Archive for the ‘san antonio’ Category
Saxon, Armored Saint & Evil United Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, May, 23, 2015
Three things in San Antonio have stood the test of time: Saxon, Armored Saint and Jason McMaster. Let’s just face facts, Saxon’s biggest USA fanbase is in Texas with the majority in the San Antonio area. Last night proved that.
The weather was bad all day but I drove down and arrived at the venue pretty early to meet up Armored Saint/DC4/Odin guitarist, Jeff Duncan, who I hadn’t seen since the Odin reunion show in LA a few years back. We met when his band DC4 was in town for SxSW about 5 years ago. His brother, Shawn, and I have been friends for a few years prior and I helped them out when they were in town. Jeff and Jason met me at the back door of 210 Kapone’s and walked me in. While sound checking Armored Saint, I got to meet John Bush and the Sandoval brothers. I had previously met Joey Vera at the Arch/Matheos show a few years back.
The Saint guys went back to their hotel after signing The Book (thanks, Jeff!) to rest and clean up and Jason and I hung out while some of the local openers were playing on the second stage. The crowd was starting to build around 730 and lots of friends were showing up. Jason’s thrash band, Evil United was scheduled to go on at 8PM. Thanks to Jeff, Jason and Saint’s manager I got an all access pass that was good though the end of the Saint set.
Evil United hit the stage and opened with Dead Can See from their new album, Honored By Fire, followed up by three more from that album. They went back to their self-titled debut for Dawn of Armageddon. The 30ish minute set was capped by a brutal cover of Judas Priest’s Tyrant. The crowd was into the set from the first note to the last. Jason is highly regarded in San Antonio because of his work with Watchtower and Dangerous Toys. He’s consistently flown the metal flag in Texas for 30+ years. Evil United sounded great. Don Van Stavern’s bass was crushing through the mains. I especially like EU’s drummer. That dude is pretty much a badass. The band was tight and the set was too short, but such is life. Jason has a long history with Armored Saint dating back to the early 80s and had remained friends with them since then. It was great seeing them hang out together.
Armored Saint was using EU’s backline so there wasn’t much of a changeover between bands beyond changing cymbals out and switching guitar pedal boards. They hit the stage around 855 with the title track from their new album, Win Hands Down. I like this song a lot and have listened to it several times since the single was released. They totally got the crowd going with March of the Saint and Nervous Man. Bush’s vocals were spot on and Jeff’s backing vocals sounded great. The guitar tandem of Jeff and Phil Sandoval is pretty crushing. The whole band was extremely tight and their setlist spanned every album. Symbol of Salvation is my favorite album and their played Reign of Fire and Last Train Home. The increasingly growing crowd was totally into their 11 song set that closed with Mad House from March of the Saint. Of course Can U Deliver elicited the greatest response. I had never seen Saint before and last night’s show was great. Just what I needed! After their set I went back to Saint’s dressing room for a bit to hang with Jeff and Jason. I didn’t want to be all up in their business as it was pretty humid in there last night and those guys put on an intense set so I knew they were a bit worn out. Bobby Jarzombek was up there and was having a discussion with John Bush about whose Mexican food was better, LA or San Antonio. It was pretty humorous.
Saxon was up next and it’s well known around here that I am not a fan beyond 3 songs or so. I just could never get into Biff’s voice, their lyrics and their riffs. Believe me, I have owned several of their album to no avail. They hit the stage to a seemingly capacity crowd opening with Motorcycle Man. They ran through what most would consider their most popular songs. I watched one song and went back to the room where the second stage was to sit for a while as it was vacant and I sit down. Ran into other friends out there and listened to the remainder of the show from a distance. I heard Dallas 1PM, Princess of the Night and the closers Strong Arm of the Law and Denim and Leather, and that was plenty for me. I was just bored and couldn’t wait for the show to end so that my friends and I could grab a late meal and hang out for a while at one of their houses. Saxon, however, did sound tight and the crowd was completely into it from beginning to end. That will likely be my first and last Saxon show.
Michael Schenker Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, April 11, 2015
To be honest, I was a latecomer to the works of Schenker and even the Uli era of the Scorpions. I never got exposed to it. It wasn’t until the mid-90s when a friend gave me his record collection that was filled with pristine copies of UFO, Scorpions and MSG that I was floored by the greatness of these bands. I had seen Schenker and Roth together in 2004 and was simply blown away. I do prefer the MSG stuff a little more than UFO just for its heaviness, but hearing someone play like that in the 70s was pretty groundbreaking.
The current lineup features Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell from the Scorpions along with Doogie White (Yngwie, Rainbow) and Wayne Findlay.
I opted for the pre-show meet and greet because I am a huge fan of Francis and Herman. What a solid rhythm section. The 7 of us got to sit in on soundcheck. Before getting the PA and everything in order, Schenker was just in front of his amp shredding at a low volume for about 45 minutes straight until the whole band was ready to check. Half of that time he was just doing hammer on/pull offs with no picking in between whatsoever. It was pretty impressive. He’s 60. Also a lot thinner than he was in 2004. It was interesting watching Michael, Wayne and Francis fixing a “mistake” that they were doing live. Michael asks Francis what note he’s playing in a certain part, Wayne disagrees, Michael agrees, they play it between themselves a few times and fix it. After the 4 song soundcheck, we got to hang out with the band, nerd out, get our stuff signed etc. There was a young couple who had just gotten married earlier in the day then came to the meet and greet. Pretty cool seeing such young fans of quality music. I was really mostly excited to meet Francis. When I picked up the bass in 2000, the Scorpions were one of the bands that helped me learn how to play. I had a great conversation about his red Fender bass and if he brings it on tour still. “It’s better left back home these days. It’s a ’66,” he said. He went on to tell me about his current Warwick endorsement and how they custom built 2 for him. He’s such a big guy that the Warwick looked tiny strapped to him. Herman was a pleasure to talk to as well. Before soundcheck, Doogie came over to where I was sitting and just started chatting. He must have been pretty bored. haha. I asked him about his first band, La Paz, and gave me a cool quick history. Unfortunately they weren’t listed in the book. I did have Francis and Herman sign on their photo.
Y&T were playing in the club next door and went on before Schenker, but I didn’t get back to the club in time to catch them. We purposely missed the openers but I caught a glimpse of the band that was on right before and saw the bassist all over the stage with crazy antics and thought that he looked like the former Schenker bassist, Rev Jones (Fort’e). It was him. He’s a bit annoying to watch but the guy can play. Too much over the top though.
Schenker and the band come on and open with Doctor Doctor. They sound great. I think Doogie is a good fit with them. They rolled into a new song called Live and Let Live then into Lights Out. The crowd was very into it. Schenker and UFO are huge in San Antonio. The set was filled with UFO, MSG and Scorpions songs. Michael’s playing was just stellar. His rhythm guitarist/keyboardist, Wayne Findlay, also provided great backing vocals. The whole band looked like they were having fun. It was a killer show. Now I need to see Y&T next time they’re around.
I also got a bonus signature in the book from original Devastation bassist, Alex Dominguez. Score!
Click images to enlarge.
Alice Cooper Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, February 11, 2015
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has said, “I don’t like Alice Cooper.” Sure, you may not be into his music, his politics, his religion, but how can you not just like the guy? He’s a class act. Intelligent. Funny. Consummate front man.
I’ve been a fan since as long as I can remember thanks to one of my older brothers. One of my favorite Cooper moments ever was his appearance on the Muppet Show in the 70s. I met Alice last year in Dallas and those few moments talking together will forever be special to me. A few months later I saw him with Motley Crue and it was great. Shortly after that show, it was announced that he was doing a solo tour, an evening with Alice Cooper. I bought tickets for the Austin show as soon as they went on sale and got one for the San Antonio show and scored second row 2 weeks after they had gone on sale, which I thought was odd.
I rolled down to San Antonio right after work and picked up my friend, Rodney, who had a close seat in the section next to mine. I had never been to the Majestic Theatre before but wow, what a beautiful venue.
Alice was scheduled to come on at 8PM but didn’t hit the stage until about 8:15. The lights went down and The Underture started. The open up with Hello, Hooray and roll right into House of Fire and No More Mr. Nice Guy. The crowd was going crazy and I was smiling ear to ear. Alice and the band, as expected, sounded great. He is pretty active on stage, especially for a guy who is 67 years old.
He played most of what I expected to hear. Of course I want to hear songs from From The Inside but he’s been ignoring that album for quite some time. I was a little surprised he didn’t go deeper into the catalog since he was doing the longer set but he decided to play 4 covers which apparently he’s been doing often when he’s headlining.
His band is always top notch and last night was no different. Everyone is extremely talented and are each a show within the show. Drummer Glen Sobel is a beast of a drummer. Veteran guitarist, Ryan Roxie and bassist, Chuck Garric, were positioned on my side for most of the night. Ryan slapped 2 picks in my hand throughout the course of the night. While I started out in the second row, the security girl motioned for me to come right up front and there I was stationed for more than half of the show. I didn’t realize until after the show that guitarist, Tommy Hendriksen, was the bassist for Warlock, who I had seen in 1988. He and third guitarist, Nita Strauss, also handed picks to me during the show. Score!
Alice threw out 2 of his plastic canes, a ton of Cooper dollar bills and some plastic bead necklaces (during Dirty Diamonds). At the end of the show during the School’s Out encore, tissue paper feathers and streamers fell from the ceiling and the crew threw large balloons filled with confetti out on the stage and into the crowd. The ones that got near Alice were pierced with his sword.
It was a great show and I can’t wait to see it again tonight!
High Spirits Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, December 1, 2014
Chris “Professor” Black is a busy fella. Along with High Spirits, in which he writes and plays everything on their releases, he’s also in Superchrist, Pharaoh, Dawnbringer, Metalusafer and Aktor. High Spirits has been getting a lot of buzz over the last couple of years over their listenable brand of hard rock/metal that slightly teeters on the AOR style. I like them a lot and am basically a latecomer to the HS as I just started listening to them around May of this year. It’s great melodic hard rock that’s got all the hooks. Chris has perfectly crafted it to be accessible to just about anyone’s ears.
I went down to San Antonio last night and stopped off at my friend, Rodney’s, house. As always, I have to peer into his insane room of metal. We go grab dinner then dinner then head down to Limelight on the north side. High Spirits was scheduled to go on at 11:30 so we weren’t in a hurry to get down there. I’m not really a fan of the 3 openers so didn’t care to see them. Unfortunately, when we arrived right at 11:30, the 2nd band was mid-set. Ugh. I was already pretty tired.
I met Chris and talked to him for a while. Very nice guy. It was right around 12:30AM when they finally took the stage and opened with the song High Spirits. Much of the crowd had left by the time HS went on, but a few of the faithful hung in there. They were pretty tight and the folks that stayed there were familiar with the material, which was nice to see. I really like his voice. Other than a few drunkasses up front, it was a fun show and worth the late night drive home. I hit the sack at 3AM…exhausted…happy.
Faster Pussycat Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, November 23, 2014
Night #3. Oh man. I got home from Houston yesterday and just flopped. I got a decent nap in and got in touch with Xristian to see what time they were going on in San Antonio at Fitzgerald’s. He gave me the word that 11PM was the time and that I was on the guestlist. Sweet. I contacted a friend in SA and let her know about the show and that she could be my +1 and she accepted.
I got there around 930 after driving just over an hour to San Antonio and felt the wave of tiredness coming over me. I didn’t know anyone there and the FP guys hadn’t shown up yet and the openers didn’t do anything for me. Xristian arrived with his awesome girlfriend, Melanie, and we have a beer while waiting outside for the last opener to finish. They finish and the band gets on stage around 11:15. They open up with Jack the Bastard from the Whipped album followed by Cathouse and Slip of the Tongue.
The sound out front was absolutely terrible and it was obviously bad on stage as well. There was a terrible hum coming from the mains and absolutely horrible feedback all night. It was the same way during the Lizzy Borden show there a couple of months ago. This place has notoriously bad sound. The whole band was obviously having issues with the sound on stage. They played 7 more songs and at the end of Babylon, they walked. The sound was just f’n awful. The soundman didn’t seem be trying. It totally sucked for them but I don’t blame them.
Most folks there didn’t seem too phased by the show being cut short. It was a small crowd, maybe 40 people. Tough draw for a Sunday night in San Antonio, especially when the Cowboys had the late game. Although a short set with bad sound, it was fun…it was also a very late night. I’m running on fumes now, so goodnight!
The Metal Files 
You must be logged in to post a comment.