ümlaut

Random Rock Star Moment: Bon Scott

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:27:00 +0000

The exciting sequel to No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn!

A million years ago back in The Old Metal Days I was penpals with a Metalhead in St. Louis named Trace Rayfield. Besides the usual penpal activities such as tape trading, Trace also contributed to my fanzine Whiplash. I remember Trace sending me a photo of him hanging out with Bon Scott (!) but I never got the full story about the encounter. Fast forward to the 21st Century and, for the first time ever, Trace tells his amazing AC/DC war story. Kidz these days don't even fucking know...

BON SCOTT
JULY 7, 1946 - FEBRUARY 19, 1980

On the morning of May 18, 1979, my friends Wade, Mark, and I made our first Rock ‘N Roll road trip. Little did we know that this day would be one of the most memorable days of our lives. AC/DC were set to co-headline with UFO in Springfield, Illinois (a mere 100 miles from St. Louis). We had become rabid AC/DC fans ever since we heard the title track of Let There Be Rock on KSHE-95 in our hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. We were also UFO fans and had seen them a few times already, but since Michael Schenker was now out of the band our interest had waned. This was all about the opportunity to see Bon, Angus, and the boys.

We were armed with only three things: The name and addresses of the venue, the location of the motel that booked the bands, and the local record store that sold tickets. We were confident that we would be able to score tickets the day of the show since we figured a cow town like Springfield wouldn’t have much of a Rock scene.

“UFO & AC/DC live at The Armory tonight SOLD OUT,” read the sign on the record storefront when we arrived. Guess this cow town rocked after all. Devastated, we ventured off to the Bel-Air Motel where the band was supposedly staying. We thought maybe we could still try and get our albums signed since we had come all this way.

After sitting in the parking lot for a short time we saw an out of date tour bus pull up. As we stared with anticipation, out popped Bon, Angus, Malcolm, Phil, and Cliff! What a thrill to finally see and talk to our Rock Heroes! Road haggard and all, they took the time to sign all of our albums and homemade posters. Wade had even made a scrapbook of all the articles that we ran across in the press, which they found appealing since some of the stuff they hadn’t even seen.

Mark, Angus Young, Trace, and Bon Scott

We explained our situation about the sold out show and how we traveled 100 miles and all. I don’t remember if it was the Road Manager or one of the band members that told us not to worry they would take care of us. We just looked at each other like "Holy Shit!". Could this get any better or what? As the band retreated to their rooms to clean up for the show, Malcolm asked us if we wanted to hear the new album. We were like, “What new album?" and Malcom said "Highway To Hell. We’ve got a tape of it on the tour bus." Okay this isn’t really happening. AC/DC left us on their tour bus, alone, and we listened to their new album, months before the U.S. release.

Malcolm Young on the bus. Highway To Hell is playing on the cassette deck above.

Of course we were snapping pictures all along the way. No digital cameras back then so eventually we ran out of film. After a while the band, one by one, started to get back on the bus. Oh, who’s this guy? Just Pete Way of UFO there to share a drink with Cliff and Bon.

Pete Way, Cliff Williams, Bon

We followed the bus to the venue and basically went right in with the band and crew before being given backstage passes by their Road Manager.

We started watching the show from the wings before a roadie suggested we move out front where we could see better. They proceeded to deal out a blistering set of pre-Highway To Hell classics. To be honest, I don’t even remember seeing UFO that night, but I’m sure we stuck around to see their set. We were just so amped up, anticipating our return to the Bel-Air Motel.

We might have been getting a little greedy here, but we thought, what the hell, let’s see if any of the band are hanging around. All of the band members were cordial, but Bon definitely came off as the friendliest, so we thought let’s knock on his door and see if he would be interested in a cold beverage from our cooler. Jackpot.

Eventhough Bon had a groupie with him he was more than happy to invite us into his room to chat. It didn’t hurt that we had a cooler full of cold beers. We proceeded to grill Bon about the stories behind some of our favorite songs, like 'TNT', 'Dog Eat Dog', and of course, 'Whole Lotta Rosie'. When asked about the only appearance the band had made in our hometown of St. Louis on the Let There Be Rock Tour at the 21 and over rock club Mississippi Nights (we couldn’t go because we didn’t have our fake ID’s yet and we vowed to never miss another show there, and we didn’t). Bon had vivid memories of that night because the band brawled with the club staff after the show. Not sure what started the brawl but it was inconsequential to the story. That was the band's reputation. Oddly enough, Bon almost got into it again next time he would be in St. Louis. More on that in a minute. Anyway, the current “Rosie” was getting a little anxious so we figured we better get out of there. We told Bon we hoped to see him again soon and shook hands goodbye.

Fast forward to July 1st of that same year. AC/DC was set to open for up and coming arena rock band Triumph at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. No lack of tickets for this one. We moved early and got 2nd row center. Thanks to my friend Wade’s due diligence we located the band's hotel in advance. The three of us arrived at the now defunct Roadway Inn in downtown St. Louis. At least it was a proper hotel this time. We had more albums to get signed that we had picked up since our last meeting (we grabbed every import or special edition we could find). This didn’t go unnoticed by the band. They were surprised that we had some of the Australian imports. Slowly the band appeared one by one and obliged our autograph requests. Again, Bon was the one to hang around and chat with some of his biggest fans.

Bon signing albums at the Roadway Inn

Needless to say, the show that the boys put on trumped the headliners even with all of Triumph’s lights and pyro. After the show, we made it back to the hotel to see if we might get lucky enough to run across Bon. When we saw Bon’s lady acquaintance we didn’t like our chances of hanging out with him this time because she was smokin’ hot. Not to worry, Bon said "Come on up boys and bring the cooler!" Wow, here we go again. We saved some film this time to document the experience.

Trace, Bon, and Busch Beer. That night's "Rosie" in the background.

As we were enjoying some hometown brew (Busch beer), we noticed a large bandage on Bon’s big toe so we asked what happened. It seems Bon’s lady friend used to tag along with Rik Emmitt (Triumph’s front man). Well I guess she told Bon that Emmitt didn’t think much of Bon’s stage persona or his vocal talents. I guess sometime backstage Bon confronted Mr. Emmitt with the intention of kickin’ his ass back to Canada. Well Rik realized he wouldn’t look too good with a black eye on stage, so he quickly denied, recanted, or whatever to avoid a beating. Somewhere along the way, Bon’s foot and a large lamp collided resulting in much blood shed. This same story (albeit Rik Emmitt’s version) can be heard on KSHE-95’s “Real Rock Museum” on their website. Good stuff.

Bon and his bandaged toe

We proceeded to empty our cooler with Bon, although he did ask if we had anything harder than beer. We got a good laugh out of that at least for the time being. After another hour or so we went on our merry way with memories to last a lifetime. Here it is almost 33 years later and I’m writing about this for the first time!

We hoped we had a friend for life in Bon. We didn’t have any idea how popular AC/DC might get in the future, but we held out hope that Bon would still remember the kids with the cooler. All of that came to a sudden, shocking end when we heard the announcement early the next year, February 20th, on KSHE’s 5 o’clock evening news that Bon had been found dead after a hard night of drinking. Unfortunately, his friends did have something harder than beer that night.

Rest in Peace Bon, we’ll bring our cooler when we see you on the other side.

Bon with Trace and Wade

"Living easy.. living free.. season ticket on a one way ride..."

No Sleep 'Til...

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:09:00 +0000

While out and about the other day I happened to walk past 2 young hipster dudes just as one of them said:

"I once fell asleep at a Metallica concert.."

That random quote inspired this:

John: "My dad fell asleep at a 1980 Van Halen concert he took me to."

Chris: "I fell asleep during Joshua Redman's set at Zellerbach Hall last year, which was sad because I was really enjoying it. Proof I'd been working too hard."

Suzee: "I fell asleep at a Flipper show at The Mabuhay Gardens.. Had been up all night prior keeping a friend from swimming in the ocean."

Umlaut: "I fell asleep during Journey at a 1980 Day On The Green after Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, and Molly Hatchet had played.."

Greg: "I have a friend who left the recent D.R.I. show early because he fell asleep standing up. He is notorious for this.. When Judas Priest toured with the reunited Anthrax we found him passed out in a port-o-john before Priest."

Devin: "I slept on the back of Tom Hunting's drum riser during a 45 minute Exodus set."

Tom: "I fell asleep at Hot Tuna Electric at The Warfield in the balcony, well into their 3rd hour. Got a good doze, woke up and they were still playing. I left. For all I know they're still playing."

Chris: "I fell asleep at Def Leppard years ago.."

Tony: "I fell asleep during a L.A. Guns set as they were opening for AC/DC..."

Brad: "I slept through most of a Megadeth set at Ruthie's Inn when they were a 3-piece.. They weren't great, but it wasn't them, I'd done an all nighter or two for final exams that week and refused anything stronger than Peet's Coffee to keep awake."

Shaxul: "I was so fucked up when I arrived at Thrash of the Titans in 2001 I sat hunched over, drooling, passing out and then waking up only to fight the urge to puke. I finally recovered at the end of Death Angel's set I think. I missed everything before that. Didn't drink Jameson for years afterwards."

Cyndy: "I was working my ass off, in a heat wave, on tour with the Rolling Stones in 2003. I knew I was going to doze off during one of the shows in Paris, so I strategically propped myself up on some road cases and managed to sleep standing up. I was busted when my boss came over and asked me a question. My coworkers ribbed me about that for months."

Laura: "Day On The Green 1982 with The Who and The Clash. Got in line the night before, slept outside the gates all night waiting to be first in line. I stayed awake for most of The Clash, which I hated, and then fell asleep for The Who. Never again."

And finally, The Man... The Myth... The Legend:

Tour Manager Doug: "April 30, 1984 - Slept through Bon Jovi opening for Scorpions at the Cow Palace, I don't really remember why I was so tired, although I think I spent the night in my car in the parking lot, so that might explain it."

"September 10-14, 1985 - I don't remember exactly which show it was, but back in my t-shirt selling days Rising Force played Austin - McAllen - Corpus Christi - San Antonio - Dallas on consecutive nights. I drove between shows, so I tended to not get much sleep. At one of those shows I was so tired that I grabbed a power nap on top of the merch table during Yngwie's set. I knew that I wouldn't make it through the entire show without falling asleep, and there was nobody to cover for me, and I was worried about shirts getting stolen, so I stacked all of my stock on the table and slept until somebody woke me up to buy a shirt near the end of the show. I think I may have written a sign the said "Wake me up if you want to buy something"."

"March 4, 1989 - A Flock Of Seagulls - FM Station, North Hollywood - I had a bad cold, after the band went on I slept in the tour motor home until the show was over and we needed to load out. I live about 1/2 a mile from that building now."

The Final Night Of 1985

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:43:00 +0000

The final night of 1985 in San Francisco:

Although the flyer listed Anthrax as being on the bill they cancelled and did not play. In reality MEGADETH opened the show. So, Metallica and Mustaine shared the stage again MUCH earlier than most people think. It's absolutely true and the official timeline on the Megadeth website comfirms it. Also, the headliner played 'Master Of Puppets' for the first time that night; here's what it sounded like:

According to the Metallica website they have now played the song over 1,375 times since that New Year's Eve in their hometown. Meanwhile back in the 21st Century, I really need to listen to some new music in 2012... my head has been stuck in the past too much this year.

"End of passion play... crumbling away.."

The Year Of The Rabbit

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:34:00 +0000

Vintage Old Metal Decal

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

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

I've said this many times in the past, but I rant in this space mainly to keep my mind sharp; I like putting words together. The fact that I mainly rant about bands and music is kind of secondary. I rant here for fun and I just do my own thing. Umlaut will continue to fight the hordes, sing and cry, and we will see what the next 8,760 hours bring.

I will now quote that British band: "Let The Music be your Master, will you heed The Master's call?"... and with those words, here's my 2011 scorecard:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FATE!
(Pic by ümlaut)

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

Harald onstage in San Francisco
(Pic by ümlaut)

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

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

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

THE STOOGES!
(Pic by ümlaut)

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

2011 Reality Check Moment:

Goodnight Dixie

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

Cliff

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:39:00 +0000

On display at The Fillmore in San Francisco during Metallica's residency there this week to celebrate the band's 30th Anniversary:

The sign reads: "This was the last bass he played 9/26/1986". It still has the last set of strings that he touched on it.

"Hypnotizing power... crushing all that cower.."

Flash Before My Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

One day last week I found myself standing in front of this:

What is it? Well kidz... It's the stage back drop from Metallica's 1984-85 Ride The Lightning World Tour.

10 Bucks
(From the Umlaut Archives)

"Guilty as charged.. but damn it.. it ain't right.."

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:50:00 +0000

Many thanks to Umlaut’s old friend Trace Rayfield for this! I remember this photo from back in The Day and he recently resent it to me… Time travel rules! Trace interviewed Lars and James for my fanzine Whiplash; it was probably their first interview after Kirk joined the band. Oh, and the interview was recorded in a moving car… but I’ll let Trace tell the story:

Metallica in New Jersey - April 1983

"This picture was taken in the parking lot of the record store Rock 'N Roll Heaven in New Jersey. This was the beginning of my 4 hour odyssey with James and Lars including the Whiplash interview. We then went to the record store Zig Zag for an in-store appearance and ended up at L'Amours in Brooklyn for an Anvil show. In between was a comical drive through the streets of Brooklyn with lots of beer drinking and bad directions from the locals. Two kids from California and two kids from the Midwest lost in Brooklyn. Of course, the more beer we drank, the more lost we got. The happy ending was we made it before Anvil hit the stage and I got my interview."

An excerpt from Trace's 1983 interview:

WHIPLASH: HOW DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE EAST COAST SO FAR?

JAMES: Not as good as San Francisco.

LARS: The bangers out here aren't as fanatic.

JAMES: They don't get into mobs and bang like out in 'Frisco.

WHIPLASH: HOW DO THE AUDIENCES DIFFER ON THE EAST COAST FROM THE WEST COAST?

LARS: They just aren't as crazy. Fuckin' out there in San Francisco the first ten rows is just hair and sweat and bobbing heads. They're just fuckin' all over each other, but maybe it will be the same here soon 'cause we've only done a few gigs out here so far. The crowds are still kind of checking us out where as out there (in San Francisco) it's like home turf.

JAMES: L.A. was the fuckin' worst.

No Sleep 'Til.....

The Evil Has Landed

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:10:00 +0000

Pre-orders can still be made HERE directly from Bazillion Points.

And Metal Takes Its Price

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:41:00 +0000

Advance copies have arrived... which means it's only 33 days until this spawn is unleashed... Pre-orders can still be made HERE.

"Murder in the front row crowd begins to bang
And there's blood upon the stage
Bang your head against the stage
And metal takes its price
Bonded by blood!"

The End Of The Road

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:43:00 +0000

Warbringer / Lazarus A.D. / Landmine Marathon
Thee Parkside, San Francisco
November 7, 2011

It's not often that I've witnessed the first show of a tour and the last show of a tour... but that's what happened with the America Torn Asunder Tour featuring this packaged bill. A little over a month ago I attended the tour's first date down in Hollywood. The bands were all fresh faced, their merch bins full, and their equipment prepped and ready for over a month on the road. Now 38 days later the tour steamed into San Francisco for the 37th and final show of the trek. Damn, 37 shows in 38 days. I expected the bands to look pretty crispy when I saw them again… and they were… and some of their equipment was no longer alive.. but their merch bins were almost empty… which is a good thing.

Thee Parkside is a special venue for Umlaut when it comes to my kindred spirit band Landmine Marathon because it's where I was first exposed to their blow torch ways onstage. Fast forward over 2 years and 12 shows later and it was cool to see Landmine within these familiar confines again. Tonight would be my lucky 13th time seeing the band. Landmine were welcomed back to San Francisco with the traditional box of Mission burritos that touring bands have coveted since time immemorial.

As Ryan Landmine and I went to the Prius that was parked on a dark side street to retrieve the foil wrapped jewels it felt like I was making a drug delivery to the band. For those who care, Landmine's burrito setlist was:

1 bean rice and cheese
1 chicken burrito with lettuce pico sour cream, etc
1 bean rice cheese lettuce tomato/pico
3 bean rice pico guacamole no cheese
Hot sauce on the side

METAL.. Don't worry, the box was made from free range cardboard.

Truth be told, this was more of a hang out session than a gig… I was only there to see Landmine and the night took an unexpectedly old school social turn when I discovered that Rafa Black Cobra and Gary Holt and his entourage were in the house. Gary was literally just off the plane back from Austin where he had sat in with Slayer again at the final show of their World Painted Blood Tour. Much old school conversation ensued and I decided that Gary needs a History Channel show called You Weren't There where he will debunk all the myths about The Old Metal Days.

"Thrash started on the East Coast?! Bullshit.. You weren't there!!"

Landmine Marathon killed it. Tonight was the 13th time I've seen Landmine and they were firing on all cylinders from the opening notes of 'Three Snake Leaves'. The first night of the tour 38 days earlier had been somewhat shaky, but tonight the grueling 912 hours that had passed since that first show detonated for this last show. It was one of the most focused sets I’ve seen Landmine play... No bullshit... 7 songs… 40 minutes.. blow torch volume… decent crowd action.. Thank you, g’night! While I missed hearing some of the old set list standards, the 3 news songs were confidently brutal and felt broken in from the month of working them out on the road. I've said it before: Great band... great people... and Gary Holt even liked them. So there you go...

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Sorry, I don’t like Lazarus A.D... so the outdoor patio of Thee Parkside was a welcome refuge as they entertained the crowd inside. I don’t mind Warbringer; they seem like good dudes and they’re definitely Road Dogs when it comes to touring. I had heard they added a cover of Motӧrhead’s ‘We Are The Road Crew’ to their set since the opening night of the tour. When they started into that classic I went in to watch some of their set from that point. Again, Warbringer are a good band but it's just that I've seen it before... in 1983. Honesty is my only excuse.

If you bought one of every Landmine Marathon merch item you would have spent around $95. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. The burrito drop was handled the old fashioned way: Via the barter system.. will delivery burritos for t-shirts and vinyl.

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night!

Work Night

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Mastodon / The Dillinger Escape Plan / Red Fang
The Warfield, San Francisco, CA
November 3, 2011

This was one of the most solid bills of the year and basically all killer, no filler for Umlaut. At this point in my life, I'm an old jaded fart and I don't pay attention if others think a band is "Hipster Metal" or whatever; if I like a band I could give two shits about what you think about them... and if being labeled "Hipster Metal" means a band of Mastodon's caliber can go from playing clubs to headlining a theater and make a living being musicians, than what's the problem? Anyway, most of my shows this month have revolved around work, which is fine because it's always good when a show is this easy:

I like Red Fang a lot and they seemed to win over the large venue with their Oregonian brand of bearded Rock. Their 30 minutes of boogie sludge flew by, which was a bummer… but not as big of a bummer as when I found out Red Fang had to sell their shirts for $30 tonight. It’s not the band’s fault for the pricing, but it was a reality check about the downside of playing a major venue. I'm looking forward to when Red Fang comes back through town and can sell their tees for $15.

To be honest, I'm not as enamored with Dillinger Escape Plan since I realized they basically copped their sound from Rorschach. However, they're still one of the best live bands going. Dillinger attack a stage like a serial killer with a hunting knife and it's hypnotic to watch the members fly around the stage, up onto the backline, up onto PA stacks, leaping into the air, leaping into the crowd. I always wonder how Dillinger keeps their stage intensity up over an entire tour; they probably do yoga or something. The crowd's 45 minute stint in the Dillinger kill zone was rewarded with the special appearance of Mike Patton on guest vocals; an "only in San Francisco" moment, right? Dillinger are still one of my don't miss live bands; it still feels like anything can happen during their set... and that "anything" usually ends up with people getting bruised.

Outside of the venue I was surprised to see as many as 6 bootleg vendors selling Mastodon tees. Odd. It’s not like Mastodon are AC/DC and the show was not sold out. I should bring this up with the band’s merch company….. Anyway, Mastodon sounded unbelievably great tonight and kudos to their soundman. There's a lot going on when Mastodon are in full roar and the mix was crystal clear and booming out front. Oddly, Mastodon posted the setlist they're playing on this tour on their website. After watching the start of their set from near the soundboard, I found myself at stage left for a couple of songs... and you know you're at a show in San Francisco when Jello Biafra and Matt Pike are standing next to you.

Stage left Mastodon

However, watching a band from onstage is overrated, so for the last part of their 90 minute set I went back out front. As you can see from t he posted setlist 'Blood & Thunder' was the final song of the set as it has been for awhile. It was a solid, solid set and it was good to witness Mastodon finally headlining a big stage because I've been following them for a long time... despite what the haters think.

The show was also a Who's Who of Bay Area Rock with 1/2 of Black Cobra, 1/4 of the Dead Kennedys, 1/5 of Faith No More, 2/3 of High On Fire, 1/3 of Papa Wheelie, and 1/4 of Metallica in the house. However, my biggest Music Geek moment happened as I was walking past a table backstage and recognized a member of the band Gallows… I stopped and said “GALLOWS!” and the guy, Laurent (guitar), looked surprised to be recognized. Long story short, Gallows had the day off in S.F. and were playing the next night; I chatted with Laurent for a good while about his band. Unfortunately, Gallows recently got a new singer which was a buzz kill for me... so I felt kind of bad not seeing their S.F. show the next night... but I just wasn't feeling seeing the band with a new front man. Honesty is my only excuse.. bummer.

Oh, cheers to the guy who walked past me at the downstairs bar and shouted "UMLAUT!!" and shook my hand. I think I know what SLAAAYER feels like now. Thanks, dude!

Anyway, I didn't do a merch audit tonight... although Mastodon had the best merch IMO. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. Pop culture trivia learned during backstage hang tonight: That band guy is dating that porn star.

28 Years Ago Today

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Umlaut's First Backstage Pass!
(From the Umlaut Archives)

Halloween 1983.. The Keystone in Palo Alto, California. Metallica had finished their debut U.S. Tour supporting Raven almost 2 months earlier with a trio of triumphant hometown shows in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco; this was their first headlining hometown area gig in 7 months. It was also the first time 'Fight Fire With Fire' and 'Ride The Lightning' were played live... A rather historic moment, right? The show was a Metal Monday show sponsored by local Rock radio station KOME 98.5 (R.I.P.) and the ticket price that night was $5.98 (geddit!?).

There was a costume contest before Metallica went on, but I can't remember what the winning costume was and, NO, Metallica did NOT wear costumes onstage like every other band who plays on Halloween. However, for those who care the setlist that night was:

Hit The Lights
The Four Horsemen
Jump In The Fire
Fight Fire With Fire
Ride The Lightning
Phantom Lord
When Hell Freezes Over
No Remorse
Seek And Destroy
Cliff solo
Whiplash

'When Hell Freezes Over' was an early version of the instrumental 'Call Of Ctulu' that ended up on the Ride The Lightning album. Less than 3 months after this show Metallica left for their first European Tour... and things were never the same.

Shameless self-promotion: Live and backstage photos from this night will be seen in Murder In The Front Row...

Victim Of Changes

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:49:00 +0000

Judas Priest
Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
October 27, 2011

When it was announced earlier this year that K.K. Downing had left Judas Priest on the eve of their "Farewell" Tour I decided there was no way I wanted to see them again. K.K. and Glenn Tipton have been the most enduring axe duo in Metal; for me and most of you reading this we've never known a time when that guitar team was not blazing the planet. Now that team is no more. I decided there was no fucking way I was going to this show.

Then days before the show I was put on a guest list via work... What's a good Priest song to symbolize me being a hypocrite?

Unbelievably horrible traffic out to Concord as usual but zero drama at Will Call = A trade off. Calling a band Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott is a complete abomination and I want no part of it; but we arrived late and completely missed their set anyway. I can't stand Black Label Society; evidently Zakk Wylde wore an Indian head dress onstage this time. I thought he was from New Jersey?? I'm so glad he's not "part" Chinese so he doesn't wear a coolie hat onstage. Thankfully my mates and I spent most of their set eating some dubious venue food and having a beer. Then I had some work related responsibilities to take care of so I ducked backstage, but it was all good. Just another day at the office...
I reemerged into the Real World from the magical world of Backstage mere minutes before Priest were due to take the stage. After being directed around a couple of times by ushers we found ourselves in 4th row seats, dead center. To be honest, the seats made up for K.K. not being in the building; this was my 7th time seeing Priest and I've never been that close to the stage. Sorry K.K... but I can be fickle and shallow like that. "I'm made of Metal.. My circuits gleam.."

The focus on this "Farewell" Tour is that Priest are playing at least one song off of every studio album. A VERY cool idea... if only they'd done this when K.K. was in the band! Anyway we were only in our seats for a couple of minutes, beers in hand, before the houselights went down... the intro tape started... the curtain covering the stage fell... and Priest were right in front of us as 'Rapid Fire' announced the start of the set. It was fucking awesome... until I glanced to the left side of the stage and saw Fake K.K... Buzz kill.. However, I quickly got into the mindset that I was going to have a good time instead of obsessing on K.K.'s absence... and thankfully Priest made it easy by going from 'Rapid Fire' into 'Metal Gods' into 'Heading Out To The Highway'. I sipped on my beer and sang along like the aging Metalhead that I am... and it was good.

Photo by Umlaut iPhone

The high point of the 21-song set for Umlaut was the one-two nostalgic punch of 'Starbreaker' (HOLY SHIT.. They played 'Starbreaker'!) that went into 'Victim Of Changes'. The latter is probably my favorite Priest song and watching the middle solo without K.K. playing it felt wrong even with lasers lighting up the stage... but I still sang along to it. For whatever reason, Slayer and Judas Priest are the only bands that cause me to sing along when I see them live. I have no idea why. Discuss amongst yourselves. However, watching dozens of dudes singing along with Halford to 'Turbo Lover' made me think of a 70's San Francisco bath house... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Because I like to nitpick, I was bummed that the Rocka Rolla track performed was 'Never Satisfied' which Halford had performed on his solo tour last year. However, I tried to stay focused on having fun instead of being a jaded old fart... and the return of 'Beyond The Realms Of Death' to the setlist had me singing along again.. "He'd found a place in his mind and slammed the door..." still gets me every time after all these years, man.

Although I hate to admit it, this was the most F-U-N show of the year! Probably due to the beers, but I made the mental leap and simply got caught up in the songs and tried to ignore Fake K.K. onstage as much as possible. Granted, Fake K.K. did a good job... but it just wasn't the same... but I had F-U-N despite myself. I genuinely felt like I was that 16-year old Judas Priest fan again. "Breaking the what?!"

Photo by Sensory Abuse iPhone

Although I should have, I didn't do a merch audit, but Priest did have the best merch IMO. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Going into the show I ignored any spoiler posts online about the setlist... but I ran into Gary Holt in the concourse before the show and he blew it for me when he rattled off some of the songs Priest were going to play (Exodus had just supported Priest in Poland in August..). Thanks, Gary.

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night!

The Big 4, 6, & 7

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Anthrax / Testament / Death Angel
The Warfield, San Francisco
October 23, 2011

It's taken me several days to get my head around this night. This show represented A LOT of things in Umlaut's past and present that have come full circle this year... and it was kind of overwhelming a couple of times. This was the biggest Metal show to hit The Bay Area in 2011 and was the perfect bookend to Umlaut's epic experience at The Big 4 show in Indio back in April. However, tonight's bill carried more emotional weight because 2 of the 3 main bands were playing in front of their hometown! EPIC.

Prior to the show Photo Ray, Sensory Abuse, and I performed the all too common pre-show ritual of pints and food at The Irish Bank. Then we few, we happy few, made our way to The Warfield for a night of vintage Metal. Within literally a minute of arriving at The Warfield two people commented on The Record Vault shirt I was wearing, including Ted of Death Angel who said he was wearing his Vault shirt onstage tonight! The Bay Area Metal pride was thick in the air and I hadn't even gone inside yet... Once inside I was overwhelmed by the number of old friends who were at the show; it felt like the high school reunion that I never attended in so many ways. However, before I could really socialize I had to take care of some work related responsibilities, but it was all good. Just another day at the office...

(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

Death Angel were the only band that had the crowd chanting their name before they hit the stage. The hometown heroes detonated immediately with one of their newer songs 'I Chose The Sky' before blazing into 'Evil Priest' from their classic 1987 debut album. The band has been on the road for 18 months and it showed; they were simply awesome. No band works a stage better than Death Angel and their San Francisco hometown pride was in full effect with Ted wearing his Record Vault tee and Will on drums wearing a Niners jersey. I literally got chills down my spine as the hometown crowd (including the balcony) went off during the band's set. It was very special and the first time Death Angel had played The Warfield since 1990 (!). 'Seemingly Endless Time' is always the highlight of a Death Angel set for me... Oddly the band did not play their original war cry 'Kill As One' which was kind of a bummer; it would have been cool to hear the big crowd singing that chorus with the band. It was a criminally short 35 minute set but Death Angel was my favorite band of the night. It's so fucking great to see the band rising above the lineup upheavals of recent years to recapture that fire which made them special to begin with.. and it warmed my heart to hear the crowd chanting "Death Angel... Death Angel.." again after they left the stage.

Death Angel
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's Death Angel shots!

For the only time on this tour, Testament had their full stage show for tonight's hometown appearance. Whenever Testament walks onstage I get kind of overwhelmed because the band is so larger than life to me now. There's Chuck Billy's gigantic charisma of course, but the rest of the band also exude a swagger that makes me proud to call The Bay Area home along with them. Their hour long, 13 song set exploded with a 1988 double shot of 'The Preacher' into 'The New Order'.. WOW. Testament were even more crushing tonight than usual, with the mix and volume being more thunderous even by their standards. 'Into The Pit' is always the set highlight of a Testament set for me... especially when Chuck Billy holds his half mic stand like a Metal Wizard churning a cauldron of metal to get the crowd action going. The set was so solid, heavy, and loud it kind of left my head spinning... At that point I should have gotten a beer but I don't think I did.

Testament
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's Testament shots!

Not long after Testament's set one thing led to another and I found myself having an enlightened chat with Alex Skolnick in his dressing room. It made me wish for a day when all Rock Stars were cool and intelligent human beings... Just saying. I then managed to duck upstairs to the stage just as the stage changeover was completed for Anthrax. As the houselights went down I found myself at stage left with Joey Belladonna doing his vocal warm ups right in front of me. I'm not a singer so I found it interesting...

It had been 5 years since Anthrax last played inside the San Francisco city limits. To be honest, the set Anthrax played was very strong but it didn't blow me away. The new songs work well live, but playing a cover of Sepultura's 'Refuse / Resist' seemed misguided when they have so many of their own songs after 30 years. However, the old classics like 'Madhouse', 'Antisocial', and 'Metal Thrashing Mad' were top notch and Belladonna proved he's still a great front man.

While Anthrax raged onstage, the area around me at stage left filled up with a Who's Who of Metal featuring Kerry of Slayer, Gary of Exodus, Robb of Machine Head, Mark of Death Angel, and Kirk of that band Metallica. Impressive, right?! I was also impressed when Scott Ian gave a shout out to San Francisco and mentioned his band's first show here in 1984 at The Kabuki with Raven and Exodus. Who else reading this was at that show besides Umlaut?

Mr. Kerry Fucking King
(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

The end of Anthrax's set turned into one of the quintessential Old Metal moments of the year. As they launched into the set closing 'I Am The Law', Kirk Metallica snuck behind the PA stack at stage left watching the song. It was cute watching the kids in the front row notice their hometown hero and lose their shit. Then when the chorus of the song came, Kirk and Mark Death Angel casually walked onstage to share vocals with a surprised Scott Ian. When you think about how much shared history Metallica and Anthrax have together it was cool seeing it all come back around onstage in Metallica's hometown. As the song ended Anthrax suddenly started an impromptu version of 'Whiplash' during which Ian took off his guitar and handed it to Kirk... and the impromptu version of the song took flight for several more minutes. So. Fucking. Cool.

(Photo courtesy of Cable Car)

Although I should have, I didn't do a merch audit, but Anthrax did have the best merch IMO. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. It was an epic night and I didn't roll back into Casa de Umlaut until 1:00am.. and it was a school night... but the Metal Godz had blessed us with a spectacular night... and it was cool to be able to catch up with two of my favorite non-Caucasian band friends:

Ted Death Angel

Not Dave Mustaine

(Photos courtesy of Cable Car)

"DROKK IT!"

20 Years Ago Today

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:30:00 +0000

This show went on sale the same week Nevermind was released. If you look at the date on the ticket stub, I actually bought my ticket on the day the album was released (September 24, 1991)… which probably means I bought the album at the same time at Tower Records. Kinda cool, right? Lucky 13 dollars... and it came 2 weeks after THIS other historic Bay Area concert.

The support acts were local San Francisco favorites Sister Double Happiness and those awesome crusty ladies L7. By the day of the show a month later, Nirvana Mania was starting to engulf the world and the show was way sold out; a mob of people were out in front of The Warfield looking for tickets. During the headliner's set I was around the middle of the main floor and the crowd went absolutely berserk during ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. At some point during the evening my glasses got broken in the crowd action. People were climbing on the drink rail at the back of the main floor and diving off the entire night. It was a fucking great show. “Here we are now.. entertain us..”

Ironically, legendary San Francisco promoter Bill Graham had died the night before in a helicopter crash (on his way back from a Huey Lewis & the News concert.. which made it even worse..). This Nirvana show was one of the final shows he was personally involved with… It was obvious the Bill Graham Presents staff working the show were grieving and there was a large portrait of Graham hanging behind the bar in the lobby. I bought a Nirvana "Flower Sniffin, Kitty Pettin, Baby Kissin, Corporate Rock, Whores" shirt at the merch booth... which I still have.. but since the same shirt was later sold at Hot Topic no one gives a shit now.

Later in the show, as Nirvana came back onstage for their encore, Novoselic said some condolences about the show's deceased promoter… and I've always wondered if someone backstage asked him to do that.. because his tone sounded a bit sarcastic.. something like “This show is dedicated to Bill Graham… you know… Rock Legend…” To be honest, I don’t think many kids at The Warfield that night gave a shit about Bill Graham.

I was way into Nirvana and Grunge initially; the early days reminded me a lot of the early days of the original Old Metal scene, where image didn’t matter next to volume and mayhem. Also, Cliff Burton wore flannel shirts and Kurt Cobain saw Metallica on the Ride The Lighning Tour in Seattle (TRUE!)... Just saying. Unlike most Metal people, I don’t think Nirvana and Grunge caused the downfall of 80’s Metal. I will argue forever that it was the rise and popularity of the bullshit MTV Hair bands that dragged all Metal bands down and caused Metal to become irrelevant for most of the 90’s… but then the same thing happened to Grunge eventually. Either way, I’m glad I was there to witness both pre-MTV Metal and pre-MTV Grunge.

“I’m a negative creep and I’m stoned…”

For those who care, the October 26, 1991 set list was:

Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam
Aneurysm
Drain You
School
Floyd The Barber
Smells Like Teen Spirit
About A Girl
Polly
Breed
Sliver
Lithium
Love Buzz
On A Plain
Negative Creep
Blew
Dive
Rape Me
Territorial Pissings

One Man Show

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:04:00 +0000

Foo Fighters / Cage The Elephant
Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
October 19, 2011

I was way into Nirvana before they were hijacked by the mainstream, but I can't say I've ever been a Foo Fighters fan. Not because of any "loyalty" to Dave Grohl's former band, but because they were just average to me, with their albums maybe good for 2 decent songs max to my ears. The last time I saw Foo Fighters was on their debut tour back in the 20th Century.

San Francisco - 1996

(From the Umlaut Archives)

Here in the 21st Century, the Foo Fighters have obtained an odd mainstream popularity and are pretty much a household name. Recently I watched the documentary Back And Forth that tells the band's story and it's not bad as Rock documentaries go. Dave Grohl has also unabashedly championed Metal starting with his excellent Probot project almost a decade ago. Which is cool, but that doesn’t make him or Foo Fighters Metal IMO. Part of me still thinks most people "like" Foo Fighters because they represent 1/3 of Nirvana. Just saying.

As we approached the Will Call window I was surprised to see a couple of Christian "You Are So Going To Hell For Liking This Music" protesters screaming at the people entering the show. Uhhh, was it a slow day in Christianity?? The Foo Fighters are about as Satanic as whole milk... but I did laugh out loud when a guy yelled "SLAAAYER!!" at the protesters. Nicely done.

After getting a beer we found our seats right before Cage The Elephant took the stage. I've seen the band's name before and thought it was stupid... but they actually weren't terrible. The band are from Kentucky and play a sort of retro Brit Pop / Grunge hybrid thing. The singer was entertaining to watch as he worked the stage in a 3rd tier Iggy sort of way. He even closed their set by diving into the crowd and standing on people's hands ala Iggy with the Stooges - Cincinnati 1970.

Iggy Pop - Cincinnati 1970

Nice try, Cage The Elephant singer... but everything's already been done.

Foo Fighters hit the stage at 9:00pm sharp with the new songs ‘Bridge Burning’ and ‘Rope’ and remained onstage for a solid 2 ½ hours. Impressive. Although I just said I can't call myself a Foo Fighters fan, I have to admit I know all of their radio hits... 'My Hero’… ‘The Pretender’.. ‘Learn To Fly’.. ‘Everlong'. I was surprised how many songs I actually recognized.

We had good seats in the band guest area... but of course the downside of sitting in comp seats is sharing a row with tall skinny girls with short attention spans. Tonight it was a pair who bopped along to a song and then left, and then came back, after literally every other song. Yes, girls, you're pretty and I'm sure that works for you, but I so want to shove you down the stairs because this is the 5th time you've interrupted the show for me... and the band has only been onstage for 40 minutes. On the flipside, in an Old Metal small world moment I found myself sitting 2 seats over from my old friend Rick Brackett, who I had not seen since we both attended Metallica's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shindig in 2009. Somewhere Cliff Burton smiled.

Anyway, Foo Fighters onstage should really be called The Dave Grohl Show since he pretty much does everything onstage and the rest of the band basically just stand there. The band had a monster stage show that included video screens, an ego ramp, and a runway down the middle of the arena that went all the way to the soundboard. The small soundboard stage was also on a riser that rose KISS-like at one point during the set for Grohl to give the bad seats the front row experience. Pretty cool, but it was weird that only Grohl utilized the staging and was the only one who even ventured past the stage monitors. However, I guess that onstage dynamic works for AC/DC with Angus.. so what do I know. That being said, Grohl is an excellent front man.. which is good since he’s the only one who looks like he breaks a sweat onstage.

Besides the odd onstage band dynamics, the sound was also kind of weird too. It seemed to be heavily weighted towards Grohl’s vocals and everything was mixed way too clean for my liking. I mean, there were THREE guitarists onstage but you could never tell because that’s not what the band’s live sound is about. It should have sounded huge... but it didn't. Bizarre… but THREE guitarists looks cool onstage. However the Foo Fighters are not Iron Maiden or Lynyrd Skynyrd... or even The Outlaws.

All in all, it was a fun show but of course no Probot songs were played. Besides the big radio hits, Grohl and the band pulled out a very good cover of Pink Floyd’s 'In The Flesh' (with drummer Taylor on vocals and sounding eerily like Roger Waters). During the encores they also trotted out a guest appearance by Bob Mould for the new song ‘Dear Rosemary’ (on which he appears on the new album) and then for a cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Breakdown’…. I know… Tom Petty.. but it made me realize that Dave Grohl is the Tom Petty of Hard Rock... Entertaining... not terrible.. but safe. On that note, I was fascinated that evidently NO dudes with long hair seem to like Foo Fighters. Out of the 13,000 or so people in the house I saw no dudes with long hair outside of myself and maybe 3 others. It was downright bizarre to me.. Safe Rock.

Number of Metallica shirts = None. If you bought one of every Foo Fighters merch item you would have paid around $300. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Again, it was a fun show and a good night out, but I just realized I could have simply said a Foo Fighters show is kind of the opposite of a Slayer show instead of writing this whole thing.

29 Years Ago Today

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Click HERE to download a FREE soundboard recording of this show... Metallica's 2nd visit to San Francisco in 1982. It's an authorized download so no need to worry about Lars going Napster on your ass here in the 21st Century. My buddy Rich and I helped Metallica load-in before this show. We somehow managed to steal a beer keg from The Waldorf in the process... which ended up in the trunk of my car. Rich remembers:

"Kirk Hammett (then still in Exodus.. who were opening the show) saw us coming out of the freight elevator with the keg and had the funniest puzzled look on his face."

Kirk was still underage like us. Maybe he had never seen a keg before..........

"This one is for all you Rivetheads.. This is our ode to Headbangers song..."

20 Years Ago Today

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:34:00 +0000

October 12, 1991… Metallica headlined a Day On The Green at Oakland Stadium. It was an epic day made all the more special because I had been away from the Metal scene for around 5 years. In that time I had listened to other music, tried college, made new friends, etc… but when this show was announced I was struck by an intense sense of nostalgia about the early Metal Days and the time spent with a pimply-faced band called Metallica before they were millionaire Rock Stars. Also, the fact that the hometown heroes were headlining one of the iconic Day On The Greens was a historic moment for the band and Bay Area Metal. The show was also the first time Metallica ever headlined at a stadium.

Big Wayne and I took BART to the stadium and arrived in time so see the relatively unknown Soundgarden play their Grunge on the home field of the Oakland A’s (For the newbies: The Raiders were still in Los Angeles and wouldn’t move back to Oaktown for another 4 years..). Faith No More were good and had a smart ass attitude about playing such a enormous hometown show. Queensryche were riding high with their craptacular MTV hit single / Pink Floyd rip off ‘Silent Lucidity’ and during their set we wandered around the concourse eating and drinking. It was during this wandering that my life came full circle with my Metal past again as I ran into numerous old friends from the original Bay Area Metal scene; it was like the high school reunion I never attended. During our wandering I also saw a guy round house kick another guy in the head, who hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Metal.

This was still back in the days when a stadium show was simply a huge general admission mob scene; there was no “gold circle” reserved seating on the stadium floor. It was general admission the way a huge Metal show should be where mayhem could run free and not be tethered by reserved seating and security. Trivia: This was the final Day On The Green that promoter Bill Graham personally worked on because he was killed in a helicopter crash less than 2 weeks later. Spooky.

As dusk fell onto Oakland, Metallica’s standard intro tape of ‘The Ecstasy Of Gold’ started playing over the P.A. and all hell started breaking loose on the field in front of the stage. A storm of beer cups and other debris erupted in the air as the thousands of primed, stoned, and drunk Metallica fans started a mini-war amongst themselves. Cups and garbage flew up into the air as well as big chunks of the outfield grass that was torn up by the Metal mob. Then when Metallica hit the stage and opened with their new single ‘Enter Sandman’ the most massive pit I’ve ever seen opened up and for the next 2+ hours the band and The Bay Area were one. As darkness fell it was medieval watching multiple pits swirling in the shadows and darkness of the stadium floor. The stadium was packed with 50,000 people and I had a hard time comprehending this was the same unknown band who I had met less than 9 years earlier on their first visit to San Francisco… when Lars drove his AMC Pacer up from L.A.. For those who care the setlist was:

Enter Sandman
Creeping Death
Harvester Of Sorrow
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam (1st live performance)
Through The Never (1st live performance)
The Unforgiven (1st live performance)
Master Of Puppets / Seek & Destroy
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Fade To Black
Whiplash

Encore:

No Remorse / The Four Horsemen
One
Holier Than Thou (1st live performance)

Encore 2:

Last Caress
Am Evil?
Battery

It’s an over-used cliché, but time really does fly, man… Twenty years… A LOT has happened to Umlaut since that day. Enter night, exit light.

"Don't get stupid."

Early Show

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:35:00 +0000

Orchid
Thee Parkside, San Francisco
October 9, 2011

This show was attached to the annual Indie Mart street fair that took place on the closed-off street next to Thee Parkside. The mart featured a typical S.F. mix of artsy fartsy craft vendors to kill time looking at… but the best part of the event was the Chairman Bao food truck was in attendance so I could snack on their godlike steamed tofu bun. Arriving early also meant watching a band called Nectarine Pie who had obviously studied 60's British Invasion bands... which isn't a bad thing... but I was there to see something heavier… so I got a beer at the bar and wandered off to find my friends outside on the patio.

Evidently Orchid were stuck in cluster fuck traffic and late getting to the venue (it was an unusually busy Sunday afternoon in S.F. with the Blue Angels, a Columbus Day parade, AND the Niners being in town). As a result the band only played about half their scheduled time. Despite the brief performance I was surprised that I had an epiphany about Orchid: I was finally enlightened on how the band is hot wired into a vintage Santana vibe, which is not as obvious to the casual listener as their Sabbath vibe.

Since Orchid are older dudes they pull off the vintage angle a lot more convincingly than most of the young bands attempting the same thing these days. I mean, when Orchid step onstage wearing vintage clothes it doesn't look like they’re in costume; they look and sound like the real deal. Carter and Keith lay down a heavy groove on drums and bass that most bands attempting to do the “vintage” sound in the 21st Century fail to grasp… and Mark and Theo lead the bell bottom charge with the former wielding epic TONE on his SG and the latter having a voice that’s both other worldly and powerful. Orchid in a live setting creates an aura in any room they’re playing and don’t simply fill it with volume.

(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

The truncated set opened with the new song 'Saviours Of The Blind' and for the next 35 minutes the band transported the room to another place. Following the opening song the band followed with another new one 'Nomad'... and then eased through 4 songs from their current releases.. with the highlight being 'Eyes Behind The Wall' before they closed things out with 'Eastern Woman'. It was a clean and mellow set… made all the more so by having the young kids of the band members and friends standing at the rail. I trust the youngsters were all wearing ear protection… because I believe that children are the future… teach them well and let them show the way.

I didn't do a merch audit... but Orchid did not have any girl's tees in size Small. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. All in all it was a super mellow Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. I was glad I got see Orchid again before they leave on a European Tour next week that includes shows in Poland, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Prost!

Click HERE to see more of Sensory Abuse's shots from the show!

Street Of Metal

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:53:00 +0000

Warbringer / Lazarus A.D. / Landmine Marathon
The Key Club, Hollywood, California
October 3, 2011

As fate would have it I was in Hollywood for some work business on the same day as Sunset Boulevard was invaded by this Metal package tour. Prior to showtime Umlaut was able to have a summit meeting with a friend who used to live in S.F.; it was almost like the "old days" at Thee Parkside and DNA Lounge again. Then we few, we happy few, made our way to Sunset Boulevard and The Key Club.

Tonight was the first date of this 31-date package tour that ends on November 7th in San Francisco. The pre-show activities included witnessing an encounter between my friend and the gross lecherous father / manager of the local support band in front of the venue. I imaged the guy had prowled Sunset Boulevard back in the 80’s when he was maybe 50 pounds lighter and had hair. I’m sure it was hard for 80’s Hair Metal guys to age… Bummer, dude. No more Cherry Pie for you.

It had been 10 months since I last saw my kindred spirit band friends Landmine Marathon. Their new album (Gallows on Prosthetic Records) really captures the live fury of the current lineup and it's their best since 2006's Wounded IMO. Landmine are rooted in the Hardcore Punk scene and I wondered how they would fare on this bill featuring two bands from the current retro Metal thing. I was also reminded how problem-ridden the first night of a tour can be and the band’s 40 minute performance was somewhat affected by these distractions. This included the house monitor guy rudely walking onstage in the middle of the set to switch out Grace’s mic even though there didn’t seem to be any problem with the one she was using.

Despite the bumps, the setlist was a good mix of songs with 3 off the new album; opening with ‘Three Snake Leaves’ and closing with the old standard ‘Red Days’. It was also good to see Landmine fill a big stage again since the last time I'd seen them in a "major" venue was at Scion Rock Fest 2010 in Ohio over a year and a half ago. Since I had missed Landmine's last visit to San Francisco back in August, it's always a win-win when I can see and hang out with one of my favorite bands.. even on a less than perfect night.

The Key Club is one of those soulless venues whose interior looks more like a bad suburban strip club than a concert venue. However, one advantage of seeing a show there is that the legendary Rainbow is only a half a block away. It’s so easy to escape The Key Club and go to The Rainbow for a drink and hang out in between bands... which we did... twice. Unfortunately, Lemmy was not in the house tonight.

I’ve probably seen Lazarus A.D. before but they annoyed me a whole lot tonight. Lazarus A.D. are from Wisconsin (dontcha know..) and their choreographed headbanging (which included the drummer!) made me laugh out loud. It really did… which is a shame because the Midwestern kids have decent chops on their respective instruments. Still, it’s a fine line between being Metal and being silly looking. I also couldn't help wondering what hair products the band uses on the road to give it that silky smooth sheen.

Warbringer means well and I think their Metal heart is in the right place. It was cute how the band members lined up at the front of the stage during songs and their shirts looked like a page from the Rockabilia catalog: Discharge (guitar), Bathory (vocals), Carnivore (bass). Left out of the mix was the 2nd guitarist at stage left; he looked out of place with his short hair and non-band plain black tee. Note to 2nd guitarist: Grow out your hair and stop at Hot Topic and buy a Slayer shirt to wear onstage so you look like you belong at the party, ‘kay? The singer is also one of those vocalists who talks in a growling “Metal“ voice. It was cute how he sometimes slipped out of character and used his “normal” voice. Dude, if you just use your normal voice when talking to an audience it will make it easier for everyone.. Just saying. Still, I don’t want to bag on Warbringer too much because, out of all the current retro Metal bands going today, I do think they are one of the better ones. It's just that I've seen it before... in 1983.

All in all, my night on Sunset Boulevard was more about seeing friends and band friends than anything else. Thanks to Matt Landmine for letting me say I was in the band to the venue staff so we could get food inside the venue before the doors opened... 'cause food is where it's at..

I didn’t do a merch audit… but I did finally have a burger from Grill ‘Em All (a "Waste 'Em All" burger) and it was awesome. On the way back to The Bay Area, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. The next morning I flew back home and went straight into the office and put in a full 8 hours. No Sleep 'Til Casa de Umlaut.

Early Exit

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:56:00 +0000

Weedeater / Saviours / Bison
The Independent, San Francisco
September 30, 2011

A busy but great work day dovetailed into a meet up with Photo Ray and Sensory Abuse at The Irish Bank for some pre-show pints and fish 'n chips. My good mood was harshed a bit by the large number of suits who crowded The Bank for Happy Hour... but ultimately it was all good. Then we few, we happy few, jetted across town to The Independent for a Thursday night of volume.

You know you're seeing a show in The Bay Area when Matt Pike is standing behind you in the Will Call line. Once inside we chatted with Scott of Saviours about subjects ranging from album art to Motörhead merch to the fact that Bison B.C. had lost one of their guitarists after their hometown show in Vancouver only 2 days earlier. DOH. Not long after we were told this gossip, Bison (do they still use B.C.?) walked onstage as an awkward looking 3-piece. This was odd at first since I've seen the band before and as the set started it just didn't feel 100% right. Thankfully the set settled into more of an old Bison groove and got better. I noticed that bassist Masa only had 3 strings on his bass with the 4th peg removed. Has he always done that? I didn't know if it was an avant-garde instrument customization or if his 4th tuning peg had simply broken off. Whatever the case, by the time the newly trimmed version of Bison (B.C.?) walked off stage they seemed like a band again.

I almost had my beer(s) spilled twice during my time in The Independent on this night. Once by an overly excited hipster Metal girl who backed into me... and again by a guy trying to do a stationary kickflip on a skatedeck in front of the bar. What kind of idiot tries to do a stationary kickflip on a skatedeck inside a crowded club?! The look that I gave him must have been authoritative because the kid apologized in a way that gave me grim satisfaction. Now go outside and play in traffic out on Divisidero, you stupid kid..

Saviours are bona fide chick magnets; the shirtless ones drew more females down to the front of the stage than any band I've seen in awhile. Nicely done, lads! I've seen Saviours almost more times than any other current Bay Area band... and I love how the East Bay dudes are complete Road Dogs who constantly tour, tour, tour. Saviours are such a well-oiled Classic Rock-fueled juggernaut now it's awe inspiring.

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Guitarists Sonny and Austin effortlessly channel the Allman Bros. to Thin Lizzy at the drop of a hat.. and Scott on drums is the second coming of Philthy Animal Taylor both in skills and attitude.. and current bassist Carson would not look out of place in Black Oak Arkansas. The songs from the band's new album (Death's Procession) translate full tilt boogie perfectly live with my favorite song of the set being 'To The Grave Possessed' and its stellar groove dueling axe action... with the old gem 'Into Abaddon' being a close second for me on this night. Well done, men of Saviours... Now put your shirts back on and go forth and do what Rock Star chick magnets do after playing a killer set.

(Photo courtesy of Photo Ray)

Okay, as much as I like Weedeater I bailed before their set started... Yes, a pussy move but I was really tired; I'm old and not afraid to cut my loses when my body asks me "Please can we go home now?" Having seen Weedeater before I have no doubt they laid waste to the Lower Haight... but by the time they were halfway through their set I was probably halfway asleep.

Thanks to Ron Crawlspace for sorting me for the show!

I didn't do a merch audit... but I regretted not bringing cash for the limited edition, embossed, tour only vinyl of the new Saviours album; rookie mistake. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. When I woke up the next morning it was Friday... and I had no regrets about my early exit the night before. Everybody's working for the weekend...

Metal Command

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:59:00 +0000

For the past year my head has been submerged in memories and thoughts about The Old Metal Days as I've worked on Murder In The Front Row with my partners in crime Harald O. and the awesome Bazillion Points Publishing. At the same time there have been many instances of Old Metal coming full circle in my life this year as well (The Big 4, getting back in touch with old friends, etc..). The Metal Godz work in mysterious ways, man.

This weekend I was honored to attend the wedding of Guitar God and old friend Gary Holt. Ironically... actually more like appropriately... both Gary and his bride Lisa were thanked back in The Day in my Metal 'zine Whiplash.

Full Circle!!

Prior to the wedding I noticed a guy who I thought looked familiar but I wasn't sure... Then later during the reception a friend brought the same guy over to me and it was fucking RICK HUNOLT!! For the newbies: Rick was in Exodus during the bloody Baloff-era but eventually retired from the band in recent years; I had not seen Rick since at least 1992. It was an amazing reunion and we talked as if no time had passed in our lives.

Umlaut and Hunolt - September 2011

Rick's 1st Show with Exodus
Wolfgang's, San Francisco - July 11, 1983
(Photo by Umlaut)

Yes, Old Metal came full circle again in my life... and the look on Rick's face when I told him the title of The Book made my year. After all this time it's great to know he's doing well; somewhere Baloff smiled.

"It's time to fight for Metal tonight!"

Inkblot Test

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:23:00 +0000

Rorschach / Brainoil / No Statik / Needles
924 Gilman, Berkeley, California
September 16, 2011

I left for the show straight from work and, as I drove down San Pablo Avenue towards Gilman, 'A Lesson In Violence' by Exodus blasted from the iPod on shuffle. For the past year my head has been completely immersed in the book project that I'm involved with and it's been hard for me to disengage from memories of the Old Metal Days. Suddenly it was Berkeley circa-1985 in my car and Baloff was my co-pilot for a moment. I met up with Sensory Abuse and Photo Ray across the street from Gilman at the NOT Punk Pyramid Ale for food, libations, and conversation before we walked over to the holy place of Bay Area Punk.

Once again, I forgot to bring my Gilman membership card and had to pay the extra $2 to get another one (For the newbies: A $2 Gilman membership card is required for admission into shows along with a ticket with the $2 going towards the club's upkeep.. at least that's always been the explanation..). Umlaut is not a Punk and I've never pretended to be one... and as a consenting adult I would rather pay $5 for a beer at a venue than $2 for a membership card... but I understand what Gilman is about. Having Pyramid Alehouse across the street is so awesome because here in the 21st Century you don't have to go down to that corner liquor store on San Pablo Avenue and drink in a car before or during a Gilman show... which would be pathetic for someone my age.

Apologies to Needles, but I'm not Punk. Apologies to No Statik, but for your set we returned across the street to Pyramid for another round of pints. We noticed members of Brainoil hanging out too.... and it's always nice when the band(s) you're there to see are hanging out in the same bar so you know when they're going on because they leave.

Here in the 21st Century it's funny to see Metal bands playing at Gilman. Remember when Neurosis were "Punk" and now they're considered "Metal"? One day they could play Gilman, then they couldn't. Brainoil are a dirty, sludgy Metal band but they belong at Gilman because their music bleeds the East Bay / Oakland as much, or more, than most local Punk bands. Just saying.

Brainoil
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

The band's performance started kind of *off* to me... but by the last part of their set they were in full Brainoil roar and the Gilman kids had some decent crowd action going for them. I wasn't blown away by the band's set as I had been last month when they supported Eyehategod but they're still the top of my bill of Bay Area Metal bands. However, even at Gilman, there's a guy in a Pantera shirt being the dick of The Pit. Why is that?

I admit I didn't know a lot about Rorschach other than they are "influential". They stormed the underground Metal and Hardcore scenes in the early-90's at a time when I was more interested in Nick Cave than I was about new bands from those genres... so I missed a lot. A Metal friend who I respect told me that Rorschach are the band that got him interested in Hardcore back then.. To my ears Rorschach should bitch slap bands like Converge and Dillinger Escape Plan for copping their sound... but maybe they don't care. Tonight in Berkeley was one of four shows on Rorschach's brief visit to the West Coast this month. The men from New Jersey (which featured guitarist Keith wearing a shirt of Umlaut's kindred spirit band Landmine Marathon) set up on the Gilman stage and kicked things off with the songs 'Mandible' into 'In Ruins' and all Hell was unleashed.

Rorschach
(Photo courtesy of Sensory Abuse)

Best quote: "Hi! We're from 1993..." - Charles of Rorschach.

The band's crossover Metal Hardcore fury was perfect to witness inside Gilman... but the crowd action for the first part of the set was distracted by a couple of assholes in The Pit. One of them was around 6'5" tall who threatened to punch people around him at every turn, including a girl or two. What. A. Dick. Things finally erupted into a near brawl and Rorschach stopped their set, the houselights were turned on, and the pair of assholes were shown the exit.

No fighting!

Once that silly behavior was stopped, Rorschach started the fury back up again. They finished off their 17-18 song set without a body count but with plenty of worthy crowd action. The night ended with a blazing cover of Black Flag's 'My War' with the band's roadie sharing vocals. Nice.

I didn't do a merch audit.. but I find it adorable that you can buy shit like candy and an organic bean burrito for $1.75 at Gilman. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced kids called me a fag. If I took the Rorschach Test at this moment I'd think that pattern looks like an organic bean burrito riding a bat.

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's shots from the night!

Damage Inc.

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 07:11:00 +0000

Metallica
Dreamforce Convention
Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco
August 31, 2011

Back in June this was posted on Metallica's official website:

San Francisco Show??
June 22,2011

It all started when Kirk mentioned that his next door neighbor had invited us to play at his party in San Francisco and we figured "why not?" After all, it has been quite some time since we've played in our hometown, and we haven't exactly been getting out a lot lately. Well, it turns out that Kirk's neighbor, Marc Benioff, is the top dog at a "small" company called Salesforce.com and his shindig actually lasts for four days and hosts over 30,000 people! So much for a little backyard barbeque . . .

Following in the footsteps of Neil Young, the Foo Fighters, Black Crowes, and Stevie Wonder, we are excited to announce that we have been invited to play at the ninth annual Salesforce.com Dreamforce convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Wednesday, August 31. It promises to be quite the party . . . where else can you learn everything you ever wanted to know about cloud computing during the day and then rock out with the 'Tallica at night?

Bizarre, right? Long story short, the Metal Godz work in mysterious ways and I found myself with a pass to watch the biggest Metal band of my generation play a corporate gig. Also, for those keeping score, this would be the first show Metallica had played inside the San Francisco city limits since November 2005 when they supported the Rolling Stones at AT&T Park. Oh... and this trade show appearance also happened to fall on the anniversary of this legendary "intimate" hometown show from a million years ago:

August 31, 1985

Sometimes this blog writes itself, man. Per the pre-show instructions we picked up our passes at a Will Call table set up inside Jillian's, a sports bar a couple of blocks from the convention center. I was pleasantly surprised that a good number of old school Metalheads were in attendance and we were able to have some decent socializing before heading over to the show.

According to the Umlaut Archives this would be my 40th Metallica show. The street running in front of Moscone Center was blocked off and filled with tents and serving tables; it was obvious this was not going to be a typical Metallica concert. We flashed our passes to get past the security check point and were greeted by literally a block of tables and booths serving free food and drinks. There was also a small stage set up for some kind of entertainment. The amount of money spent on this event was already staggering and we hadn't even entered the building yet!

As we entered the convention center and took the escalator down to the space where Metallica would be playing it was obvious this was 99% NOT a Metallica crowd. Suits, business casual, and Dockers was the overwhelming dress code. Inside the space it was downright bizarre with massive video screens behind the stage and ringing the huge space.

The space was huge and I guessed there were probably at least 5,000 people gathered but they stopped letting people in at one point even though there was plenty of room for more humans. Unfortunately, the stage was way too low for such a big show... and that proved to be a bummer once the show started since the only way to see the band was on the massive video screens. To balance that out the room was lined with more free food and alcohol tables! An open bar at a Metallica concert is a good thing, right?

The band was a good 20 minutes late hitting the stage, so as I stood there I chatted with friends who were also Metallica fans in exile tonight... and overheard a guy in a suit standing behind me say how he had seen Metallica at The Kabuki (San Francisco) in 1985. I was at that show too which meant we're around the same age, so I turned around to check him out. It was obvious from his suit that he'd grown up while I'm stuck in a retarded state of adulthood wearing a Ghost t-shirt. Meanwhile, the other tech geeks around us continued to get drunk on the free booze. Then the CEO (or whatever) of Dreamforce came onstage looking ridiculous wearing WAY too much Metallica swag (a Metallica hat, jacket, and t-shirt tucked in to show off a Metallica belt buckle) and proudly announced that tonight was Metallica's first ever appearance at a corporate event. The tech geeks cheered; I threw up a little in my mouth.

Finally the houselights went down and Metallica's standard 'Ecstacy Of Gold' intro tape started with the standard Eli Wallach graveyard scene from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly accompanying it on the massive video screens. At that moment if felt like a Metallica concert.. at least for several minutes. However that vibe changed as soon as the band hopped onstage into 'Creeping Death' and the crowd action started..... and by "crowd action" I mean thousands of tech geeks holding up their iPhones, Androids, and even iPads to film the band! If someone had started a good pit I'm sure thousands of dollars of tech gadgets would have been damaged... but, alas, no one did.

The set continued with 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' and the irony of watching this song on this date in front of this crowd was almost crushing to me. Everyone knows the most iconic video in existence of Cliff Burton is of the song from that Day On The Green in Oakland on August 31, 1985... and to witness the song be reduced to basically background music at a corporate event almost made me cry.

Thankfully Metallica sounded GREAT and they performed like the pros that they are now... but the vibe of the space was wrong on every level for a "Metal" show. The audience was an elite group of whatever they do for Dreamforce and the band were simply freaks onstage performing for their amusement; it was like watching court jesters perform for an audience who ultimately didn't give a shit. I doubt the vast majority of the crowd could even relate to the music on any level... but free alcohol can make anybody a Metalhead, right? It was downright horrifying to watch drunk 20-something business casual chicks and dudes trying to dance to 'Blackened'... and I literally wanted to punch a guy wearing a lime green sweater over a blue button down shirt and slacks who was "dancing" to 'Master Of Puppets'.

Best quote: "You know, you can take your tie off.." - Hetfield to the crowd.

At one point I had to gather my sanity and wandered off to find the Men's Room. I was shocked to see how many half empty cups of beer were left everywhere around the space. The tech crowd may have shitloads of money but they are unbelievable lightweights!

When I eventually found a Men's Room I was greeted by a toilet completely covered in vomit. Lightweights!!

The highlights of the set for me were 'Fade To Black' and 'Blackened' (despite the dancers) and the first encore of 'Last Caress' because the song's "I raped your mother today" line seemed completely lost on the audience. However, when the band started 'Enter Sandman' I could literally feel the collective reaction of the casual audience as they all had the exact same thought: "I know THIS song!"... and standing next to me was an SFPD officer who tapped along to the song with his fingers on his holstered service revolver. Exit light, enter night...

As the 90 minute set ended with 'Seek And Destroy' I couldn't help but think how the song used to make me want to fuck shit up back in The Day... but tonight the song probably only made these people want to sell the shit out of Dreamforce when they got back to the office. As the band took their bows we headed for an exit but walked straight into one final "what the fuck" moment for the night. As we looked for an exit, we walked into a huge side room filled with vintage pinball machines and video games, more free food, and more open bars. The area also featured 2 giant screens that showed what was going on in the next room onstage... so those with only a casual interest in Metallica could still say they "saw" Metallica even if they didn't really give a shit about the band.

Vintage video games > Metallica

Shrimp tacos > Metallica

This was far and away the most bizarre Metallica show I think I'll ever experience. The irony of this performance happening on the anniversary of the legendary Day On The Green show was almost too heavy for me to bear... but it also reminded me how much things have changed for Metallica with their massive success since the Old Metal Days. When it comes down to it, Metallica are still my favorite band, but with that comes some mind crushing perspective.

THANKS to Cable Car for the additional photos and Toby for sorting me for the show.

There was no merch for sale. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Despite the nature of the show it was still an F-U-N Wednesday night out... but August 31, 1985 still lives in my heart... "Do you all know Cliff Burton over here?"

Home Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (ümlaut) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:27:00 +0000

High On Fire / Black Cobra / Embers
The Uptown, Oakland, California
August 27, 2011

Home cooking is the best and this show was the volume equivalent of that with 3 of the Bay Area's best hometown bands on the bill. After going to Will Call to make sure I was on the guest list, Photo Ray and I walked over to Luka's for pre-show grub and libations. We then returned to The Uptown just as Matt Pike arrived in the passenger seat of a Honda. You know you're seeing a show in Oakland when Matt Pike gets out of a Honda and picks up a No Parking cone and throws it across the sidewalk into a building so his friend can park the car.

We arrived as Embers were already well into their set and while they sounded great I opted to go back to the bar to get a pint. It was going to be that kind of show. Black Cobra detonated onstage at 10:00pm and, as at the recent Eyehategod show, I was once again glad to experience one of my favorite bands in front of an enthusiastic alcohol-fueled East Bay crowd. I don't think I've ever seen a legitimate pit going during a Black Cobra show, but tonight featured a lively drunken one. The action included beer cups being thrown at the stage and bodies hitting the floor during practically every song...

Those crazy kidz... Truth be told, I've been a bad friend and the last time I'd seen Jason and Rafa onstage was 9 months ago (!). Sorry, guys... Despite having recently completed a new album (Invernal... out on Southern Lord this Fall..), no new songs were played and Black Cobra kept the set to an excellent cross section from all of their current releases... and for 40 minutes the boys whipped up a long haired thrash fest that made my 9 month absence from their shows melt away.

Photo courtesy of Photo Ray

More so than at other Black Cobra shows that I've seen, the crowd was in mayhem mode from the very first note of 'Negative Reversal'. This was the band's first Oakland show in awhile, and the best part about seeing shows in the East Bay is that the hipster element is outnumbered by the drunken crusty element... and that means more fun for your volume and more bodies flying around the room as the band works it onstage. My favorite salvos of the night were the groove monsters 'Frozen Night' and 'Chronomega'... but the entire set was absolutely ferocious on every level. As Rafa hit the final beat to close 'Swords For Teeth' and held his sticks aloft like the severed head of a defeated foe, I felt the performance, combined with the crowd action, was probably the best Black Cobra set I've seen since I started following them in 2006. For what it's worth Black Cobra's symphony of destruction went like this:

Negative Reversal
Machine
Red Tide
Storm Shadow
Five Daggers
Frozen Night
Omniscient
The Cry Of Melora
The Sapphire Falcon
Chronosphere
Swords For Teeth

By the end of Black Cobra's set the room was crowded, hot, and sweaty so we retired to the bar until we heard the thunder of High On Fire starting up. Alas, the hallway to get back into the main area was jammed with humans and I was not in the mood to fight my way back to the stage. After listening to the opening salvo of 'Frost Hammer' into 'Blood From Zion' into 'Waste Of Tiamat' I was done with not being able to see the stage and being oppressed by the heat and sweat of the space... So, since this was already my 5th High On Fire show since the release of Snakes Of Divine last year, we cut our loses and beat an early retreat back across The Bay Bridge.

Yeah, it wasn't really a complete night of Rock but it was sufficient for Umlaut. Black Cobra were my priority because it had been awhile since I'd seen Jason and Rafa in full roar and that was worth the trip to the 510 alone. Also, hearing High On Fire thunder while looking at the backs of people standing on chairs who are trying to see the stage is still better than being down front for most other bands... but since I'm an Old Fart I wasn't in the mood to experience an entire show that way.

Anyway, I didn't do a merch audit. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. There was a nerd wearing his 1999 Metallica fan club t-shirt but I'm sure he was down front for High On Fire and I wasn't... so who's the poser?

Click HERE to see Photo Ray's combat shots from the night!