Danzig and Black Spiders on Monday night!   

I'll report back on the show next week! 

CT - let me know if you want me to pick you up tickets at the box office to save on processing fees. I'm always in that area anyway.

Here's a piece about live shows that Sachu posted yesterday in the shoutbox that I'll post here to archive: http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/06/the-audacity-of-low-what-does-a-band-owe-us-when-we-pay-to-see-them-perform/

Any Bay Area guys here catching any of the free Stern Grove shows? Some nice dates this year like Ramsey Lewis/Dee Dee Bridgewater this weekend, Deltron 3030 (with an orchestra) on June 30th and Shuggie Otis on August 4th. http://www.sterngrove.org/home/2013-season/season-calendar

Rocked to Danzig last night at the Roundhouse in London.    It was an excellent show.  Evil Elvis didn't disappoint bringing his powerful vocals.  I've never seen anyone able to overpower a proper metal band on stage with vocals alone and sound good doing it.  Seriously, this guy sings with a confidence that is captivating.

Glenn ran through a long set list of up tempo songs that started with just a couple of new songs and followed with all of the old hits.  The band was tight and the energy was high, always with a feeling of pushing things a little faster than you'd hear from the studio recordings.  He could have easily moved into some of his slower stuff to take a break, but it's just not the way this guy performs.  At close to 60 he hasn't lost much.

Steve Zing's bass was literally shaking the building but it didn't stop Tommy Victor's incredible clean riffs and solos from stealing the show in more than a few songs.  John Kelly kept a strong beat that constantly pushed with an energy that kept the whole set moving.  I also dig that he was playing a pretty plain rig, but made the most of it. You could see just how much fun the three were having, including taking time to pull out their own cell phones and turning them towards the crowd gone wild!

I knew that a Misfits set was planned and had read about Doyle's performance at previous shows on this tour.  That however did little to prepare me for the absolute pandemonium that ensued when for the first time, for most anyone in the UK, Danzig summoned his monster man on stage.  Stomping out while smashing chords on his guitar Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein crashed on to the stage and they took things to whole new level belting out some of the greats like Skulls and Die Die Die my Darling.  It was one of those rock show moments you just have to experience.  Doyle really is a monster man who's presence on stage is truly larger than life.



Glenn's voice did start to waiver late in the show when Doyle took a break and Danzig pushed on with a few more hits like Mother.  Don't take that the wrong way.  He took no prisoners and left nothing on stage.  His heavy breathing between sets and soaked with sweat hair were clear indications of just how hard he pushed. 

He managed to keep enough in the tanks to belt out two encores, one with Doyle back on point, that left a satisfied audience in awe.

A few non-band related notes that made my night enjoyable; I was pleasantly surprised at what a really cool crowd was there.  in spite of the wide spread of ages, no shortage of alcohol, and some proper looking punks everyone seemed to just be having a great time and stayed friendly. Sorry to stereotype, but it's one of the few shows like this I've been to in the recent past where someone didn't end up acting like an asshole and pissing people off or fighting.  At least I didn't witness anything like that. 

I also used my UE custom ear plugs for the first time.  They were outstanding.  They knock things down just enough to keep a volume similar to what I'd consider slightly loud listening on headphones.  I popped them out a few times to get an idea of what the sound was like without the damping, and it was friggn' loud.  With the plugs in I left with no ringing or fatigue in my ears and I honestly don't feel like it had any negative impact on hearing the band. 

As Danzig celebrates 25 years he showed that the old man is still a friggn' rock star.  Well done. 

Awesome read, Ship! Sounds like a fun show.

Kinda cool set that you don't see every day, in that Wilco did a whole set of covers only for the first night of their Solid Sound festival:
http://www.spin.com/articles/wilco-daft-punk-pavement-replacements-solid-sound-festival-download-video/

Sounds like a good show dB!

I too always wonder about the sound engineers.  Thy twiddle and tweak around throughout the show and I wonder how much impact they are having. 

For sure the headliners get treated to a better sound system, they typically are not sharing all the same speakers etc... This was really clear at a recent show when a small Irish band opened for Drop Kick Murphys.  The openers used some pretty basic gear just propped on stage.  The Murphys had a massive professional hanging sound system that could have been used in a stadium.  Besides the obvious difference in power, the quality was noticebly better for the Murphys as well.  I guess you don't want the openers to overshadow the headliners!

I am thinking about two shows that are on the same night, Blondie and Beck... need to pick one!?