I caught one of my favorites Saturday night in London, Skindred.  Opening acts SOiL and VIZA did a pretty good job of getting things pumped up for the big show, but Skindred is a hard act to open for, or follow!  Props to SOiL's lead singer for singing his last song from the pit!  Now that is metal.

I hope you're familiar with lead singer Benji Webbe.  After getting his start with Dub War, who is worth checking out as well, Benji is certainly best known for his work with Skindred.  In spite of looking a little out of shape, Benji brought massive energy to the Forum keeping the place on it's feet and jumping for over 2 hours.  His huge voice was spot on from opening to the huge encore.  It was clear that a few carefully scripted breaks left a little time for Benji to grab a breather, but never for long enough that the show lost its momentum.  Benji is a showman and a pleasure to watch perform.



One such break was a wicked cool duet between drummer Arya Goggin and the now full time touring DJ Dan Sturgess.  Dan mixed up some classic riffs and beats while Arya lit it up on a pretty basic kit.  It was a lot of fun. 

Mikeydemus was ripping out his classic and instantly recognizable riffs all night long.  It's too bad the band was little let down by the Forums typical horrible acoustics.  I just can't believe that band like this can be happy with the sound they get there... and it's show after show I see at the Forum that continues to be a let down on sound.


This show was special as I took my oldest son there for his first rock concert.  Skindred live, no brainer, these guys always bring it hard.  He had a blast. 

Of course, after I had to tell him not to get "too used" to night we had.  Why? Bear with me, this is going to take a little explaining.  I last saw Skindred in about 2007 in San Jose California.  They were opening for Disturbed.  Honestly, I was there for Skindred more than Disturbed, so I snuck out to grab a beer during the big show.  Who's hanging at the bar?  Benji Webbe.  My buddy Rob and I grabbed a few beers and sat down with Benji to tell stories and enjoy some drinks.  I don't think we saw much more of the main show that night.

Fast forward to last Saturday night.  After the show we're grabbing T-shirts for my son and I see Benji's girl friend talking with the sales girls.  I tell her to make sure she thanks Benji for a great night.  She stops to talk with me and Rob (the same guy I saw them with in San Jose is here in London too!) and we remind her about that night in 2007... Finally she says she has to run and as ask if we want to come up to the guest room for the after show party and chill with Benji again.  We head outside, around the side of the Forum, past security, and head up to hang out with the boys from Skindred.  So yeah, my sons first rock concert ends up with us drinking Jack and Cokes with Benji Webbe and Mikeydemus back stage.  Benji didn't remember us, of course, but he didn't give a sh_t either... we just hung out and told some new stories and had a few drinks.  Another epic rock night out for sure.

On our way out I walked my son onto the stage, the roadies were still breaking down gear.  I could see his mind racing at what it must be like to be up there during show... priceless stuff.

As for the Kill the Power tour... The album is sort of 3 of 5 stars for me.  It's got some moments, but it's not great.  A few of the songs really rocked live.  Someone either needs to figure out how to capture the Skindred sound in a studio or how to record these guys live when they are blowing the roof off any place they decide to play. 

Skip the new record and grab some tickets when these guys roll into your town, you won't regret it.



 

Wow, it's been a while since I caught some live music!  No better way to make up for lost time than to hit a proper rock show. And that's what Clutch brings to the stage, a no-nonsense rock and roll party.



Clutch has been on tour more or less full time since the Earth Rocker tour kicked off last year, so as you can imagine they have this show down.  The good news is that with their extensive library they still mix up the set list, so every show gets a little different flavor.  It was a great mix of old and new, and as a big fan I was singing and dancing along to every song.  These guys are pros, tight, and rocking form the first to the last.  Tim Sult may not be a ball of energy on stage, but what he can do with a guitar is mind numbing.  Nick Fallon of course makes up for it with his never ending energy and almost preacher like performance.  It never ceases to amaze me what Gaster can do with an absolute minimal kit, and for a big dude his hands are super quick.

The show was at the Forum in Kentishtown (London), which is notorious for getting great bands and having horrible acoustics.  Unfortunately the same was pretty much true for Clutch, but I have to say they did better than anyone else I've seen there to get it right.  I hung out right behind the boards because I find it fascinating to watch these guys work, because it means no one is standing in front of me so I have a good view, and because I've convinced myself that if the sound is going to be good anywhere, it's right next to the guy trying to make it sound right.  The engineer's iPad app reveled we were getting a steady dose of 110dB, making me pretty happy that I was wearing plugs.

It's always great to catch a band that I really dig, and Clutch is close to the top of my all time list. 



I should mention Lionize was the opening act, and a great choice by clutch.  Their new album Jetpack Soundtrack is worth checking out.  They come across as still getting used to each other, a bit immature overall, but talent packed and writing some great stuff.  Chris Brooks stole the show in my eyes, killing it on the keyboard.  He even came back on stage for a few songs with Clutch later in the night.  "Watch this space" for more good music from Lionize.

Just saw Deafheaven live and they were amazing. They played in a small venue (a studio) but I think that made the experience even better. The entire band was really into the performance and the vocalist really went up close to us. I can't listen to Sunbather without headbanging anymore 

Saw Ton Koopman at the Davis Symphony hall the other day perform Bach's Orchestral Suite No.4 for the first time live . It was very enjoyable for the wife and I to see a Ton conducting . Our baby loved it too 

Lucky you. Ton Koopman's renditions are quite famous. He has a thing for Bach.