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Abyss's Review (8/19/01 Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ):
Take Me Out to the Maul Game
I have never said that it’s easy to put on a metal festival. I don’t pretend to know all of the little things that the promoters have to think about. However, some things should just be common sense. Of course, that phrase in and of itself is quite the misnomer. It’s called common because everybody is supposed to have it, but it seems that, more and more, it is a rare trait to come by. Hey, just look at the popularity of professional wrestling!
God Forbid
Photos by YlanaPutting a stage in an area which is far removed from the majority of paying fans defies all logic, in my opinion. It’s almost like they wanted to keep the energy level from getting too high. Let’s have a nice, safe, innocuous metal show. And that’s pretty much what we had. The most entertaining parts were witnessing the mob mentality trying to out-smart the security. Often times one martyr would storm the floor/field, leading all security away while others made their own break for it. This is to be considered commendable, and they all deserve our thanks.
WSOU should also be commended for their role in the metal world. A station that is unwavering in its support of heavy music is hard to criticize, and even though a lot of the bands on this bill were just plain bad, at lease it was something for the average metal head to do on a Sunday. Since SOU plays a wide variety of heavy music, there was a relatively diverse selection on hand for this show. The unfortunate side effect to this is that it was possible for there to be literal hours between acts that an individual actually cared about. This was the case for me.
I got to see Skinlab as I entered the venue. It was timed perfectly because that was the first band that I was actually really interested in seeing. I was a little surprised they made the trek all the way out to Jersey, but I was very happy that they did. In a time where it seems that bands are putting out albums every six months, it feels like forever since I last heard something new from these guys. Well, I got a little taste on Sunday, hearing a new song that I didn’t quite catch the title of (sounded like, “Slave the Wave” to me.) The new song was damn cool. Of course, a live setting isn’t really the best forum to gauge new music, especially because the sound sucked, but the song retained the heaviness and groove of older Skinlab. I’m now definitely psyched for the new album.
Among ThievesWell, then there was a lot of time to kill, so I drank. Not a bad beer selection, either. It was possible to get a nice cold Bass, which I did often. However, I must admit I found myself buying the Beck’s more often because, while it is a pretty crappy beer, it had four more ounces per container. Do the math. Anyway, even the spreading warmth that only alcohol can deliver didn’t make Among Thieves sound any better. For those of you who don’t know, former Life of Agony bassist Alan Robert is the brain trust behind this new band. Now I really liked Life of Agony. And I know what you’re thinking….No, not just the first album (although it is my favorite). I actually enjoyed each one of their efforts to a certain degree. This new band has little in common with the rock stylings of Life of Agony, in fact there is really no way not to call them nu-metal. Sporting a lead singer, who sounded suspiciously like Michael Rappaport, they rap-grunged their way through a set highlighted by an uninspired Blondie cover (“One Way or Another” this is crappy, this is crappy, crappy, crappy, crappy). Let’s just say, by this point, I was ready to drink more.
And drink more I did. At this time Thursday was taking the stage. Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Any band that chooses a stupid name like Thursday, doesn’t really have the judgment to write good music.’ And that’s just not true. The fact that they were bad had nothing to do with their name. It had to do with their music. Tortured, almost gothy vocals, over music which wasn’t very metallic, more alternative (but not even heavy enough to be grungy) which didn’t even carry any pleasing melodies.
Lamb of GodFinally, Lamb of God took the stage and woke everyone up from their stupor. This is the first time that some desperate fans made an attempt to get toward the stage. It was also the time in which I made the tough decision to leave my beer, as it didn’t have a wristband (God, and I thought leaving my kids was tough!). Well Lamb of God were the best band of the night, hands down. Anyone who disagrees is WRONG! They don’t have a different opinion, the are just fucking WRONG! Helped slightly by the fluffy pap that preceded them, Lamb of God literally commanded the show within their first five notes. The beer drinkers up in the rafters stopped mid-sentence to look at the stage, probably the first time of the evening for many, and the pit erupted. I myself, stood transfixed, only able to manage a devilish grin as the music washed my soul, purging Thursday from my mind. If their follow up album is anything like their debut, I might have a new favorite band.
After Lamb of God, the ever present, but always satisfying Shadows Fall hit the stage, and picked up where Lamb of God left off. It became apparent quite quickly that this would have been an amazing show if they were both given full sets and all the other bands just went home. But alas, that wasn’t to be. My excitement for this band is only dimmed by the fact that I’ve seen them so many times now, and that I really want a new album from them. Like, now! They continue to be a formidable live act, suffering only slightly because they had to follow one of the most formidable bands in metal right now.
ThursdayOnce we realized Six Feet Under would not be playing, we had to make a hard decision. Overkill would not take the stage for another 4 hours, and they were the only band left that any of us really wanted to see. I do like the Misfits, but not enough to miss the Simpsons. But of course what really made up our minds to leave early was one sheer fact. In order to see Overkill, we would have to sit through Bio-Hazard (i.e. a fate worse than death!) We couldn’t do it. I don’t want the nightmares to start again.
Death's Review (8/19/01 Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ):
Chapter 1: WSOU (89.5 FM)Every time someone new comes to visit me here in New York, I'm psyched to be able to turn on the radio in the middle of the afternoon and hear Slayer, Overkill, and the like. As ironic as it may be, WSOU, broadcast from the campus of the traditionally Catholic Seton Hall University, has consistently broadcast the most brutal metal to be found on the airwaves in that most major of American markets, NYC, for a decade-and-a-half. I can't count the number of folk who have told me they've been turned on to this band or that because they heard it on WSOU. And while the station has, of course, maintained a ever-shifting but always mildly commercial slant to its playlist (for example, significant hair metal in the late eighties, a grunge touch in the early nineties, hardcore elements in the mid-to-late nineties, nu-metal in the new millennium), the station is, has been, and always will be undeniably metal. And so, on the occasion of WSOU's fifteenth anniversary, they should be thanked.
Chapter 2: The Expectations
Among ThievesWhen I first heard of this event, I found it interesting for several reasons. First and foremost, the inclusion of metal veterans Overkill at a near-headline slot caught my eye. Overkill are local to the Seton Hall campus, and WSOU has always treated them with much respect as a sort of hometown favorites. Still, college kids come and go, and the kids who were cranking The Years of Decay ten years ago have moved on long ago. It was therefore nice to see that the current regime thought highly enough of Overkill to honor them with inclusion on an otherwise nu-metal heavy bill full of many more modern acts. Good move.
The bill also included some of metal's finest "newer" talent, most specifically the triple-threat of Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and God Forbid. Add to this the presence of Chris Barnes and Six Feet Under, on the heels of the release of their new album, True Carnage, and Bay Area warriors Skinlab, and you had, for me, a must-attend event that was worthy of the trek to New Jersey.
Chapter 3: The Event
Shadows FallOn the morning of the show, we ordered some bagels and coffee and waited for the MJ team to assemble for the trek to New Jersey. Our lineup? Abyss, Hel, Musashi, our photographer (props to Ylana for filling in for CYN while she was away at a wedding) and I. We piled in a tiny car and drove through the rain to the Newark Bears baseball stadium. We found a place to park, grabbed our cool show-specific laminate press passes, and entered the arena.
When we showed out tickets, the guy shouted "Orange only!" What the hell did that mean, orange only? I didn't know, but they did slap an orange wristband on my wrist. Turns out, it was like a rehash of Dr. Seuss' Star-bellied Sneeches, as explained below.
We started to walk the corridor, checking out merch tables and booths from labels like Roadrunner and Century Media. But Skinlab took the stage almost instantaneously. The stage was split in half, with one band playing on one side while another set up their gear on the other. This looked awkward, but actually resulted in minimal set change time, which is a good thing. But something else about the setup struck me as wrong from the get-go. The stage was set up on the baseball diamond, somewhere around second-base. It was far enough away from the bleachers and the concourse as to be difficult to really take in the band from up there. So we ran down the stairs to the field to check out Skinlab.
Not so fast, said the security guard. To get on the field you either needed a laminate or a "green wristband." How did one qualify for such a wristband? Who knows. But while we had four laminates (one of which Musashi finagled of his own accord, the other three kindly provided by the event's PR people for the Judgment Committee), we had five people. One laminate went to our photographer, of course, which left somebody the odd man or woman out. I gave my pass up to Hel, and she and Abyss went on to the field to check out Skinlab. I, however, was left with no star on my chest, and thus I merely listened to the reverberations and went up to the concourse with Musashi to bullshit with people, check out the scene, say hello to some folk, and best of all, drink some beer.
SkinlabThe beer selection was great: Beck's and Moosehead were in the house. Fuck the beer snobs, beers like Beck's, Heineken, Moosehead, St. Pauli Girl and Molson are my favorite. There, I said it. So I was psyched. I very quickly pounded two beers and noticed we stil had hours and hours to go. I was going to get very drunk this day, it seemed.
Abyss came back from watching Skinlab and gave me his laminate, so Hel and I went to the floor to watch Among Thieves. I was way psyched for Among Thieves because I loved Life of Agony, and Among Thieves featured L.O.A. bassist, songwriter and lyricist Alan Robert. Unfortunately, Among Thieves, while sometimes approaching the catchy headbanging and intelligently emotional lyrics typified of later L.O.A. releases, the band ventured waaaaaaaay too close to nu- metal realm, and this fact was not helped by the singer's "yo, yo, yo" posturing in between songs. Plus, they absolutely wasted my time and everyone else's with a bad cover to close the set. Disappointing, to say the least, although I must admit it had its moments, and I did like some of the tracks.
During the next couple of bands, Thursday and something like Shades Apart, I drank. And drank. And drank. And schmoozed. And went nowhere near the stage. Cool to see metal warriors like Will from Mortician in attendance. Anyway, I started to get drunk enough where I knew I wouldn't be able to last for the long haul. It was also cloudy and a bit drizzly, which made it more difficult to just hang for extended periods ? no sun. We talked briefly at one point about ducking out between good bands and checking out the roller coasters at nearby Six Flags, but I wasn't sure about the in and out policies and our photographer was the one with the car and she needed to stay to shoot. The stretch of good bands couldn't come soon enough.
Lamb of GodLamb of God took the stage with a fury. Kids started running down to the floor from all over. It was a sight to behold. I had no idea Lamb of God was starting to become this big. They fucking shredded. Lamb of God are the new, more extreme Pantera. Expect big things for their next record. I started the set from the stands (you also could not bring beer on the floor!). Abyss finished his beer first, and he and Hel hit the turf while I waited for them to come back with a pass and sneak me on to the floor. Once I got there, I stayed for Shadows Fall and God Forbid. At least this slowed down my drinking.
Like I said, Lamb of God smoked. So did Shadows Fall, another of the best new American metal bands out there today. God Forbid was next, and being from New Jersey, received a home-town heroes welcome. All three bands smoked, and this stretch of bands was the highlight of the day.
Then we had a real break. Primer 55 took the stage, and I couldn't have been less interested. And the rumors started to circulate: No Six Feet Under. Who knows what actually happened, all I knew was that they weren't going to play. So there we were, up in the stands, 6 or 8 beers already in us, watching Primer 55, in the rain, with no Six Feet Under up next to placate us. Fuck. We wouldn't believe that SFU was out until we saw it ourselves, but, sure enough, Reveille was next. Bummer. That took the wind right out of me. According to the schedule, it would be another four hours before the only other band I really wanted to see, Overkill, was to take the stage. As much as I relished the opportunity to see Overkill live outdoors, could I really justify another four hours outside in the drizzle and cloudiness while my buzz wore off or I did serious damage to my liver trying to stave off boredom and reality for the promise of a forty- minute set? No way. The others were restless as well. Fuck it, we said, let's roll.
But we did stay through Reveille's set, and got to witness the revolt of those without the green wristbands. Yes, the second-class, non-star-bellied, wristband-less metalheads decided to rise up, and rightfully so. There were like 100 people in front of the stage enjoying the show and everyone else in the stands over 100 yards away. It sucked. But then the fans started bum- rushing the field, and security should simply not keep up. Wave after wave of fans, dozens at time, ran on to the stage and--while it is of course true that this activity can't be good for the prospect of future metal shows at the stadium and is unfair to the event organizers and security staff and is possibly even dangerous--it sure was entertaining to watch. A little chaos was in the air, and it provided more entertainment for me than the rest of the bands, pre-Overkill, would have.
Primer 55As Pro-Pain took the stage, we took off. I felt terrible about bailing on the 'Kill, and surely bands like Hatebreed, Clutch and Biohazard surely have something to offer, as does Pro- Pain, but none were personal favorites of any in our group and we were just too spent, the week after San Francisco and Thrash of the Titans, to stick it out. The way I see it, we came, we paid our respects to WSOU, saw some metal friends and some decent bands. Definitely not a total wash, but definitely not as much fun as I wanted it to be.
Postscript: WSOU's Official Release
Shadows FallAs I finished up this piece, I noticed an explanation of the green-wristband fiasco on the WSOU site. Go to www.wsou.net and to read the explanation: obviously, this was not the station's fault but rather, the venue's. Fair enough. I do applaud WSOU for putting on this event, and, if the weather had been nicer, it would have been really cool to see these bands outside. Hopefully, next time the average joe will be able to get near the acts and enjoy the metal up front where it sounded good and where the energy was. Nevertheless, thanks for 15 years of metal WSOU. I'm somewhat dogging the event, but I still know where my radio dial is going to come to rest most every time (except sundays when they just start playing weird, non-metal crap, or when you have a Newark Bears AAA baseball game on something).
Hel's Review (8/19/01 Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ):
Never once, in my entire life, did I ever guess there would be a reason for me to go to Riverfront Stadium in "beautiful" Newark, NJ. So as I stood there in the early-afternoon gloom on this very unappealing overcast day, looking out over the baseball field covered with odd white plastic planks, with the stage sitting there at about where 3rd base would be, I couldn't help but wonder, why me?
Why here also came to mind, but the giant Seton Hall banner on the outfield wall was all the answer I needed. The event was the 15th anniversary of WSOU, Seton Hall University's metal radio station. In theory, this seemed like a good event. In reality, there were more than a couple of problems. First problem: the sound was terrible - we're talking ungodly awful here. Second problem: unless you had the proper credentials, you were stranded in the stands - far, far, far away from where the bands were actually playing. Third problem: an overabundance of bad new metal bands. Fourth problem: a wide, long, gulf between the second-to-last band I was actually interested in seeing and Overkill.
Ill NinoLet me give you a moment of back-story. I first began listening to WSOU in 1989, and I listened to them every metal day for over a year, then I moved out of range for about seven years, and back into range again three years ago. My previous experience had taught me a valuable lesson, which became clear to me only after I had quite a long separation from daily listening. This lesson was that while they play a lot of quality metal, the quality and quantity is controlled to an extent by the individual dj's - some of whom liked a lot of really good music, and others, well, not so much. The end result is that, as a listener, you get so used to the crud mixed in with the actual good music, the lines eventually blur, and you find yourself convinced something mediocre is actually good since your own personal taste has become diluted. I based this theory on my own personal experience, and recently had it confirmed when, one day, some awful nu-metal song cropped up somehow somewhere, and Death turned to me and said, "I like this song, they play it all the time on 'SOU".
The accuracy of my hypothesis aside, the roster for the day tells a similar story. Smack in the center of a solid block of same-sounding nu-metal bands was essentially a string of about six bands (denoted by an * below) that I was really psyched for, then basically a big lull, then finally Overkill. So in planning, I decided it would be possible to hold out during that big gap to reach the ultimate reward of Overkill, after which I would allow myself to leave. The original roster looked something like this:
Shades Apart12:15-12:35 IDK
12:37-12:57 MURDER 1 BLUES ARMY
12:59-1:19 KILLSWITCH
1:21-1:41 WATERDOWN
1:43-2:03 DOG FASHION DISCO
2:05-2:25 CHIMAIRA
2:27-2:47 SKINLAB *
2:49-3:09 AMONG THIEVES *
3:11-3:31 SHADES APART
3:33-3:53 THURSDAY
3:55-4:20 PRIMER 55
4:22-4:47 LAMB OF GOD *
4:49-5:14 SHADOWS FALL *
5:16-5:41 GOD FORBID *
5:43-6:13 ILL NINO
6:15-6:45 SIX FEET UNDER *
6:47-7:17 REVELLIE
7:19-7:49 PRO-PAIN
7:51-8:19 VOD
8:21-8:51 HATEBREED
8:53-9:33 CLUTCH
9:35-10:15 BIO-HAZARD
10:17-10:57 OVERKILL *
11:00-12:00 MISFITSAs you can plainly see, there were a lot of bands that I just wasn't very interested in. And you can also see, a lot of these bands fall solidly into the nu-metal classification.
So we arrived right around 2:30, as Skinlab was taking the stage. Let me point out here, that the sound was so bad, it took me several minutes to even realize that a band was onstage. And I wasn't able to fully tell it was Skinlab until I was about 8 feet in front of the stage. The stage, it turns out, was actually split in two, with a band playing on one side while the other side is set up for the next band. While this set up enabled the show to stay on schedule, it also made viewing inconvenient, particularly for those banished to the stands.
At any rate, I got to see Skinlab at long last. I've been mentally pacing, waiting for the release of their next album for far too long now, and I was looking forward to getting a taste of the new material. Well, I sort of heard a new song that seems like it would be really cool, but I've decided to reserve judgment until I hear the album. To their credit, they put on an amazingly energetic show, and tried very hard to get the fans into it. Under the circumstances, I think they did an admirable job, but there was no way they could do themselves justice this early in the day, in this environment, and with only 20 minutes to work with.
ThursdayAmong Thieves took the stage mere moments later. This time, however, the sound and stage layout had little to do with my disappointment. The main songwriter for the dearly departed Life of Agony is now in this band, and I admit, that led me to expect a lot. While there certainly are similarities to LOA to be found in Among Thieves, the overall vibe I got from the performance was undeniably nu-metal, and the songs lacked the brutal, painful, angst that comprised the core of LOA, at least for me. The crowd liked them, but that doesn't mean much considering the bulk of the bill were bands in the nu-metal vein, now does it?
Then came a string of nu-metal bands who I paid a bit of attention to, but generally only to the point at which my prior judgments of them were confirmed. May I please have this hour of my life back?
God ForbidFinally, Lamb of God was up, and boy what an ass-kicking they gave these little kids. At first, the nu-metallers looked completely stunned and confused by the death metal coming at them, but it wasn't long before the sheer force of the music drew them in. At the end of the set, many were converted, and as well they should be. If I were not already a big supporter of this band, I'd drag my soapbox out right here and now, but there's really no need.
Again, mere moments passed before the next band began. The transition from Lamb of God to Shadows Fall was an easy one. While not strictly death metal, Shadows Fall incorporates enough elements from various metal styles that they manage to fit in anywhere and everywhere, and it seemed clear that they are big 'SOU favorites by the warm reception they received from the crowd amassed before the stage. Certainly, if they weren't before, they are now, and Shadows Fall continues adding to their list of live conquests with this show.
At about this time, rumors began drifting back from the "photo pit" (there wasn't one, by the way, so feel deep pity for our photographer at this show) that Six Feet Under missed their flight so would not be playing today. Without any way to confirm or deny the rumors, we could do nothing but wait until their allotted time to see what would happen.
God Forbid, the hometown boys, as they were continually touted, followed Shadows Fall and finished the back-to-back trilogy of my favorite bands that I didn't even know existed seventeen months ago. They played a few old songs as well as several off the new album, and generally got the crowd good and riled up. At this point, I was thinking, there's hope for these nu-metal kids yet. And then God Forbid's set ended.
We endured Ill Nino, barely. I almost lost it when they started to play a Soulfly cover. There had been sporadic bad covers from many of the bands, but this was just too much - Ok, I get the point that you're a nu-metal act with Latin influences and overtones, just like Soulfly - so do you really have to play a Soulfly song too? I supposed it just goes to show that there is something here that I simply don't get. Oh well.
SkinlabThen it was the moment of truth - and Six Feet Under didn't take the stage. There was no announcement about it either. So that was it. All the bands I wanted to see until Overkill were done, and four full hours before Overkill was scheduled to take the stage. How could it be possible to endure four more hours of muddy sounding, predominately nu-metal acts? The answer? Apparently it wasn't. After several minutes of convincing, I reluctantly left.
How do I get over bailing on Overkill? I frankly don't know. This is something I will have to work to come to terms with. But in the end, the ultimate reason (beside the ever-increasing chance I would get poured on by the gloomy skies) I agreed to go - it would be much easier to recover from the disappointment of missing Overkill's 40 minute set, than to recover from the metal trauma of being locked in a small stadium for four hours of music that I have little appreciation for. Q: How do you make Hel hate nu-metal more than she already does? A: See the aforementioned scenario. So, in the interest of my mental health, and of maintaining some semblance of musical objectivity, I departed. I sincerely believe that Overkill RULED, but I just can't provide that information to you firsthand.
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