Archive for December, 2005

It’s been awhile since I really wrote anything of a personal nature so I figure its long overdue. My xmas this year was far different than previous years since I didn’t have the funds to travel, or to buy anyone any gifts. This meant I didn’t make the annual trip to Boston, MA to visit my sister. While I certainly didn’t miss the pain in the ass of shopping, I did feel bad that I couldn’t get anyone anything because truth be told, there are plenty of people, both family and friends, that I’d like to have bought gifts for. My friends and family have been nothing short of incredibly generous and kind to me this year and certainly deserve something nice to come their way.

So Xmas day I went over to see my Uncle, Aunt and Cousins to have dinner and watch a movie. My Uncle and I watched Godzilla: Final Wars, which was pretty good, but not as good as previous G-films. If they cut out all that hokey Matrix inspired stuff with the humans, the monster fighting was pretty sweet. They all got me gifts too which was incredibly kind, but made me feel bad for not being able to give them anything. I got some DVDs, $, and gift cards, and a cool Darth Vader candy head. My sister mailed me a gift of the Canon backpack for my camera, which is great and will get a trial run tomorrow nite, and she got me a DVD.

Tomorrow night I’m going to see The Zero Boys play at Abbey Pub. I’ll be photographing it of course and am looking forward to it. I’ve been fighting off a cold that has been trying to get me all week, and it seems I did a good job at keeping it at bay and overtaking me as I am feeling better today already. There is much to be said for using that Airborne stuff and eating fistfulls of vitamin C I guess. That and strong willpower as I was determined not to get sick and miss out on the show tomorrow.

It looks like I’ll be heading over to KEF’s place for new years eve. That will entail some good eats, some moderate serum intake since I’ll have to drive myself, and some pinball. It should be a fun time I’m sure, as I have been to his NYE party in the past and have enjoyed myself.

There should be a new episode of LFCM soon as Stiff Mittens said he should have one ready this week. I’ll have an announcement soon regarding Spontaneous Combustion Records as well.

Motörhead - Stage Fright DVD
SPV Records

I think it is pretty safe to say that if it weren’t for Motörhead, metal these days may not exist, or at least not exist in the same way. 30 years ago, Motörhead started putting out some powerful metal/rock records that would help change the face of music. Much like punk rock, many of whom would embrace Motörhead, the band didn’t buy into all the bullshit of the dinosaur rock and just wanted to play some kick ass music. Motörhead never let up, and never changed their sound, if they are guilty of one thing, it is consistency. Much like AC/DC, you know what you are in for with a new Motörhead record, so if you are a fan, they aren’t going to let you down.

This DVD’s main attraction is a live concert from Dusseldorf in 2004. It was recorded on more cameras than you could keep track of in front of a huge crowd of rabid Motor-fans. The concert runs about 90 minutes long and it features songs spanning their entire career including stuff from their most recent album. Having not heard the last many Motörhead albums, the new stuff to me, had you not told me, would have had me thinking it was recorded years ago with the other material, which is a testament to their consistency and with “sticking with what works”. The performance was very energetic, and the crowd sounded way into it. 30 years of touring and recording have not slowed these guys down at all, they still go like they did when they started, and could in fact be better since they’ve been at it so long.

Visually you couldn’t ask for better, the image quality is razor sharp and the editing was very well done, including some interesting effects here and there. The picture is anamorphic widescreen. The audio has two options; stereo and 5.1 surround. The 5.1 option sounded the best and had a nice full sound.

The second disc on here contains all the extra material. There is a piece on a 30th anniversary special that happened in Los Angeles and features interviews with fans and celebrities such as Triple H and Chris Jericho from the WWE, as well as people from other bands who were there, and often times cited Motörhead as a direct influence of them. Other features were a documentary on Motörhead’s rabid hardcore fans, interviews with the band and their long-time road crew, a slide show, and a copy of the band’s rider from 2004. All the extras were very interesting and gives the viewer a peek into a side of the band they normally don’t get to see, as well as see their fans. The entire two disc set clocks in at around four hours, so there is plenty to keep you busy.

If you are a fan of Motörhead, I’d say this is pretty essential viewing, it is also a nice way to check out what they’ve been up to lately as they play some newer material alongside your longtime favorites. If you are a casual fan, it is at least worth a rental. Either way, it is a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.

Related links:

Order the DVD from amazon.com

SPV Records website

Motörhead website

Friday night I went to see Macabre and Destroy Everything (along with two other bands) play at the Double Door here in Chicago. While I like Macabre, my main reason for going of course was to see my punk brothers (aka: my beloved Klowns) in Destroy Everything play a show, as it always promises to be a good time, and this was no exception.

I (along with my lovely companion for the evening) got down there early because I was tasked with taking some photos of the stage, however that ended up not really happening due to the other bands’ soundchecks going late and Destroy Everything getting cheated out of doing a sound check. After a quick trip to Potbellys for dinner, and an even quicker trip to Reckless just to say hi to youngdave, we got back to the club and hung out for a bit waiting for the show to start.

Ion Vein

Ion Vein

Ion Vein were first. Picture your typical late 80s underground metal band and you pretty much have the picture of what they were like. They weren’t bad, but I’m just not a real big fan of that stuff. They played about 35 minutes or so. I really felt like I entered a time machine and was back in 1988 or something.

Destroy Christmas nativity

Destroy Everything

Next up was my reason for being there, Destroy Everything. For the Xmas occasion, they recreated the nativity scene for their stage show. Cheddar Nines, Stiff Mittens and Senor Citizen were the wise men, Cocoa Hole was the Virgin Mary sans-breasts and Hanover Fist was the Baby Jesus. It was a sight to behold and it was really funny.

Destroy Everything

The Baby Jesus (Hanover Fist), and the roadie of Jesus (Jay M)

The costumes and stage props looked great and the people in the audience were pretty amused by it. At first, most of the crowd which consisted mainly of metal heads, were standing back and didn’t have any interest in some goofy punk band, but after a couple songs, a bunch of them were warming up to the band and the front started filling in a lot more. They were so entertaining, the threat of the Baby Jesus’s junk slipping out of his little diaper couldn’t even scare them off! They played a couple new songs, and some of the hits from the first two albums. Sadly their set time was cut a little short for reasons unknown. They left the stage and the people seemed to have really enjoyed it.

Destroy Everything (The Wise Man Nines and Wise Man Citizen)

Destroy Everything (Wise Man Mittens)

Next up were Usurper, who I believe are from around here as well. They played some loud, angry metal which also seemed to at time harken back to the days of the late 1980s/early 1990s. They played for what felt like an hour and a half. After every song, the singer kept saying they had a couple more. Perhaps he lost count and that is why they played so long. I didn’t mind them at first as I can take that stuff in small doses just fine, but after what seemed like the first dozen songs, I was done. The singer kept going for the cheap babyface pop by saying how they love Chicago and are so happy to be there with the fans, and all that usual stuff. It was fine once, but he kept going for that cheap pop like every other song. If they played five less songs, I would have thought they were pretty good, but the length of their set was just fatiguing. They seemed to have their fair share of fans though, so those who are into that genre must enjoy them, and this was before they went for the “we love Chicago” promos to gain the cheap pop from the crowd so clearly it was just the fact that I’m not much into their style of music that was at fault, and not the members on stage.

Usurper

Usurper

Finally Macabre took the stage. I’ve liked those guys since they sent me their first LP back in 1987 to review in my fanzine. They never fail to entertain the crowd with their brand of Murder-Metal (which they may have actually invented) and their stories of the serial killers they sing about. On top of that, they have one of the fastest and most intense drummers in the history of the world. They played a fair share of songs from their Dhamer album, along with some songs from their other records.

Macabre

Macabre

Sadly, I was so wiped out, as was my lovely companion for the evening, so we split a little early. Overall it was a very fun night out and at least two of the bands were entertaining, and they’ll think I’m just saying this because of them being some of my best friends, but I mean it when I tell you that Destroy Everything stole the show that night.

Macabre

Lots more photos of Destroy Everything and Macabre after the jump.

SSD - Jolly Old Saint Nicholas 7″
(1992 Taang! Records)

Since I’m pretty sure I didn’t do a Xmas themed selection last year, I wanted to do one for this xmas. It came to me the other night what to pick and here you go. I’m not going to do a full blown history on SSD because I’ll save that for the future when I do a proper selection featuring them. This 7″ came out in 1992 around the time that Taang! put out the Power collection of old SSD recordings. They made 200 of these one-sided 7″s which I’m sure sold out very quickly. This song originally appeared on some old Boston compilation and I believe it also appears on Power. This was Taang! #64 and had a color photocopied sleeve.

Merry Xmas everyone! I hope everyone has a nice holiday and gets some cool swag. Thanks to everyone who visited this site and left comments and emails throughout the year.

Listen to “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” from the record.

Taang! Records website

…from Friday’s show. Well, I have them and am all set to post them and write my story, however for some odd reason I can not FTP into my server to upload them. Until I can get Thor to fix it for me, I’m screwed. I apologize for the delay to those of you who may be waiting for them, hopefully it will be resolved later today or tomorrow. Until then, merry xmas!

Neon Christ is doing a pair of reunion shows next month in Atlanta! Unfortunately my current financial situation prohibits me from making the trek down to see them, otherwise I’d be there taking photos and hanging out If only this would come at a time after I someday find permanent employment!

You can get the information, plus see some pictures from the past and other band related goodness on the new Neon Christ website. Tell ‘em MXV sent you and if anyone wants to fly me down to Atlanta to cover the show, I’m not above accepting charity in an effort to bring you the photos and report!