Primus @ Austin Music Hall (11.01.2006)

Rather unexpectedly, Primus announced a Fall tour a couple months ago, to be kicked off last night in Austin TX. As any Primus fan would do, I immediately snagged my ticket and began the countdown to November 1st. For the first time in years, Primus was coming to town with absolutely no hint of what the setlist would be (the previous two tours had been highlighted by full performances of the albums Sailing The Seas Of Cheese and Frizzle Fry, respectively).

First, the opening band was called Drums And Tuba, and they were pretty interesting. It was a trio consisting of a drummer who also did the vocals (Genesis anyone?), a guitarist who looked like Fidel Castro, and a damn tuba player. Pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a Primus opener. I was pleasantly surprised, the use of a tuba in lieu of a bass worked extremely well. The first song or two tended to be a little poppy in nature, with the vocals annoying me a little bit (he sounded like a whinier American Gavin Rossdale), but from there the songs got longer and more jammish (slightly Beta Band'ish), with some really cool rhythms and grooves coming from the tuba. The guitarist was pretty wacky, playing his guitar in all sorts of strange fashions, but he seemed to be technically pretty proficient and when he cut loose he could really shred it. The only thing that bothered me a little about them toward the end of their set was their increasing reliance on pre-recorded samples. There would be little chimes or additional guitar parts that were clearly not being performed live, as each of the three guys had their hands full with other parts at the moment. But, I won't hold it against them. Overall, probably not anything I would buy, but definitely an interesting and enjoyable opening band.

Ok, now Primus. First off, the first thing worth noting is that during the setup time between Drums And Tuba and Primus, they inflated a huge 15-20 foot tall inflatable astronaut, who then resided over the proceedings on the back right side of the stage for the rest of the night. There is really nothing more to it than that, I just simply find a 15-20 foot inflatable astronaut really cool. Anyway, the guys came out shortly after that, and proceeded through the following set:

1. To Defy The Laws Of Tradition
2. Pudding Time
3. Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers
4. Seas Of Cheese
5. Mr. Krinkle
6. Eleven (with short drum solo intro)
7. Is It Luck?
8. American Life
9. My Name Is Mud
10. Jerry Was A Racecar Driver
(Break)
11. Here Come The Bastards

In general, this was an incredibly short show by Primus standards (it took about 1.5 hours), consisting of a pretty safe song selection with really no surprises. Really, if they had thrown in "Tommy The Cat" and "Groundhog's Day", it would have pretty much been the definition of a "greatest hits" set. (Speaking of "Groundhog's Day", this is my 6th or so time seeing Primus, and I STILL have never heard that song live. GAHHHH!) But, aside from the shortness and predictability, the show was great. As always, the guys performed with gusto and never missed a beat. Larry's guitar and Les' mic were a little too soft during the first song, but they quickly got that corrected and the sound was phenomenal the rest of the way. They spent a good amount of time noodling off into the weeds during about half of the songs, but only once (during "American Life", which had to have been about 15 minutes or so) did they cross my threshold of patience. Most of the jams were pretty damn cool, with Les occasionally exploding and going crazy with some funky weirdness. He was decently chatty, like he usually is, giving little anecdotes between the songs and conversing with the crowd.

Overall, good music, good performance, good times, just a bit lacking in length and interesting song selection. But, this is the first show of the tour, so maybe this had something to do with it. Either way, it was still a good time. I'll still gonna go see these guys anytime they come to my area.

Mastodon @ Emo's, Austin (10.04.2006)

Somehow I had missed Mastodon the last couple times they rolled through Austin, so I was really pumped about finally being able to see them last night. First off, the setlist:

01. Iron Tusk
02. March Of The Fire Ants
03. Circle Of Cysquatch
04. Where Strides The Behemoth
05. Mother Puncher
06. Aqua Dementia
07. Sleeping Giant
08. The Wolf Is Loose
09. Crystal Skull
10. Bladecatcher
11. Colony Of Birchmen
12. I Am Ahab
13. Capillarian Crest
14. Megalodon
15. Blood And Thunder
(Break)
16. Hearts Alive

Now THAT, my friends, is a setlist! The only thing that could have been better is if they had gotten "Workhorse" and "Seabeast" in there, but ending with "Hearts Alive" more than made up for it, I really didn't think they'd play that one. Anyway, sound quality was mostly good, drums were thunderous and the bass came through pretty clean. Guitars could have been better though, their presence was very inconsistent. Most of the crunchy rhythm guitar stuff came through fine, but the higher pitched guitar solo stuff would sometimes get lost. If you were familiar with the songs and knew what to listen for, you could find it in the noise, but those who were maybe hearing songs for the first time may have missed a bit. Anyway, that happened about half the time, the other half you could here everything fine. As far as energy level, the show was incredible, there is no way you could watch these guys perform and NOT pump your fist in the air. And Brann Dailor, jesus that guy is just a madman. No drummer I've ever seen outworks that guy. The guys in the band seem pretty cool and down to earth, lots of comments between songs, making jokes with each other and with people in the crowd. After the show, they were just standing by their bus right outside the door to the venue, talking and taking pictures with fans, and they seemed totally cool with all of it. Right on.

Overall, these guys kick some serious ass, and seem to have an absolute blast doing it. Definitely head out and support them if they come to your town.

Isis @ Emo's, Austin (09.13.2006)

Thank goodness Isis was making a pit-stop in Austin on Wednesday, otherwise the postponement of Tuesday's Isis/Tool show in San Antonio would have really bummed me out. As it was, at least I had this show to look forward to, and Isis came through big time.

First, the opening bands. There were two: Giant Squid and My Education. The show ended up actually starting promptly at 9pm, apparently, so I missed all but the last 1.5 songs of Giant Squid's set. Based on the 1 song that I did hear in its entirety, I would say that Giant Squid was OK, but not that impressive. But I really shouldn't say more, since I didn't hear enough to give a fair assessment. My Education was up next, and I was really looking forward to seeing them again. I have their albums and have seen them 2-3 times before, so I guess I would say I'm a fan. Unfortunately, they did not sound good at all, albeit I don't think it was their fault. I don't think the sound was set up very well, and when the band consists of 2 guitars, a bass, drums, a violin, a xylophone'ish thing, and keys, you better get it set up right. Otherwise it'll just come through as a wall of noise, which is exactly what happened. All the nice subtleties of the individual instruments that you can hear on the albums (and that I have heard live before) were completely lost. Its too bad, too, since it was probably one of the larger crowds that My Education has played for. Hopefully, those who were hearing them for the first time last night will get a chance to hear them again at a time when the sound is up to snuff.

OK, now for Isis! First off, the setlist:

01. Dulcinea
02. Backlit
03. Not In Rivers, But In Drops
04. Carry
05. 1,000 Shards
06. In Fiction
07. Holy Tears
(Break)
08. So Did We

To me, this setlist is absolutely killer. The only thing that could have possibly made it better would be if they had worked in something from Celestial, but I'm definitely not complaining. My personal highlights were "Carry" and "In Fiction" (probably my two favorite Isis songs), as well as "Not In Rivers, But In Drops", which I thought was gonna bring the whole damn house down. The studio recording of that song is pretty darn good, but it doesn't even approach how enormous it sounded live, especially the bass drum roll that kicks in when the song culminates at the end. Happily, the sound issues that plagued My Education were gone for Isis, the entire set sounded INCREDIBLE. Probably the best sounding Isis show I've seen yet (I think this was my 4th). The drums were thunderous and crisp (very important!), bass came through very clean, the 3 guitars were balanced nicely, and the electronic elements came through clearly when they were supposed to. Aaron Turner's mic could have probably been turned up just a tad, but no biggie.

As far as the band members themselves, they seemed to really be getting into it. I kind of got the feeling that they were really glad to be able to get back to the small intimate venue environment for a night, in the middle of all the arena stops that they're doing with Tool. Half way through the set, Turner mentioned that it was Jeff Caxide's (bassist) 30th birthday, and after the set was done they brought out a cake and had the whole place sing him happy birthday. And as always, the whole band and Turner in particular seemed to really be sincerely thankful that so many people came out to see them.

Concusion: ass-kicking show. If you haven't seen them live, especially as a headliner, definitely go check them out if you get the chance. This is absolutely a band worth rooting for and supporting.

Tool @ McFarlin Auditorium, Dallas (05.08.2006)

OK, well first off the setlist was the same as the previous shows of the tour. But, to reiterate:

01. Lost Keys/Rosetta Stoned
02. Stinkfist
03. The Pot
04. Forty-six & 2
05. Jambi
06. Schism
07. Eon Blue Apocalypse/The Patient
(Little bit of a drum solo while the other guys were playing with their gear.)
08. Sober
09. Lateralus
(Funny little pow-wow where all four guys got together and sat down in the middle of the stage in the dark, presumably to just take a break and catch their breath.)
10. Vicarious
11. Aenema

Apparently, there was a mix-up with the tickets. I was stoked when I miraculously was able to snag 6th row center section tickets from Ticketmaster, so imagine my shock and immediate panic when two kids showed up with the EXACT SAME TWO TICKETS as me and fellow TA-er emo. When we approached the security guard to sort it out for us, he mentioned that there had been 60 or so duplicate tickets printed, so they were ready to handle this. He had us draw a piece of paper, and we ended up "losing" our seats to the two kids, so we HAD to sit in the pit up front about 3 feet from the stage. Folks, this is the most fortuitous screw-up of all time.

All I have to say is that if this is a warm-up tour, they are officially boiling. Every song was tight and flawless, even the new material. Opening with "Rosetta Stoned" was absolutely killer, and every bit as trippy as you'd expect. I kind of questioned those who have been referring to that song as kind of the next "Third Eye", but after experiencing it live I definitely understand what they mean and I agree with that statement. Its kind of tough to pick out other highlights, because the whole damn show was one big highlight. But if I had to choose, I'd say Adam's "talkbox" (or whatever the hell its called) action during "Jambi" was perfectly replicated, and was damn cool to see live. And "Forty-six & 2" and "Lateralus" were so energetic and intense that I thought my head was going to explode. The visuals during "Lateralus" were especially well done, and complimented the intensity of the song perfectly. Its no wonder they had to take their litte pow-wow after this one.

As for comments about the guys.

Maynard: Since I have only seen Tool twice before on the Lateralus tour (I have no idea how I had NOT seen them live before that), it was really nice to be able to see Maynard clearly. As everyone has said, he was shirtless with blue jeans and a big ol' belt buckle (appropriate for Texas) and Aviator sunglasses. Half the show he was wearing the cowboy hat, the other half he was showing off the mohawk. He was really on, voice sounded great, and he actually seemed pretty goofy at times, pantomiming portions of songs in kind of a silly stoned way or something. There was a little conversing with the crowd, although not a ton. After the first couple songs he mentioned something funny about "we're here to play evil music" or something like that. Either before or after "Lateralus" he said how it was a treat to be playing and he thanked everyone for coming out and having a good time. He actually sounded sincere too. And then he made some comment about "Smell ya later!" in a funny cartoon-like voice right as they kicked into "Aenema" for the finale.

Adam: Yes! We have signs of life! The guy actually smiled A LOT! He was the first one onto the stage, and the last one off, and he REALLY seemed to be into the crowd. He spent a lot of time at the beginning and end of the show looking around and smiling at the crowd, and doing the whole "We love you guys" gesture to the fans. I was really surprised. As far as his performance, he was right on and really seemed to be getting into his groove, much less stoic and stationary than usual. As I mentioned above, he really seemed to get into "Jambi" especially, it was interesting to see him do the "talkbox" thing and really play the frontman for a couple minutes.

Justin: OK, I have whole new respect for this guy. I mean, I respected him before, but having never had such a good view of him before (we were right in front of him, about 10 feet away), I had never realized HOW MUCH that guy does. There are a lot of parts of songs that I would have sworn were Adam, but they are actually Justin. And a lot of the "ambient" type sounds, like the sustained eerie notes in "Lost Keys", thats all Justin. I'm no music expert so I don't know exactly how he was doing it, but I'm guessing it involved some sort of controlled feedback or something. Anyway, he absolutely tore it up. And yes, for those who have asked, the hair is OH SO poodle.

Danny: What the hell do you say about this guy that we don't already know? This guy was magnificent. Again, seeing as these were the best seats I've ever had to a Tool show, I had the best view I've ever had of DC. If you have a view of this guy, its damn near impossible to NOT just sit there and stare in awe the entire time. I would be sitting there during "Forty-six & 2" or some other song where a portion of kickass drumming would come in, and I'd be thinking "OK, this has to be hard. My ears are telling me that playing this must be REALLY hard." But the dude makes it look so easy! The guy never missed a beat, as far as I could tell. And yes, he is gigantic.

The Whole Band: As a whole, the band seemed to be having a lot of fun. I thought this was VERY significant. In general, the band has a history of seeming pretty tight and wound-up, with such focus and concentration that it was tough to tell if they were having fun or not (well, I guess DC has always seemed like he's been having fun). Not that we as fans will complain, the product of that focus and concentration has been nothing short of phenomenal. However, with this new album I think we're seeing them relax a little and just enjoy rocking out. Yes, there are still the intense emotional times ("Wings For Marie"/"10,000 Days"), but a lot of the album is much more straightforward and in your face. This definitely came through in the show last night. They were rocking out, they were loving it, and they were absolutely unapologetic about how it meshed with peoples' expectations. Good for them. And in turn, good for us : - )

Pelican/Opeth @ White Rabbit, San Antonio (10.22.2005)

So I headed 80 miles down I-35 from Austin to San Antonio last night for the Pelican/Opeth show. I was a bit disappointed that the tour didn't just come to Austin (both bands have always come to Austin in the past), but hey 80 miles is no biggie.

First Pelican. I've seen Pelican several times before, and they've always rocked the house pretty damn well. This show was no exception, energy was good and the setlist was killer. The show was a little bit shorter than I expected, they only played for 45 minutes, which resulted in 4 songs. I thought they would get more like an hour or so, since they were really pumping up this Pelican/Opeth combo. But, I can't really complain much, because the 4 songs they did get to play were the 4 that I personally think are their best, so they represented well there. The only REAL complaint about the show last night is that the sound was a bit screwed up. Everything seemed cranked up just a little too much, and the result is that a lot of the higher guitar work was lost. You could hear the guitars very well during the slower, more melodic parts. But during the heavier moments, most of the higher guitar laid over it was drowned out. I could kinda hear it, since I knew exactly what to listen for, so I still had a great time. But those who may have been a bit unfamiliar with Pelican probably missed a good deal of it. Ah well, it happens. I still thought it was a great set, and they proved to me once again that "March To The Sea" is one of the greatest live songs I've ever heard.

The setlist:
01. March To The Sea
02. Autum Into Summer
03. NightEndDay
04. Last Day Of Winter

Ok, then Opeth, yee-haw! Happily, the sound was much better for Mikael et al, with the only exception being that Peter Lindgren's guitar was COMPLETELY inaudible during the first song. (Strangely enough, I saw Opeth in Austin in July, and the exact same thing happened. Weird). Anyway, they sorted that out, with many apologies from the band, and the rest was glorious. As always, Akerfeldt's voice was overwhelmingly perfect. Every growl was earth-rumbling and the mellow stuff was gorgeous. Technically, the band was tight as always and everything was executed with intense perfection. The setlist was solid, and featured at least one song from every album except Orchid and Morningrise. They did a great job of thoroughly representing all their different styles over the years, variety was definitely the name of the game. The highlight of the night for me was a chilling version of "When". At the point in the song where the it launches from mellow guitar picking to the ass-kicking climax and Akerfeldt sings "And I cried!", I honestly thought the roof was gonna blow off the place. The pleasant surprise of the night was a great rendition of "Face Of Melinda", which I did not expect at all. I think the song is decent, its not one of my favorites, but live Akerfeldt's vocals were much more clear and strong than on the album, and there was additional guitar solo'ish stuff going on at the end of the song. It was very cool, and the crowd suprisingly went bananas over it. I only have two complaints about the setlist, but neither one is really a surprise. First, I was bummed that they didn't play anything from their first two albums. I know, its well documented that Akerfeldt really burned himself out on the style used in those albums, and he really does not like to play any of those songs anymore. But c'mon, those albums kick ass, couldn't they work ONE song in for all the fans that love those albums? (Hell, I feel damn lucky that I actually got to see them play "Advent" from Mornigrise a couple years ago. And oh my did it ever rule). The second complaint is that its no secret that "Demon Of The Fall" will be the closing tune. I love that song, it is an amazing song and yes it is a perfect closing song. But in the four times I've seen Opeth, it has been the closer every time, and its been the closer in every setlist I've ever seen too. I'd like to see them mix it up a little bit. Anyway, those are the only two minor complaints I have, and they don't change the fact that it was an incredible, flawlessy executed show.

The setlist:
01. The Baying Of The Hounds
02. When
03. Bleak
04. In Our Time Of Need
05. The Grand Conjuration
06. Face Of Melinda
07. Deliverance
08. Blackwater Park
09. Demon Of The Fall

(*** Notes: unless he severely bleached and straightened his hair out, Martin Lopez was NOT the man minding the drums for Opeth last night. I know that this past summer he had some medical issues, and subsequently was temporarily replaced by Strapping Young Lad's Gene Hoglan for the summer tour. Does anyone have any additional info about this? Also, Akerfeldt mentioned that Opeth will be coming back through the U.S. again around next February, so mark that down in your calendars.)

The Mars Volta @ Austin Music Hall (04.25.2005)

Having never seen The Mars Volta live before, I was really looking forward to seeing this show. Everything I had heard about their performances before had been one extreme or the other, either people loved them or hated them. I gotta say, after seeing last night's show, I don't know how anyone could watch them and NOT have an absolute blast! Everything was amazing, the energy, sound, lighting, backdrop, setlist, everything. It was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen. The show was just under 2 hours, bookended by a fantastic 25+ minute version of "Drunkship Of Lanterns" to start and the sprawling 35-40 minute "Cassandra Geminni" to wrap it up. In between, they covered material from all three albums, with each song leading perfectly into the next. The momentum they built up was insane, so that by the time they got to the climax of "Cassandra Geminni" it felt like the place was about to explode. If you're a fan at all of their stuff, I would definitely rate these guys as a Must-See. You'll have a blast.

Setlist:
01. Drunkship Of Lanterns
02. Concertina
03. Roulette Dares
04. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus
05. L'Via L'Viaquez
06. Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
07. The Widow
08. Cassandra Geminni