Author: RockNRollRecollections

Tenacious D 6/26/22

It had been awhile since I had a double header with a concert two nights in a row but here I was. I was a casual fan of “The D” from my Portland days when one of my co-workers showed me “Fuck Her Gently” from the first album and I doubled over with laughter. Here was my chance to see this “Comedy Rock” duo akin to the Blues Brothers but by the time I convinced myself to go out on a “school night” and convinced Wayne to go with me tickets were over $100 a pop because much to my surprise the concert was damn near sold out. It was the final date of the tour but OUCH. I wanted to see The D but not that badly. Long story short I found “Standing Room” tickets a couple days beforehand that would at least get us in the venue for only $30 each, which seemed much more reasonable.

First up was “Puddles Pity Party,” which is a six foot eight inch giant clown whose real name is Michael Geier. He came out and did an entire set of revamped versions of cover songs in his beautiful baritone whilst keeping in the character of a depressed clown. Very strange but I understand why The D would covet Puddles as an opener.

Next up was none other than Mr. Jack Black and Mr. Kyle Gass. They were both armed with acoustic guitars and flanked by an extremely talented guy playing electric guitar, an extremely talented guy playing bass and an alright drummer (most drummers have a hard time impressing me). It took me quite awhile to realize that Jack Black kept referring to Kyle as “Cage” because his initials are K.G. but it did not take long after The D went on before Wayne and I waded into the seating section to see if we could find a couple vacant seats. After nearly getting to the walkway between sections where all the security guards were we came upon about eight empty seats together in the second row and made ourselves at home. Good thing because this is right about the time the gummies I ate kicked in. Even better – nobody ever came to kick us out. As for the show itself there were a number of songs that I had forgotten about like “Kielbasa” that were amazing. It makes me laugh every time Jack Black sings “Your butt cheeks is warm.” His overall operatic delivery was also quite impressive as was “Fuck Her Gently” as the closer but I think what was most impressive is the rabid fan base I was not expecting. No matter where we were there were people all around that knew every word and were really getting into it. In a time where there is no shortage of serious shit going down it was easy to figure out why everyone including myself was enjoying the moment so much.

SETLIST: Post-Apocalypto Theme, B JR Rap, Woman Time, Save the World, Post-Apocalypto Theme (Reprise), Rize of the Fenix, Low Hangin’ Fruit, To Be the Best, They Fucked Our Asses, Sax-a-Boom, Roadie, Kickapoo, The Metal, Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown), Dude (I Totally Miss You), Friendship, Kielbasa, Tribute, Double Team, Explosivo, Master Exploder, Fuck Her Gently

John Fogerty 6/25/22

John Fogerty has officially entered the “playing county fairs” stage of his career, which is fine by me because it was much easier to go see him in Del Mar than going to Vegas again (he is still doing residencies in Vegas as well). 

What made this occasion extra special is that Ingrid and I were joined by her dad and his wife. Her dad is a drummer and loves CCR. He has a great story about going up to Berkeley in 1968 or 69 and getting arrested for looking the wrong way combined with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to hang out in the area for another week to await his court date and during that time met a couple girls who were staying with Country Joe and the Fish that let him know there was going to be a free concert at the clock tower with new bands Santana Blues Band and a band that just changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

Back to the show – Mr. Fogerty still has it. The voice that I love so much is not quite what it used to be but is still unmistakably his and ironically lends itself better to his solo material now. He changes guitars during his set like other performers change wardrobes and shared a fun story about his beloved Rickenbacker. Apparently at a low point right before the disbandment of CCR he gave it away to a 10 year old fan that came to the studio asking if he could have something and this is what he gave him. Many years later the guitar was located but the owner wanted a handsome sum for the guitar so Fogerty passed only to later find on Christmas morning that his wife had purchased it to reunite the guitar with its rightful owner.

Fogerty’s two sons Shane and Tyler were still a part of his band this time and like last time I saw John Fogerty they did “Good Golly Miss Molly” with Tyler taking on the crazy high parts. I am jealous of his dance moves. Guess who else showed up like last time? Yep Bill Walton, who is becoming a fixture at concerts I attend.

My hands down favorite moment was when they played “Ramble Tamble.” Ramble Tamble!!! I could not believe my ears. This is one of my favorite CCR songs and I could not believe he played it because this is more of a deep cut. CCR definitely has way more hits he could have played. It was extra cool because Ingrid and I were wearing our Cosmo’s Factory shirts. I choose to believe someone from their camp saw us wearing these shirts so he decided to play the song for us. Alright that is probably a stretch but still super cool.

At age 77 this plaid shirt loving son of a bitch does not have anything left to prove and I doubt he needs the money. He seems to just be having fun and creating memories with his boys that they will cherish forever.

Setlist: Up Around the Bend, Green River, Born on the Bayou, Rock and Roll Girls, Who’ll Stop the Rain, Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Hot Rod Heart, Ramble Tamble, Joy of My Life, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Good Golly Miss Molly, New Orleans, Keep On Chooglin’, Have You Ever Seen the Rain?, Down on the Corner, Centerfield, The Old Man Down the Road, Fortunate Son, Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary 

Slipknot 6/18/22

This show had been on my radar ever since I learned about it but I figured it may be hard to get others to join in so held off on pulling the trigger since I knew it would not sell out and I could always pick up a cheap lawn ticket at the last minute. Enter Larry: he purchased four tickets to take the whole family then decided to be in Greece on show day so sold me the lot for $120. Bob and Kyle were supposed to join for the rare Saturday concert but had to back out so that left just Wayne and I plus two extra tickets that I had to dump on StubHub and probably still have not been paid for.

By the time we entered the cookie cutter amphitheater we had missed Ho99o9 and Cypress Hill had just taken the stage. We were supposed to be in the Lawn section but when we walked in there was no one guarding the 300 level so we just walked into that section and made ourselves at home in a couple empty seats, where we would end up staying for the remainder of the show. There was no Sen Dog as he apparently was dealing with the aftermath of a medial procedure. Considering they were down a key member and sandwiched in between a couple heavy metal bands they performed admirably. It certainly helped that every song they played was a banger. 

This was my eighth time seeing Slipknot but I had not seen them since Aftershock, which was almost three years prior to this. My first thought as the stage curtain disappeared was that they have not changed their stage setup for years but that thought quickly disappeared as I was getting pummeled with “Disasterpiece.” The songs and performance were as fierce as ever. Thankfully they are still putting out excellent new music that excites me. As the show went on I could not help but wonder why Mick’s hair is perpetually wet and just then he emptied a water bottle on his head. Speaking of hair I also noticed that Jim does way more exaggerated hair twirls than I remember him doing. This was Wayne’s first time seeing Slipknot and he just kept saying “This is dope!” Dope indeed. For my money the 1-2-3 punch of “Vermillion,” “Duality” and “Spit It Out” would have been worth it alone but then at the end of the show Corey Taylor announced the greatest encore of all as he promised new Slipknot music in a month…

SETLIST: Disasterpiece, Wait and Bleed, All Out Life, Sulfur, Before I Forget, The Chapeltown Rag, Dead Memories, Unsainted, The Heretic Anthem, Psychosocial, The Devil in I, Snuff, Vermillion, Duality, Spit It Out, People = Shit, Surfacing

Royal Blood 5/8/22

I love me a two piece band and Royal Blood’s frontman Mike Kerr plays a bass that is also rigged to sound like an electric guitar at the same time with one of the best sounding distortion tones I have ever heard. Bob was originally set to go with me but the show ended up falling on Mother’s Day so Calvin took his place. We arrived at the Observatory with just enough time to grab a beverage and relieve ourselves before the opener Cleopatrick came out. Cleopatrick is also a two piece with a frontman that had a unique way of playing guitar most of the time but then again they are from Canada…they were ok and I did recognize the songs “Family Van,” ” Hometown” and “The Drake.” 


Royal Blood’s third album Typhoons was released on 4/30/21. With this album came the addition of keys and therefore a keyboard player was added to the live show for a number of tracks. The newer songs were great and having another entire album to choose from really helped round out their set. This also allowed them to save and build up to favorites “Loose Change,” “Figure It Out” and “Out of the Black.” At one point Mike said something like “I have 18 effects pedals. Do you want to hear what all of them sound like at once?” I think my mind popped right out of my head. At another point during the show Mike told a story about being in a walking boot for awhile and then held an auction for the boot as it appeared from the ceiling on a wire. Proceeds were to go to charity and the winning bidder got to go backstage for a meet and greet with the band. The winning bid was $3k to some gal standing in the VIP section. My other favorite moments were when Mike performed “All We Have Is Now” by himself on piano and when Ben teased the crowd before using the gong behind him. This band is all killer no filler.


SETLIST: Typhoons, Boilermaker, Lights Out, Come On Over, Trouble’s Coming, Hook, Line & Sinker, Honeybrains, Little Monster, How Did We Get So Dark?, Blood Hands, Million and One, Limbo, Loose Change, Figure It Out, All We Have Is Now, Ten Tonne Skeleton, Out of the Black

Pearl Jam 5/3/22

After over a two year delay (show was originally scheduled for 4/13/20) the day had finally arrived for me to see Pearl Jam for only the second time ever, which still blows my mind with as many shows I go to plus the fact that I grew up in Washington state, but to be fair there was this weird unspoken childish thing back in the day that if you liked Nirvana you could not also like Pearl Jam. My second Pearl Jam sighting was pale in comparison to my buddy PM who held onto our tickets that he purchased through the Ten Club to see Pearl Jam for the 51st time! 


We arrived just in time to grab a couple beverages and make our way to the seats before Ed came out and treated the early attendees to a solo acoustic performance of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart” before introducing Josh Klinghoffer as the opening act then disappearing. Klinghoffer played some dissonant type stuff and had an unexpected higher pitched singing voice that absolutely nailed “Take My Breath Away” from the Top Gun soundtrack. He also introduced me to the baritone guitar, which is downright embarrassing for someone who also plays guitar (though not even 1% of how good this guy plays).  


Our seats were good because we were near the soundboard but not as good as I would have expected the Ten Club to dole out to a longtime member. They were definitely better than the last time I saw Pearl Jam at this exact same venue since this time I was actually in front of the band instead of sitting behind them like last time. In fact the stark stage setup was identical to that other time in 2006 with only minimal lights, two screens to show action from the stage and people sitting behind the stage (they also turned around and played one song to the people back there just like last time). This is a band that does not need anything but the power of song and I am fairly certain the electricity from the crowd would have been enough to power the electronics in the building. Many of the band members have a San Diego connection which made this opening night of the tour that much more special not only for the crowd but surely the band themselves as well. Ed took time to point out his mother, his guitar teacher and Bill Walton in the crowd, which now makes for two shows I have been to with Bill Walton!


The once new album Gigaton was now two years old but 2/3 of it was so seamlessly integrated into their set that it felt like an old friend, especially “Superblood Wolfmoon” that would not be out of place on one of the first albums. “Porch” was the last song played before the encore break and what Mike McCready did during that song was nothing short of obscene in the best of ways. He is so much of a BEAST that even after they came back from the break Ed said, “He looks a little sunburned but that was just his face next to the amp that was shooting out flames.” Classic. Just like the bottle of wine Ed downed during the show and playing “Alive” as the closer, which felt like it had a little more meaning after these last couple years.


SETLIST: Oceans, Retrograde, Never Destination, Corduroy, Dance of the Clairvoyants, Amongst the Waves, Even Flow, Who Ever Said, Quick Escape, Long Road, Given to Fly, Superblood Wolfmoon, Daughter, Seven O’Clock, Jeremy, Porch, Lightning Bolt, Better Man, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, River Cross, Footsteps, Once, Alive

Ministry 4/14/22

After being rescheduled numerous times due to the pandemic it was finally time to actually see this concert! The delay actually ended up being favorable as neither Melvins or Corrosion of Conformity were originally scheduled to be the openers. Bob and I arrived with just enough time to grab a brew and make our way in front of the sound guy before Corrosion of Conformity come out on stage. My first thought was that House of Blues is always smaller than I remember and my second thought was surprise that COC was opening but in reality Melvins have a much larger discography. 


COC handled their business as usual. If a member of one of the other bands on the tour with you (Paul D’Amour) is caught watching from the wings for most of your set then you must be doing something right. As I watched COC I realized that we actually saw COC with Ministry back at Danzig’s “Blackest of the Black” festival about five years before this. I particularly enjoyed “Shake Like You” from their set and wanted to love “Clean My Wounds” but they went into excessive noodling mode for their closer. 


SETLIST: Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo), Paranoid Opioid, Shake Like You, Diablo Blvd., Senor Limpio, Vote With A Bullet, Wiseblood, Albatross, Who’s Got the Fire, Clean My Wounds


Melvins are always a treat and this showing was no exception. Buzz has full on adopted the “pissed off Wizard” look and this plays nicely with the brand of music they embrace. “Queen” was ferocious and my favorite on their setlist but it was also cool to see Roy Mayorga come out and do simultaneous drumming with Dale Crover for “Hooch” and “Honey Bucket.” It was hard not to notice the difference in sound quality between COC and Melvins and that got me thinking about how at most concerts the actual sound quality is progressively better with each band on the bill. 


SETLIST: The Kicking Machine, It’s Shoved, Anaconda, Queen, Charlie, Billy Fish, Civilized Worm, Never Say You’re Sorry, Evil New War God, Hooch, Honey Bucket, The Bit


Ministry was the original draw for this show and by the end of the night it would be crystal clear why they were the headliner. The tour was originally supposed to be celebrating the 30th birthday of The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste but they also cranked out a new album in Moral Hygiene during the pandemic. Ministry had a chain link fence placed at the very front of the stage, which created a very strange dynamic between the band and the crowd. Were they in a cage or were we? What can I say? I have seen Ministry many times and they always find ways to surprise me. On this night they were LOUD AS FUCK and went deep into the catalog. The Setlist was five oldies to the face followed by two Pailhead songs then another five to the face before three from Moral Hygiene for the encore. The crowd went ape shit the entire show and during “The Missing” I actually went missing to Bob when I got swept up in the “toilet bowl” effect of the mosh pit. The next thing I know I was only four rows from the stage, where I would stay for the rest of concert. It was so much more calm up there versus back by the mixer where I originally was.


SETLIST: Breathe, The Missing, Deity, Stigmata, Supernaut, Don’t Stand In Line, Man Should Surrender, Burning Inside, N.W.O., Just One Fix, Thieves, So What, Alert Level, Good Trouble, Search and Destroy 

The Darkness 3/9/22

MY 300TH POST!!!

The Darkness were originally set to stop in San Diego on 4/24/20 to promote the Easter Is Cancelled album but that whole pandemic thing happened…so in a way this was a make-up date for that show. It sucked the original show was cancelled but the fact that they were playing at one of my favorite places to see a concert in San Diego, they now had an even newer album less than four months old to promote (Motorheart) and this was the first date of the tour more than made it up for the delay. I had only seen them one other time back in 2015 so what was two more years anyway?  

Bob and I entered the venue in time to see most of opening set from The Dead Deads, a no-frills band of three ladies that rocked. The super snarling guitar tone didn’t hurt anything as far as I’m concerned. 

For whatever reason this show was not overly crowded so after the Dead Deads, Bob and I posted up fairly close to the stage right in the center and had plenty of breathing room. The Darkness were simply fantastic. These guys ARE rock and roll – the look, the swagger, the chops. Though I was bummed they only played one song from the Easter Is Cancelled album that I grew very fond of I have to respect the fact that they went full steam ahead with four tracks from the newer album. Even more impressively they ended up playing seven of the 10 songs from their debut Permission to Land.  

Bob made the comment that every song felt like a grand finale and I think that is part of what makes this band so special. They are built to rock large stadiums but put in the same effort even for a smaller venue like this. Justin Hawkins and his three full costume changes (if you can call his last outfit of hat and undies an outfit) kept jumping off the drum riser at the end of nearly every song but I was never prepared to take the perfect picture of him doing so while doing the splits ala vintage Steven Tyler or David Lee Roth. Rock ‘N’ Roll is supposed to be dangerous and loud but these guys remind you that when the right band comes along it can also be a hell of a lot of fun. 

SETLIST: Welcome Tae Glasgae, One Way Ticket, Growing On Me, Motorheart, Open Fire, Sticky Situations, Givin’ Up, It’s Love Jim, Black Shuck, Heart Explodes, Friday Night, Love Is Only A Feeling, Japanese Prisoner Of Love, Solid Gold, Barbarian, Get Your Hands Off My Woman, I Believe In A Thing Called Love 

The Sword 3/5/22

There is no logical explanation as to why but The Sword was always a band that I heard about more than I actually heard. I decided to put that notion to rest when I randomly saw an advertisement for the show at the Belly Up on a Saturday. After convincing Wayne and Calvin to go with me I took a crash course in their discography and headed to Culture Brewing Company next door to meet Wayne then met Calvin inside. Once inside Wayne asked me if I knew where the best place in the whole venue to post up was then proceeded to lead me to an area that I thought was previously reserved for people of clout or with well-endowed bank accounts. He was right. This was the best place to be in the entire venue and I will keep the location to myself just in case someone actually reads this little blog. 

The opening band was called Zombi, which was just one guy pulling double duty on bass and keyboards as well as a drummer. The music was atmospheric with no shortage of synthesizer soundscapes that at times strangely reminded me of Rush. 

After a short intermission The Sword appeared and proceeded to rock the fuck out of the place for the next hour plus. The energy of their live show added a new layer to the already superbly crafted songs on the albums. All four members frequently locked in to spit something out from the stage that was undeniable. The Belly Up only holds 600 people but every person in that place worshiped the Sword. 

This experience made me wonder why a band of this caliber does not have a bigger following but then I thought back to an interview I watched earlier in the day with Stephen Carpenter from the Deftones. He essentially said the more complex the music is the smaller your audience is. The smaller audiences will kill for you but big audiences (what I like to call music for the masses) gravitate towards something simple. That was The Sword to a “T” and for that is just fine by me. 

System of a Down 2/1/22

This was originally supposed to be a one-off show on May 22, 2020 in L.A. with Helmet, Faith No More, Korn and System of a Down all on the bill. Due to popularity another date was added but then the show was postponed multiple times due to COVID so I sold my tickets. Then more cities were added including San Diego so I bought a ticket…then Faith No More dropped off the tour…then Helmet dropped off the tour.  

Long story short this show was a long time coming and despite half of the bands I wanted to see no longer being in the lineup I was still excited to see Korn and really excited to see System of a Down, especially since the timing was now perfect to bid farewell to “dry” January and because this was my first actual concert in six months. As such Bob, Kyle, Christi, Larry and I all met at the campus bar/restaurant Eureka to have a few before walking over to the show. 

I thought departing at 7:45 would leave enough time to catch some of the opener Russian Circles since the show started at 7:30 but was rudely awoken as we approached the arena and heard the familiar sounds of Korn emanating through the night air. It turns out the show actually started at 7 pm and Korn went on at 7:30 sharp. Now not only was there no Faith No More or Helmet but we had inadvertently missed half of Korn’s set as well because by the time we made our way to the floor they were finishing up “Coming Undone.” I was beside myself but enjoyed what was left of their set, particularly their masterful mashup of multiple songs. Fieldy was absent (Suicidal Tendencies bassist Ra Diaz filled in) but the overall spirit of Korn was not. 

Korn SETLIST: Here to Stay, Falling Away From Me, Start the Healing, Got the Life, Rotting in Vain, Shoots and Ladders, Clown, Coming Undone, Y’All Want a Single, Freak On A Leash, It’s On/Trash/Did My Time, Twist, A.D.I.D.A.S., Blind 

Everything that happened before System of a Down came on all went away the second they appeared with the energetically perfect opening song of “X.” From then on it was a beautiful blur of spiritual proportions. Rock ‘N’ Roll is my religion and this concert was my much-needed church service.  

System of a Down SETLIST: X, Prison Song, Holy Mountains, Mind, Cigaro, Suite-Pee, Needles, Deer Dance, Soldier Side-Intro, Soldier Side, B.Y.O.B., Genocidal Humanoidz, Suggestions, Psycho, Chop Suey!, Lonely Day, Lost In Hollywood, Radio/Video, Dreaming, Hypnotize, ATWA, Bounce, Chic ‘N’ Stu, Protect the Land, Aerials, Toxicity, Sugar 

Why yes that is a gentleman in a wheelchair crowdsurfing!

Metallica Livestream 12/19/21

This stream started much like the predecessor from two nights prior but this time it was Tom Morello’s voice instead of Jason Momoa’s doing the introduction. Metallica’s previous set started with their oldest material and ascended through the catalog but tonight was the opposite as they started with selections from the newest album and descended in order until we ended up at Kill Em’ All. I thought they would surely play “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and I predictably did not get “The Four Horsemen” but “Am I Evil?,” “Bleeding Me” and ”Harvester of Sorrow” more than made up for this. Another rocking set with great energy from these living legends.

SETLIST: Hardwired, The End of the Line, Dirty Window, I Disappear, Am I Evil?, The Memory Remains, Fuel, Bleeding Me, Wasting My Hate, The Unforgiven, Enter Sandman, Harvester of Sorrow, Master of Puppets, Fade to Black, Whiplash, Seek & Destroy