Epicenter

Epicenter 3/14/15

Happy early Birthday to me! This year’s Epicenter was moved to the legendary Forum in Inglewood where the Lakers used to play and was to feature Korn playing their eponymous first album in its entirety to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the album. This was huge for me since I missed out on seeing Korn back in the day when all they had to play was that album. That in and of itself would have been enough reason to go but on top of that Limp Bizkit was playing along with Everlast, P.O.D. and Suicidal Tendencies AND it was a general admission concert which meant I could go down on the floor without having to sneak down there. The area near the Forum is fairly run down and that is putting it nicely. After Bob, Ken and I drove up from San Diego and checked into our hotel room we walked to a nearby Taco Bell to get some grub. It was the only Taco Bell I have ever been to that had the workers behind glass; bank teller style.

Suicidal Tendencies was up first but at the time that did not seem as important as pouring beer down our gullets so we passed. Once we arrived I realized the Forum architecturally reminded me of a larger version of the Sports Arena in San Diego which made perfect sense because they were both built in the mid-sixties.

I had seen P.O.D. for the first time exactly a year and a half before this at Aftershock and this performance was about the same. Not great but not bad. Their newest offering was SoCal Sessions, which was essentially an album of stripped down versions of their popular tracks and that shit was not about to fly at a show like this.

Next up was Everlast from House of Pain fame that legitimized himself as a solo artist after the release of Whitey Ford Sings the Blues back in 1998 after House of Pain disbanded. I grew up with “Jump Around” and it was pretty cool to see it live with DJ Lethal who just happened to be on hand for the upcoming Limp Bizkit set. He was good but I was very disappointed that he did not give “Shamrocks and Shenanigans” the rock treatment and “Hot To Death” was left out of his set. He had an opportunity to capitalize on the rock crowd at hand and just basically ignored that but good for him playing what he felt like playing.

I had not seen Limp Bizkit since their heyday back in the year 2000 but here they were playing with Korn just like back in the day. I knew what to expect since this was my fourth time seeing them but it had been so long that I really went into it with no expectations so resting on that laurel they fucking blew me away. Say what you will about Fred Durst but the dude has charisma and Wes Borland is not only an amazing guitarist but also a freak that likes to dress up in freaky outfits when the Bizkit plays. Their last album Gold Cobra was released almost a full four years before this but they wisely avoided the album altogether with their limited stage time. The setlist was not exactly what I would have hoped for but they did do a fantastic job of warming us up for the almighty Korn.

SETLIST: Thieves Intro, Hot Dog, My Generation, Livin’ It Up, My Way, Re-Arranged, Killing in the Name, Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle), Take a Look Around, Break Stuff

Korn’s self-titled album will always have a special place in my heart because I randomly discovered it back when the music chain Sam Goody used to have listening towers. Due to this I can claim responsibility for spreading the gospel of Korn throughout my group of friends. At the time and still to this day I have never really heard anything quite like it. It would be an understatement to say I was beside myself that I finally got the opportunity to see the whole thing live in concert, especially after how long I had to wait just to see Korn live at all. This was the sixth time I had seen them and the last time before this was at Aftershock a year and a half before this. The stage setup was a simple backdrop of the creepy album cover and Jonathan Davis was in full regalia with his signature early days Adidas track suit. One by one they played each of the songs on the album in order but my favorite section of the album are tracks eight, nine and ten, better known as “ Predictable,” “ Fake” and “Lies.” I would have paid whatever I paid just to see those three songs live. A-maze-ing.

SETLIST: Blind, Ball Tongue, Need To, Clown, Divine, Faget, Shoots and Ladders, Predictable, Fake, Lies, Helmet in the Bush, Daddy, Falling Away From Me, Freak on a Leash

Epicenter 9/22/12

What started in 2009 became “Southern California’s Rock Festival” that took place annually at various venues around Los Angeles. I had not attended since that inaugural date but this year’s lineup piqued my interest because it had been four to five years since I had seen Scars on Broadway, Deftones and Stone Temple Pilots. As far as I’m concerned the other bands were a nice bonus. Bob drove Tom and I up to Irvine with just enough time to make a beer run, check into our hotel and get over to the Irvine Amphitheater. The trouble began with a toothache that turned our beer run into a beer and whiskey run. My tooth had been bothering me for a couple days but I did not have time to go to the dentist so I figured whiskey would act as a redneck remedy. Unfortunately for anyone in my path it also acted as a gateway to a very intoxicated me.

I remember wandering around the grounds and seeing a little bit of bands on the second stage like Hollywood Undead but Dead Sara was the first band we really gave any shits about. It had been five months since we saw them open for Chevelle and blow them off the stage, which was just a couple weeks removed from the release of their self-titled debut album. They put on a hell of a show this time too but the music just did not seem to translate as well to a bigger stage.

Chevelle made good on the opportunity at redemption by cranking it up to the level of performance we had come to expect over the years. It was weird to see them play in the daylight again since we had grown accustomed to the headlining shows.

Four years had elapsed since I was introduced to Scars on Broadway right here at this very same venue during the KROQ Weenie Roast. It was fun the way it went down that original time but now I had a solid four years of digesting the eponymous album, which made this show so much more fun to watch. Thanks to YouTuber “Gun Dink” you can also watch:

Bush was up next. It had been almost a year to the day since we had last seen them open for Chevelle. It was essentially the same show as that occasion with Gavin coming out through the crowd again.

I had not gotten the chance to see any songs from the excellent Diamond Eyes album performed since my last Deftones concert was about five years before this so I was beyond elated when they started their set with my two favorite songs off the album. They were still a couple months away from releasing Koi No Yokan but they still played two songs from the album. Deftones rocked but it must be said that right about this time I was getting really ornery and ended up breaking the seat in front of me if that is any indication of what planet I was on. I also found a number of shitty 5-10 second videos on my phone afterwards of really good shots of the ground and pretty much anything but the stage with me screaming along for audio.

SETLIST: Rocket Skates, Diamond Eyes, Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), My Own Summer (Shove It), Digital Bath, You’ve Seen the Butcher, Bloody Cape, Leathers, Rosemary, Change (In the House of Flies), 7 Words

STP had released their eponymous album since I had last seen them about four years before this so I excited to see them again. I was pretty lit for their performance but do remember Scott Weiland was a dancing machine and seemed to be very present for this performance as he provided a lot of banter in between songs. I also remember that Dean’s guitar playing was on fire. We did not know it at the time but sadly this would be the last time we would see Scott Weiland front Stone Temple Pilots as the very next night would be his final performance ever with the band.

SETLIST: Crackerman, Vaseline, Hickory Dichotomy, Meatplow, Big Empty, Between the Lines, Interstate Love Song, Plush, Tumble in the Rough, Big Bang Baby, Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart, Unglued, Sex Type Thing

After the show we took a bus to our hotel and I almost immediately got kicked out of our hotel bar because I basically fell forward into the bar. This lead to all three of us smoking weed in Bob’s car in the parking lot. Neither Tom nor Bob ever smoke weed so that was a fitting end to such an eventful day.

Epicenter 8/22/09

The Fairplex in Pomona is basically the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds that underwent a name change in 1984 and host to the largest county fair in the world. I drove up with Bob and a guy he works with to get scorched by the sun and a pretty solid lineup.

The first band we gave any shit about was Street Sweeper Social Club, which was Tom Morello’s new project with Boots Riley from The Coup on microphone duties. I did not have the benefit of really listening to their newly released self-titled debut album before we saw them because I only learned of them at all very shortly before the show. In an article written by Alex Young in Consequence of Sound Morello described the project/album as “revolutionary party jams. It’s got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom.” Boots Riley added “this is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will be homeless and more people will be jobless. They’ll need something to listen to on their iPods while storming Wall Street.” The music was all those things. I only wish I had the benefit of getting to know the songs prior to seeing the performance.

Wolfmother was up next and I had just seen them open for STP less than a month before this. They were awesome again but essentially put on the same show as the first time I saw them.

Alice In Chains was the first band I really really wanted to see again. This was to be my third time seeing them with William DuVall singing but now they were only a month away from releasing the excellent Black Gives Way to Blue so we got to hear “Check My Brain” and “A Looking in View” in addition to the classics. It was a little strange to see them in full daylight but they killed it.

Linkin Park was up next and I had not seen them since the two times I saw them back in 2001 when they were touring for Hybrid Theory. At this point they were a full on hit factory and their newest album was their third album Minutes to Midnight. They were touring pros by now so the set was very tight and they looked like they had gained some confidence after years on the road.

Closing out the night was the almighty Tool. I do not care how many times I have seen them they still blow my mind. It’s like an old friend that you haven’t seen in awhile and I had not seen them for almost two years since I saw them in Spokane. Tool is an experience. The visuals are on par with the epic nature of the music and the whole thing can very easily put someone into a trance like state. The pot that I smoked did not do anything to counter this feeling. The newest album was still 10,000 Days but I was in hog heaven. Adam Jones has a way of playing guitar sometimes where he appears to be staring into the crowd fixated on one spot as he is pulling off these badass rhythms. We were watching from his side of the stage and I was right in his stare zone, which was messing with me in my state of affairs. Also of note was that Maynard performed on crutches due to an injury. Not that it affected his performance since he stays in the back of the stage anyway, but it was pretty cool he did not call off the show.

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world

Epicenter

Epicenter 3/14/15

Epicenter 9/22/12