Archive for the ‘ Music ’ Category
Mud People of Wacken
Well, it’s coming. It’s a mighty account of a mighty undertaking in drinking beer and depriving our bodies of bare necessities. There was music too. Much photographic evidence will come into play as well. Worry not, only give us time to put everything together into something coherent.
Dirty Feets of Wacken
Show date: June 1st
Venue: The Knitting Factory
Band: Previously on LOST
Many different forms of entertainment have inspired songs, or even entire bands about them. The Harry Potter books started the band Harry and the Potters, The Gothic Archies have lyrics inspired by Lemony Snicket series, “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (although that one may not count as much, as the author is in the band), and there are multiple bands who sing entirely in Klingon. Now there is Previously on Lost, a band that writes songs about the show LOST.
Each song they have written summarizes an episode from season four of the show, giving birth to a genre that has been coined as “Recap Rock.” Their songs have an upbeat tempo to them, which makes for catchy tunes that you may hear yourself humming after you listen to them. When I heard they were playing on at The Knitting Factory in the city, I figured there were worse ways to spend ten dollars (as I usually learn whenever I eat at White Castle).
Atmosphere was a big part of the night. Upon entering the main bar, everyone was given a leigh. The stage was decorated with inflatable palm trees and a cardboard cutout of a hula girl. The only way things could have been more island-themed is if there was sand on the floor. The show began with a cardboard plane being carried from the back of the room and crashing into the stage. The two singers of the band then came out and mercilessly pummeled aforementioned plane, and went right into the first song. It was small touches like that, and the songs themselves that made the show memorable.
Tropical
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This review is presented to you through the joint efforts of ETL and Dazvsemir, the keepers of B.B. King’s lore. Photo’s credit to Dazvsemir, excluding Death Angel pics which were shot by ETL at great peril to her life.
Mark Osegueda of Death Angel
Dazvsemir: In Thrash We Trust, June 11th, 2008 opened with Martyrd once again attempting to increase their local fan base. From what I heard, they performed just as well as I had heard them in the past. Despite this, Martyrd’s guitarist Dan Agapitos informed that they sounded “like crap” due to technical problems. The sparse crowd, on the other hand, seemed to be as entertained when Martyrd last performed at B.B. King’s.
ETL: I got Martyrd hugs and commended them on their performance without admitting that I was in no way a reliable witness since we showed up just late enough to miss them. Still, the guys seemed hyped and I saw them flying through the crowd for the rest of the show. Continue reading
For better or for worse, I’ll admit that I enjoyed the occasional outing to the the Batcave/Albion on the Goth/Industrial nights. Just wear something black, get a mildly overpriced Redbull and Coke in ya and then stomp around while punching at shit that isn’t there to fast remixes of your favorite songs by Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. And then they closed it.
It was a slow progression from moving the Goth night to a crappier day in favor of Hip Hop, to eventually canceling the whole thing. I lost track of it then, but last night I attended a show at some exciting “new” venue called Rebel. And seriously, up to the very moment I finally walked in to be confronted by chandeliers and cathedral ceilings, I had no idea where I was. And then it hit me! Oh crap, they just renamed the friggin Batcave again!
This is the place where I once fell in love with Combichrist (just to quickly fall out of love upon listening to ther actual albums–live performances can be deceiving) and this was the place I was hoping to reexperience Hanzel und Gretyl whom I saw a few years ago when they were touring with Ministry. Continue reading
A text message arrives early on Monday from an inside man: Wanna see the Hulk premier tonight? Since the movie isn’t officially released until Friday, how could I say no?
The Zeigfeld had nary an empty seat when we finally arrived– luckily seats were assigned. Ours were in the rear on the right, but afforded quite a good view. Before the showing began, a representative from the Marvel Board of Directors, Marvel chief Joe Quesada, and two of the producers stood and said a few words about the movie and about the history of Marvel’s return to silver screen glory, beginning with the first X-Men movie through to today. They carefully avoided saying anything bad about a certain previous attempt to bring Bruce Banner to the big screen, but instead chose to look to the future by going over the upcoming Marvel blockbusters-in-waiting (Iron Man 2, Thor , The Avengers … etc).
The Incredible Hulk begins with a really well made flickering montage of news reports, flashbacks, and article clippings giving enough history of the tribulations of Bruce Banner to orient a casual nerd like myself. The movie starts off with Bruce Banner traveling desperately far and wide looking for a cure for the Gamma poisoning that transforms him into a huge and vicious monstrosity. Continue reading
TURISAS!!!!
The sounds of Norse Gods echoed throughout B.B. Kings Blues club and Grill as Paganfest 2008 invaded 42nd street. Paganfest is a tour made up of some of the finest Folk Metal bands to grace this earth. Tonight’s lineup featured Tyr, Eluveitie, Turisas, and Ensiferum, but due to poor planning on my part and personal duties the next morning I was only able to experience the first three acts this evening. Nevertheless, the night was still in my favor for the fact that Tyr, Eluveitie and Turisas were all bands I had heard very little (if anything) from before.
Tyr was the first band of the night and the most conventional of the three. They brought some serious metal to the floor and, despite the ‘No Moshing’ signs posted, brought the crowd up to a nice slow boil. With a heavy and occasionally slow sound and clean lyrics they stepped away from the sometimes-grandiose sound that folk metal bands tend to have. Tyr doesn’t employ the more unique instruments (i.e. bagpipes, flutes, and the like) found in many folk metal bands, but this doesn’t stop them from bringing to life the Scandinavian lore contained in their lyrics. Continue reading
Testament greets their legions
After many months fate brought me, once again, to B.B. King’s for another evening of excitement and metal. It seems like it’s been forever since I was last at a metal show, but the night of April 6, 2008 was not to be missed for any reason. The legendary thrash metal band Testament has returned to New York City and has brought with them all the power and…oh, wait…let’s start from the beginning.
The first band of the night was a local band from Queens with a penchant for old school thrash. Martyrd blends an old school thrash sound with new school vocals and with classic extended guitar solos. Lead by the impressive guitar work of Queens native, Mike Stylianou, Martyrd has been on the scene since 2003 normally playing small venues such as The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale or The Lion’s Den in Manhattan. This was their biggest show to date, drawing an impressive audience, even by opening band standards. The overall crowd response was positive as Martyrd supplied the thrash appetizer to what would be Testament’s entrée. “The general consensus from our guys was that it was one of our best shows…”, says Stylianou, “we were all really amped to play with Testament…We worked really hard selling our tickets, and [we] practiced a lot…In the end it paid off.” Martyrd will be playing again at B.B. King’s on June 11th with God Forbid and Death Angel on the last stop of the IN THRASH WE TRUST TOUR, and also the TMT Metal Fest in upstate New York, so head out and catch this budding group of Metallers. Continue reading
