was supposed to go see The Subways last night, but the funniest thing happened; a pair of Cannucks tickets in a catered suite fell in to our lap. now, you should know, as Konrad once said, you're more likely to find a bar of gold in the street than a Cannucks ticket. really wanted to see the Subs but was more than happy to sacrifice them. we beat Minnesota 2 - 1 in the dying seconds of a chess-like hockey match. good action if little scoring.

i did, however, manage part deux of our plan; We Are Scientists.




really fucking like this band. the whole show was a model of self-depracating humour and mirth. great atmosphere. The Scientists absolutely rocked the venue. (the Red Room where i saw Hot Hot Heat) the sound was a vast improvement over the last show i took in there. all Scientists were in grood form. i mean good. i mean great. i mean great and good.

witty, senseless and funny banter from the Scientists between songs. total clowns. wonderfully refreshing.



this d00d is teh supernerd. fuck he can smash a bass though.

sweet show, muchly recommended.

Dagoba - Sepultura - In Flames

Even from the beginning of the evening, the venue (Hof Ter Lo in Antwerp) was packed absolutely full... the gig was sold out rather shortly after being announced. But that wasn't a suprise really considering the linup.

Dagoba started the evening. I hadn't heard of these guys before, but they made a good impression. Musicly they're mixing fast, almost thrash metal à la Testament with slower groovier stuff. It's a pretty good mix, specially considering the rest of this evenings lineup. They had the crowd going fairly well too, which is rather an exception for a warmup band out here. Solid effort, and i'm pretty sure these french guys will get a lot more known if they can keep it up.

Sepultura slipped under my metal-radar ever since they split with their vocalist and frontman Max Cavalera. So i wasn't too sure what to expect, and my doubts grew even bigger after hearing that the drummer would be replaced for the tour (drums being always a very important part of their music in the Chaos A.D. and Roots era).
When the guys rushed the stage, starting with an impressive drum intro, at least immediatly reassuring me the replacement-drummer was up for the task. After the intro they blasted off with Convicted to Life from the new album, immediatly settling into a great groove that got the crowd going wild. The set was a good mix of brand-new, recent (and for me unknown) and old material. The new and recent stuff sounded great enough, but i was of course most looking forward to the old material. My doubts on if they could pull it off or not were shattered as from the first notes of Refuse/Resist i got goosebumps. We also got Propaganda, Breed Apart (with Kaiowas as intro), Roots Bloody Roots, Troops of Doom and Beneath The Remains. Fucking awesome set. They certainly convinced me to look into their newer material now.

In Flames is hella popular in the metal world. With reason too... they've got a rich history of 9 albums, and a broad selection of high quality songs to select from. And what's more important, they absolutely rule on stage. So much so that i think they should be rewarded some kind of "Most Fun Live Metal Band Ever" award. The band and specially the frontman interact with the audience very well and the songs themselves are extremely catchy and simply awesomely fun to listen to. They played a very long set (close to two hours i think), playing a sort of best of from their whole repertoire, together with several songs from their new album Come Clarity (which by the way rocks, very hard so). To enhance it all they even brough along a pretty impressive light show. So, a brilliant show, hella fun as always and i think it left everybody looking forward to their show at Graspop in a few months.

excellent review. makes me think i should re-evaluate my opinion of Sepultura post-Max. i've missed In Flames the last two times they played here. obviously to my detrement.

Vancouver loves its Metric. the band sold oot three back to back shows at the Fabulous Commodore. they do that between three and five times a year. that much touring has definately had its effect. the band jams a little more since i last saw them, diverting on more experimental tangents more often and bringing it all back for the big crescendo. they play the crowd pretty fucking well.

Live it Out
Glass Ceiling
Wet Blanket
Too Little Too Late
Poster of a Girl
Patriarch on a Vespa
Monster Hospital
Handshakes
Ending Start
On a Slow Night
The Police and The Private
Hustle Rose
Combat Baby

Empty
Dead Disco (super-extendo)
Love is a Place

now, let's just get the Emily discussion oot ofc the way.



this show saw her in all white. (it's usually black) a minidress as per her usual style, cut square and low in the front and accentuated with a white scarf tied around her neck. her outfit was completed with a pair of white ballet-flats. this woman is crazy hot when she performs. again, not all that pretty, and all the more desireable for it. a delight to behold.
i have it on pretty good authority that Ms. Haines is a total cast-iron bitch. my frined interviewed her and said "she was a cunt". but of course, none of that really matters once you're inside her.

the backdrop was a very simple and effective light setup. six columns of lights, almost randomly spaced apart, composed of lights six wide and maybe twenty tall. continuously patterned ebbs and flows punctuated by strobe-like flashes that were timed perfectly with the music. i swear, several times the crowd was induced to a wild cheering not solely due to the music.

the setlist was quite a bit different than when i last saw them. this is good as i like a band who approaches their live shows with a more organic, spontaneous state of mind. therefore heard a few songs i hadn't heard live before. Wet Blanket and On A Slow Night to be specific. (i was a little let down though with the absence of Succexy.) ah well. some really excellent mixing of one song into another, most noteably Glass Ceiling/Wet Blanket. the version of Dead Disco was an epic 25 minute jam, with Love Is A Place a fine cherry on top. this show was definately a cut above the last.



Vancouver's live scene has been in a bit of a dearth lately, but things seem to be picking up nicely. tonight i'll be back at the COmmodore for a sold-oot Deftones show. ya-ba.

see? hockey tape

quote:

From the Cat:
excellent review. makes me think i should re-evaluate my opinion of Sepultura post-Max. i've missed In Flames the last two times they played here. obviously to my detrement.

Thanks... Sepultura nicely suprised me on that gig, which they shouldn't have really cause i know those dudes could and still can make solid music. And In Flames: shame on you for missing them twice already. Better luck next time!

Tomorrow night, I'm catching Scott H. Biram and the Legendary Shack Shakers at TT the Bear's in Cambridge, MA. I've been looking forward to this show for WEEKS. I'd planned to just go for Biram, but a friend of mine says the Shack Shakers are a truly dangerous rock band and that I'd be crazy to skip them.

ok, for real, Monday night's Deftones gig was fucking unbelieveable.



firstly, their setlist:

My Own Summer (Shove It)
Lhabia
Mascara
Around the fur
Rickets
Be Quiet and Drive
Lotion
Dai the Flu
Headup
MX
Damone
Bored
Minus Blindfold
One Weak
Nosebleed
Lifter
Root
7 Words
Birthmark
Engine No. 9
Fireal

Change (In The House of Flies)

for those of you who know their albums, you will have noted that the setlist is the entire Around The Fur, in order, followed by the entire Adrenaline album, in order. the exception song being the encore performance of Change... that's twenty-two hard-ass tracks. outstanding effort.

this show sold oot in under thirty minutes. not a casual fan in the whole fucking crowd. the audience was receptive and hella loud. screams, yells, and the occasional "I love you, Chino!" could be heard nonstop. (even from the dudes.)
Chino Moreno is the frontman. this guy has a stage presence like no other. completely captivating withoot any extra embellishing. the man wastes no moves. totally into his music using quick, effective arm movements and a sort of stiff-limbed-loose-jointed hiphop-type dance. and his voice can raise the fucking dead. he does more than sing, his voice is an instrument in and of itself. he is hands down the greatest screamer in the business.

the band was relentless, playing their set over two hours. two hours of metal is a long set. and make no mistake, the Deftones are, indeed, a metal band. a blend of shredding layered guitar and provocative stream-of-consciousness lyrics. the volume was perfect too. clear and not too loud. took oot my earplugs right away.

am seriously so glad i caught this act. wow.

This evening I went to see Mogwai with a friend of mine. It was a reciprocal birthday gift. (Last year I got 'UK Subs'.)
I spent a hour outside trying to get a ticket 'cause the concert was sold out and while I did so I was getting slightly pissed at a guy who was selling tickets +15€.
I got a ticket for 20 and a beer and I still owe the guy a beer cause I couldn't find him later inside.


I went into the place and because I used to work as a bouncer was able to get my camera in without hazzle.

Th support act was already playing. The Magnificents - they were pretty good. Their music reminded me of Joy division but maybe only because they used a synthesizer in a rock setup.



It was the first time I was to that venue. They have a really cool floor.



I didn't know what to expect of Mogwai but I liked them as well. Good music if you are into that kind of soundscape noise. (Only similar band I ever saw was Mono from Japan).


I took pictures and somebody (connected to the band I suppose ask me to do so without flash. I obliged and therefore most of the pictures look more like art than snapshoots.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hasa,

My band is playing tonight. That's our second gig this month. Booyah for us!

quote:

I went into the place and because I used to work as a bouncer was able to get my camera in without hazzle.

Does that mean the bouncers knew you, or did you know where to hide it?

quote:

Does that mean the bouncers knew you, or did you know where to hide it?

I knew were to hide it. (Front of the pants, just under the button, wear a loose shirt.) Works only with small cameras.

A reflex camera with telephoto lens would look suspicious.
'Are you tryin' to hide a camera or are you just glad to see me?'

quote:

Front of the pants, just under the button, wear a loose shirt.

I can do that with my new camera.
Cool.

Now if only my Digital Recorder/Microphone could fit there...

Last night was Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War of the Worlds concert. We had good seats in the center in the front block. The stage was set with a large widescreen at the rear. To the left the band were set up (2 guitars, acoustic guitar, bass, 4 keyboardists, drummer, percussionist), a podium in the center and the seats for the ULLAdubULLA string orchestra. The polystone blank head that would have Richard Burton's face projected onto it was to the left above the band and there was a somewhat obvious (apparently not to my wife) Martian fighting machine directly above the stage.



The band and orchestra filed on, then Jeff Wayne entered from the center back stage and took his place at the conductor's podium.

There was a new start, with very dark CGI animation, showing the Martians (dark tentacled shapes) plotting the invasion of Earth because of environmental destruction, over population and lack of resources on Mars. The screen was used for CGI and live action scenes throughout the show, based around the pictures from the original album.

Then Richard Burton's head started up.



Since Burton was never filmed doing War of the Worlds the projection was made up of photo of the top of his head and a mouth-alike did the reading, with occasional disconcerting blinks and eyebrow movements.

The band and the orchestra fired up with the Eve of the War theme, which is literally hair-raising with a 30 piece string orchestra.

There were cameras everywhere. I imagine most of them were for a DVD of the night, but 2 steadicams at the front of the stage were used to film the action on the stage which was then projected back on the screen with the CGI. To begin with it was just Jeff Wayne conducting, but showed close-ups of the singers during the show (for the people at the back).



Justin Hayward took his original role of "the sung thoughts of the journalist", in a pale Victorian style suit.

Horsell Common and The Heat Ray saw the Martian fighting machine lowered over the stage with its legs extending.



Thunder Child had a whole CGI section with the steamer and Thunder Child fighting the Martians, with Jeff Wayne's daughter as the journalist's fiancee.

There was a half hour interval while thousands of people passed the expensive beer they had bought on the way in. The place was slightly uncomfortably warm.

Russell "The Voice" Watson (theme tune to ST: Enterprise) played Parson Nathaniel and Tara Blaise as his wife.



For the The Artilleryman Returns a fairly pointless piece of set lowered onto the stage to form a large arch. Alexis James played the artilleryman and at times it was hard to hear his voice over the music.

At the end the fighting machine on stage sagged, the cast were introduced to applause that turned into a standing ovation, the final epilogue played (voiced by Jeff Wayne's dad) and we all filed out. The merchandise was hideously expensive and uninteresting, but I got a program (£10!)

It's a pretty amazing show to see live. The strings have to be heard to be believed, and the light and sound is pretty intense and relentless. The resurrection of Richard Burton was a bit wierd. It reminded me of the musical Time from 1986 when they did a similar thing with Olivier's head, and the fighting machine on the stage made me think of 1987 and Bowie's Glass Spider tour.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kradlum,

Sounds fantastic - thanks for the excellent review.

Deviance

My cousin plays guitar in that band.
They're not too bad.
Their singer is awful, but he's the one who does all the writing, so they can't get rid of him.

Cool... but where's the Dropkicks Murpheys review?

quote:

Cool... but where's the Dropkicks Murpheys review?

Oooh, I forgot!


Dropkick Murphys Elysée Montmartre, Paris, 2006-04-27

Not much to say.

They rocked.
Too bad they have such a fascist following.

I spent the gig hanging on to the fence (at the front row).
Struggling to prevent two teenage Americans from gaining access to my space.
These kids deserved all the elbow-in-the-ribs I gave them,
because they spent an hour making gay jokes.

Anyway.

During the encores, they called all the girls on stage, and Emilie ran for it (and had a blast).
I was pushed back to the mosh pit, surrounded by skinheads (the bad kind) and punks.

When the gig ended, we couldn't find our backpack.

Terror ensued :
the bag contained our cellphones, keys, ID, debit cards, and my brand new pirate t-shirt.

After 30 minutes of doom, one of the bouncers found the bag, and we went back home (via the pub, for Guinness relief).


Now, the interesting part was the warm up bands :

First off was Far From Finished :
Very good punk.
Simple, efficient.
Their guitarist had a Flogging Molly t-shirt.
The singer has a malformed arm, and he holds his microphone with it.
That's pretty cool.

Second was Less than Jake :
They sucked.
Their music is nice and friendly.
Emo-punk, I'd say.
But their singer is obnoxious.
He looks like he totally digs his guitar-playing.
He kept posing for the photographers.
He has a sweet voice, not fit for punk at all.

At one point, the singer picked out a guy in the ccrowd, and got him to join them on stage.
The guy was obviously high, shy, and not interested in the band.
After a while, the singer booed him off the stage.

Fuck that guy.

Less than Jake equals ass.
Never heard of Far From Finished before. Might be interesting.

Also... i might be going to a Sisters Of Mercy in Brussels next week or so.

Less than Jake used to be, like third or fourth-wave ska? Anyway, yeah, they suck. Still trying to decide on Mono (Japan) or Mogwai next week...