Sid Wilson/Mushroomhead/Blue Felix
Saturday, June 9, 2012
G.B. Leighton’s Pickle Park, Fridley, MN
This was bound to
be a memorable show, if only because Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson (aka DJ Starscream)
was billed together with Mushroomhead for this one night. Despite the past
history of bad blood between the two bands, this would be proof that no hard
feelings remain. Sid has been out on the road on a solo tour, and it only
seemed natural to have him join Mushroomhead’s show on his night off between
Rochester and Fargo.
Click on any picture to see more photos of Mushroomhead (51).
I arrived to miss
all the local bands except for Blue Felix, and the only word that comes to mind
about their performance is horrible. Playing forgettable rap-metal that went
out of style over ten years ago, this masked crew didn’t get off the stage
early enough for me.
Not having seen
Mushroomhead since 2009 or so at The Rock in Maplewood, I was looking forward
seeing them. As always, they put on a great show aside from it being too short.
Of the four or five times I’ve seen Mushroomhead play headline shows, I’ve
never witnessed a set longer than 60 minutes – tonight’s barely topped 50
minutes. A Mushroomhead show is always dramatic with two “water drum” kits on
the front sides of the stage spraying plumes of water every time they’re hit,
while the rest of band runs around the stage inciting the crowd. Surprisingly,
opener “Come On” was the only song played from their most recent album, Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children,
instead relying heavily on Savior Sorrow
and XX. Some songs are more or less
obligatory (“Bwomp”, Solitaire/Unraveling”, and “Sun Doesn’t Rise”), and these
were rounded out nicely with “12 Hundred”, “Save Us”, “Kill Tomorrow”, and
“Damage Done”. As I reported on June 10, “43” was introduced halfway through
the set by stating that: “We got Sid Wilson coming on after us…Mushroomhead,
Slipknot in the same room acting like decent people. There is no motherf*ckin
beef at all!” The high point of the show came at the end with an awesome
performance of “Simple Survival” followed by “Empty Spaces/Born Of Desire” to
close the show. Mushroomhead never disappoints with their show, but I wish they
would play longer sets.
Click on any picture to see more photos of Sid Wilson (26).
This
was Mushroomhead’s show, but Sid Wilson took the stage soon after they got off
to keep the crowd in the bar until closing time. Getting started around 1:15 am, the crowd had definitely thinned out by the time Sid arrived on stage.
Surprising everyone, two members of Mushroomhead took the stage as Sid was
getting going behind his turntable to play the water drums during the first
song. It was a nice gesture, and this will undoubtedly go down in the annals of
Slipknot lore. The first half of Sid’s performance had him behind his DJ
console scratching records while dance music blared from the sound system. He
then stepped to the front of the stage where he was joined by two rappers for a
hip-hop style performance right up until the bar closed at 2. I’m not familiar
with Sid’s solo work and can’t tell you the songs he played, but the second
half of the show that had him rapping was the far more entertaining part. He
was clearly having a good time on stage, and although not metal Sid’s set was a
lot of fun. I had the chance to chat with Sid for a while after his set,
catching up about personal things and reminiscing about some old Slipknot
memories. Probably the last time I had seen him was backstage when Slipknot
played Roy Wilkins Auditorium a few years ago, so it was a fun end to the
night.
