Grrrrrr....
After many failed attempts to get to Blogger via Mozilla Foxfire (I get a error message that then closes Firefox when I get to Blogger's sign in page), I'm now forced to use IE browser, which I hate. No good reason for it, other than Blogger may have changed something on it's page that freaks out Foxfire. So I'm not in the greatest of moods here. I'm hopefully going to make this one short, but sweet.
In one my last posts I mentioned that I was going to see my musical favorites, Type O Negative live in concert this week. Here's how it went....
First, you have to understand, that there are certain challenges when living in the upper Midwest. The number one challenge is braving the weather. Mother Nature, again, provided my hometown with a wonderful blizzard that left us a few inches of cold, slushy, heavy gunk the was blowing at us with gale force winds.
Of course me, being the brianiac I am, was under the impression (back in March, when I bought my ticket) that it would be half-way decent by mid-April. I wasn't thinking 80 degree weather, but I was at least under my own ignorant impression that I wouldn't be walking to the venue in a snow storm.
The venue isn't all that far from me and parking in that area isn't always the best choice for many reasons. So, if I'm seeing a show there, I usually enjoy a good natured jaunt through the downtown/college area that takes just under an hour from Zangz's Vault of Geekdom Headquarters.
When I got home from work that evening, the big snowstorm that went through the town just earlier had subsided. So I put on my warm leather jacket and started off. Of course, God, who was conspiring against me with the help of Mother Nature, thought it would a fun shtick to start up the wind and snow again once I was well on my way there.
Once I reached the venue, I looked like a drown rat amongst the cool goth kids who probably were thinking, "Who's the creepy, moist guy?"
Well, once I warmed up I made my way into the main concert hall that Type O have played time and time again. I went up to my favorite perch where I can see everything perfect and don't have to worry about being crushed by the frenzied moshers. Once I got up there I was told by a security guy that to be up there was an additional $5. Realizing I was getting way too old for any moshing bull-frack I whipped out the ol' Abraham Lincoln, bought an $8 beer at the bar and relented with the fact that I'd been just nickled and dimed. Oh well. This was Type O Negative after all.
So I sat back with my beer, found a decent vantage point and enjoyed the show. The first opening band was Brand New Sin, a headbanger band with a slight dose of southern blues. Though the crowd was small at this point, they seemed to enjoy Brand New Sin, as did I!
After a 15 minute change over, the next opener came out. It was Black Metal avantegarde legends Celtic Frost. Their spooky intro tape lasted for what seemed like 20 minutes. Finally they took the stage amongst the smoke and dim, spooky lights, then they stood there for the remainder of the intro tape (another 5 minutes). Jeeze, play already!!! Finally they went into their opening song and from then on it was all out, full-on gloomy dark and powerful music. They intensified their music with an equally dark image as they all wore King Diamond-esque make up.
They certainly were darn fine musicians, but much like their intro tape, their set went on and on and on and on.........
They finally ended their show with a dramatic bow and left the stage.
Next up was going to be Type O Negative! But not before their sound crew tortured the frack out of us. First they'd play decent metal songs over the speaker system while the roadies switched the gear and put up Type O's set. So, all was good at first. Then they'd stop in the middle of a decent song and start playing a different one. Once the crowd got into that song, they'd stop it in the middle and start a new one. Then things got even more painful.
The house lights went down and the gloomy, blue stage lights came up which usually marks the entrance of the band. No such luck here. Instead they played the "Chicken Dance" song.... over and over and over... on a loop tape, don't ya know. Once again all the lights went down and the music stopped, usually marking the start of the show. Again, God frowned down upon us as the Chicken Dance was replaced by "It's a Small World After All", over and over again.
T.O.N. have a good time frellin' with their audience. Their last tour it was non stop marching band music before the show. The tour before that it was The Bee Gees greatest hits (which, comparatively, wasn't that bad at all!).
Finally all the lights went down and Small World came to an end. The four propagandist banners featuring Typ O's insignia (an "O" with a "-" in its center) which provided a backdrop to this evenings shinanagins lit up and the National Anthem of Kazhakstan (anyone seen Borat?) played at top level over the speakers. Then the drab four took the stage and went into a rendition of "Magical Mystery Tour" before plunging into their own stuff.
The set list went like this (I aped it from somebody at the band's message board)
Intro - Kazhakstani national anthem
Magical Mystery Tour (Beatles's cover)
We Hate Everyone
Profit of Doom
Anesthesia
These Three Things
Xero Tolerance (first half)
Hey Peter
Xero Tolerance (second half)
Halloween in Heaven (a highlight of the set!!!)
___________________________________
[I don't know if this was an encore or a break to fix Peter's Base, but there was a bit of a break in the show here.]
Love You to Death (another highlight!)
Christian Woman
___________________________________
Encore
Waste of Life (just the intro of it)
Theme from the Munsters bass solo (from Peter Steele)
Black No. 1 (a couple of members of Celtic Frost join in the chorus)
Ode to Locksmiths (outro - the chorus part that goes "We ain't going home...there's nowhere to go")
Their stage set was pretty simplistic as the stage room was limited. They had the banners with their logo on it, as I said before. They also had a couple of construction blockades painted in Type O black and neon green set in front of their speakers. They also had a number of audience participation lights that have been used on sitcom and variety show sets ("Applause", "Laughter", "Boo" and "You Suck"). These played a key roll in the aforementioned Chicken Dance blaspheme that took place prior to the band taking stage.
The band were in fine form as they seemed more energetic than the last time they played here.
Kenny (guitar, second vocalist) was especially energetic and playing incredibly well. Pete (bass, main vocals, main songwriter) seemed to be having a good time except for one point were he had to sit on a stool for a couple of minutes during a song. (rumors of back problems plagued some of the earlier shows on the tour), but after a while he was back up and jamming full throttle. Johnny is always a great drummer whether he's playing for Type O or doing his part time gig with Danzig and this night was no exception. Josh, as stoic as usual, takes to the keys with reckless abandon.... even though he looks like Moses. Imagine a stoic Moses banging around on a keyboard and you'll have a visual of the brilliance of Josh Silver.
The only two quibbles I had with the show was 1) the fact that the center mic's level was lower than the others, leaving both Kenny and Pete a bit agitated a few times. They both had to signal the sound tech to turn it up. Then 2) they could have done at least two more songs for their set. I now that their songs are long to begin with and time is limited, but would it have killed them to do two of their best songs, "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" and "Dead Again" would have been quite welcome over "Xero Tollerence/Hey Peter" for the umpteenth time.
Otherwise, this show was flawless and a very good time was had by all!! I enjoyed it better than the last time I saw them on the "Life is Killing Me" tour. Well worth being nickeled and dimed by the venue.
Well, that's all I have in me for this evening.
"May the power of Christ compel you!" (says Zangz's waving a bottle of Charles Shaw at no one in particular, trying to be as funny and cool as Peter Steele but, once again, failing miserably.)
Zangz.
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