Posts Tagged ‘heavy metal’
Riot V & Helstar Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, September 26, 2015
I will start out by saying that Riot V is pretty much one of the best live bands out there right now along with Satan. Last time I saw them was last year in Chicago at the Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse and was completely blown away. Prior to that I had only seen them one other time at Scout Bar in San Antonio which was Mark Reale’s last USA show before his death.
A couple of friends and I headed down to 210 Kapone’s last in the afternoon, get parked and head in. As always at a show like this one, we ran into a lot of friends from both San Antone and Austin and elsewhere.
There were 5 local openers for this show. FIVE. As seems to be pretty typical in San Antone and I imagine some or all of them paid to play. Helstar was also a later addition to the show. That’s 6 bands before Riot if you’re keeping track here. The schedule was set as follows and was a recipe for disaster:
DOORS 6PM
METALRISER 6:50 – 7:15
SA TERRITORIES 730 – 7:55
JESSIKILL. 8:10 – 8:40
SEANCE. 8:55- 9:25
LOS WICKED WAYS. 9:40 – 10:10
HELSTAR. 10:25 – 11:10
RIOT. 11:30 – END
The show ran late I’m told because Riot’s soundcheck started late. We didn’t get there until right before Jessikill was going on.
Helstar came on about 30 minutes later than their scheduled time and delivered a solid set as usual that I think was cut short, or at least during Run With the Pack their sound got cut and they finished it with just their stage sound. Rivera was spot on with his vocals and I always enjoy watching Larry play guitar. I’m not sure who the bassist is, but he’s good. Unfortunately, they seemed to be getting hit with poor sound as I couldn’t hear the drums that well at all through the PA.
Riot finally hits the stage a few minutes after midnight opening with the instrumental Narita and then Ride Hard Live Free from their latest album. Up next were two songs from Thundersteel and the crowd roared for Fight or Fall and Johnny’s Back, a personal favorite. The rest of the set was mixed up with songs from all eras of of the band but didn’t touch the last Tony Moore album which was really good. I guess they can’t play everything.
Former guitarist, Rick Ventura, who played in the band from 1979 to 1982 sat in for a handful of songs and it was really cool to see one of the almost originals on the stage. He rocked it alongside Mike Flyntz and Nick Lee and looked like he was having a good time. Don Van Stavern is from SA so he’s got an automatic contingent in the house when he plays shows. Frank Gilchriest laid down a powerhouse set of drum work as he always does. And finally, vocalist Todd Michael Hall. Dude looks 25, turned 46 last night and sings like a lark. Pretty much the best singer out there right now in my opinion. The only thing missing last night was Tammy’s backing vocals. She’s in another band with Flyntz and sometimes provides live backing vocals. Look up the Bloodstreets video from this year’s Keep It True festival. They’re perfect.
All in all it was a great show and I can’t wait to see them again…again. RIP Mark Reale. Riot V is keeping your spirit alive.
Because of shitty lighting, I couldn’t get a decent picture of Helstar.
Satan “Atom By Atom” Album Review (2015)
Satan have returned again with a new offering for 2015 on Listenable Records entitled “Atom By Atom” and it’s everything you’d expect after 2013’s Life Sentence.
This album rolls hard from beginning to end and proves once again that the guitar duo of Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins is damn near untouchable. Brian Ross’ vocals are on point and his patented high wails are ever prominent in all the right places. After their Richmond, VA show in 2013, my friend asked Brian how he’s maintained his voice so well since “Court In the Act”. Brian simply replied with, “It’s my job.” And he still does it well.
“Atom By Atom” features 10 tracks and one thing I’ve noticed is that this album seems a bit darker lyrically than their last album and even “Court In the Act”.
Let’s go track by track:
- Farewell Evolution – The album opens with Brian’s falsetto, and lyrically tackles the lack of critical thinking in modern society.
- Fallen Saviour – “Some still believed that he’d return to save them”. I think you can figure out the rest of the sentiment here. I love the guitar solos in this one.
- Ruination – This is one of my favorites on the album so far. The combination of the riffs and rhythm section matched with Ross’ descending vocal pattern just makes for a clean song.
- The Devil’s Infantry – Sean Taylor and Graeme English open this one with a marching pattern. Lyrically what you’d think based on the title. It all works so perfectly. The breakdown/transition mid-song is killer.
- Atom By Atom – The opening riff on this gives me chills. “Out to get you, atom by atom.” You can hear Russ’ distinctive vocals in that part and it just sounds wonderful. The solos are both crushing as well.
- In Contempt – What Satan album would be complete with a song dealing with judgement? No worries here. You got it and shan’t be disappointed!
- My Own God – Brian lays it out in this one with, “I am my own God, I made myself, broke the mold, life is what I make it, I will not be told.”
- Ahriman – Lyrically dealing with Zoroastrianism, of which I am not too familiar. Great song though. Love the backing vocals in the chorus.
- Bound In Enmity – This is a total fist pumper. Riffs and licks for days.
- The Fall of Persephone – Final track on the record. A bit of a slow roller and took a few extra listens to warm up to completely. English has some great bass licks that really stand out. This one clocks in at almost 7 minutes and has several parts. The dueling guitar solos are perfect.
I really cannot praise this album enough. It’s everything I expected and more and I can’t wait to get a physical copy in my hands and especially can’t wait to catch them live again. If I could give only one critical opinion about this album, it would be in the drum production, mainly the snare. On much of the album it’s just a bit too bright but really doesn’t detract from Sean’s solid playing or from the album itself.
Long live Satan and thanks to Listenable Records for letting me review this!
10/10!
Satan are:
Brian Ross
Russ Tippins
Steve Ramsey
Graeme English
Sean Taylor
l-r: English, Taylor, Tippins, Ramsey, Ross
Motorhead, Saxon & Crobot Concert Review, Austin, TX, September 1, 2015
“Heart of a lion fight to the end
Run like the wind
Champions of champions, best in the land, you always win
Don’t fade away, don’t fade away
Run with your dream right to the end
Your spirit flies on eagle’s wings
Never coming down”
– Fallen Heroes by A.S.A.P. (Adrian Smith)
Since last night this verse has been running in my head.
We all know the story by now that Motorhead stopped during their 3rd song, Metropolis, and that was it.
I’ve seen them 7 times in the last 12 years and each has been just a little more depressing than the previous. I noticed in 2003 that his hand was shaking when not holding a jack and coke or playing his guitar. It was more than just the shakes. It looked like Parkinson’s disease to me, not that I can diagnose anything on anyone. Lemmy’s health in recent years has been spoken of often…pacemaker, diabetes, altitude sickness, etc. He has looked awful and in the last 5 years has gotten so skinny and more frail than ever.
There was tension in the air before the came on stage. Anticipation of what was coming next based on recent events with the band in Salt Lake and Denver.
The band hits the stage and Lemmy gingerly walks on stage playing a few notes…”Alright?” The crowd is excited…”We are Motorhead…” Roars from the crowd. “…and we play rock and roll!” He sounded so weak…and old. He’s 69 and looks every bit of it and more.
And then they went in to Damage Case. It was slow. So slow. Lem’s voice was quiet. He was barely playing the chords. Stiff. He looked like he was in pain. They played Stay Clean next. Phil and Mikkey more animated than normal, likely trying to draw attention from the elephant in the room. Both songs were about 20% slower than recorded.
Then Lemmy is announcing Metropolis. He mentions that he’s been sick. Before the second verse started, Lemmy stops playing and says, “I can’t do it” and the band quickly exits the stage.
There were cheers for the band but there was also a hush over the crowd. Chants of “Lemmy” and “We love you” were started. A few minutes later, Lemmy comes out and says, “You are one of the best gigs in America, and I would love to play for you, but I can’t… So please accept my apologies. Next time, all right?” Class act all the way.
Until next time is right, Lem. Hopefully Saturday in Houston.
By the way, Crobot and Saxon also played.
Whitesnake and The Dead Daisies Concert Review, Austin, TX, August 9, 2015
The Dead Daisies opened the show and I had not heard of them until right before showtime. They are sort of an all star lineup featuring John Corabi, Marco Mendoza, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortis, Brian Tichy and Damon Johnson. They came out and got the crowd warmed up pretty easily and were a good fit to open for Whitesnake. Musically I was pretty bored. Too much hand clapping and “Hey!” type rock for me. The crowd seemed into it though and that’s what mattered. They were solid and Corabi’s voice sounded great. They did a quick free meet and greet immediately after their set which was cool. I spoke to Marco for a moment recalling the times I saw him with Thin Lizzy in Virginia and Maryland. He’s got a good memory, “Phil Lynott tattoo on your arm, right?”
I saw Whitesnake for the first time about 10 years ago to the day (August 7, 2005) in Norfolk, VA and they were good. Good enough, anyway. Coverdale, who’s no spring chicken and should not be expected to sound like he did in the 70s and 80s, sounded good. Last night was no different.
They had a taped opening of The Who’s My Generation then went right into Burn by Deep Purple, Slide It In and Love Ain’t No Stranger. Great way to open a show! They played some more Deep Purple songs (this is dubbed the Purple Tour) and some other Whitesnake tracks including Bad Boys from the 1987 S/T album. I was a little surprised that they’re not playing Stormbringer on this tour, but oh well.
The band was super solid and their backing vocals helped Coverdale sound better for sure. He’s got Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra, Tommy Aldridge, Michael Devin and a keyboard player that I’m too lazy to look up. Both Reb and Joel were tearing it up on guitar and Aldridge bored me to tears like he always has. I could never get into his playing.
The show didn’t sell out, not even close. It was a great time with great friends during and after the show and I’ve got a little rock and roll pneumonia today to show for it!
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.
The Metal Files 
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