My last two concerts experiences reaffirm my preference to see all of the bands on a given bill. Even the worst openers I've seen have been tolerable, and more often than not you discover something or someone that you really enjoy. Most recently I saw CKY with Crobot, Midnight Foolishness, and Tango Machina. I knew nothing of the opener, Tango Machina, before the show beginning at 7:30 PM on the dot. They are a three piece band from Asbury Park, NJ. The lead singer/guitarist looked like a cooler version of Pedro from Napolean Dynamite. He played a maroon BC Rich guitar with heavy disortion through a Mesa amp. Songs mostly consisted of choppy riffs during verses and lyrics with a story. The bass player was bald and had big sideburns connected to a mustache. He did the banter with the crowd between songs with a dry humor, but also thanking us for coming early to see them, and explaining some of the songs. For example, "This next song is about how Agamemnon goes to Troy, called Everybody Gets Laid." The last song he promised the weed smokers they would enjoy. It was called "Fire in the 'Quila." It had a cool name, some complicated drumming, and was the longest song, but it was a little slow for my liking, and I much preferred the song before last. Still, for local openers, these guys were great. They didn't have any merch for sale at the venue, but they have music available on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc.
Tango Machina photo by J. Bink |
The next band I didn't know much about either, but I had looked up on YouTube prior to the show. They're from Brooklyn, NY and Pop-Punk with Emo leanings. Unlike the last band, their songs were not predictable in structure. In fact, I think it was cool that sometimes they started with bass, sometimes drums, sometimes guitar or vocals. Though they have a distinct tonal sound, every song was mid-tempo, and I found it hard to get into a groove in their 30 minute set. Likewise, while I could understand most of the vocals, I couldn't really identify with a story or emotion. There was some head-bobbing and light moshing by the crowd and most of the audience seemed into them. They also have stuff on Bandcamp and Soundcloud, but it seems abandoned after 2017. However, you can find a lot of newer songs/videos on Youtube.
Midnight Foolishness photo by J. Bink |
Next up was Crobot who I was seeing for the third time. The first time at Wellmont Theater in 2014 I was blown away by the vocals of Brandon Yeagley. After the first album Brandon held back on the high notes a bit more, but he is still an energetic frontman. In March of last year, and again on this occasion, I was up near the railing to get a close view of the band including a whole lot of chest hair poking through Brandon's leather vest and a whole lot of beard and tattoos from the bassist in jean shorts and Doc Martens. I also noticed that the black drum set brought in was the same one that Tango Machina had played on earlier! They must've loaned the openers their drums, which happens often on tour. The age diverse crowd grew a bit more during their set from 8:58-9:47 PM. There were two young girls in the front row with their dad singing along with many of the songs. A setlist still hasn't been posted, but at least one copy made it into the crowd and I saw another kid take a picture of it. I wrote down that they played Queen of the Light, Necromancer, I Am Metal, Dizzy, Ancient Druid, Golden, Low Life, Legend of the Spaceborn Killer. During the End of Low Life, Brandon jumped up on the shoulders of his guitar player who continued to wail while Brandon pretended to smoke a joint and then continued to sing. They closed with new single Obsidian from the album by the same name coming out in September. You can watch the video here.
Crobot photos by J. Bink |
During the final break there was an older guy taking pictures of the crowd and a younger tattooed female photographer with short hair that took some pictures and also interviewed a couple of girls in the front row. CKY is touring on the "New Reason to Dream" tour and are celebrating 25 years as a band. They still have the original drummer, Jess Margera, brother of Bam who is famous from Jackass. This is why Jess and Bam's parents, April and Phil, also famous from the show, introduced the band and threw out some frisbees and t-shirts with the band's logo! Original guitar player, Chad Ginsberg, is also still performing and now does lead vocals as well. The band has a new bassist that joined them in 2023 named Ronnie "Elvis" James, who has Elvis-like sideburns and reminded me of Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby. By the time the screen went up at 10:05PM, the audience was nearly full. They played until 11:30PM and despite owning two albums from the band, I only recognized a couple of songs from their 18 song set. Still it was a fun time. One thing unique was that Chad would frequently solicit the crowd for song suggestions. This rarely happens at rock shows anymore, and he did several requests. I was enjoying being near the front except for one drunk guy behind me who kept yelling and pushing, and a few repeat crowd surfers. I decided to step back towards the pit area. While the pit was not very violent, there were a few idiots spilling beers all over the floor which made it more unsafe and anyone who fell would be wet and smell like beer so I didn't partake in moshing. I miss the original singer whose voice was much more dynamic and the fuller sound of two guitars. However, CKY still were fun to see and I'm definitely glad I went.