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[IRON BALLS]

[rtbuck]

Ace Frehley ‘Anomaly’
Label: Bronx Born Records
Review by Bucky for Rock n Roll Universe

It was in the fall of ’89 there was a reason I remember it well… Ace Frehley no longer a member of Kiss & no longer under the moniker ‘Frehley’s Comet’ released ‘Trouble Walkin’’ which was his third album since leaving his space make-up behind.(There was also a 5 song E.P.)

Almost 20 years later to the date (Trouble Walkin’ was released 10/13/1989) Ace is back with his long awaited fourth album since leaving Kiss, ‘Anomaly’ on Bronx Born Records. There are a few options when purchasing the album: Best Buy’s version has a shiny metallic looking CD case, Wal-Mart (& other outlets) come with a tattoo & mini poster, & the digital download from Itunes has a bonus track called “The Return of the Space Bear” which is an instrumental track (It is actually the 8th track on the album called “Space Bear”) with sound clips of Ace from his classic appearance with Kiss on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show from 1979 spliced in.

The album kicks off with a heavy rocker called “Foxy & Free” which is a great song to start the album as it’s filled with a hard & heavy rhythm that revisits his 1978 solo album. Ace seems to tip his hat to Jimi Hendrix on this tune especially when he says “Look at…You’re a voodoo chile” just before he rips into a solo. The 2nd tune is his first single released from the album & it’s called “Outer Space”. “Outer Space “is another heavy hitter from the album with a pounding rhythm supplied by original Comet drummer Anton Fig & the driving bass line running through the song is driven by Ace. This is one of those songs that is
meant to be cranked out of your car on the thruway with the windows wide open.
Former Lynch Mob bassist Anthony Esposito starts off “Pain in the Neck” with a bass run that is met by a crunching rhythm. The song gets a bit strange half way through with some mellow guitars & yodeling by Scott Coogan but that is interrupted by a ripping solo by Ace. On Ace’s ‘Trouble Walkin’’ album he did an amazing cover of ELO’s “Do Ya” which musically & vocally sounded great. This time out Ace does a phenomenal cover of Sweet’s 1975 hit “Fox on the Run”. “Genghis Khan” features Ace & Anton Fig playing all the instruments & probably would have been better if it was just an instrumental as musically it’s my favorite track off the album but lyrically & vocally the song is brought down a notch or two. “Too Many Faces” is a good track that would’ve fit in great on ‘Psycho Circus’. “Change the World” is an easy going tune both lyrically & musically which has Ace reaching out to the world for a much needed change. The “Triple A’s” (Ace, Anthony, & Anton) shine on the Heavy instrumental track “Space Bear” which is a killer track. The autobiographical acoustic “A Little Below the Angels” is a great tune that sounds like something the late Johnny Thunders (ex-NY Dolls & Heartbreakers guitarist) would have wrote. This leads us to my favorite track on the album “Sister” which Ace has had kicking around for a long time (I remember hearing him play this in the clubs back in the early/mid 90’s & thinking it kicked ass back then).The song reminds me of a combination of “Breakout” (From the ‘Frehley’s Comet’ album) & “Shot Full of Rock” (from the ‘Trouble Walkin’ album). “It’s a Great Life” is a decent tune with a cool rhythm & solo which leads us to the album’s final track “Fractured Quantum”. Ace’s first solo album from 1978 ended with an instrumental called “Fractured Mirror” & he has also closed albums with “Fractured Too” & “Fractured III” instrumentals so “Fractured Quantum” is no surprise.

Anomaly means a departure from the normal & that is what Ace has always been about. If you're looking for normal stay clear of Ace because that's one thing he is not. I really enjoy the new album & I enjoy it more & more with each listen.

Bucky

[rtbuck]

KISS w/ Special Guests: Buckcherry

Date: 9/28/2009

Venue: Quicken Loans Arena

Location: Cleveland, OH

Review by Bucky

Kiss returned to Cleveland, OH for their 22nd show since 1975 in the “Forest City”. I live in Buffalo, NY & it’s a 2 ½ - 3 hour drive to Cleveland from Buffalo. We arrived at the venue about 5:30 PM & paid 25 bucks for parking. It was only about a minute walk from the car to the arena. I went to a restaurant across from the parking lot called “The Hairy Buffalo” for a bite to eat before the show & the food was great as was our waitress with the ripped black fishnet stockings. I’ve been to Cleveland 3 times in the past 6 years & the one thing I’ve always noticed is how friendly the people always are. As we waited for the doors to open for the show a couple of security guards came out a few times to let the crowd know how many minutes were left before we could enter the venue. The guards were very cool & after they’d make their announcements they’d mingle with the crowd. Finally, at about 7PM the doors opened & it was a mad rush to the Souvenir Stand. I bought a T-Shirt with a red Kiss logo & the four faces on the front & on the back it read: “I lost my mind in Cleveland Rock City”. Also, on the back it listed every date & venue that Kiss played in Cleveland since 1975 which is very cool. The main reason I was willing to take the trip was because the tickets we had were only $25.00. Our seats were supposed to be in the first row of the top level but the top level was closed off so our seats were changed to a lower level which was great.

I was looking forward to seeing Buckcherry open the show as I was somewhat familiar with them. They took the stage around 8PM & played for about 40 minutes which seemed to drag on forever. I was disappointed with the band & especially with the singer Josh Todd. He was covered with hard ass tattoos but he skipped & pranced around the stage & was just awful to watch. The rest of the band wasn’t bad, powerhouse drummer Xavier Muriel was a heavy hitter who really stood out but the two guitarists: Stevie D & Keith Nelson looked like they could’ve played in a low budget local Hanoi Rocks tribute band. No Kidding, Stevie D attempted to act like Andy McCoy & Nelson was trying to perform a dead on Nasty Suicide. The low point of their performance was a horrible rendition of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. “All Lit Up” sounds much better on cd than live. ”Crazy Bitch” was kind of cool especially intertwining Billy Squier’s ”The Stroke” & the Ohio Players “Fire” in it.

By about 9:15PM the stage was set & classic rock tunes such as “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Ramble On”, & “Rock & Roll” blared through the P.A. The arena went dark & then…”CLEVELAND!!!! YOU wanted the BEST…YOU got the BEST
…the hottest band in the world…KISSSSS!!!!” & the opening notes of “Deuce” rang through the arena as Kiss appeared on a stage full of fire & smoke. On the stage in the center was a huge Kiss logo that was lit up & Eric Singer’s drum kit was set on top of the logo. A huge screen was in back just above Eric & his drums & off to both sides of the huge logo (also running underneath the huge screen) was about 40 visual monitors. The band was full of energy as Gene, Paul, & Tommy rocked back & forth to the ending jam of the opening tune. Without a break Eric Singer pounded out the drum intro to “Strutter” from their 1974 debut album & the band rocked on. Afterwards, Paul Stanley acknowledged the crowd & started talking about all of the different venues Kiss played in Cleveland since the band’s existence. The band seemed to be sticking to the format of their 1975 ‘Kiss Alive’ album by ripping into “Got to Choose”. The next song began for a split second & the power cut out. Once the drums kicked in, the power was restored & the song they were playing was “Let Me Go Rock & Roll”(which was actually the last song on ‘Kiss Alive’) & the band sounded great. Paul announced that the next song was “Classic Kiss” & said that Kiss music doesn’t have to be old to be classic. The band launched into “Modern Day Delilah” from their upcoming ‘Sonic Boom’ album. The song did sound like “Classic Kiss” & the crowd responded positively to the new tune. Paul got the crowd on their feet by saying that if you want to be quiet, to go sit in front of your TV & watch Melrose Place. The band then went into “Hotter than Hell” & at the ending, sirens began blaring & out to the center of the stage walked Gene Simmons to perform his fire breathing act. Paul announced the next song was going to be sung by Eric who sang “Nothin’ to Lose” from the Kiss debut album. Continuing once again with the ‘Kiss Alive’ format, Kiss played the entire side 2 consisting of “Nothing to Lose”, “C’mon & Love Me”, “Parasite”, & “She”. “She” featured a guitar solo by Tommy Thayer which he added distorted notes of “Beethoven’s Fifth” while shooting fireworks out of the neck of his guitar. Next was side 3 of ‘Kiss Alive’ in its entirety featuring “Watchin’ You”, “100,000 Years”, & “Black Diamond”. “100,000 Years” featured an Eric Singer drum solo with his drum kit revolving but surprisingly no Gene Simmons bass solo or Blood-spitting before the tune. The band finished “Black Diamond” with its usual explosive ending & went right into the Rock & Roll national anthem…”Rock & Roll All Nite”. The ending featured confetti flying from four different spots in the arena as 3 hydraulic lifts lifted Gene Paul & Tommy above the stage & Paul smashed his guitar on the lift. For the encore Paul said they were going to do things different. Instead of playing one encore & running off stage & then come back up for another they were going to play one long encore. The crowd was on their feet as Kiss rocked out to their anthem from the ‘Destroyer’ album “Shout it Out Loud”. “Lick it Up” was up next & Tommy & Paul exchanged guitar parts of the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in the middle of the 1983 Kiss classic. The stage went dark for a couple of seconds & at the center of the stage Gene Simmons began his bass solo featuring his Blood-spitting act. He flew to the top of a lighting rig above the stage & sang “I Love it Loud” from 1982’s ‘Creatures of the Night’. The long time regular concert staple “Cold Gin” was up next followed by “Love Gun” which had Paul fly to a platform at the rear of the arena. The band closed the night with their 6th song of the encore set which was “Detroit Rock City”.

Once again, Kiss proved why they are the “Hottest Band in the World” & what was great about the show besides their explosive performance was seeing fans of all ages throwing their fists in the air singing along with every tune. Tommy Thayer & Eric Singer were great which helped make this a complete Kiss show. By the looks of the crowd a large number probably never witnessed an Ace Frehley solo where he shot fireworks from his guitar or a Peter Criss drum solo. Of course it would be great if Ace & Peter were still there but they’re not. Tommy, Eric, Gene, & Paul are here to give us all a Kiss show which is just what they did.

Bucky

[rtbuck]

Kiss ‘Sonic Boom’
Label: Kiss Records
Review by Bucky


In December of 1976 I received my first Kiss album: Kiss “Rock & Roll Over” as a Christmas gift from one of my sisters. The only Kiss songs I was familiar with at the time were “Beth” & “Rock & Roll All Nite” & I had no idea what the band was all about. The artwork on ‘Rock & Roll Over’ amazed me & the music on the record blew me away. I was hooked on that first listen & the cover had me intrigued to find out more about the band. By June of 1977 I was a freak that bought every magazine & poster I could find with Kiss. During that month radio commercials were plugging the new album ‘Love Gun’ by Kiss which was to be released on June 30th. Teasers of “Love Gun”, “Hooligan”, “Christine 16”, & “Shock Me” blared through the airwaves during the 30 second commercials & June 30th couldn’t arrive fast enough. Finally, the day had arrived & I took the money I had from my 8th grade graduation to Cavages Record Store at a local mall where I purchased ‘Love Gun’ & ‘The Originals’(I already had the first 3 albums but I wanted ‘The Originals’ for the extra memorabilia that was included). ‘Love Gun’ sounded incredible from beginning to end & I probably listened to that album 5 times that day. By the end of that first day I knew every song all the way through. Little did I know that this day would be repeated 32 years later.

When word leaked out earlier this year that Kiss would be releasing a new studio album with their current line-up featuring Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, & Tommy Thayer I was psyched. As the release date of October 6th grew closer more info on the album was being released & a tour was set to coincide with the release of the new album.
A new song by the band titled “Modern Day Delilah” appeared on the official Kiss website www.kissonline.com & the heavy rocker was a bit of a teaser from ‘Sonic Boom’. The band began including “Modern Day Delilah” in their set list which Paul Stanley introduced as “Classic Kiss” stating that it doesn’t have to be old to be classic.The new album was to be released exclusively through Wal-Mart & would include 2 bonus discs along with ‘Sonic Boom’ (one CD of a Best of Kiss with all of their classics reworked by the current line-up & a DVD with 6 songs recorded live from April of 2009). Wal-Mart stores were to set up a “Kiss Korner” featuring the new album along with various merchandise including T-Shirts, Blankets, M & M’s, Trading Cards, & Kiss Mr. Potatohead dolls. With all the hype surrounding the new album I felt as I did 32 years earlier but instead of my Mom rolling her eyes at me it was my wife!

“Modern Day Delilah” kicks off ‘Sonic Boom’ with a heavy style that revisits 1982’s ‘Creatures of the Night’ in the same vein as “Creatures of the Night” & “Keep Me Coming”. The tune has a great line that goes “…Just like the trigger on a loaded gun…you were the reason for the damage done…”. “Russian Roulette” continues the heavy rock assault with some great bass runs by Gene Simmons. Simmons borrows a line from “Burn Bitch Burn” from 1984’s ‘Animalize’ album as he sings “…out of the frying pan & into the fire…” The tune has a hard driving melody that leads into the chorus (which the chorus reminds me a bit of Gene’s “Burning Up with Fever” from his 1978 solo album). Tommy Thayer rips a fiery solo that screams classic Kiss. “Never Enough” is a great hard rock/ pop tune that borrows from so many different bands that it’s destined to be a hit. I hear bits of The Raspberries, Whitesnake, Poison, Free, & Grand Funk all blended with a classic Kiss sound. “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)” is cool rock & roll tune that is a typical Gene Simmons composition built around his sense of humor. “Stand” is a hard rocking anthem tune sung by both Gene & Paul with a sing along chorus that has a 1988 hair band Monster Ballad feel to it. Once again Tommy’s lead work really stands out on this tune but then again I can say that about every tune on ‘Sonic Boom’ as the tone of his lead solos is near perfect sounding. The first chord of “Hot & Cold” followed by a few notes & a loud “Oh Yeah!” made me think of “Cold Gin” for a couple of seconds but then the rocker had the feel of Kiss’ “Got Love For Sale” & “Rockin’ in the U.S.A.”. When Kiss ‘Love Gun’ was released in 1977 it was the first time all four members each sang lead vocals on a Kiss album. 32 years later, all 4 current members sing lead vocals on ‘Sonic Boom’ & with his raspy voice drummer Eric Singer sings lead vocals on the inspirational anthem from the album “All for the Glory”. The highlight takes place at around the 2 minute mark where Eric lets out a grizzled scream & Tommy Bursts into an earsplitting solo. “Danger Us” starts out a bit like “Domino” off their 1992 ‘Revenge’ album but then rocks out in a heavy rock style complete with a catchy melody that will hook you in. “I’m an Animal” is the heaviest sounding tune on the album which has a cool groove & a great riff. My favorite tune on the album is “When Lightning Strikes” which features lead guitarist Tommy Thayer on lead vocals & it’s a hard rocking tune with a great hook that will kick your ass. ‘Sonic Boom’ closes with a late 80’s sounding rocker called “Say Yeah” which will have you singing “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” by the end of your first listen.

The first bonus disc is titled ‘Kiss Klassics’ & was originally released as a Japan exclusive called ‘Jigoku – Retsuden” in August of 2008. The CD features 15 Kiss tunes reworked with the current line-up. All of the classics are here including “Shout it Out Loud”, “Rock & Roll All Nite”,”Heaven’s on Fire”, “Lick it Up”, “Love Gun”,” Detroit Rock City”,” Calling Dr. Love”, “Hotter Than Hell”, & “Forever”. For the most part all of the songs are pretty close to the original versions but I prefer the new reworked version of the famous Kiss concert opener “Deuce” to the version from their 1974 self titled debut album. The new version of “Deuce” is played with the same energy as the ‘Kiss Alive’ version. The bonus DVD is 6 songs from Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 5, 2009 & the songs featured on the DVD are “Deuce”, “Hotter Than Hell”, “C’mon & Love Me”, “Watchin’ You”, “100,000 Years”, & “Rock & Roll All Nite”.

Overall, I love everything about ‘Sonic Boom’ & the new tunes stuck with me after the first day just like ‘Love Gun’ did in 1977. I listened to the album 4 times that first day & I like it more & more each time I listen to it. The album including the 2 bonus discs was only 12 dollars so it is definitely worth the price. The hottest band in the world is back.


Bucky

[dwightfry]

Torch - S/T 1983



A fringe album for the period, Stockholm band a mile away from the blossoming metal mainstream. But what a racket these guys made, bashing out fist-pumping grinders along the lines of early Riot and Priest with charming little lyrical gaffes from singer Dan Dark (great name, aka Östen Bidebo) from time to time. This was exactly the type of music we wanted to hear in the mid-80s, but I'm pretty sure I picked up mine when Metal Blade got involved with reissuing it later.

Riff-wise, it’s rock solid. The twin guitars of Chris First and Claus Wildt sound godly, more for the down ‘n dirty riffs than the harmonies. They’re both absolutely on fire during the furious “Hatchet Man”, riff slashing homage to the devil over incredible pounding Les Binks-style drum thunder. “Beauty and the Beast” delivers it all: memorable, distinctive riffing, great bass tone, hot leads, and lyrical genius like “I must unchain my lust!” Fantastic.

“Sweet Desire” may be the gem of the whole bunch. Obviously, Priest-inspired, but honestly, I’ve listened to this album so much more than 80s Priest over the years. Just pure smell-of-leather, head-wagging, air guitar-grabbing lasciviousness of the highest order. These are the types of gems that make record collecting fun. Look at that gun-metal logo gleam, that crazy blue tree on the back cover. Classic.

[duojett71]

I am going to have to search that Torch album out. I have been searching out a lot of the lesser or 2nd or 3rd tier NWOBHM bands from the early 80's like Tank, Heavy Pettin, and Savage. Last fall I picked up reissues of Savage's 'Loose N Lethal' and 'Hyperactive' albums. Great riffs and some really good songs. Some of the 'Hyperactive' album reminds me of 'Renegade' and 'Thunder And Lightning' era Thin Lizzy.

Got any recommendations on the lesser known NWOBHM albums?

[dwightfry]

Hey Mark - the great thing is stuff like Torch is now on YouTube so you can stream away!

The albums you mentioned are great, "Hyperactive" has that one song...is it "Hard on your Heels"? Love that one!

Definitely recommend

Jaguar - Power Games
Tygers - Spellbound
Quartz - S/T and Stand up and Fight
Holocaust - anything really, but "Hot Curry and Wine" with it's fake crowd noise is the best.
Blitzkrieg - Demo Tape


For lesser-known, I really like these, some are singles/EPs:

Hollow Ground - Warlord
Black Axe - Highway Rider
Persian Risk - early singles "Riding High" and "Calling For You".

[duojett71]

Thanks Mark....I will check that stuff out. Yes that track "Hard On Your Heels" is cool. The song "We Got The Edge" sounds very Thin Lizzy. I was also searching out the band Satan...particularly the album 'Court In The Act'....That I have been streaming on Youtube.....but I still like to buy physical copies of CD's and vinyl when I can find it.

[dwightfry]

I'm guessing you're a big Black Star Riders fan...

That Satan album is really good. I like "Suspended Sentence" more, but that's just personal preference.

[duojett71]

I like the Black Star Riders a lot. I only own the second album though which is exceptional. Obviously it is very Thin Lizzy inspired....which for me is a good thing.

[dwightfry]

Blue Öyster Cult - Bootleg EP 1972

Without question, this is the heaviest album BÖC ever released.

Fans of the fine brush strokes, subtle keyboard flourishes, and poetic elegance may find this brutish EP a bit simplistic for their liking (honestly, even the bass is practically inaudible). But for the rest of us, basking in the copious distorted low-end, this rare EP is a dream come true.

Recorded in a bar in Rochester, simple stereo reel-to-reel sort of thing: charming and full to the brim with buzzing riffage from Buck Dharma. The guitar tones are godly, particularly in this version of “Cities On Flame”, Eric Bloom conjuring a savage growl (!) for some of the lines, Albert’s kick-drum crisp and raw. It’s a shame that this version of “Workshop of the Telescopes” with it’s Deep Purple-ish thunder didn’t appear as standard on the debut (with the bass turned up), gits wailing to the heavens, organ booming away. Plus “The Red and the Black” is a notch below speed metal in this presentation.

Copies of this EP should have been given away with every carton of Marlboros back in ’72.

[duojett71]

I need to check that BOC EP out.....my brother is a huge BOC fan and he even has some Soft White Underbelly recordings on a vinyl. Not sure if he has heard this or not. I always thought the production of the debut album was much heavier than 'Tyranny and Mutation'. The guitars on the debut were much heavier and 'Tyranny ..' sounded like it was an older album if that makes sense. Both great records though.

[dwightfry]

Black Crowes - 7/21/05 Noblesville IN


Like a tie-dyed Greyhound bus, never stopping, never letting up – the Robinson brothers and their merry band were a gypsy institution for so long, crossing and crisscrossing the globe. For this excursion, the tracklisting is sparse, with lengthy jams, some covers (they open with The Band’s “Don’t Do it”) a couple of tunes from each disc, and even a peek at the then-unreleased Lost Crowes disc compiling two rejected albums (something I need to hear and study – the idea of entire albums rejected by labels have always fascinated me). At any rate, the slow shuffle of “Feathers” glows with slow percolating guitars and somewhat-overdone vocal echoes from CRob. At one point he says, "This is a three-dimensional presentation, with the fourth dimension optional depending on who you know."

Well, the peeps will likely be drawn to this one – if there’s such a thing as “Soundboard PLUS” quality, this is it. You can hear each set of vocals individually, with headphones it’s easy to pick out who is flat (“Black Moon Creeping” is rough and raw, backup singers and all). The mikes don’t really pick up the crowd at all, so it sounds like they’re playing in an empty theatre, which gives the whole thing a great “Sunday morning drive” kind of feel. The highlight of the show would be the aching guitars of “Ballad in Urgency” – just some stratospheric vocal/guitar interplay in that one, rife with drama that spills into psychedelic electric piano jamming of “Thorn Jam / Thorn in My Pride”. Remember when "Amorica" came out - with that controversial cover, and the video for "A Conspiracy" - they were so edgy and fascinating with the Alice Cooper-style eye makeup. Anyway, performance lowlight is “Soul Singing”, which comes across feeble and rushed, a shame for such a great tune - I was hoping I'd get into a tizzy and start spinning across the living room, breaking things. Sigh, no such luck.

The studio albums are great, but this is one of those bands like the early Fleetwood Mac and Clutch that have such a wide variety of material - immersing yourself in random live audio is the only way to really enjoy them fully. Who knows how long this one will be available, so get it here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4dz5GJ6q60

Long live music with guitars.

[duojett71]

Nice review Mark. Even though the Black Crowes were a band for quite a while....it seems like they ended before they should have. Lot's of lineup changes and it seems like the Robinson Bros....had an up and down relationship. I was always more of a casual fan but appreciated what they did. I only saw them live once and that was in a small club here in Raleigh in 1990 on the tour for the 1st album with the original lineup. They opened up for the McAuley/Schenker Group.

[dwightfry]

Yeah, I always liked them. Like a heavier, less irritating version of the Grateful Dead. I saw them I think in 91? When they opened for ZZ Top.

[Jesse]

This was from October 16th, 2016. I posted it on facebook, but not many of my facebook friends "got" how I do my concert reviews like my RnRUniverse friends used to. So here we go!

Megadeth, Amon Amarth, Suicidal Tendencies, Metal Church, Butcher Babies review:
Let me get this over with while it's still on my mind. Last night I went to the big Metal show in Camden New Jersey's BBT Pavillion (formerly known as the Susquehanna Bank center, formerly known as Blockbuster Sony Entertainment Center and I forget what all else in between). Jason Hampton invited me to go as he does with most concerts he goes to. We used to go to shows together all the time but hadn't seen one together in years. My fault because, while he still goes to a lot of shows, as I've gotten older, I seem to prefer to stay home, sitting at the computer in my underwear, eating Cheetos and watching youtube videos of concert footage. So I took him up on this one because Metal Church was a part of the bill. One of the few bands that I've ever called one of my favorites that I have never seen in concert. I do also like Megadeth a lot and hadn't seen them in years and I recalled liking a few Suicidal Tendencies songs back in the day (2 to be exact).
So, the show started at 6. We got to the venue about quarter of. Got to the gates right around 6 where a big dude security guard patted down Jay while I tried to get the female security guard to pat down me. She told me that she wasn't allowed to pat me down. I offered to compensate her, but she said that was DEFINITELY not allowed. So I wound up getting patted down by the same big dude as Jay. Not sure, but as we were walking away I thought I heard him say, "ok, now you do me" :/ . Anyhow, luckily that took enough time off the clock that we were only subject to 2 songs of the Butcher Babies set. This was a hard, heavy band consisting of drums, bass, guitar and 2 female vocalists. Not that you'd know they were female listening to them as both sang in a Cookie monster vocal kind of way that many death metal bands with male singers do. They kinda sucked, but opening bands are supposed to suck. One thing I noticed was that the overall volume was very low for a Metal show. I mean, you're not supposed to be able to talk to each other while a Metal band is playing, but we were. Maybe it was just because we were in the way back and way off to the side that the music didn't seem very loud. Maybe a fun thing because it enabled us to do a sort of Mystery Science Theater 3000 thing with the shows. Anyhow, we arrived as Butcher Babies were playing one song and they only played one more and their set was over by 6:20 (Thank God!)
Metal Church came on around 6:40. They consist of original guitarist Kurt Vanderhoof, Vocalist Mike Howe who recently returned after 20 years, Trans Siberian Orchestra drummer Jeff Plate, bassist Steve Unger and I don't know the other guitar player's name. They came out and played a solid but short set of their classic period (1985-1991) songs plus one from their newest album. Very professional act. Great performances all around. Powerful drums, wicked leads and Mike Howe sounded every bit as good as he did 20 years ago. Only complaint was that the set was too short. Only 5 songs: "Fake Healer", "Start The Fire", "No Tomorrow", "Badlands" and "Beyond The Black". Sound was good, but still at relatively low volume.
Next up was Suicidal Tendencies. Was never very familiar with them but, as I said, I did know and like 2 of their songs.....unfortunately they played neither of them. I thought they sucked. They came out and basically made noise. I guess it's a mixture of Thrash Metal, Punk and maybe Rap. To me it sounded like one long extended ending to a song with Kevin Federline rapping some stupid shit over top of it. After about 10 minutes I realized that maybe they had actually played 2 or 3 songs already, but to me it sounded like one long drawn out mess. Boy, did they suck. That said, much of the audience seemed to enjoy it, so maybe it's me who has shit-taste in music.
Next up was Amon Amarth. I knew NOTHING about this band and was hoping to find my new favorite band with them. I saw a lot of Amon Amarth t-shirts in the crowd and they were technically co-headliners, so I figured I was maybe missing something and anxious to find out what. They set up a really cool stage for them. Hard to explain, but they made it look like the drums were in a Viking ship. They came out to really majestic intro music and had a nice light show. Started playing some really good intricate Metal music and I seriously thought I could like these guys. Then came the vocals. Jay would later correctly describe them as a cross between the Cookie monster and Jabba The Hutt. Jay had gone out to the concession area before their set. I wanted to give them 3 songs before making any judgements about them, but one song was more than enough for me. I was getting hungry anyhow so I went to the concession area outside of the hall too. Couldn't find Jay. Wish I had because I had a craving for nachos. Got myself an order of nachos and they handed me a five-gallon bucket of nachos with about 2 pounds of melted cheese all over them. (Thank God I didn't order the Nachos Grande!). So I positioned myself where I could see anyone coming in and out of the hall hoping to find Jay to help me eat this five-gallon bucket of nachos with 5 pounds of melted cheese on them. Never did find him to help me and, look, nobody wants to admit they ate a five-gallon bucket of nachos with 10 pounds of melted nacho cheese by themself, but I did and I actually felt pretty good after doing so. At this point nature called so I went to the rest room and, having cheese all over my hands I wound up washing my hands BEFORE going to do business as this was one of the rare times that I did NOT want cheese sauce on my weenee. So, I got done in there and went for a beer to cleanse my pallet. Asked for a Heineken and the girl said, "That'll be $14.50" You're kidding right. But then I realized that it was a 24 ounce can so that's like 2 bottles, so........wait a minute, I'm Still paying $7.25 per 12 ounces. Think I got screwed there. Anyhow, shortly after getting my beer I located Jay again and we agreed not to return inside until Amon Amarth was done ruining people's sense of good music. We're standing there and some guy comes over and offers me a handshake saying "Rich". I shook his hand and said "Jesse". Here, he thought I was some guy he knew named Rich. Which was funny because I thought he looked like a guy I used to work with named Rich. Turned out he actually went to school with Jay. Weird. They got to talking about Junior High and High School and I slipped away . About that time people started leaving the hall and coming into the concession area where we were signaling the end of Amon Amarth's set. And this concludes my review of the Amon Amarth show.
I guess it was 9:30 by the time Megadeth hit the stage. From the beginning they were significantly louder than anyone else that night, had a MUCH better light show and played an extremely professional show. Frontman Dave Mustaine's nasal, snarl of a vocal is a bit of an acquired taste, but after the last two bands, he sounded like Pavorratti (sp?) in comparison. I really hadn't paid much attention to Megadeth in years. My whole collection of their music is on cassette only and I was unfamiliar with anything they've released since 2001's "World Needs A Hero" album. For the most part, it didn't matter as they hit it hard and heavy early on with the oldies, but goodies. "Hangar 18" (1990), "Wake Up Dead" (1986) and "In My Darkest Hour" (1988) started their set. These guys can friggin' play. I was always a huge fan of their 1990-1999 guitar player Marty Friedman. Not sure who their guitar player is now, but he played those Friedman licks with ease and even added a new flavor to most of them. After those first three songs, they did a lot of stuff that I never heard before. Not sure if they were from their newest album or off of one of their last 3 or 4 albums that I don't have. Good songs though. Surpriser for me was "Tornado Of Souls" from their 1990 album "Rust In Piece". I had seen Megadeth several times before in the 1990's and never heard 'em do that one before. They made sure to do fan favs "Sweating Bullets" and "A Toute Le Monde" in amongst mostly songs I didn't know before ending the night with their 2 biggest hits "Symphony Of Destruction" and "Peace Sells.....But Who's Buying?". Encore was "Holy Wars" Which was a treat for me as it was actually the first Megadeth song I ever heard and usually the opener when I've seen them before. Very tight, professional show. Quite classy too. And very great musicianship. Definitely glad I went, but even more glad that I took today off to recover! BTW- Did I mention that Suicidal Tendencies sucked?

[duojett71]

Hahaha....nice review Jesse. Made me want Nachos! If this review was from 2 years ago you saw Megadeth with current guitarist Kiko Loureiro. He is a Brazilian guitarist from the band Angra. Great player for sure.