2008

Street Scene 9/20/08

After having Street Scene in the parking lot of Qualcomm Stadium in 2005 and 2006, followed by a move to the amphitheater in Chula Vista for 2007 it was time to bring the festival back to it’s roots on the streets of downtown San Diego. For the money the lineup was for the most part pretty blah to me with one glaring exception: Eagles of Death Metal. Since the drummer was none other than Mr. Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age fame I was on board that train immediately after the first album was released. I liked that the band name included death metal but the music sounded nothing like death metal. The same sense of humor gave a fun feeling to some really well crafted songs. Fast forward four years and Eagles of Death Metal were on the verge of releasing their third album Heart On and I had still not seen them live.

This was Day Two of the festival and I want to say single day tickets were about $65. A little steep to see a shorter set from one band you really like. Cue Craigslist. I found a gal willing to sell me a ticket for much less and meet me at the entrance. I was very clear with her that I was only concerned about seeing one band that started at 8:30 and so as long as she met me before then everything would be cool. My cab came earlier than expected so I got there a little earlier than our meeting time which meant I was able to see but mostly just hear Ghostland Observatory since they were playing at the stage nearest the entrance. Ben had introduced to this band to me and I had taken a liking to their song “Piano Man.” Back to the real reason I was there, I called the gal and she said she was on her way. The time kept creeping near 8:30 and still no gal. 8:30 passed and now I was pissed. I called to tell the gal to forget it and she pleaded “but I’m on my way.” Too late, literally. By now I had missed two songs of an already shortened set so I bit the bullet and paid the fucking ATM fees on top of a full priced ticket and got my ass to that stage as quickly as I could. To add insult to injury there was no Homme. In his place was Joey from Queens of the Stone Age so all was well. “Feel good rock” is a good way to describe their music. It has a very danceable quality to it and Jesse Hughes actually dancing to the music as he was performing was too infectious for the entire crowd to not be feeling it too. Well worth the dough to hear the live versions of “I Only Want You,” “Speaking In Tongues,” and “Whorehoppin’ (Shit, Goddamn)” though I am certain out of everyone in attendance I was at the festival the least amount of time.

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Toadies 9/9/08

I love Toadies. I was lucky enough to see them when they were touring for Hell Below/Stars Above back in 2001 right before they broke up and I was also lucky enough to catch Mr. Vaden Todd Lewis in Burden Brothers about four years before this. Now Toadies were back together and touring for their killer new album No Deliverance that was less than three weeks old.

The Belly Up is an intimate venue holding just 600 people tucked away just a block off the 101 in Solana Beach. I had never been before so Marvin and I jumped at the chance to see the newly reunited Toadies at a famed San Diego venue. After a couple beers in the truck we were both in awe of the venue made up pretty much entirely of hardwood which also created a really great ambiance in the room. Toadies had not lost a step. I was in hog heaven and may or may not have screamed “What We Have We Steal” at the stage. Instead of hearing the song get played I may or may not have gotten a slight scowl in return but nothing was going to kill the vibe in the room that night. A great band in a great venue. Welcome back Toadies!

Radiohead 8/27/08

Radiohead was touring behind the album In Rainbows that was released in October of the previous year as a pay-what-you-want-download. It was a ballsy move. Not only did it pay off but advanced overall control of material for all artists.

To be completely honest this is another of those shows I simply do not remember much of. Not because I drank too much but because it is just not that memorable to me. Maybe it is because I did not have the super anticipation of seeing them like I did the first time I saw them a little over two years before this for free. Who knows? What I do know is Donna and I were able to get pretty good seats in Section 103 which was on the opposite side of the stage as the masterful maniac Jonny Greenwood. What I also know is my excitement peaked at the end of their first encore when they played three of my favorite Radiohead tunes in a row that they had left out last time around starting with “Just.”

SETLIST: 15 Step, Airbag, There There, All I Need, Nude, Talk Show Host, Where I End and You Begin, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The Gloaming, Faust Arp, How to Disappear Completely, Reckoner, Optimistic, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Pyramid Song, Climbing Up the Walls, Bodysnatchers, House of Cards, You and Whose Army?, Just, Paranoid Android, Street Spirit (Fade Out), Videotape, Lucky, Everything in Its Right Place

Stone Temple Pilots 7/27/08

Twice in the same month? You bet your sweet ass. For some reason concert promoters thought it would be a good idea to have some concerts this summer in what was essentially a small practice field in the southwest corner of the parking lot of the stadium where the Chargers played. They touted it as “Concerts on the Green” at Qualcomm and the space probably held about 5,000 people. The show was general admission, which meant Sam, Marvin, Bob and I were free to roam as we pleased which of course meant up close in the action.

Wolfmother opened and was awesome, especially when they played “Joker & the Thief.” They were still touring behind their eponymous debut album released nearly three years before this. I am continually amazed at two and three piece bands.

As for STP it was essentially the same show I saw earlier in the month (sans mushrooms); great energy, great set list, great performance. Weiland seemed to be a little more riled up but STP did have a history with San Diego. At one point during “Sex Type Thing” Weiland climbed the scaffolding, which is always a crowd pleaser.

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Mayhem Festival 7/16/08

Despite the many bands playing on this day to me it was really just a Slipknot show with Disturbed opening. This combined with the fact that I had to go it alone made for an easy decision to just show up at the end of the day.

Disturbed was on tour for their fourth album Indestructible that was released in June. I had not seen them since Ozzfest a couple years prior to this and come to think of it every time I saw Disturbed was at Ozzfest except for when they opened for Korn and this time. They were good but not as good as other times I had seen them.

During the interim before Slipknot I went to relieve myself and grab a beer and ran into Bob. I am not sure how we failed to coordinate going to the show together but Bob had his 11-year-old nephew in tow and I had a floor ticket so we parted ways.

A lot happened since I last saw Slipknot at Ozzfest 2001. For starters I was now super into them thanks to Vol.3 (The Subliminal Verses) so even though this would be my fourth time seeing Slipknot it was the first time I was actually excited to see them. This was about a month before Slipknot released All Hope Is Gone so the only new material we got to hear was “Psychosocial” since that was officially released a week before this show. I did not see any of the Vol. 3 tour dates so it was still quite a treat to hear those songs live. I got right up to the front and basically got pinned there for the duration of the set so I had a great view the entire time and could freak out without really being out of place. The photo I took of Joey Jordison’s drum set spinning in the air gives you an idea of how close I was. Bob later told me that his nephew was so scared of what was going on that they had to leave prematurely. I doubt that is a memory he will be forgetting anytime soon.

SETLIST: Surfacing, The Blister Exists, Get This, Before I Forget, Disasterpiece, Psychosocial, The Heretic Anthem, Prosthetics, Duality, People = Shit, (sic)

Journey 7/15/08

I have a picture of Marvin, Sam, Macy and myself at this concert. I look super baked which was nothing new for me at a concert but to actually see a picture of myself in that state is comical. Cheap Trick was opening and I was fairly upset that we could not drag ourselves from drinking beer in the parking lot in time to see them. I was never a huge Cheap Trick fan outside of “I Want You to Want Me” and “Dream Police” but c’mon these guys are a solid piece of rock and roll history.

Thankfully we did get in to see all of Heart’s set. I had never seen any of the three bands at this concert and Heart was the one I was most excited about. I lived through Heart’s “80’s MTV phase” where they were pumping out hits for the masses but the real Heart to me has always been their stuff from the 70’s like “Crazy On You,” “Magic Man,” “Barracuda,” “Kick It Out,” and “Straight On.” Quite simply Heart fucking rocked. I was blown away by Ann’s vocal performance. She poured her all into those songs like the songs were brand new even though she had been singing them for decades.

Journey was one of those mega bands you just could not avoid growing up unless you were living under a rock. They had so many hits showcasing a great mix of slow songs and heavier songs but they were never quite the same once Steve Perry left the band (just like nearly every other band that loses their vocalist). Enter Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer that had just been appointed Journey’s singer about eight months prior to this show. Watching this incarnation of Journey was an absolute mindfuck. If I closed my eyes Steve Perry was singing but when my eyes were open I saw a tiny Filipino man with a shit ton of energy flying around the stage singing his heart out. He was clearly enjoying himself and I think it is safe to say that all of us in attendance were also enjoying ourselves.

Stone Temple Pilots 7/2/08

Red Rocks is the only other place ever mentioned in the same breath as the Gorge in terms of concert venues so of course I had to go see for myself what all the rave reviews were about. The excuse to finally go came to fruition when STP decided to stop at Red Rocks on their summer tour, which happened to align perfectly with my friends Jason and Susan living in Denver for the moment and a few unexpected days off from work. Marvin and his girlfriend at the time decided to come along partially because the girlfriend’s parents that lived in Denver happened to be out of town that week, thus giving us a free place to stay.

I had not seen STP since they headlined the Family Values tour back in 2001 when they were touring for their last release, the criminally underrated Shangri-La Dee Da. STP disbanded not long after in 2003 due to tensions within the band. After the disbandment Scott made a couple albums with Velvet Revolver and the Deleo brothers made one with Army of Anyone. Now they were back for a “reunion tour” and the fans were there to welcome them with open arms. There was no new album to promote, just a celebration of the badass music already in the catalog.

Red Rocks was exactly as advertised; a natural amphitheater embedded in the red rock formations in the middle of nowhere outside of Denver. The interesting part of the area to me is that these red rocks are only in the one small area where the amphitheater is. Everything else around is nothing but flat land.

I am not sure why but we arrived to the venue fairly early which left a lot of time to drink and screw around in the parking lot beforehand. The only thing we were missing was mushrooms. If I was going to come all that way to compare one natural amphitheater to another I thought it was worth doing it right. Unfortunately Jason’s connection fell through. We befriended our parking lot neighbors but they did not have any either. Then in a moment of sheer serendipity the universe must have heard my request because right after our parking lot neighbors told me they did not have any some random guy came around the car and asked if we wanted to buy some mushrooms. You can’t make this stuff up folks.

I cannot tell you who opened the show but I can say with confidence that the mushrooms were strong and Stone Temple Pilots were on point for this show. They sounded fantastic! I had a great experience at Red Rocks but I still have to give the edge to the Gorge.

SETLIST: Big Empty, Wicked Garden, Big Bang Baby, Silvergun Superman, We Will Rock You, Vasoline, Lounge Fly, Lady Picture Show, Sour Girl, Creep, Crackerman, Plush, Interstate Love Song, Too Cool Queenie, Coma, Down, Sex Type Thing, Sin, Dead & Bloated, Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart

Megadeth 5/20/08

I flew solo for this one but I had to do it because I had somehow never seen Megadeth. Spurred by the amazing riffage of “Symphony of Destruction” I had the Countdown to Extinction album on loop in my Walkman around the time I was a freshman in high school. I had not followed Megadeth very closely since Cryptic Writings and by now they were on tour for the album United Abominations, which was the fourth album since Cryptic Writings. Due to my casual fandom I did not know the majority of songs played during the first part of the set but they went on a nice little run starting with “Ashes in Your Mouth” that made the show for me. I felt like I was in an 80’s music video with all the hair flying around. Randomly enough this concert was professionally recorded and released as “Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego” which I was able to find on YouTube and post below.

SETLIST: Sleepwalker, Wake Up Dead, Take No Prisoners, Skin O’ My Teeth, Washington Is Next!, Kick the Chair, In My Darkest Hour, Hangar 18, Burnt Ice, A Tout Le Monde, Tornado of Souls, Ashes in Your Mouth, Sweating Bullets, Symphony of Destruction, Trust, Peace Sells, Holy Wars…The Punishment Due

KROQ Weenie Roast 5/17/08

The KROQ Weenie Roast is an annual multi-artist music concert hosted by L.A.’s biggest rock station KROQ that was held at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater up until it was demolished in 2016. This was the first time Marvin, Bob, Bob’s then girlfriend or I had ever been to the now defunct cookie-cutter amphitheater. I did not have a ticket but Marvin has his ways and found me a ticket in the parking lot.

Ticket secured and however many beers later we walked in at the top of the hill to a band playing that looked like it was being fronted by a dark hairy mass with a guitar that resembled Kim Thayil from Soundgarden. Just as I was laughing with the boys about this I realized that the frontman was a beard clad Daron Malakian from System of a Down. I did not know the songs because Scars on Broadway were still a couple of months away from releasing their eponymous album but I was instantly hooked, especially once I saw his brother from System of a Down John Dalmayan drumming behind him.

Apparently we missed MGMT on the second stage but that is because none of us knew who they were yet. Seether was next on the main stage and I had literally seen them a month before this. No complaints here as they were just as rocking during the daylight hours as they were headlining their own show in the darkness.

The Raconteurs were touring for their newest effort Consolers of the Lonely that was released about two months before this. I had the pleasure of seeing them one other time in a tiny place after the first album (see The Raconteurs 7/19/06) and was more than ecstatic to see the new songs performed live. Jack White = Guitar God.

Apparently the only time I saw The Offspring about seven years prior to this was not long before they took a little hiatus, but now they were back to promote the album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace that was about to be released. We did get a teaser of the new album less than two weeks before this show with the release of the single “Hammerhead.” Solid setlist, solid performance and so much energy that even the crowd in the very steep lawn section got moving. This was the first time I saw bonfires break out in the lawn section if that gives any indication of how rowdy the crowd was. If that’s not rock n’ roll then I don’t know what is.

SETLIST: Come Out and Play, The Kids Aren’t Alright, Hammerhead, All I Want, Gone Away, Staring at the Sun, Gotta Get Away, Want You Bad, You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid, Bad Habit, Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), (Can’t Get My) Head Around You, Self Esteem

We were still about four months away from the release of Death Magnetic at the time of this show and I had not seen Metallica since the very first time I saw them over 12 years prior at Lollapalooza 1996. Both the show and upcoming album marked the introduction of bassist Robert Trujillo but Metallica avoided playing any new material. This was a set of balls-to-the-wall epic Metallica classics and they looked happy to be out of the confines of the studio and back onto a stage.

SETLIST: Creeping Death, Fuel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam, Harvester of Sorrow, The Memory Remains, Fade to Black, Master of Puppets, Battery, Sad but True, One, Enter Sandman, So What, Seek & Destroy

Seether 4/19/08

Seether gave fans another opportunity to see them on tour when they released what I consider to be their third album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (I count Disclaimer II as a remix album), which came out about six months before this show. This meant my second concert out on the lawn at Viejas Casino and my third time seeing Seether. Flyleaf opened but as with most opening bands I could give a shit. It was just Donna and I for this one but we did end up running into one of my co-workers Dennis and his wife. What sticks out in my memory about this show is the stark stage setup. There was a single hanging light just above Shaun’s head and every once and again he would reach up and send it swinging which made for a really cool look against a black backdrop. Seether did not need an elaborate stage. All they needed was an inspired performance of great songs.

SETLIST: No Jesus Christ, Needles, Burrito, Driven Under, Rise Above This, Truth, The Gift, Gasoline, Broken, Fine Again, Fake It, Remedy

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world