Archive for the ‘concert review’ Category
Raven & Night Demon Concert Review, Austin, TX, October 11, 2014
As far as NWOBHM goes, much of it is hit and miss for me. Raven was always the miss. I could never really put a finger exactly what but I think it started with their look and the lyrics. It was just a bit too goofy for me. I had seen them live previously in 2000 and was able to have lunch with the Gallagher brothers and their families that day as we shared a common close friend. That was a great day and those guys are really fun to hang out with.
I ran into John again earlier this year when I was in Richmond, VA for the Satan show there. Always polite. Flash forward 14 years and Raven is doing a 2 month long tour across the USA with my pals in Night Demon (Ventura, CA). I had met those guys in Chicago earlier this year when Eternal Champion played the Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalyspe. I had known the drummer for a couple of years prior from his other band that used to come through Austin on the regular. Great guys. I was excited that they were coming to town and offered up my house for them to stay after the show.
The night before the show I was downtown in my favorite bar and there was a couple sitting next to me. The guy was wearing a venom shirt so I struck up conversation. They were from Chile. Victor spoke perfect English but Javiera didn’t really speak any. I speak Spanish pretty well so we all had a nice talk. She had won a VIP contest to ACL, all expense paid. Pretty cool. Neither of them really cared for much of the music at the fest but weren’t going to turn down a free trip. I asked him if he liked Raven and he said, “Hell yes! One of my favorites!” I let him know about the show the next night and they were excited.
On to the show. Sweat Lodge opened and I’m just not into the hippie stoner rock stuff that much. I guess they’re good at what they do, I’m just not into it. Night Demon comes on and blaze through their set efficiently. Their brand up upbeat NWOBHM inspired metal went over well with the crowd that was there. They especially got everyone’s ear by playing a cover of Road Racin’ by Riot. Riot is a big deal in Texas and it was only coincidence that Night Demon played it. The metal faithfuls loved it. They gained a lot of new fans that night.
Raven comes on and the crowd loved it. There were about 10-15 people right up front who all first saw Raven and Metallica in 1983 in Austin and this show was a bit of a reunion for them. That was pretty cool to see all of them right up front singing every word. As stated above, I’m not into Raven but they are energetic live and John can still hit the high notes pretty well.
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- John Gallagher and Jason McMaster
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- 2 metalheads from Chile that were in town for ACL Fest
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- Raven doing their thing
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- Jarvis and Night Demon delivered a great set
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- Joe Hasselvander (Raven/Pentagram!) and Monkey Boy
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- Night Demon and Monkey Boy. photo by Andrew Bansal (metalassault.com)
Lizzy Borden Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, August 16, 2014
Last night marked the third time since 2001 that I’ve seen Lizzy Borden. I’ve been a fan since being introduced to them via their first EP. They’re currently touring on the “30 Years of American Metal Tour” and last night was the 3rd of three shows in Texas. One of my lifelong friends lives in San Antonio so I picked him up before the show and we headed to Fitzgerald’s after grabbing some Thai food. We missed the first band and stayed outside on the patio during the second band. Not my thing.
James Rivera’s Metal Asylum came on next playing songs from many of the bands that’s been involved in over his career as well as some of his favorite cover songs. The sound in this venue was horrible and I’m not sure that it was equipment issues. Beyond the huge shows at the AT&T Center and Alamo Dome, every bar gig that I see in San Antonio sounds like shit. Last night was no different. Rivera sounded good through most of his set, but it did seem that he was having trouble hearing himself. Between going in and out during most of his set, it was enjoyable.
While on the patio during the second band, I saw Lizzy and his bassist, Marten, by their RV and spoke to them for a minute. Lizzy asked how the crowd was and I told him, “Maybe 100, probably a little less.” He looked disappointed. By the time that they came on stage, a lot of the crowd had already left. I figured that would happen as a lot of the crowd was there to see Rivera as he’s still very popular in Texas.
Lizzy came on and the sound issues continued through his set. I stood up front for much of the show but moved around to gauge the mix and it was just awful. Nonetheless, the band was solid although I was surprised to see them with only one guitarist which happened to be Ira Black who has notably played with Metal Church and Vicious Rumors as well as being on the last Lizzy album. He played well but some of the guitar harmony stuff was noticeably absent. Lizzy did costume and mask changes between every song which got a little tedious. I’d love to see him just do a tour with no makeup. Maybe I’m just getting old but I don’t need the theatrics to keep me interested in a band or their show. His music stands on its own for me. But that’s his thing, so be it. It was good to see them again and I really liked watching Marten’s bass work. He’s good.
It was a fun show and a great night with one of my best friends. And for the record, Lizzy and drummer Joey Scott (Lizzy’s brother) signed The Book in 2001 back in Norfolk.
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- Ira Black
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- Marten
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- Give ’em The Axe!
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- Marten Andersson’s bass pick
Firefall Concert Review, Austin, TX, July 25, 2014
I’ve been a Firefall fan since the 70s. AM Gold from Mom’s car radio or in the house. I love a lot of this 70s rock and obviously Firefall is no exception. I’ve never seen them although I’ve had plenty of opportunities over the years. It needs to be stated that Strange Way is one of my favorite songs ever. The simple keyboard part in the chorus just makes that song intense for me.
Last night’s show was at the One World Theatre on the outskirts of Austin. It’s a small venue (400ish?), all seated and not a bad seat in there. It’s a non-profit venue and I love seeing shows there, although they are always a bit more expensive. I didn’t make the decision to go last night until just a few hours before the show started. After doing some quick research of the band members, I saw that their bassist, Mark Andes, was in Heart during the 80s, and Spirit and Canned Heat in the 70s. I looked him up in The Book and he’s listed with Randy California, so that solidified my decision to go to the show.
The band hits the stage and I was a curious as to how they’d sound vocally with all of them being in their 60s. That curiosity was quickly satisfied. Those dudes can still sing. Non-original guitarist/singer, Steven Weinmeister, nailed the high vocal singing duties. He’s been in the band since 93. Original members Jock Bartley, David Muse and Mark Andes all sounded great vocally and Jock’s guitar solos were killer. Solid drummer, Sandy Ficca, has been in the band since 85. The band just nails it.
I was happy to finally hear Strange Way live, but also Cinderella and Mexico. They told cool stories about playing Austin in the 70s as well as playing on Austin City Limits. I had a huge smile on my face the whole show, albeit it was a short set. At the end, they said to hang out and they’d meet everyone afterwards. Everyone came out except for David Muse. I did speak to him at the stage right after. That guy is a killer saxophonist and flutist. Sitting in on percussion with Firefall was One World Theatre executive director, Hartt Stearns. That was obviously not his first time playing percussion and was quite impressive.
After the show I met Mark Andes and as usual I get, “What book is this?” and “Why am I listed in here?” haha. I showed him the Randy California page and he smiled and said, “Wow, that was a long time ago.” He signed the book, we spoke for a minute about his years with Heart and I moved on. The rest of the band was sitting at a table signing autographs and taking pics and I had the rest of them, sans Muse, sign my ticket. Cool dudes and they were all in good spirits.
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- My view from the 10th row
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- Firewall
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- Mark Andes with Randy California
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- One World Theater
Pentagram Concert Review, Austin, TX July 4, 2014
This past weekend American Icon Records (AIR) put on their inaugural 2 day music festival at The Mohawk in downtown Austin. AIR is run by my pal, Johnny Gaylon, and by all looks, this was a successful thing for him. My main reason for wanting to go, friendship aside, was to see my pals in Pentagram play again. Victor Griffin has rejoined the band and it’s always a treat to see him play. He’s a damn good player and has written some of my favorite metal riffs.
Pentagram was scheduled to play on July 4th and I planned my day around that. I befriended the band in 2010 when I ran into them on the street before their show at Emo’s. Added bonus for that day show was to finally see War Master live as well as seeing my friends in The Bulemics and Venomous Maximus.
I arrived at the venue around load in time and got to hang out with Bobby for quite a while in the green room. It’s always an interesting conversation with him in 1000 different directions. He reminds me of my brother (RIP) a bit. I sit through sound check and they sounded great. We head back up to the green room and they take off to go rest up before the show.
Brothers Collateral opened up the show and they sounded great. Instrumental stonerish 4 piece band that had some really cool guitar harmony parts setting them a little differently than most of the stuff in the genre. Venomous Maximus laid it down solidly as always. I was really looking forward to seeing War Master, mainly because their bassist is a very good friend of mine. I’ll be honest when I say I’m not the biggest fan of death and black metal. I’m very limited to what I like in those genres. But War Master was great. If I can understand your singer, you’re halfway there with me and I could get most of what he was yelling at us. The guitars were good and solid and thankfully JT plays solos. I see some death and thrash and black metal bands with 2 guitarists but no one plays solos. That’s not very metal! Add in that TA on bass is always solid and fun to watch. Then that drummer. What a beast! Seriously, this guys is awesome. I really hope something good happens to this band. They’re back on the road again for the next 2-3 weeks I believe. Go see them. I caught part of Ditch Witch and they were good.
Then Pentagram hits the stage. It’s amazing to watch Bobby perform after all he’s done to himself. His between song banter is basically indiscernible and was also a little hoarse, but while singing he was clear and powerful. His stage moves are awesome. I love that guy. For most of their set I was up on the top deck with good friends. It was a good night and Pentagram sounded great. I was a little surprised that they only did one song from Last Rites, which I think is a fantastic record. Most of the set was from Relentless and I was happy to get 3 songs from my favorite, Day of Reckoning (no Burning Saviour of course). After the show, I hung with them for a little bit before heading home. I was wiped out. Great to see those guys.
I went back to Mohawk Saturday for day 2 of the fest. I’m not a fan of anyone on the bill but was guestlisted so I went again as I had no other plans that night. American Sharks were a pleasant suprise. I’d like to catch them again sometime. I’ll be the first to say that I’m not a fan of The Sword in the least but seeing them Saturday was enjoyable. Not sure what was different this time, but whatever. I missed everyone else on the bill.
Johnny is already working on the fest for next year. Good job on this one!
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- The axes of Victor Griffin
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- soundcheck
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- soundcheck
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- soundcheck
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- Brothers Collateral – check ’em out!
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- War Master!
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- Bobby and his awesome studded jacket
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- Pre-show Victor and his tech, Dan
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- pre-show Greg
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- Pentagram – Photo by Jerry Milton
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- Bobby – Photo by Jerry Milton
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- Bobby and Victor – Photo by Jerry Milton
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- pre-show with Bobby and Johnny Gaylon (American Icon Records)
Journey & Steve Miller Band Concert Review, May 22, 2014, San Antonio, TX
Let’s just get this straight. I do not like The Steve Miller Band. I never have. I think it was because of high school and everyone played the greatest hits album incessantly. That being said, I can tolerate Livin’ in the USA, Wild Mountain Honey and Space Cowboy. To say I was disappointed to see that they were on the bill with Journey is an understatement.
But I bought tickets anyway. I’ve only seen Journey one other time and that was in 2001 with Frampton and John Waite. Great show.
Last night’s show crept up on me and the person originally supposed to go with me forgot as well and had other plans. I asked a few others and with it being last minute, most were busy. Wait. A female too busy for Journey? Certainly their vaginas were not working properly when they said that. hahaha. So I called up Margarita in New Braunfels, a friend that I hadn’t seen in a while and she jumped at the chance. Perfect. She’s cool, lives on the way and is gorgeous. Great combo.
On our way down, there’s a bad accident on IH35 on the north side of San Antonio so after sitting in traffic forever, we were finally able to get off of 35 and take an alternate route. That made us miss Tower of Power who were the first opener. I wanted to see them just because. Miller is already on stage when we walk in and is on Space Cowboy. She likes Miller so we grab a beer and something to eat really quickly and go in for the rest of their set. Our seats were kind of eprfect in that that our row only had those 2 seats in it. No worries of having people coming in and out and having to move around a lot. I’ll admit to not hating them as much in a live setting, mainly because his drummer was kickass.
Then Journey comes on opening with Be Good To Yourself and go right in to Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). Great 1-2 punch for sure. They sound great and I expected no less. Arnel sounds great and he’s all over the stage. Kid’s got a ton of energy and you can tell how happy he is to be there. I had seen in previous setlists that Mother, Father was being played on this tour and it’s one of my favorite songs from Escape. What made this even better was that Deen Castronovo sang lead on it. MY GOD. He sounded incredible and that dude’s range is insane. Add to it that he’s an incredible drummer. He could easily front that band. That’s no slight to Arnel.
Journey played pretty much everything you’d expect them to play and added 2 songs from their last album. I really wanted to hear When You Love A Woman as I love Neal’s guitar solo in that one, but no dice.
Great show and a great companion and worth every penny of the ticket price. So…when are they coming back?
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- shirt front
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- shirt back
The Metal Files 
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