POSTS BY: PhantasmoApril 15th, 2010 by Phantasmo 1962 – 2010
April 4th, 2010 by Phantasmo IT’S ON!Planets aligned on March 26th and 27th, as Korn kicked off their ‘Assault on the Americas’ 2010 tour. I’m not sure how this all played out, but for a band as big as Korn to emerge from the studio and begin a global tour in little ol’ Anchorage, Alaska is incredible in itself. A ticket was snapped up as soon as they went on sale, and a backstage ‘Meet & Greet’ pass was secured via the Korn website. IT’S ON!!!
7:45 PM. About a dozen Korn fans, including myself, are ushered to the 3rd floor with Korn’s manager Sebastien. First up at the meet-and-greet is new drummer Ray Luzier, who is chatting on his cell phone and looks shockingly like Rob Thomas. I’m at the front of the line and Ray is very friendly and talkative, asking about Alaska and thanking us all for coming while signing CDs and getting his photo taken. Several minutes later, Munky strolls out, cracking jokes and asking me why I’m not at the bar getting drunk like I should be. He signs a few items, snaps a pic with me, and then continues on down to the other fans as he steals my silver Sharpie that I brought along. Oh well. Jonathan Davis walks out a few minutes later with two “handlers” and he does not look very happy. No photos are allowed with Jonathan for some reason and he will sign only one item – kind of a dick move, but whatever. Fieldy, we are told, is “at church” and won’t make it to the meet-and-greet. WTF?!! The meet-and-greet ends and I hit the bar, as instructed by Munky. 9:18 PM. The lights dim and the crowd instantly goes nuts as Korn takes the stage – Fieldy, Munky, new (and incredible) drummer Ray Luzier, touring guitarist Shane Gibson and keyboardist Zac Baird all file out. The recognizable, thunderous bass of ‘4 U’ rattles my heart in my chest. The music builds until Jonathan Davis slowly approaches center stage, quietly singing as Zac and Ray create a swirling, hypnotic trance of music. ‘4 U’ ends and the band launches into the thrashing, pounding ‘Dead Bodies Everywhere’ – one of my favorites that I did NOT expect to hear! From there, the band were all over the discography map, resurrecting rarely played songs (‘Need To’ and ‘Clown’ and ‘Good God’) and, of course, their radio-friendly hits (‘Freak on a Leash’ and ‘Got The Life’). Fieldy started the show out looking like he was just going through the motions, but halfway through the show he was grinning and bouncing around, pounding his bass to ‘Good God’ and ‘Did My Time’ and clearly enjoying the energy of the nearly-5000 strong Anchorage crowd. Munky, complete with tribal face paint, was at his finest, entertaining the screaming fans at his feet, tossing out guitar picks and providing massive background vocals (‘Right Now’ was truly impressive as he was screaming his head off). Apparently a man of few words, singer Jonathan Davis had very little to say throughout the show, saving his banter for the last song with the obligatory “Make some NOISE Anchorage!” while twisting and screaming in his Adidas tracksuit. Sadly missing from the stage setup was Ray Luzier’s custom drum kit (he told me earlier at the meet-and-greet that he was using a loaner for the shows) and Jonathan’s custom H.R. Giger-designed mic stand. I would have loved to see that thing up close, but for some reason he has not used it since 2008. The crowd was energetic and the band reciprocated. Jonathan Davis went absolutely insane during the three encore songs – ‘It’s On!’(a complete surprise since they rarely play it), ‘Blind’ (featuring an echo effect on the “Are you ready?!!” intro that blasted the entire room) and ‘Faget’. The setlist was perfect and I could not have asked for a better mix of old and new songs (though they saved the debut of their new song ‘Oildale’ for the following night’s performance). It was an incredible show, the band was extremely friendly at the meet-and-greet (well, Ray and Munky were…Jonathan was pretty quiet) and it was two nights of amazing metal.
March 26 Setlist: Intro/4 U March 27 Setlist: Intro/4 U December 14th, 2009 by Phantasmo Phantasmo Top 11 Albums of 2009
Trashcan Sinatras “In The Music” – Anyone who knows me will know why this is my favorite album of the year, and possibly of all time. It’s a crime that this hasn’t been released domestically yet. My favorite band EVER. Portugal. The Man “The Satanic Satanist” – Proud to see some local boys make it big in the global scene. Silversun Pickups “Swoon” – If I’m not playing this, my wife is. My second-most listened to album of the year. The Hours “See The Light” – An underrated UK band akin to Doves…and that’s not a bad thing (see further down this list!) The Prodigy “Invaders Must Die” – After the mediocre “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”, Liam Howlett returns with an album of classic, banging Prodigy tracks. This album takes me back to my days of working at Mammoth Music in the summer of ‘95 and cranking “The Fat of the Land.” Neko Case “Middle Cyclone” – An incredible album, and easily the best album artwork of the year. Dredg “The Parrot, The Pariah, The Delusion” – I didn’t think Dredg could ever top the beauty of “Catch Without Arms” which made my Top 11 several years ago, but luckily they proved me wrong. Doves “Kingdom of Rust” – A band that is sadly still on my concert ‘bucket list’, Doves never disappoint. Brookville “Broken Lights” – I had never heard of this band until they opened up for Trashcan Sinatras this past summer. They blew me away and this is the perfect melancholy album to enjoy with a bottle of wine. Baroness “Blue Record” – Heavy. Heavy. Heavy. National Skyline “Bliss & Death” – A digital-only release from one of the best unknown bands of all time. Honorable Mentions:
30 Seconds to Mars “This Is War” February 18th, 2009 by Phantasmo SPACE ROCK FOR YOUR BRAIN
Searching through my junk mail folder sometimes provides some real gems – like the e-mail I got yesterday from Jeff Garber of National Skyline. Featuring members of Hum and Caster, National Skyline could possibly be the first atmospheric space rock supergroup. These guys make headphone candy and each release is a journey into sound and space. Their new album, Bliss & Death surprised the hell out of me when I saw that it was released on Tuesday. I haven’t even had a chance to listen to it, but I don’t doubt that it’s amazing. From what I can tell, it’s digital-only, so download it from all the usual spots, and get more info here. February 18th, 2009 by Phantasmo MORE SONGS ABOUT DICKS AND FARTS
Great – just when I thought the world was finally free and clear of these guys, they decide to reunite and make more shitty, immature pop-punk songs about boobies and boogers. And is a 4 year break really considered a reunion? I mean, c’mon! Back in the day that was the standard time period between Def Leppard albums. I guess they collectively realized that all their side projects sucked (with the exception of The Transplants, which I kinda liked…), but really, did anyone take Tom Delonge seriously when he compared Angels and Airwaves to U2? And Mark Hoppus was probably losing sleep at night trying to decide if he should ‘get the band back together’ or take that regional manager position at Hot Topic. I guess the 401(k) plan at Hot Topic wasn’t seeing very good returns, so it’s on to Warped Tour! February 6th, 2009 by Phantasmo SLIPKNOT – ST. PAUL, MN – 01.23.09
People equaled shit on January 23rd in St. Paul, Minnesota when Slipknot kicked off their US ‘All Hope Is Gone’ tour. I was lucky enough to be in St. Paul that weekend for my godson’s baptism, and what better way to celebrate a christening than watching the Unholy Nine unleash hell upon an arena of 17,000 maggots? My brother-in-law Tim and I made it to the show a little late, so we missed the first band, Trivium. From what I heard, they were damn good and as a Trivium fan, I was a bit disappointed to have missed their set because they played some pretty blistering metal. |
