| It's all about rocking my face off |
[Aug. 27th, 2008|07:36 am] |
That's right. This morning, I woke up, and my face was gone. It was completely ROCKED OFF last night at the House Of Blues in LA.
Now, before I review the amazing show I saw last night with fellow rock fan ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mattycub, I have to tell you that I am not a concert-goer. You have to bring a lot to the plate when it comes to live music for me, and after being spoiled on face-melting concert theatrics by none other than KISS, it would be hard for anyone to see me at a concert that didn't match the ball-busting energy that KISS threw down. If I'm going to plop down 40 bucks to see you live, you better come wit' it. I want hits, I want energy, I want it all over my face. No, you will not see me at some lady-vagina-banging-her-box show, nor will you see me at the hot-new-artist show. I want to leave the show sweaty and exhausted, with my throat sore from singing along to your awesome songs.
Last night proved to be such an occasion.
mattycub and I saw King's X and Extreme.
Oh no, I hear your giggling and feel your disdain. Sure, you remember Extreme as a one-and-a-half hit wonder with their lighter-inducing ballad "More That Words" and their radio-friendly "Hole Hearted", but I remember them as much more. I fell in love with them for three reasons. Yes, they churned out a couple of pop-radio hits during the tail-end of hair metal, and that always tickles my pop-music fancy. Two, they completely stole the show and blew everyone else off the stage at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Want proof? Check out their Queen-medley (in two-parts) that set Wembley Arena on fire:
Yes. It was amazing. The third reason is because their third album, "III Sides To Every Story" was a breath-taking concept album that is still one of the less than 50 albums that I can listen to without skipping a track.
So. last night's concert failed to disappoint. Well, some of it did. Before King's X and Extreme played, they had a smattering of bands thrown up on stage that participated in some Rock Fantasy Camp where you learn how to rock with the likes of Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple, Gilby Clarke from Guns'N'Roses and Mark Slaughter from Slaughter. Most of then kind of sucked it. The highlights were this one guitarist in on of the bands who was more excited to be there and on stage at the HOB more than anyone in the world. He was pointing at the crowd, his fellow musicians, and feeding off the non-interested crowd as much as he could. Then there was the lead singer chick from the last band called "Shite-Hausen", which should have been the name of the band that Mark Slaughter brought out to sing Beatles songs. This lady wailed and screamed out "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest and I was instantly in love. I wanted to invite her over to play Rock Band. Mark Slaughter's team, named "Sgt. Slaughter And The Lonely Sluts" or something made my ears bleed, and not in a good way. They tripped drunkingly through "A Hard Day's Night" and "Hey Jude", as if they were 12-year olds who were hearing The Beatles for the first time and were told to go perform it on stage. Awful.
After the HOB gave us time to recover from all of that, King's X came on and brought the crowd in. I had never really been exposed to King's X in the past, as they were seen as more of an "intelligent rock" band during the hair metal years when MTV wanted glamour and big hair on the screens, and not gay black guys with twist braid mohawks. It was probably too progressive for mainstream, but did get airplay on Headbanger's Ball, and were critical favorites. They impressed me, and I really loved their deep crunchy bass rock. It was a fun exposure into their progressive style, and I need to explore more of their music. mattycub lent me Dogman, which is a great CD.
We caught our breath, and Extreme came on. My hair melted. They busted out a hot five song opening before they even blinked, and Matty and I were losing our shit. Yes, they played "More Than Words" and yes, they played "Hole Hearted", but they wrapped those songs in a cavalcade of rock explosion and didn't let anyone off the hook. Gary Cherone looked like he never lost a step and danced all over the stage. He also seemed to enjoy abusing their bass player Pat Badger. Once during the show he hit Pat in the face with the mic as Gary and Nuno sang a harmony, and Pat came over to join them. Gary swung to the right with his mic and Pat was coming in too close from the left. He also pulled his hair and sort of playfully made it look like he was forcing Pat to sing in his mic at one point. It was funny. Nuno Bettencourt was on fire with his licks and was playful with the crowd as well.
They slammed through tracks off their new album, and gave us a heavy dose of their four previous albums. After all, it has been about 13-15 years since they played live together on a tour, so it was an amazing ride.
Thanks, Extreme! |
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impressed
busy
exhausted
tired
curious
