Livestream

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

Metallica Livestream 12/17/21

For many reasons that we do not need to get into here I missed seeing Metallica’s two headlining sets at Aftershock in October. Then I almost purchased the pay-per-view Triller Fight Club event in November just for the Metallica livestream portion but decided against it because I ended up having something else going that night. As such it was a more than welcome sight to see that Metallica would be broadcasting both of their weekend performances from San Francisco to celebrate 40 years together. Even better is the fact that these livestreams would be free since I already subscribe to Amazon Prime!

A video of AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” quickly morphed into a Metallica video montage before the band ripped through “Hit the Lights.” After this the band spanned their entire discography for this 16 song set and the band was firing on all cylinders throughout. “Orion” was a highlight for me as I had not ever seen this played live. “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Master of Puppets” and “Enter Sandman” were notably missing from this set so these will certainly be played during Part II on Sunday but what else will they play?

SETLIST: Hit the Lights, Creeping Death, Trapped Under Ice, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Orion, The Shortest Straw, One, Sad But True, Nothing Else Matters, King Nothing, Fixxxer, Breadfan, No Leaf Clover, Frantic, The Day That Never Comes, Spit Out the Bone

Jerry Cantrell Livestream 12/1/21

The purpose of this stream was to celebrate a new album Jerry Cantrell released on October 29th called Brighten that I had no idea existed until I received an email about the stream. Despite my last experience with a livestream facilitated by Moment House I bought the stream anyhow.

Jeff Garlin moderated the show/stream, which was random because I had been recently working my way through all seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm where he plays Jeff Greene. Apparently him and Jerry are buddies that play fantasy football together.

Essentially after a little banter with Jeff, the seven piece band played five excellent songs that I was completely unfamiliar with (Atone, Brighten, Siren Song, Prism of Doubt, Black Hearts and Evil Done) then it was Q&A time with Jeff Garlin. After five audience members were able to ask Jerry a question about anything the band played “No Excuses” and that was that. An hour and 20 minutes total with only six songs to show for it but hey this is Jerry fucking Cantrell so zero complaints over here.

Seether Livestream 11/11/21

Seether: 20 years, 20 songs? When I agreed to purchase this stream I was under the impression that I would be seeing Seether perform 20 songs. Based on the comments in the sidebar I was not alone. The promo said, “On November 11, we’ll have 3 different digital performances of this filmed show at 3 different time zones…” I thought this to mean it would be the same stream starting a three different times depending on your location. What is really meant is there were three edits, each including ten of the twenty tracks played live in concert instead of just streaming the whole two hour performance. The move is baffling because I would have gladly paid a little more to watch the whole thing and I am sure many that purchased the stream felt the same way. It was a letdown for sure but at least the ten songs that were played kicked ass, especially “Fake It” and “Remedy.”

SETLIST: Gasoline, Fine Again, Fake It, Rise Above This, Nobody Praying for Me, Dangerous, Words Are Weapons, Same Damn Life, Country Song, Remedy

Slipknot Livestream 11/5/21

The older I get the harder I become to impress but Slipknot can always be counted on to “bring it.” This was a show I was tempted to go to HelL.A. for but then the reality hit that Slipknot was the only band on the bill I gave two shits about so paying $23 to watch from the comfort of my own home in a robe drinking my own beer was decidedly a nice consolation prize.

The overall steam quality was top notch. There were nice aerial drone shots of Banc of California Stadium throughout, which was a cool vantage point to see after just watching Guns N’ Roses there a few months back. Mixing the sound from nine different people is probably hard enough normally let alone for a stream but everything was in perfect balance.

The stream/concert began with the soundscape “Insert Coin” that starts the album We Are Not Your Kind then the band took the stage and ripped right into “Unsainted” without missing a beat. They went on to play for a total of an hour and 44 minutes with a little something from all their albums and even debuted the first performance of a brand new song called “The Chapeltown Rag” that I had no idea existed. It was cool to see “Nero Forte” but the chorus sounded weird because someone else was singing the crazy part.

Some of my favorite moments:

  • “The Heretic Anthem”  – this song is a flat out ripper that pumps me up every single time I hear it
  • “The Devil In I” – had a really trippy intro
  • “Vermillion” – one of my favorite Slipknot songs of all time
  • Spit It Out – another that gets me every time

SETLIST: Unsainted, Disasterpiece, Nero Forte, Before I Forget, The Heretic Anthem, Psychosocial, The Devil In I, The Chapeltown Rag, Wait and Bleed, Vermillion, All Out Life, Duality, Spit It Out, People = Shit, (sic), Surfacing

Down Livestream 8/13/21

Thankfully I did not have any prior plans for this Friday the 13th because I only learned about this stream two hours beforehand courtesy of Joe. I would have been in on a rebroadcast even if I were not available the first time around because when a rock titan like Philip H. Alselmo performs live in your living room you attend, especially when it’s only $13. It had been almost a year to the day since the last Down stream, which also happened to be the first full-blown stream I was witness to after the pandemic began. It seems Down is on the cutting edge of technology because this was also the first of all the streams I watched that was actually a live show being broadcast in real time.

The start of “Nola Town Throwdown” was Phil coming on to say they were pushing the show back by 30 minutes because it was taking longer than anticipated to get people in the door due to COVID protocol. A couple music videos were shown followed by a funny segment called “What’s Up With DOWN by Dave Hill” where comedian Dave Hill interviewed the members of Down with unorthodox questions. After this segment was a tribute to Hollis Murphy, singer of Fat Stupid Ugly People, that passed.

The opener was Dave Hill, who came out telling jokes and ripping on an SG look alike. The jokes were funny enough but nothing compared to his guitar playing. The term “ripping” does not do Dave’s guitar playing justice as the dude just flat out shred.

Down was everything I had hoped for and everything I have come to expect from this level of professional musician. Though I am sure the overall sound was better in the actual venue, I had not heard Phil sing this well for awhile. On top of this you could easily tell he loved being on stage again, especially in front of a hometown crowd. The setlist was heavy on songs from NOLA, which was just fine by me, but they also dove into a couple deeper tracks from Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow. I would have liked to hear at least a couple tracks from the fantastic Down IV EP’s but like Mick Jagger said, “you can’t always get what you want.” What I got was an hour and a half of seeing Down live from a distance and a very funny moment when Pepper came up to Phil and let him know that he had to take a piss then disappeared for a few minutes before coming back to tear up the final song of the night “Bury Me In Smoke.”

SETLIST: Lysergik Funeral Procession, Hail the Leaf, Lifer, N.O.D., The Seed, Ghosts Along the Mississippi, Rehab, Losing All, New Orleans Is A Dying Whore, Pillars of Eternity, Swan Song, Eyes of the South, Stone the Crow, Bury Me in Smoke

Anthrax Livestream 7/16/21

I received an email from Bandsintown alerting me of this career spanning “XL” stream to commemorate Anthrax being a band for 40 years. This is no small feat as the only other bands that immediately come to mind when I think of longevity in rock and roll are the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. Pretty good company to be keeping. 

Thankfully Anthrax allowed re-broadcasts of the two hour and 12 minute stream until July 25th because I was unable to watch during the original broadcast due to being out of town. I am a bigger fan of the John Bush era Anthrax so the considerable material with original singer Joey Belladonna is hit or miss for me. One thing is certain: Anthrax still rocks. The stream was basically just them rocking out from a sound stage somewhere interspersed with footage from various rock luminaries saying how much they respect Anthrax. The highlight for me was “Got the Time” but until this stream I had no idea this was originally a Joe Jackson song! “Bring the Noise” was also pretty cool because they had Chuck D come do his part. 

SETLIST: Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t, Madhouse, Caught in a Mosh, Metal Thrashing Mad, Got the Time, I Am the Law, Keep it in the Family, Lone Justice, The Devil You Know, Be All, End All, Now It’s Dark, Antisocial, In the End, Medusa, Evil Twin, Indians, A Skeleton in the Closet, Aftershock, Blood Eagle Wings, Bring the Noise, A.I.R., Among the Living, Breathing Lightning, Protest and Survive, Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)

Staind Livestream 5/8/21

This stream celebrated the 20th anniversary of the album Break The Cycle by having the band play the entire album front to back from a soundstage somewhere. This was another produced stream that combined the performance with interviews to give some context on what was happening with the band when the album was made, giving the stream a mini-documentary feel. Staind has never disappointed me throughout the many times I have seen them live and this was no exception. Aaron Lewis’ relative lack of physical movement during his performances are always more than offset by the nuances of his vocal performances and not being surrounded by a bunch of screaming sweaty rockers just helped me appreciate those nuances even more. Mike Mushok’s flawless guitar tone and note for note reproduction of the songs was impressive as was the rhythm section of bassist Johnny April and drummer Sal Giancarelli. My favorites on the album “Can’t Believe,” “Suffer” and “For You” were my favorites to hear on the stream but perhaps my favorite moment of the stream was unexpectedly a beautifully acoustic version of “Epiphany” performed solo by Aaron Lewis. In a musical landscape where bands come and go so often it is nice to be 20 years on and have this band and these songs still holding their own.

Korn Livestream 4/24/21

Korn’s livestream was dubbed “Monumental” and was set at the Strangers Things Drive Into Experience in downtown L.A. They were the first band to be allowed to use the location and they took full advantage by utilizing the massive video screen to stunning effect. The production was very well done and captured a faithful rendering of what a live Korn show is like but unfortunately it was not live for those of us tuning in at home. They did a good job of throwing in selections from the newer Korn albums to balance out the older material but for an old head like me the older material is where it’s at. “Thoughtless” was awesome, “Throw Me Away” seemed like a very obscure choice that I loved, “Justin” reminded me how many gems are on the Follow the Leader album, despite “Freak on a Leash” being played to death it flat out rocked, “Dirty” was highly enjoyable and the heavier-than-cement riff of “Here to Stay” was a great way to close the show but “Ball Tongue” was the clincher. I think out of all the times I have seen Korn live they have only played “Ball Tongue” once and that was when they played the entire first album front to back so that was an unexpected highlight for me. Jonathan Davis sounded amazing. He has mastered control of his instrument with subtle nuances in a way that is really spectacular to witness. Speaking of vocals I don’t remember Munky being so involved in backup vocals but he was very involved and did great. Munky and Head are one of the best one two punches in rock but after an hour and fifteen minutes of watching the band do their thing it just made me want to be there in person to feel the wall of sound wash over me. 

SETLIST – Victimized, Cold, Insane, Falling Away From Me, You’ll Never Find Me, Thoughtless, Coming Undone, Throw Me Away, Justin, Black is the Soul, Freak On A Leash, Alone I Break, Dirty, Can You Hear Me, Ball Tongue, Narcissistic Cannibal, Here To Stay

Puscifer Livestream 4/17/21

Puscifer has never been much more than a curiosity for me and that is only due to Maynard as I am such a big fan of Tool and A Perfect Circle. The music has never struck me the same way as Maynard’s other projects but the first Puscifer album I purchased was Money Shot so when a stream of this album was announced I thought what the hell. 

The stream was entitled “Billy D and the Hall of Feathered Serpents” and Maynard’s acting chops were put on full display during the opening scene in which ”Billy D” unsuccessfully attempts getting back with his woman and almost succeeds in getting his ass kicked in a bar full of Mexican Luchadores wrestlers. It all felt a little “Bikini Bandits” esque and by no means is that a bad thing.

A pair of “bartisians” handled segues between each song to announce the forthcoming song. “Galileo,” “Agostina” and “Grand Canyon” went off without a hitch before Billy D made another appearance to do a spoken word piece right before a change of scenery as the band now performed from a wrestling ring for “Simultaneous,“ “Money Shot,” “The Arsonist” and “The Remedy,” where the Luchadores finally caught up with Billy D.

“Smoke and Mirrors” again marked a change of scenery to a sound stage of some sort. This scene would continue through to the end of the hour-long stream with “Flippant,” “Life of Brian” and “Autumn” to close it out.

Production wise this is one of the best streams I have seen. The sound and visuals were on point. This may have contributed to being the most expensive stream I have purchased at nearly $30 by the time all was said and done.

I love that streams (live or pre-recorded) have taken place in the absence of concerts but I like the danger of live concerts because anything can and usually does happen. I like the mistakes. I like the improvisation. I like the real moment shared between band and crowd.