Suicidal Tendencies

Blackest of the Black 5/26/17

Fri

According to the website “Blackest of the Black Festival is…the brainchild of Glenn Danzig, the event not only serves as a music festival, but as a cultural experience: an escape. Coming to Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA in Orange County on Memorial Day Weekend, Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 27th, Blackest of the Black will host two music stages, curated by Danzig, with performances by some of the heaviest acts around including Danzig, Ministry…and many more. The festival will also feature camping, and a number of sinister attractions including Castle Danzig – a fully immersive walkthrough experience of pain, pleasure, and metal, based on the music and graphic novels of Glenn Danzig.” The advertised attractions for Castle Danzig included a Suspension Stage, Sacrifice Altar, Bondage Stage, Padded Cell, Electro Stage, Drukija Blood Bath, Stocks, Freak Performers and Amusement Rides.

Ken flew in to San Diego from Phoenix to accompany Bob and I to this madness. We decided beforehand to camp as we had done at Aftershock a couple years prior. The website said we could each bring in a case of beer but we had no problem sneaking in whatever we wanted, especially because Bob found a “hidden compartment” to hide stuff behind my glovebox. Genius. The concert site itself was a cool little spot out in the middle of nowhere next to a lake in a canyon between two mountains. Our campsite however, was our very own 12’ x 12’ square in a dirt parking lot to call our own. The saving grace was Bob’s brand new pop up tent that literally took under 60 seconds to set up and under 60 seconds to put away. Meanwhile a couple of guys close by were setting up a teepee well into our third beer after our tent was ready to roll.

Today was all about Corrosion of Conformity but they would not be playing until second to last so once we had a few beers at our camp spot we decided to wander into the festival grounds to see what we would be dealing with. Immediately upon entering the festival we spotted three of the “Freak Performers” walking around. They were not really doing anything but were hard to miss because one little lady was walking around topless save for an “X” over each nipple fashioned out of black electrical tape. After walking past some plastic body parts and various horror type paraphernalia dangling from a tree we checked out 3Teeth which seemed like a slightly lighter version of a cross between Rammstein and KMFDM. Next were Butcher Babies, who were up to their syncopated hair swirling ways again just like when they opened for Marilyn Manson years ago. I had to watch just for the laugh. We found what seemed to be the makings of this Castle Danzig we had read about but what we saw looked more like an area strictly for performers rather than “a fully immersive walkthrough experience.” More on that later. Satisfied with our walkthrough we made our way back to the camp spot for more beers, grub and “cookies.”

As I stated earlier today was all about Corrosion of Conformity. I had only seen them once and that was about sixteen and a half years before this. They were not touring for a new album and to my knowledge had not done many shows since Pepper Keenan recently re-joined the band after nearly a decade long hiatus. They did not disappoint. We were only a couple rows back from the front when they came out so we had prime viewing for their entire set. I was so immersed in their set that I did not notate the songs of their setlist like I am known to do from time to time and apparently nobody online did either. What I do remember is them playing many songs from Deliverance and Wiseblood which made me very happy. The cookies did not hurt anything either. Bob and Ken are not avid cannabis users so one cookie plus the beers they had put them on a spaceship, which I was acting captain of after eating two cookies.

Suicidal Tendencies closed up the night and had sort of become a running joke between my friends and I. They were on the bill for at least two or three other concerts we attended but always opened. I was only curious to see them because of “Institutionalized,” the only song of theirs I really knew, but ultimately it always came down to a decision between going to see them and having more beer and beer always won. Now we had no excuse so we checked them out and to my surprise were way more punk than I realized. They had a mosh pit onstage nearly the entire set. At one point they brought about 30 females up from out of the crowd (this accounted for probably every female in attendance) and those females started a mosh pit onstage. Good times (even though they did not play “Institutionalized”).

Once Suicidal’s set was over “Castle Danzig” finally came to life. Long story short it was a joke. It was exactly what it looked like earlier in the day, which was basically an area that had many performers doing the things that were advertised rather than us being able to “walk through.” Now it made sense why the website had changed about a week prior to this to suddenly exclude the details on the “attractions.”

Blackest Festival

Aftershock 10/24/15

Aftershock 2015

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.

Epicenter 3/14/15

Epicenter 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 20th 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