Epicenter 8/22/09

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Family Values Tour 11/16/01

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I had seen each of these bands before but Lucinda had not. It was just her and I at this show and we were able to get very good seats on the left side of the stage. Static-X had just released their second album Machine about six months before this show and had the material pretty polished by the time they rolled into Portland. Staind was touring behind their recently released album Break the Cycle. Staind is an interesting band to watch live because Aaron Lewis doesn’t move around the stage very quickly, no matter how heavy the song is. They did rock though. Linkin Park was also there still promoting their first album and played it almost in its entirety. Finally came the real reason we spent our Friday night at the concert, Stone Temple Pilots. They were touring for their severely underrated album Shangri-La Dee Da. Scott Weiland appeared to be drunk at this show but the band nonetheless put on a very great entertaining show. Scott thanked the people who had drinks with him at the strip club Mary’s the prior evening. During “Hollywood Bitch” they had a very slutty looking lady come dance around on stage only to reveal at the end of the song that it was actually a man. They had Chester from Linkin Park come sing a song with them at some point. The highlight was when Weiland started to rant about how rock n’ roll was stolen from all the black jazz musicians. He jumped out into the crowd and walked right through it to the very back of the arena all while ranting. The funny thing is that he didn’t have any security near him but nobody touched him. I think everyone was a little scared of the guy. The other thing that stands out in my mind is a moment when they left the stage. Moments later the whole stage revolved 180 degrees and there they were sitting on couches playing an acoustic version of the Beatles “Revolution.” Magical.

Ozzfest 6/25/01

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You can’t tell from the pictures but the Gorge literally had one gigantic black cloud hanging over it for most of the day. It was the strangest thing because everywhere else within sight around the Gorge was a perfectly clear and sunny day. All I really remember about Taproot was that the entire band was clad in all-white outfits. Maybe I just wasn’t that excited about seeing them since I had already seen them twice in the prior year. I was however excited about The Union Underground because of the kick ass show they put on in Portland. I waited for them to go on stage before I sparked up a joint and directly after this the first ray of sunshine poked its head through the nasty clouds. It was a stoner moment worthy of the books. Marijuana aside, these guys were on the mark that day. “Revolution Man” was about as epic as they could’ve been. Next up on the second stage was Mudvayne. I still didn’t know that much of them but they were all painted up in costume and put on a pretty intense show. Moving on to the main stage was Crazy Town. I learned about them at a bus stop in Portland. On the bench was sitting a cassette single. All it said on the cover was “Who the fuck is Crazy Town?” I took it home and it turned out to be the songs “Toxic” and “Darkside.” I ended up buying the album based on this but they turned out to be the only songs I liked on the album, even though “Butterfly” turned out to be a commercial hit. They weren’t that great. They reminded me of a shittier version of Limp Bizkit. Disturbed followed and David Draiman was carried out on stage in a cage. It was novel but this is Ozzfest. They seemed to lose some of the explosiveness they had displayed a year prior on the second stage but nonetheless rocked. After they were done was the first time I got to see Linkin Park. I heard the song “One Step Closer” on KUFO late one night after I first moved to Portland and bought the album Hybrid Theory. They were a good mix of heavy and soft. I don’t remember anything about Papa Roach playing but know they were there. Slipknot was insanity. They graduated from the second to the first stage since I saw them at Ozzfest ’99. They were about a month away from releasing their second album Iowa but I’m pretty sure they played some of that album live. Then came the real reason I was here: Marilyn Manson. I had just seen them at the beginning of the year, on acid no less, but based on the past two times I had seen them and everything else I knew about them I knew they wouldn’t disappoint. And they didn’t. The guitarist John5 was painted up like the joker and besides tearing through their heaviest material they put a new spectacle to the test. During “Cruci-Fiction In Space” Marilyn kept getting hoisted higher and higher into the air until he was damn near the top of the rafters (see photo). The illusion was outstanding thanks to the cape he wore that disguised the actual hoist. This was the first and only time I ever saw them do that. Then to close the show was Black Sabbath. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would get to see them even once, but twice? It had been a few years since seeing them the first time but they didn’t miss a step. The set was short and concise but left everyone in the crowd feeling satisfied.