Posts Tagged live
Slayer | Decade of Aggression
I was definitely going to write about this record at some point because altho this is not a “real album” (favorite Slayer album would be Seasons), D.O.A. is my most listened to Slayer record. But now guitarist Jeff Hanneman has untimely departed and I need to write something now. This is not just any live record, it’s the greatest of greatest hits comps, which is why it was a favorite of high school road trips. On cassette, this album was blasted on repeat and was the soundtrack to what I’m simply going to call “shenanigans”. This would be when I was a Freshman and we would have school trips where they actually let Seniors drive. This can’t possibly still go on today, but I think some of the people responsible are still employed by the school system somehow so that’s all I’m going to say about that.
We don’t need to go all the way down Memory Lane, but while we’re there I’m guessing I first heard Slayer on Headbanger’s Ball: (yes, a wiki link for those not nearing death)
Seasons in the Abyss, a Hanneman composition, is not really a representative work. It’s a slow song, with a semi-melodic, weirdly catchy chorus.
The version on D.O.A, like almost all the songs on the record, is nearly the same as the studio recording. A testament (what other word could you use) to Slayer’s commitment to consistent quality (of their sort). The liner notes famously boast:
Unlike most other live recordings, this is Slayer completely “LIVE”. No overdubbing exists on this recording.
It might not be clear now why you would need to say this when there’s bootlegs of every show anywhere and bands no longer put out a double live record every five years, but in Rock History this kind of record was usually seen as a bit of a sham. Besides being a simple money grab by the label or an easy contract fulfillment on the band’s part, vocals and solos on these kinds of records were often redone in the studio, giving a false impression of what the band (and/or their recording equipment) was capable of live. This is especially important with a band like Slayer where technique is a lot of the point, obviously. On first listen, it’s pretty mind-boggling that they can play these impossible songs perfectly (only songs with added sound effects like Raining Blood and Dead Skin Mask are really different at all) but if you pay attention you can notice that they are in fact, humans. It doesn’t take away from the songs; you respect them even more for presenting the performance as is. This is a great live band.
However, I have not seen them live myself. So, now I will never see the original lineup of Slayer. I’m pretty bummed about this. I don’t know how else to say it. The band did not really inspire emotional closeness with its members. So much so, that I shouldn’t even refer to them in the past tense, as they will be continuing on with Gary Holt of Exodus. It won’t be the same, but it’ll still be a good show (unless you’re a fucking poseur) and I’ll still try to see it before the rest of the band dies. Er, I just mean, I plan on outliving them. I…don’t want them to die of course, but I mean…I will, hopefully. Who knows. I grew up loving these bands that I never even planned on seeing live really. These big bands were just out of my reach. I could see GWAR or whoever five times for the price of one of these big shows, and so it was. Then a couple years ago I figured, holy shit, half these dudes could die at any minute. I think it was when Lemmy admitted to still drinking daily and btw, he’s a diabetic! I searched for tix to their next show that day. That was top priority. Slayer was next on the list after Tom Araya’s neck surgery. I didn’t think one of their deaths was imminent, but they are starting to become less-abled. Can’t really headbang like they used to to. Can still play tho, and that’s what I want to see. Well, fuck. If they don’t get Lombardo back I don’t know if I will now. That’s life. Can’t do everything.
After that surgery, Hanneman got bit by a spider, which was bad. It got worse. Holt filled in. I waited.
Some people still seem to think that the spider bite killed Jeff. Uh…sure…might have been the last straw, but it’s like saying someone who had AIDS died of the flu. Not to really dwell on this cause I’m not anti-every drug or anything but get real. Unlike Lemmy, Hanneman did not really play up substance abuse as part of his ongoing persona—he seemed like a regular guy. He wasn’t a talker, he was a doer. Do he did. Don’t deny it is all. Let’s talk about something else tho. What about his old guitar with all the stickers? That was great. Got into the Dead Kennedys just because he had that sticker. Of course he also had the Nazi death’s head on there at one point, in the photos in this booklet he had already replaced it with a regular pirate skull & bones. I didn’t get a copy of this until the late 90s, ordered it from BMG or Columbia House I think, def worth it. There’s also older photos when the band was starting out when they had a lot of studded leather and nail gauntlets and shit like that. I thought it was cool that they just stripped out all that gimmicky shit. They even performed under simple, steady red lights, supposedly. I mean it’s cool when bands go all out with a bunch of nonsense but sometimes I think, “didn’t Slayer decide this was over 20 years ago?”
Slayer were (are) not Nazis or serial killers, or insane. I have mixed feelings about the metal scene in general what with the…occasional actual insane killer Nazis. People wanna call those guys “true” metal; I feel like those are the people that don’t get it. What if Steven King was really a killer clown or a not even a person but a kind of fog monster that turned people inside out? That…that would be pretty goddamn cool…but it wouldn’t have anything to do with his books, right? I remember in the car, in high school, hearing “I Am The Anti-Christ” for the first time. I was not that many years out of transferring from a Catholic school then and it seemed like the wrongest thing you could say in a song, it was so great. Then he gives the fucking speech to crowd:
Listen: you guys in the front here, you see someone going down, help ’em out, that’s what you’re here to do, help each other out.
Then of course it goes into WAAAAAR EENNNSEEEMBLEEE. I’m almost crying. That is “it”. Not…that, the whole thing, all of it. I think there’s another show ( shitty bootleg) where they say they don’t give a fuck and everybody should kill each other, but that was just the liquor talking. Get a sense of humor.
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Fugazi | Kansas City, KS USA, 8/28/93
This is my first dive into the live Fugazi vault. I never got to see them so one’s as good as any. I saw a lot of shows as a…youth. It was mostly a random thing back then. I remember mostly buying walk up tickets to shows that had no hope of selling out. Fugazi shows, unlike the band itself, always sold out, fast. They were popular and cheap. You had to have your shit together to get those tix. I did not, as they say, have the straight edge. Sometimes I think about how things might have been different…if I had gotten into one of these shows. It was that time in life when any little thing can Change Everything. I definitely had one of those moments when I bought my first Fugazi albums on cassette at the local comic book shop. First the Margin Walker EP, then Repeater. Mind-blowing stuff, but not the same as a live show. Certainly not the same as a Fugazi show, which by most accounts was a very guided experience. I used to get pretty wild at shows, not violent—I was not into the hardcore scene—but it got dumb. Crazy. A bit much, perhaps. Maybe if someone I respected gave my a stern talking to I would have toned that shit down. But for a time, getting completely retarded at shows was like all I had. It was a lot of fun. I could imagine instead that whole time just hanging back, shaking my head, feeling superior…everything coulda turned out different!
Or maybe not. I’m basing that whole idea on what I thought these shows were like. It’s a space that lives in my head, built up over the years by second-hand reports, that Instrument movie, bootleg tapes of out-of-context stage banter, and seeing Ian talk in person once at the Wetlands. He’s a completely reasonable man who seemingly can back up every suggestion with both a warm heart and cold logic. But you know he has this wild screaming alter-ego that can swing into this weird recess monitor mode. How did all these things resolve in reality?
I have looked for the answers in YouTube clips, as one does. Of course there’s plenty of live clips, but there’s plenty of Ian talks. They’re all pretty good if you need a general motivation boost, he’s good at that kind of thing, and you know he’s not bullshiting you with some positive thinking nonsense or made-up stories. It’s the real Punk ideas. But it’s even better when he gets real specific:
You’re gonna wanna watch this whole thing, but it’s at around the 40 minute mark that he describes the details of this Kansas City gig. With the magic of the internet and this meticulous archive, the full show was easily found, and upon the clearing of my meager paycheck, purchased and downloaded.
What comes through in these recent talks and the full shows in context is the band’s sense of humor. Even the strictly enforced $5 ticket price, which people are still today having friend and career-ruining arguments over after 20 years of inflation, was originally done because they “thought it was funny” (and perhaps more importantly for any note-takers: “because they could”).
Although there are some serious and practical matters behind some of the banter (around the 1 hr mark in the above talk Ian discusses some very real and unfortunate consequences of show violence), there’s times when you listen to some tapes of the stuff when you have to ask, “are these guys fucking kidding?” YES. When you listen to the whole show it’s clear they are at times actually attempting to lighten the mood. Like this thing with making the audience sign a petition? It happens pretty much exactly like he tells it in the story. And then turning all the lights off is just fucking with people—these guys are having a ball. That is Rock’n’Roll. That’s all Punk is, right? It’s about what’s possible with the reality in front of you. That’s so great that you can hear this story and then hear the actual thing and it all matches.
Oh, and there’s the music. I don’t know if they had any bad gigs, really, but this is good one. Great recording. I’m reminded that, even tho I’ve gotten all the albums over the years, I barely remember the ones that were not on Margin Walker (more commonly known now as the second half of 13 Songs) or Repeater. Played the shit out of those tapes, still have em. I’m also reminded of the song Rend It, which was put on a mixtape for me once. A mixtape I may have missed the point of, but which I also played the hell out of and still have. I’m not really a hidden message guy. It might seem stupid but my message is usually “check this music out”. I mean at times it could be “let’s have sex”, but that really seems better left to the moment, and would be said in those words. Rarely it could be “I am eternally devoted to you and there’s nothing you, or even I, can do about it” but that is almost always taken as deeply creepy, and rightly so. Never would you get that message in a Fugazi song. These guys are on that level level. Comparatively speaking. I’m way off. Sorry.
This is like when, uh, your lover turns over to you on the pillow and says ‘but now I can’t see your genitals’, it’s a lot like that. That ever happen to you?
—Guy Picciotto, on turning off all of the lights
Great version of Waiting Room. Bang, pow, smash.
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Maki Nomiya 30th Anniversary
Oh man, remember that Ustream of that promotional event from months ago for the real live event that already happened and you had no chance of attending anyway? Man…those were the days. That’s not happening again. (Because they took the video down.)
I guess I assumed they were bluffing about taking the video down. I didn’t try to figure out anyway to download it or take an audiograb. I took some screencaps, but figured I would go back later and get better ones. That didn’t work out. So I got all my mediocre screencaps and tried giving them captions, but the text started wrapping around all wrong. Attempting to fix it gave me this amusing overlap glitch which only got worse/more amusing. It would be more appropriate if it reminded me of unpredictably overlapping blogs of my youth but sometimes you’ve just got to grit your teeth and deal with something new happening. Here’s the whole mess:
So that was weird.
My main thought on this is that it contrasts pretty strongly with the attitude of Shonen Knife’s (really Naoko Yamano’s) 30th anniversary. That was more a celebration than a retrospective; the focus is really on the newest or newish material, with a few old songs (in the updated style) thrown in. It’s undoubtedly the healthier attitude to have as an artist still intending to continue putting out new work.
Both SK & P5 (with Maki) peaked around the same time in the mid-90s when they both crossed over onto major labels in America. Any live performance has to include something from that period. But Maki includes almost no post-peak P5 and not anything from her post-P5 solo albums—that’s four full LPs and change. I guess those albums didn’t sell that well, but neither did her early stuff, right?
I remember the original press for P5 and Maki was marketed as an ex-model, not an established singer for other groups. This whole thing stressing her early career seems revisionist. It’s probably more accurate, her modeling career is now relatively a blip. I was never impressed with that first album, and I never heard the songs of the old groups. They sound pretty good here, I gotta go back and check that stuff out for the songs. Thing is, she was a great singer for P5 and still sounds great, but she wasn’t great early on. Her voice was not there yet. Still, this is good for J-pop history to acknowledge that stuff and if the songs are good, I’m in. It’s similar to pre-Maki P5 in that it’s not quite the thing yet, but the ideas are there.
Still, a lotta time is spent down on the furthest part of Memory Lane. Maybe in another 10 years she’ll come around to her newer (now 10 year old) stuff.
Konishi Yasuharu makes no appearance, of course. Even tho he did do some production on those solo albums so I assume they’re on good terms I suppose performing live together would make it a P5 reunion gig, which he’s probably against. And he’s busy making songs with SMAP…ugh. Two talents going to waste there. I’m not saying that SMAP is so terrible and that covering your old songs is so sad, but it’s kinda terrible and a little sad. After a point.
Anyway, Tokyo’s Coolest Sound has a write-up of the concert itself. You can get most of the info about the musical guests there, except Miyavi didn’t show up. It sounds like it might have been a lot different.And they did this thing where you’re watching her watch old clips of herself. The whole thing was kinda creepy cause there’s a live audience in the studio but it’s only the event staff of like a dozen people. It had a weird tension to it. It’s like a new kind of live event they haven’t quite figured out to feel natural yet. It’s almost like they televised a dress rehearsal, but you’ve got the screen with the chatroom there, that’s like a New Aesthetic vibe. It’s weird, it’s like the acoustics are wrong or something when you just hear a few people clapping. The energy is wrong. Also, she started out with a house version of The Night is Still Young before the guests show up and she is just not that kind of diva. That never really worked for her did it? They tried to push that on some of the records but she’s just a pop singer, she’s not like Lady Miss Keir or something. Nothing against her, it’s just an energy mismatch thing. Really set the tone. The actual performances were good, I should have taken notes as I was capping. I think the old guy is the Pink no Kokoro producer. Is the guy in shorts Bravo? I can’t tell. That’s him is the fuzzy old VCR footage with the cheerleaders. I never saw P5 in concert, I guess it was always a weird thing.
The wait for an encore might be the most awkward I’ve ever felt watching a recorded event on the internet. A dozen people, tops, clapping in pre-planned unison while the chatroom goes berserk. This goes on for a solid 5 minutes at least. Creep city. Not necessary.
[OK, so apparently the Self-Covers album has all the versions of the songs as performed here so I should probably just get that.
She’s pointing at MEEEEE. Oh! Uh…great show, Miss Maki. So…that’s all I have to say about that.
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Shonen Knife @ Johnny Brenda’s 2012.07.19
I left my last Shonen Knife show feeling a little over-philosophical. My writeup stops right before I walk out the door (naturally), but as I’m going back to my car in the community college parking lot, I roll up my autographed poster and think, “well, I guess that it.” You know, you follow a group for a long time…they get signed to a major and tour stadiums with legends, they have a series of their own tours in large-ish clubs…they never break up…eventually…they’re playing a local school auditorium for 50 people. Probably how they started out. It’s the circle of life or something.
So I’m glad I made this show. (Things have been kinda tight, it was close.) Back at JB’s where I saw them 3 years ago (when I was on blogging hiatus), they were right back in their element, and the usual crowd followed.
I walked in on the middle of Creem Circus‘ set. Visually, they immediately reminded me of kitsch-glam era Redd Kross but now that I think about it, I’m not sure this era of Redd Kross literally existed. They looked like what I thought Redd Kross looked like at some point but possibly never did. (The new Redd Kross record is pretty good, btw.) Sonically, they were were pretty straight up Rock with some really good twin lead stuff going on. Later I find out this is a local band led by Chris DiPinto of DiPinto Guitars. This guy is already a local legend (by name) for his guitar shop so it was cool to see him perform. (I thought he was a much older dude.)
Next was White Mystery. (I should have got pics of the openers but forget the memory card in my camera so I only had a few shots.) They’re a two-piece, kinda like a gender-reversed White Stripes but not so Blues-obsessed, just there to rock. And so they did. Really expected some part of the dude’s drum kit to break at some point and the guitarist is no joke. You’re gonna be seeing more of them if that’s even remotely your thing.
Last time at JB's the openers were Jeff the Brotherhood and (then duo) PO PO, who are both doing pretty well. I don't know if Naoko books the openers, but that some some pretty hip booking. They could be going out there with like, Johnny Poppunk & the Poppunkers, some generic whoever bands, ya know? Probably from switching labels so many times, they can make some more genuine hookups with different-type bands.
I thought I saw PO PO a/k/a Big Zeb (now a solo act) but I suppose that could have been any 6-ft tall long haired Pakistani gentleman. I did see Brian a/k/a Supreme Nothing but didn't get to talk to him. I see a lot of people I recognize at Philly shows, especially SK shows, that I don't talk to. They may or may not have bands or websites. I think I saw someone I knew from MySpace. How do you start that conversation in 2012? You don't. Well, I don't. Most of these people I don't know their names or anything, I just see them again and again. Nobody ever comes up to me and just starts talking (unless they're hustling something) so it's a mutual awkwardness. I don't think I'm recognized beyond being a regular, but I am visible. I have mass. I mean, I'm trying to watch my weight, but you can see me. I exist in physical space is what I'm saying.
Let’s move on… Uh, so Shonen Knife played some songs.
They come out on stage now to the own music, which you think they must get enough of, but there’s Naoko mouthing along to the first song on their new album, Welcome to the Rock Club. (But what does it really mean? You’re not here to think, you’re here to rock.) They launch into Konnichiwa, as they do. “Are you ready to rock?” Yes, of course.
Like, you expect all of this be get kinda old by now. But even if you’re planning to enjoy them 75% (it’s hard to compete with seeing the original lineup, in my mind), they get you all the way there. Ritsuko & Emi have totally won me over. Ritsuko is crazy headbanging everywhere, Emi looks like she winning the lottery at a surprise party with every other cymbal crash. It’s delirious.
They go through the usual stuff, the old crowd favorites like Bear Up Bison and Twist Barbie, some of the newer similar stuff like Pop Tune and Osaka Rock City, and Naoko seems to really like the Rubber Band song (some crowds must get into the chant part, I haven’t seen it) and Banana Chips (not bad songs, but they’ve got better…so many damn songs). And they did Devil House, a personal fave which was a Michie song that Ritsuko sings now. The beginning of BBQ Party almost makes me cry; I manage as the song soon veers into an almost out of control Thrash freak-out. A similar themed song on the new album, All You Can Eat sweetly cautions “not to overeat”, but live they substitute this older tune loudly insisting you PIG OUT PIG OUT PIG OUT. Despite a perceived flip-flop on record, it’s clear where Naoko stand on this issue. And they played some Ramones songs which was not really necessary but hard to argue with. There was some confusion with the setlist that was funny but I guess you had to be there, I’m not transcribing their broken english. Naoko really wants to play those Ramones songs. I used to get more upset of setlist omissions than I do now. They can play whatever. They did the crushing (for them) Cobra vs. Mongoose and then ended with the softer poppy tunes from the new one: there’s the Emi-led Psychedelic Life which I’m not going to question and the Ritsuko-led Sunshine, which is kinda like a Carpenters song that ends in a kind of Beach Boys counterpoint thing at the end they all sing. And they close with Move On which is a bit of a bummer, but then they do an encore of Antonio Baka Guy, which is almost the same song as Cobra vs. Mongoose but no one seemed to mind.
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Acid Mothers Temple@Johnny Brenda’s
Acid Mothers Temple must be seen live, obviously.
The afternoon of the show I started feeling nostalgic for all the times I have almost seen this band in the past because I almost didn’t see them again. (I was late getting a paycheck. It’s always something dumb.) But at the last minute things came through and off I went. I told myself it didn’t matter that much anyway—there was a moment of panic where I thought I would never see them now, what with them saying this is their last tour in America and all—but wouldn’t these guys be deep into the 2012 thing? It’s a psych band. Yeah, if the world is ending, this would be the last tour wouldn’t it. Sure enough, the tour poster has a Mayan calendar symbol right damn in the middle:
It was pretty much like this.
I do not think the world is ending, not this year anyway. But some people might disagree with me. The opening acts on this tour for example. The AMT set seemed typical, a mind-melting performance, but nothing that suggested impending retirement or cosmic extermination. No goodbyes, barely any audience interaction at all. But these other guys really set the mood for apocalypse. All shrewd marketing maybe, art even. Really you can’t ask for a better theme.
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