Posts Tagged ‘the metal files’
Pentagram Concert Review – Emo’s, Austin, TX – 070609
Pentagram, Outlaw Order, Nachtmystium, Wolves in the Throne Room, Minsk, The Roller – Emo’s, Austin, TX 070609
I’m pretty sure it was Daniel who turned me on to Pentagram In 1987 when he bought Day of Reckoning on cassette. It had a cool cover of a mausoleum. I had seen it advertised in the ‘zines but never bothered with it. As stated a zillion times before, my parents weren’t so keen on the whole metal thing and this one would have surely gotten mom’s attention just by the name of the band. I had Daniel dub it for me and I just had it titled “Day of Reckoning” on the cassette with no song titles or anything else. Hey, we had to play it safe. I simply adore this album. Very Sabbathy without some of the heaviness of Iommi’s tone. Although Victor Griffin really lifted a lot from Iommi, he took that style to another level. They only other comparable band from that era that was pulling this off was Trouble.
I wanted to see Pentagram live and tried a few times in the mid-to-late 90’s but it seemed that every time I wanted to go up to the Baltimore/DC area to see them, they cancelled. Typically because of Liebling’s drug and alcohol abuse coupled with his frail mental and physical states. Sad but I have no sympathy.
In 2000 I went to Jaxx in Springfield, VA to see Raven/UDO. Joe Hasselvander was drumming for Raven and we talked Pentagram for a while. He told me some trippy stories about playing with Bobby.
Flash forward to about 2 months ago. I heard Pentagram was doing a handful of shows in the US and that the final one was in Austin. Seriously? Pentagram? Here? I got my ticket the day they went on sale as I expected it to sell out. My friend Jasmine had seen them a few months prior in NYC and she said they were great so I was really excited to finally see them. In recent years they have used the drummer from Spirit Caravan, Gary Isom and a good guitar player named Russ Strahan. Not sure who he and the player may have played with before but they sounded fine.
So for the last 6 weeks or so I have been super excited. I finally (hopefully) get to see a band I have wanted to see for 22 years!
I head downtown around 730 or so and go to the Jackalope for a burger (the best!) and a few beers. Gary from Mala Suerte and Noah stop in and hang out for a bit. After we finish, we head over to Emo’s for the show. I go in and check out the Pentagram merch booth. Talking to the girl who works it, Nancy, we had a few friends in common from the east coast. I end up buying both styles of the Pentagram shirts as they don’t sell the XXL versions on the website. Yea! Just what I needed, more black t-shirts!
Local doom/sludge band The Roller opens the show on the outside stage. I’ve seen them several times and they do their thing well. Halfway through their set I go inside to get a beer and some A/C and check out Minsk from Chicago. Not really my thing but I guess they are alright. I liked that sound better when Tiamat was doing it 15 years ago. Haha. Just kidding guys…sorta. Now let’s take into account that I have been up since 530AM and it’s around 10PM. I’m a little tired. So I go outside and sit for a while and see some friends, shoot the shit, check out some nice asses…you know, the usual. Outlaw Order (EYEHATEGOD) were setting up and I found a place in the back of the venue and sat down for their set. It wasn’t too bad, a little better than their EYEHATEGOD stuff. I was comfortable on the bench and didn’t go back in to check out Wolves In The Throne Room. Noah said they were good and he bought the 12” of their latest. Shortly after Wolves finished inside, Nachtmystium took the stage outside. Death metal, upbeat, double bass, fist pounding type stuff. Not bad, nothing groundbreaking.
Then Pentagram sets up. Pretty decent crowd. I estimated about 400 or so but definitely not a sellout. I expected more. So Pentagram hits the stage. Bobby looks old. Well, Bobby is old. His voice sounded like shit in the first song. Absolutely awful. I wonder how it was for the other shows? It got a little better towards the middle of the set but he was obviously hurting. I understand it. Singers can’t always be 100% and with Bobby Liebling I imagine you never know what you’ll get. He looked really frail but was very mobile. He seemed to get all the words right. When he spoke between songs, though, he sounded like Keith Richards. Couldn’t understand much of what he was saying except when he said “I fucking love you guys!” He said that about 10 times. Right on, Bobby. The band was tight and Russ’ guitar playing was good. Nice tone, good licks…a fitting guitarist for Pentagram.
But I do have to say I was a little disappointed overall. I guess maybe because of the setlist. Having never seen them live, I don’t know what they would usually play, but I expected more stuff from Day of Reckoning. As previously stated, I love that album. At minimum I wanted to hear Burning Savior. The only thing we got from that one was When The Screams Come. Great song, sure, but it’s no Burning Savior. They played 3 from Relentless: All Your Sins, Sign of the Wolf (Pentagram) and 20 Buck Spin. I never cared for 20 Buck Spin but love the other 2 tracks. They also played Petrified from Be Forewarned. There were a few new songs from an upcoming album called Last Rites but I can’t say they were very memorable. There were a few others in the set that I didn’t recognize as well. But where was “Living In a Ram’s Head”? I think in total we only got about 10 or 11 songs. It seemed as if they wanted to play more during their encore but he stated “They said this has to be our last song of the night.” The crowd near the front seemed pretty into it. A lot of people singing along and such. When I didn’t like was seeing all of the beer cans being thrown around. I’ve been hit while playing and it sucks. Also, WTF was with the crowd surfing? Stupid kids.
The merch girl told me that Bobby usually comes out to sign stuff after the show and as always, I came armed and ready with CD covers…but at the end of the show, I just wanted to go home. I was tired, hot, sweaty, disappointed and deflated. One guy I know said “You should be happy that you got to see a legend. What did you expect?” I guess I expected a better setlist, but that is my fault, not Pentagram’s. The sound in there was pretty shitty too which didn’t help much. Bobby complained several times at the beginning of the set to turn his monitors up. Like I said, his vocals got a little better as the show progressed but he just sounded beat and tired. Decades of self-abuse with drugs etc have taken their toll. In a way I sort of wish I would have stuck around to see if Bobby was signing stuff as I’ll likely not get that chance again. Oh well.
I was going to write this review last night when I got home but my emotions were still high. I think I gave a better and more level-headed review by waiting. I am glad I got to see them even if my expectations weren’t met.
I have attached a setlist from one of the Chicago shows. I assume this is what we got last night with the encore songs being reversed.
Enjoy the vids too!
Urchin feat. Adrian Smith
Like a lot of American kids, my exposure to the NWOBHM was Iron Maiden. Sure I had heard Priest in the 70s but they 
were pre-NWOBHM. As a Maiden fan, I always loved Adrian Smith’s guitar work, songwriting and vocal abilities. When the 10 Wasted Years video came out, they showed Adrian’s pre-Maiden band Urchin doing “She’s a Roller.” A cool poppy sounding song, very British in its stylings. I adored Adrian’s A.S.A.P. and always found it to be a refreshing and original album.
Last year I found a copy of the Urchin stuff on eBay for a mere $12! I had to have it. It’s a fun CD, nothing too crazy but it’s total Adrian Smith. I always wished he’d do a follow-up to ASAP’s Silver and Gold. Unfortunately we got Psycho Motel. I have both of their CDs but haven’t listened to them in forever. Perhaps I will one day soon…perhaps not (more likely).
Anyhoo…enjoy this trip down Adrian Smith’s memory lane.
- She’s a Roller
- Long Time No Woman
- Black Leather Fantasy
- Rock & Roll Woman
- See Right Through You (live)
- See Right Through You (studio)
- Walking Out On You
- Watch Me Walk Away
- The Latest Show
- Life Time
Panther feat. Jeff Scott Soto
I picked this album up sometime in 1986 or 1987 and I think I got it at Unicorn Records in Portsmouth, VA. Not 
important. What was important is that it had Jeff Scott Soto on vocals. I was a HUGE fan of his work on Yngwie’s first 2 albums and randomly finding this in a record store was sweet. I remember looking at the cover thinking, “Damn, they could have found someone a little better looking.” ha ha. Even in those days the big hair didn’t do much for me. Then turning the album over and seeing that Jeff was singing, I had to have it. I think I got it for $1.
I’ll be straight to the point…this is not a great album but it is good and a little better than average. JSS’ vocals are great. To me he’s one of the greatest singers in metal/rock although I haven’t liked everything he’s put out such as Talisman and Takara. He did sound great with Journey though! I wish he could have kept that gig.
Anyhoo…Most of the songs on here are mid-paced metal anthems but all-in-all pretty good. I can still remember listening to the my vinyl copy and I think this digital version retains much of that vinyl tinniness. Best song would be “Warchild” and the worst is “Panther.”
Enjoy.
- First There Was Rock
- Desire
- Danger
- Deliver The Axe
- Warchild
- Panther
Race With The Devil On Spanish Highway
Right about the time that Riot released Privilege of Power (which I still love), I was reading the credits in the cassette’s liner notes. Remember cassettes? Anyhoo, I went to the mall record store and looked DiMeola up on their database 
and purchased Elegant Gyspy (on tape). At that time it was a name that I was unfamiliar with as I really wasn’t listening to any jazz/fusion at the time. Mahavishnu Orchestra was really the only band I was familiar with from that genre. I remember popping the tape in my car’s cassette player (1982 Pontiac Trans Am!) and just sitting in the parking lot with my mouth wide open. I was completely blown away. All I could think was “This dude is a badass! Holy shit. Listen to that drummer!”
I had a full time job with VDOT at the time but was also working a few hours a week at a local drum shop, helping the owner build his new store. I brought the tape in one evening and said, “What do you know about Lenny White?” He was already sitting behind a drum set and started playing some of the amazingly fast paradiddles and other licks from this album. Again…mouth wide open. Drew was a fantastic drummer.
I listened to this tape incessantly and even practiced drums to it…as much as my abilities let me anyway. I was no Lenny White.
It’s easily in my top 10-15 albums of all time. Al’s playing on this is so fluid. It’s jazz, it’s a little rock, it’s a little metal, it’s flamenco…it’s everything. The album flows so smoothly from beginning to end. I usually listen to it at least twice every time.
A few years ago (2006?), Patrick (Buzzard) and I got tickets to see DiMeola in downtown Norfolk. We were both pretty excited to see the show as we were both big fans. We parked near the venue a while before the show so we could grab some food and a beer or 2 prior to going in. We had some NY style pizza and a few beers and walked over to the theater. As we got closer I could see that something was taped to the door. “CANCELED” My heart sunk. What a total letdown. We were both pretty annoyed. Apparently Al’s drummer quit that day or something. Damn! So we ended up going back to our neighborhood and barhopped.
Last year it was announced that Return to Forever was reuniting and that their first 2 shows would be in Austin at the Paramount Theater. Doug Morrison and I scored 2nd row center seats on the balcony. $125ea and worth every penny. The view and the sound were perfect. You could hear Al’s footswitch when he changed channels on his amp. Everyone was quiet and attentive while RTF played. It was pretty impressive. It was doubly special for me because I finally got to see Lenny White play drums live.
Of all of Al’s other solo works, I really only liked Land of the Midnight Sun and Casino. The others got a little too modern sounding for me…But Elegant Gypsy is the cream of the crop.
So Mark Reale, if you’re reading this, thanks for turning me on to DiMeola. I owe you bigtime! :)
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion
So early in 1993 I was drumming in Epitaph, a band that consisted of some of my best friends. It was fun being in a band with those guys, especially since we always basically agreed on everything that we wanted to play. Good times had by
all. The only real problem I had was that I wanted to play out. Sure we did the occasional party here and there but I wanted to get into some clubs. We were certainly good enough but those guys didn’t have much interest in it and it wasn’t too big of a deal. I understood where they were coming from.
So one day I cruise over to Mark S’ house and hang out with him a while. I had known him for quite a while as we worked together at the grocery store in 1986 and there weren’t that many drummers in our small town, therefore we all knew each other. Mark was/is an incredible drummer, definitely someone I’d love to be drumming for me now (I can’t play anymore; I should blog about that sometime). So we’re in his garage and doing some drum tradeoff stuff. I was dazzling him with my double bass skills and he was dazzling me with his overall drum badassedness.
Anyway, to make a long story longer, he told me that he was playing in a band (I AM I from Virginia Beach, VA) but had to quit it for whatever reason and hooked me up with an audition. I got the gig and it was fun while it lasted (1993-1995). We played out a lot. It was what I would call a progressive rock band. It was tough to quantify as we all had such different influences. We had quite an array of songs, 4+ sets of material which were about 50/50 originals to covers.
One of the covers we did was Nearly Lost You by Screaming Trees. I had not heard this before but I liked it. I ultimately heard the song again in the soundtrack to the movie Singles (great film). Screaming Trees got pigeonholed as being a grunge band but personally I think they were heads and tails better than most of the bands that came from that NW rock scene and they were doing their thing for several years prior to that wave of music. They had a certain something that was very different. They were dark, depressing, heavy at times but not in a Nirvana kind of way. I ultimately bought the album Sweet Oblivion and instantly loved it. There was something in Mark Lanegan’s voice that just screamed that he was hurting deep down. It reminds me a little bit of Hank Williams, Sr. No matter how upbeat the song sounded, you could hear the pain in his voice.
This album has that front to back. Great hooks and melodies, Lanegan’s haunting vocals. It’s a perfect album in my opinion. Oddly enough for as much as I adore this album, I never delved into the rest of their catalogue. I remember hearing Uncle Anesthesia a few times when it first came out, but it didn’t stick with me, nor was I ever really trying to listen to it as it was always background music to something else. I heard some of Lanegan’s solo stuff and it’s very dark and moody. I briefly jammed with Drew from Unicorn Records in Portsmouth, VA and we did a few of Lanegan’s songs. I never got into his work with Queens of the Stoneage.
The Metal Files 
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