Monday, February 12, 2007
I'll Go Until My Heart Stops
Getting There: As we all know, getting to someplace you've never been before is half the fun....usually. This was the first time I'd ever actually driven through Albany and, let me tell you, they don't make it easy. After going from I-90 to 87 to 787 (over a course of about 10 miles), I then had to get to exit 9W...the first exit I came across said 9W on it, so I took it. But oh no, this was the exit for ROUTE 9W. I had to take EXIT 9W to get to Route 7W. Guess what? There's also an EXIT 7W, leading somewhere totally different. Well, I had left earlier than I needed to, because I figured something like this would've happened. So eventually I got to the road that Northern Lights was on; however, there's no actual sign for Northern Lights- it's in a nondescript plaza next to a Dollar Tree. This plaza, however, is the last bastion of civilization for at least another 4 miles down the road (which I discovered the hard way) Anyways, I found it, and made it just in time for the second of three local opening acts.
Mediocre, in every sense of the word. Plus, I mean, LOOK at that name. Sofa Kingz...with a fucking Z. It sounds like they should be opening for Kottonmouth Kings and OPM. But Sofa Kingz was eminently more listenable than...
I mean, they had a name, I'm sure, but I really didn't care much. It was your typical "punch each other in the face" kind of hardcore band that couldn't really inspire too much audience participation, other than the pit rats that go to shows ONLY to go crazy and hit each other. Unlistenable, uncharismatic garbage. But it allowed me to get nice and close for the first really great surprise of the evening.
I'll be honest, I could barely even remember this band's name before I got here, though I had been looking forward to this show for a couple weeks. So the band all walked onstage and grabbed their instruments. Looked like a typical metal band, alright. Then she walked onstage. A 5-foot nothing bleached blond chick in a puffy, frilly red polka-dot dress and a lacy, low-cut white blouse, with a yellow neckerchief around her throat. Literally, she looked like Christina Aguilera with a bunch of tattoos. However, what came next will be etched in my mind for a long long time. She held the mic up, leaned over, and let out a crazy demon's wail from the seventh layer of Hell. Every jaw in the room dropped to the floor as this petite woman screamed her goddamn ass off. I looked around a couple times, and literally, at least 5 people around me were mouthing "Holy shit" as the band owned the stage and completely annhilated the audience. After 2 songs, the entire place was going apeshit for this band that, I would bet, less than 10% of the people there had ever even heard of. It was fucking beautiful to watch a band win over an audience like that. By the time they were finished, they had a couple hundred new fans, and everyone knew their goddamn name. They've got a full length coming out March 20th, and I'll be first in line to get it.
Loud and violent. LOUD AND VIOLENT. A band fronted by the most pissed-off Big-Lebowski-looking motherfucker I've ever seen. Crazy hardcore and the crowd went fucking nuts accordingly. I didn't know any of the music, but it was good enough. Plus, it got me warmed up for the band I really came to see:
An absolutely crazy metalcore band from Alaska, I completely marked out for these guys, along with most of the audience. They put on an absolutely killer set, taking the best tracks off of their last 2 albums bringing the whole house down. Starting out with the first two tracks off their new album (I'll Go Until My Heart Stops, Felt Through A Phone Line), then segueing into their two most popular songs (At the End Of August and the Heart and the Shape), the whole crowd was singing along and bashing into each other. That lead into the harder territory of Elysium, Bloodwork, and Aurora. I'm very very biased, as they put out one of my very favorite metal albums when I was in college, but they put on the best performance of the night. When they left the stage, I was sweaty, my voice was almost gone, and I was more than a little banged up, which wasn't helped out at all by...
Exploding on the stage like a goddamn landmine, Candace Kucsulain ran onstage looking like a hardcore Molly Holly (Hardcore Holly, anyone?) and got the whole building crashing into each other. Seriously, one of the sickest pits I've ever seen. I got bashed in the face, had my glasses and hat knocked to the floor, had to crawl blindly among about a dozen pairs of legs, then got hit in the back of the head by an errant crowd surfer. It was AWESOME. I couldn't really tell one song from the other (I only have 2 of their albums, and only listened to their newest one a couple times), but it didn't matter. So after this crazy set, it honestly was kind of a step down when the last band of the night went on.
By the time they got onstage, everyone was tired as hell, sore, sweaty and hoarse. I haven't actually listened to Kittie in years, so I didn't really recognize most of the songs they played. They were okay, but they can't really do much of any melodic singing anymore. That, and the drummer looks like more of a man than I do. Seriously, Buffalo Bill with a long hair wig. They were decently loud, and the songs I recognized I enjoyed, but I was so exhausted by the time they got on that I couldn't show too much enthusiasm.
Overall, it was one of the better rock shows I've been to. But I would be remiss if I were to neglect mentioning the two biggest assholes on the face of the earth.
Looking like a cross between the Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot and Andrew W.K., these two motherfuckers decided to try to ruin the show for a good portion of the audience. They were both about 7 feet tall, with long curly hair down past thier shoulders, and they decided to stand right against the barricade at center stage. And block the view for everybody behind them. The two tallest motherfuckers in the building, and they decide to stand right up front for the whole show, and not even REACT to any of the fucking bands other than Kittie. If you're not gonna participate in the goddamn show, then get the fuck out of the way of the people who ARE there to participate. I'm only five and a half fucking feet tall, I can't see over your big stupid hairy fucking heads, and neither can any of the cute punk chicks that were around me. You'd think that 7 dozen elbows in the ribs would convince you to move the fuck out of the way.
Sorry about going off on a tangent, but it just pissed me off way too much when people actively ruin shows for other people.
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Show Review
In This Moment, Dead To Fall, 36 Crazyfists, Walls Of Jericho, Kittie
Northern Lights, Clifton Park, NY
2/10/07
In This Moment, Dead To Fall, 36 Crazyfists, Walls Of Jericho, Kittie
Northern Lights, Clifton Park, NY
2/10/07
Getting There: As we all know, getting to someplace you've never been before is half the fun....usually. This was the first time I'd ever actually driven through Albany and, let me tell you, they don't make it easy. After going from I-90 to 87 to 787 (over a course of about 10 miles), I then had to get to exit 9W...the first exit I came across said 9W on it, so I took it. But oh no, this was the exit for ROUTE 9W. I had to take EXIT 9W to get to Route 7W. Guess what? There's also an EXIT 7W, leading somewhere totally different. Well, I had left earlier than I needed to, because I figured something like this would've happened. So eventually I got to the road that Northern Lights was on; however, there's no actual sign for Northern Lights- it's in a nondescript plaza next to a Dollar Tree. This plaza, however, is the last bastion of civilization for at least another 4 miles down the road (which I discovered the hard way) Anyways, I found it, and made it just in time for the second of three local opening acts.
SOFA KINGZ
Mediocre, in every sense of the word. Plus, I mean, LOOK at that name. Sofa Kingz...with a fucking Z. It sounds like they should be opening for Kottonmouth Kings and OPM. But Sofa Kingz was eminently more listenable than...
NAMELESS SHITTY LOCAL HARDCORE BAND
I mean, they had a name, I'm sure, but I really didn't care much. It was your typical "punch each other in the face" kind of hardcore band that couldn't really inspire too much audience participation, other than the pit rats that go to shows ONLY to go crazy and hit each other. Unlistenable, uncharismatic garbage. But it allowed me to get nice and close for the first really great surprise of the evening.
IN THIS MOMENT
I'll be honest, I could barely even remember this band's name before I got here, though I had been looking forward to this show for a couple weeks. So the band all walked onstage and grabbed their instruments. Looked like a typical metal band, alright. Then she walked onstage. A 5-foot nothing bleached blond chick in a puffy, frilly red polka-dot dress and a lacy, low-cut white blouse, with a yellow neckerchief around her throat. Literally, she looked like Christina Aguilera with a bunch of tattoos. However, what came next will be etched in my mind for a long long time. She held the mic up, leaned over, and let out a crazy demon's wail from the seventh layer of Hell. Every jaw in the room dropped to the floor as this petite woman screamed her goddamn ass off. I looked around a couple times, and literally, at least 5 people around me were mouthing "Holy shit" as the band owned the stage and completely annhilated the audience. After 2 songs, the entire place was going apeshit for this band that, I would bet, less than 10% of the people there had ever even heard of. It was fucking beautiful to watch a band win over an audience like that. By the time they were finished, they had a couple hundred new fans, and everyone knew their goddamn name. They've got a full length coming out March 20th, and I'll be first in line to get it.
DEAD TO FALL
Loud and violent. LOUD AND VIOLENT. A band fronted by the most pissed-off Big-Lebowski-looking motherfucker I've ever seen. Crazy hardcore and the crowd went fucking nuts accordingly. I didn't know any of the music, but it was good enough. Plus, it got me warmed up for the band I really came to see:
36 CRAZYFISTS
An absolutely crazy metalcore band from Alaska, I completely marked out for these guys, along with most of the audience. They put on an absolutely killer set, taking the best tracks off of their last 2 albums bringing the whole house down. Starting out with the first two tracks off their new album (I'll Go Until My Heart Stops, Felt Through A Phone Line), then segueing into their two most popular songs (At the End Of August and the Heart and the Shape), the whole crowd was singing along and bashing into each other. That lead into the harder territory of Elysium, Bloodwork, and Aurora. I'm very very biased, as they put out one of my very favorite metal albums when I was in college, but they put on the best performance of the night. When they left the stage, I was sweaty, my voice was almost gone, and I was more than a little banged up, which wasn't helped out at all by...
WALLS OF JERICHO
Exploding on the stage like a goddamn landmine, Candace Kucsulain ran onstage looking like a hardcore Molly Holly (Hardcore Holly, anyone?) and got the whole building crashing into each other. Seriously, one of the sickest pits I've ever seen. I got bashed in the face, had my glasses and hat knocked to the floor, had to crawl blindly among about a dozen pairs of legs, then got hit in the back of the head by an errant crowd surfer. It was AWESOME. I couldn't really tell one song from the other (I only have 2 of their albums, and only listened to their newest one a couple times), but it didn't matter. So after this crazy set, it honestly was kind of a step down when the last band of the night went on.
KITTIE
By the time they got onstage, everyone was tired as hell, sore, sweaty and hoarse. I haven't actually listened to Kittie in years, so I didn't really recognize most of the songs they played. They were okay, but they can't really do much of any melodic singing anymore. That, and the drummer looks like more of a man than I do. Seriously, Buffalo Bill with a long hair wig. They were decently loud, and the songs I recognized I enjoyed, but I was so exhausted by the time they got on that I couldn't show too much enthusiasm.
Overall, it was one of the better rock shows I've been to. But I would be remiss if I were to neglect mentioning the two biggest assholes on the face of the earth.
Looking like a cross between the Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot and Andrew W.K., these two motherfuckers decided to try to ruin the show for a good portion of the audience. They were both about 7 feet tall, with long curly hair down past thier shoulders, and they decided to stand right against the barricade at center stage. And block the view for everybody behind them. The two tallest motherfuckers in the building, and they decide to stand right up front for the whole show, and not even REACT to any of the fucking bands other than Kittie. If you're not gonna participate in the goddamn show, then get the fuck out of the way of the people who ARE there to participate. I'm only five and a half fucking feet tall, I can't see over your big stupid hairy fucking heads, and neither can any of the cute punk chicks that were around me. You'd think that 7 dozen elbows in the ribs would convince you to move the fuck out of the way.
Sorry about going off on a tangent, but it just pissed me off way too much when people actively ruin shows for other people.
Friday, February 02, 2007
The Latest Obsession
Let's just say you have a band that has a slightly raspy/slightly screechy-whiny mop-haired vocalist and lead guitarist, a female bass player and an asian dude who all play guitar-oriented prog/metal/alternative rock with a penchant for feedback-laced guitar freakouts. Now let's say that it's 2007 instead of 1993, and that we're not talking about The Smashing Pumpkins, who would you have?
Silversun Pickups.
Seriously, they take the best parts of Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins and turn it into the best new band working today. I just got thier album (available at your local Target for a low, low $6.98) and it is absolutely amazing. They have plenty of cool-ass videos on Youtube, look them up, won't you?
By the by, if you haven't yet heard...
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Let's just say you have a band that has a slightly raspy/slightly screechy-whiny mop-haired vocalist and lead guitarist, a female bass player and an asian dude who all play guitar-oriented prog/metal/alternative rock with a penchant for feedback-laced guitar freakouts. Now let's say that it's 2007 instead of 1993, and that we're not talking about The Smashing Pumpkins, who would you have?
Silversun Pickups.
Seriously, they take the best parts of Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins and turn it into the best new band working today. I just got thier album (available at your local Target for a low, low $6.98) and it is absolutely amazing. They have plenty of cool-ass videos on Youtube, look them up, won't you?
By the by, if you haven't yet heard...
NEW SMASHING PUMPKINS ALBUM!!!!
Zeitgeist
07/07/07
07/07/07
