primus playing a nice healty mix from probably all of their albums. They even played a few songs I didn't know, which must have been from their more recent efforts. They were still excellent offerings, and I may have to go search them out. They only took maybe a 2 minute break a little over an hour into the set, and finally left the stage for good just before 2AM. In case you're wondering, I had taken another Excedrin on the short drive over to see Primus...
I met up with my friend who had dropped off the Primus tickets many hours earlier (we had been texting each other prior to and during the Primus show), so we got to talk for a bit while we checked out the merchandise table, and each of us wound up buying a shirt. I haven't bought a shirt at a show for years, simply because they just charge too damn much money, but since these were reasonably (enough) priced, I figured what the hell. There was a nice blue one with a couple astronauts floating in space on it, and what with 2 giant (maybe 12 feet high each) inflatable astronauts having been on stage thru the set, having moving images flashed on their helmet visors all evening, it made for a nice choice.
By the time we finished getting shirts and walking back to our respective vehicles, it was about 2:20AM. I now drove my buddy home, and by the time I finished the trek back to my house, it was 3:15AM. I was still a little wired from the evening's events, so it wasn't until 4AM, a full 24 hours after this day had started, that I got into bed. I think I made it as far as 4:01...
Blog Post Soundtrack; Deftones, Prong, White Zombie, Pearl Jam, Parannoyd, White Stripes (live), Doors (live), Refused, The Centurians, John Lee Hooker, S.O.D. (live), Eagles Of Death Metal, Clutch, Anthrax, Corrosion Of Conformity
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Tool Time
I've been hard pressed to be creative lately, as I've been spending far too much time working recently. What with it being summer here in the desert of the American Southwest, we've got many people on vacation each week who are just looking for a break from working in the heat. As a consequence, that leads to a lot of overtime for those of us remaining. The money is very nice, but between the amount of time spent working, and the physical toll it takes, I find myself not having much left over for things like this blog. So with a nice relaxing Sunday here, I thought I'd take a few minutes to just sit and write, and see what flows out.
I recently went to see a favorite band of mine, Tool, perform out here in Las Vegas. Due to a variety of circumstances, even though I've been a fan since Undertow (their first full album) came out in 1993, I'd never seen them before. Despite the hassles invloved with getting into the venue and out of the parking garage, the show itself was quite the amazing experience. Many senses experienced near-overload during the nearly 2 hours Tool performed, as a kaleidoscopic video wall behind the band provided dazzling visual imagery to complement the thundering audio performance from the band. Images from the corresponding video clips accompanied some of the songs played that night, while psychedelic colors, images, and lights went in tandem with other songs. It was an incredible show, one that was capable of inducing a trance-like state of altered awareness in a few places if one allowed it.
The amount of time required to get in and out of the venue, however, will make me seriously think twice about seeing another show there. We were in a seemingly never-ending line just to enter the venue, and we must have seen the entire shopping area of the casino as we slowly snaked forward for nearly an hour. We weren't even aware of who the opening act was, which may be a good thing, as the interminably slow process of getting in prevented us from seeing them at all. Arriving at just about 8PM (show time listed on ticket), we didn't actually get to our seats until nearly 9PM, and the venue was maybe half-full at that point. This was a delay I wasn't expecting. The one I WAS expecting though, wasn't any better...
Normally when I go see a concert at a venue at a big casino, I park in an outdoor lot adjacent to that casino's property instead of an on-site garage, as it's just SO much easier to walk a block and instantly drive off at the end of the show than deal with the log-jam that is a parking garage. With the location of this casino, there really isn't any adjacent parking area. Due to the size of the crowd for the Tool performance, we were forced to park on level 10 of their garage. As we got into the car to leave, I noted it was 11:35PM, and mentioned it to my friend, as I wanted to time how long it would take until we were actually out of the structure and on the street.
Having gone to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant beforehand, we had a box with most of a VERY large (and good) pizza sitting in the back of the car. While we did enjoy our dinner & conversation earlier in the evening, since neither of us was overly hungry at the time, we had plenty leftover. Since it was now many hours since we'd eaten, combined with our progress of moving four feet every five minutes while smelling the pizza, that made this a good thing. J reached behind the seat, got the box up front, opened it sideways so we both had a table to eat off of, and we munched on a really good pizza from Pizzeria Enzo . Since we'd both worked that day, (me at 7:30AM and J at 4:30AM!), nearing midnite was kinda late, and now having eaten, J passed out in the passenger seat. We also both had to be at our respective jobs at 7:30AM, so trying to get home and get some sleep was kind of important. Due to her passing out, J missed the triumphant moment of us hitting the street and actually exiting the parking garage at...I kid you not...12:40AM! Over an hour just to exit the garage. And I still had to get J back to her house, some 25 odd minutes away, then get back to my house, almost another half-hour away from her's.
As I said, the in & out experience at this casino will make me REALLY think twice about going to see another show there, but for this particular instance involving Tool, for both of us, it was well worth it.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Bjork (live), Beck, Prong, Yawning Man, Parliment, Monster Magnet, Clutch, Son House, X, Queens Of The Stone Age (live), The Donnas, Santana (live), The Police (live), Booker T. & The MG's
I recently went to see a favorite band of mine, Tool, perform out here in Las Vegas. Due to a variety of circumstances, even though I've been a fan since Undertow (their first full album) came out in 1993, I'd never seen them before. Despite the hassles invloved with getting into the venue and out of the parking garage, the show itself was quite the amazing experience. Many senses experienced near-overload during the nearly 2 hours Tool performed, as a kaleidoscopic video wall behind the band provided dazzling visual imagery to complement the thundering audio performance from the band. Images from the corresponding video clips accompanied some of the songs played that night, while psychedelic colors, images, and lights went in tandem with other songs. It was an incredible show, one that was capable of inducing a trance-like state of altered awareness in a few places if one allowed it.
The amount of time required to get in and out of the venue, however, will make me seriously think twice about seeing another show there. We were in a seemingly never-ending line just to enter the venue, and we must have seen the entire shopping area of the casino as we slowly snaked forward for nearly an hour. We weren't even aware of who the opening act was, which may be a good thing, as the interminably slow process of getting in prevented us from seeing them at all. Arriving at just about 8PM (show time listed on ticket), we didn't actually get to our seats until nearly 9PM, and the venue was maybe half-full at that point. This was a delay I wasn't expecting. The one I WAS expecting though, wasn't any better...
Normally when I go see a concert at a venue at a big casino, I park in an outdoor lot adjacent to that casino's property instead of an on-site garage, as it's just SO much easier to walk a block and instantly drive off at the end of the show than deal with the log-jam that is a parking garage. With the location of this casino, there really isn't any adjacent parking area. Due to the size of the crowd for the Tool performance, we were forced to park on level 10 of their garage. As we got into the car to leave, I noted it was 11:35PM, and mentioned it to my friend, as I wanted to time how long it would take until we were actually out of the structure and on the street.
Having gone to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant beforehand, we had a box with most of a VERY large (and good) pizza sitting in the back of the car. While we did enjoy our dinner & conversation earlier in the evening, since neither of us was overly hungry at the time, we had plenty leftover. Since it was now many hours since we'd eaten, combined with our progress of moving four feet every five minutes while smelling the pizza, that made this a good thing. J reached behind the seat, got the box up front, opened it sideways so we both had a table to eat off of, and we munched on a really good pizza from Pizzeria Enzo . Since we'd both worked that day, (me at 7:30AM and J at 4:30AM!), nearing midnite was kinda late, and now having eaten, J passed out in the passenger seat. We also both had to be at our respective jobs at 7:30AM, so trying to get home and get some sleep was kind of important. Due to her passing out, J missed the triumphant moment of us hitting the street and actually exiting the parking garage at...I kid you not...12:40AM! Over an hour just to exit the garage. And I still had to get J back to her house, some 25 odd minutes away, then get back to my house, almost another half-hour away from her's.
As I said, the in & out experience at this casino will make me REALLY think twice about going to see another show there, but for this particular instance involving Tool, for both of us, it was well worth it.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Bjork (live), Beck, Prong, Yawning Man, Parliment, Monster Magnet, Clutch, Son House, X, Queens Of The Stone Age (live), The Donnas, Santana (live), The Police (live), Booker T. & The MG's
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Brant Bjork
Got my color vinyl copy of the 10th Anniversary re-issue of Brant Bjork's first solo effort, Jalamanta, in the mail today. Quick history lesson, Brant was the drummer for most of the all-too-brief career of the amazingly stunning stoner rock band, Kyuss. He, along with Josh Homme, was also the main songwriter of Kyuss. Josh went on to found Queens Of The Stone Age after the amicable demise of Kyuss, and went on to huge success in the music industry. Brant has been a little more low profile, but has put out better music, IMHO. I do love the first 2 or 3 QOTSA albums, especially the self-titled debut, but they've drifted kinda aimlessly into some weird experimental thing that I'm not so crazy about with the more recent albums.
Brant, on the other hand, has continued to put out albums, either on his own, or in collaboration with other bands and friends, that have been consistently fantastic. He drummed for Fu Manchu when they were putting out the best music of their still ongoing (and great) career, he was drumming with Nick Oliveri (another former Kyuss member) in his amazing Mondo Generator project, and has managed to put out over a half-dozen solo albums. And, while all of it has been terrific stuff, Jalamanta is the one album by Brant that is truly stunning in it's musical achievements. The places it takes the listener are third-eye opening, as Bill Hicks would say. I've never smoked, but listening to much of the stoner rock genre, along with the comedy/preachings/teachings of George Carlin and Bill Hicks, I'm pretty sure I've picked up a great deal of what I would've gotten out of that anyway.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Brant Bjork's Jalamanta album
Brant, on the other hand, has continued to put out albums, either on his own, or in collaboration with other bands and friends, that have been consistently fantastic. He drummed for Fu Manchu when they were putting out the best music of their still ongoing (and great) career, he was drumming with Nick Oliveri (another former Kyuss member) in his amazing Mondo Generator project, and has managed to put out over a half-dozen solo albums. And, while all of it has been terrific stuff, Jalamanta is the one album by Brant that is truly stunning in it's musical achievements. The places it takes the listener are third-eye opening, as Bill Hicks would say. I've never smoked, but listening to much of the stoner rock genre, along with the comedy/preachings/teachings of George Carlin and Bill Hicks, I'm pretty sure I've picked up a great deal of what I would've gotten out of that anyway.
Blog Post Soundtrack; Brant Bjork's Jalamanta album
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