Anaheim

Stone Sour 2/6/14

Stone Sour 14

Stone Sour cemented their place as one of my favorite bands with the release of the double album House of Gold & Bones Parts 1 and 2. These albums were released roughly five months apart and by this point Part 2 had been out for about 10 months. I had not seen Stone Sour for almost three and a half years so a little trip to the closest tour stop at the House of Blues Disneyland in Anaheim was not about to stop me from seeing these new songs live.

The excitement soon turned into actual sourness when suddenly not long before this show for no exact reason given Jim Root was kicked out of Stone Sour. This was really strange since they were touring an album that he had a large hand in writing and he was still in Slipknot with Corey Taylor. Due to this unexpected twist this was my first time seeing the band with Christian Martucci.

I convinced Bob to go and Ken to not only go, but drive us in his Toyota Yaris hatchback aka “the Rollerskate.” Being six foot one cramped in the backseat of that thing, eating Del Taco for dinner (I hate Del Taco) and not being able to drink a whole lot due to having to work the next day kind of drew a parallel to the show we were about to watch – it was passable but not ideal. Don’t get me wrong the show was very enjoyable but it just seemed to be missing a certain something or in this case a certain somebody. Christian Martucci filled in nicely for Jim Root but there were little nuances that were just different which made for a slightly different vibe. The “Crreping Death” cover was unexpectedly awesome and the new songs passed the live test, especially “Gravesend” and the one/two punch of “Gone Sovereign” and “Absolute Zero” to end the show.

SETLIST: The House of Gold & Bones, RU486, Say You’ll Haunt Me, Black John, Inhale, Made of Scars, Mission Statement, The Travelers, Pt. 1, Tired, Through Glass, Gravesend, 30/30-150, Nutshell, Bother, Do Me A Favor, Creeping Death, Gone Sovereign, Absolute Zero

 

 

Marilyn Manson 2/20/13

Marilyn Manson

It had been about three and a half years since I last saw Marilyn Manson in San Bernardino at the Mayhem Festival so I was pretty giddy to see them again. I convinced Bob to go with me to see them at City National Grove of Anaheim, which is adjacent to Angel Stadium.

After a sandwich from Subway and a quick toke it was in to see the opener Butcher Babies, which sounded interesting on paper because they have two singers and both are ex-Playmates. They were not the worst looking women I have ever seen and there is something hot about a woman that likes rock and roll but this just did not work for me. They kept doing this synchronized head twirl thing and it was just too much cheese.

Marilyn Manson was touring for the superb album Born Villain that was released about 10 months before this. I was floored from the start when they decided to open with my favorite track off the album “Hey, Cruel World.” Another highlight for me was “Coma White.” Marilyn seemed to put the most vocal effort into that song and the fake snow falling was a nice touch. This band is always reinventing the music and the live show so each time really is a different experience. There were all the typical costume changes that come with a Marilyn Manson show and overall this show was awesome but just not as intense as some of the other times I have seen them.

SETLIST: Hey, Cruel World, Disposable Teens, The Love Song, No Reflection, mOBSCENE, The Dope Show, Slo-Mo-Tion, Rock Is Dead, Personal Jesus, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Coma White, King Kill 33, Antichrist Superstar, The Beautiful People, Irresponsible Hate Anthem

Born Villain

Chevelle 10/30/09

Chevelle 09

Chevelle was not stopping in San Diego on their tour for the two-month-old Sci-Fi Crimes album so Bob and I decided to make our maiden voyage to the House of Blues Anaheim at Disneyland. It had been almost exactly two years since I last saw Chevelle when I snuck into Soma with Marvin.

This show is one of my favorite times that I ever saw Chevelle. For maybe the first time in my presence they actually performed on a decorated stage. Said stage consisted of red Mesa Boogie amps and a UFO theme that included a giant backdrop of the album cover. Besides the visual aspect they brought their A game and sounded fantastic. We started at the back but once we got a good buzz we got right into the heart of the floor section which did not hurt our overall experience but does bring up the underbelly of this story.

It is more than a minor miracle that Bob and I are still alive because of our drinking and driving. The drinking started on the way there at a stop to Buffalo Wild Wings. From there we went to a liquor store and for some stupid reason bought Jack Daniels (I never drink liquor). Then once we got to the House of Blues we drank some more, followed by more drinking on the two-hour drive home. It was STUPID and IRRESPONSIBLE but thankfully we got home without hurting anyone including ourselves.

SETLIST: Sleep Apnea, Brainiac, Well Enough Alone, Vitamin R, Letter From a Thief, Another Know It All, Comfortable Liar, The Red, Jars, Forfeit, The Clincher, Straight Jacket Fashion, Roswell’s Spell, Send The Pain Below, Still Running, I Get It