J-Roddy Walston and the Business Album Review- ‘J. Roddy Walston and the Business’ (3.5 stars) ***1/2 By Anthony Kuzminski Buy the album at Amazon and iTunes
J-Roddy Walston and the Business have been building a rabid following around the Northeast music scene and are best known for their orgasmic concert performances which leave you in a blissful magical state as the band burns down the house like few others can only dream of. Their just released self-titled debut album on Vagrant Records conjures up the same feeling of ecstasy as the band welcomes you into the world’s largest piano bar. To their credit, as buzz worthy as their live shows are, they handle the dual responsibilities of stage and studio stridently; this self-titled record is a testament to the rebellious spirit of rock n’ roll. Numerous comparisons have been thrown out at the group (most notably a barn-storming Jerry Lee Lewis) but I feel it’s a disservice to their talent which needs to be heard and seen to be believed. These aren’t mere mortals attempting to find their way to success, but a group who despite their youth hurdles the listener into the middle of a swirling hurricane with their exuberant bar-dancing jaunty anthems. The closest comparison I can conjure up is to imagine if Jerry Lee Lewis had collaborated with David Bowie on Hunky Dory, “Changes” would be a scorching wailing rocker with a vocal that teeters between damnation and deliverance.
Simple comforts and cheap thrills are abounding on “Don’t Break the Needle” which immediately brings out the spunk, sass and spiritual splendor of the album. Right from the opening notes, the piano keys fly off the piano, cymbals crash, vocals screech in a hot-blooded performance that is blatantly boisterous. “Pigs and Pearls” has a filthy groove with some svelte backing vocals and some sweet slide acoustic guitar. The swelling of chants and vocals in the back against a high-spirited back drop of instruments on “Full Growing Man” surprised me. I reached out to a connection of the band to ask who the chanting female vocalists were in the background only to be told there are none; it’s the glorious combustion of Gordon, Colmus, Davis and Walston delivering a wailing echo of home-grown rock. “Used to Did” features a bludgeoning vocal where Walston gleefully spits out the words against a wall of sound seeping desperation. “Brave Man’s Death” led by a melancholy organ finds the band intertwining their grooves into an amplification that’s bright and breezy with resolute and resilient lyrics.
The album’s second side takes hold with “Don’t Get Old” with an ardent backbeat by Colmus that verge on explosive while Walston’s vocal brings the song to a determined howling climax. Roddy’s vocals are a supple instrument as integral to the band as his piano. The reedy warmth of his voice and the rhythmic phrasing he uses is rare in rock as he is able to inflict explicit emotions with certain notes. He doesn’t merely sing, he uses his voice as an instrument to evoke emotions and manipulate you to grow closer to the melodies. “I Don’t Want To Hear It” features a chorus that is downright shimmering with an unyielding arrangement built on brawn that solidifies the song. Growing up in a religious household, Walston found himself torn between God and rock n’ roll and to this day, despite taking the road less traveled, he still speaks to that higher power seeking that solace we all need. “Use Your Language” may be drenched in bluesy-chords, but don’t let the disorderly noise blind you, it’s a prayer in disguise. For most of the record, the band is unleashed, ready to roar and determined to make their presence known. At ten songs, it’s lean and doesn’t overstay its welcome with added filler. It wheezes past you allowing you to digest it fully. In a swift swing, they clutch your senses and assault them with ten effervescent garage rock anthems. The inconspicuous aura adds to the album’s magnetism, but make no mistake, the respective instruments feel like the sum of something much larger and presented in a sturdy but unadorned mix. If you love your rock n’ roll primordial, and downright dirty, this record is for you.
J-Roddy Walston and the Business deliver a rock n’ roll revival that will bring you salvation. There’s a warm communal feeling to the proceedings. It feels like a family jam on back porches where beer flows and the grill is always hot. Guitarist Billy Gordan provides skuzzy riffage while drummer Steve Colmus and bassist Logan Davis fasten the core of the music so it never swerves off-course. It would be uncomplicated to use the word “virtuosity” but it wouldn’t do all four of them justice. Each cut is infused with supple sincerity allowing the indisputable nature of the material to gleam. This extends beyond mere musical talent but a forging desire to comprehend the vernacular of each individual member which materializes into a thundering and fierce yowls which are tuneful. This music and band is too rich, too genuine and too real to be denied. Some acts wear their influences on their sleeves to their detriment, but J-Roddy Walston and the Business embrace their influences while their hearts are on their sleeves.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes ‘Pills and Ammo’ Album Review *** ½ (3.5 stars) By Anthony Kuzminski {Buy the album here or here}
Young starlets of today and they dress slutty, do near-naked poses for magazine covers and try to be as contentious as possible to work up the press. What they don’t grasp is that to ooze sexiness it’s not about what you wear or how you look in it, but how you carry yourself. It’s about attitude. Do you give off a whiff of sexiness or do you try and be sexy? You can’t teach someone to be arousing, you are or you aren’t. The amalgamation of blues and rock n’ roll is very much the same; bands can branch off and do one or the other but a true marriage of the two is increasingly thorny to pull off and when they try to fuse the two worlds, the results are often not disastrous but tedious. As of late, a slew of vintage rockers seem to be returning to their roots and creating records that give a tip-of-the-hat to the forefathers of rock n’ roll. They are attempting to mine the same purity with which everything else in the last fifty years has followed. However, what most don’t apprehend is just because you admire the music doesn’t mean you can cast it in your own mold. People like Eric Clapton are few and far between, most acts are very good at what they do, but when they step outside of their limits, it comes off as far reaching and incredulous. However, for some artists the necessary ingredients for a killer rock-blues-rhythm-folk record is already in their DNA. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes never had a platinum record or a major hit, but unlike other platinum acts attempting to conjure up the greatness of the past, Johnny and the Jukes do it naturally.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes is continually a feature of the Northeast club circuit and their status of elder statesmen of the Jersey shore is legendary. Their live shows are blistering sweat-inducing revivals that are steeped in old school rock n’ roll and their recorded output are damn consistent. If the band has had any obstacle over the last three decades, it’s surpassing the first three records produced by Steve Van Zandt. Ironically, the next truly classic record the group made was 1991’s Better Days also produced by Van Zandt and features appearances by both Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi. In the nineteen-years since that record, the band has remained busy with a slew of archive releases (including the superb Jukebox box set), a continual presence on the road and the occasional new studio album. The best of the post Better Days releases was Messin’ with the Blues from 2000 but the band always proves to be unswerving. Just released is their latest record, Pills and Ammo written, recorded and mixed over a fifteen month period between 2009 and 2010. It should be stated that much of this was due to working around the schedule of the studio they recorded at, Sanctuary II, Jon Bon Jovi’s home studio which he lends out to the band when it’s not being used. Only the album’s final cut, “Thank You” wasn’t recorded there. In a last minute attempt to capture the vocal which seemed to elude them, Southside listened to the original demo at Jeff Kazee’s house and went to Kazee’s home studio and cut the vocal that wound up on the record. This off-the-cuff vision is what drove most of Pills and Ammo to completion. It doesn’t sound overworked and yet given enough attention to ensure the songs are fully fleshed out.
Pills and Ammo is an album full of simplistic strengths and highlights what a great rhythm, blues, soul and rock band truly is. When you hear some of these other acts attempt to forge new ground in the rock-blues template, you hear musicians attempting to capture lightning in a bottle and it comes off as a bunch of fans trying to imitate greatness. The mix, the aural aesthetic and the performances are all top-notch making it the best Southside Johnny record since 1991’s Better Days.Southside and long standing piano/keyboard player Jeff Kazee co-produced the record. Kazee leads the charge and is responsible for making the most strapping and strident Southside Johnny record to date. “Harder Than It Looks” instigates the guttural festivities with a blistering horn section, spacious acoustic and electric guitars and a magnanimous in-your-face production where the drums and bass can be felt. The horns seek shade in the corners while still finding their moment to shine and piano and organ fills that congeal for one downright awesome bluesy romp. Amidst this entire musical splendor it’s the band’s testimonial to surviving. If this was a new Rolling Stones song, the world would have just wet itself. “Cross That Line” features a tactile horn section, assaulting dueling Stonesy guitars and is escorted by a rollicking piano. “Woke Up This Morning” is grubby without being evasive. The way the fuzz harmonica and horns consummates into an unexpected bluesy masterwork. John Mellencamp’s guitarist Andy York (who faced off in a dual guitar attack on this record with longtime Jukes guitarist Bobby Bandiera) liberates a mean slide guitar strut evoking the greats who built Chess Records. “Lead Me On” is an unblinking reflection of love with the vintage Southside voice capturing the subtle vulnerability. Other singers probably spend weeks if not months trying to emulate something a tenth as persuasive and Southside makes it seem effortless.
“Heartbreak City” comes out of the gate roaring with chanting female voices, a spiraling guitar riff and an understated piano fills that flow into a bluesy stream of musical righteousness. “Strange Strange Feeling” is adroit in melancholy with a pensive vocal by Johnny and allusive organ and harmonica solo’s while a guitar plays along in the background; its little touches like this that make the record such a refined listening experience. The engineering and mixing throughout is tremendous as it balances the grittiness of rock n’ roll against authentic musicianship. The instruments are clear, mixed with great love and care. “Umbrella In My Drink” has a duet with Gary US Bonds that could be from a few decades back with a Big Easy horn section that drips with sweat accentuated by a feverish banjo. “One More Night To Rock” is straightforward in its assertiveness where the instruments are in unrelenting interlock in a vintage rhythm and blues rocker cut from the same cloth as Southside’s best work. “A Place Where I Can’t Be Found” is a Van Morrison style ballad while “Keep On Moving” is an old school 50’s rocker. Capping the record is the aforementioned “Thank You” proving to be the ideal ending to the record.
There isn’t anything here that sounds dated or contemporary and therein is the charm of Pills and Ammo. The Jukes along with the help of some surreal guests verges on ridiculousness. Lisa Fischer, long time backing vocalist for the Rolling Stones and Tin Turner is here to flex her vocal acrobatics, Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live) executes the drums with gritty precision and the aforementioned Andy York provides some downright sick Mick Taylor guitar fills that hurdle out at you. You listen to an album like Pills and Ammo and you simply marvel at how remarkable it all is, as it captures the perfect fusion of skill and spirit highlighted by a lyrical theme is of endurance. Instead of looking back to the days of yesteryear, there is a defiant strength of survival with a keen eye on the future. In many ways, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, despite an ever revolving line-up, have stayed truest to the genealogy of rock ‘n roll than most other artists who make such claims. Southside Johnny’s Pills and Ammo doesn’t emulate anyone or anything, this music is tattooed into their DNA and flows as free as water down a river. What differentiates Pills and Ammo from other artists attempting the blues-rock template is that Southside and the Jukes aren’t trying to be something they’re not. Many of the rock-blues records from the past few years may be good, but make no mistake; most of those acts are merely students while Southside is a professor whose knowledge of the art form is engrained into his consciousness. Pills and Ammo is the sound of a master showing his students how it’s done.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: An American Band Chicago, IL-United Center July 2, 2008 By Anthony Kuzminski
Writer's Note: This is a fully edited review that only ran over at antiMusic. It's from Petty's 2008 summer tour.
In Cameron Crowe’s vastly underappreciated 2005 film Elizabethtown, the core characters viewpoints, thoughts and emotional discourse are aligned with music. This is a rare film where music is an even more vital component than the dialogue. There is a scene early in the film scored to the forgotten gem “It’ll All Work Out” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This brief moment may be the most crushing, affecting and heart wrenching scenes in recent memory. Later in the film after an all night marathon conversation between Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, they part ways in the early morning light and as Bloom rides down in his car, “Learning To Fly” emanates from the screen. At the United Center in Chicago on July 2, 2008 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed a spartan arrangement of the song with the melody performed sturdily on an acoustic by Petty while Benmont Tench added austere fills on his piano to this picturesque song. Besides the warm musical rendering, people connect to the lyric in a philosophical manner; it’s about the challenges we face in life expressed poetically by Petty and the Heartbreakers. The brilliancy of the song is that it manages to make the simple action of stepping into the ring a colossal triumph. Whether you win or lose is inconsequential, it’s that you’ve taken flight that matters. “Learning To Fly” is all about prevailing. As the song drew to a close and the band’s instruments slowly faded to the background, Petty stood front and center as the crowd took cue and allowed for their vocal chords to soar…”I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings…coming down is the hardest thing”. Albums live on forever and will be the lasting testament of an artists work for future generations, but it’s moments like this one that are so uniformly perfect that it wills the hair on the back of your neck to rise and provides one with an awe-inspiring feeling that is powerful as it is poignant and proved to be worth the price of the ticket alone. Despite some obstacles thrown their way, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have risen above it all and prevailed as a unit and this is why they’re one of the most important live bands on the road today.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers stop at the United Center in Chicago found a band completely in control of their craft. For over two-hours, the band surpassed my unrealistic expectations performing six songs I had never seen before and a few new and novel arrangements. Hitting the stage at 9:10pm, the band immediately surged into “Wreck Me”. They proved to be a well oiled machine as they immediately segued into “Listen To Her Heart” which featured five shaped boxes that hung over the stage turning into screens proving you can be inventive with your stage without being extreme. Far more dazzling than any stage prop was striking and precise shots of Steve Ferrone’s drums and the subtle rhythms dropped by bass player Ron Blair. As Petty put an acoustic around his neck and performed his definitive anthem “I Won’t Back Down”, you could hear the crowd cut through the vastness of the arena providing a moment that wasn’t just warm and intimate but resurrecting as well. The song is nearly two-decades old but this performance is as unyielding as it has ever been. The test of a truly great song is when it transcends time and proves to be forever timeless; “I Won’t Back Down” (and most of Petty’s catalog for that matter) is as timeless as they come.
“Even The Losers” burst to life in a way I never imagined possible while “Free Fallin’” was another sing-a-long moment for the crowd. Whenever I hear this song, I think about my Mom. The week Full Moon Fever was released in 1989, I found myself in Sound Warehouse and Fever was playing on the store system and my Mom asked me who it was because she liked it. I was shocked that the album was as melodic and marvelous as it was. The album was $6 on cassette and my Mom agreed to split it with me as long as I agreed to let her borrow it every once in a while. Over the next few years, whenever I was in the car with her, I knew I’d be able to listen to Full Moon Fever and it was something the two of us shared where we both related to that killer lyric “Gonna leave this world for a while” and it always elicited a laugh from my Mom on when she heard “Yer So Bad” with its grin inducing lyrics. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” always brings the crowd to its knees and this performance did just that with the crowd singing along to every word. What followed I don’t think anyone could have ever foreseen as Petty dug back a solid decade and pulled out a b-side, “Sweet William” from the “Room At The Top” European single and EP. The bluesy and bursting number was a surprise addition and a most welcomed one. I never knew of the song before tonight and I’ll be seeking it out now as a result.
Dipping further into his chest full of lost gems, “End of the Line” was a jangly and jolting. The never performed before Traveling Wilburys number found Heartbreaker Scott Thurston shining on the dual harmony vocals reminding us why the two Wilbury albums are so alluring and sundry. Despite having five legends switching off on lead vocals on the album, the Heartbreakers managed to bring this song to life with ease. Opener Steve Winwood, who earlier in the evening left many in the crowd with their mouths gaping at his prowess of the guitar on “Dear Mr. Fantasy” joined Petty and the Heartbreakers for two songs; “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Gimme Some Lovin’”. The soulful “Can’t Find My Way Home” featured stellar six string theatrics by Winwood but it was his angelic voice that soared to the heavens and left an indelible impression. “Gimme Some Lovin’” supercharged the crowd with a surging beat and potent tempo that has the whole arena quaking. “Saving Grace” was dressed up with full tilt boogie swagger that vastly improved on the album version. Guitarist Mike Campbell provided some stunning slide guitar on this one while Benmont Tench almost stole the show with a smoldering organ solo and a sweet and spastic piano jam. The onslaught triple guitar attack highlighted the sweet “Honey Bee”; a intoxicating song that will forever be enshrined in my memory bank because of Dave Grohl’s head banging theatrics behind the kit during the band’s 1994 performance on Saturday Night Live. The Full Moon Fever track “Face In The Crowd” was aired for the first time in almost two decades. This was a wise move because it appeases the die hard fans with a rarity and doesn’t alienate the casual fans because even though it’s a deep cut, it’s from his best selling album (it peaked at #46 on the chart). The simplistic chords of the song leave an indelible impression and I hope to see Petty take more chances with his catalog like this in the future. The vivid “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, the fist in the air psychedelia of “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and the sweltering and smoking “Refugee” were all nothing short of astonishing and brought the main set to a close. The crowd fed off the material like I’ve never seen at a Petty concert before; he didn’t have to work as hard as many other artists currently on the road. He let his varied catalog and the pacing of the set do most of the work for him. With every concert tour, Petty’s popularity appears to soar to new heights. Within five feet of me were people from the age of fourteen all the way to sixty-five and every other age in between. The diversity and vastness of ages within his audience is something none of his arena contemporaries can lay claim to.
The encore consisted of the ferocious “Runnin’ Down A Dream”, the celebratory Van Morrison cover of “Gloria” and the dizzying guitar army theatrics of “American Girl” which threw the audience into overdrive. As the lights adorned the crowd, every single person from the first row to the upper regions of the balcony joyously released their inner emotions providing a moment that wasn’t just mind-blowing and breathtaking, but sincere as well. The phoenix-like velocity of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performance raised the roof on the United Center delivering a knock-out. The entire crowd will be using this concert as a benchmark for judging shows going forward; they simply don’t get any better than this.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
Writer's Note: I'm attempting to get all my old reviews up on the blog; the good, the bad and the embarrassing. Here's one from late 2005 as Butch Walker was winding down his Letters tour. One of the final shows was at the Metro here in Chicago and I was there to catch it. xT
Over the last three decades, we have seen a flurry of musical genres come and go only to become retro, resurrected and ultimately redeemed. At the end of the day, heavy metal thrives and survives. Metal has never been the most popular genre of music, but because of this it continues to live on in that space between obscurity and the mainstream. Metal music wasn’t made for the masses, but because of the truths and glaring injustices of the world, it will always have a home as long as the world continues to produce disaffected youth, the latter of which never seems to go out of style. Despite the hundreds (if not thousands) of subgenres within metal, virtually all of them stand up and give a tip of the hat to what is known as “The Big Four”; Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. These four groups put America on the metal map. Before “The Big Four”, Europe was ground zero for metal. However, with the emergence of these four bands in the early 1980’s, they set (and continue to set) the template for virtually all metal bands in one form or another much the same way the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Who set the template for all rock bands that followed them. They’ve all had their fair shake of bad luck, drama and turbulence no one could imagine or have foreseen, but beneath it all these four acts continue to play live to this very day.
When the rumors began last year of a Big Four tour, it seemed too good to be true, however in this instance; it was true, but only over in Europe. For the first time in their careers, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax would share the same stage over a series of shows in June 2010. While we still wait for other parts of the world to relish in the epic grandeur of these four acts together, we were treated to an almost full feast on cinema screens recently. Broadcast across cinemas which reached over 100,000 people worldwide, the show gave us our first glimpse of what proved to be a unbelievable and rare look at all of the Godfathers of thrash metal. The full broadcast to cinemas was over 4 ½ hours and included interviews with the members and even a tribute to the late and great Ronnie James Dio. While the show was edited for broadcast, we saw approximately eighty-percent of the show. At well over four-hours, this was a metal fans wet dream come true. What makes this convergence of these four bands on one stage is that during their initial rise to fame during the 1980’s and 1990’s, they inspired and urged one another on in ways no motivational speaker ever could. Their four histories are intertwined tightly that effectively every metal act on the planet has one of the four in their DNA. While none of the Big Four have any of their original line-ups, they managed to embrace and uncover that rare spirit when they were finding their musical footing. For those whose histories go back a few decades with each of these bands or who has seen them at their commercial peaks in the late ‘80’s or early ‘90’s, I am not sure what kind of reaction they will give, but for someone who followed all four bands closely, yet never managed to see them during their initial beginnings, this was quite the sight to see. Imagine getting all of the artists who recorded at Sun Studio’s in the 1950’s and having them reunite in the early 1980’s. Elvis may have left the building, but the Big Four are still here and delivered a forceful show with hammering gut-thrusting rock. Heavy metal is about two things; fighting the status quo and the live show. There’s a silver lining of truthfulness in the music which regardless of what you think of it, it will always be relevant.
ANTHRAX
Anthrax inaugurated the show with a ravaging “Caught in a Mosh”. Over the next 45-minutes, Anthrax held their own and proved to be a driving force that hasn’t fought their last fight. In the last five years alone, they have technically had four singers. This is Joey Belladonna’s second go round as vocalist for the band since the one-off reunion in 2005-06. However, when Belladonna hit the stage he was ready and willing to give his all. It’s been almost two decades since he initially parted with Anthrax, but he proved to be in raw, primal and fine form. As much as John Bush is admired and loved, one forgets how integral Belladonna was to the rise of Anthrax and how damn good he still is. Watching “Antisocial” we’re reminded that this is the Anthrax that ruled and roared. While their output may be the least consistent of these four acts, there’s no mistake in having them on this bill. On this particular number, the Bulgaria crowd proved maniacal as they chanted the title (“Antisocial”) over and over again. “Got the Time” and “Madhouse” were showcases for the hypnotic bass of Frank Bello which maneuvers around the songs in a cat and mouse game flexing his prowess and giving Anthrax’s song that extra spunk that gave them a unique place in the world of metal. The Iron Maiden influenced “Indians”, with its svelte guitars is driven by the drumming of Charlie Benante seemed to be the moment where everything fell into place. Anthrax spread their seed and made sure that just because they were first out of the gate they weren’t going to go easy on the crowd. You never would have known that they weren’t the headliners. One of metal’s intricate beauties is the fact that each performer on a given bill is integral to the overall experience and Anthrax made their presence known with a raucous roar.
MEGADETH
Megadeth is currently touring in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Rust in Peace but there’s a far more important activity within the Megadeth camp; the return of Dave Ellefson on bass. His departure in 2002 was a shocking divorce I am not sure anyone was ever comfortable with. The Mustaine/Ellefson partnership is the equivalent to the Hetfield/Ulrich relationship in Metallica. One balances the other while simultaneously egging them on to reach their furthest potential. Ellefson’s bass is integral to Megadeth’s sound; the thick bottom aesthetic of his rhythm is the foundation everything else is laid upon. As Megadeth went through a revolving door or drummers and guitarists over their career, Ellefson was the one constant that kept Mustaine on the path. With him missing, there was a void in Megadeth and despite creating some good albums, the void was undeniable. With him back on stage with his vigorous five-string bass, all seemed right in the world of Megadeth.
“Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” was a tremendous opener followed immediately by the reverberating “Hangar 18”. “Headcrusher” had a fixated guitar battle between Mustaine and Chris Broderick while “In My Darkest Hour” featured the intensity Mustaine is known for. It’s one of the genre’s preeminent moments as he dug into his psyche and found a way to deal with indescribable pain and wrote what I believe to be his greatest achievement as a songwriter and in concert it features spiraling emotions which can be reflected in the fiery guitar work. Megadeths’s brand of speed/thrash metal almost makes Anthrax look like a punk band; vociferous guitars, virtuosic solo’s and rich tunes spoken from first person narratives in many of the songs making them that much more influential. Mustaine’s sinister vocals evoke apocalyptic feelings of despair as if he’s being channeled from below. Megadeth’s set was plagued by rain, but it didn’t stop them from unleashing some venomous riffs and Mustaine showed everyone why he’s one of the best six-string shredders on the planet. “Symphony of Destruction” had lashing riffs amidst a laborious rhythm section that thumps along with the guitar melodies. The perfunctory “Peace Sells” culminated their nearly 50-minute set in a splendid manner. With the partnership of Ellefson and Mustaine back in place things can only go up from here for them.
SLAYER
Ironically, the most dominant, consistent and reliable and most beloved (worshipped, venerated, applauded-you name the adjective it suits them) speed metal band on the planet is one I’m not as familiar with as I should be. Growing up Slayer scared me. There’s no other way to explain it. Forget the image of the devoted fan base, it’s hard to even hear Slayer and not feel as if Judgment Day isn’t around the corner but happening right at that very second. However, with time, I find myself going back to Reign in Blood and South of Heaven and revere in the lyrics. Embracing doomsday views of the world in a brutal no-nonsense manner, Slayer is an act that can’t be ignored or denied. Their style is undeniable and they don’t just bring heady topics to the forefront, but wallop you over your skull with them.
As a red light lingered on the stage, the four members took to the stage and surged into “World Painted Blood” with gusto. “War Ensemble”, “Hate Worldwide” and “Seasons in the Abyss” found the band speeding through with some intellectually menacing drum fills by the colossal Dave Lombardo. Lombardo has an intense relationship with the band going back to the beginning but watching him on the screen you realize he’s not just an integral ingredient but a vital and irreplaceable key to Slayer. Like John Bonham, Neil Peart or Charlie Watts, the respective bands wouldn’t be the same without the rhythm keepers in the back. “Angel of Death” solidified that the band never lost a step. While the other three bands have flirted with melody in the context of thrash, Slayer has always been about demonic rage emulated by the bone-crushing guitar chords, Lombardo’s solvent drumming and Araya’s socially charged vocals. Slayer has never shied away from controversial topics and because they’ve never hidden themselves behind a corporation, their authenticity has remained intact. Unsullied, the fans across the globe have never gone through a period of disillusionment around their music. The brutal brashness spins the problems of the world on their head. They stayed the thrash metal course and as a result, have stayed true not just to themselves but to their fans as well, demonstrated by the fervent reaction of the Bulgaria crowd. Their loyalty of devotion of their fans is unmatched by possibly anyone in any genre. For guys who believed in their crafts, never took the road most traveled and created a vista where their catalog remains unsullied. “South of Heaven” found the band tapping into the unspoken and unfurling despair of life while “Raining Blood” found the crowd in a roit-like moshes which the English language can’t serve it justice. When they concluded their set you sat back and wondered how anything could top that.
METALLICA
Metallica isn’t just one of the biggest bands in the world of metal, but the world, period. The dominance they have on a global scale can only be matched by U2 and the Rolling Stones. Metallica performs in many territories the aforementioned acts have been to only once or twice, whereas Metallica goes everywhere on every tour. The only other acts whose worldwide pull in these territories that is as strong is Iron Maiden and both of their overriding influences is staggering. I wasn’t expecting Metallica to hit the stage with a detonation or even a response as vociferous as the aforementioned three but Lars Ulrich’s machine-gun opening to “Creeping Death” put any doubts I had to bed. Within minutes they reminded everyone why they’re the reigning kings of the metal world. Instead of taking their headline status lightly, the band drove home a tight performance where all four members were interlocked mentally and musically. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Harvester of Sorrow” and “Cyanide” were cast against the backdrop of a crowd so unreservedly caught up in the band, it was ridiculous not to be overtaken by the moment of it all. For “Fade to Black”, James Hetfield was towards the back of the stage performing the opening of the song on an actual acoustic guitar. The solemn intensity, especially in Hetfield’s delivery of the lyrics, was a performance I hadn’t expected to see, bursting with emotions in a ghostly vocal. “One” is a tale of torment that is as vital as ever and the pyrotechnic performance didn’t disappoint but the convergence of the band and the audience is what takes this are FM epic to heights few can achieve. Most remarkable was the grandeur of “Master of Puppets” where even nearly 25-years later the band still delivers thunderbolts of electricity on the nearly 9-minute song verging between cacophonous menace and delicate magnificence. Here is an album that barely cracked the Top-40, it contained no hit singles and hardly received any airplay and yet it cemented their legacy in the thrash world while selling consistently and eventually racking up 6-million in sales. It was the first step into a much bigger world I’m not even sure they could have foreseen. To this day, on any list of essential metal albums, this is always in the Top-5, consider it the Revolver of the metal world.
During the encore, almost every member of the Big Four converged on the stage for the Diamond Head cover of “Am I Evil”. Despite being a tad rough around the edges it was still a one-of-a-kind moment unlikely to be repeated. Seeing most of the Big Four on one stage jamming along was quite a sight to see. Capping the simulcast was a pair of songs taking us back to where it all began, “Hit the Lights” and “Seek and Destroy”, the former being the first officially released Metallica song. The unbridled insurgency of Hetfield and Ulrich’s paths crossing made all of this feasible and based on these performances; they seem as heady as ever. The encore showed them flex their muscle bringing it all back to ground zero, because in the garage was where it all began. The thrash styling’s of the Big Four was a catalyst for discontented youth to unleash your anger and aggression, the music has become something else; a life force of unimaginative power.
The big screen vastness was epic. While it can’t replace the feeling of being there in person, the broadcast was a treat to see and executed with grace. The overall look and sound for an event that was most likely mixed on the fly is rather staggering. I’ve seen DVD’s with months of post-production that don’t look or sound as good as this cinema broadcast did. When the inevitable DVD hits store shelves, this will be a no-brainer as to whether or not you should pick it up. While it’s easy to think of this as a purely nostalgic ride, but it isn’t. Heavy metal is an art form that doesn’t hold the key to a fountain of youth, but it holds the key to our soul. The darkness, the fight, the determination and the urging of demons from within is something that should never be forgotten. We may move on to music with more finesse, or spread our taste buds out to different forms of music, but it’s this music from within that reminds us of who we were, but it also re-lights to fire within whenever the songs are heard. Genres and styles may come and go but the Big Four are forever.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Heart Songs: “Save Some Time To Dream”/ John Mellencamp By Anthony Kuzminski
“Don’t let your time slip away, or be stolen by someone else”
I don’t know anyone who isn’t making their way through an albatross of murk so wretched that it steals a part of their very being. Everyone I talk to, encounter and share time with is dropping their masks in favor of honesty. As we share these hardships with one another, it makes us feel more human as we’re merely looking for comfort and solace that we’re not alone. I was recently asked why I write. It’s a fair question since I ask myself the same question every day. I guess the easiest answer I can give anyone is “I need to”. It’s not a choice for me. I’d like to say I am an optimist, but deep down, I know what a volatile and ultimately mean-spirited world we live in. This is why I hold music, film, art and literature is such high regard. Not just because it can be a road map for us when the paths are blurry, but because it reminds us that this world is capable of not just greatness but beauty beyond words. It’s when we encounter this splendor that all seems to be right with the world, without it we are lost. I’ve been having moments like these in the last week when listening to John Mellencamp’s newest album, No Better Than This which drops on August 17th. The album is all in mono is punctuated by its gramophone ambiance and the tender vocals by Mellencamp may be the best of his career. There are stories from our past, our present and hopefully our future on this solemn yet heart-tugging collection of tunes. However, it’s the opening cut that has stolen my heart; “Save Some Time To Dream”.
Its brushstroke percussion and Andy York’s dour guitars aren’t likely to light up pop stations, but like “Longest Days” (the opening cut from Life, Death, Love and Freedom) it’s without question, one of Mellencamp’s greatest achievements as a songwriter. The song is the purest tale of love encouraging one to embrace life’s unadorned pleasures even when the mountains to climb seem insufferable. In one particular passage, he encourages you to embrace the tough times;
Save some time for sorrow
Cause it will surely come your way
Prepare yourself for failure
It will give you strength someday
Try to keep your mind open
And accept your mistakes
Save some time for living
And always question your faith
We wake up every day, get caught up in mundane drills from everything to caring for our children, making a living or just trying to get where we need to go. We encounter obstacles often beyond our reach but we move on. How? Why? I’m not sure, but I believe that we find that silver lining. I do. When I see my daughter smile and let a carefree laugh out, or the way my wife’s hair moves and looks in the sunlight, the glee I see from my parents when they play with my daughter, a helping hand from new family, a caring neighbor who stops and talks or simply someone who holds a door for me when I least expect it. It’s these minute encounters that infuse us with hope; without it, there’s nothing. Each day is a learning experience and often it’s not so much about our strains but how we deal with them when we face them. As we ponder our life choices it’s more important to learn from them than dwell on them. They’re in the past and the only way we can fix them is by moving onward.
There is no avoiding the rough patches of life as they don’t discriminate; it captures everyone at one point or another. The way through it is to save time for yourself, find what it is that lights your fuse and embrace it daily. Mellencamp’s tale is deftly poetic to the generations who listen to his music. When we’re children, we learn some of the simplest lessons through rhymes and songs and somewhere along the way, those lessons become distant memories. Mellencamp is schooling us is a stunningly sobering heart tugging song I will forever cherish. If one lived their life according to their song, they’d be saved in ways no medicine or religion ever could. As the song reaches its climax, Mellencamp releases a breath of hope with a line with so unblinkingly brilliant in its minimalism, it’s impossible not to be moved; “A dream might save us all”
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Hole Vic Theatre-Chicago, IL July 14, 2010 By Anthony Kuzminski {Photo Credit}
“Please allow me to introduce myself…”
Courtney Love strutted onto the stage in the Vic Theater in a well fit black dress, thigh-high boots and a cigarette dangling in her hand. She waved to the crowd, pulled a guitar over her shoulder, placed one bent leg on her amplifier and proceeded to deliver a piercing 90-minute set full of soulful ballads and anguish filled songs painted against a backdrop of distortion and turbulent vocal shrieks all the while as the crowd howled in rapt appreciation. Opening with “Pretty on the Inside/Sympathy For the Devil”, this was a re-dedication to her talent. Hole hasn’t performed in Chicago in over a decade and the lone surviving member, Love, hasn’t performed in Chicago during the same time. Her concerts tend to be impulsive yet on the Chicago stage she segued between the distressing hymns of her past and the strident determination of her current state of mind. Ripping through the Rolling Stones most sadistic anthem it seemed to fit Love’s journey in the last decade to a T. An element I hadn’t foreseen was the enthusiasm for Hole’s catalog. When those lights went down the crowd welcomed her back like a long lost friend they hadn’t seen in a while. The show ran the gamut of her career touching on all aspects of it (except 2004’s solo record America’s Sweetheart) with a set heavy on material from Nobody’s Daughter and Live Through This along with a smattering of covers and songs from Celebrity Skin. “Skinny Little Bitch” much more sexy and seductive than on record while “Someone Else’s Bed” was introduced as a “song about sex…something I know a lot about”. Both songs seeped sexual mischievousness with the latter circling around the themes of renewal and rebirth. The throaty “Samantha” took on new dimensions in concert as this incarnation of Hole did the material justice providing a distorted jubilation to the proceedings giving the classic Hole material justice while it provided the Nobody’s Daughter songs a blunter edge. Nobody’s Daughter is a gut wrenching and unflinchingly honest collection of songs that isn’t receiving the due it deserves. It’s one of my favorite records of the year but many haven’t given it a more concentrated listen, but within the walls of the Vic she could display the wounded and delicate space these songs came from. The healing “Pacific Coast Highway” found Love sharing the microphone with the audience. They sung along the same way they did on “Miss World” and “Violet”. I saw a woman fully in command of her craft and she didn’t just take the crowd along for the ride but challenged them as well. “Letter To God” found Love with her arms reaching up to the air and as her eyes was closed with intent and absorption. This wasn’t show boating, but something else much more weighty only she could comment on, but laying witness to it was enough to make you be aware of the therapeutic ability of art. Even though Love didn’t write the song (Linda Perry composed it for her) Love throws herself into it which proved to be her spiritual money shot. Anyone who dismisses Nobody’s Daughter on the basis of the sleek production is missing a record with immense spiritual depth.
The pairing of “Miss World” and “Violet” back-to-back was fantastically ferocious as it verged on thwarted fantasies and secret desires. The crowd sung along to every last word, including a girl next to me who was 4-years-old when Live Through This his record shelves. “Asking For It”, “Plump” and “Doll Parts” provided the crowd with high voltage blasts where the lyrics seeped into their souls and the performances featured enough gruff and grime from 1994 to feel indisputable. The vigor of the performance and the sturdiness of these songs can’t be denied, all of which were accentuated by the current band. Micko Larkin is on guitar and proves to be Love’s on-stage foil while Stu Fisher is resilient on the drums capturing the essence of the songs with Shawn Dailey on bass keeping the rhythm intact. This current manifestation of Hole serves the material fantastically well. Showing the world they have the chops to keep up with Courtney Love is enough but I’d like to see them venture and tackle some of the songs from America’s Sweetheart and reinvent those songs, notably the inspired “Mono” and “Hold Onto Me”. Leonard Cohen’s “Take This Longing” and Big Star’s “Thirteen” found Love tackling the role of a fan. With just her voice and acoustic guitar, she harnesses her devotion to music. “Play With Fire” featured Love taking drags off a cigarette in between. The covers were carefully chosen and fit in perfectly with the themes of her body of work. It’s one thing to write a song about renewal and it’s another entirely to peel layers from within. Everyone wishes they were daring and free enough to lay it on the line like Love can.
Courtney Love has been an artist who wears her heart on her sleeve. You can’t escape it. Her show is a form is expression and from what I saw, the crowd saw themselves in it as well. The music of the 1990’s was about purging from within and making sense of emotions, beautifully demonstrated on “Honey” which found Love clenching her cheeks, squinting eyes and a harrowing vocal –a descendent touch from another time. Anyone who feels she’s coasting hasn’t seen this as you can’t help but place yourself in her world. As the band took their bows and left the stage, Love and Micko Larkin stayed under the spotlight for a pair of acoustic numbers to bring the evening full circle. “Never Go Hungry” had a fierce escalating vocal no one could deny and it’s one of her greatest musical accomplishments. Nobody’s Daughter is an album of a survivor and should carry the same weight as Live Through This. The celebrity that is Courtney Love dissipated with this album as it’s a re-dedication to her craft. Don’t concern yourself with what happens offstage because the concert stage is where the real Courtney Love resides. Music saved her life when she was an abandoned and confused teen, it served as a rocket ship to stardom in the 1990’s and it’s now validating her existence. There are two types of artists, those who perform and those who the show is an extension of their personality. There’s no faking this. Leave the tabloids and sarcastic bloggers to the side. If you want to know what Courtney Love is about, see her live. She leaves it all on stage. Whether it was a reflection or an exorcism, the emotions set free on the stage were one-hundred percent real. When she exited stage left, there wasn’t a single non-believer left standing. Welcome back Courtney, we’ve missed you.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Set List: Pretty on the Inside Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones cover) Skinny Little Bitch Miss World Violet Letter to God Asking for It Pacific Coast Highway Reasons to Be Beautiful Take This Longing (Leonard Cohen cover) Samantha Plump Someone Else's Bed Celebrity Skin Doll Parts Encore: Malibu Play with Fire (Rolling Stones cover) Boys On the Radio Honey Thirteen (Big Star cover) Never Go Hungry Again Northern Star
This is what life is about. When someone is in need and you are in a place of power, you lend a helping hand. A lot is written about Billy Corgan but he continually steps up to the plate when needed. In a day and age when acts are out to pull every last cent from you, it's hard to believe that the Smashing Pumpmkins went out on tour in 1998 and gave 100% of the gross to charity. That's not proceeds, but gross. The band paid for all expenses out of their own pockets. That's someone you should look up to. The Pumpkins will play the legendary Metro club next Tuesday for a local musician in need. Read about it below...
xT
JULY 20, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS TO PERFORM BENEFIT CONCERT TUESDAY, JULY 27 AT CHICAGO’S METRO FOR MATTHEW LEONE, BASSIST FROM MADINA LAKE
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS will perform a benefit concert next Tuesday, July 27 at Chicago’s Metro to raise money for medical care for Matthew Leone, bassist for Chicago band Madina Lake. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, July 21 at noon and the information is below.
Last month, Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone was hospitalized with severe brain trauma after intervening to stop a woman he passed on the street from being beaten by her husband. Matthew had left twin brother Nathan's Chicago apartment to meet a friend at a bar a few blocks away when he walked past the man beating his wife on the 1300th block of Ohio St. Even though the attacker was twice his size, Matthew immediately intervened and managed to subdue the attacker but as he waited for police to arrive, the attacker suddenly turned on Matthew, beating him severely. He then walked away with his wife, leaving Matthew unconscious on the street. Matthew was taken to UIC Hospital for emergency brain surgery wherein a third of his skull was removed to alleviate swelling. He's currently in stable condition awaiting an additional brain surgery to reapply the removed portion of his skull. Alleged suspect Justin Pivec is currently charged with Aggravated Battery Causing Serious Bodily Harm and out on bail pending a forthcoming hearing. As a musician, Matthew spends most of his life on tour and unfortunately his medical insurance had lapsed just two months prior to the incident. Friends of the band and the Chicago music community are rallying to help provide for Matthew’s medical needs.
There will be a raffle for tickets. Individuals can enter the raffle as many times as they wish for $10 each entry. A majority of the venue will be sold to raffle winners. Each winner will receive two tickets to the concert. Tickets are not transferable and winners must show ID matching their raffle entry. Raffle tickets will be available for sale through Metro website only beginning Wednesday July 21 at noon at http://www.metrochicago.com. The raffle will end at 2pm on Saturday July 24, 2010, and winners will be notified via email at 5pm on Saturday July 24, 2010.
There will also be a very limited amount of balcony VIP tickets put on sale for those fans who want to make a larger donation and ensure entry into this special event for $100 each. Balcony VIP tickets will go on sale Wednesday July 21 at noon.
Additionally, a limited amount of soundcheck VIP tickets will be available for $500 each. The soundcheck VIP event (approximately 30 minutes), set for the late afternoon, includes a meet and greet/photo with the Pumpkins and merchandise items, plus a seat at a table in the balcony for the show; this package is priced at $500 per person. Soundcheck VIP tickets will be available Wednesday July 21 at noon at http://www.metrochicago.com.
All proceeds from the raffle and concert will go to the Matthew Leone Fund at Sweet Relief. Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. For more information on Sweet Relief, visit http://www.sweetrelief.org.
Metro is the club where, on October 5, 1988, the Pumpkins truly landed on the musical map. They also chose the venue for a farewell concert on December 2, 2000, a four-hour-long show that featured 38 songs spanning the group’s career at that time. The Pumpkins have a long history of supporting other Chicago musicians.
"Matthew and I have been completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion and support during this impossible time. It has proved that there are far more amazing people in the world than any other kind and we're grateful beyond words,” said Nathan Leone, Matthew’s twin brother and Madina Lake bandmate. “Being among the biggest Smashing Pumpkins fans in the world, we still haven't processed the fact that they are contributing in such an unprecedented way. Not only is this going to be a monumental event in our lives but more importantly it's a massive statement against domestic violence, violence against women and violence in general."
Tuesday, July 27: ON SALE WEDNESDAY 7/21 @ NOON: Q101 Welcomes… A Benefit For Matthew Leone… THE SMASHING PUMPKINS * KILL HANNAH $10 raffle entry, $100 Balcony VIP tickets, $500 Soundcheck VIP Tickets / All Ages / Doors: 6:30PM /Show: 8PM
TICKETS:All tickets will go on sale Wednesday, July 21 at noon at the Metro website, http://www.metrochicago.com.
Raffle Tickets - Raffle tickets are $10 per entry and you can purchase as many entries as you wish, but you can only win one pair of tickets. Raffle ticket sales end at 2pm on Saturday July 24 and winners will be notified via email on Saturday July 24 at 5pm. Tickets to the event are not guaranteed with the purchase of a raffle ticket. Winning tickets will be redeemed the night of the show and the winner must arrive with their guest and a valid government ID to claim winning tickets. All tickets are non-transferable.
Balcony VIP Tickets - A limited amount of balcony VIP tickets will be available for $100 each. There is a limit of 2 balcony VIP tickets per person. Duplicate purchases via credit card number or billing address will be cancelled. Balcony VIP tickets will be picked up at will call the night of the show and the ticket holder must arrive with their guest and a valid government ID to pick up tickets. You will not receive your tickets until you enter the venue and there is absolutely no re-entry. All tickets are non-transferable.
Soundcheck VIP Tickets – A limited amount of soundcheck VIP tickets will be available for $500 each. There is a limit of 2 soundcheck VIP tickets per person. Duplicate purchases via credit card number or billing address will be cancelled. Soundcheck VIP tickets will be picked up at will call the afternoon of soundcheck show and the ticket holder must arrive with their guest and a valid government ID to pick up tickets. You will not receive your tickets until you enter the venue and there is absolutely no re-entry. All tickets are non-transferable.
About Metro:Metro is one of the country’s most renowned independent concert venues. Established in July 1982, Metro has become a playground for new and developing local artists as well as showcasing the best cutting edge bands from around the globe for twenty-five years. For more information, visit www.metrochicago.com
About THE SMASHING PUMPKINS:The Smashing Pumpkins have created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history and sold over 30 million albums. Formed in Chicago in 1988, they released Gish, their influential (and platinum) debut in 1991, which was followed by more platinum and multi-platinum albums including the nine-time platinum Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and the four-time platinum Siamese Dream as well as the platinum certified 1998 album Adore. The pivotal group’s many hits defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation. The Pumpkins returned in 2007 with their gold-certified and acclaimed sixth album Zeitgeist, which entered the charts at Number 2 in the U.S. and in the Top Ten internationally. Since their triumphant return to the stage in 2007, the Pumpkins have headlined some of the biggest events around the globe including the Reading Festival, Rock Am Ring, and the V fest. In 2008, the band was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk. Their first post-major label release was the song “Superchrist,” issued via the Guitar Center CD Fresh Cuts Vol. 2. They subsequently recorded the song--the modern rock hit--“G.L.O.W.” for the Guitar Hero® World Tour game, marking the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise. In November 2008, the band released their first live DVD, If All Goes Wrong. In December 2009 The Smashing Pumpkins began releasing Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, a 44-song work with songs being released online one at a time for free (4-song physical EPs will be made available as the songs are released). The group’s BILLY CORGAN has said the new music “harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins; atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty.” www.smashingpumpkins.com
Conseco Fieldhouse, IN July 15, 2010 By Anthony Kuzminski {Pictures Courtesy of Starcasm}
(Original review published over at at antiMUSICHERE.)
You’ve seen the videos, heard the songs, questioned the costumes and wondered how someone in this day and age could grip the public consciousness the way Lady Gaga has. After seeing the Indianapolis stop of the Monster Ball tour, it’s apparent that beneath the glitz and glamour is someone whose illustration of their art is not just pleasing, but pure and ultimately so indisputable, you can’t help but feel affixed to it all. What makes Lady Gaga such an anomaly is that in a society so splintered, no one person should have a grasp on the population as a whole, but she does. From eight-year-olds to eighty-year-olds, everyone is aware of Lady Gaga. Alas, what differentiates her from others is that for once, beneath the spectacle, there is a harrowing soul whom the public at large has put their confidence in. Lady Gaga hasn’t just created seven perfect pop singles, but she is evolving in front of our eyes and that is proving to be a most enthralling reward. Inside the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the vibes within the arena were corporeal. During the opening set by Semi Precious Weapons, every seat was filled. Before Lady Gaga and her twenty person ensemble hit the stage, everyone waited anxiously and the excitement was palpable. What made the aura so distinguishing is this is an experience that no longer exists. We often overpay to see heroes of the past come out and show us who they were once a long time ago and when they disclose brave new sides, a large portion of the audience proves to be fickle and isn’t interested. But with Lady Gaga, there is a messianic overtone to the proceedings where we come to see her not for who she was, who she will be but who she is, right here, right now.
“Dance in the Dark”, from The Fame Monster ensnared everyone instantly in a brazenly audacious opening. Hiding behind a gigantic curtain we were shown glimpses of Lady Gaga as the song began and even moved through the first chorus. A straightforward curtain drop would be painless for Gaga but she opted to tease the audience, revealing a piece at a time before she unleashes her fury like a remarkable lover. The Fame Monster is an immeasurable step forward for her as an artist and it delves much deeper into her own psyche and onto those who feel alienated. “Dance in the Dark” is a song where a woman lets loose in the shadows of a bedroom during the most intimate moments. In a recurring theme or self-expression throughout the show, Gaga encourages people to let out their inner freak and above all else, be themselves. Half way through the performance, after the scrims lights revealed Gaga in a Blade Runner styled jump suit, the crowd felt as if they were one with her. “Dance in the Dark” is a synth-heavy beat and it’s astonishing to me it hasn’t been a single yet, because it may possibly be her best to date. The song while draped in a tale of sexual expression has some profound lyrics done in a “Vogue” style rap; “Find your freedom in the music/ Find your Jesus/Find your Kubrick/You will never fall apart”. These lyrics were birthed for more than pure escapism, but in the hopes that a personal exorcism would take place. It’s only when one comes to terms with themselves that one becomes truly free and the convergence of escapism and exorcism go hand-in-hand.
Lifting the hood of a car that resembled a clubby New York street, she unveils a keyboard and plugged into the opening chords of her first hit “Just Dance”. From here on out, virtually every part of the highly crafted stage was exploited continually throughout the nineteen-song set. One song after another, Gaga delivered. The playful “Boys, Boys, Boys” had a slew of beefy male dancers, “So Happy I Could Die” had her disappear, reappear in a new elaborate outfit only to be lifted fifty-feet into the air. “Monster” had accompanying video images which were beautiful, dirty and downright rich in repugnant images that harmonized the ferocity of the song. The theatrics of the show are worth the price of admission alone and they’re substantial enough that everyone from the general admission floor to the nosebleeds could savor in them. This is a very choreographed and succinct show, but it isn’t the least bit icy; this is an impossible feat considering all of the timing and precision it takes to make it a nightly reality. The staging was first-rate and perfect for an arena. Including a protruding stage that came half way out onto the floor, the general admission crowd draped it on all sides. Backing her up were twenty dancers and musicians. To recreate her music with grace, she’s including a violin and harp amidst other essentials such as drums and guitars. Shifting between changing sets, outfits and more than a dozen choreographed numbers, the Monster Ball is a rare marriage of theatrics, props, video images and music that converges into an elevated understanding of not just the songs, but Lady Gaga as well. This tour is an inconceivably daunting production that unites on every level conceivable; aural, visual, sexual, spiritual, immense and intimate.
Theatrics aside, the show has the purity and amiability of an epic Bruce Springsteen marathon because Gaga emits her personality from the concert stage in such a convincing fashion she could turn a cynic into a believer. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, Springsteen spoke to his audience, not as lesser beings, but as people who he shared intimate secrets with. These speeches (best personified by “The River” on the Live 1975-1985 live album) endeared Springsteen to his audience possibly deeper than any of the music. During a speech to the crowd that preceded the spunky “Vanity” (found only on the UK edition of The Fame), Lady Gaga echoed “The Monster Ball will set you free” and there was a riotous detonation of acquiescence from the crowd and this roar wasn’t manipulated from them, but won over. Lady Gaga seems to have a superior perception of the median person’s strains and needs than anyone else making music at this moment. The new song “You and I” calls to mind the Elton John of the 1970’s. Stark minimalism on this retro ballad that was just as effectual as any of the more choreographed numbers. She ended in on top of the piano playing the keys backward. Even when she pulls back, she still puts on a show. Without question, she is an unyielding force to be reckoned with and remarkably adept at being in showbiz without losing her sense of compassion. “Telephone” was preceded by a speech about the charity work she is doing with assistance from Virgin Mobile who donates $20,000 from every show to a charity to help gay and transgender people who have been abandoned by their families. A person who donated earlier in the night receives a phone call from Gaga onstage, their seats are upgraded and they even get a brief 1-1 with her backstage after the show. I seen far too many acts in recent years manipulate their audience into applause, but Gaga’s words were earnest. Before the arm-waving ballad “Speechless” she confessed to the crowd that “I don’t do this for the money and I hate Hollywood”. In a day and age where the average person is confronting insurmountable trials and tribulations, she understands the key to our hearts (and believability) is to empathize with the crowd. She doesn’t scold them, she doesn’t talk down to them and even though her tickets aren’t necessarily cheap, it’s possibly the best bang for your buck on the road right now. But the most real moment came from the raw emotion on display in her vocal for ”Speechless”. There was nothing to hide behind and everyone hung on every last lyric. She has a pulse on the hearts and minds of her fans and that is worth more than any market research or advice from a record executive ever could provide.
Lady Gaga’s ability to weave her influences into shapes and patterns no one has imagined before makes her distinctive. Like directors Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino, her influences are wide ranging and instead of settling for one-dimensional aspirations her dreams are further and wider than anyone could imagine. She executes her stage presence with a nod to Madonna and Michael Jackson but on the subtler numbers, she demonstrates the same musical admiration and aptitude as Prince. The aforementioned acts had mountains to climb and time to grow into their celebrity and success whereas Gaga’s ride to the top has been a rocket ship fueled on steroids. In less than two years she went from creating what many deemed a one-hit wonder to not just headlining arenas, but owning the crowds within their walls. This is more than far reaching ego, it’s about correlation. It’s about being real and despite there being a spectacle, she is capturing the imagination of everyone because she’s delivering her art in a fashion that is wholly her own. This is an epochal moment in the career of Lady Gaga. It’s not merely a broadening of financial pastures, but an artist who has just begun to ascend to staggering heights. But here’s the best part; based on what I saw in Indianapolis, the best is yet to come. With fame and success, she has empowered herself to follow her own muse and reach creative plateaus once viewed as unreachable. You may love death metal, only be concerned with a pop princess, strictly value the purity of the blues or a southern girl who is in love with country music; none of this matters, because Lady Gaga touches on universal elements that anyone can grasp. She is the musical equivalent of Pixar; one hit after another cut from the same cloth emanating the same high level of quality. She delves into her subconscious just not for herself, but for her audience as well. It’s when this dual lane highway opens that artists achieve their greatest success. Her music is all about empowering oneself and embracing your inner spirit and I can’t imagine a more universal theme than that.
In a fractured society with more choices than ever to choose from, what makes her so indelible that people feel linked to her? The music speaks for itself, but there’s something more. The truth is the world at large loves being cheerleaders and we haven’t been able to get behind anyone in these numbers in years. We have sports teams we follow and love, but when was the last time a film star, musicians or athlete truly connected with society at large? There’s exhilaration when you’re within the walls of an arena and it appears that everyone is experiencing what you are at that very moment and Lady Gaga’s current show is two-hours of this heightened feeling. Over the last two-years her hits have grasped the public in ways I never felt music would be able to ever again, but she made it possible. These hit songs took an A-grade show and took the show to levels I’ve only witnessed at a handful of concerts in the last twenty years. “LoveGame” found Lady Gaga revealing herself via a subway car in a nun hat and wrapped in a futuristic dress that looked like latex. “Telephone” had twenty-people on stage dancing on their knees, jumping and fist-pumping with as much gusto as your average metal head. “Alejandro” featured impassioned choreography (and an unfaltering vocal) in front of a bleeding Bethesda Fountain. “Poker Face” was the greatest turbo charged dance party you’ve ever been to and “Paparazzi” began in a Wizard of Oz world which segued into a monster film and culminated in sparks emitting from her chest and lower regions. You know those concert videos of bands in third-world countries where you see the crowd jumping, singing and shaking in-sync with one another that you think is some sort of CG effect because it’s too perfect and powerful to ever be real? This is exactly like those experiences. You wish you could capture the feeling in the air and bottle it, because no drug could capture the same essence. Lady Gaga’s command of the crowd is unparalleled and in a day and age where the crowds at many shows are pokerfaced and discreet this wasn’t merely revitalizing but downright enthralling providing a concert no one else could even dream of giving.
If you haven’t seen the show, you need to seek it out. What you will witness is so much richer and intense than you could ever imagine. You will see an artist evolve from a girl into a woman over two-hours from the Saturday night mischievousness of “Just Dance to the sumptuous heart wrenching pop epiphany “Bad Romance”. On the latter, the crowd was in such an orgasmic mental and physical state, they continually defied the laws of gravity. The entire event had shades of grandiosity paired with bedroom intimacy and it takes you to places within yourself you never knew existed forcing internal confessions. Even if Lady Gaga’s music isn’t your cup of tea, the show will never leave your consciousness because the event will latch itself into your mind and never let go. Lady Gaga’s music and concerts are a celebration of not just her journey to date, but all of our dreams, desires and lives. The Monster Ball tour is a cathartic slice of entertainment I am not sure the world has seen the likes of before on this magnitude. It’s improbable one could behold a more emotionally raw, visceral, far-reaching and personal show in 2010.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at TonyK AT antiMusic DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Set List:
Dance in the Dark
Glitter and Grease
Just Dance
Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
Vanity
The Fame
LoveGame
Boys Boys Boys
Money Honey
Telephone
Speechless
You and I
So Happy I Could Die
Monster
Teeth
Alejandro
Poker Face
Paparazzi
Encore:
Bad Romance
I'm a writer for UNRATED MAGAZINE and ANTIMUSIC.COM. Trying to shine a light on heralded and unheralded artists in film and music. I don't believe in the new age minimal media, I believe in expunging and revealing your soul through art and I try to to express why you should give it a chance.
Contact info:
thescreendoor @ gmail.com
