Nothin But A Good TimeBlack & Gray Affair @ Gallery 1927 4/8/2010 Since I unfortunately had to leave early, I’ll let Zyner’s pics do the talking… Also check out the review by Eric Ellis of Hot Bike magazine! Hit it C.C.!
(I was just holding it for JJ) :Q: (PS – Dear Ingrid, aka Zombiegrrrl, yes you did in fact walk right by…) Nothin’ But MetalSevendust w/Drowning Pool @ House of Blues Sunset 3/10/10 Drowning Pool is a band that I had never seen live and that I’ve loved since the release of their 2001 album Sinner. I have to say that DP are fighters. After the tragic death of frontman Dave Williams in 2002 and after Jason Jones left the band they bounced back with a new vocalist Ryan McCombs, former frontman of Soil. He sounds amazing. I got to enjoy 37 Stitches, Feel Like I Do and Tear Away which McCombs dedicated to Williams, finishing with Bodies their smash hit off their first album. Georgia’s SEVENDUST performed next. The House of Blues-Sunset is the perfect place to unleash their metal onslaught. This was the first time I’ve seen this band so I was really excited to see them. The bond between the band and the audience was evident as lead singer Lajon Witherspoon was very friendly with the crowd all night. He was constantly interacting with the crowd, especially those upfront. The band connected with the crowd more than most bands I’ve seen. Or perhaps it was because I made it to the front of the pit due to my height. Sorry Q for leaving you behind but had to take advantage of the situation. Whether it was John Connolly or Vince Hornsby singling out someone from the crowd to give them a pick or Morgan Rose personally picking out someone in the crowd to throw a drum stick, it was clear Sevendust was there to please the crowd. They played a series of songs from the launch of their career to some of the more recent, plus a couple of amazing covers – Masters of Puppets and Walk. The highlight for me came when Lajon introduced Angel’s Son, a tribute to Lynn Straight, the singer of the band Snot, who died in a car crash. They performed some fan favorites like Driven, Black, Face to Face and Unraveling. The raw energy of the show was sick!!! I highly recommend Sevendust live. You can’t call yourself a true hard rock/metal fan until you’ve seen them rip the stage up!! *Thanks to my friend Q I got a pick. Not before he got his hand stepped on by a girl. [Don't worry, I made the bitch cry. - Q] Zyner
Panic(space) on the Streets of HollywoodPanicspace @ The Viper Room 3/8/10 Well I’ve known Mike (bass) and Jason (drums) pretty much since the beginning of time. But this is not going to be about how I taught Jason how to play or how I saved Mike from a burning car at Descanso. This is about the first time I got to see their new band and also my first time at the Viper Room. For the record, I am not the bouncer there… My initial thought on Panicspace was that they had a Radiohead sound, more of the rockin stuff than the not so rockin. Well, I haven’t heard anything past OK Computer (but who has? [no offense]). Later I found out that Radiohead was indeed a big influence on the guys. The sound at the Viper Room complimented them well, as do the two guitarists, one not outplaying the other. The chemistry between Mike (bass) and Jason (drums) goes way beyond their days of The Undetermined and the rest of the band seem like a great fit with them. The singer has great presence but does not overshadow or take attention from the band. The Viper Room is a great place for any local band to play. It’s not too big or not too small and again, the sound in there is rockin. It’s awesome when you can feel the bass and drums. Check out Panicspace on Myspace :Q:
The V-Day Massacreaka, Eünice: The Albüm Here is the mix I made for my love… 1. The Ramones – I Want You Around :Q: The 2k10 EditionSo you’ve probably been wondering if we’re still around, or still alive even. Well since Qmungous survived last night’s brush with death, I figured I’d give some kind of an update. 2k9 gave us some amazing shows, especially near the end. So amazing that I think I may have burned myself out. A sign of old age? Yes I am turning 30 this year… But since that car did NOT kill me, the old age thing will no longer be an excuse. It’s time to kick some ass. Coming soon: Killswitch Engage, Devildriver, Bon MF Jovi. It doesn’t get anymore metal than that. As for the end of 2k9, here’s a quick rundown (since we failed to keep updating). Lacuna Coil @ HOB Sunset – One of the loudest audiences I’ve ever heard. The new album kicks ass. Cruefest 2 @ San Manuel – QMUNGOUS ON FIRE. Nuff said. Journey @ San Manuel – Another solid performance from the greatest thing to come from Manila since Sarsi. Depeche Mode @ The Pond – Took the wife for her bday, even though it fell on my bday… But DM can never do you WRONG. Project Pitchfork @ The Knitting Factory – Disappointing set for Psyclon Nine. Nero’s mic went out in the 3rd song. But I caught a stick from Jon Siren! Pitchfork came out and showed why they are so damn legendary. Second best dance party of the year. Static-X @ HOB Anaslime – Metal returns to Anaheim and it almost seemed like a homecoming for Static-X, since some of their most memorable shows have been at this venue. Glad to see Disney came to their senses. The new album sounds MUCH better live. Def Leppard @ San Manuel – Poison opened and it was Nothing But a Good Time. Def Leppard were not to be outdone and they rocked the sellout crowd. AC/DC @ The Pond – LOUDEST SHOW EVER! Thanks to my son for the tix! Every part of that show just felt legendary. As we were walking to the arena, we knew it was going to be a most metal night. Trivium @ The Glass House – These guys are the real deal. Since Static-X may be taking a break, Trivium may be my new “go to” band. Children of Bodom @ The Glass House – Awesome venue for the finnish metal band. Do yourself a favor and ALWAYS come out to see Bodom. Combichrist @ The Wiltern – So technically they opened for Tiger Army, but I walked out after Combichrist performed. Probably the 1st time I ever did that. Wes Borland joined the band for this set and it’s what I always wanted Combichrist to sound like. I hope they have him play again, or maybe even join the band for an album. Slipknot @ The Palladium – Halloween week started off with a bang! I’m surprised the Palladium was still standing after this show. Skinny Puppy @ The Glass House – Summer was good to the Glass House. I highly recommend checking out the openers of that night, Sonic Death Rabbit. They are something to behold. Skinny Puppy is another band that everyone must experience. In fact, I’m gonna put on Worlock right now… Rob Zombie @ The Palladium – Halloween night! I can’t think of a better way to spend Halloween than with Rob MF Zombie. Seems like it’s taking forever for the new album to come out, but the songs he played were moshworthy. KISS @ Staples – The last show of the year! Ended 2k9 with a fuckin bang. The hottest band in the world proved that they still have an army. Whew, great summer that flowed right into Rocktober. Keep checking back, cause FromPitToLawn.com lives. :Q: Hey Metal Steph, Trivium is playingMayhem Fest @ The San Manuel Ampitheatre 7/12/09 Third show for me in three nights and still rockin the horns. After the wall of death at MMFM I don’t know how I made it to another show. First of all I must thank Princess Raqueline for the amazing pit ticket! So me and Zyner were standing in line and heard Trivium starting their set (ugh). So as soon as we got in we ran right over to the side stages. They had the 2 side stages side by side so that when one band ended, the other would start right away. Pretty efficient setup. Trivium started with Rain, but by the time we made it down there they were on their 2nd song When All Light Dies. The rest of their short set included Down From the Sky, Throes of Perdition and Pull Harder. Pretty good considering their short amount of time given. Perfect mix of old songs and new songs. Also Paolo shaved his head… Now it just looks like he has a tiny head. Good job. Cannibal Corpse came up next on the other side stage and they just destroyed. Don’t really know much about them but they did play the one song I knew, I Cum Blood. It doesn’t get any more metal than that. That was the end of the side stages and the main stage was about to start. This is where we learned how Livenation is ruining the concert experience. I’ve never had pit tickets to the San Manuel until that day, but I knew how it worked. You have a pit ticket and you can walk in… freely. But not anymore. Livenation found a way to make more money by creating VIP tickets for the pit area. These VIP tickets allow you to walk in and out of the pit like you normally would be able to. But everybody with a regular pit ticket now has to wait in line (twice) just to get down to the floor. Thanks to this awesome new system we missed all of Bullet for my Valentine’s set. They suck anyway but still, what if we missed Killswitch? I woulda been pissed. Speaking of Killswitch Engage, they came on right after BFMV and started with My Last Serenade. The band came out in those awesome tuxedo shirts. “It’s a black tie affair” said Howard. Up next was new song Starting Over which got pretty good reception and some people already knew the track. Then they went back into some old tunes like Fixation on the Darkness and Rose of Sharyn. Ok so I lied about the wall of death at MMFM, but during Rose of Sharyn I got to partake in my 1st wall of death. Here’s proof that I was in it… Told you. Then during End of Heartache, Howard called for everyone in the pit to crowd surf. “I want it to look like Point fucking Break out there!”, he screamed. It was the most glorious thing I’ve ever seen at a metal show (besides tits). And yes there were plenty of tits. Up next (and should’ve been last, no offense to Manson fans…) was SLAYER!!! By then I was so tired that I told Zyner that I was done moshing and I wouldn’t leave her behind again. The furious metal attack started with Disciple, great song to open with. They played all the classics like Chemical Warfare, War Ensemble, Dead Skin Mask, Mandatory Suicide. Once I heard the drums start for Hell Awaits, forget what I said earlier about the pit. It was on! That song is probably my favorite Slayer song and it sounded just as good as all the other times I’ve seen them. They ended the set with all hell breaking lose playing Angel of Death, South of Heaven and Raining Blood. Slayer has to be one of the last old school heavy metal bands that still sounds like they did when they started. True survivors. Marilyn Manson… He put on quite a show, but when will the music start? I’ll let Zyner talk about this one since she’s the real MM fan. Mayhem Fest totally made me forget that there was no Ozzfest this year. Even if there was it would be hard to beat Mayhem for the title of best summer tour, cause that’s exactly what this was. :Q: Ya Mo F’n B LateMichael McDonald & Boz Scaggs @ The Greek Theater 7/11/09 That’s right kids, back to back shows! Unfortunately Kristian and I were under the impression that Boz would be opening, so we got there a little late. Surprise, McDonald (who now shall be known as MMFM) was just starting Heard It Through the Grapevine when we got there. The good news was that while Kris was standing in the drink line, I was getting a front row view from the side. MMFM sounded so good it was like we were still in the 70s. His piano playing was jammin’ as well along with the band. Up next was the Doobie Brothers’ classic Minute by Minute and they jammed it straight into Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, one of the best covers to come out recently. In fact, if you haven’t picked up MMFM’s Motown and Motown 2 you better do that immediately. Another great track from that collection came up next, Ain’t Nothin Like the Real Thing. The set was closed with What a Fool Believes which had the whole crowd singing along and clapping along. I’m singing it right now as I’m typing. The encore started with an amazing piano solo which led right into Keeps You Runnin and he finished the night with Takin It to the Streets. Could it get anymore metal than that? Yes it could… Boz Scaggs started his set with Jojo and his band just came out on fire. I couldn’t believe I was there to witness two of the most unmistakable voices in music. And speaking of great voices, with Boz was Ms. Monet who is just an amazing talent. For one song Boz left the floor and let her take the spotlight. Ms. Monet had the crowd on their feet after singing the song Until You Come Back to Me. Then Boz came back out and rocked The Greek with Lowdown. For the second encore Boz introduced one of his favorite singers, who just happened to be MMFM. They closed the night with a song together. New Orleans + Motown = heavy f’n metal. :Q: |
