Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Intense concert week! (Triple concert review!)

This last week was full of concerts!!! We had not been to a concert in over a year probably! Although we had seen some comedians(like Eddie Izzard), but no musicians. And just this last week(in 8 days, to be precise) we saw 3 unique and awesome concerts, all in their own way.

Friday March 26th, 2010 - Stone Temple Pilots at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI



I was very excited to find out Stone Temple Pilots was back together, on tour, releasing a new album(out in May), and coming to Milwaukee! I have liked them for a long long time. They were never one of my favorite bands, but I have always liked their music, and they were gone for years, and what seemed like it would be forever. I had even seen Army of Anyone, which was the Deleo brothers from STP + the singer from Filter in El Paso and that was cool, but it was no STP haha. So this was something I was definitely looking forward to. "Tab the Band" was the opening act. And they were good, best I can describe them is a 50's Rock and Roll band with a modern sound. It was enjoyable. Then STP came out. Here is the set list they played:
  • Vasoline
  • Crackerman
  • Wicked Garden
  • Hollywood Bitch
  • Between the Lines
  • Hickory Dichotomy
  • Big Empty
  • Sour Girl
  • Creep
  • Plush
  • Interstate Love Song
  • Bagman
  • Huckleberry Crumble
  • Sex Type Thing
  • Dead and Bloated (Partial)
  • Lounge Fly (Partial)
  • Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart
It was an awesome concert. Scott Weiland was talking gibberish and mumbling in between songs, but I had never seen him before, so I didn't know if that's just how he was. For the most part, he sang well and I didn't think much of anything was wrong. Then Dead and Bloated started, and it all went to hell...They must  have been about a minute and a half into it, and then Weiland was just lost. He kept singing the same verse over and over, even when it was time for the chorus. The sound man tried to fix it by lowering the volume of his microphone, but there was no hiding it. The Deleo brothers kept trying to go back to the part Weiland was singing, but they lost Eric Kretz(drummer) in the process. They even completely stopped to see where Weiland was at, and then tried to play to what he was singing! Weiland was completely oblivious to any of this(or so it seemed) he just kept on singing and dancing like nothing was wrong.The band just gave up...The band(except for Weiland) was clearly pissed. Robert Deleo removed Weiland's ear monitor and yelled something in his ear, and then they started 'Lounge Fly'. It started well. But then again, about a minute into it, Weiland got lost again, and just kept on singing. The rest of the band desperately tried to salvage the song. The Deleo brothers stopped playing, and let Eric try to find where Weiland was at, and then they tried to play along to weiland, but it was a disaster. The band left Weiland on stage, and he kept on singing like they didn't just destroy two songs that they have been playing for almost 20 years!! Finally Weiland got off the stage, and I don't know what they did back there, but they came back on and played 'Trippin' and they played it pretty well, especially considering what they had just done to the previous two songs! This is just sad and pathetic, all at the same time. I mean I feel bad for the rest of the band that they have to deal with this at this point in their careers. But at the same time, they should not be putting back together a band that cannot deliver. We must have spent over $90 on the 2 tickets, and while they did give an almost complete concert, a professional, international band should not be doing this. It is unprofessional and unacceptable. I really like STP, and Weiland is an awesome singer, but man, what a loser. You have one of the dream jobs of the world. Lead singer in a world-class rock band, and you can't get your shit together. I mean, he is no kid, he must be well into his 40's...but anyway, enough about Weiland. Despite the mishaps, it was an overall great concert! I am really glad that I got to see Stone Temple Pilots :)

Tuesday March 30th, 2010 - Puscifer at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, WI

Okay, this was a show that we decided to go to because we were curious. We were almost not gonna go. I had heard a few of the tracks on their website, and it was interesting. I noticed my taste in music is beginning to broaden. On the album, they have a lot of electronic sounds and samples. Something that would have immediately turned me off from the band a few years ago. But I would listen to their music they have up on their website at work while I was working and it grew on me. We ordered their CD, and gave it a listen. I still had no idea what to expect live. Just Maynard with a keyboard/synth and a DJ? A couple musicians + Maynard? I really had no clue. And I was in for a surprise. Neil Hamburger opened the show, a comedian(anti-comedian actually haha). And his jokes were so abrasive and tasteless that it was funny. He must have done 15 minutes of RHCP and Anthony Kiedis jokes, a good 5 minutes of Courtney Love jokes and he also had the time to do some Madonna, 311, and I don't know what other jokes. And he also destroyed anyone's attempt at heckling, this guy was something else haha I have never seen anything like it. Then Puscifer came out, and wow...






It was like a huge Saturday Night Live show, but with a band playing to most of the skits. There was 7 musicians total, of which there was usually 4-6 playing at one time. A female singer that took center stage with Maynard, the Primus drummer, and some other musicians that I was not familiar with their other bands. It was almost as if there was a movie/skit going on and they were the soundtrack to it. There was a couch and tables, and a laptop on stage(front and center) that the musicians that were not playing during a certain song would sit at and drink some wine.
And the TV that Maynard and the girl would sing behind were really cool. 






The music was just amazing. I would never have guessed it, but this is one of the best concerts I have ever been to. It was that good. In Maynard we trust lol. What a contrast from what I had just seen the previous Friday. At least when it comes to being a professional.

Saturday April 3rd, 2010 - Judgement Day at Ronny's in Chicago, IL

We first saw Judgement Day open up for Dredg last year here in Milwaukee at the Rave and it was nothing short of mind blowing! They were impressive, and different. They are an instrumental trio. Violin + cello + drums = greatness! They just released a new album that they put out themselves(check them out at stringmetal.com, like really, go!) and were on a national tour. So we decided to get some bus tickets and make the trip to Chicago to go see them. These guys are not on a label and from talking to Anton(violinist) at the show, they are not looking for one, which was very interesting. This show was at a local bar, your normal local venue. I had not been to a local type show since I was living in El Paso over 2 years ago and played w/Scenic Drive. It was cool to see another one again. A girl singer/guitar player opened up. Then there was a band called Girls in Trouble from Brooklyn, NY which was very interesting. They had no drums(except for a bucket bass drum), a stand-up bass, an accordion, and 2 girls that would play violin, guitar, and these little bell/xylophone type things. What I found most interesting was the subjects of their songs! They wrote their songs about the atrocities that happen to women in the bible(Judges 11 was one of the stories). I mean, that sounds like something I would write about! I never expected to find a band fronted by girls that wrote about that! Then this local band whose name I do not know played, and reminded me of Alphabetter a little, except much heavier. And then Judgement Day came on. And wow...they are such an awesome band. 




I really wish they had more of a following wherever they went, they really deserve it. But we can't even get Mari and Sergio to go to the show in Las Cruces!! So I can see why that happens...they didn't play as long as I would have liked, but it was an awesome show nonetheless!


Here are a few videos of the show as recorded from our camera haha









There was an couple issues on this Chicago trip. One, it was raining when we left Milwaukee, so we changed into our waterproof/snow boots(something we never needed in El Paso lol). And well, one of my boots had a malfunction and a part of the insole gave my foot a blister so it made it uncomfortable to walk haha. But we still walked the 10 or so miles around Chicago. The other issue was the hotel...we finally made it to a hotel near the downtown bus station around 3am and the hotel that Geli got an online rate of $80/night for was actually $125...this was after stopping at a couple more on the way that were also outrageously expensive. We were way too tired and decided to pay it anyway. It was Sophie's birthday on Sunday and we didn't want to be completely exhausted, sleepy, and moody on her birthday. It still feels like such a rip off since we were out by 9am. But oh well, it was still an awesome trip! 



As far as restaurants go, we ate at 3 places. One was Karyn's on Green which was awesome! An all vegan fancy restaurant! It was delicious. Then the after the show plan went awry when the restaurant we were going to eat at was closed. Well the place was open as a bar, but the kitchen was closed.  And vegan in Chicago is a common term, and even those restaurants that are not vegan friendly are familiar with the term, which is more than can be said of El Paso for example. When you go eat in El Paso as a vegan no one has a clue what that even is! It is funny and sad. But at J. Wellington's in Chicago they were very nice and despite not having anything but fries that was vegan(they also had a tofu burger, but the breading was not vegan)they offered to cook something up for us. They ended up making us some sauteed tofu that was not breaded with onions and tomatoes. It was really good. In the morning, we were too tired to look for a restaurant and we were short on time, so we just got a veggie Mediterranean sandwich from Panera and a couple bagels. Then off to Milwaukee we were :)

These last 8 days were awesome! Concerts we will never forget! A nice break from routine is always welcome. And now, we have Porcupine Tree on 4/30 and then Them Crooked Vultures on 5/18! Those should be stellar performances as well!