Archive for the ‘emos’ Category
Tesla Concert Review, Austin, TX, January 28, 2015
Happy 2015 everybody. Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve written. There just haven’t been that many touring shows since December but that all changed starting last night.
Tesla. To be honest, and I’ve stated it before, I’m not a fan. While I like Modern Day Cowboy and Heaven’s Trail, I just don’t get into them at all. A big part of it are the vocals. Just a bit too whiny for me. So why did I go? Free tickets! Good enough reason to go and to hang out with some friends who were going.
A little history. Back around 1990, the metal band I was in wanted to play Love Song. I was completely against it. NO BALLADS! I was happy sticking with the heavier covers we were doing and not pussing out to wimp rock, and this song qualifies as wimp rock. I’m pretty sure it was because of the bassist we had who had a new girlfriend and he was all goo-goo over her. The rest of the band didn’t seem to mind playing that song but I was adamant about not playing it. I had to maintain some integrity after all, yes? After the second or third practice of them trying to introduce the song and me bucking against it, someone stated that it was time to find another drummer. DONE AND DONE. I packed up my gear and rolled on. No muss, no fuss, no hard feelings.
We got there right as the opening band was going on and quickly went out to the patio. We stayed out there for most of the second band, too. To be honest, they weren’t memorable enough for me to care about their names, but hey, they were up there and I wasn’t, so good on ’em, eh?
Tesla comes on and opens with a song from their latest album, Simplicity. They ran through most of their catalog and the crowd responded accordingly. They played pretty much everything you’d expect to hear. We stayed near the back of the venue and I was quite surprised as to how many people were there. The venue holds about 1700 and there were roughly 1200 in attendance.
The band was tight and Jeff Keith’s vocals were hanging tough (sorry, I had to). Frank Hannon is a beast of a guitarist. Brian Wheat’s bangs were in full effect, too. Holy cow!
This was a great show for people watching, too. Saw some sights that I’ll never un-see, that’s for sure. Overall it was a good time and it felt great to catch another live show and to spend some time with good friends. It’s also nice when a show ends earlyish (1130PM) since I have to get up early for work.
Lots of things in the hopper in the coming months like Uli Roth, Doro, Krokus, Alice Cooper, The Who and Bob Seger.
GWAR Concert Review, Austin, TX, October 25, 2014
I love seeing GWAR live. I’ve seen them several times since the 80s and I think they peaked at the Scumdogs album. Nevertheless, I do try to go and see them still. They still crack me up. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Dave Brockie died earlier this year. He was the voice and personality behind the Oderus Urungus, Dave was a funny guy and cool the few times that I met him. I have an interview I did with GWAR in 1999 that I need to get uploaded. It’s hilarious.
The band is now using multiple members as singers and it works with their new storyline of having an epic battle to see who will become the new leader of the band. Included in that mix was my buddy, Brent, who replaced Corey Smoot on lead guitar after his untimely death a few years ago. He’s Pustulus Maximus. I’ve known him for about 10 years from other bands he played with back in Virginia. Awesome dude and it’s always great to see him.
The band hit the stage during the second annual Housecore Horror Film Festival and there was a video message on the “magic mirror” from Oderus. It was all strange, but it worked. He disappears into another dimension or something and all of the new singers bash it out. The show was enjoyable and Brent’s guitar playing was awesome. He sang a song or two as well. Way to go, Pustulus!
It’s always fun watching people get soaked in the pit at their shows. This past Saturday night, I got hit with a blood cannon. Totally unintentional but it made me laugh nonetheless. Good fun all the way around, especially their cover of West End Girls. I also ran into a guy I knew from Virginia that I hadn’t seen since about 2000. He was touring with a guitar company that he works for. I also ran into the VoiVod guys who remembered me from a SxSW show a few years back when I got my head cut open by a stage diver.
This show marked the 6th in a row since Monday night. I was absolutely exhausted by the time it was over.
The aftermath
Pustulus
The Metal Files 
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