Thick LIVE at Slowdown, Omaha, NE 5/18/22

THICK performing at Slowdown, Omaha, NE 5/18/22

 

Dumb and Dumber: Bruce Dickinson Says Something Really Stupid

Look, I actually like Iron Maiden. I do. I have at least a dozen albums, and listen to the band quite often. But that doesn't mean I won't criticize them when a member says something ridiculously dumb. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson said the following:

"The closest the 'art establishment' ever came to embracing metal was punk. The reason they embraced punk was because it was rubbish and the reason they embraced rubbish was because they could control it. They could say: 'Oh yeah, we're punk so we can sneer at everybody. We can't play our fucking instruments, but that means we can make out that this whole thing is some enormous performance art.'"

I mean...what a dumb ass. Er, sorry, dumb arse. The art establishment "controls" punk. WTF? Look, all commentary about music is opinion, but this comment is just dumb. Sorry, Bruce, you don't have any idea what you are talking about. It's like I said in a comment on Facebook, it's like criticizing classical music for having too few guitar solos.

I'll heed your advice on dungeons & dragons in song lyrics, but as for your take on music other than metal...I'll pass.

Perfect Pussy 5.7.2014 at Sweat Shop

I caught Syracuse hardcore band, Perfect Pussy, last night at local punk rock hole in the wall, The Sweat Shop. It was my first time at the art gallery/venue, and my first time experiencing the band.

After three decent openers - including locals, No Thanks, and Canadians, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - Perfect Pussy came on stage around 12:15 and proceeded to destroy everything in sight. From my vantage point - slightly to the left of stage - the lead singer, Meredith Graves, seemed to be giving it about 150%; but I'll be damned if I even heard a word of it over the cacophony of extreme noise coming from the rest of the band. The show was INSANE and over in about 15-20 minutes.

I'm still having trouble digesting exactly what I saw, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I'd give the band another shot if they came through again, but I hope that they play in a place with a better sound system next time.

Here are some of my shitty iphone photos of the set: