Posts Tagged ‘dangerous toys’
Cathouse Live Concert Review, Irvine, California, August 15, 2015
A while back, former MTV host, Riki Rachtman, announced a one day festival celebrating the now defunct (and purely dysfunctional) Cathouse in Hollywood. Let’s be clear, back in that era of the 80s, I was not down with hair bands, silly ballads and much of the stuff associated with that hairspray and makeup. There were a few acts, however, that I did at least like a few songs from. But whatever.
This show was set up with a limited number of VIP passes and I was able to score one for the main purpose of the meet and greets to get my Book signed. Supposedly all bands that were performing were suppose to appear. More on that later.
I got into LAX around noon on Friday the 14th and got my rental car (1.5 hour wait) and headed down to Irvine to get checked in to the hotel. I unpack, grab some dinner and head to a club in Anaheim called Chain Reaction. It’s an all age club that didn’t serve alcohol so no beers for me. I caught the last 3 bands which in order were Tower Guard, Toronto’s Crimson Shadows and Nekrogoblikon. I really liked Tower Guard. Younger power thrash with some good potential. The singer could stand to do less talking between songs, though. Crimson Shadows, while technically proficient musically, were about as boring as I could have wanted. Tight Gothenburg style metal with cookie monster-esque vocals intermingles with clean vocal harmonies from the two shredder guitarists. Nekrogoblikon came on and had a large band and some dude dressed as a “goblin” that runs around on stage. I was totally annoyed less than a minute into the first song and left.
The next day I slept in a bit to save up some energy for the long day ahead. Parking lot opened at noon and I went to get my VIP swag which included the meet and greet wristband. I ran into some friends of friends and hung with them until 2PM when the gate was opened. It was pretty damned hot and I was in jeans, black SA Slayer shirt, denim vest and the shoulder bag that I carry the book. It was hot, but not quite Texas hot. Opening band, Swamphammer, was playing as I walked into the venue. I made a bee line right into the VIP tent and downed 2 bottles of water. I was drying out quickly.
The meet and greets were set at 2 different times to have the later playing bands come out early to meet the fans and vice versa for the early playing bands to come out later. In the early one, I got Stephen Pearcy, Tom Keifer and Steve Riley to sign the book. Riley had been an elusive one for me over the years. Phil Lewis recognized the book and said, “I remember this. You’re carrying this around all day?” Ugh. Yes. Faster Pussycat came out and it was good seeing those guys. Good friends, Dangerous Toys came out and as always when I see any of them around town, it’s just friends hanging out together. Great guys. During this meet and greet, Bullet Boys, Enuff Z’Nuff, Trixter, Autograph, Black N Blue all played. I only got to hear them play and all of them sounded great, Especially Black N Blue and Autograph. I was hoping that Don Dokken, Mark Boals and Mick Brown would come out but they never did. Bummer.
After this, I went down into the VIP pit and watched part of Junkyard’s awesome set and the beginning of Saigon Kick, which bored me as much now as back in the day. I went to the merch/food area to grab a taco and caught some of Pretty Boy Floyd’s set on the side stage. Kristy Krash Majors was back in the band and they sounded pretty good. I moved back to the pit and caught LA Guns, Dangerous Toys and the beginning of Pussycat’s set. They had a bunch of original members join them on stage which was cool.
By this point it was time to hit the other meet and greet. At this one we got Autograph, Black N Blue, Junkyard, Extreme, Sebastian Bach, Bullet Boys, Jetboy and Trixter. I got the 2 guys from Autograph, 2 from Black N Blue and Bach. I didn’t know Extreme had come out until they had already left, so no sigs. I hung with David Roach from Junkyard for quite a while and with my old pal, Rowan Robertson (DIO). Guys from Trixter, Jetboy and others that I had no idea what band they were in signed my VIP pass. I really hated bands like Trixter, Jetboy, Little Caesar, Bullet Boys, Cinderella and Extreme back in the old days. Modern day, I do at least like the old Cinderella.
So let’s get to the band performances that I saw/heard.
- Bullet Boys – I only heard them but they sounded good. I’ve seen them several times in the last year and when their singer saw me he jumped up and gave me a big hug. Nice guy. I got to see their drummer, Shawn Duncan (Odin) briefly and his wife, which is always a pleasure.
- Trixter – Heard them only. They were solid but I just couldn’t care.
- Black N Blue – Heard only but they may be my faves of the day. They were solid, great vocals and heavy. Chains Around Heaven!
- Autograph – Sounded great and I wish I would have seen them to watch Steve Lynch play. He’s a great guitarist. It was cool hanging out with him as we have a good friend in common.
- Junkyard – ROCK AND FUCKING ROLL. They were great. It was hot as hell up there and they rocked their set.
- Saigon Kick – zzzzz
- LA Guns – As solid as ever
- Dangerous Toys – Jason McMaster and company sounded great and the crowd was really into them. Always fun to see live, especially seeing “hometown” boys away from home.
- Faster Pussycat – Sounded great and cool having the originals on stage again
- Stephen Pearcy – Only heard him. It was about like it was last year. He’s having a tough time these days.
- Sebastian Bach – He sounded great as did his band. Great show.
- Dokken – Only heard but they sounded much better than I expected. Having Boals on backing vocals is a good idea.
- Tom Keifer – He sounded great. Utterly impressed.
- Pretty Boy Floyd – Solid. Nothing different than what I expected.
I didn’t catch any of the other bands. I tweaked my back somehow during Dangerous Toys and it got progressively worse throughout the evening, so bad that I left before Extreme came on. That meant that I missed the Gilby Clarke all star jam with Ace Frehley. I was in incredible pain. Absolutely horrible. It was better by morning, thankfully, but not great.
All in all this show was fun and well organized. The bands on the main stage were on a rotating stage and no set times were missed. It was impressive seeing all bands start and finish on time. The only negative thing I can say is that it sucked not getting to meet a few of the bands, but oh well, herding rockstars is like herding cats. I had a blast.
Watchtower – Energetic Disassembly (1985)
I remember clearly the first time I saw this on cassette. It was at the Music Man at Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, VA. 
The cover was upside down as compared to how the majority of cassette j-cards were printed. It always struck me as odd but I always felt it was intentional, especially after listening to this album at least 100 times since I first heard it. It certainly turned my mind upside down several times.
My friends and I were pretty shocked by this one. Most of us were into thrash ala Overkill’s Feel the Fire, Anthrax, Testament etc…but this was something different. Something special even.
The album opens with a frenetic frantic pace with crazy guitar riffs, insane bass lines and hyperactive drumming. They don’t stop until the end of the album. Mix all of this with Jason McMaster’s incredible vocals that cut through all of this madness and you have a perfect technical thrash album…perhaps the first truly technical thrash album. Some may debate that one but for me, this is the first.
While I love every song on this album, my absolute favorites are Tyrants In Distress, Violent Change, Meltdown and Argonne Forest. The whole band really seems to just be together and well-rehearsed. Billy White (f. Don Dokken), Doug Keyser and Rick Colaluca just flat out lay it down on this album. Period.
I still don’t feel that this album gets enough respect although some of the major metal players loved them such as Chuck Schuldiner (RIP) and Dream Theater. Watchtower set the standard early for technical metal. Their popularity is Europe still seems to be pretty strong as I believe they’re playing one of the Euro-Metal fests in 2010. It seems that they are still pretty huge in Greece.
While Control and Resistance was a good follow-up and was partially written by Billy White, a lot changed in their sound. Ron Jarzombek (Spastic Ink) and Allan Tecchio (Hades, Non-Fiction) do a fine job, but the loss of Jason McMaster and Billy White took them down a slightly different progressive thrash metal path. Both albums are certainly worth owning, but I have always preferred the debut.
Watchtower is in the studio recording a new album with McMaster on vocals (!!!) and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing. Hopefully I’ll finally get to see them live.
Living here in Austin, TX now, it is great to see how much that band is loved and respected around here. It gives me a warm tingly feeling. It’s also pretty incredible for me to have McMaster in my Motorhead tribute band. He’s a talented musician all the way around and bring a lot of energy to the band on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Certainly one of my musical idols.
If you don’t own Energetic Disassembly and you like thrash, prog-metal, RUSH on steroids, you need to own this one.
Just do it.
“Breakdown, warning – Nuclear nightmare, reality”
Motorhead – Concert Review 092009
Motorhead! I’m always excited when they come to town. Last night was my 6th time seeing them since 1993. They 
never let me down with the live show.
Until last night.
So let’s backtrack and put some story along with this. If you don’t know this already, I have the Another Perfect Day album cover tattooed on my back…my whole back. 88 hours worth of tattoo work. No regrets! I’ve met Lemmy a few times but not since getting my backpiece done. I was hoping last night would be the night. Just wanted a picture of him with my tattoo. Didn’t happen. No big deal, I can live with that. Like I said, met him a few times and always a good experience.
So my guitar player, Doug Morrison, (Turbin, Waysted) and the drummer of Reverend Horton Heat have been close friends since the late 70s and with the Rev on this tour, we got the hookup. Doug and I get there early and have dinner with Paul Simmons (drummer for the Rev) and some of the roadcrew guys from Rev Heat and Motorhead. The guy sitting next to me was pretty special though. It was Hobbs! Hobbs has been with the band for almost 30 years and is mentioned in the song Going to Brazil. I think he may even be the one who screams on We Are The Roadcrew from No Sleep Till Hammersmith. Not important. Hobbs! Talk about a weathered old British soul. He was extremely polite in a typical British sort of way yet as foul mouthed as an old Greek sea captain. He was awesome! Hobbs!
After dinner we headed backstage. Nashville Pussy was setting up their gear and there it was…Lemmy’s bass rack. From a distance I snap a picture and Paul says, “Come on, man. Step over here and get a real look at them.” His beautiful Rickenbacker 4004LK and one of his old Rics with the original hand-carved oak leaves. I got to hold history in my hands! And I couldn’t believe how high the action was on those. Seemingly about 3/8″ off of the fretboard.
So after hyperventilating over that a bit, we all just hung out backstage while Nashville Pussy played. I’ve never been a fan so I had no interest in seeing them. Paul was telling the Motorhead roadcrew guys about my backpiece and they flipped out over it. “Lemmy needs to see this!” Yes sir, I agree!
NP finishes their set and Paul had to get prepared for the Reverend Horton Heat set. Doug and I stayed backstage a little longer. Matt Sorum, (GnR, The Cult, Velvet Revolver) came in and said hi. I mentioned that I had just seen his episode of the Dog Whisperer. “Did Ace and I look like total idiots?” No man, you guys were fine, no worries. Apparently he hadn’t seen it yet. The dude is a class act even if I never cared for his other bands.
So after that, Doug and I just went out in to the crowd to watch the Rev’s set. As always, they were tight. The Rev works the crowd very well. I opened for them back in like 93 or 94 and he’s still the same old cool laid back guy.
The gig was at Stubb’s in Austin, TX. It’s an amphitheater type set up. I’ve never really cared for it all that much. Too narrow and when it gets packed it’s difficult to get around. So we hung out towards the back. Run into several friends, of course. Ran into my other guitarist, Jason McMaster (Broken Teeth, Watchtower, Dangerous Toys) and he says, “Hey man! You need to meet an old friend of mine, Craig Behrhorst.” I said, “From Ruffians?” Craig said, “How did you know that?” Sir, I am an 80s metal nerd. Plain and simple. Turned out that Doug knew him as well. I guess Craig’s sister used to hang out with Doug and his friends back in the old Sunset Strip days. I also ran into Art Villareal and Bob Catlin, both of SA SLayer/Juggernaut fame. They are both in Martyhead, a Motorhead tribute from San Antonio. Of course I have a Motorhead tribute here in town called Capricorn USA. That’s the band with Doug and Jason.
Whatever, you don’t care. You want to know about the Motorhead show!
Light’s go down and they open with Iron Fist. Sweet! I love that song. But I swear it sounded a little slower than album speed. Stay Clean was next. Same thing. The band was tight. Sorum held his own pretty well for the whole night but they really seemed lifeless to me. Everything seemed slow. To be honest I was bored until mid-set when they played a few tracks from Another Perfect Day. Matt’s drumming on everything was pretty good. Who knew the guy could play double bass? But then, they played Ace of Spades. Of course everyone knows that songs and the drunks in the crowd and the kids who only know it from Guitar Hero were freaking out. Matt’s drumming killed it. His bass drum pattern was all wrong. It put the song in a weird dynamic. I recently saw a vid from one of the shows a few weeks ago with him and it was the same thing. I hate to say it (again), but I was so bored for most of their show. They were missing a key element to their modern sound…MIKKEY DEE.
Mikkey’s a phenomenal drummer. I’ve known it since I first heard King Diamond’s Abigail and got to experience his playing live on the Them tour. Mikkey was the main reason why I ever went to see Motorhead the very first time in 1993. I wasn’t into them at all at that point and oddly enough I don’t like but a handful of songs from his era. But the live show with him is intense. If you’ve seen him play, you get it. He’s a monster. And with Motorhead, he certainly tightened them up. They were always fast, vicious. “We may not be the best band in the world, but we’re certainly the fastest” Lemmy said years and years ago on their famous No Sleep TIll Hammersmith album.
Last night they weren’t fast. There was just no electricity. Sometimes I think I am just getting old and crotchety. I do tend to get hyper-critical when it comes to live shows, but I’ve always been that way. I can never just sit back and enjoy it, I always have to dissect it. Oh well. My problem, not yours, eh?
The setlist was pretty good overall, it was just the feel and the pace of the songs that got to me. Most people I know loved it and I am glad they had a good time. I did too, actually. I got to see some people I hadn’t seen in a while and got to meet a few new folks.
Setlist:
Iron Fist
Stay Clean
Be My Baby
Rock Out
Metropolis
Over the Top
One Night Stand
I Got Mine
The Thousand Names of God
Another Perfect Day
In the Name of Tragedy
Just ‘Cos You Got the Power
Going to Brazil
Killed by Death
Bomber
Whorehouse Blues
Ace of Spades
Overkill
Sure Lem’s in his 60s now and not everyone can do it like they used to. No matter the performance from last night, I’ll always go see them. It’s Motorhead!
He said something last night that I heard him say the previous 2 times I saw them, “Don’t forget us.”
That line saddens me.
After all, who ever could?
The Metal Files 
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