Combichrist @ The Music Box 11/7/2010

Disclaimer: This review may piss you out.

Or you might say congrats on an excellent adventure. Bakal arrived on the scene shortly before Aesthetic Perfection took the stage. The three man group led by Daniel Graves was all about energy as usual. Their set consisted mostly of tracks from A Violent Emotion, which is such a good album they could play the whole thing in it’s entirety for their set and I wouldn’t mind. We also got a taste of the new single The Devil’s In The Details.

Dust ‘n Bones, Dust ‘n Bones… When you hear those words, it’s a sign of awesomeness about to ensue. Combichrist came out to an instrumental to get the crowd hyped up. We were also treated to a huge surprise with Wes Borland joining them on guitar, which made it essentially the same lineup as when they opened for Tiger Army at the Wiltern. Word on the street says he will be playing with the band when they open for Rammstein at MSG! If only I could get to NY…

Andy appeared and they ripped into a powerful new track Just Like Me. Up next was another new track, Follow the Trail of Blood, in which Brandon from Bleeding Through joined in as he does on the album. And it was only fitting that after following a trail of blood we woke to a rain of blood. As usual the Electroheads were pumped to hear the old songs. Most of the new album was played, but it was still a good mix of old and new.

The double encore started with Scarred, the only track played from Today We Are All Demons. The band went backstage after finishing Fuck That Shit, but we knew it wasn’t over and the crowd began chanting “THIS SHIT! THIS SHIT! THIS SHIT WILL FUCK YOU UP!” Sure enough Combichrist came back with the crowd favorite This Shit Will Fcuk You Up. The show ended with another “fuck” song, the title track from What The Fuck Is Wrong With You.

But before the show ended I managed to score a stick from Trevor! I noticed all night he would do this move where first he throws a stick into the crowd, then jumps up on his drums and bangs away on the cymbal with the other stick. So one of those times he threw the stick right into the pit. I saw it fly right in the middle of everyone and I ran in there to pick it up off the floor. That’s the third stick for my collection!

But wait, there’s more! When the lights came on, we saw Bill MF Moseley hanging out on the side of the floor! Vince gave him the horns and he gave back the thumbs. Fucking awesome.

And even after all that, the awesomeness continued…

Um, unless your name is Robert…

:Q:

Stone Temple Pilots @ Nokia Theater 10/29/2010

As the title suggests, this is the first of a three part series of three shows in three weeks (PS – three is a magic number). Yes in my old age I’ve gone from three shows in three nights to three in three weeks. But still pretty good these days. And speaking of still good, holy shit STP! I’ll admit it was my first time seeing the 90s legends but to be fair I was never taken to a show as a teen and I didn’t have a job either. That said, I can’t believe Weiland has survived this long but I’m glad he did. It’s also rare for a band this old to still have an original lineup. Hearing the DeLeo brothers play together is just magic. Their style together is what all rock should sound like. Complimentary, not just the guitar and bass mimicking each other.

The set was a perfect mix of old and new. Not too many new songs and a whole lot of classics. We arrived at the show during Still Remains. By the time we made it to our seats they were on the slide-guitar classic Big Empty, which had the whole audience singing along. In fact, there weren’t many songs the crowd didn’t sing along with. This was one show where everyone was into it. Not your typical LA show, and it hurts me to say that, because I love this town but I’ve seen a lot of shit crowds in my day.

Highlight of the night was probably their Led Zeppelin cover of Dancing Days. I always thought their rendition paid proper tribute while still making it their own. Kind of like when they played Plush and everybody in the crowd sang in their own special way. Weiland could’ve let the audience sing the whole song and it still would’ve rocked. Still he put on one hell of a performance in his presumed sober state. Let’s hope he stays this way not only for his health but for the sake of music.

Special thanks to Princess Jen who pulled me from my deathbed for this show!

:Q: