Superjoint Ritual with Strapping Young Lad and Full Blown Chaos
Rating: 4 Skulls
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Superjoint Ritual with Strapping Young Lad and Full Blown Chaos
Rating: 4 Skulls |
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Death's Review (8/30/03, House of Blues, Anaheim, CA):
Full Blown Chaos
Photos by HelPhil Anselmo tells us he's done with Pantera - at least for now (can you say reunion tour in 2005 or '06?). Superjoint Ritual's the new thing now. I have to admit that beyond "Fuck Your Enemy" I found the last album kinda boring. There was no depth to the songwriting. Just a bunch of buddies banging out a few old school-oriented, sloppy power chord riffs while they drank whisky in Phil Anselmo's barn. Live, Anselmo is always entertaining, but the songs got old after about twenty minutes or so. Enter A Lethal Dose of American Hatred. This album, much to my surprise, kicks major ass and may be one of the top ten or twenty releases of 2003. This is the mosh-pit inducing, Anselmo-style riff fest that I was looking for the last time around. Newly psyched about this band, I decided to skip the Las Vegas Metalfest which we had been planning on attending, and instead have a more localized Labor Day Weekend (crashing in our own bed sounded sooooo appealing after a summer of much travel and endless partying).
We jumped in the car early on Saturday and met up with some friends in Long Beach, before hitting Disney in the afternoon. We met up with a few non-metalhead friends who were visiting Disneyland for the weekend and rode some rides (including the suddenly infamous Big Thunder Mountain ride), then met up with some other friends outside the park at an outdoor bar/café steps away from the entrance to the House of Blues, dowing a few Heinekens and watching all the tourists walk by while waiting for the guest list names to be sent up to the boxoffice. Soon enough our passes where delivered and we went inside while Full Blown Chaos was on the stage. Their show was mediocre but not bad, enough to get my headbanging from time to time but overall nothing too special. Think Crowbar meets Hatebreed. Two, maybe three skulls.
Strapping Young LadStrapping Young Lad was next. Hevy Devy declared this the evilest place on earth before tearing into a tight, punishing set filled with dry humor and insults leveled at both audience and band. Thrash legend Gene Hoglan was incredible, as always, dominating his kit while thrashing around to the riffs. The set was of decent length for an opener (45-50 minutes?), and everyone seemed to get into it. SYL is still on the upswing, and by the time the band launched into "Relentless," the skull and sledgehammer-filled video for which is a Headbanger's Ball video favorite, the place was going absolutely nuts. All hail Hevy Devy and SYL - I don't think their fan base is done growing yet - this show made me think that the new record may still have legs. People are entertained by this. They just need to know about it.
Superjoint RitualThe set change between SYL and Superjoint was interminable. It felt like 45 minutes. That's a long time to sit around after you've been drinking for a while in a crowded bar that you can't move from, cut off from access to more alcohol. That's right - that is the situation I was in, 'cause I fought up to the front photo pit with Hel and was stuck there - away from the bar - wating for the show to start. When Superjoint finally took the stage there was a lot of pent-up anticipation in the crowded room, full of several stereo-typical tough-guy meathead Pantera/Superjoint Ritual fans read to beat the shit out of each other from chord one. Superjoint came out on stage launching right into "Fuck Your Enemy" and the place went nuts. "Waitng for the Turning Point" was next, and the bodies started coming over the barricade with a frightening velocity and frequency. I was torn - the show was fucking awesome, Superjoint was on fire, and the place was going fucking nuts. But Hel - tiny little Hel - was in the photo pit somewhere under the crush of a never-ending barrage of 300-pound bald headed, wifebeater and work boot wearing crowd-surfers and stage divers! I was concerned. But there was nothing I could do without access into the photo pit, and there were several very large bouncers in there with her (and three other photographers) trying to maintain control. I decided to enjoy the show and starting thrashing around like a madman along with the rest of the crowd. Soon Hel emerged, and my fears were confirmed: she got nailed in the head as some huge dude had come over the barricade. Still, she is a trooper, and a tough chick. She hung around a while more and watched a few more songs, allowing me to thrash out to "Personal Insult" - musically my favorite song and even lyrically . . . interesting (a nice, pissed off, flag-waving rant with the balls to use politically incorrect and obviously ignorant terminology like "sandnigger" - even ballsier given the past accusations of racism that have been leveled at Anselmo) hear Phil shouting "the U.S. is the great Satan!!"
Superjoint RitualStill, Hel had taken quite a shot and it would take a few days to fully recover. In the end we had to leave after about seven of eight songs. I can tell you that the band was totally tearing things up - everything you want from them was on display. Some of their fans may be a bit much (as was always true with Pantera as well), but the band is spot on with its old-school glorification. Anselmo is well on his way toward metal legend status a la Ozzy, Halford, Dickenson, Hetfield/Ulrich, Mustaine, Dio status - a inconic metal frontman for a susbsequent generation.
Hel's Review (8/30/03, House of Blues, Anaheim, CA):
Ow! My head!
Strapping Young LadIt was a long, strange weekend. Originally, we were going to hit the Vegas Metalfest, but ultimately, Death and I decided to save some cash and stuck around for a busy local weekend. We started the day at the Long Beach Blues Festival, yes, you read that correctly. A couple of our non-metal friends have a connection with this, and they have invited us along the last couple of years. It's a lot of fun, and blues music is not at all objectionable in my book, though obviously I'm not obsessed with it. Most of the people at this festival are, however, and it's interesting to see that side of another genre for a change. Our next stop was Disney's California Adventure, since the show we were seeing on this night would be at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. After a few rides, we met up with metal friends, and I left Death and Chainheart drinking beer while I browsed in nearby Downtown Disney shops to fight off the boredom of waiting.
At long last, or so it seemed to me, it was time. Full Blown Chaos was already onstage at this point, and I went up for some photos. The band was actually much better than I was expecting them to be. Since I don't like hardcore very much, I was expecting another shrieky/whiny vocalist and friends cavorting about. Instead, I found the largest band in hardcore. These dudes were all huge. And damn, they kicked some ass. They were very tight, and the vocalist had a deep hardcore growl, which is the best kind of hardcore style, in my book anyway. I walked away impressed that a band I had already mentally written off could make me stand back and reconsider. I will not actively avoid this band in the future, and that's saying something good.
Superjoint RitualStrapping Young Lad was my main reason for being at this show. Sure, I like Superjoint well enough, but their fans are meatheads, and that makes the atmosphere a little less enjoyable, and, well, I've already told you how much I'd been looking forward to Full Blown Chaos… But Strapping Young Lad is invariably a treat, and I have not seen them nearly enough times for it to have become predictable yet. I was happy to see them on this bill, as exposure to Superjoint's fans will be good for them. But then, everyone needs to be exposed to Strapping Young Lad, now don't they?
Hevy Devy 101 began with the declaration that this was now "the evilest place on earth" - and indeed, mayhem ensued. Devin was in rare form on this particular evening, making far more wisecracks and depreciating comments than usual. Gene Hoglan makes drumming seem like child's play and the huge man always looks like an adult playing on a child's drum set, the drums appearing tiny and fragile, and him seeming to exert no effort while playing, causally thrashing his head about. Always an endearing sight, and one I cherished nearly as much as Devin's manic glee. The rest of the band does their part to add to the mayhem, and wondrous chaos reigns.
Full Blown ChaosThe set change lasted over 45 minutes, which is absolutely unreasonable in my book. Finally Superjoint Ritual took the stage and the House of Blues absolutely erupted. I have taken photos of this band on at least two other occasions already, and have seen them one more time than that. Without a doubt, the contingent of Pantera fans increases at every show. There were more of these steroid-addled jocks at this show than ever, and they were coming over the barrier fast and furious. The problem for me is bigger than that, however, my concern is that I won't get any photos in the span of three two-minute songs.
While I always try to watch my back at these shows, the crowd is completely unpredictable and things happen fast, not to mention my attention cannot help by be divided somewhat while I'm trying to also take photos. So as I'm frantically trying to get my photos and chaos spins around me, it finally happens - my head is crushed between the stage and a 300-pound bouncer and his similarly large quarry. I kept my feet though, and immediately sought refuge away from the vortex of violence swirling about Phil. Then I resumed taking photos - I had a job to do after all. I did have one hell of a headache though, and I felt very odd.
Getting this photo of Phil was a real kick in the head for Hel.After leaving the pit, I found a concerned Death waiting for me. He'd apparently been very concerned about me, and deservedly so, I guess. But as far as I see it, these are the hazards of the gig, and I know what I'm in for when I take pictures at shows. In point of fact, I've been in far more hectic situations than this and come out more or less unscathed. Just bum luck, as far as I see it. But man, that was one hell of a headache. After the long weekend I did ultimately go to the doctor, just to be sure, as my head continued to ache and I was still feeling pretty funky. It turns out I suffered a mild concussion, but I checked out fine and just needed time to heal. And I have.
So I had some excitement in my night. I soldiered on though, like the good metal warrior that I fancy myself to be. Back in the day, just after Overkill came out with the song, "Battle" - Famine was fond using of a metal = war analogy. This experience reinforces that imagery for me. But don't worry, I'll continue to battle in the metal wars. I have already revisited the front lines and have successfully returned with Arch Enemy, Hate Eternal, and The Black Dahlia Murder photos. Like I always say: Metal On.
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