The Metal Files

Simple review.  Killdozer was how I remembered them. Not great, but not shitty.  Last time was 1994 in Newport News, VA. 

The main story tonight was the closing of the downtown location of Emo’s.  Not my favorite venue but I saw some good shows over the years…valkyrie, Pentagram, hammerfall, Celtic frost/tryptikon, buzzov*en, and lots more.  It’s really the beginning of the end of our beloved Red River District.

Lucky me. Twice in one week I got to see another one of my all-time favorite bands/musicians. Yngwie! I think this was 8th time I have seen him since 1986 (Triumph/Yngwie). Even though many of his recent albums have been a bit lackluster, he’s still quite entertaining live and just being able to watch him play is worth it.

I’ve been working out of town during the week in Dallas for the last 3+ months and haven’t really explored the music scene up here much and regrettably missed some quality shows, but there was no way I was going to miss this one. I bought my ticket on Monday at Wal*Mart of all places. They were the nearest Ticketmaster hub to my hotel. I don’t like going there and it just felt weird buying a concert ticket there. But no bother.

Last night’s show was at the House of Blues in downtown Dallas. I went down right after work and it only took a few minutes to get there from the office. It was a bit odd, though. Downtown Dallas is huge but last night it seemed like such a desolate place. Other than the parking lot outside of the venue, I didn’t see anyone out and about. Maybe the cold front that blew in that evening kept some folks away. I liked it down there, though. I love city living…concrete and steel for me!

Doors opened to the venue at 7PM and I got there around 6PM. Because of the storm that was brewing, I decided to just eat there. Wasn’t too bad but of course a bit overpriced.

Checked out the merch booth and didn’t see anything that really caught my eye.

Opening band went on promptly at 8. They were called Little Green Men and hailed from Fort Worth. While they played a tight set and there were some good guitar solos, the band was not my thing, not in the least. I was pretty bored and just wanted them to stop playing. Just give me some Yngwie!

After clearing the stage, you could see the full Yngwie stage setup. The drums were set at the back left corner of

Marshall City!

the stage almost behind the wall of Marshalls…17 cabinets and 27 heads. No, really! I think that was the biggest setup I’ve seen him use ever. Of course most are only for show, but still…80s excess at its finest! The keyboard player was at the far left of the stage almost completely out of sight and the bassist hung around that side as well. I mean, c’mon. This IS the Yngwie show, right?

The lights die down and you hear the keyboard intro to Rising Force (From Odyssey), then the drums kick in and the band hits the stage and kicks into the song full force. For as much as I have slagged Ripper Owens over the years, he sounded pretty good going into the set, much better than he sounded when I saw him with Yngwie in San Antonio a couple of years ago. The setlist stuck with a lot of newer material and I think that’s mostly because Ripper can’t sing a lot of the Joe Lynn/Jeff Scott Soto era stuff. Not many can. He did sound good on Never Die as well.

They got to Dreaming mid-set and for the first half of the song, Ripper sounded great. I was shocked…then after

Yngwie unleashing the fooking fury!

that, I don’t know happened, but for the last part of that song, he sounded like he was singing something different. Sure, the lyrics were right but he had gotten so out of key that it was painful to hear. Not sure if he lost his inner-ear monitors or what, but the end of that song was horrid. It then kicked into Gates of Babylon and he sounded fine in that.

I’m sorry, but he can’t carry the Turner/Soto stuff. I really wish Yngwie could find someone else who can handle all eras of the band vocally. Not to mention that Ripper sounds so “enhanced” on the last 2 Yngwie albums.

Patrick Johansson is a killer drummer, unfortunately all you could hear was his kick and snare. He had toms, but they were so low in the mix that they didn’t matter. Same with the keys and bass. There were a few moments where Yngwie and the keyboardist were playing together and you could hear him somewhat and the guy was really good. The bass was practically non-existent, which is typical for an Yngwie show.

Now we get to Yngwie. The giant Swede. The man took what Uli Roth and Ritchie Blackmore and created a whole new genre. Sure, in recent years he plays fewer riffs and just solos everywhere, but he’s still incredible and fun to watch. The last 3 times I have seen him, he really seems to be having fun on stage. He has mastered the art of kicking guitar picks into the crowd. I think Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick is the only person to throw out more picks.

I stayed back by the soundboard for the show. Attendance seemed to be around 300-350, not too shabby, but seemingly small for a club that holds 1700.

It was a fun show. Not my favorite show that I’ve seen of his, but still quite enjoyable. I try not to miss him if I can help it. I’m glad he’s still out there touring and still glad I’m able to see it.

Setlist as I remember it:

Rising Force

Never Die / Shot Across the Bow
Overture
Critical Mass
Badinerie
Far Beyond the Sun / Star Spangled Banner
Enemy Within
Red Devil
The Damnation Game / Baroque & Roll
Live To Fight (Another Day)
Dreaming / Gates Of Babylon
(Rainbow cover)
Into Valhalla
Trilogy Suite Op: 5
Red House
Fugue
Heaven Tonight
Encore:
Black Star / Cherokee Warrior
As Above, So Below
I’ll See the Light Tonight

Spent the weekend in Hollywood for last night’s Odin show.  Happened into the Key Club Friday night and saw Hurricane.  Reviews and pics from both shows soon.

Sorry there haven’t been many posts recently.  Got laid off and was unemployed for a month and my new job has me working out of town for the next few months.

Published reports are stating that former Motorhead guitarist, “Würzel” has passed away.  He was a damned good guitarist and during the brief time I met him in 1992, he was very nice and very quiet.

RIP

Rik played in a rather large pool hall/sports bar that had a really nice stage and held about 300 people. I am pretty sure it was sold out as it was packed in there.

I got there around 6 and the doors were open at 7.

The opening band was metal cover band from San Antonio called Incoming. It was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed. The singer was awful and so was the drummer. I couldn’t wait for them to leave. For their final song, the singer says, “Anyone want to hear some Metallica?” Of course a lot of people cheered. He said, “Sweet. We’re gonna play Am I Evil.” In the brief part of silence after he said that, I shouted, “That’s a Diamondhead song, not Metallica!” I was 3 feet from the stage.  He turned around and shot an evil glare at the crowd. Funny. I was just glad that they were leaving.

Rik comes on about 45 minutes later. He walks on stage to cheers, grabs a Yamaha Pacifica guitar, walks to the mic and sings, “It’s the same old story, all over again.” The crowd went crazy, including me. I adore that song. He played almost all Triumph songs which was a bit of a let down for

Rik Emmett and his signature Dean guitar

me as he has some great solo work to choose from. I was a bit surprised that they played Allied Forces as it was a song that Gil Moore sang. The bass player took the vocals duties on this one and sounded great. I was really surprised to see that there were that many Triumph fans still around. I was very close to the stage for the first 5 songs of the show and then decided that I wanted to go and find a seat for a little while. My legs were killing me from standing all night the night before and from the wait that evening.

After the show, we were allowed backstage with our handy-dandy passes. I saw Rik’s drummer when I was walking back and said, “Great set, Randy.” The dude hugged me. “Thanks, man!” hahahaha.  I let the crowd attack Rik for a while then went up to get him to sign my book and some CD covers. I asked him to sign the book first and if he felt like it, sign some CD covers. Of course I brought 21 CD covers with me. He signed 4 of them and we chatted a bit about seeing him in 86 with Malmsteen opening up. I thanked him, hugged him and got a photo with him.

Triumph is one of my all-time favorite bands and to be able to see Rik up close and personal like that was awesome.

When I walked away, his drummer, Randy Cooke, caught me again. “You have Rik’s solo CDs with you? I want to sign them.” Of course I obliged

Me and Randy Cooke

and we talked for a long time. He is an incredible drummer and a really nice guy. One of my best friends wanted to come to the show but his job sent him to India for 2 weeks and had to miss it. I had Randy leave a message on my friend’s cellphone voicemail so that he’ll have a nice surprise when he gets back. It was a pretty funny message.

It was a great night but the drive home was getting harder as it was getting late and I was still worn out from the night before.

Setlist, in order:

Lay It On The Line
Somebody’s Out There
Saved By Love
Allied Forces
Fight The Good Fight
Midsummer’s Daydream
Acoustic jam with his guitar player
Blinding Light Show
Hold On
Clouds Across The Moon (from Swing Shift)
Drum solo
Extended electric guitar jam between Rik and his guitar player
Encore: 10 minute version of Magic Power

Rik Emmett and Me

Rik Emmett