Tour Title: Extreme Steel Tour
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Tour Title: Extreme Steel Tour |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review (6/21/01 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY):
No Beer and No Morbid Angel Make Abyss… Something, Something
I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking, “How can a concert review of so many bands be so short?" Well I’ll tell ya how. It’s because I didn’t see all those bands, I saw only two. Now, while I normally have Death to blame for his tardiness, that wasn’t the case this time (this should have been a sign that something was horribly wrong from the get go). We had a car, and a half hour to get from Manhattan to Hempstead… in New York Traffic. What I want to know is why start a show at 6 o’clock? It’s far too late to take a day off from work, and far too early to get there on time. Needless to say I missed the Gods that are Morbid Angel, add to that the lack of beer (sadists) and I wasn’t in that good of a mood. This is rare at a metal show for me.
"The addition of the classics that make it into every [Slayer] set, made me forget the shakes I was having due to lack of beer, and saved the evening for me." Anyway, we walked in at Static X’s last song, and by the time my ears got accustomed to the volume and terrible acoustics, they were done. I wish I could say more, but I can’t.
Slayer were good as always, and the crowd seemed incredibly psyched, considering that the entire floor seemed like a moving, twisted carpet. We got a chance to preview some new material, as the band opened with “Disciple”, the lead track off of their upcoming album (Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it…). It’s always hard to judge music for the first time in a live setting, but I was pleased with the sound. Many Slayer fans have been disappointed with the path that Slayer has taken on the last album, but I thought it was great. No it’s not my favorite, but compared to recent albums from their 80s contemporaries, they are holding up the best. “Bloodline” off of the soundtrack of Dracula 2000, was also played, and it did a good job of mixing aggression and hook. This, plus the addition of the classics that make it into every set, made me forget the shakes I was having due to lack of beer, and saved the evening for me.
"Pantera is Pantera is Pantera. Arrogant, talented, but predictable." Pantera is Pantera is Pantera. Arrogant, talented, but predictable. I’ve seen these guys so much recently, that all of the sets seem combined. Jesus, it feels like they’ve been touring for this album for the last decade. The Reinventing the Steel backdrop looks as though it cost them a pretty penny, and by God, they’re getting their money’s worth. They opened with a good deal of newer material and their normal Southern swagger, with a set that was solid, but generally lacking in surprises. Phil continued his tradition of giving sermons in between the songs, and he also thanked us about a million times, as is also his want, and let’s face it, even though I rarely get psyched anymore before a Pantera show, once they kick in I have a good ol' metal time, as their classic songs still warm the cockles of my heart (or is that the heartles of my cock?). Anyway it was cool not being hung over at work the next day.
Death's Review (6/21/01 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY):
Flash back for a moment to March 9, 2001. I'm at the Hammerstein Ballroom drinking beer and listening to Phil Anselmo rant and rant and rant some more, an activity I generally tend to enjoy although I don't ever really take too seriously. "God Damn New York mutha fuckin' Morbid goddamn mutha fuckin' Angel. God damn heavy metal in New York fuckin' city. . . . " Blah, blah, blah. I love it, and I expect it from Phil when I go to see a Pantera concert. But I don't really give a fuck if I can in any way decipher what he is actually saying. I get it. Metal rules, Phil, and I'm glad you think so. I think so too.
But suddenly, that night at Hammerstein, Phil actually dropped a relative news item amidst the drunken ramblings: he was working on a summer tour to rival Ozzfest that was going to feature Morbid Angel and the almighty Slayer!!!! Fuck yes!!! I was psyched. I have always been a big fan of the multi-band summer festival show. Particularly, in past years I have been psyched for Ozzfest. Yes, you heard me right: I like the Ozzfest. Well, at least I used to. But as Ozzfest has become progressively more and more commercial and "nu-metal," I've lost interest. This year is the first summer I have no plans to attend. As much as I like being outdoors drinking beer in the sunshine at a great big heavy metal party, even I have my limits of how much I can continue to shill for corporate rock. Go to Ozzfest.com, and watch the "fans" video they have there - there is some guy babbling about how it is all bullshit and that Ozzfest should feature Cannibal Corpse and Soilent Green. They are making fun of that guy, but I agree with him. And I feel sorry that he bought a ticket anyway. I refuse to do so this year, although I do find it amazing upon reflection that I am fully blowing off a Black Sabbath tour because I don't like the opening acts.
"Please, I beg you Slayer, throw in some obscure tracks. Mix it up!" Anyway, I thought that this new "Philfest" would fill the void and be the more metal version of the Ozzfest experience I crave. Sad to say, this tour is far from it. Don't kid yourselves: the Extreme Steel Tour is nothing more than Pantera's summer run through hockey arenas. Seriously, is Pantera/Soulfly/Nothingface/Morbid Angel (the spring tour) THAT much different than Pantera/Slayer/Static-X/Morbid Angel? Sure, adding Slayer is a huge coup, but I'm sad to report that--contrary to all reports I've heard to date--Slayer is, for all intents and puposes, a full-on opening act here, playign a 40-50 minute set with no "stage show" to Pantera's 90-ish minutes. And this bullshit about "air conditioned arenas" being an attraction or something is crap too. I'd guess they put the show indoors because the rent is cheaper on those venues during the summertime ('cause no one wants to play indoors in the summer!), not because that is something positive about the tour.
Anyway, on to the show. Our tickets said 6 pm. We left Manhattan about then, after collecting the MJ crew post-work on this Thursday night. It took FOREVER to sludge through traffic to Nassau Coliseum, and we did not get there until 8 pm. Morbid was waaaaaaay over. Fuck. So was Skrape, although I know nothing about them and am not sure I care. When we entered the venue (past a strange little carnival set up on the grounds that I don't think had anything to do with the concert), I was immediately disappointed. Another huge, cavernous venue with echoing sound--another argument for having the show outside was that shit always sounds great under the stars. Then the final nail in the coffin: NO BEER. This is a freakin' outrage. No beer at a SLAYER SHOW? What the fuck? No smoking, no beer, no sun, bad sound, early start time. And t-shirts were $32 per! What the fuck?
"Pantera sounded killer as usual, also playing basically the same set I've heard the last few tours." So this wasn't going to be a big party. Instead, I sat in the upper deck of the arena and watched Static-X finish up. Not horrible, and people seemed to dig them, especially "Push It," their best known and final track. Totally not my bag, but what the fuck. Anyway, I just decided to drink a coke, eat a hot dog, and settle in for Slayer.
Slayer rocked, as usual. They opened with the new track "Disciple" (Chorus: "God hates us all!") which sounded pretty old-school: definitely cool and not a nu-metal sellout. Possibly a future Slayer classic. But the rest of the set was somewhat disappointing. I read on the Internet that they were playing shit like "Necrophiliac" at the warm-up shows in the Carolinas. Not this night. Slayer played the same boring and tired set of "Mandatory Suicide," "Dead Skin Mask," "War Ensemble," "Raining Blood," "Chemical Warfare" and "Angel of Death." All shit I love--classic, killer shit? and all songs I expect to hear, I guess. But I've heard them so many times. Please, I beg you Slayer, throw in some obscure tracks. Mix it up! Where was "At Dawn They Sleep," I ask? Nowhere to be found. The balance of Slayer's set consisted of "Bloodline" (a fairly cool song from the Dracula 2000 soundtrack and on the new record), and "Stain of Mind." Perhaps there were one or two more new-era tracks, but nothing that fucking blew me away. Oh well. Araya did sound good, and Hanneman in particular impressed with his leads.
Then it was time for Pantera. They came out with a literal bang. Phil looked like he cleaned up a bit for the tour - his hair is growing out and he was in rare form. The band sounded killer as usual, also playing basically the same set I've heard the last few tours although I did catch "War Nerve" and "Mouth for War" which I believe were omitted from the spring shows. Highlights for me included the awesome "Slaughtered" (that fast pedal-point riff in the middle gets me every time) and the modern-era classic "I'll Cast a Shadow," which is turning out to be one of the best Pantera has ever done. Dime shredded hard and his six-stringed histrionics pierced nicely through the mix ? he is truly a talented player. Rex was solid, and Vinnie definitely is one of the best heavy metal drummers in the business today ? I spent have the show just watching him jam on the double-bass (we were sitting at the side of the stage).
"This was not on the same scale as the Ozzfest. Sure, the music is way better, but the event is simply not as fun." All in all, it WAS a big heavy metal night. New York luminaries like Scott Ian and Evan Seinfeld even joined Pantera on stage for the chorus of "This Love", and I do applaud Pantera for taking out Slayer and Morbid. Plus, the bands did put on a decent show. I guess more than anything, my complaint is with the venue: indoors, mediocre sound, no beer, pricey shirts (venue or band's doing on this last one? I'm not sure). I hope they do this again, and I'm glad I went, but believe me, this was not on the same scale as the Ozzfest. Sure, the music is way better, but the event is simply not as fun.
Hel's Review (6/21/01 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY):
You know it’s inevitable, I know it’s inevitable - so why don’t I just get my bitching out of the way before we get started? 1) Nassau Coliseum, 2) doors open at some idiotic time like 6, 3) Morbid Angel is the first damn band of the day, 4) points 1 and 2 ensure that I will never see point 3, and 5) did I mention it’s a THURSDAY? The post-work rush-hour traffic from Manhattan to Long Island was excruciating, but missing Morbid sucked far more. I will try to let it go, and not complain that I didn’t get to see Morbid Angel for the rest of the review.
When we finally got there, there was some bizarre carnival outside, complete with food, games, rides, and carnies. But there was no time to linger and try to figure out if that was cool, since I, personally, was still clinging to some delusional hope that we would miraculously catch Morbid. No, we didn’t, but thankfully, as I walked in and identified Static X onstage, their last song ended, so there’s an upside - I was spared having to watch Skrape and Static X. To sum up, no, I am not a “nu metal” fan; yes, I am a “death metal” fan; and if you didn’t know either or those things already, you must be new here.
"All I can say is what anyone who has ever seen [Slayer] live would say - they’re fucking godly live." It was quickly clear to me that I didn’t really want to be where my “seats” were - general admission, on the floor - where all the sweaty boys were, so we eluded the not-so-wily security guards and found a place to sit and wait. Apparently, there were plenty of kids with real seats who would rather have ours, and I was entertained for a time watching them jump the barricades and the not-so-wily security guards scrambling to prevent them.
Then it was finally time for Slayer. Woo-hoo. While I have not approved of the company they’ve been keeping for quite some time now, they have not yet done anything that declared them blatantly nu-metal, so I continue to retain hope that they will not go that way. And after seeing them this time, I still retain hope. They played only a couple of new songs, including the year-old one from that Dracula movie or whatever, and that’s not enough for me to form a clear opinion from, and I refuse to do so until I hear the new album in its entirety. But they were not overtly nu-metal, so there’s hope. While the set list is getting a bit stale at this point, all I can say is what anyone who has ever seen this great band live would say - they’re fucking godly live.
After Slayer’s all-too-short set, the most disturbing thing happened. A voice came over the PA, which essentially told me to sit back and listen while Anthrax’s John Bush shills bad nu-metal bands (& Rammstein) for Tower Records. I still don’t know which was more frightening - the mere fact of the occurrence, or the number of kids who visibly seemed to like the nu-metal drivel coming from the speakers. The bright spot was that they played a track from the reissued Sound of White Noise (which, in my humble opinion, you should all own) at the end of it all. After that, Pantera went on.
"Whether swearing up a storm, doing shots and/or lighting up courtesy of random contest winners, or just simply screaming his head off, Phil continues to be one of the most entertaining frontmen around." Pantera is another band whose set list is getting stale, but also always put on an energetic show. Phil looks more and more like a metalhead each time I see him, and it actually looked as though he was somewhat freshly showered and, *gasp*, his hair looked recently trimmed. A presentable Phil? Never fear, although his odor may not have offended your mother on this particular evening, his language still would. Perhaps he was influenced by the South Park premiere episode the day before (although I think he’s always like this), he seemed to be trying to cram in as many variations on the word “fuck” as he possibly could into his rants. I momentarily tried to keep a tally, but I just couldn’t keep up…
Whether swearing up a storm, doing shots and/or lighting up courtesy of random contest winners, or just simply screaming his head off, Phil continues to be one of the most entertaining frontmen around. Fortunately, at one point in the evening we made our way around to seats at the side of the stage, and I was privileged to be reminded of the second reason Pantera is a great live band - the astounding drumming of Vinnie. I had a perfect view and simply sat and enjoyed watching a great drummer beat the shit out of his kit. It was beautiful. So, all in all, primarily because I actually could see the stage for a change, I had the most pleasant live Pantera experience that I’ve had for a long time.
"I had the most pleasant live Pantera experience that I’ve had for a long time." However, as good as these two performances were, I cannot justify giving this show more than 3 skulls. Missing Morbid certainly lowers the score. The venue-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-way-too-many-rules is a big negative. And the damn carnival was closed by the time the show ended. I’ve been spoiled by club shows, where I can almost always see the stage, I don’t have to listen to people complain that there’s no beer, and the sound certainly isn’t any worse.
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