The Sword @ Emo's Austin (08.12.2007)

OK, I'm still too wiped out from the recent Ween shows to do a full blown review here, but I figured I'd mention that I did happen to catch The Sword at Emo's in Austin on Sunday night. The openers were High Cost Of Living and Saviour. Both were competent enough, decent openers, but nothing too special. I had seen High Cost Of Living before, and I think I liked them a little more than the other band.

The Sword played for about an hour and a half, and they sounded pretty damn tight. Here is the setlist:

01. March Of The Lor
02. The Horned Goddess
03. New Song
04. Celestial Crown/Barael's Blade
05. New Song
06. Freya
07. New Song
08. New Song (Black River/White Sand, or something like that)
09. Iron Swan
(Break)
10. New Song
11. Winter's Wolves

Lots of new material, and it all sounded pretty good. They said that one of the new songs was a 2-parter, and that it was called "Black River/White Sand", or something like that. It kicked some pretty good ass.

Sound was pretty good, except for JD's guitar, which was way too low. Most of the time, it was fairly difficult to hear his guitar parts. Other than that it was a decent show though. Lots of energy, as usual.

Ween @ Stubb's, Austin, Part Two (08.10.2007)

Second night in a row seeing these boys, pumped as hell. No anecdotal preliminary crap this time, lets get right to it.

The setlist (there was one I couldn't identify):
01. She Wanted To Leave
02. Marble Tulip Juicy Tree
03. ?? (Something about "Freaking out", possibly new)
04. Bananas And Blow
05. Take Me Away
06. Mr. Richard Smoker
07. The Grobe
08. Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?
09. I Got To Put The Hammer Down
10. Roses Are Free
11. Buckingham Green
12. Happy Colored Marbles
13. Pork Roll Egg And Cheese
14. Nan (A Tear For Eddie Teaser Intro)
15. Gabrielle
16. Doctor Rock
17. Pandy Fackler
18. Chocolate Town
19. Birthday Boy
20. Mutilated Lips
21. Joppa Road
22. Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain
23. I Don't Want It
24. Flies On My Dick (with Dickey Moist)
25. Tick
26. You F**ked Up
27. Fat Lenny
(Break)
28. Springtheme
29. Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy
30. Never Squeal (Claude Drum Solo)
31. Fluffy

Jesus, these guys have outdone themselves. Two nights in a row, 30+ songs both times, AND NOT ONE REPEATED SONG! Two completely unique setlists, these guys are prolific as hell. The sound was incredible again, as always at Stubb's. Once again, there was no shortage of jamming out: the end of "Happy Colored Marbles" was extended a couple minutes; Glenn went nuts on the keys for a few minutes in the middle of "Pandy Fackler"; Deaner cranked out some extended riffs for a bit during "Fat Lenny"; they unleashed Claude for a 10-minute drum solo during "Never Squeal"; and to top it all off, Dean absolutely destroyed the place with a mind-blowing 10-minute or so solo during "Fluffy" to close out the show. I just sat there with my jaw dropped, it was insane!

Aside from Dean's guitar jam mastery, the highlights of the show for me were the perfectly executed renditions of "Doctor Rock" and "Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy". These two songs, more than any others, sent the crowd into a total frenzy, every person screaming the lyrics and pumping their fists in the air. I don't think I've ever witnessed two more fun songs live, I felt completely drained after each one. Its also worth mentioning, I suppose, that Dickey Moist (singer for the Moistboyz, who Deaner is also a member of) joined the band on-stage and provided the vocals for "Flies On My Dick". Apparently he lives in Austin. I'm not a huge Moistboyz fan, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about this song, but I thought I'd mention it.

The pace of the show was very different than the first night, I thought it varied much more. Whereas Thursday night's show was a pretty consistent trade-off between faster and mellower tunes, this show made a couple more abrupt pace changes. The first half of the show was pretty much non-stop fan favorites, culminating in a badass performance of "Gabrielle" and the aformentioned "Doctor Rock" greatness. The whole show at that point had just continued to build momentum, to the point where "Doctor Rock" was about to make the place explode. After that, they pulled in the reigns a bit, starting with the sprawling keyboard jam of "Pandy Fackler". They then switched up and went into an accoustical set for 5-6 songs. It was a nice change of pace, and they absolutely nailed those songs (especially "Birthday Boy", hell yeah!).

Here is where the only problem of the whole 2 nights occurred. They never fully recovered their momentum after the accoustical set. They started to, with "Tick", "You F**ked Up", and "Fat Lenny", but those went by pretty quick (mainly because the first 2 are pretty short), and then they went into their pre-encore break. So, the energy they were just starting to re-build ended up being just kind of a false start. And then for the encore, they started nicely with a sweet performance of "Springtheme", and then the glorious "Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy". But instead of building on this with a couple more rockers and really blowing the place out, they switched back into the plodding groove of "Never Squeal", which almost immediately regressed into Claude's 10-minute drum solo. Now, it was cool to see the solo, and if it had been placed earlier in the night, when you have ample time after it to re-build your momentum, I think it would have worked better. But being so late in the show, as interesting as it may have been, it was a drastic enough pace shift to really kill any kind of build-up to the finale. Now, I will admit, they did an amazing job with "Fluffy", and it still ended up being an incredible finish. But I think it would have packed more of a punch if they had rolled two rocking songs into that time instead of the drum solo.

Anyway, there was way too much ass-kicking going on the last two nights to dwell on the one minor negative detail. These were two of the best shows I've ever seen, bar none. I was so worn out after last night's show, I slept like a rock. I didn't get up till noon today, and I still feel tired. Always the sign of a good time!!

In summary, Ween is back, and they are just as formidable as ever! When they set the schedule for the Fall tour after the new album is released, do yourself a favor and get your ass to one of their shows. You will thank me. And more importantly, you will bow to the Boognish!!!!

[Note: It has been announced that Ween's new LP will be titled La Cucaracha, and is tentatively scheduled for release toward the end of September. Hell yeah!!]

Ween @ Stubb's, Austin, Part One (08.09.2007)

The last time Ween rolled through Austin was 2003, so when I heard they'd be playing Stubb's two nights in a row, I snatched up tickets as fast as I possibly could. I was a bit worried that the long hiatus, which included a stint in rehab for Gener and the longest stretch between albums they've ever had, might take a bit of pizzazz out of their legendary live prowess. I hadn't lost my faith, I just slightly questioned it.

I was a foolish, foolish man.

Last night, Ween took Stubb's like a tidal wave. They went on just a little after 8pm, and didn't relinquish their grip until almost 11pm, for a total playing time of somewhere between 2:45 and 3 hours. Not bad, not bad at all. By my count, there were 32 total songs played. Yes I said 32, which for Ween is just another stroll in the park. Here is the setlist (there were a couple I could not identify):

01. The HIV Song
02. The Golden Eel
03. Baby Bitch
04. Spinal Meningitis
05. Even If You Don't
06. Transdermal Celebration
07. Touch My Tooter
08. Slow Down Boy
09. Waving My Dick In The Wind
10. Voodoo Lady
11. Zoloft
12. Exactly Where I'm At
13. Push Th' Little Daisies
14. Piss Up A Rope
15. ?? (Badass prog rock stuff, possibly new or cover)
16. She's Your Baby
17. Frank
18. The Mollusk
19. I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot
20. Stroker Ace
21. Puerto Rican Power
22. Ocean Man
23. A Tear For Eddie
24. Best Time At Your Party
25. She F**ks Me
26. ?? (Crazy synth/chanting stuff, possibly new or maybe just a lead-in to the next song)
27. I Can't Put My Finger On It
(Break)
28. ?? (Something with the keys sounding like horns, possibly new or just live wankery)
29. Sketches Of Winkle
30. Sorry Charlie
31. Booze Me Up And Get Me High
32. Someday

What a set!! They started pretty slow and deliberate with "The HIV Song" and "The Golden Eel", like they were still feeling it out. "Baby Bitch" was a good follow-up, it started getting everyone in the sing-along mood ("F**k you, you stinkin' ass ho!"). After that the momentum just kept building, and everyone strapped in for a wild ride.

They paced the set extremely well, balancing the mellower tunes with sheer rockers, and everything in between. There was some excellent jamming out going on, as well: they extended the rockout ending of "The Golden Eel" by a minute or two; "Voodoo Lady", as always, featured a few minutes of improvised guitar screaming in the middle; "Zoloft" was utterly deconstructed down to a practical standstill before creeping back up to its feel-good groove; the guitar solo in "I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot" was extended a couple frantic minutes.

The coup-de-gras, though, was an INSANE version of "A Tear For Eddie". Those of you dedicated Ween fans know how good the version is from the Live At Stubb's album (ironic, I know). This was even better, and possibly longer. Dean was in the zone, shredding like mad then pulling it back to the slow sweet melody, and doing it over and over, building it up higher each time. I think even Gener was in awe. Anyway, that right there was worth the price of admission.

They continued on and ended the normal set with a crunchy version of "I Can't Put My Finger On It", which was led into by some weird crazy synth stuff while Gener was chanting and wailing away in a Middle-Eastern sort of way. After leaving the stage, they came back and plowed through a few more, the best received of which being a rousing rendition of "Booze Me Up And Get Me High". The crowd was delirious with joy by this point, everyone shouting out the lyrics as loud as they could and lifting their 16oz. High Life's into the air (I practically launched mine, hehe). It was a full blown hot, sweaty, dirty, exhausted, Ween-rock love vibe. It was exactly what rock-and-roll is supposed to be, its the reason I'm still smiling today, and why I'm PUMPED to catch round 2 tonight!!!

To be continued tomorrow.....

Pelican @ Emo's, Austin (08.04.2007)

After a longer concert dry spell than normal (my last show was Tool in May), I was jazzed to find out last week that Pelican would be hitting my favorite small venue in Austin on Saturday. How I had not heard about the show until 4 days before, I have no idea. But judging by the fact that the show was inside (much smaller than the outside area) and by the fact that the show was still not completely packed, even given the smaller area, my guess is that it may have been a somewhat last-minute scheduled show. I'm just glad I happened to check the schedule in time, I was definitely in need of some good live riffage.

First, there were two opening bands. The first one, Fatal Flying Guillotines, was awful, mainly due to the retardedly spastic singer. I suppose I would classify their style as a punk-metal kind of thing, and as far as musicianship goes, they weren't too bad. The drummer seemed fairly competent, the guitarists were fine, and the bassist was actually pretty damn good. The songs were just so-so though, and any last hope of finding them remotely interesting was destroyed by the singer's antics. His vocals were a whiney type of shouting, and he stomped around the stage like a cross between Mick Jagger and a gimpy peacock. He kept lifting up the mic stand and swinging it around, more than once hitting the two guitarists on either side of him. And once he threw it lamely into the small crowd of people at the edge of the stage, and they kind of looked at it, picked it up off the ground and handed it back to him. It appeared that one of the guitarists had a major beef with him too, as the guitarist kept shoving the singer away from him, and once he slung beer into the singer's face when he was getting all up in his business. It would have all been pretty comical, if it hadn't been so damn annoying. I've already wasted way more words here on them than they really deserve.

The second opening band was called Clouds, and they weren't half bad. They were kind of all over the place style wise. They primarily had a sludgy Black Sabbath type sound, but would then go off into more jazzy, progressive parts, kind of reminiscent of Mastodon. I didn't think any of it was good enough to buy and check out further, but as opening bands go, they weren't bad.

So, then came Pelican. Here is the setlist:

01. Concrete In Bliss
02. City Of Echoes
03. Drought
04. Lost In The Headlights
05. Dead Between The Walls
06. Far From Fields
07. Aurora Borealis
08. Sirius
09. Red Ran Amber
(Break)
10. Mammoth

Its was definitely an interesting setlist, and longer than any set I've seen Pelican play (total time was about an hour and 25 minutes). I had expected a full dose of songs from the new album City Of Echoes, which lent 5 of its 8 tracks to the set. What I was not expecting, though, was to hear anything from Australasia or the self-titled EP, or see such a focus on the latter half of The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. Not to say that it was bad, on the contrary it was an incredibly refreshing set, executed flawlessly. I was just surprised because a) I had not heard them play anything from Australasia in a couple years, b) I don't think I had EVER heard them play anything from the EP, and c) I had never seen them NOT play "March To The Sea" since the song was recorded. Roll all those into one show, and you've got one very suprised yet ecstatic tedo!

Just as a note, though, I will say that I do think it was a mistake to not play "March To The Sea". That song should always be played, I don't care how tired of it they may get. That song is so great, it transcends their ownership of it. Every Pelican fan should have the chance to see how thunderously that song brings the house down! But, that's the only slight negative I will mark up for this show.

Everything else about the show was perfect. The sound was excellent. The last couple Pelican shows I had seen had the guitars cranked a bit too high, so that a lot of Trevor de Brauw's higher stuff got lost. I'm glad to say that this was not the case Saturday at all, everything came through very clean and crisp, with maybe just a little bit of tinkering with the sound during the first song. Schroeder-Lebec's guitar was as crunchy and massive as I've ever heard it. The bass and drums were solid as always, which is particularly important seeing as Pelican's songwriting has continued to feature more standout bass parts and active drum elements. Maybe playing the inside venue helped accoustically, but whatever it was, it was nice to see the sound setup return to form.

Performance wise, this was definitely the tightest I've seen them play, and they seemed to be having an absolute blast. Having the new material from City Of Echoes has added some much-needed depth to their repertoire, and the style changes throughout the show seem to have added another level of energy to the guys in the band. By their standards, they were extremely interactive with the crowd, and seemed to really feed off the excitement of the crowd. I may be completely wrong about this, but it seemed to me that adding the encore at the end was a spur-of-the-moment decision. They had all gotten about half-way off the stage, and were just staring almost in shock at how insanely wild the crowd was cheering. Larry Herweg looked as if he didn't want to leave the stage, and he called something out to the other guys. After about 20 seconds of quick conversation, they strapped back up, plugged back in, and launched into "Mammoth", a sludgy monolithic cruncher from their self-titled debut EP of all things. Was it the best song for an encore? No. And honestly, its a track that I typically skip over if I happen to listen to the album. But with the circumstances surrounding how it was played and the energy and vibe running through the place, it could not have been a sweeter treat. Digging deep into their back pocket and pulling out something probably never heard by any fan there just summed up the whole evening. The guys in Pelican were giving their all, and it resulted in what might very well be the best show I've seen them put on yet.

Support these guys. If they are in your town, go check them out, talk to them before or after the show. They are nice, hard-working guys who love doing this. You'll have a blast, I guarantee.

(And here is a link to a recent article about the band. Its a good read:
http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/jul2007/pelican.aspx).