Archive for the ‘san antonio’ Category
Juggernaut Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, January 2, 2016
First show of 2016 and wow, what a way to get started!
About a month ago I got a heads up that Juggarnaut would be doing a short reunion show in San Antonio and I made sure my calendar was cleared. I had met singer Harlan Glenn in 2012 and he mentioned to me about a year ago that some sort of reunion was in the works.
Weather was shitty on Saturday but I headed down to San Antonio to pick up Rodney, grab dinner then head to the show. The venue, Boozehounds, is more of a pool hall than a venue, but they do have a stage in the corner and they were set up in front of the headliners.
The lineup consisted of almost everyone from the first album: Harlan Glenn, Eddie Katilus and Scott Womack. I imagine Bobby Jarzombek is out on tour. The crowd was decent for a cold, rainy night right after a holiday and some of the San Antonio/classic Texas metal legends were on hand to witness like Art Villareal, Ron Jarzombek, Rodney Dunsmore and a few of the guys from Wicked Angel.
Juggernaut opened up with a snippet of House of the Rising Sun and then went into Impaler. The sound could have been a little better out front. The vocals weren’t coming through very well, but you could still hear them alright. The band was pretty solid but as Harlan noted, this was the first show in about 30 years. The followed up the rest of the set with Slow Death, Cut Throat and All Hallow’s Eve. Between songs, someone shouted out, “Where are the rats?” Apparently at one of their legendary shows back in the day, they tossed live rats out into the crowd. Harlan explained that his mom cried when she found out about it and promised to never do that again. She was in the crowd on Saturday. He said that there would be a full show in the spring of 2016, so here’s hoping!
LA Guns Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, December 3, 2015
LA Guns rolled into San Antonio last night to what was seemingly a last minute show, or at least I had only heard about it within the last 5 days. Surprisingly, there were only 3 opening bands. Most shows I am seeing in San Antonio has 4 or more, which is pretty annoying to be honest. San Antonio is a weird beast for local bands these days compared to the acts coming out of there in the 80s, but that’s neither here nor there. The majority of the less than 100 person crowd was there for LA Guns.
I rolled down there after work to grab my old friend, Don. We were in our first bands together in 1986 and I like that he lives nearby-ish now. Prior to the show, we hang out and catch up a bit, talking shit about the olden days, current life and the whole gamut.
Upon arriving to Kapone’s after getting a quick bite to eat across the street, I run into some other Austin friends. The opening act was one of the 2 local Krokus tribute bands. I said that correctly, 2. Or maybe there’s only one now, but not too long ago there were 2. I’d seen the ones that played last night before but we got there too late to see them this time. No biggie really. I spent most of the time outside on the patio during the next two bands, Minister Fiend and Days Gone. It was the right decision although Days Gone did do a decent cover of Budge’s Breadfan.
Right as LA Guns was going on, I saw a post about some incident that happened right after they had arrived to the venue. I’d like to find out the lowdown on that. Here’s Michael Grant’s post:
Right as they were going on, someone showed me the Scott Weiland had died. I shrugged and kept singing along to No Mercy, their opening song. They went in to Showdown and Sex Action. As always, the band sounded great. Phil’s voice never seems to change at all and watching Michael Grant’s guitar playing is always a pleasure. That guy is really good. I’ve seen LA Guns several times since 2001 and they are consistently good.
Rip and Tear!
Cheap Trick Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, November 27, 2015
Last Friday night I saw Cheap Trick…AGAIN. I think it was the 5th or 6th time in the last 5 years or so and I am 100% OK with that. Nothing new or extra special about the show, really, but they put on a great performance.
I scored a 2nd row ticket on the aisle at stage right, Rick’s side. If you’re within the first 5 rows of a Cheap Trick show, you’re likely to catch one of the 100s of guitar picks that he throws out every show. Right before the show started, I was already standing up and someone walked by and said something like, “Make sure you don’t block my friend’s view behind you. She’s in a wheelchair.” I found a spot I could stand in without being in the aisle that kept her view to the stage open. About 2 songs in, Rick looks at me and throws a guitar pick which landed at my feet. I picked it up and handed it to the girl in the wheelchair. She was pleasantly surprised. I ended up catching another from him later in the show.
The few photos I took sucked, so my pal, David Castillo, let me use some of his as you see below.
Peter Cetera Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, September 17, 2015
I don’t believe in “guilty pleasures”, especially when it comes to music. You like what you like and that’s that. Screw what others may think. Since the 70s and partially because of my mom, I’ve always loved Chicago and still go see them live when I can. They still sound great but I’ve never seen them with Peter Cetera nor have I seen Cetera on his own. Fortunately that changed last night.
In as much as I like Chicago, I really like Peter’s early solo work, especially 1988’s One More Story album. So as is generally the case, I bought two tickets for the show. My lovely friend, Margarita, was available to attend and is also a Chicago/Cetera fan, so it made for an enjoyable evening. In my best Troy McClure voice, “You might remember her from such reviews as ‘Lionel Richie in Austin’ and ‘Journey in San Antonio.'” haha
I bought tickets a little late so I didn’t quite get where I wanted, but still got good seats on the front row in the balcony. By yesterday, the show was only 3/4 sold out based on the Ticketmaster map. No matter.
His band comes out first after the lights go down they go right into Restless Heart. His voice sounded a lot clearer than I expected. Some recent footage I had seen sounded a bit rough. He followed up with One Good Woman, a personal favorite, and Glory of Love which drew a loud applause at the beginning and end. He then asked everyone down front to put their phones away. “Use them during the encore all you want, but for now just enjoy watching the show.” Cheers, Pete!
He mixed the rest of the set up with a mix of Chicago and solo hits, doing a few duets with his back up singer and a few with his guitarist. He left during 2 covers songs, You’re No Good and Come Together, letting the band take care of businees while he took a break. He closed the main set with Hard Habit to Break, Dialogue I & II and Hard To Say I’m Sorry/Get Away, another personal favorite. I was so happy that they did the Get Away part at the end of the song. It just brings the whole thing together. Rarely is that part ever played on the radio edit of Hard To Say I’m Sorry. The band exited the stage and people started trailing out quickly. He had stated that there would be an encore, but whatever.
Before the encore started, he finally strapped on a bass and they went into I’m a Man by the Spencer David Group and has been a Chicago set staple for years. It transitioned into Feelin Stronger Everyday and closed with 25 or 6 to 4. I sort of wish that his touring bassist would not have been playing along, but you could discern Peter’s tone between the two. He’s such a good bassist and I would liked to have seen him play more last night. It was pretty clear that they were tuned down to help him reach some higher notes, maybe as much as a full step, but he still sounded great. It was an energetic show and he was entertaining between songs. The only song I wish he would have played from his solo works is the slow roller You Never Listen To Me. So glad I got to get him off of my list of bands to see.
Steve Martin & Martin Short Review, San Antonio, TX, July 10, 2015
While I like comedy movies, especially older comedies, I’ve never been very fond of watching comedians do standup minus a few exceptions like Eddie Murphy, Mitch Hedberg and Steve Martin. He is my favorite comedian of all time and I love most of his movies. Growing up in the 70s, Steve was everywhere and who didn’t love King Tut?
When I saw that he had teamed up with Martin Short to do a small tour and that they were coming to San Antonio, I had to go. Total bucket list stuff.
Steve comes out after a montage of his and Short’s work on the screen and says, “Thank you for coming to watch me through your cellphones tonight.” Thankfully cellphone use was kept to a minimum. After talking and telling some jokes, Martin Short comes out and it was plain to see that those two are very close friends. They obviously had rehearsed their routine but much of it was ad lib. There were several times that they cracked each other up. Martin did his own set which included some sketch comedy and a musical and it was hilarious. He walked off stage as Steve was coming back on and said, “Top that, mother fucker!” haha.
Steve had his bluegrass band, Steep Canyon Rangers, with him and they played a set. It’s no secret that Steve’s an incredible banjo player and he proved that last night.
Steve and Martin then say that they brought a good friend with them and introduce David Letterman. There was a delay and we all thought they were just pulling a prank…then out walks Letterman. Totally trippy. The three of them are standing there talking and Dave whips out a top ten list about Donald Trump preempting it with, “Trump’s running for president and I quit the entertainment business. I’m the dumbest man on earth.” Or something to that effect. Dave stayed out and told some stories with them for a half hour or so.
It was a wonderful night and I’ve not laughed that hard in a long time. My sides are a little sore this morning.
The Metal Files 
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