Abyss's Review (3/9/01 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY):
Okay, a Friday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and what did I learn today. I learned that the girls at the will-call table don’t know how to spell very well. I learned that if it’s cold outside, my good friend Death will most assuredly be late, and I learned that wearing an overcoat to a metal show can cause difficulties if you find yourself in a pit. And I learned one other thing: if you’re starting out a metal show in a bad mood, alcohol can make everything better again.
I got in right as Morbid Angel took the stage and immediately went to the bathroom to relieve myself and get a beer, so that I would be able to enjoy these metal gods without distraction. I made no bones about the fact that this act was, by far, my biggest reason for being there that night. And while I don’t want to take anything away from the other bands, the chance of seeing Morbid Angel, perhaps the most influential death metal band of all time, at a setting as large as this one was, in my opinion, an event. I must say I was a little disappointed at the way the sound came across, and I don’t know if it was from poor execution or elevated expectations, but the low-end death sound was a bit muffled considering the supposed superiority of the acoustics. Not that it was really bad or anything, I was just looking forward to a sonic experience that I hadn’t really heard any death metal act do before. Rather than lava flowing from their instruments, it sounded a bit more like mud. But that’s okay, because it still sounded fucking cool to me. With a set list that included, “Rapture”, “Sworn to the Black”, and my personal fave of the night, “Chapel of Ghouls”, I enjoyed the look on the faces of the Pantera fans as many of them appeared to have their first taste of death metal. In fact, I think many of them were of the impression that there was no metal heavier than Pantera, and the revelation of their ignorance was heart warming. Because as much as I like Pantera, there is a certain segment of their fan base that I can’t stand. The testosterone laden meatheads that don’t really like metal as an art, but appear to like Pantera because it gives them something to do when professional wrestling isn’t in town. You know, the same people who turned to the XFL out of curiosity and actually liked what they saw and continued watching. Anyway, they all seemed confused by the heft of what’s going on around them, and it wasn’t till their hero, Mr. Anselmo, sang with the death metal behemoths that they decided that it must be cool.
Pantera
Photos by CYNIt was heart warming to witness Mr. Anselmo’s allegience to the underground, first by having Morbid Angel included on the bill, and second, by his unabashed support for the band during the show. A true metal head through and through, it’s nice to see that not everybody who makes impressive record sales forgets where they come from.
Soulfly were next up, brandishing their own South American style of nu-metal that was fun and easy to listen to, but sounded a little hollow since it came on directly after one of my favorite bands. My girlfriend (not a metal head, by the way) seemed much happier with this more accessible sound, as did the rest of the audience. As well they should, because, as nu-metal goes, Soulfly are one of the best at it. And while the simplicity of the guitars could be considered a detriment, they envelop enough groove and excitability to keep one in the mood and having a good time. Their commanding use of interesting rhythms is, by far, the pinnacle of what this band has to offer, and they are pretty much geniuses when it comes to presenting the percussion section as an art form, keeping the listener intriuged where most talented drummers just put them to sleep.
Morbid AngelPantera entered to a huge stage show, obviously learning something from the shows in which they supported Kiss. Utilizing impressive pyrotechnics and a huge riveted logo from right off of their new album cover, these Texas boys showed they were anything but modest, even before Phil’s exclamation that they are the kings of heavy metal. And while they put on a very enjoyable, arguably kick-ass, show, I was a little disappointed that, in light of their headlining status, their set was little changed from their Ozzfest ones. Sure they had a few more songs in the mix, but most of the extra time was taken up by Phil’s ramblings. Anyone who has seen Pantera live knows at least one thing: Phil Anselmo loves to hear himself speak. He had no less than three speeches this particular night that were in excess of 5 minutes. I had to laugh when my non-metalhead girlfriend, who doesn’t even know any of their material, actually piped up and said, “would he shut-up and play a song already?” But considering his unabashed support of metal I chose to forgive him his few indulgences. It is a little annoying that they continue to give a little tease of “Cemetery Gates” before going into “Fucking Hostile”. It’s getting tired, just play the whole damn song already.
Death's Review (3/9/01 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY):
Phil Anselmo is the reigning king of heavy metal. There, I said it. No matter how much shit the ever-eliter-than-thou underground purists want to toss at this guy, he fucking loves metal and does whatever he can to promote and support it. What more do you want from Phil Anselmo anyway? The guy has made his money with Pantera, yet he still participates in more extreme underground projects like Necrophagia. For what other reason would he do this other than the love of the darker arts?
But forget about that. Just look at what he has done over the last few years to use his position of prominence in Pantera to promote the cause of the underground. Wearing that same Venom Welcome to Hell t-shirt in every appearance. Propping the cause of extreme metal every chance he gets. Evolving his image from b-boy, tattooed skinhead to the death metal warrior who roamed the stage at Hammerstein Ballroom Friday night.
SoulflyBut you can even forget about all of that. The single biggest thing that Phil (or anyone else for that matter) has done for the cause of underground metal in years was adding Morbid Angel as a support act on the current Pantera arena tour, resulting in the fact that Trey Azagoth, Phil Sandoval, Stephen Tucker and Erik Rutan got to perform in front of 3,500 screaming fans on each of three sold-out nights in a row (10,500 people total) in the media capital of the world, New York City. We caught the middle show, on Friday night.
Think about it: Nirvana killed metal dead in the early nineties, right? Then why does the hottest ticket in New York on a Friday night in March 2001 involve Morbid Angel, ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, and Pantera? This means metal never dies, it never goes away. Heavy metal as an indsutry and an artform has commercial vitality. Death metal is a developing trend again. I just heard a rumor that Slipknot is going to take Deicide out on tour in the very near future. What's next? Kittie taking out Nile as support? I even hear Static X is moving in a more death metal direction (more on that later). Anyway, my point is that Phil Anselmo seems to be primarily responsible for making this opportunity possible. So before Pantera has played note one this night, they have presumptively curried my favor.
I got there late. As usual (I can feel the "all you ever write about in concert reviews is how you got there late and got so drunk you can't remember the bands" emails already shooting toward my death@metaljudgment.com inbox as I write this). And when I did get through the door, Morbid had already taken the stage (I therefore missed Nothingface)! For how long, I don't know, but it seemed they had only just begun. I hung in the back with Redwolff and Hel and got a beer while we waited for Abyss and friend to return from the restrooms and, as it turns out, the downstairs bar. Finally, perhaps two songs into Morbid's set, we ventured into the masses and onto the floor. We briefly ran into Musashi, who had been up front and had gone backstage after hooking up with a buddy of his who used to roadie for Morbid Angel. In any event, Musashi reported that things were much more intense up front. We headed in that direction, but in the end only got about halfway there.
Morbid AngelThe scene was great. Metal luminaries such as Danny Lilker and a soon-to-be-annointed Metal Maniacs co-editor roamed the pit. The beer flowed free and Morbid reigned on stage with a killer sound and a killer death metal presence. The entire first half of Morbid's set had the feel of a death metal tutorial for some of the more clueles in attendance. In fact, at the beginning, people seemed confused, with comments like "you can't even understand what they are saying!" being heard while we waited on line for beer. At one point, Tucker said to the crowd "We're Morbid Angel. We play death metal. If you don't know what death metal is, you sure do now!", before launching into another song.
Then something very cool happened. Anselmo came out on stage to do a song with Morbid. Of course, the crowd went nuts. Again, what more can this guy do? Not only does he put the band on the bill, he fucking comes out and does a song with them! From there on out, the crowd paid attention to Morbid Angel. And with each song after that, the crowd got sicker and sicker. My personal favorites of the night: "Chaple of Ghouls" from Altars of Madness and the closer, "Rapture" from Covenant. Great set, great energy. Killer opening act!
Then it was time for Soulfly. Or, shall I say, time for many, many beers from the bar and lots of chatting up old friends in the back of the venue. Don't get me wrong, I liked Primitive for what it was, and I do maintain some limitied respect for Max himself. Overall, Soulfly sounded pretty good, but I was so filled with true and underground metal energy and feelings after seeing Morbid play to thousands that I really could not get too excited about Max and his nu-metal project on this night. Cavalera looked pretty funny too, like some sort of strange rooster with his dreadlocks tied back in an odd manner. I did find myself getting progressively drunker and at one point I'm sure I was screaming "No bullshit! No bullshit! No mother fuckin' Hootie and the Blowfish!" right along with the rest of the crowd. But I really just wasn't that into it overall.
Then, with a burst of flame from all corners of the stage, came Pantera. They sounded awesome and delivered a killer set. Phil was sounding more extreme in his vocal delivery than ever. Not in a "my voice is shot" way, but in a "I'm a fucking true metal beast" kinda way, if you know what I mean. Of course, the crowd loved Pantera, and were treated to classics like "Walk," "Fucking Hostile," "Cowboys From Hell," "A New Level," and "Primal Concrete Sledge." Personally, I was more psyched by lesser known Pantera classics like "Floods," "Suicide Note Part 2," the awesome "Slaughtered" from Far Beyond Driven (the fucking fast pedal-point riff in the middle just slays me every time) and "I'll Cast a Shadow" from Reinventing the Steel which Phil described as a future classic that he thinks we'll all be begging them to play in ten years. I think he may be right.
PanteraThere was so much energy in the room, so much heavy metal love. Of course, Anselmo engaged in several of his usual long-winded rants about god knows what, but it was usually something about true metal being great and/or smoking weed and dropping acid. One speech which did resonate with the crowd was his announcement of the technically unconfirmed Pantera/Slayer/Morbid Angel/Static X summer tour (he mentioned Static X as almost an afterthought, with a little bit of a shrug. I have heard, however, that Static X is moving in a more death metal direction, and I think the guitar player was wearing a death metal shirt one time when I saw them. We'll see.) Wow! Now Pantera are taking Morbid on a summer tour of outdoor sheds? Cool! After a decade and a half of metal, Pantera are single-handedly going to commercially resuscitate this act. And Morbid and Slayer together on the same bill? Even better. It sounded like other acts were to be confirmed. Someone up front must have yelled out "Mayhem!", 'cause Phil pointed down at the front row and nodded, saying that he loved Mayhem and that Pantera would take them out on tour someday. We'll see about that. Someone else must have yelled something about Ozzfest, 'cause Phil said fuck Ozzfest, that this Pantera tour was going to compete with Ozzfest toe-to-toe. I don't doubt it. Ozzfest has become so nu-metal heavy that the niche for a more true-metal summer tour has opened back up again. Cool.
Anyway, in the end, Pantera hosted a fucking killer heavy metal party in New York City this past Friday night and I thank them for that. The true test of how much I liked the show? They're playing a block of Pantera on WSOU right now in anticipation of tonight's upcoming third New York show, and I'm entertaining thoughts of how I might get back in tonight for one more ride. Doubt I'll make it there, but I'm sure that if I do, it'll be more fun than anything else there is to do tonight in the Big Apple. Of that you can be sure.
Hel's Review (3/9/01 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY):
I wasn't very surprised to find out when I arrived at the venue that I had missed Nothingface and Morbid Angel was already onstage, since shit like this happens to me constantly - it's a widely known fact that I can rarely manage to be anywhere on time. I don't really know Nothingface, and I don't find myself with a burning desire to, so I wasn't particularly upset about it. Morbid, on the other hand was a different story.
I was initially worried that I had missed a lot of their set, but I quickly realized, by the intense look of dumbfoundedness on many people's faces that what was happening onstage was still too baffling for them to string together a coherent thought. After a few minutes some of those near me began to speak, and I realized that these people would never be able to string together a coherent thought - period. Pantera fans…
PanteraLet me just say, Morbid ruled. I have seen them before, and this was a more energetic set than those I had seen previously. I think the boys clearly had a mission in mind. They gave no ground, and pulled no punches, playing some of the heaviest material from their catalogue throughout their set. At one point, Steve stated, "We are Morbid Angel. We are a death metal band. You probably don't know what death metal is - but you do now". So there! [I just read Death's review, and as occasionally can happen between friends, he usurped my line - I would like to point out that mine is accurate, while his is paraphrased - hey, I repeated it continually over the course of the night, I want a little glory.] It was great to see them play in a venue like this, and fun to see a few newly enlightened heads banging by the end, even though Phil coming up for a song with Morbid was probably the only reason for it.
Soulfly was next, and I really couldn't have cared less. At one point I had hope that Max would snap out of whatever deluded haze he is currently in that makes the things he is doing lately actually make sense to him, but as time goes on it has become impossible. Just looking at his bizarrely dyed head onstage made me nauseous. So I suppose it was a good thing I couldn't really see a damn thing going on, since I somehow became trapped behind the absolute largest person there - 300 lbs and 7 ft tall, I swear. I'm hoping hanging around with the guys from Morbid will undo some of the negative influences Max has absorbed lately, but realistically I know that evil thing he's married to won't let it happen - she's spent time with Sharon Osbourne, don't forget, and has developed a taste for cash…
Pantera put on the same show as always. I have no idea how many times I've seen them live at this point, but I'm pretty sure it's well over five. They are always entertaining, they know how to put on a good show, but since I am of the opinion that almost all of their songs sound the same at this point in the game, you can understand how I might be beginning to find it a bit boring. I was once again at a disadvantageous vantage point to actually see the stage, but I didn't really feel much need, since Phil is the only one who ever seems to look different and I had already gotten a look at his mug while he was jamming with Morbid.
Morbid AngelAt one point I did edge a little closer, trying to get a view to alleviate oncoming boredom. I got a good view of the pit, with all of the big, fat, shirtless guys who were far too drunk to stand so they staggered around in the middle, knocking people over instead. Generally I'd say good riddance, at least they aren't walking into me as everyone else seems to. Since I'm short, so people think they see a gap in the crowd but - hello - I'm standing here! So the drunk fucks in the pit in front of me were standing just below the balcony, and once they looked up and noticed it (no doubt from being clocked on the head from something tossed at them by another genius), they became utterly enchanted by the idea of convincing the people up on the balcony to jump down and let them catch them. I think it took less than a minute for two morons to actually do it. Clearly, those below were not actually capable of catching them. As I watched those two bodies drop from above, I suddenly had a vision of a stream of idiots jumping down and a riot ensuing. So I moved back about 10 feet just to be sure.
There wasn't a riot, but I think that was mostly because those two were pretty much the only ones with enough brain cells left to rub together to figure out what those clowns were gesturing about. I have been developing a theory over the last few years regarding the general ilk of the generally non-metal Pantera fans. At first they were mostly just frat boys, out to beat people up in the pit and release their inner bully. A few down-home redneck types, there for the same reasons, and for the rebel flag, but besides these two groups the rest of the people at Pantera shows were regular metalheads. As the years passed, the proportions of these audiences reversed. Then came Ozzfest. Now, there are a lot of nu-metal fan types among the frat boys and rednecks, and the regular metalheads are scarce. But there is one overriding similarity between most die-hard Pantera fans, circa-2001, regardless of what type you peg them to be - they all seem to be painfully stupid.
SoulflyI'm easily annoyed, particularly by stupid people, so in many ways this was a night of sheer hell for me. I admit, I had multiple altercations with morons, mostly over them ignoring my existence and starting with me saying, "Hello - I'm standing here!" as they stopped short directly on my foot. One notable dolt, after I pointed this out to him, said to me, "What do you think this is, a Michael Jackson concert?" Excuse me? Because I'm a girl, this rocket scientist assumes I've never been to a Pantera show before? This is the kind of idiocy I can't abide. Could a brief Morbid Angel set compensate for the rest of this evening of torture? Not entirely, but seeing the dumbfounded and pained expressions on the faces of all those idiots while they were playing… Well, that goes a long way. Phil, you ramble between songs like an asshole, but as long as you keep bringing good, real metal bands along on tour with you, I'll be there to support your cause.
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