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
To nobody’s surprise I woke up still a little drunk from the day before this morning. After getting our shit together we walked down the road to our staple Buffalo Wild Wings to watch some football and get some beer and food. After we were nice and sauced on $5 pitchers we made a pit stop at a local dispensary for edibles on the way to the show.
We made it just in time to catch Seether, who was badass as per usual. Their newest album Poison the Parish came out in May of 2017 but for some reason I had not picked it up yet so was unfamiliar with the two songs they played from the album but I did like the songs. Note to self: pick up the album.
To our delight we did not have to leave this stage for the next band we wanted to see which was Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. Slash was melting faces like it was 1987. I never really went down the rabbit hole of Slash solo material so most of the set was unfamiliar but hearing “Nightrain” made the whole set worthwhile.
I had just saw Incubus exactly a month earlier at Kaaboo. I think they played exactly the same set but that was just fine by me.
Alice In Chains had just released Rainier Fog less than two months before this and played a short but intense set.
This is when another night starts to get fuzzy again as Marvin and I got separated from the other two. We managed to make it to see System of a Down, which I am always pumped to see. They had not released new material in nearly 13 years at the time of this concert but we all keep lining up because they are incredible live.
At this point Mr. or Mrs. Reader you are probably asking yourself (again) why I continue to spend a lot of money to just get trashed and not remember everything. For the answer we need look no further than the wise words of Wooderson: L-I-V-I-N.
After such a good time two years ago at this event we could not help ourselves and holy crap what a lineup! Same crew as 2013 (Marvin, Ken, Bob and I) and the addition of Joe in from Portland, but unlike last time we actually knew that Marvin was coming. This time the venue was at a place called Gibson Ranch instead of Discovery Park and we were able to “camp.” The plan was for Marvin to drive out from Salt Lake City and meet up with Bob who would already be in the Bay Area due to attending the 49ers/Seahawks game for Thursday Night Football and then meet up with Ken, Joe and I who were flying in on Saturday morning. Since all of us were flying Marvin was in charge of bringing tents, sleeping bags, etc. After we all met at a Walmart on the way to load up on supplies (mostly alcohol) we were on our way. The first band any of us cared about was Suicidal Tendencies, scheduled to be on at 2 pm, since we had missed them earlier in the year at Epicenter. Since our flight landed at 10 am we figured we had plenty of time to get settled but all the little things add up and we now found ourselves waiting in a long line of cars to get into the place and more specifically the campground. Very poor organization caused us to wait in our car (a rented super small shitbox of a Mazda) for what seemed like forever before we could get “escorted” to our campsite. By the time we got to the campsite and set up tents, etc. it was about 2. We quickly decided that we did not care all that much about Suicidal Tendencies after all. In our defense we could hear them perfectly from where we were. We were trying to save money by drinking at the camp spot but Helmet was up at 2:30 and attendance was non-negotiable. After some quick work of beers we went in and Helmet greeted us with all the songs you would want them to play (mostly from Meantime, Betty and Aftertaste). Next up was P.O.D. who continue to surprise me with each passing time I see them. Then we had to find our way to the “fourth” stage, which Clutch was playing at for some damn reason. Clutch was touring for the excellent new album Psychic Warfare. I made a bet with Joe that they would not play anything from their first three albums and I was right. It did not matter because they have so many good songs to choose from otherwise. More beers and back to one of the main stages for Seether. I believe by this time most of us had gotten separated from each other and when there is a concentration of that many people in one place cell signals do not work. I believe at this point I was just with Bob and some gal came out of nowhere and would not leave us alone. We finally shook her and watched Breaking Benjamin which was pretty alright.
Our original plan was to get an eighth of pot to bring but when that did not work out we settled for two decent sized joints. This meant we had to ration one for this day and one for the next day, which meant we had to strategically time ignition. For me this was the moment: Marilyn Manson was coming on. I had seen him many times but he is always splendid and now he had another excellent album out; The Pale Emperor. This set is one I have only seen him play a few times and can only be described as fierce. Not a lot of talking, every song just ripped you a new one and then he was gone. This version of his band is the tightest I think I have seen since the departure of John 5. I was tripping out because I could not tell if Twiggy was on the stage or not. If not it sure as hell looked like him.
Next up was Slipknot. I REALLY like their new album .5 The Gray Chapter so I was really excited to see them as well. By this point I was a little drunk and stoned but holy fuck did these guys rock. After finding our way back to the campground Bob and I were greeted by our missing buddies for a nightcap. Marvin informed me the previous day that he forgot one of the sleeping bags so I shoved a pillow and blanket in my carry on (talent) and planned on just sleeping in the reclined seat of our rental car. This is easy when you are drunk. Joe ended up sleeping in the passenger seat because we were up forever talking and laughing our heads off since I do not get to see him very often anymore. Today was a good day.
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 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
I had not seen Seether since the first time I saw them about three and a half years earlier at the Roseland in Portland. They had released their second (technically Disclaimer II was an album even though it is essentially a remixed version of their first album Disclaimer) and third albums by this time and were touring for the latter, Karma and Effect, that was released almost exactly one year before this show. Lucinda and I were still talking so she went with Marvin and I. A guy that branded himself as a “Heavy Metal Taxi” picked us up from Lucy’s in OB and definitely lived up to the branding. He had one of those old cop car taxis but decked it out with a top-notch sound system and BLASTED heavy metal at top volume the entire way to the House of Blues. Usually I have to request/convince the driver to do that…As for the show itself of course they rocked. Apparently we caught them at just the right time because it was announced 10 days after this show that lead guitarist Patrick Callahan had left the band and Shaun had checked himself into rehab for alcoholism about two months after this show.
Seether was at Ozzfest 2012 but I do not remember seeing them. They either were not yet on my radar or they were playing the second stage at a time when another band I wanted to see was playing the main stage. I do remember the song “Fine Again” was the song that made me take notice of them. That lead me to their debut album Disclaimer that had come out exactly one week before the Ozzfest performance in question and almost exactly five months before this show. Nothing in my memory particular sticks out about this show (mind you part of the subtitle of this blog is Fuzzy Recollections) but I know I was there and they rocked all of the first album because those songs were all they had to choose from at the time.
Main Stage: Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down, Rob Zombie, P.O.D., Adema, Black Label Society, Tommy Lee
Second Stage: Down, Hatebreed, Meshuggah, Soil, The Used, Chevelle, Mushroomhead, Seether
Where to start here? All that really needs to be said is two words: Ozzfest and Gorge. I believe the first band playing that day I really wanted to see was Down. The day was overcast but Down came out and darkened the day even more with their version of Rock N’ Roll. They were touring for Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow that had come out in March. I wish I could remember seeing Chevelle and Seether but I think they happened to be on when I wanted to be at the main stage. The other strong memory from this show was System of a Down playing a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind.” Toxicity had come out almost a year before this show so by this point they were huge. I do not remember a lot of talking from them on this night. They just came out and let the music do all the talking that was necessary.
