May concerts, CKY and Avatar, and why you shouldn't skip openers.

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.

Two weeks earlier at Starland, I had the pleasure of seeing Conquer Divide, Oxymorrons, and Avatar on the Great Metal Circus tour.  Conquer Divide is an all-female group with two singers and three musicians.  A blonde with braided pigtails did the screaming parts and a woman with black and red hair did the clean vocals and had a really good voice.  They've been around for several years and active on social media, but I only recently became aware of them as their new material was getting played on Octane.  They kept trying to get the crowd to start a moshpit, but their music isn't that heavy and any heavy part was soon changed to a slower singing part.  It just didn't make sense and the crowd didn't move much.  At the end they resorted to asking for phone lights to be waved and much of the crowd obliged.

The Oxymorrons are a rap-rock group out of Queens, NY.  I gave them a look on YouTube before going to the show and I wasn't sure if I would like them or not.  I moved from the side bar to the middle of the floor.  When they came out wearing a bunny ear mask and a studded facemask, I really wasn't sure.  However, they quickly won me over with their energy and talent!  Songs like "Look Alive," "Enemy," and "Definition" have a lot of power and a positive message.  I highly recommend giving them a chance and definitely see them live if they come around again.  Check out a clip from their performance of "Definition" here.

After the crowd was sufficiently hyped, Avatar made their way to the stage.  These guys put on a show like few others could.  First of all they have a unique look.  The lead singer looks like a sadistic court jester with his face paint, red and black costume outfit, and wielding a crop or staff of some sort.  The stage is rigged with red metal caging around lighting fixtures, but you feel like you have entered a demonic carnival.  The other band members usually have eyeblack and black costumes as well.  Vocalist Johannes Eckerstrōm comes out with his arms spread wide, inviting you into his world and we begin with a song called "Dance Devil Dance."  They are a Swedish melodic death metal band with 9 studio albums and 4 EPs to their name.  One of their latest singles "The Dirt I'm Buried In" reached number one on the modern rock chart.  I think I first heard of them around the time when their self titled album came out in 2009.  Then I bought a couple albums and became more of a fan.  They have some slower songs, but I'm a fan of the hard rockers like "Smells Like a Freak Show," "Colossus," "Legend of the King," and what I think is one of the best hard rock or metal songs to come out this century "Hail the Apocalypse."

About 45 minutes through their two hour, 18 song set, Johannes comes out into the crowd.  He climbs on top of a table by the soundboard and starts blowing up a long balloon and twisting it into a poodle like a clown.  He then breaks out a trombone and plays a tune.  Then it's back to the stage for the second half of the show.  We were treated to dueling guitar solos by Tim Öhrström and Jonas "Kungen" Jarlsby. Both were really good, but I definitely preferred the playing of Kungen.  After a solemn performance of Tower with Johannes on piano came my favorite part of the show, the crescendo of heavy songs "Colossus; Let It Burn; A Statue of the King; The Dirt I'm Buried In". Johannes says he has two more songs for us if we're ok with that.  Girls in the audience start calling out for three, four, and ten more.  He says he doesn't like to be told what to do and that we're a greedy audience so he leaves.  Then he comes back and says that is what "power" he yields, and that we will get two more songs after all.  They do fan favorite "Smells Like a Freak Show" with some of the best synchronized headbanging I've seen on stage and then close with the ultra heavy, yet fun, "Hail the Apocalypse" complete with glitter cannons and more synchronized head banging.  I leave satisfied and knowing I just saw one of the greatest live shows out there today.  You can check out videos from the show on my IG or YouTube.

Rock the Rock Fest '24

At first Rock the Rock Fest seemed like a weak pun, but when you consider that the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ is nicknamed "the Rock" then the play on words is revealed to be even more clever!  The event was sponsored by 105.5 WDHA (one of the few FM stations worth listening to) and although this was a big lineup worthy of a festival, this concert from April 25 is not in place of their annual Rock the Park concert which is being held in July at PNC Bank Arts Center.  Rock the Rock featured Staind, Seether, the Struts, Dayseeker, and Ayron Jones.  My buddy and I took the train in, and got to our seats just in time for the main stage opening act.  There were a couple of acoustic performances as well as radio interviews taking place around the arena prior to the 5:30 start time.  This is a classic example of it being worth it to get there early/on time.  If you are only coming for headliners and spend too long pre-gaming, you are missing out on some great tunes and not getting the most out of what you paid for a ticket.

After hearing Ayron Jones on Sirius radio stations and the Colbert show, I was excited to catch a live performance.  Similar to Gary Clark Jr., Ayron Jones sings about racial tensions and growing up in America while blending genres including blues, soul, hip-hop, and rock. The band sounded phenomenal jamming through six songs from three studio albums.  I particularly enjoyed the opener "Boys from Puget Sound" as well as rockers "Blood in the Water," "Mercy," and "Take Me Away".  You can catch the blistering end of Mercy and the beginning of Take Me Away on my YouTube channel.

At about 6:20PM came Dayseeker out of California.  Though they have five albums going back to 2012, I've only recently become aware of them as their last two albums Sleeptalk and Dark Sun have been getting played on Sirius Octane.  They're characterized as post-hardcore, and while some songs feature screams, most of the singing is clean and the music is rock with some electronic elements similar to bands like Sleepwave and Starset.  Highlights for me were the really catchy "Without Me" and closer "Neon Grave."

During the set change we went in search of some food which required taking an elevator up from the concert floor to get to the overpriced concessions.  The silver lining was that there wasn't much of a line, and we found some tables to stand at.  We just about finished our meal when the next band came on and we headed back to the floor.  We had seats near the back, next to the sound board, and nobody bothered checking our tickets at this point.  The arena looked pretty full, but the seats above the luxury boxes were closed off, and even the lower section was not sold out.  The Struts are glam rock band from England that is kind of like a hybrid of the Darkness and the Strokes.  They played 8 songs in a fun set.  My favorite was definitely "Pretty Vicious," the title track from their 2023 release.

Before each set, the WDHA DJ's would come out to say hello and hype up the crowd.  They did a good job of not hogging the stage, and if you are a fan of the station it was nice to see Terry Carr, Michael Anthony, and crew.  This night was my 11th time seeing Seether live, but the first time since 2017.  Of course in between there was that whole pandemic thing and then on 8/21/21 Seether didn't show up in Philadelphia.  Although I've seen them as a threesome, they typically tour with a second guitarist.  Since 2018 the guy has been Corey Lowery (formerly of Stuck Mojo, Stereomud, Dark New Day, Eye Empire, and Saint Asonia).  I noticed that Corey is also singing back-up to Shaun a lot more than Dale is.  They played 12 songs from 7 different albums in about an hour.  Like the last time I saw them, they fill space between songs with guitar feedback and noise rather than have a lot of dead space.  Some people have criticized that their setlist hasn't changed much since Corey joined, but as I haven't seen them in years I wasn't bothered.  Also it was my first time hearing songs from 2020's Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum live which were "Bruised and Bloodied," "Wasteland," and "Dangerous."  As is typical, they opened with "Gasoline" and closed with "Remedy."  On the penultimate song "Fake It" there was a different slow breakdown and then harder ending.  They are playing more shows with Staind this spring on "The Tailgate Tour" and a few festivals in the summer.  I hope to get new music and a headline tour from them soon.

This night would be my sixth time seeing Staind live and the third time with them headlining.  They were great just last year with Godsmack, but I enjoyed them even more as the headliners.  Aaron's voice still sounds great, and they were able to go deeper into their catalogue and play some more of the heavier tunes.  They played 16 songs, from 6 albums, in 90 minutes.  (Lowest in Me, Eyes Wide Open, Fade, Raw, Not Again, Here and Now, Something to Remind You (Aaron & Mike only), Right Here, Wannabe, Outside (full band), Better Days, Paper Wings, So Far Away, For You, It's Been A While (full band), and Mudshovel). Notably, they haven't been playing any songs from 2008's the Illusion of Progress.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Paper Wings" and "Raw," the latter of which he sang a little differently than usual when saying "raw."  I also liked that they did "Outside" and "It's Been A While" as full band instead of just acoustic as it is often done.  I just about blew my voice out in the middle of the set singing along.  I don't know how Aaron's has held up as well as it has.  If you haven't seen them at all or in a while, and you're in the NJ area, I recommend getting tickets to see them with Breaking Benjamin at PNC in September!

Static-X Regeneration 2.0

In February of 2000 Vince Carter put on the most electrifying display by a single human at an NBA Slam Dunk contest.  Just a week later I went to my first ever live music concert.  My college friend Bill had been introducing me to bands like Deftones, Staind, and many more hard rock and metal acts.  When he learned I had never been to a concert, he said that I should go see Static-X with him and that he was sure I would like it.  On Februrary 18 we went to Roseland Ballroom in NYC for my first show.  When we got there the line wrapped around the building and we ended up missing the openers, Chevelle, much to my disappointment.  However, once inside we made our way close to the front for the beginning of Dope's set.  So they were the first ever band that I saw on stage!  Bill described them as "scuzzy" and said I didn't have to like them.  Their style and songs weren't the best thing in the world, but I didn't hate them either.  Then we pushed towards center stage for Static-X.  They played 10 songs off of Wisconsin Death Trip.  Thier second single had just dropped.  Wayne's hair was spiked tall and his beard was a long rope.  His mannerisms and the music were infectious, and by the end of the set I thought it was just about the coolest thing I had ever seen.  The headliner Powerman 5000 was also good, but I was more of a fan of Static-X.  Prior to this show I knew little about industrial metal and hadn't listened to much music this heavy.  If I hadn't seen it live in-person, I don't know if I would have been as open to it, but now I was hooked.  I went on to see at least 164 more concerts (that I have documented) including four more shows with Wayne fronting Static-X and then two with his "replacement" Xer0.

Fast forward to Saturday February 10, 2024 and I arrived at Starland Ballroom to see the "Machine Killer" tour with Lines of Loyalty, Dope, Sevendust and Static-X.  The show was sold out and by the time I got into the venue at about 6:35PM the first band was almost done.  Not for nothing, but 6:15 is an early start time for a weekend show!  Anyway, Lines of Loyalty come from Kinosha, WI and just released their debut album.  From the two songs I heard they sounded like a heavier Pop Evil and I'd give them another listen.  Dope went on at about 7PM.  They opened with Blood Money which came out in 2016 and finished with their cover of You Spin Me Round, the same way they did the last time I saw them in 2019.  The girl behind me said that she felt cheated because they didn't even play the full song.  Then there was a long wait before Sevendust took the stage.  They definitely could have played a few more songs, but most people believe that the lead singer, Edsel Dope, is also Xer0, the new frontman of Static-X in which case it makes sense that he save his energy.  Edsel did thank the crowd and all the other bands.  He asked who saw their first tour with Static-X in 1999/2000 and I was able to proudly raise my horns and shout in the affirmative.  Little does he know that this very tour sparked my love of concert going and poured gasoline on my love for metal.

After an interlude which included songs on the PA ranging from Pantera to Neil Diamond, Sevendust took the stage at 8PM.  They played a good mix of 14 songs from 8 different albums.  It was a completely different setlist and vibe from the last time I saw them on the Animosity anniversary tour.  Lajon seemed to have fun interacting with the crowd, and the sold-out crowd was loving them in return.  Last time the crowd loved them too, but when they headlined they actually destroyed with their energy.  This night they were just out there having a good time.  Having seen them four times now in the last 20 years, I am confident saying Sevendust is one of the best live acts I've ever witnessed.  They are one of the few bands that transform on stage and outperform their recordings in an almost inexplicable way.  Their first ever single from 1997, Black, is still a fan favorite and the message is still relevant.  Check out a video from the night here.

About 40 minutes went by before Static-X came out.  I'm used to long breaks between sets from back in the day, but it doesn't make much sense at shows like this one where the equipment has already been set up on stage and sound check has been completed in advance.  I also noticed that the video screen never came down all night.  Usually Starland runs ads on a projection screen in between sets.  The only time people got to cheer for IHOP is when the guitarist from Dope flashed the back of his guitar with an IHOP sign on it.  When Static-X did come out on stage they were joined by a large monster guy with a large, round, light-up head.  Lead singer Xer0 has updated his costume with more wiry looking hair, headphones, and red light up eyes instead of a plain mask.  His face and arms look machine like.  As mentioned previously, it is believed to be Edsel Dope under the mask.  Last time I saw them he tried his best to sound like Wayne at all times.  This time his speaking voice came out a little more during some song parts and especially when he addressed the crowd saying "New Jersey" is sounded like Edsel.  Xer0 is joined by the original members bass player Tony Kampos, lead guitarist Koichi Fukada, and drummer Ken Jay.  Their latest album, Project Regeneration 2.0 was just released on January 26 and features about half of the songs attributed to Wayne Static, using some of his recorded vocals and synthesizers, and about half of the songs written by Xer0.  I expected to hear a lot more new material this time around since they already toured the anniversary of Wisconsin Death Trip.  However, 75% of the setlist consisted of material from the first two albums!  They only played Z0mbie from the latest record.  This goes to show that they are continuing to play tribute to Wayne.  His face appears on the big screens towards the end of the set with the years 1965-2014 displayed.  Meanwhile the stage show takes them into the modern era with superb video and lighting from multiple giant light boards, three different monsters, and the addition of a smoky bubble machine.  If you are skeptical or curious about what they are like now I urge you to go see a show for yourself.  I do not think you will be disappointed.  I know I didn't want to miss the Wisconsin Death Trip anniversary show and this time around they sounded as good, if not even better.  It certainly filled my musical soul to go back to where it all began for me.  After 16 songs the lights start to come up and there is no encore.  We all get out of the venue and on the road before 11PM!  Check out more videos here.  Please "like" the videos and subscribe to my YouTube channel.