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Abyss's Review (3/5/02, CBGB's 313 Gallery, NYC):
Afterlife of Agony
I'm not going to pretend I know a thing about post-Life of Agony Keith Caputo. I was a big fan of LOA (yes, every album) and I always planned to acquaint myself with his solo work, but alas, that never happened. So when Death told me that he would be having a one month run at CBGB's Gallery, I thought that it would be a good way to acclimate myself to his newer material. I figured that he'd mix his new stuff in with a handful of Life of Agony songs and it would be a nice mellow evening. I did know that he had left the metal genre altogether, and I was all right with this, as I consider myself quite open-minded when it comes to music.
The only time I had ever seen Mr. Caputo live is when he was still with Life of Agony. I saw him in a small (and I mean small) club in Atlanta called The Point. Now, this was during a time when metal was about as dead as it could be, and down south it was worse than it was in other parts of the country. As a result, this band (along with Drain STH) were playing to about 30 people on a Sunday evening. I remember not being very impressed with Mr. Caputo's vocals, as he seemed to refrain from his powerful high notes that make songs like "The Other Side of the River" and "This Time" so powerful. His performance was rather flat, but not incompetent. Just a little lackluster. It probably didn't help that many of the audience members kept screaming things like, "Play the old, heavy shit!"
The tone was set early in the evening when he came out, the stage surrounded by his friends and family, and announced that he had just come from his father's wake. His father apparently died three days before of a heroin overdose, the same drug that killed his mother some time ago. And while I have to respect the guy's "the show must go on" attitude, I couldn't help but think, "What a buzzkill!"
Photos by CYNThe show started off rather suspect. Mr. Caputo's voice was shaky and there were technical problems with the guitar (the guitar was the only accompaniment), and the singer's frilly shirt seemed to interfere with his guitar playing. This awkwardness continued a few songs into the set, but eventually it appeared that nerves settled and the singer came into his own.
It is hard to gauge an act where every song is a new experience, and I must admit I was having trouble getting into the show at first, but I found myself becoming more and more impressed with his vocal abilities and the craftsmanship of his newer material as the night wore on. One thing is for sure, the emotional level was off the charts. With so much going on in his life, it became obvious that this was a very important step for this artist to make, a type of therapy. He rambled in between songs, often seeming doped up (or at least disconnected), and actually broke down crying in one of the songs. It was a moving, but uncomfortable experience. The climax of the show was Joey Z. coming on at the end to play "Let's Pretend" to a gale of applause, and although that would be the only song I knew the whole night, it capped off a very pleasant experience.
Now the real question here is why did Metal Judgment cover this show at all. What we were trying to address was what does post Life of Agony Keith Caputo have to offer the average metal fan? The bottom line is not much. His days of dark, heavy music are over. But fans of music may find themselves impressed by what his voice can achieve, and the emotion that accompanies it.
Death's Review (3/5/02, CBGB's 313 Gallery, NYC):
Ever since Life of Agony disbanded a few years back, I've been on a rather quixotic quest to discover remnants of the soul of L.O.A. in the former member's current projects. Yet at every turn, something just isn't right. I've never really heard Stereomud, but I'm told it is not for me. I saw Alan Robert's Among Thieves project at the WSOU show this past summer, and--while Alan is a killer musician and there is definitely some promise there-- overall, the whole thing came across as far to nu-metal for my tastes. It just wasn't the same as LOA.So I was quite hopeful that Keith Caputo's solo material would come closer to the spirit of Life of Agony as displayed on albums like Ugly. I never heard Keith's Died Laughing solo release, and suppose I'll have to get my hands on that import-only album at some point. I did, however, hear some sample MP3s which I think were once up on the Roadrunner Records site, so I had a general idea that Keith had decided to go in a VERY mellow direction. Still, from these clips, it seemed like maybe some of what I was looking for was still there. So when I heard about Caputo's month-long Tuesday night stint at CB's Gallery, I earmarked the first one-- Tuesday, March 5-- as my time to venture out, drink some beer, and make another pilgrimage in my quest for L.O.A.
Cyn, Hel, Musashi and Abyss came along. We got to CB's early enough to get a table-- and the scene was a good one. Candles abounded and the vibe was fantastic-- lots of hardcore, longtime, diehard friends and family had come out for Caputo's first appearance on stage in a very long time.
Joey Z joins inThe show began, and Keith announced that his father had died that past weekend and he had just come straight from the wake. That somber announcement opened the show and set the tone for the entire night, which all-in-all proved to be a droning, rather morose display of incredibly self-indulgent and emotionally raw musical sobbing. The music was at times out of tune, and certainly it was unrehearsed. Keith fumbled through several awkward moments between songs when he spoke to the crowd. Although often a bit uncomfortable, Keith's dialogue with his audience always reflected a sincere appreciation of the large gathering of family, friends and fans who were sharing this obviously cathartic moment with Mr. Caputo this night. He literally broke down crying in the middle of one of the songs, I kid you not. It was wild.
After a while, I turned to Musashi, sitting across the table, and saw him literally falling asleep. Musashi wasn't a big LOA guy, he was just there to hang out on a Tuesday night and check out some music. He didn't know Keith Caputo from the next guy. And Caputo definitely was not making a good impression on him this night. Three-quarters of the way through the set, he got up and walked out. Seriously. When I got home later that night, this is what I found sitting in my inbox:
>From: Musashi
>To: Death, Abyss, Cyn, Hel, Redwolff
>Subject: Worst show ever!
>Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 00:01:32 -0500>Oh my god! If you did not know that Keith Caputo used to be in a band that was signed and sold albums, you would never have been able to guess it from that performance we just saw.
>That was painful. First there were all the technical problems: out of tune guitars, bad guitar chords, random guitar effects, distorted speakers and iffy singing. Second, there was his "stage presence." He actually sat down on the stage. I thought he was going to lie down and go to sleep. I would have. Finally, he cried. How fucking queer! Who does that? I want my money back!
>I want to hit someone.
I wasn't surpised by this message, but I was of course disappointed in Musashi's reaction. I went to the show wanting to like it, and I truly did. Musashi is right though that if I hadn't already been a fan I might not have had the patience to sit through such an extraordinarily self-indulgent acoustic set. I mean there were times when the show bordered upon boring for sure. And without having some sense of the musical progression of L.O.A., none of Caputo's show this night would have made any sense either.
But I was vested in the performance, and I felt the energy and the love in the room the entire night. Here was an emotional artist truly connecting with an audience, and it bears mentioning here that Caputo's voice sounding very good for being so relatively out of practice. The material was involved, somber and deep. Caputo's musical muse seemed to be much more avant-garde, folk and psychedelia than anything we'd call metal, but from the Slayer and L.O.A. t-shirts that dominated the crowd, I think it is safe to say that Keith maintains a solid fan base from the Life of Agony years.
While the new material is heartfelt and probably will further reveal itself with deserved further scruitiny on the albums themselves, it is telling that my favorite portion of the night, by far, was when former Life of Agony guitarist Joey Z joined Keith for a closing rendition of Ugly's Caputo-penned "Let's Pretend." He did not sing the word "cold" out loud (as in, "you had a husband that was..."), but the performance was filled with the emotion of the moment and was worth the $5 price of admission alone. In short, Caputo is still an interesting artist, and if you enjoyed the softer side of L.O.A. you may want to check out his new recorded material. And if you are at all interested, or simply are looking for something different to do on a Tuesday night in New York, try to get to one of the last couple performances at CB's Gallery. I was glad I was there that first night, as it felt like musical history being made. Musashi, however, clearly wished he had stayed home.
Hel's Review (3/5/02, CBGB's 313 Gallery, NYC):
Every Tuesday night this month (March 2002) at CBGB's 313 Gallery, Keith Caputo is scheduled to play a set. If the name doesn't ring a bell for you, let me give you a mini-history. Keith is the original singer from a great but defunct band called Life of Agony (commonly referred to as "LOA"). The band essentially fell apart after Keith left; though they recruited a replacement, Whitfield Crane (formerly of Ugly Kid Joe fame), and toured with this line up, when the tour ended they pretty much called it quits. Other members of the band went on to new projects, and apparently Keith did a solo record (which I've never heard), but LOA was ultimately DOA.
All three of us on the Judgment Committee are really big Life of Agony fans, and when these shows were announced, Death rallied us and managed to get us to go to the very first date. We arrived a little early for a change, having never been to this side of CBGB's before and no idea how many other people would also attend, we wanted to make sure we could get in. The Gallery is a similar size and shape to the familiar club next door, but the space in front of the stage is entirely filled with tables, and overall the environment is more artsy and "sophisticated." Many of our fellow attendees had the garb and/or look of metalheads, so we knew we weren't the only ones hoping for an LOA tune or two.
As the appointed time approached, the club began to fill up more and more. Keith finally took the stage, and for several minutes he simply talked. He told us many things, like he had moved to Amsterdam, and he had not held a mic for over a year. He also mentioned that he had not been on a stage in front of people for a very long time. Furthermore, he had just returned from his father's wake, a death that was quite sudden. And he had declined to cancel his set despite the circumstances. Eventually he and his friend, both seated in chairs and holding guitars at this point, began to play.
After the first song, Keith set down his guitar, abandoned his chair, and sat down right on the stage. He mentioned again that it had been a long time since he had been on a stage, and he was getting reacquainted with it, or something like that. By this point, it was abundantly clear that Keith had partaken of some type of mind altering substance or other, though this was no big surprise to those of us familiar with his work. Keith spent the rest of night sitting in that very spot on the floor onstage.
One of the things that made LOA special was Keith's voice. It is distinctly unique, and consistently delivered with incredible feeling and passion. Another of the prominent qualities of LOA was that the overall theme of their music was, well, pretty depressing. Based on the LOA lyrics which Keith wrote himself, three things about his personal life seem pretty clear: 1) his parents did drugs, 2) he, himself, has done drugs, and 3) he has abandonment issues about his mother. Throughout the evening, he spoke about his deceased mother, his recently deceased father, and their less than ideal familial situation. Many of his friends and much of his remaining family was in attendance, and he expressed his love and thankfulness for their support frequently throughout his set.
The songs themselves were mostly ones I have never heard before, and were all semi-acoustic. His friend accompanied him on guitar, and there was frequent unintentional fuzz and feedback from the speaker, which was never resolved. Essentially (and Keith mentioned that they never rehearse), it was a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of set. It was certainly not a polished or professional set, instead it was more a set performed by two amazingly talented people who jam songs together on occasion.
Watching the performance, several things became clear to me. It was easy to see that structure and formal discipline are just not a part of Keith's personality. He has incredible talent, and is a natural performer, but he simply can't operate within the rigid construct of a band environment. His decision not to cancel the performance did make sense, as it was obviously that the most therapeutic and cathartic thing he could possibly do to cope with his grief would be to get up onstage and sing his heart out. Many times he mentioned that he felt incredibly happy up there, even though during one song he broke down in tears.
When the time ultimately came for the final song of the night, a special guest appeared, and the hopes of many of us were realized. Joey Z stepped onstage with his guitar for an emotional reunion, and the fans were treated to a loose rendition of "Let's Pretend"-- introduced as the first song Keith ever wrote on acoustic guitar. From the beginning of the night, right up until the end, it was a raw, emotional, extremely personal, and entertaining performance. A random person coming in off of the street wouldn't have been able to appreciate it, but for a longtime fan it was an event to remember.
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