Whoooooooooaaaaaah Whooooooooooahhhhhh Whooooooaaaaaaaaaah

Various Artists - Forged In Steel

While on a recent music purchasing outing I found myself laden with this free compilation, published by Roadrunner Records. Normally I hiff this stuff in the bin as fast as possible, but my curiosity was stimulated by the chance to actually hear the mediocre mall-metal that the kids are a-hipping and a-hopping to today.

We start out in solid enough territory, with Machine Head's 'Now I Lay Thee Down', a song I have already declared my fondness for on this very blog, and Megadeth's 'Sleepwalker', which doesn't need to be described any further than to say that it's 'a Megadeth song', but definitely a decent listen.

Later on there are a few other bands that I found moderately entertaining. Porcupine Tree, Pain and Daath were all pleasing (the former two reminding me that the genre of industrial metal does still exist), and the last track by Sanctity, which I can't actually remember anything about at all. I guess that means at least that it wasn't terrible.

Most of this shit is pretty dreadful though. At track three we encounter Within Temptation, a band that takes the Evanescence's gimmick, removes even that bands small traces of subtlety and sophistication, and makes up for it with extra shitty rapping.

Things don't get any better from there. Shadows Fall, Behind Crimson Eyes and Stone Sour give me both a belated insight into the dire metalcore that the kids have made popular today and a sense of gratefulness that my aversion to radio and television has thus far mostly spared me from it. To these bands I have only one thing to say: I hope your dad finally gives you that raise in your allowance and gets off your back about succeeding in school. Maybe then you can quit your angsty, crappy kiddy metal metal band and start a better one. Even Killswitch Engage, a band that up until now was my touchstone example of shitty radio friendly metal, come off looking not so bad when compared to these shamelessly commercial appropriations of teenage angst.

Lastly we have a few bands that are just so bad that I can't even be offended by their terribleness, and merely take pleasure in marvelling at just how bad they are. Trivium are a shitty rip off of Dragonforce (or perhaps Manowar) without the decency to inherit their (few) non-sucky elements. Dragonforce themselves also have a song on this disc, which I estimate to be composed of 23% “Whooaaah's” and 76% wank solos, and arranges said elements in such a way to create a song even more gratingly awful than what I've heard of them previously.

As much of a chore as this was to listen to, I'm at least glad to know that by deliberately insulating myself from mainstream pop culture I haven't accidentally missed out on anything truly worthwhile.

What I Did In My Weekend

Mammal fucking rock edition


Friday:

• Became an ordained minister. I can now perform marriages and name children in states of the USA that have not passed laws against bullshit internet religions that make anyone who fills out a form an ordained minister.
• Had dinner at Bentleys. Still the best damn food I've tasted in Sydney.
• Had a drink at the Cricketers Arms. I'd stayed out of there until now because of it's reputation as a hipster hangout, but I found that it 's actually full of Irish people, and you can't go wrong drinking with the Irish.

Saturday:

• Visited the Museum of Modern Art. Didn't get to see a lot of it unfortunately, maybe next time.
• More on Saturday night in a second.

Sunday:

• Had breakfast at the NSW Art Gallery (which was pretty good, lovely view of the gardens and the harbour) and had a wander around. It was really great. I liked the modern art but the 19th century paintings totally fascinated me. I've never really been much of a visual arts sort of person but I may have to remedy that with some more visits in the future.

Anyway, the big event of the weekend was Mammal playing at the Annandale on Saturday night. I'd seen these guys at Come Together and they fucking rocked something wicked, so it was time to give them a second look and see how much of my enjoyment the first time I saw them was due to the copious consumption of intoxicating substances.

First up, the opening bands. Furcurve reminded me a hell of a lot of The Murder of Rosa Luxemborg, as they played thrashy hardcore with the spastic rhythms of Converge, but with a vocalist who cooed and minced like Morrisey. They didn't inspire me hugely, but get a half hearted thumbs up for doing something interesting and different and pulling it off well.

Next up were Guns for Glory, who very nearly bored me to death with a long dose of straight up emo. My lovely concert going companion started to get restless and only my confident reassurances that Mammal would make up for it convinced her to stay.


And fortunately they didn't make a liar of me, their set was every bit as energising as the last time I saw them, if not more. I've described them as 'like Rage Against the Machine but upbeat' and I think that's a pretty accurate description. They've got your funk, your metal and your rap and despite sharing Rage's political inclinations they blast their message out with positivity and fun, rather than bitter anger. These guys are a brilliant live act and all four members have that performer's x-factor that grabs your attention and holds it from the second they take the stage. The vocalist especially has the same kind of showmanship that I noted about Mike Patton earlier this year that transfers his energy and enthusiasm straight to the audience. The moshpit was one of the best I've seen in a while, with everyone, jumping, dancing and generally going nuts and having a good time. I've waited too long to go to the Annandale, which has a reputation as one of Sydney's best live venues. One that appears to be justified.


Anyway, brilliant live band. Go see them if you have a chance.

1001 Albums - Number 7

Frank Sinatra – Songs for Swinging Lovers

http://wildebeestasylum.blogspot.com/2006/04/1001-albums-number-1.html
In the wee small hours

The scene is a darkened office, 1954. Frank Sinatra stands before the desk of a fatcat record exec, who is probably puffing on a cigar. “It's a disaster Frank,” he says, “Your morbid opus of despair, In the Wee Small Hours, is responsible for over four hundred suicides in the last month alone. In the news this morning I read that a young girl saw you stop smiling for a split second at your last show and bashed her own head in with a brick.”
“So.. hard... to keep... smiling”, Frank forces out between the gritted teeth of his fixed, rictus grin.
“Don't worry.” Says the executive. “We have a plan...”
And so was born Songs for Swinging Lovers, an album so grotesquely upbeat that the Surgeon General recommends playing four hours of Ren and Stimpy's 'Happy Happy Joy Joy' afterwards in order to bring the listener back down to the grim reality of life on this cold, forsaken earth.

Like In the Wee Small Hours before it, this album is a short collection of lite jazz arrangements so substanceless that they barely impinge on one's consciousness, overlayed by Sinatra's hammy crooning. However this time around the 'emotion' switch has been flicked from 'sad' to 'happy', and instead of the unconvincing moping Frank delivered on the former we get a selection of perky, upbeat tributes to sunshine and puppies. It's really impossible to overstate just how insipid this album is. Here's a selection of lyrics from 'How About You':

I like potato chips, moonlight motor trips, how about you?
I'm mad about good books, can't get my fill
And James Durante's looks give me a thrill

This is a joke right?

The first half hour is hard enough to stomach, but then we get to what is probably (and I honestly say this without a speck of hyperbole) the most offensive song I have heard in my entire life: 'Anything Goes', a heartfelt tribute to puritan conformity. It totally shits me that this is considered by anyone to be good music. I know I often sound like a cynical misanthrope who hates any kind of positive feeling in music or art, but surely I'm not the only one who's horrified by the thought of legions of middle aged, middle class drones tapping their feet contentedly to this soulless nothing-music and nodding in approval at Frank's condemnation of the young people nowadays and their bad language. If we can take comfort in one thing from this song, it's that even back in the Fifties conservatives were sternly disapproving of the ever worsening morals of society, and that

most guys today that women prize today
Are just silly gigolos

You tell 'em Frank! It just goes to show that that attitude is all a bunch of bullshit.

And that's the last I'll be hearing of this guy, at least assuming I remember to delete the songs off my ipod.

Next up, Buddy Holly.

New Music In Brief

A few musicians I'm interested in have released new songs recently:

Marilyn Manson. I had vague hopes that this might be a return to form but it's not to be. Much to my dismay he seems to be courting the emo crowd. Dude, you made Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals! You're so much better than that!

Korn. To no ones great surprise their new song is a big pile of shit. Only these knuckle heads could enlist the likes of Terry Bozzio and still end up with crap music. He does get an awesome solo in the middle but other than that you'd barely realise that it's him. I don't think I can listen to this album, it'd just be too depressing.

Thank god for Jordan Reyne, who we can still rely on for total brilliance.

And in the interest of keeping abreast of everything Tool related. Watch this, even though it's seven or eight years old.

They All Lack Taste Sometimes

Soundwave Festival – Sydney Park 25^th February

I must admit I have been a bit disappointed by the increasing lameness of the Big Day Out over the last few years. While the two headliners this year were among my favourite bands, the whole festival experience didn't come close to living up to all the fun I had in those first few years of attendance (ah the memories... Korn, Marilyn Manson's naked arse, Courtney Love's naked breasts...) where the whole day was excitement from beginning to end. I assumed my greatly lessened enthusiasm was just because I'm getting older and crankier, but judging by how much Soundwave reminded me of the first few times I went to the Big Day Out, and by how young the kids there were, I must conclude that the Big Day Out is just getting crappier.

The Big Day Out in Auckland has always been a bit of an alternative affair, mostly populated by goths, metallers and general freaks, whereas the Sydney one was horrifyingly mainstream; twenty thousand bimbos in bikini tops and big sunglasses, and twenty thousand douchebags wrapped in Australian flags. Soundwave on the other hand was a giant sea of black t-shirts. I felt like I fit in a lot better.

Of course, after sweltering in the heat all summer Sydney decided to treat us all to a massive downpour (massive by New South Wales standards of course, in Christchurch it would've been considered 'a bit showery') and for the first time in almost nine months I actually felt cold. I was actually quite surprised that so many people braved the weather to attend. The last time it rained like this here (in June) the CBD practically emptied out. One of the weirdest moments of the day was hanging out in the bar area when the rain peaked at it's heaviest and everyone (including myself) ran and packed in under the limited sheltered area by the bar. For some reason everyone just started screaming their heads off for no reason. It was totally random but funny as hell.

Blindspott

Anyway. The music. Out of a half hearted sense of dutiful nationalism I went along to the first band on the secondary stage, Blindspott. The last couple of times I saw these guys I was not too impressed, but god bless them they did all right by our little island nation on this occasion. And it turns out that the Aussie meatheads who sit there cracking sheep jokes for the first half of the set are the first to rush into the moshpit when they crank out 'Nil By Mouth'. Fancy that.

Just like at the Big Day Out the drink queues were insanely long. I was quite keen to see Flyleaf, solely because I saw a music video of theirs once and their vocalist is a tiny little chick who does crazy death metal vocals, but I spent the whole forty minutes they were playing trying to get a drink, only just getting out in time to hear the last chord of their set. That fucked me off pretty bad, and I think the organisers should have planned better for the incredible amount of drinking that was inevitably going to happen. I shit you not there were actually guys crowd surfing over the queue into the bar (where they were immediately set upon by bouncers, but it was entertaining nonetheless). Funnily enough this doesn't happen back home. Is it because Kiwi's drink less or because concert organisers over there are more scared of what might happen if a whole bunch of munters run out of beer? Discuss.

MxPx: featuring the rain. (The rain sounded better)

The rest of the afternoon was completely forgettable. I made a point of seeing MxPx, on account of having heard their name before, and was fairly disgusted. I thought the Blink 182/Green Day pop punk fad was dead and had been buried (by its more worthless but more entertaining offspring emo) but apparently there are still some dumb kids out there keen on this shit. And the less said about the shitty indie rock acts that played the main stages for the majority of the day the better.

Parkway Drive

Hatebreed

Later in the evening I visited the little stage to see the hard shit. Parkway Drive were OK, I've never heard them before but I enjoyed their set. It was a good warm up for Hatebreed, who didn't play for nearly long enough but were just as awesome as the last time I saw them. Despite the downbeat lyrical content of their songs these guys just look like they're having shitloads of fun on stage. The moshpit wasn't as mental as the insanely huge death pit they started up at the Big Day Out in 2005, but it was still pretty fun. Violent, but with a good vibe.

Hatebreed again: you can't really tell from this photo but there's all sorts of crazy shit going on behind me.

Suicidal Tendencies

I missed Terror, on account of being in the drinks queue again, but returned in time to see Suicidal Tendencies, who were pretty fucking awesome. I hadn't really heard them before either but they were also a hardcore band but with a bit of a hip hop influence and plenty of flashy metal guitar wankery. I liked it. They were great performers with an impassioned and entertaining frontman and the crowd was very into it.

The Deftones. As you walk/ onstage.

I left Suicidal Tendencies set early to get a good spot for the festival's headliners, the Deftones. After much thoughtful deliberation on their performance I have upgraded them from a 'crap live band' to a 'not terribly good live band'. Sure there's no way that munting out and screaming along to 'Be Quiet and Drive' and 'Passenger' could not be fun, but they just don't seem to have a lot of energy or even much interest in performing, especially compared to some of the outstanding concerts I've had the good fortune to see already this year. Their setlist was a bit surprising too. Mostly Adrenaline and White Pony material with not a lot from the new album and nothing at all from the self-titled:

• Korea
• Knife Party
• Be Quiet and Drive
• My Last Summer
• Beware

• Engine Number 9
• Root
• Hole in the Earth
• Xerces
• Passenger
• Kimdracula

• Bored
• Back to School
• Change (in the House of Flies)
• 7 Words

The standard disclaimer, that this setlist is probably highly inaccurate, applies more than usual this time. The Adrenaline and Saturday Night Wrist material especially I'm really sketchy on. Normally I'd try and confirm it against other setlists online but I can't seem to find any. As you can probably guess, I wasn't particularly enthused by most of the selection. The stuff off White Pony was awesome, especially 'Passenger', even if I seemed to be more into it than the band was. Oh yeah, they also randomly played a Boards of Canada track ('Dandelion') before 'My Last Summer', which was kind of random and cool, even though most of the audience just yelled at them to get on with it.

Chino Moreno: Still fat.

Now for my big bitch. The moshpit sucked. Maybe I've just been spoilt by gigs like Tool and Isis, where I was actually able to stand at the front and enjoy the show without having crowd surfers kicking me in the head every ten seconds, or those like Suffocation or Hatebreed, which manage to be very violent while still being fun for those of us who don't enjoy kicking people in the back, but it seemed to me that the mood in the moshpit was quite ugly. Afterwards someone told me that ten minutes into the set (before I had made my way up to the front) he'd seen some dude getting (deliberately) stomped on for a couple of minutes in the moshpit, and I could believe it. Anyway, I felt the aggression rubbing off on me and I was starting to get pissed off and not enjoying myself, so I moved back and managed to get a good photo! That's karma for you.

OMG it looks like an actual photo taken by an actual photographer with an actual camera

While the Deftones were not all I hoped they would be I saw more than a few good bands and more importantly I had a good time hanging out with randoms and not so randoms in a social setting that I felt far more at home in than at the Big Day Out (punk assed teenage kid wrapped in Aussie flag count: 1). Here's hoping there'll be a few more festivals like this here before the year is out.

WTF?!? FFS!?! Moment of the Day for Sunday 18th of February

Hearing the reggae version of Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. Who could possibly have come up with this abomination?

The Brain Eaters' Greatest Hits Part 2

Some time ago I posted the first article of this two part series, promising that it wouldn't take me a year and a half to finish it like the last series I wrote did. I have kept that promise, taking merely a fleeting nine months to get around to writing this second, concluding post. Refresh your memories by rereading the first post and then continue on to see what other sad victims of the brain eater continue to shuffle around issuing shitty new albums or novels from the empty shells of their former artistry.

4. Audioslave

Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden were two of the best popular bands of the early 90s, and everyone was disappointed to see them break up. A few years ago when Chris Cornell (Soundgarden singer) joined with Rage (minus their vocalist Zach) to form Audioslave, it seemed like a brilliant proposition. Unfortunately their first album, while passable, was nowhere near as good as anything produced by the original bands. There was still hope that they could improve, but that was confounded when their second and third releases turned out to be truly appalling four-and-a-half-minute-pop-rock-song middle of the road boredomfests. The Brain Eater must have been truly sated after reducing guitarist Tom Morello from his former brilliance to a four chord strumming zombie, barely capable of stuttering out a half way decent solo.

3. Shihad

They were the biggest rock band in New Zealand for much of the 90s, and for once the popularity was deserved. The Fish Album, Killjoy and The General Electric are packed with classic songs, and I have many fond memories of seeing them perform live touring for The General Electric (and it's preceding EP Blue Light Disco). However the subsequent album saw them trying to remake themselves for an international (i.e. American) audience as Pacifier and releasing a horrifically bland 'nu-metal for pussies' album, a career move that could only have been made by a band left with barely enough neurons to feed themselves following a sudden and vicious attack by the brain eater. They tried to redeem themselves with their most recent album Love is the New Hate and the attempt was appreciated, but they just don't have the spark anymore.

2. Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb's Assassin series is one of the finest fantasy trilogies I've ever read. All three books are very good but the last one is truly fantastic, with one of the most emotionally moving endings I've ever read. She went on to write a sequel trilogy (only loosely connected to the first), The Liveship Traders, which was OK, but nowhere near the standards of the preceding books. Then, in one of the Brain Eater's most unholy crimes yet, she returned to the characters and setting of the first trilogy and RETROACTIVELY RUINED THEM FOREVER!!!! If you ever read and enjoyed Assassin's Quest then never ever read Fool's Fate. At the time I wondered what would possess someone to take an incredibly moving and sad story and render it all meaningless by reversing literally everything that happened and turning it into a lame happy ever after ending. I now know the terrifying truth. It was the Brain Eater!

1. Bob

Man, Bob used to be so awesome you know? But now that he's popular it's like he doesn't care about his original fans any more. But that's cool, I can still enjoy his older work without letting it be ruined by thinking about all the crap he's done lately.

Argh! My Ears!

For centuries philosophers have pondered the age old question: are Korn a good band with a few crappy albums, or a shit band who somehow manage to crank out a decent tune occasionally. With the release of their new unplugged album, the band themselves have sent a clear message that it is the latter. Watch the trailer, if you dare:



Poor old JD seems to have no idea as to how to sing his songs rather than scream them, so while his compatriots sensitively plunk away on their acoustic guitars he yells out the words in much the same way as as when he's backed by a big noisy nu-metal band. However things don't get really bad until they pull out the guest stars: fellow has-been Robert Smith and Amy "It's just as well I look good" Lee. Listening to Lee and Davis try and out emote one another with no regard for cohesion or even being in tune is more than a little dismaying. Way to make me that much more embarrassed to say I listen to either of your bands guys.

In Case Anyone Needed A Laugh

Fred Durst shows off his passionate virtuosity in one of the finest guitar solos ever committed to YouTube.

Spiral Out. Keep Going

Big Day Out Sydney, 25^th January

After attending stunning performances by Muse and Tool back to back over two nights, I got to see them both performing together at the Big Day Out. This was pretty exciting in and of itself, but as it happened there wasn't a lot else in it for me at this years festival. I'm obviously getting old and out of touch with what's cool in music.

Nevertheless my friends and I dutifully took the day off work, got up early and had a very nice champagne breakfast. In a throwback to the days of tertiary education we drank two bottles of champagne between four of us before 11am (not counting the spirits we added to give it kick).

Seeing as there was little that interested any of us playing early in the day we didn't show up until about 1pm, and spent most of the afternoon in queues. Queues for the toilets, queues for food and oh god you'd better believe there were queues for drinks. You were looking at at least half an hour per drink. One suspects that this was a deliberate decision on the part of the organisers to prevent drunken violence. They certainly seemed more concerned with safety and did more to boss the punters around than what I was used to at the Big Day Out back in Auckland.

The show was held at Olympic Park and it was very similar to Ericsson Stadium, the Auckland venue. The layout was much the same and the individual stages were similar sizes, there was just a lot more room between them. The major difference was the dance tent, which was absolutely cavernous compared to the shitty little supertop back at Ericsson. The other difference was all the Australian flags, but that subject is probably best reserved for a post of its own...

The first band I made an effort to actually go and see was The Butterfly Effect, who are more or less the Aussie equivalent of The Bleeders, or maybe Blindspott. I was surprised to realise I knew a few of their songs (they're often played in the clubs around here) and they put on an OK show, but The Bleeders would blow them off the stage. I really missed seeing all the Kiwi bands who you can rely on to play almost every year early in the day. The Bleeders, Deja Voodoo... you know, I even miss 8 Foot...

The Butterfly Effect

Immediately after them we made a hasty exit from the main stadium in an attempt to hide from the shame of coming from the same country as Evermore and Scribe. Now there's a couple of bands I wouldn't have missed.

At that point there followed a few hours of aimless wandering. We finally decided to sit down and watch a bit of My Chemical Romance. In the past I have often dissed these guys quite strongly, characterising them as worthless, turgid, talentless little shits capitalising on the most inane kind of teenage angst who would only be worth watching if you put them in a blender, but I've come to reconsider that position. Maybe it was the bourbon but I came to realise that there is a lot of entertainment to be found in watching a really shitty band perform really shittily while a bunch of pubescent emo losers jump up and down and squeal. For added comedy, ensure that half of the little morons are wearing Australian flags over their black t-shirt and boardies.

My Chemical Romance. From a good safe distance.

At that point I jettisoned my friends and made a solo mission to see Peaches. I first saw her at a Big Day Out in Auckland years ago, and was surprised (but entertained) by the overt sleaziness of her act. This time I knew what to expect going in and didn't enjoy it as much. She was cool and delivered what was expected, but failed to really get the crowd going, at least around where I was standing. Points though for causing some dopey hick battler to get all pissy and drag his 11 or 12 year old son out of the crowd, announcing loudly and angrily “I don't want my son to see this kind of thing!” apparently referring to the giant penises flying across the huge video screens behind the stage. Even if Peaches' music didn't do much for me this year I do wholeheartedly approve her attempt to pervert the youth of Australia.

Peaches

The line up was looking pretty sparse for the next few hours so after a half hearted attempt to reunite with my friends I decided to cut my losses and head into the D barrier to get a place for Tool. I was faced with two tough dilemmas; firstly should I stand on the barrier and be right in front of the stage, but have to put up with the moshpit for the four and a half hours until they finished (plus being right by the speakers for the whole time) and secondly should I stand stage left so I could see Muse play, or stage right so I could be right in front of Adam Jones but be unable to see Muse. I eventually settled on 'almost right on the barrier, in front of Adam'. Most satisfying. But before I could enjoy the fruits of my careful decision making, I had to suffer through my greatest trial yet. An hour of The Killers, followed by an hour of Jet! A truly horrifying prospect, and a lesser man would have caved and gone home rather than face it. Or perhaps enjoyed it.

The Killers weren't too bad. I do say nasty things about them sometimes but it's more that they're overrated than that they are actually bad. I certainly don't dislike them nearly as much as say Green Day or My Chemical Romance or The Arctic Motherfucking Monkeys. Of course when I say 'weren't too bad' what I mean is that I endured through it without too much trouble, and in fact all I can remember about it now is that the singer is an annoying little b-grade Morrissey impersonator who I wanted to punch in the face.

The Killers

Jet on the other hand were abysmal. I can scarcely fathom how they got placed so highly on the bill but I suspect it had something to do with misplaced Aussie nationalism. They're nothing more than a second rate copy of The Datsuns, and The Datsuns are pretty shit to begin with. Fortunately I was not alone in my assessment, judging by the healthy amount of verbal abuse, obscene gestures and broken glass that was hurled their way in a steady torrent from the moment they took the stage until they played their last song and mercifully departed. It was almost worth it, but unfortunately none of them received any head injuries.

Jet

Finally, my long dark winter of the ears was over and Muse took the stage. I couldn't see them at all except for on the big video screen so I have no wild tales to tell of on stage shenanigans or breathtaking visuals, but I can say that they sounded awesome. The setlist was a subset of what they played the other night:

Knights of Cydonia
Starlight
Butterflies
New Born
Supermassive Black Hole
Hysteria
Map of the Problematique
Invincible
Time is Running Out
Plug In Baby
Stockholm Syndrome
Take a Bow

Good stuff but no one else around where I was standing seemed that into it. And to be honest even I was feeling a little impatient...

Matt Bellamy Fashion Watch:
I dunno, I couldn't see him.

Maynard Fashion Watch:
Pretty much the same as the night before. Only with a hat.

So after a long long wait (the girl in front of me claimed to have been hanging on to that barrier for seven hours before Tool walked on stage) the headliners finally appeared.

Stinkfist

Seeing Adam play this song from a couple of metres away can only be described as being like dying, going to heaven and having Sarah Michelle Gellar ask me to poop in her butt. To tell the truth, this whole concert was amazing.

Yay it's Adam!

The crowd got pretty mental during this song. I saw no fewer than three semi conscious girls get carried past me by St. Johns before it ended. I became mildly worried for the well being of my friends back in the moshpit and for that of the gaggle of cute little goth chicks I seemed to had found myself surrounded by but things actually mellowed out completely by the time this song was over. Rumour has it that the moshpit the night before was brutal, and that Muse's BDO set had been really rough, so maybe the munters had just worn themselves out.

The Pot

I was a bit disappointed not to hear this one the night before so I was very pleased that they played it this time. Justin played that crazy assed bass riff like a motherfucker. Awesome.

46 & 2
Jambi
Schism

Probably not quite as good performances as the night before (even Danny's solos, while still amazing, weren't as mind blowing as at the earlier show), but being right in the crowd, surrounded by (refreshingly mellow) people who were as into the music as I was made it personally more enjoyable for me. I liked Maynards little dance with his hat while Adam played his talk box solo during Jambi.

You can't really tell but in this photo Danny Carey is transcending time and space.

Epilady Solo

I was stoked to see this one again from up close. Go Adam go!

Sober
Opiate

A couple of nostalgia trips tonight. I appreciated that they made an effort to play a few different tracks for the sake of those of us who attended both concerts!

After three days I finally take a decent photo. Adam playing Vicarious.

Lateralus
Spacey Instrumental
Vicarious
Aenima

All just as much fun as the previous night, if not more. The stage show and performances weren't quite as good but the vibe in the crowd was fantastic and it was by no means anything less than fantastic. Things are just always a bit less polished and not as intimate at a festival. Was it just me or did Adam stuff up the intro to Vicarious a little? If so it was the only time I heard him make a mistake over the two nights. Seeing him up close like that was like a spiritual experience for me (I was still grinning my head off two days later, so that on Saturday night people in bars kept asking me what drugs I was on). At the concert I (barely) refrained from yelling out “Adam I love you and want to have your babies!” but between the constant waving about of my hands and the singing along with the guitar solos and so on, I think he probably got the picture anyway.

And then they left, promising to be back in December. (A year!?! But I want it now!) We stuck around for a bit of The Crystal Method (DJs) but my legs were about to fall off by that stage, so it was off to bed for me.

I seem to have outgrown the Big Day Out a little but it was still a good day. The highlights being, in this order:

Adam
The rest of Tool
Muse
Champagne breakfast
Laughing at My Chemical Romance

My Guitar Solo Will Go On (For All Of Eternity)

Dragonforce – Sonic Firestorm

Dragonforce is my first foray into the unfortunate genre of power metal. Hopefully it shall also be my last. For some reason occasional exposure to Manowar had predisposed me to looking into this sort of thing, and I thought it might make a nice change from 'serious' music. Sadly, Dragonforce is not a nice change from anything.

Sonic Firestorm starts out with its best riff and provides a pleasant fifteen seconds or so of ponderous, brooding buildup, promising an explosion into thundering heaviness. Unfortunately that promise is unfulfilled and the only explosion that happens is, it must be said, one of gayness, when the song busts into the first of many incredibly cheesy and annoyingly juvenile straightforward speed metal riffs while the vocalist (in his best Freddy Mercury impersonation) starts singing about dragons, demons and mighty battles. This is bad enough, but then the guitar solos start. To be fair Dragonforce do deserve credit for the fact that their two guitarists are simply amazing from a technical perspective, and for the first minute or so it seems as if it would be worth listening to the whole album just to hear these guys shred like maniacs. But then the solo keeps going... and going... and going... and even when it's finished you only get a few minutes downtime until they start up all over again. It doesn't matter how incredibly fast you can play, but an hour long album which is thirty percent diddly-diddly-diddly guitar solos can only be a trial of patience.

At times it seems that these guys might be verging on 'so bad it's good' territory. The most appealing riffs are those when the guitar's ultra clean 8-bit sound is at it's most Pokemon, and the uber-cheesy ballad 'Dawn Over A New World' is so ridiculous that I can scarcely believe that it's not intended to be ironic. Try these lyrics:

Across the highest mountains/
And through the endless seas/
I journey ever onwards/
Fight until we all be free.

By the time it reaches the climax and pulls out a truck driver's key change straight out of the Michael Jackson textbook of shitty pop songwriting the listener is unsure whether to applaud their subversive commentary on the shallowness of popular culture or to shoot themselves in the face to escape the lameness.