Ramblings on about Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath played their alleged last show over the weekend and as of late, I have been listening to the live recording at California Jam in 1974 (three weeks after I was born!) and A LOT of the Dio era material. I thought it might be fun to reflect a little bit on the Black Sabbath family tree.

I was exposed to a lot of music growing up; my father was a weekend warrior playing sets of covers with his band every Friday and Saturday night, well into the wee hours of the morning. But as a young preteen, the stuff my father liked, typical “classic rock” fare, didn’t appeal to me. I had uncles, two “cool” uncles who thought that heavy metal was the law. Through them, around 1983, I heard Ozzy Osbourne. I mean, it wasn’t hard to seek out Ozzy, he was beloved throughout the 80’s, but through Diary of a Madman, a door was opened that I’ve never been able to shut.

Got a crazy feeling I don't understand

I started to branch out and explore and purchase my own music around 1986. By 1987, Sure, I had a cursory knowledge of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, but trust me; I was a mulleted heavy metal maniac. I rode my bike to the comic book store on some weekends to spend my allowance, one such weekend, I went to Hills Department Store instead and bought We sold our Soul For Rock and Roll in the $3 cassette bin. I had borrowed Volume 4 and Paranoid from my uncle the summer before, but it wasn’t until I owned this cassette that I truly began to appreciate Black Sabbath.

the superior cover art for the release

The cassette was an early go to on my Walkman between listens of Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister and the Dragnet soundtrack. In 1988, I started hanging out with this dude Joe Russell, who had two older brothers, both of whom lived and breathed metal in the early/ mid 80's. In his basement, one of Joe’s brothers had made a total stoner chill room in the earlier part of the 80’s; blacklight posters, couches and, more importantly, a stereo.  He had also left a large portion of his record collection down there. We would sit in that room and listen to Ozzy’s Speak of the Devil; the lines between Ozzy and Sabbath blurred.

In June of 1989 I went to see Ozzy and as a bonus, Geezer Butler was on bass.  The show was incredible, even if the openers, White Lion and Vixen were some of the worst shit I’ve ever seen. I Don't Know/ Flying High Again/ Mr. Crowley/ Shot in the Dark/ Bloodbath in Paradise/ Sweet Leaf/ Tattooed Dancer/ Miracle Man/ Suicide Solution/ Iron Man/ Crazy Train/ Paranoid. I bought a Great T shirt that eventually just fell apart.

The front of said t shirt

The back of said t shirt

As the 80’s fell away to the 90’s, Sabbath reemerged with Dio on vocals, but I dismissed Dehumanizer at the time, as I was getting into death metal and fast hardcore. I still, surprisingly, listened to Live Evil all the time back then, so I really don’t know what my deal was. I listen to Dehumanizer often now and celebrate everything Sabbath did with Dio. 

In the late 90’s it was announce that hell had frozen over and that Black Sabbath was doing a tour of shows with the original Line up.  My friends and I bought tickets to the February 1^st, 1999 gig in Buffalo. It was going to be the greatest show ever, I was sure of it… AND THEY POSTPONED THE SHOW, which after a long wait was eventually cancelled as well. We all blamed Sharon Osbourne and assumed it was cancelled due to low ticket sales.

I caught a great Dio show in Toronto (with Iron Maiden and Motorhead!) in August of 2003 and it was stellar. A brief, although well rounded set touching on highlights from his heavy metal career, I should have bought a shirt, but I didn’t Killing the Dragon/ the Last in Line/ Stargazer/ Stand Up and Shout/ Rock and Roll/ The Mob Rules/ Dream Evil/ Rainbow in the Dark/ Holy Diver/ Heaven and Hell

A week later I scored free tickets to an Ozzfest and watched Ozzy limply struggle through a performance. It was also weird because Jason Newsted, fresh out of Metallica, was playing bass, the whole thing felt wrong.  Ozzy had this weird prerecorded intro tape to pump up the crowd “I can’t hear you” and the like, but it didn’t feel organic, at all. I longed for the gig I had seen in ‘89 War Pigs/ Mr. Crowley/ I Don't Know/ Flying High Again/ Goodbye to Romance/ Iron Man/ Sweet Leaf/ Children of the Grave/ Suicide Solution/ Flying High Again/ Bark at the Moon/ I Don't Want to Change the World/ Road to Nowhere/ Crazy Train/ Mama, I'm Coming Home/ Paranoid.

Finally in 2004 I got to see the actual Black Sabbath, SORT OF. Mike Bordin from Faith No More was on drums and although the gig was adequate, I felt cheated by the band using classic riffs (Symptom of the Universe, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) as filler in between songs, this seems to be how they’ve handled those songs at all their reunion era gigs, a shame War Pigs/ N.I.B./ Fairies Wear Boots/ Into the Void/ Black Sabbath/ Snowblind/ Iron Man/ Children of the Grave/ Paranoid. A short set list that left me wanting more, ultimately.

Thankfully, the following summer I got to get a little more Sabbath and this time WITH BILL WARD. Unfortunately, Bill Ward in 2005 was not Bill Ward in 1975 so it wasn’t the straight fire I had hoped for. This set was better than the prior year and After Forever was a nice bonus N.I.B./ After Forever/ War Pigs/ Dirty Women/ Fairies Wear Boots/ Sweet Leaf / Electric Funeral/ Iron Man/ Into the Void/ Black Sabbath/ Paranoid/ Sleeping Village/ Children of the Grave. Still, it’s so obvious that Ozzy is just spent and has been since the early 90’s, poor guy. I hope he gets the rest he deserves soon, I feel like he’s just being propped up on stage to read teleprompters and yell “we love you all” now and then. Listen to the California Jam, Hammersmith Speak of the Devil recording and tell me there’s anything comparison. As the bar was set by that insanely good Ozzy show from ’89, and although I’m happy I got to see the actual Black Sabbath; watching haggard old men (Ward and Osbourne) struggle through a set does not make for a great show.

In 2007 Black Sabbath: The Dio Years came out and I rushed to buy it, thanks to hearing the song The Devil Cried. I thought it was great and as I had become a huge fan of the Dio era, hearing three new songs that were actually good and much better that the tired sounding studio tracks from the 1998 Reunion release. I was even more excited that the Dio fronted Sabbath was coming to Buffalo under the moniker “Heaven & Hell.” The show was astoundingly good. When the band went into the main riff of The Sign of the Southern Cross it was so heavy that it hit like a ton of bricks. I think about that moment often, the riff hitting and the place being decimated; absolute perfection. The Mob Rules/ Children of the Sea/ I/ The Sign of the Southern Cross/ Time Machine/ Falling Off the Edge of the World/ Die Young/ Heaven and Hell/ Neon Knights.  After the The Devil You Know came out, I hoped to see them again, as I liked the record, but sadly, Ronnie Jame Dio passed away and left a void in the world or metal that will never be filled.

Iommi, Osbourne and Butler reunited sans Bill Ward and released 13, which I hated, I’d honestly rather listen to the hack  "Black Sabbath" metal stuff with Tony Martin singing. The Devil you Know was a fine and heavy album, 13 had shitty production (what the fuck Rick Rubin?) and some guy from Rage Against the Machine playing on it, NO THANKS. I have friends that like that record and that’s fine, but if they had seen coked out insane Ozzy in 1989, I’m pretty sure they’d have a different perspective.  Still, I don't want to sound ungrateful, Black Sabbath does mean the world to me. 

Side note, I saw Kelly Osbourne out with some "deep V neck" t shirt emo guy at a coffee shop I was at in the Lower East Side in 2006. She was in line right behind me and I said to her “Hey! You’re Kelly Osbourne!” she looked at me, super disgusted, rolled her eyes and they left. I’ll take that as a win.

Black Sabbath was laid to rest on February 4^th, 2017; Black Sabbath is dead, long live Black Sabbath. 

Danzig and I part 3, I stumble upon a career.

dress down day at the office- Danzig circa 2003

As I alluded to last time I touched on the subject, I saw a Danzig show in 2003 that literally helped change my life. Certainly, after reading this post, it may seem circumstantial to you, but I credit the Dazing show I saw in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2003 to have a direct and positive impact and put me on a career path that has been exciting, rewarding, and ever changing.

During the early afternoon of November 15th, 2003, I saw that Danzig was playing a show downstate at what I perceived as “near Albany.” Albany is roughly a four hour drive from Buffalo, where I grew up, and I have certainly made it fewer than four on some road trips.  So the decision was made to go, we could purchase tickets for will call online and we’d make it there by 7pm, so all would be well; knowing the ‘Zig shows I’d been to before, he’d hit the stage by 9:30 or 10 and the whole thing would wrap up no later than 11:30. I was confident in this time frame, as I started my new Job the next morning at 7 am.  I couldn’t have involved myself in a larger error of distance and time if I wanted to.

We arrived at the Chance in POUGHKEEPSIE NEW YORK at 9pm, because, well, the roads were bad, and because Poughkeepsie is an hour and a half past Albany. WHOOPS. Still, the openers were playing and I figured they’d be wrapping it up quickly and we’d get to have our summer in the winter time. But then there was another opener, and another and yet ANOTHER, all obviously pay to play bands that sold tickets to get on the gig.

11 pm came and went and I was starting to get nervous, but when Danzig hit the stage around 11:30, the world became Glenn and company. This was the best set I have ever seen by Danzig, I swear the stars must have been aligned properly because it was perfectly executed; with newer songs having a life they do not have in the studio or at any subsequent show I have witnessed since. Black Mass/ I Luciferi/ Twist of Cain/ Do You Wear the Mark/ Her Black Wings/ How the Gods Kill/ Kiss the Skull/ Unspeakable/ Lilin/ Snakes of Christ/ Angel Blake/ Until You Call on the Dark/ Bringer of Death/ Am I Demon/ Mother/ She Rides/ Dirty Black Summer/ Long Way Back From Hell. At some point, Glenn was right in front of me with his leg up on a monitor, and I made a terrible realization; I WAS LOOKING AT HIS BALL SACK. You see, Mr. Danzig was freeballing that night, going al fresca, total commando style, yet had a rip in the seam of his “stage jeans” causing one of his balls to be forced out under the pressure; much like the Alien Sigourney Weaver forced out into the vacuum of space. There was a little biker dude next to me, who witnessed the horror at the same time as I, looked at me and said “Ew man, you can see his nuts!” still, it was a great set and Glenn rewarded the crowd with his necklace as thanks for the reaction and support.

not the ballsack we saw

At 1:30 am, we started the trek back to Buffalo, where I had to start my new job at 7am. The weather was bad and I made it home with enough time to shower, throw on my uniform and make it in by the skin of my teeth. This was the first day of a new account and the former account holder literally left nothing to work with except a crinkled piece of paper with the security panel code on it. So there I was, in charge of a shipping a receiving intake office with no procedures, no direction and no sleep. I did have a coffee maker with supplies and a pad of paper, so I walked into the office next store and started asking them about procedures, what they would like to see and what they would expect from the receiving intake office. I then went to the plant manager and asked the same thing. 10 cups of coffee and 8 hours later, I had a 50 page document of procedures typed out.

The evening of the 18th and still riding the buzz of the great show from over the weekend, we decided to catch Danzig (and this time with Deicide!) at Club Laga in Pittsburgh, but sadly this show was the polar opposite of the show just a few days earlier. Plagued with equipment and prop issues (watching stage hands trying to duct tape pointed things that kept breaking was a highlight) the band just never got going and left their energy and enthusiasm at the door. It was a huge disappointment and getting home at 4 am, with work at 7 offered a repeat of the weekend, but without the payoff of a great show. Still, at work the next morning, I added another 30 pages to the document, which my operations manager looked over and praised. By November 27th, I found myself the director of security for a billion dollar a year corporation in no small part to my efforts in organizing procedures and because I had seen the greatest Danzig show ever… and Glenn’s nutsack. 

2016 in review (I'm a Metallican) part 2

One of the rare exceptions when the album is way better than the cover leads you to believe.

A little over a month ago, I got a copy of Hardwired… To Self-Destruct by Metallica, after being drawn in by cleverly released videos of the title track and two others that ACTUALLY SOUNDED LIKE METALLICA. I have been overly critical of the band’s output since I graduated high school in the early 90’s, but I have to say that over the past year, I have become fond of most of the singles from the Black Album through Death Magnetic; except for that LuLu and St. Anger stuff, I still can’t hang with how they sound. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that Metallica won their way back into my heart, and then some.

HOLY SHIT!

When Metallica’s fan club, “met club,” announced a bay area club show at the Fox Theater to benefit the Alameda Food Bank, I felt the strong urge to go; but did not win the raffle to purchase the $25 fan ticket, nor was I able to procure a $100 general admission ticket through Ticket master when they went on sale on November 18^th. I was so bummed when my Ticketmaster app timed out and even more bummed when I learned my friend Matt, who was also trying to get us tickets, had similar luck. The following Monday, I was still down on the fact that I would miss this prefect opportunity to see the Metallica I wanted to see, in a setting where I am most comfortable; how could this happen? Better yet, HOW COULD I MAKE THIS HAPPEN? I had found a guy on the Metallica forums who had his plus one available, but that didn’t pan out and probably ended up too rich for my blood anyway, I then decided to be a Metallican and not a Metallican’t.

I searched online for the band management’s email and thanks to the WikiLeaks of an email forwarded from Laurie Mensch to John Podesta, I got co-manager Peter Mensch’s email, as he was CC’d by his wife into the exchange. I emailed him, and a few others I found and waited… The afternoon of Friday, December 16^th, the day before the gig and after I had given up all hope, I received the following email,

“Hi Jeremy: Peter Mensch forwarded your e-mail to us and it’s your lucky day! We will be able to assist you - please fill out the attached form and return it as soon as possible to this e-mail address. We’ll process your credit card and send you a confirmation e-mail and you can pick up your tickets at will call before the show.

Welcome to the Bay Area and enjoy the show!!

Vickie Strate

Metallica HQ”

The aforementioned form was for a donation to the Alameda Food Bank, which I filled out for $100 for two tickets, $50 apiece. I received confirmation and let Matt know I had done the impossible; WE WERE GOING TO SEE A METALLICA CLUB SHOW! The boy who fell in love with Metallica in Todd Peck’s bedroom in 1986 was getting the opportunity few have had SINCE 1986, seeing Metallica in a non-arena type setting. I have always been afraid to taint the “perfect” set list I saw them play in 1989 but with how much I love the new record, I had to go, I just HAD to. When Matt and I arrived, we found we had pretty awesome balcony seats.

When the band hit the stage with very little fanfare around 9:45, they hit us square in the jaw with Budgie’s Breadfan, which is the last song I saw them play in 89, I literally had tears in my eyes, it was like an extension of that gig from nearly 28 years ago;  BREADFAN/ CREEPING DEATH/ BLACKENED/ SAD BUT TRUE/ FADE TO BLACK/ ATLAS, RISE!/ HARVESTER OF SORROW/ MOTH INTO FLAME/ ONE/ MASTER OF PUPPETS/ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS/ ENTER SANDMAN/ WHISKEY IN THE JAR/ HARDWIRED/ SEEK AND DESTROY

I didn't take many photos, I was too busy, but here's one.

What a fucking set list! I know there are friends of mine that would probably disparage some of these songs, but as far as I am concerned, it was all top shelf bangers. The Metallica album I’ve always felt the strongest connection with is …And Justice For All and having 3 songs from it blasted into my ear drums was incredible. I appreciated the minimalistic stage set up and was very happy that Lars’ playing seems to have improved over where he was 10, 15 years ago. The band looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves and the sounds was fucking impeccable. This was hands down the best set I saw in 2016.

The Author and Matthew Kadi, of Monster Squad fame

2016 in review (Fury content) Part 1

The author moves to the Bay

2016 sure was a roller coaster ride of a year, right? Some universally respected musicians died, politics got literally crazy, and fake news shared by your distant relatives and barely remembered high school classmates became the norm on Facebook. I, myself, had a pretty swell year; I celebrated my one year anniversary at my dream job, my one year anniversary of living on the west coast and my 6 year wedding anniversary.  But all of this stuff is really not what this blog is about, is it? 2016 also had some really fantastic highlights for me and my relationship with music.

the wife and the author; 6 years on

Best 2016 shows:

I got to see the Prime Evil line up of Venom (playing as Venom Inc) rage through an absolutely incredible set at the DNA lounge in January:  Prime Evil/ Die Hard/ Don't Burn the Witch/ Live Like an Angel (die like a devil)/ Buried Alive/ Raise the Dead/ One Thousand Days in Sodom/ Warhead/ Schizo/ The Seven Gates of Hell/ In Nomine Satanas/ Bloodlust/ Sons of Satan/ Welcome to Hell/ Black Metal/ Countess Bathory/ Witching Hour. It was truly a sight to hear and behold, and being a fan of the Prime Evil record, I had hoped for a couple of songs from the records (especially “Skeletal Dance”) but sticking to the classics really got the crowd rip-riding.  I was surprised at the lack of In League with Satan on the list, but the set was so good, it didn’t matter. The only way the show could have possibly been better is if it was catered to me exactly: At War With Satan into Manitou into side b of Welcome to Hell into all of Black Metal, oh and if Cronos was there.

Venom Inc. photo by the author

Just about a week after the Venom Inc gig, I saw Fury play with Mindset at 924 Gilman. Mindset were good, but this was the show where I totally fell in love with Fury.  The energy of the singer, Jeremy Stith (whose name is LITERALLY a consonant away from mine) was astounding, and I was sold immediately! I made sure to download their 2016 promo tape on my drive home and it got heavy rotation thereafter. I was already aware of the demo and the Kingdom Come 7” but the promo tape, with only two original songs, was already a huge step up performance wise and a hint of what was to come on their full length; but more on that later.

photo by nate zoeller

In February, I got to see one of my absolute favorite current hardcore bands: Boston Strangler and they did not disappoint. Primitive/ Outcast/ Forward to Hell/ Fire/ First Offense/ We Don’t Need/ Take Control/ Disconnect Me/ Overcrowded/ Violence Addicts/ BXS/ The Truth/ Slow Burn. I love that they are a hardcore band from Boston that sounds, well, like a HARDCORE BAND FROM BOSTON. I also really liked Give’s set at the show, and although their style seemed a bit out of place, their short and energetic set made me a fan and absolutely smoked any of their recorded output.

April brought me two shows in one night, Burn and 7 Seconds. Burn played at Gilman with Bane, and 7 seconds was headlining a show about a 45 minute drive away at Thee Parkside.  The last time I saw Burn was in NY at an incredible show in 1998, nearly 20 years ago and in another century. This 21st century set was on point, they have an inherent energy to their style and groove that packs so much punch, that it’s incredible. Out of Time/ Cleanse/ We Don’t Stand A Chance/ Godhead/ You Can’t Stop Me/ The Bait/ New Morality/ Disgraces/ Last Great Sea/ Tales Of Shatou/ Drown/ Decay/ …Shall Be Judged.  I grooved the whole set, in spite of myself. There are videos of the show on youtube, you’ll see me, I’m hard to miss. Right after Burn’s set and while I still had the adrenaline amped, I hopped into my car and sped over to the 7 Seconds gig. They were good, but the lower energy show was very noticeable after coming from a charged set.  I’ve seen 7 seconds sets of varying levels of quality over the past 25 years, and this was good, just not as good as some other shows I’d seen, but still way better than the fucking show I saw in Syracuse in ’95. 

The author looks at one of the few people at the gig in his age range

The author sings along

The last weekend in May, I made a mistake… and that mistake was called Punk Rock Bowling, a sweltering punk rock festival in a fucking parking lot in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was enticed to by promises of sets by my favorite current band, Night Birds, some of my all-time favorite bands, Dag Nasty and Excel, and bands I respect or like a record or two by: The Buzzcocks, The Descendents, Dillinger Four, and like a zillion others. The flight I got ended up arriving too late to see any of the Saturday shows, even a late night Voivod gig not affiliated with the festival that I was on the guest list for, but still did not make on time. I could write paragraph after paragraph about the no reentry policy or the small amount of shaded seating or how bad the Buzzcocks actually sounded, but let’s focus on why it makes my 2016 post.

poor photo the author took of Night Birds

Night Birds were absolutely stellar, a perfect setlist and flawless execution; I just wish it was a club show.  Dag Nasty Played around 7 pm the last day of the festival. They were the band I truly went to see. But, though their setlist was great, Values Here/ I've Heard/ Under Your Influence/ Can I Say/ Circles/ All Ages Show/ Cold Heart/ What Now/ Another Wrong/ Trying/ Safe/ Wanting Nothing/ One to Two/ Justification/ Ghost (swiz)/ Little Friend (minor threat)/ Fall/ Thin Line/ Never Go Back, the cold start of Values Here was a little rough and there were massive tuning issues. My favorite Dag Nasty song has slowly become All Ages Show over the past 15 years or so and hearing the entire song with a grossly out of tune bass was agonizing. But, it was  shortly after that that something clicked; Shawn Brown’s presence on stage is so genuine that by the time they found their groove a song or two later, I was completely sold. I was saying to friends after the set that I wanted to “give Shawn a hug” because I loved the set so much. Low and behold, about 45 minutes later, Shawn and his wife Michelle were walking by, and after a split second hesitation, I got my hug (as did my friends) and got to have a great chat with the two of them. Genuine on stage as well as off! Made the trip worth it, but I don’t think I’ll ever go to another outdoor festival again. Standing in a parking lot for 8 hours, regardless of the entertainment, is still standing in a parking lot for 8 hours.

the author and his friends meet Shawn Brown, all get hugs

I wrote extensively about the Faith No More show I saw over the summer, but I still have to say, I think about it often and am blown away that I got to experience it. I wear my new Introduce Yourself shirt often.

cool unplanned lighting effect, adding to the Fury. Photo by the author

A couple of weekends ago, I saw Praise and Fury play in Oakland. Praise were good and dropped their Egghunt cover in the center of their set, but I like their earlier 7” records best and wished I had seen them in that era. Fury were fucking incredible. I can’t write enough about how much I love that band. I’ve told friends that I feel they are the “real deal” and seeing them after their incredible lp Paramount has been released has not only increased their fan base, but also crowd participation. Jeremy Stith has just enough weirdo to make him a perfect front man. They blasted through the set in a packed 1234 Go! Records, Danse/ Thin Line/ Damage Done/ Duality of Man/ Richochet/ Reality Check/ Death Yellows Life and Reason/ In Extremis intro/ The Fury/ End is Nigh/ The Feeling. After their set, I was bummed to learn they had no shirts with them (luckily I had bought a hoodie last time I saw them) but I thought “fuck it” and bought a copy of Paramount on CD (yes, a CD) for my car.

The time I didn’t see GWAR.

Lee, the author, Darren and Greg- Goofcore masters

As a teen, I was a pretty goofy dude. I loved Lawnmower Deth, Mucky Pup and Scatterbrain and any other band that was, well, GOOFY. I even had my own goofy “goofcore” band, Childish Intent. But the kings of ridiculous, Gwar, really had a hold on me by 1990. I had liked the debut, Hell-o, which I told a friend sounded like a cross between “Naked Raygun and M.O.D.”  but with their second record, Scumdogs of the Universe, I was in love. I bought their live VHS, I had a homemade shirt and an "official" one I bought at Spencer’s Gifts at the mall. Blood, sex, dick jokes, Hilarious.

When it was announced that Gwar would be playing Buffalo during the summer of 1992, I was pretty psyched. Not only that, they were playing the NEW Randall Studios, which, at the time, was my favorite place to go: an old warehouse converted into a “practice space” but was really an illegal venue. I had seen (and played!) so many great shows there from 91-92 that I couldn’t believe I was going to see one of my favorite bands on home turf. I bought a ticket the moment they went on sale; the bar was set high.

The night of the show, I piled into a car with my friend Greg and his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer, and we made the arduous drive to the east side of Buffalo. Her late model sedan (which had broken down a few weeks prior on the way back from another show) sputtered, but my $5 of gas money quenched its thirst and got us to our destination; only to find the show has been moved to another location, the Scrapyard.  

Due to the controversy surrounding Gwar and the high level of exposure the show was getting, Randall got shut down for violating fire code. A crude sign was placed in the alleyway that led to the side entrance let us know we had to sally forth.  We got to the Scrapyard only to find what the other 100 or so people that were standing outside knew; due to the fact that the scrapyard was much smaller than Randall’s, the show was now oversold and the club was beyond capacity, leaving us, who had tickets, out in the literal cold.

I mean really, how cool is this?

We waited for about 45 minutes with the ever diminishing crowd hearing the bouncers repeatedly telling us that we weren’t going to get in, but that our tickets could be refunded the following day. Hunter Jackson, who was the Techno Destructo character with Gwar until about 15 years ago, came around and was standing on the outskirts of the gathered crowd. I recognized him and told him our plight. He said he would put anyone on the list for the Toronto Show coming up the next night. This didn’t work for Greg and I, our own goofcore band was playing that night at the very club we were now stuck outside of.  All was wrong with the world. We decided to cut our losses and left, but our friend Evan refused, Gwar was his favorite band, and I think he was too drunk or high to know what the hell was going on anyway. His tenacity paid off, as right as Gwar’s intro was playing, the bouncer let anyone left outside in, tickets or not. For his dedication, his skin was dyed red with fake blood for the next week.

Something about that night killed Gwar’s magic for me. Maybe it was because none of their follow up records touched the first two or maybe I outgrew grown men in costumes or maybe I just have a hard time crawling back from disappointment; which I think it the underlying theme to a lot of my posts.  But, enough about that; I want to wrap this up with something that made me slowly sift through Gwar's catalog again. In Dec of 2008, Dave Brockie used the lobby of the hotel I was working at to do some press work for the Gwar Canadian tour that was about to start, I found him and Brad (Jizmak) to be cordial and professional. It reminded me of how helpful and friendly Hunter was that night 24 years ago. So many of my childhood and musical heroes have passed away in the time since I’ve turned forty and with the conservative shit show this country is about to see, I think the world could use Brockie’s humor and the goofy middle finger that Gwar is to the world.  

RIP Oderus Urungus, the 18 year old and 42 year old me misses you. 

1992

Here's a picture of me at the picnic we had right after I graduated high school in 1992. I REALLY tried to match my socks to that shirt. I made that copper "x" straight edge necklace in shop class.

this is me "dressed up"

I only saw Quicksand once, in March of 1991, they were pretty good and set to really become the darlings of progressive hardcore within a year after this photo. I still think they are a good band, even if it took years for the first LP, Slip, to grow on me ( I was BIG into the 7"). I don't know what I was thinking with that hat though,  I guess I would just chalk it up to the 90's... But unlike a lot of you, I took the hat off; you're still living with that tribal tattoo.

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it: the redemption of Faith No More

The fucking enemy, circa 1989

I’ll tell you one thing right now; in 1989 I hated mowing my parent’s huge suburban lawn. It was always a “But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” Uncle Owen v. Luke Skywalker type of conversation between my father and I. To power through it, I had two cassettes of choice for my Walkman: Carnivore’s Retaliation and Faith No More’s We Care A Lot. Different approaches to underground music but both had pummeling and effective Drums that pushed me through the hour and a half it took to mow that fucking lawn.

This post isn’t about Carnivore though, but, as you has already guessed, Faith No More. I REALLY like We Care A Lot, to this very day. Mark Bowen, As the Worms Turn, New Beginnings and the title track have literally been stuck in my head for 27 years. The rhythmic drums and bass, subtle and effective metal crunching guitar and Chuck Mosley’s sincere vocal performance strikes a chord with me in a way very few can. People like to bag on Chuck’s voice, but, especially on We Care A Lot, he sells you his imperfect voice taking it to the limit of his ability and beyond. Plus, I think the lyrics are fucking Incredible.  The bombast of the recording is just there, it all works for me. I like the follow up Introduce Yourself (The Crab Song, Death March, COME ON!) and the first LP after Chuck’s departure, The Real Thing, but the band lost me after that, their sound changed too drastically and the vibe was lost on me.  To make matters even worse, when I went to see them in October of 1992, they weren’t very good. It was probably an off night for them, but I’m not huge into Mike Patton or Angel Dust, so I’m sure that had something to do with it. To make FNM even less compelling, Helmet, who opened the show, literally JUST STOOD THERE, and smoked Mike and company right off stage.

I moved to Northern California a year ago, away from the gray and white frigid winters of Buffalo, NY and into the green lushness that is the Napa Valley. Being an hour north of San Francisco allowed me the opportunity to see a gig I’d never thought I’d see: Faith No More, fronted by Chuck Mosley, performing only songs from the first two records, including We Care A Lot in its entirety.  They announced it on a Tuesday, with the show being two days later on a Thursday. I had to go and bought a ticket within minutes of the announcement. Solid.

Oddly enough, the show was on August 18^th, exactly (to the day, even) 25 years after the only time I met Chuck Mosley, who was then fronting the classic hardcore punk band, Bad Brains (who were surprisingly VERY good with him as a front man). That day, in August 1991, I had no idea he was their singer at the time, and I happened to be wearing an Introduce Yourself shirt at the show. Before the Bad Brains set, Chuck came up to me put his arm around me, pointed to the shirt and said “Every little bit helps.”  I thought it was so fucking awesome, I remember it like it was yesterday.

Flyer borrowed from my friend Larry's abandoned Buffalo hardcore history page 

25 years later, I was out front of the Great American Music Hall with one of my few friends I’ve made up here, Matt, and who walks by but Chuck Mosley, smoking a cigarette and looking lost and burnt out. Matt commented that he wanted to take Chuck’s picture, but was reluctant to disturb him, as diehard FNM fans were crowding around him for selfies and handshakes. I shared my Bad Brains story and told Matt I’d take action; I walked up to Chuck and showed him a jpeg of the flyer from 1991 and gave him a big hug, letting him know that taking the time to acknowledge the 17 year old me 25 years ago meant a lot. He chatted for a few moments talking about how bummed he was that “Doc” (Dr. Know, the Brain’s guitar player) was sick. He also told a story about how the day after Buffalo, in Ithaca, HR (or “Paul” as he called him) the original singer of the Bad Brains, had come on stage and done a few of the songs, free-styling a vocal melody over one of their reggae jams. He was so into the story, trying to sing the melody to us and saying he’s ripped it off; using in every band he’s been in ever since, because it was so epic.  I was just so shocked at how really burnt out he was as he flipped through his phone to add to his stories. I then turned and said, “This is my friend Matt, he’d like to take your picture.” Click. Done.

The portrait of the failed artist as a young man

Inside, the crowd was a mixture of punk, metal and middle aged people. Roddy Bottom, who I think is dating this guy Jon who used to occasionally hang out at my old apartment in Amherst, was just mingling in the crowd with obvious longtime friends. Having been in a band, I guess the hometown show is kind of the same for everyone; a place to run into friends and family who have supported you from the beginning and don’t get to see as much. The opener was a terrible performance artist who rolled around the stage wearing a shroud making Godzilla and chicken sounds. Then, Chuck did an acoustic set which, in all honesty, wasn’t very good. It was obvious he was nervous, but the crowd’s reaction to his solo rendition of Death March warmed him up a bit and by the time his acoustic act became the actual full on Faith No More show, he seemed more relaxed.  The set list was fucking amazing with the energy building and releasing then building and exploding, lather, rinse, repeat:

The Crab Song

Introduce Yourself

The Jungle

As the Worm Turns

Greed

Spirit

New Beginnings

Arabian Disco

Mark Bowen

We Care a Lot

Why Do You Bother?

Pills for Breakfast

Anne's Song

look at that beautiful banner

I bought the 30^th anniversary reissue of We Care A Lot and a shirt, which being soft spun, hugs my lumpy body strangely, but I’ve worn it every few weeks since. The best thing is, I got to hear some of the greatest songs ever written live and I didn’t even have to touch a lawnmower to do it. All Photos by matthewkadi.com