Entries Tagged 'Concerts' ↓

The last time I saw Kiss live was on their 1996 reunion tour and I was hugely disappointed. Despite being fairly early in the tour the performance was completely lifeless (with the exception of Ace Frehley’s two songs) and it seemed like a by-the-numbers performance. After that I wasn’t really interested in seeing them again.

However, with the release of the excellent Sonic Boom I thought I would give them another chance. I was hoping that the addition of Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer would revitalize the band. Based on their performance at the Sprint Center, that’s exactly the case. Their performance reminded me of their better shows I’ve seen, with an energy I haven’t seen since they put their makeup back on.

The night started off well between finding two dollar parking across the street from the Midland Theater and then buying tickets with a $75 face value for $40 from a scalper.  This is the first time I’ve gotten cheap tickets from a scalper right before a concert.  I’m thinking I might try it again for AC/DC in April.

The set list was about what they’ve been sticking to for the past few years (standards like “Strutter” and “Deuce”) but with a couple of surprises thrown in (most notably “Parasite”, one of my favorite Kiss songs). Unfortunately a couple of my favorites, “God of Thunder” and “Firehouse”, were given the boot but they didn’t play any song that I absolutely despise.

The stage set up was impressive. In addition to the large video screens there were several smaller video screens across the stage with a different set of images for each song. The other usual things you expect at a Kiss concert were there too - a lot of pyro and Gene Simmons’ standards like spitting blood and blowing fire.

I’ve read a lot of complaints about Paul Stanley’s voice and while it’s true that his voice isn’t as strong due to his age, I don’t think it impacted the show too much. The overall quality was good and more than made up for any vocal shortcomings. That being said, I purchased a CD of the show and listening to it the weak vocals are more evident on repeat listenings.

Setlist:
Deuce
Strutter
Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll
Hotter Than Hell
Shock Me
Calling Dr. Love
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Parasite
Say Yeah
100,000 Years
I Love It Loud
Black Diamond
Rock and Roll All Nite
———————
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City.

As I texted my wife, the crowd was mainly my fellow middle age burnouts, a lot of whom brought their kids.  Normally I cringe when I see kids at concerts (like Ratt…really, you have to bring your kids to Ratt?) but for some reason this seemed like a good one for them.  Paul Stanley’s stage rap hasn’t changed much since I was young, but it’s definitely toned down from their non-makeup days.

I absolutely love the idea of being able to buy a recording of a show.  They were available for the Metallica concert last year and the set from Kiss is pretty nice.  It was pretty reasonable at $20 because I figured that this is one of those things they would try to gouge you on.

Lawrence’s own The Dead Girls opened up the show. Despite being an odd match for the Kiss crowd they put on a great performance. I’m completely ignorant on the local music scene but definitely plan on checking them out in the future.

After attending Dethklok’s recent appearance in Kansas City, there’s only one thing to say:  Brendon Small is amazing.  Besides the obvious stuff like creating Metalocalypse, doing the voices, and writing Dethklok’s songs, the amazing this is that he can pull it off live.  In addition to singing, he’s able to pull of most of the guitar work on the Dethklok albums with eerie precision.

Their show on October 19th was part of their co-headlining tour with Mastodon with Converge and High on Fire opening.  The show started at 6:30 (!) on a Monday night so I knew that a timely arrival was not in the cards.  I ended up arriving at the Uptown Theater about 8:00, just enough time to hear Converge’s last two songs.

A couple of asides here:  the Uptown is a no smoking venue and their outside smoking area was insane.  Essentially they put up a bunch of barricades outside one of the doors where you could smoke, except they grossly underestimated the number of smokers at the show.  The area was so dense with people it reminded me of the area in front of the state with people pushing and squeezing through the crowd in order to get back inside.  The other thing is that it looked like there were more people waiting in line for the Xbox demo than for beer, so that gives you an idea of the average age of the audience.

Anyway, Mastodon came out next.  I hadn’t heard anything by them previously, but I was blown away by their performance.  They were completely different than what I expected.  They were definitely a metal band, but they’ve managed to create a sound that’s their own.  After hearing their set I ended up going out and picking up their latest album.  I was surprised how much the crowd was into them, it was obvious that there was a large percentage that were there to see them.

Finally Dethklok came out.  As I mentioned before, Brendon Small was incredible as was the rest of the band.  Their set was only an hour long but they managed to tear through a load of songs.  The newer material from Dethalbum II held up pretty well next to their older material.  For me the best part was watching Small and the other guitarist absolutely nail the solos.  It was just amazing to watch.  Normally I’m not a big fan of bands playing their songs identical to the recorded versions but in this case I didn’t mind at all.

BrooklynVegan has some great pictures of their recent NYC show.

I learned something very valuable after attending my first Motorhead concert.

I don’t like Motorhead.

I already suspected as much.  A few years back I bought a used copy of Overkill - one of the albums considered a classic by their fans - and it didn’t do anything for me.  It’s one of those things that just doesn’t click.  As a metal fan there’s no reason I shouldn’t like them, but it doesn’t work for me.

Anyway, the main reason I went to the concert was to see the other two acts on the lineup - Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy.  I figured the addition of Motorhead was a bonus.  I thought maybe they were like a lot of bands where you have to see them live to appreciate them.  But I don’t.

The show was advertised to start at 8:00.  I showed up around 7:45, right as Nashville Pussy took the stage.  That’s right, the show started early.  Maybe it was advertised for 7:30 somewhere else, but starting a show early really sucks. 

I’ve seen Nashville Pussy a few times before and while they usually put on a good show, their performance was letdown.  First off, the vocals were buried way into the mix, a problem that continued into Reverend Horton Heat’s set.  The other thing is that the band seemed off and the overall performance wasn’t as good as usual.  Maybe it had something to do with the limited amount of time they had for their set.

Frontman Blaine  Cartwright can always be counted on to say something great during their shows and that night was no exception.  One of the DJs from local station KQRC introduced the band, and about midway through their set Cartwright asked the crowd if the radio station played any of their music.  After the crowd screamed that they didn’t, he asked if they played any Motorhead and got a similar answer.  The look on his face after that was priceless.

Despite the sound problems, Horton Heat put on a great set, mixing old and new songs.  The only other down side was the set length, but it wasn’t really surprising for an opening act.  The new songs held up next to the classic material and the crowd really got into it.

I stayed for most of Motorhead’s set but left before the first encore.  Their sound was the best of the night and the band was tight.  The crowd was completely into them and the area in front of the stage was absolutely crazy.

Regardless of my personal opinion of them, I completely understand why people like them.  Kind of like my feelings toward Dave Matthews Band or Phish - I don’t like them but I understand why people do.  Now Nickleback is a different story….

I started to get nervous the afternoon of the Chickenfoot show when I did a search for concert reviews (which I usually don’t do) and saw that with the exception of a couple of songs the band was sticking to their one and only album. With everyone’s background it didn’t make sense to do this, especially since I was hoping for at least one Satriani song as a guitar solo.

Well that turned out to be true but the show didn’t turn out to be as bad as I feared.  The band sounded great together and gave the songs more life than they have on the album itself.  One of the suprising things - for me at least - was how much the crowd was into it.  The Uptown Theatre was sold out and I figured a lot of the people were there to hear some Van Halen songs and “I Can’t Drive 55″ but they were really into every song in the set.  The band put on a great performance despite the questionable setlist.

The opener - Davey Knowles and Backdoor Slam - was fantastic.  Again, I didn’t think the crowd would be into a relatively unknown opener but it seemed like most people were into them.  Davey Knowles, the singer and lead guitarist, gave a dynamite performance and displayed some incredible guitar playing.

As for the venue, the Uptown Theatre isn’t a bad place to see shows, but the chairs they set out on the floor are absolutely horrible.  I felt like I was in a middle seating flying Delta economy.  At least the building was air-conditioned.

Nostalgia tours are always a dicey thing.  You always run the risk of seeing a group where someone (usually the singer) has completely lost it, making you embarrassed to be there.  This is why I was on the fence about seeing Ratt and Extreme at the outdoors Crossroads venue in Kansas City this past Thursday.  I think it was the summer of 2001 when I went to go see a “Voices of Metal” show at the Missouri State Fair that had Stephen Pearcy in the lineup.  It was bad - possibly the worst show I have ever seen.

On the other hand I saw Extreme twice during their heyday and they were really good.  I don’t think I would have gone to just see Ratt, but the chance to see Extreme again convinced me.

The venue itself isn’t too bad.  It’s attached to a restaurant with a great beer selection so I was able to grab a piece of pizza and a beer before the show started.  I think I read somewhere that the concert area holds around 1500 people, so it’s a decent size.  I would estimate around 700 people were there that night.

One of the interesting things about these ‘hair metal’ shows is that you get a lot of people dressing up like they did 20-25 years ago with varying results.  A few guys still had their long hair and the women brought out their tight fitting outfits and ultra-high heels.  The floor of the venue is covered with wood chips so it was amusing to watch them try to walk with their heels on.  The other thing is that a few people brought their kids which I always hate - it reeks of a dad trying to prove to his kids how cool he is.

Something nice about Crossroads - things were priced incredibly reasonable.  Sodas were $2.00, my slice of pizza was $3.75, beer was $3.00.  I’m so used to being screwed when I go anywhere these days it’s nice to see something like this.

Anyway, the show started around 8:00 with openers Swirl, a hard rock band from LA and whose sound fit in nicely with the rest of the nice.  They were still a little rough around the edges, but they had a lot of good songs.  They were good enough to warrant picking up the album.

They played maybe around 40 minutes and after a quick stage setup Extreme took the stage.  Despite the relatively small size of the crowd, they put on an incredibly good show.  Their sound was great and they put a lot of effort into putting on a good show.  Gary Cherone’s voice still sounds as good as it used to and Nuno hasn’t lost a step in his playing.  Based on my memory, here’s what they played (not in order):

Decadence Dance
It(’s a Monster)
Star
More Than Words
Play With Me
Rest in Peace
Am I Ever Gonna Change
Cupid’s Dead
Hole Hearted
Take Us Alive
Get the Funk Out/Wanna Be Startin Something

Pretty good set list and the highlight was the cover of “Wanna Be Startin Something” at the end of the set.  It’s one of those things that wasn’t expected and the band just nailed the song.  ”Take Us Alive” was another unexpected but great choice since it’s probably the best track on their latest album.

Extreme’s set went a little over an hour and Ratt went on stage.  The first couple of songs (”Tell the World” and I don’t recall the other) were really rough.  Stephen Pearcy’s voice sounded terrible and it was down low in the mix.  However, after that rough start the sound improved quite a bit.  That being said, the sound didn’t get that much better.  The band as a whole was pretty sloppy and Pearcy’s voice is in pretty rough shape.

Some of the songs I remember them playing:

Tell the World
Lay It Down
City to City
I Want a Woman

They also played the entire Out of the Cellar album in order, except for saving “Round and Round” for last.  Their entire set lasted about an hour and a half.  Their performance wasn’t as bad as I expected, but not as good as the last time I saw them as a band (maybe around 1999 opening for Poison).

I’m glad I went, but I doubt I’ll be going to see Ratt again unless they have another good opener.  It’s too bad because they have a lot of great songs and there’s potential there for a great show.