ConcertsDecember 11th, 2011 by Phantasmo FILTER: Live in Anchorage 12.09.11
The first two songs were a bit mid-tempo, with Richard holding the mic stand cautiously and I was curious if things would liven up a bit, and they immediately did. The band kicked into overdrive with ‘The Inevitable Relapse’ as Richard Patrick announced to the crowd, “I feel like crowd surfing!”. As he screamed out the chorus “Drink it, drink it, snort it, smoke it!” he propelled himself into the audience. Standing inches from the stage, I spent the next few minutes holding him up along with a few others. Throughout the show, he did this several times, often looking up at the VERY low ceiling to find a handhold on a pipe, lighting rig, or anything that would carry his weight. At one point, he was singing with the mic in one hand, while his other hand and his two feet grappled around the ceiling fixtures throughout the club – it was pretty damn cool to watch this guy suspended inches above your head while belting out a kick ass rock song. There was quite a bit of stage banter, with the band completely puzzled how they had been to so many foreign places and not Alaska (“How have we been to fuckin’ KUWAIT and never been here?!”). While the band kept a solid tempo and were impressive in their own right, Richard Patrick stole the show. The guy ignited the place and had endless energy. Jumping, leaning out in the crowd to hold him up, the crowd-surfing, he was on fire. At one point during the show, I had my iPhone held up in front of him to snap a photo, when he suddenly grabbed it out of my hand and proceeded to film me, the crowd, himself and the band before handing it back to me – it was shaky as hell, but damn cool to have that happen. The set list was varied with several songs from each album and I was happy to see two of my favorites – “Jurassitol” and “Skinny” – make the cut. They closed the show with a blistering “The Best Things” before returning for a two-song encore – “So I Quit” (with a bit of “War Pigs” added on) and “Hey Man, Nice Shot”, with bassist/Carls Jr. spokesman Phil Buckman taking a shirtless center stage to rock the opening bass line before downing several shots of (requested) Jameson as the chorus kicked in. Planned or not, it was ironically funny. RP absolutely screamed his lungs out as they closed the show and walked off stage, promising to return. The band hung around for a bit, but Richard Patrick was nowhere to be seen afterward… It was a tightly-packed, sweaty little rock show and I had a great time. Filter put on an excellent live show and it’s amazing how Koots can get bands like Filter to play in such a small little area of the bar. I LOVE going to shows there. SETLIST Here’s video of the band performing ‘Skinny’ – sorry I missed the first twenty seconds or so…and be sure to watch in HD. And here’s the 25 seconds of video that Richard Patrick shot on my iPhone… November 14th, 2011 by Foxopoly Rammstein – Mein LandDirected by Jonas Aukerland: RAMMSTEIN, the Berlin-based band known for its incendiary live performances, will bring its brand new live production to North America this spring for 21 dates kicking off April 20 in Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets for the tour, promoted by Live Nation, will go on sale beginning Friday, November 18 and will be available at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. RAMMSTEIN Made In Germany 1995-2011 North American tour dates: April 20 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – BankAtlantic Center RAMMSTEINs long-awaited retrospective release, Made In Germany 1995 – 2011, will be available on December 13 through Universal Germanys marketing and distribution deal in the U.S. with Vagrant Records. Made In Germany 1995 – 2011 will be available in three different editions: * Standard Edition: CD Digipak – Best Of Album * Special Edition: 2-CD Digipak – Best Of Album and Best Of Remixes * Super Deluxe Edition: 2-CD (Best Of Album and Best Of Remixes) as well as 3 DVDs (including the full RAMMSTEIN video catalog, all previously available making-of and 8 unreleased making-of videos) packaged in a steel box complete with a 240-page booklet. Limited to 1,200 copies in the U.S. http://www.amazon.com/Made-Germany-Super-Deluxe-Rammstein/dp/B005OLUOVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8qid=1321289789sr=8-1 All songs and videos on Made In Germany 1995 – 2011 have been remastered for this release. October 30th, 2011 by Foxopoly 36 Crazyfists: Zombiefist IVAnother high energy set from Alaska’s premiere metal band.
Setlist: Encore: October 29th, 2011 by Foxopoly Zombiefist IV: In Anchorage At the Egan Tonight!!!There are still tickets. Sure to be a fun show!
October 27th, 2011 by Foxopoly Smashing Pumpkins Live At the Riviera Theater In Chicago 10-14-2011
In the fall of 1996 a bunch of college kids piled in a van and made the trek into Denver Colorado to see the Smashing Pumpkins at the now defunct McNichols arena. The pumpkins at the height if their career touring behind the Mellon Collie album had nearly derailed after the sudden OD of their drummer, Jimmy Chamberlin and death of their touring keyboardist, Jonathan Melvion. Billy fired Jimmy and managed (reluctantly) to get the tour cycle back on track by enlisting Matt Walker to man the kit and Dennis Flemion on keys. It was a stellar performance that night in Denver with a premium sounding, high flying performance not usually indicative of an arena concert. Flemion’s band The Frogs were even included as very special guests. Out of all the shows I’ve been lucky to see I remember this one the most fondly. To see ¾ of SP together playing an epic set was a concert highlight in my live show life. Cue to 2011 years later when the band is almost an imitation of itself. Billy’s the only surviving member (wasn’t he always Smashing Pumpkins anyway?) touring with three young wunderkind players rounding out the band. On Oct 14th the band made a triumphant return to it’s hometown of Chicago to play a crushing & face-melty set spanning their whole career to packed house. Rather than a huge arena, this time the setting was the classic Riviera Theater- possibly one of the most beautiful and perfectly laid out venues I have ever been in. What a gorgeous old place. Corgan hasn’t lost a thing as he completely destroyed the crowd with his wild guitar antics at times verging on straight shredding. He can make a Stratocaster wail like no other on the planet. I am not kidding you when I say that he nearly killed a man standing nearby us when he tore into the solo to “For Martha”. Carted out by EMT’s I can only hope that he survived. There was very little banter until the end. Billy’s father and brother were even in attendance. The set opened up with a couple of new songs from the future-coming full-length ‘Oceania’ (Quasar and Panopticon) and then broke free into a bunch of classics covering all their past albums even including “Frail and Bedazzled” from Pisces. My two all-time favorite SP songs ‘Soma” and “Thru the Eyes of Ruby” were both included amazingly as I believe Ruby hasn’t been played live since the late 90’s. The Gish and Siamese songs still sounded as fresh and ground-breaking as ever. ‘Muzzle’ was epic. ‘Cherub Rock’ and ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings” got the biggest rise as I could barely hear Billy’s vox over the crowd song. For me, the most special point of the evening came during the encore as Billy reunited 90’s band Catherine who as excellent as they were were never able to break through. What an honor it must have been for them to also be included in the hometown hero show playing to what quite possibly could have been their biggest audience ever. Catherine featuring BC on guitar performed ‘Idiot’ and ‘Broken Bunny Bird‘ for a few thousand people who had no idea who they were, but it was sure special to me as I was a huge fan from years ago. Following the miniset the Pumpkins returned for a blistering rendition of “Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ that brought the house down. Though the Pumpkins may not be one of the most popular bands in the world anymore on this night it sure felt like they were. Instead of a vanload of college kids it was my gorgeous wife accompanying me on this especially unforgettable night.
Setlist: Quasar / Stella Polaris and the People Mover Encore: Bullet With Butterfly Wings PS. Fancy Space People are awesome. October 3rd, 2011 by Foxopoly Portugal. The Man Live!Just announced! Native sons, Portugal. The Man live in Anchorage at the Egan Convention Center on December 16th, 2011. Sure to be an excellent show. Tell your friends. Tickets available through Ticket Master. Unfortunately. |
