Posts Tagged ‘juggernaut’
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!
Meeting Harlan Glenn of Juggernaut 08/04/12
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE TEXAS METAL…but let’s clarify (again)…classic Texas Metal. Since moving to Austin in 2006 I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a lot of guys from a lot of those classic bands thanks in large part to Jason 
McMaster (Broken Teeth, Watchtower, Dangerous Toys etc). Jason’s still one of the hardest working guys in the business and it’s not difficult to catch one of his several bands playing around town. Last night was one of those nights as I popped into the Red Eyed Fly to see Jason’s Metallica tribute called Killa Maul which only plays the first Metallica album in its entirety. As a bonus, San Antonio’s Martyrhead was opening up. They’re a Motorhead tribute which features Bob Catlin (SA Slayer, Juggernaut) and Art Villareal (SA Slayer, Karion). Definitely some Texas metal legends. As I was talking to Jason during Martyrhead, he pointed out that the guy in front of us was Harlan Glenn of Juggernaut. Of course I asked Jason to introduce me and he kindly obliged.
After talking with him for a few minutes, I asked him if he was going to be around for the night as I wanted to run over to my apartment to get my book and Juggernaut CD for a signature. He said he was there for the night and would sign anything. I run home and return quickly and we started talking again and he signed the book and the CD. It was cool hearing stories from the old days in San Antonio with Juggernaut and his life now in Los Angeles. Quite interesting. I always liked the album he did with them (Baptism Under Fire) and their song on Metal Massacre VII, In The Blood of Virgins.
It was a nice random meeting and I love it when I am able to get the book signed by someone from the old “underground.”
All photos by David Prewitt/DaveTV (another Austin legend in his own right).
Harlan and a happy dude
Harlan signing the book and CD
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 Best of Metal Blade Vol 2
aka “One Of The Greatest Compilations Ever”
Let’s just say that Metal Blade Records really helped shape my metalness during the mid-80s. For the most part up until about 1989, if it was on Metal Blade Records, there was about a 90%+ chance that you were getting quality metal. There were exceptions of course…like Canada’s Sye. Terrible. Really.
But Metal Blade was great at putting out cool compilations like the Metal Massacre series and the Best of Metal Blade series. Today we take an in depth look at the Best of Metal Blade Vol 2.
1. LIZZY BORDEN “Notorious” – Let’s make something clear here…right now. I’m a Lizzy Borden fan and have been since I first heard them. I’m pretty sure the Give ’em the Axe EP was my indoctrination. My interest was first piqued when I saw a little blurb in Circus Magazine about the band and there was Lizzy standing there with the band on a rooftop with this huge double-bladed axe. They looked totally badass. Great albums overall but I’ve always been a little partial to Menace To Society and especially to this song. Great hooks, cool lyrics, nice production. This song has it all.
2. OMEN “Teeth of the Hydra” – Not my introduction to Omen (thanks Daniel!) but one of my favorite songs by them for sure. JD Kimball’s vocals (RIP) really set this band apart from most metal bands. He could add a tone of despair in his voice that I have never heard too many other singers do. Mustaine had that quality on the first 2 Megadeth albums as well. Something about the way they wail, it’s a bit haunting. While not my favorite of the classic 3 Omen albums, this ranks as one of my top songs from them.
3. FATES WARNING “Prelude to Ruin” – John Arch. You are the man. Fates Warning offered us another treat with Awaken the Guardian. As good of a song as this is, it’s certainly not my favorite from this album.
4. HALLOW’S EVE “Lethal Tendencies” – Yes! Great song from a great album. Sure, not the most technically proficient thrash band, but they delivered it well.
5. SLAYER “Black Magic” – (classic) SLAYER! ’nuff said.
6. DESTRUCTION “Eternal Ban” – see below
7. SODOM “Deathlike Silence” – You know, these 2 songs never did much for me. In general, was never much of a fan of either band. I think the production really ruined them for me on this early stuff. One day I’ll revisit their back catalog again…maybe.
8. SENTINEL BEAST “Dogs of War” – Awful.
9. DETENTE “Holy War” – I always dug Detente. One of the few female fronted metal bands that I could tolerate. This album was pretty good as is this song. Dawn Crosby (RIP) was a rough one. My current guitarist lived with some folks from this band back in those days and the stories and video I’ve seen of them is trippy. Talk about drinkers? wow.
10. HIRAX “Criminal Punishment” – Another band I never got into mainly because I never tried. I don’t dislike this song, but I never really paid much attention to the band. I do respect that Caton is still out there proudly flying the flag of metal.
11. FLOTSAM & JETSAM “Der Fuhrer” – Oh man. One of the greatest thrash songs ever. Period. Everything from this album just rules. But this song…oh man.
12. JUGGERNAUT “Slow Death” – Juggernaut was always hit an miss. This song is no exception. Miss!
13. HERETIC “Whitechapel” – But this song is a hit. It’s perfect. It’s mid-paced fist-pounding metal. Nice shrill-style vocals and it was about Jack the Ripper. What more could one want in a metal song?
14. SAVAGE GRACE “Trial By Fire” – Love it!
15. SOUND BARRIER “Gladiator” – I think I am one of the few who actually like these guys. This is a cool song too.
16. CIRITH UNGOL “Blood & Iron” – Ahhhhh…Cirith Ungol. How I have always held a soft spot in my heart for these guys. There were the old men of metal in LA. very unique band, very dark. Plus they had the best album covers (Michael Whelan).
17. LIZZY BORDEN “Live & Let Die” – I detest Paul McCartney.
18. CITIES “Burn Forever” – Burn burn burn…burn foreveeeeeeeer! Awesome song. The album was pretty good too. Love the vocals on this.
19. EXXPLORER “Run For Tomorrow” – Again, out of my circle of metal metal head friends, I think I was/am the only one who got into these guys. Great vocals.
20. KRANK “Rented Heat” – This is one of those songs like Crazy Night (Loudness) or Balls To the Wall (Accept) that just makes you nod your head to the mid-paced beat and want to put your fist in the air and sing along. Too bad the album was one of the worst things Metal Blade ever put out.
21. DEAF DEALER “The Fugitive” – I adore this song. One of these days I hope to run across this on CD. Hey Kelz, you still have yours?
If I think about it later, I’ll upload this for your listening pleasure.
The Metal Files 
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