Okay, so I did say that there would be no more concerts this month. I did make a promise to myself that I would save as much money as I could and not repeat the same mistakes that I did a couple years ago, like spending whatever money I made on comic books and heavy metal CDs, the latter of which is no longer an issue since I now have an iPod and download my music for free. So less than a week after surviving the trifecta of metal shows, I decided to make it a fourth victory for me and decided to be a part of the "Blackest of Black" tour with a lineup that includes the legendary diva himself Glenn Danzig, my buddies Skeletonwitch, popular Norwegians Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell and Winds of Plague.
Last night was like the Academy Awards for heavy metal performers, as many of our brightest musicians showed up to see Danzig and crew tear up the Roseland and piss all over its remains. Some of the people who showed up were four of the five members of Kingdom of Sorrow (Steve Gibb, Matt Brunson, Kenny Hickey, Nick Bellmore) and Joel Grind from Toxic Holocaust, who were all on a day-off from the GWAR tour, and drummer Matt Byrne from Hatebreed. Unfortunately for the aforementioned individuals, none of the fans recognized any of them except yours truly. It seemed as though everyone wanted to just see Little Man Danzig. Never mind the fact that he was acting like a diva bitch and refused to come out to greet fans, or that there were other members, like Silenoz from Dimmu Borgir, who were willing and friendly enough to chat and fulfill any and all requests from fans. It's like a double-edged sword - you either have to be an asshole to be respected or be a sweetheart and not get noticed. This mentality is why there are douchebags in metal, and why so many bands, after years on the road and playing to thousands of ugly metalheads, become jaded and bitter. But for me, despite missing several key players this evening, I was still content to learn just how intelligent, warm and respectful many of the band members were to me. Here's the lowdown!
SKELETONWITCH - Okay, I admit, I love these guys and may seem slightly biased here. But if you've seen these guys performing live or had the brain power and sense to pop their latest effort Beyond the Permafrost into your player, then you know that these boys are the real deal. A mixture of early thrash metal riffs, black metal vocals, and players that are committed to kicking you in the balls is what you will find with Skeletonwitch. Being the first band up is a tough job for any band - having to warm up the crowd for the "bigger" acts to follow and having to take their heckling if they don't like you. Fortunately, there were no heckles or boos, only slight nods of the head and the occasion headbang. Skeletonwitch are not afraid to be first and they carry themselves like seasoned pros who command the stage. Give them a year or two and they'll go from show-openers to show-stopping headliners. A great beginning to a night that kept getting better... at least until AFTER Winds of Plague got off stage (read the next entry). Set Grade: B+
WINDS OF PLAGUE - In every tour, there is always that one band that just doesn't fit with the rest of them. Case in point: 1349 on Carcass's reunion tour as part of a bill that included Suffocation, Necrophagist, Rotten Sound, and Aborted. In this case, the honor belongs to Winds of Plague, who come bearing that shitty and overdone noise called "deathcore," straight out from the west side of the U.S. Whatever you want to call it or them, it was crap, plain and simple. These guys, and one girlie, would have been right at home at the Summer Slaughter Tour. It seems these dudes are going through a Japanese fetish like Trivium, as the bass drumheads are decked out Kurosawa-esque pictures of samurai and in between songs, there are taiko drums being played. That's not going to save these guys from their inadequacy and should focus on getting a fresher sound than what they're doing now. Some good riffs, but ultimately the whole set is a mess. Deathcore = played out! Set Grade: C-
MOONSPELL - Like mouthwash to a bad bitter taste comes Moonspell, who I had heard of but never really registered on my musical radar until tonight. From Lisbon, Portugal, this is a band that is all about the "black." Even their frontman carried a bit of that ol' Danzig snarly face and played the crowd like they were his playtoys. The crowd built back up and were ready to take it right back to the band, who were more than happy to receive the love. I was surprised by the "boos" and "one more" calls when it was announced that they were playing the last song. People really liked these guys! And though I'm big on that romantic doom/goth metal, and of course these foreigners have to bring a goddamn keyboardist with them, I was actually entertained by Moonspell and they deserve praise. An easy set that brought the show back on course. Set Grade: B+
DIMMU BORGIR - I neglected to mention earlier that the majority of the crowd were of Latino and Hispanic descent, including myself which begrudingly have to admit, and were the obvious majority in the crowd. Judging from their cheap-imitation makeup, pierced chins and black lipstick, the sea of spics that surrounded me were here not so much for Danzig, but for Dimmu Borgir of Norway. If there was a black metal band from overseas mostly likely to have crossover appeal and U.S. success, it would be Dimmu. After listening to "The Serpentine Offering" on Sirius and reading about them in countless magazines, I was curious to see if they were any good at all. If the crowd made a ripple for Moonspell, then they certainly made a tidal wave for these Norwegians. I'll admit, the presentation was pretty good - six men, standing still and facing the crowd like conquerors after they've pillaged a farm town from the 10th century - and they played pretty well. But I can't help but laugh whenever they would look at me and give me the evil eye because I wasn't moving along with the crowd. Several times I noticed their frontman "Shagrath" (*chuckle*) looking at me when I refused to shout out the ubiquitous chant of "AIEEEEE!" along with everyone else. Sorry, but that's not me. I refuse to chant, clap, moan, groan, scream or whatever unless I, and only I, say so. At times, it gets a bit cheesy but maybe that's the appeal of Dimmu, to let it all hang out and just pretend we're a crowd of pissed-off warriors ready to burn down a country. No doubt they were pleased, and Dimmu came well with a satisfied group of spics. Set Grade: B+
DANZIG - So now, we arrived at the end, where all the horror-punk and hard rock/blues metal and the video game-inspired music of "Mother" came from. The notorious diva, difficult to photograph and even much harder to work with - though can be a nice guy at times, according to some - brains-behind-the-bands such as Misfits, Samhain and his current eponymous band, the 5'5 (I think) frontman himself, Glenn Danzig. When the little guy finally came out, the whole place exploded with cheer! The hundreds-plus waiting in the back pushed their way forward, causing many to give up their spot in the front row, and near fights between drunken old men and little women with big titties almost broke out. Still, I wasn't going to let anything or anyone distract or keep me from seeing "Evil Elvis" close the show. At times, he came around and gave me friendly high-fives and held the mic over me to sing the chorus on various songs. Lots of familiar tunes like "Twist of Cain," "Am I Demon" and "Mother" from his 1988 debut Danzig, which naturally made the crowd go nuts, as well as some other songs that ranged from 1990's Danzig II: Lucifuge to his last effort, 2004's Circle of Snakes. At one point, Danzig took off a medallion chain with an inverted cross and threw it into the crowd of eager hands, which made him actually chuckle at the sight of cannibalistic spics grabbing at his coveted trinket. It was also a treat to see Prong mastermind Tommy Victor handling guitar, Steve Zane slapping bass, and Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly pounding away. Another legendary night in which I, in my own Forrest Gump way, happened to stumble upon and be a part of. Set Grade: A-
AFTER THE SHOW - Making up for my gross miscalculation at the Motorhead show last month, I made sure to circle around the back exit on 53rd St., where all the caravans and buses were parked along the street, to see our metal warriors leaving the venue. As I waited, there was a fight near the Danzig bus which really made a lot of people quite antsy, including Danzig himself who apparently refused to come out. I suspect he feared it was that band from Jersey, the Kottonmouth Kings I believe, who had bitch-slapped Danzig in the face after the little guy pushed their security. (By the way, you can see this on YouTube, if they haven't pulled it already - just type: "Danzig Bitchslap". In my opinion, I think he deserved it.)
So instead of getting Diva Danzig's ugly mug, I made for it with a few others who were gracious enough to join us. I made up with Nick Bellmore, who I had previously slammed on the GWAR blog, and Joel Grind, who didn't seem like the ego-tripping dictator I had claimed in other articles, as well. Matt Brunson, who I had labeled as "creepy" turned out to be a really intelligent warm fellow. Kenny Hickey, very drunk this evening, was actually quite funny and friendly than at the GWAR show. I guess when people get to know you, they begin to feel comfortable around you. Steve Gibb, son of Bee-Gee Barry Gibb, was still polite and corgial. I even met Matt Byrne of Hatebreed for the first time and found him to be quite amusing. Apparently a "friend" of his dropped him off at the show and left him there with no way back to Poughkeepsie. Wow, that's some friend! And the boys of Skeletonwitch were kind enough to exchange hugs and pleasantries with me, even saying how much they love my section "Slice of Truth" (so to be renamed) on heavymetalnation.com and the scores that were given. In all honesty, they're all "10s" - Chance, Nate, Derrick, Scott and Evan, the new kid on the block. These guys deserve everything they get and more. Hail to the 'Witch!
FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE EVENING - Kenny Hickey telling me I remind him of one of his ex-wives because I sort of nagged at him for his cold behavior at the GWAR show. And Matt Byrne grilling me and turning the tables on me with questions that I usually use on the bands.
ANNOYING MOMENT OF THE EVENING - Not one, not two, but three drunken dudes were bothering me this evening. First, during Winds of Plague's set, a drunken white frat-boy douchebag, who would stop touching my fedora and putting his hands on my shoulder and massaging me.... well, the massaging part wasn't really that bad. Second, some guy with a fucked-up jawline who kept saying I looked like George Harrison from the Beatles wouldn't shut the fuck up and go away, so I had to call a friend and pass him off to him. And third, while chatting with Matt Byrne and his handler, some black dude kept asking me about my background, which I hate to admit - very much like how Danzig doesn't like taking photographs.
I SPY
- Danzig is going VERY bald and the spot can be seen plainly whenever his back is turned.
- Silenoz trying to adapt the American Southern cowboy-from-hell look with a straw hat, blue jeans and boots. Still wearing his queer eye-liner makeup, though. Very un-Southern!
- According to my guys in Skeletonwitch, Eric Harris, their former bassist, got into a fight with frontman Chance over something, and Harris apparently called the cops and had Chance arrested. They decided to leave Harris in Califronia and returned home to Ohio. They replaced him with Evan something-or-other.
- A fight, or at least an attempted swing, near the Danzig bus. It involved a really fat dude, one of Glenn-boy's security, and some drunken blond-haired dude. Rumor abound that the blond dude wanted to get in to meet the little guy but was forcefully ejected from Roseland and he swung at the fat man.
CONCLUSION - My only regret was that I didn't catch Tommy Victor, never mind Glenn Danzig, or the five other members of Dimmu Borgir, or even Moonspell for that matter. Of course, I was busy carousing and schmoozing with some other people and unfortunately for Victor, he wasn't in my range for me to catch him. But it was a fine night for me, and a victory of vindication, as I was able to catch up some old friends, new friends, and see what goes behind the backdoor at Roseland Ballroom.
SHIT LIST (Where Douchebags Come to Play!)
Glenn "The Midget Diva" Danzig
OFF THE SHIT LIST
Kenny Hickey
Nick Bellmore
Show Grade: A-
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