Happy Birthday to Ace Frehley

Happy 54th birthday to Paul "Ace" Frehley. This guitar legend (and personal hero) has been one of the most influential musicians in all of hard rock and heavy metal. Without Ace in the band, KISS is just not the same...

Mastodon/Burning Brides Show Wrap Up

Burning Brides
As mentioned yesterday I hit the Mastodon show at Sokol. The crowd was a lot smaller than I had anticipated, but the show was as good as I hoped. I missed the first opener Early Man, but caught the second opener Burning Brides, and am very glad I did. In all honesty, Burning Brides were better than Mastodon. I think they might not have been the best choice of an opener, since they are not really a metal band. In my opinion, they sound exactly like Nirvana's Bleach album -- grungy, with huge Sabbath-style riffs, and a screamer on vocals. I liked them a lot despite their lack of originality. I wanted to buy their CD after the show, but no one was manning their merchandise table so I had no one to buy it from. Note to bands: if you want to sell shit, have someone there to take the money!

After the Brides hour-long set, Mastodon hit the stage. They started off a little slow, but by the third song I was able to see why so many hail this band as the future of heavy metal. The band was tight as fuck, and very loud. I don't know any of the band's song titles, so I can't tell you which songs were played. Though Mastodon's vocalist is not one of those grunters (really big in death metal), he could hardly be considered a "singer." His style fits the aggressive nature of the band pretty well, though. Overall, it was a solid set, but Burning Brides was a touch better to my ears. If either of these bands comes to your town, I'd check them out.

Tonight I've got Beep Beep at Sokol along with Bombardment Society and Precious Metal (featuring Dapose of The Faint). I've seen Beep Beep a number of times (always good), but I've never seen the other two. See ya tonight.

Shout at the Devil? No, Not Tonight

It's official. I am skipping the Motley Crue show tonight at The Qwest Center. My freakin' back is spasming like a motherfucker, and I just don't have the patience or energy to deal with 12,000 metalheads tonight. I will admit that I am a Motley fan (their first two records Too Fast For Love and Shout at the Devil are excellent), but I just can't deal with arena shows anymore. I'm strictly a club guy (maybe small theaters, too). I am NOT skipping out because I am some pussy that can't handle some metal. There is nothing that will keep me from seeing Mastodon this Thursday at Sokol. Motley is great, but they are the past. Mastodon is the future of metal music. No question. Gotta problem with that? We can deal with it on Thursday then you punk asses!