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My earworms wear spiky leather jackets.
Jun. 8th, 2019 03:51 pmThere's a lot to be said for going to concerts given by old favorite bands. You'll know most of the setlist, you probably have a t-shirt from a tour years ago that you can wear to show your devotion, and you'll know when to sing along. It's comfortable, like a favorite pair of jeans.
It's also exciting to see a new band; one that you might know from the radio or have purchased a couple of CDs and this is your first chance to see them live. You might even spoil yourself by looking up live performances on YouTube and setlists on setlistfm. Still a new experience, but one you're at least prepared for handling.
But what I did last Thursday was beyond that. Not only did I go to a concert knowing almost nothing about the headlining act, I knew absolutely zero about the three opening acts. I was a babe in the woods, ready for anything. Thank Halford it was a night when I could drink a beer.
See, this was all my fault. Also totally my wife's fault. Let me elaborate. A couple of years ago I finally was able to go see Iron Maiden, one of the titans of heavy metal. Money, free time, and tour that came closer to me than Los Angeles all came together. Opening for Maiden was a band from Sweden named Ghost. I had kind of heard of them but didn't know their music.
Ghost was amazing, and I really liked their theatrical nature and really good music. Kirsten? My lovely wife converted to a new religion that night. She became a Ghost fanatic. (Which is why two weeks after we get home from Burning Man we're heading back to Reno to see them play.)
Being a Ghost devotee led her down a maze of Scandinavian metal bands. I'm honestly amused that we've reached a point where my Duran Duran-loving wife listens to heavier metal than I do. But one of those bands is an outfit called Avatar. She backed a Kickstarter for the band and reasoned that meant we just had to go to the show. I'm didn't have a problem with this, I love going to concerts and I was especially pleased with the venue.
The Fillmore has been around since 1912 when it opened as the Majestic Hall and Academy of Dancing. Over the years it went through several name changes before settling on The Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. The place became a legend in the 1960s when promoter Bill Graham made it one of the centerpieces of the blossoming San Francisco sound. Every band of note in the late sixties played the Fillmore.
My experiences with the venue came when it was rebranded as The Elite Club and hosted punk bands in the early 80s. I think the last show I saw there was Black Flag in 1984. Until now. After enjoying the gale force arctic winds common the San Francisco in the allegedly warmer months, we entered. The Fillmore is a gem. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, along with a small disco ball. The place is tint, with space for only 1,300 or so. We pled disability to snag one of the small tables along the stage right side of the hall.
After some food and a Blue Moon beer, the show started. I was impressed. the first act was '68, a "noise punk" duo out of Atlanta. Guitar and drums, that's it. The two musicians wore suits. Fun punk music that really took me back to my mohawked, misspent, teenage years. As part of their last song, the guitarist began dismantling the drum kit, piece by piece, while the drummer was still playing! It was amazing to watch him keep going until he was left with only a snare drum.
Second up was Dance With The Dead. Another duo, this was all instrumentals. Along with a giant human skull center stage, they had two keyboard setups. It took me a little, but I eventually got what they were doing. We bought the CD, and I may use it for inspirational music when writing fight scenes.
The third act, who started out by assuring us that there were only forty minutes until Avatar took the stage, was a solo artist named Devin Townsend. I've never heard of him, but he had an impressive fan base in the audience. This was the one case where knowing his body of work more might have been to my advantage. Still a good singer, and having an acoustic set made a nice break from the wall of noise we had been getting. We picked up his latest CD, I'll see if hearing him with his band changes my opinion of him.
Finally, after some stage set up, Avatar. Like Ghost, they are a pretty theatrical group. The show starts with a recorded fanfare as one of the guitarists, Jonas Jarlsby, in his guise as the "Kungen" (king) rises in his throne behind the drum kit. There, in regal splendor, he plays the opening song Statue of the King. Then the throne is moved down to center-front stage for Legend of the King. After that, he ditches the crown and throne, but it set the mood for the rest of the show. Lead singer Johannes Eckerström can go from soaring, beautiful vocals to growling like a demon in a heartbeat. One of my favorite things about Avatar was how easy it was to pick up the choruses of several of their songs, the ones where the fans were clearly expected to sing along. Great show. Now if I could just get their song Paint Me Red out of my head . . .
It's also exciting to see a new band; one that you might know from the radio or have purchased a couple of CDs and this is your first chance to see them live. You might even spoil yourself by looking up live performances on YouTube and setlists on setlistfm. Still a new experience, but one you're at least prepared for handling.
But what I did last Thursday was beyond that. Not only did I go to a concert knowing almost nothing about the headlining act, I knew absolutely zero about the three opening acts. I was a babe in the woods, ready for anything. Thank Halford it was a night when I could drink a beer.
See, this was all my fault. Also totally my wife's fault. Let me elaborate. A couple of years ago I finally was able to go see Iron Maiden, one of the titans of heavy metal. Money, free time, and tour that came closer to me than Los Angeles all came together. Opening for Maiden was a band from Sweden named Ghost. I had kind of heard of them but didn't know their music.
Ghost was amazing, and I really liked their theatrical nature and really good music. Kirsten? My lovely wife converted to a new religion that night. She became a Ghost fanatic. (Which is why two weeks after we get home from Burning Man we're heading back to Reno to see them play.)
Being a Ghost devotee led her down a maze of Scandinavian metal bands. I'm honestly amused that we've reached a point where my Duran Duran-loving wife listens to heavier metal than I do. But one of those bands is an outfit called Avatar. She backed a Kickstarter for the band and reasoned that meant we just had to go to the show. I'm didn't have a problem with this, I love going to concerts and I was especially pleased with the venue.
The Fillmore has been around since 1912 when it opened as the Majestic Hall and Academy of Dancing. Over the years it went through several name changes before settling on The Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. The place became a legend in the 1960s when promoter Bill Graham made it one of the centerpieces of the blossoming San Francisco sound. Every band of note in the late sixties played the Fillmore.
My experiences with the venue came when it was rebranded as The Elite Club and hosted punk bands in the early 80s. I think the last show I saw there was Black Flag in 1984. Until now. After enjoying the gale force arctic winds common the San Francisco in the allegedly warmer months, we entered. The Fillmore is a gem. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, along with a small disco ball. The place is tint, with space for only 1,300 or so. We pled disability to snag one of the small tables along the stage right side of the hall.
After some food and a Blue Moon beer, the show started. I was impressed. the first act was '68, a "noise punk" duo out of Atlanta. Guitar and drums, that's it. The two musicians wore suits. Fun punk music that really took me back to my mohawked, misspent, teenage years. As part of their last song, the guitarist began dismantling the drum kit, piece by piece, while the drummer was still playing! It was amazing to watch him keep going until he was left with only a snare drum.
Second up was Dance With The Dead. Another duo, this was all instrumentals. Along with a giant human skull center stage, they had two keyboard setups. It took me a little, but I eventually got what they were doing. We bought the CD, and I may use it for inspirational music when writing fight scenes.
The third act, who started out by assuring us that there were only forty minutes until Avatar took the stage, was a solo artist named Devin Townsend. I've never heard of him, but he had an impressive fan base in the audience. This was the one case where knowing his body of work more might have been to my advantage. Still a good singer, and having an acoustic set made a nice break from the wall of noise we had been getting. We picked up his latest CD, I'll see if hearing him with his band changes my opinion of him.
Finally, after some stage set up, Avatar. Like Ghost, they are a pretty theatrical group. The show starts with a recorded fanfare as one of the guitarists, Jonas Jarlsby, in his guise as the "Kungen" (king) rises in his throne behind the drum kit. There, in regal splendor, he plays the opening song Statue of the King. Then the throne is moved down to center-front stage for Legend of the King. After that, he ditches the crown and throne, but it set the mood for the rest of the show. Lead singer Johannes Eckerström can go from soaring, beautiful vocals to growling like a demon in a heartbeat. One of my favorite things about Avatar was how easy it was to pick up the choruses of several of their songs, the ones where the fans were clearly expected to sing along. Great show. Now if I could just get their song Paint Me Red out of my head . . .
