May 22
Industrial, Thrash No Comments
Seamless on the other hand, just sucked. The lead singer had a voice some parts Anthony Kiedis and some parts Henry Rollins but without either’s considerable charisma. The music was bland, lacking melody or character, lots of feedback and generic noise. The last song showed some signs of life, invoking the vibe of Welcome Home, Sanitarium but then despite their promise to wrap up, the song just kept going on and on.
May 22
Blind By Noon, a Boston band, was actually pretty good. They are promoting a new album out this month that might have some potential, if their showmanship was any indicator. The lead singer tossed promo albums into the audience during the last song, in plastic cd cases. I’m sure someone got gashed trying to catch the makeshift frisbee.
May 22
05.22.2006 Alice In Chains Avalon, Boston, MA
Opener: Blind By Noon
Seamless
When I heard that Alice In Chains was touring again, it was a no-brainer to see them in Boston, one of only a handful of club dates they were playing this summer. While Layne Stanley passed away in 2002, the band songs were indelibly imprinted in my brain right up until about 1995, when they stopped producing new material. Jar of Flies is still on my list of top ten best albums ever.
So who goes to a concert, the band reformed 10 years after the last album and after the death of its signature vocalist? The answer, just about everyone. The audience ran the gamut of looks, age and temperament. I saw two kids in the 10 year old range with their parents, as many late-twenty jocks as middle-aged metalheads with sagging skin and beer bellies, and college students who were in elementary school when Alice in Chains released its last self-titled studio album. Their fans had aged right along with Alice in Chains.
The thing is, though, this crowd knew the music. AIC, as they now encourage us to call them, kept mostly to their first two albums, arguably their two most popular, with the exception of the show’s opener “Sludge Factory” which despite the name is a haunting and gorgeous melody, and “Again.” The music was smoldering all night, simply gorgeous harmonies and searing melodies, some of the best early in the setlist – “Rain When I Die” inspired the crowd to join in on the chorus like a heavenly lament. “Junkhead” had the crowd sing along in confession, “What’s my drug of choice? Well what have you got?”
William DuVall did was a great stand in for the late Layne Staley. His voice matched the intensity and howl of Staley without being a carbon copy or a caricature. Lead guitarist and AIC founder, Jerry Cantrell, looked healthy and relaxed during the entire set. He spoke little to the crowd, at one point coming up to the mike and then after a second of staring out into the crowd, he simply laughed it off and played a riff. He did encourage the crowd to give warm applause for each band member individually.
The show’s highlights came straight off Facelift. “We Die Young” was simply awesome and set a wicked tempo for the concert, with barely a pause for breath during the war ballad “Rooster.” Straight through the main set closer “Them Bones” to the show closer “Man In the Box” the band mesmerized, continually appealing to the audience to soak in the moment and recall the band’s glory days.
Setlist
Sludge Factory
Dam That River
Rain When I Die
We Die Young
Love, Hate, Love
Again
Junkhead
Down In A Hole
God Smack
Rooster
Them Bones
Encore
Would?
Dirt
Angry Chair
Man In The Box
May 19
young hardcore band, nothing unusual but of good quality
May 19
“despite not being music I like (energy punk) they were cream of the genre – energy, great stage presence, clean, tight – audience clearly knew lyrics – tinge of 80s metal and then they covered AC/DC”, they were just excellent pop punk and Rockboy and I found out later that is was a surprise show listed under “Sean Dynamite”, an Austin band practicing before their reunion tour, they opened for Offspring and Mighty Mighty Bostonnes
May 19
just the kind of punk I like, hard and weird, Dead Kennedy esque, not that weird, more hard, great most pit and stage diving
May 19
Only not hardcore band at the Chaos in Tejas festival and they were headliners, old Portland band, seemed a cross between Gun Club and AC/DC, obviously good musicians but they were just kind of old and creepy to me
May 19
Rockboy has been wanting to see this band forever and I have not because just more pop punk but we caught the end and the lead singer is female and darling, I ran into her in the bathroom, she’s vivid, bright and nice which shows on the stage
May 17
Blues, Classic Rock, Prog Rock No Comments
had seen him before but was impressed anew at his guitar dexterity (beginning to buy into Rockboy’s multiple seeings of same band), particularly enjoyed his ventures into prog rock after playing old standard blues, he clearly knows a wide range of music, worry that his appealing freshness and innocence will be denigrated
May 11
Art Rock, Indie Rock No Comments
painful to watch and didn’t like the aspect of making a spectacle of mental illness, but after all the conflicting reports regarding the authenticity of his eccentricity I was surprised at the simple musicability of his music, it was basic and repetitive but enjoyable, genius in its way – lyrics are the key I think, has been covered by Nirvana and others
May 06
Americana, Texas Blues No Comments
had Erik Hokannen playing with him and it was delicious – dueling fiddle and guitar, Erik is crazy and wonderful, swing country eh but pleasure to watch their pleasure
May 06
went with protest because this would be my 3rd time but Rockboy reminded me he did what I wanted to do night before, they are an entire concept and a production but they’re a boys band and a party band, the lead clearly worships Hunter S. Thompson/Fear and Loathing… what with his persona and silly monologues, held back from telling Rockboy that they are in essence a cover/dance band for the aging punk set as in the detested Brew who do 80s/90s Top 40 on 4th street
by Andrew Marx and Dara Shifrer
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