Concert Review: AGALLOCH and OBSIDIAN TONGUE in Minneapolis

Agalloch, Obsidian Tongue

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, MN

Click on the picture to see additional photos of Obsidian Tongue (11).

Upon arrival at the Triple Rock for this greatly anticipated show, Obsidian Tongue was wrapping up their first song and the club was packed near capacity. Obsidian Tongue is a two-piece black metal band from Massachusetts, and their guitar and drums combination packs a surprisingly strong punch. Being that their songs hover around ten minutes each, they were only able to play four songs, two from each of their albums. Their set was good, but the constant barrage of primitive, chainsaw guitar riffs and howling, screeching vocals made for difficult listening.

Click on any of the pictures to see more photos of Agalloch (32).

This was Agalloch’s first show in the area, and the place seemed abuzz with anticipation as the band took the stage to the strains of the introduction, “(Serpens Caput)”, and began the set with “The Astral Dialogue” and “Vales Beyond Dimension”. Agalloch is American black metal at its finest, and the band stayed focused on their playing while on stage and maintained little interaction with the crowd, even between songs. Half of the ten-song, nearly 100-minute set was drawn from the latest album, The Serpent & The Sphere, with the remainder a representative selection from each of the previous four albums. Slower, moodier songs such as “Limbs” and “The Melancholy Spirit” offered no respite from the intensity of the show, and the audience treated the band as welcoming heroes. The whole affair was exhausting for everyone in the room, and the band looked drained by the time the show ended with “Into The Painted Grey” from 2010’s Marrow Of The Spirit. Everyone wanted more, and the band obliged with an amazing 16-minute version of “Plateau Of The Ages” for the encore.

As a live band, Agalloch more than delivers on the promise of their recorded output, and everyone at the show seemed to feel like they had witnessed something special. Adding to the unique atmosphere of this show was the one-time availability at the bar of Serpensblod, a smoked red ale inspired by Agalloch, and brewed especially for this show by Hammerheart Brewing (yes, it’s named in honor of the Bathory album!). I snagged one pint before the tap went dry and I was blown away by the smooth intense aroma and flavors. Hammerheart has a Nordic-inspired lodge-type taproom just north of the Cities in Lino Lakes, and if Serpensblod and the Hokan’s Brown Ale I also imbibed that night are any indication, the short jaunt to the brewery would be well worth it!

Concert Review: BLACK FLAG and GREG GINN & THE ROYAL WE in Minneapolis

Black Flag, Greg Ginn & The Royal We

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, MN

Click on any of the pictures to see more photos of the respective band over at my Flickr site.

Way back in the summer of 1985 I had a ticket to see the Henry Rollins-fronted Black Flag play at a boathouse in Cedar Falls, Iowa; I missed the show due to a family vacation, sold my ticket to a friend, and never once did I ever again think I’d have the chance to see this iconic punk band play live. Nearly 30 years later, founder, guitarist, and only constant band member Greg Ginn assembled a new version of the band. Other ex-members of the band have been touring as Flag, but Greg Ginn’s version is the real deal.

Greg Ginn using a theremin.

I missed opener Cinema Cinema, but arrived in time for Ginn to walk on stage to introduce his solo project, Greg Ginn & The Royal We as “sensitivity training” before seeing Black Flag. Ginn’s other bands and projects have always veered into eclectic territory, but The Royal We was a real head scratcher. All instrumental, the set consisted of Ginn playing along to prerecorded tracks with a cold, mechanical feel accompanied by a TV monitor that ran a mix abstract images, black and white movie clips, and World War II footage. When not playing guitar Ginn fooled around with a theremin, an old, hands-free, noise-generating instrument capable of producing all sorts of spooky, bizarre sounds. It was interesting at best, and the crowd responded with mild, yet respective applause.

It didn’t take long for Black Flag to take the stage with a short instrumental introduction that led into “Rise Above”, one of the band’s signature fast anthems that immediately worked the crowd into a frenzy. Current vocalist, professional skateboarder Mike Vallely, rarely spoke to the crowd, and the band seemed intensely focused throughout the set, as if they had something to prove after being away for so long. The entire performance was tight, and audience went nuts as the band ripped through expected classics like “Gimme Gimme Gimme”, “Six Pack”, “Slip It In”, and “TV Party”. A great selection of songs was brought out; my personal favorites being “Black Coffee”, “Annihilate”, and “Damaged”. All told, Black Flag played 20 songs before being called back for the encore of “Louie Louie”, which had Ginn swap his guitar with bass player Tyler Smith to become Dale Nixon (the name credited to his bass playing on albums). Ginn passed the bass off to Vallely near the end of the song to hop into the audience, where he remained after the show to speak and take pictures with fans.

The half-filled room was a disappointment (shouldn’t this have sold out??), but the fiery, take-no-prisoners performance was everything I had hoped for. Legal disputes with Flag (settled out of court in Ginn’s favor) seem to have divided Black Flag fans. Sarah Stanley-Ayre published a harsh, negative review of this show over at City Pages that left me befuddled. It would seem logical that as the band’s founder, primary songwriter, and only consistent member, Greg Ginn should have the sole right to the Black Flag name and any associated images and logos. To say that the current version of Black Flag “wasn’t Black Flag”, and that “The whole thing felt like watching a cover band who was incredibly well-practiced” is probably exactly how I would describe Flag (if I gave a crap about seeing them). I take issue with too many of the inaccuracies and descriptions of this review to detail them all here.

What Flag did—assemble a cast of fleeting ex-members, bring along a hired gun guitarist, ape the band’s logo, use the four-bars symbol on merchandise, and even call themselves Black Flag at a “reunion show”—is embarrassing and insulting and disrespectful to fans. In the metal world, this would be like ex-Megadeth members Nick Menza, James Lomenzo, and Chuck Behler hiring Gamma Ray/Helloween guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen to take the place of Dave Mustaine, calling themselves “Deth” (stylized in the Megadeth logo), and selling T-shirts with mascot Vic Rattlehead. Sounds ludicrous doesn’t it?

Black Flag returns to the area on Sunday, July 20 for a show at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St. Paul with support from Greg Ginn & The Royal We and Cinema Cinema.

Concert Review: SEPT OF MEMNON in Minneapolis

Sept Of Memnon

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Terminal Bar, Minneapolis, MN

Following the end of Wayne Static’s set at the Skyway Theatre, I hopped across the Mississippi River to catch what I could of Sept Of Memnon, a great black metal band hailing from Rock Island, Illinois. Unfortunately, I only caught the last three or four songs, so my comments will be brief.

Click on either picture to see more live photos of Sept of Memnon on my Flickr site (15).

A small but enthusiastic crowd was gathered around the small stage illuminated only by candlelight as the band raged through the end of their brutal set. The title track of the their debut, self-released EP, They Who Devour God, was among the tunes that I caught. Both band and crowd were headbanging furiously to the buzzsaw riffs and howling screams, yet the drummer managed to hold it all together with some impressive drumwork. These play a no-frills style of black metal and lays waste to most bands playing today. It all ended too quick, and the audience had their wish for an encore granted.

It was a shame I missed most of the show, yet thankful I caught what I did. Head on over Sept Of Memnon’s Bandcamp page to give their EP a listen, and give them more than the dollar they’re asking for a download of the three digital tracks.

Concert Review: WAYNE STATIC, AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE, SMILE EMPTY SOUL, and THIRA in Minneapolis

Wayne Static, American Head Charge, Smile Empty Soul, Thira

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Skyway Theatre, Minneapolis, MN

Click on any of the photos to see more live pictures of the respective band on my Flickr site.

About 20 bands had been playing since early afternoon in the main theater and the smaller Studio B room at the Skyway, and I arrived just as Blue Felix left the stage. The time between sets was very short, so I reluctantly stayed in the theater and missed all of the performances in Studio B. This was my first time seeing local industrial metal band Thira, and the horrendous sound made it a disappointing experience. The band was tearing it up on stage, but unfortunately the muddy sound left Thira’s music an indecipherable mess.

Surprisingly, the crowd was slow to warm up to rock radio favorites Smile Empty Soul. Leading off their 30 minute set with “Black And Blue” from their new album Chemicals, the band mixed up some album cuts with a few of their many singles. After playing “Don’t Ever Leave” and “Faker”, the audience finally came to life midway through the show for “Silhouettes”. “False Alarm” and “Bottom Of A Bottle” were well-received before “Hard Biter” closed the set. Original bassist Ryan Martin is staying off the road due to the expected arrival of he and his wife’s first child this summer, so Phil Lipscomb from Taproot filled in and seemed like a natural fit for the band. Guitarist/vocalist Sean Danielsen was stuck by the mic stand for most of the show, but he managed to step back at times while ripping out some solos. Despite the slow start, Smile Empty Soul managed to put on a great show that was far too short.

I hadn’t seen local favorites American Head Charge since their release show for The War Of Art at First Avenue in 2001, and tonight left me with a far more favorable impression of the band. They came out like they had something to prove to the 2,000+ strong crowd, and one couldn’t help but be impressed. Yes, this was a hometown crowd, but the audience went nuts throughout the entire nine-song, hour-long show from the moment the band took the stage and launched into “A Violent Reaction”. Nearly the entire set was drawn from The War Of Art and last year’s Shoot EP; “Pledge Allegiance” from The Feeding was the only exception. Guitarist Ted Hallows was having what appeared to be major technical problems and the band forged on without him until he finally emerged from behind the backline to play late in the show. A frustratingly long time was taken between songs, often to do silly things like handing the remaining sandwiches from catering out into the crowd. Despite the problems, American Head Charge was the highlight of the night. Former guitarist Benji Helbert even came out to play “Seamless”, while guitarist Karma Cheema took a dive into the crowd and got into a scuffle with security (I previously wrote out this here in some detail, and I now have some video footage of the incident that I’ll be posting). American Head Charge is sounding better than they ever have, and they proved to be a difficult act to follow.

Former Static-X frontman Wayne Static closed the show, and playing after American Head Charge’s home crowd proved to be difficult. Wayne’s band is effectively an all-new version of Static-X in all but name only, and the band’s signature flaming X logo was even used on stage props and banners (and notice the larger, more prominent color Static-X logo on the flyer). This tour was to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the ground-breaking and much-beloved Wisconsin Death Trip album, but the performance of the album seemed flat and uninspired. Having seen the original band play most of these songs many times, going back to tours before the album was even released, tonight’s show just couldn’t match those early tours. The crowd didn’t seem to notice, however, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. A few songs were played after running through Wisconsin Death Trip in its entirety, the best being “Assassins Of Youth” from Wayne’s Pighammer solo album. I hate being so negative because this really wasn’t a bad show, but it’s difficult to shed past memories of how great Static-X used to be and this just didn’t live up to that standard.