I have always like Twisted Sister, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Go ahead, take away my metal credentials, but you cannot deny that the bands pre-"We're Not Gonna Take It" material was pretty heavy. Kind of New York Dolls meets early Motörhead. I remember shopping at The Record Exchange in Walnut Creek back in '83 or so when the dude behind the counter threw the "Under The Blade" 7" on to the turntable. I was pretty blown away. A few months later I was seeing them live, smashed up against the barricade at San Jose Civic Center. I also saw them open for Iron Maiden at the Cow Palace in '85, but due to some pre-show parking lot drinking I passed out in my seat, and came to just as they were leaving the stage.
Unfortunately the band sold out big time, and to this day I still cannot listen to "We're Not Gonna Take It", or "I Want To Rock", for that matter. But I will always be a huge fan of their first two records.....
Adiós, Muchachos!
One of the best Punk Rock shows I've ever been to. Period. More photos on the way!
Last night I had the opportunity to photograph Social Distortion, who played the first show at the just renovated and truly spectacular Fox Theater. Unfortunately the release I had to sign prevents me from posting any of my pictures at this time, but I can say that this might have been my favorite Social D show ever, and I have probably seen them close to a dozen times of the years. Photos and review coming soon!
After suffering through six so-called "metal" bands during the previous 28 hrs, I needed a dose of real metal more than the junkies across the street from my house need their methadone. Fortunately, Meshuggah hit Slims' stage at precisely 10:26PM last night, and proceeded to give me a fix of some of the most brutal metal I have witnessed in quite some time, and aside from "Holy Fucking Shit".......... I was left speechless.
With the duel 8 string guitar assault of Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, Meshuggah created a sound that, although was as heavy as fuck, was built on layers upon layers of sound. The vocals of Jens Kidman
were totally brutal, and as he screamed out "Combustion", which is in a
way the bands tribute to early Bay Area thrash, all I could do was
stand there and watch in total awe. There wasn't a split second of lull
in the set, but if I had to pick high points they would have to be
"Rational Gaze", "Lethargica", and of course "Bleed", which, with the mind-blowing drumming of Tomas Haake,
was one of the heaviest songs I have ever heard live. The set was 90
minutes of pure metal Armageddon, and when it was over I couldn't help
but think that Amebix now has some serious competition for my show of the year. Be sure to check out reviews of the show by Umlaut and Hard Rock Chick.
Meshuggah Trivia!- While preparing for an interview with the band that unfortuneatley never came to fruition, I learned that guitarist Fredrik Thordendal was not only a member of XXX Atomic Toejam, but also played bass on Memorandum's New Primitivism album. Both are two of my favorite Cold Meat Industry bands, and are a precursor to much of today's "Industrial" music.
