Digital Diversion

If you haven’t heard of  Volbeat, you may not be alone but you are certainly missing out on one of the best things to come out of Denmark since Legos and Carlsberg Beer.  Despite having reached undisputed rock-star status in Europe and opening for metal gods Metallica in 2009, Volbeat remains relatively unknown here in the U.S.  Volbeat melds a diverse set of influences including metal, punk, country and blues and inexplicably turn-out something truly unique.  Need specifics?  Just take a tour around front-man Michael Poulsen’s heavily-inked skin where you’ll find homage to the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Social Distortion.  [For more background on Volbeat, check out my interview with Michael from December, 2009]

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Ratt made an exclusive appearance at the Oakland Metro before intercepting the Scorpions the next day in Sacramento on their farewell tour where they’ll be presumably playing to a slightly larger crowd than the 300-ish gathered tonight. My first time at the Metro,  it was located in the warehouse district and had a cool industrial vibe and surprisingly good sound and lighting for a club of its size.  The opening acts, Sentinel Beast and The Butlers, were quality bay area thrashers and offered a good balance to the more pop-rock sounds of Ratt.  Due to a reported travel delay, Ratt didn’t take the stage until 11:30 pm after letting the mostly-patient crowd stew for over an hour.  When they finally hit the stage, it felt a little bumpy but by the second song they tightened up and got into their groove.  Despite the late start, it looked like most people stuck it out until the end.

Set List:

• You’re In Love
• Lay It Down
• Lack
• Take a Big Bite
• I Want A Woman
• Slip of the Lip
• Dirty Job
• Last Call
• Best of Me
• Back For More
• Nobody Rides
• Way Cool Jr.
• Wanted Man
• Morning After
• Round and Round

© 2010 Alan Snodgrass | www.digitaldiversion.net. Please do not use without express permission (contact). If you like what you see, leave a comment below and subscribe so you can be notified of new posts.  Or become a fan on Facebook.

Another sunny day in the Bay Area and time for another festival.  I arrived before the gates opened, eager to shoot all the bands on the bill and I kid you not when I say that the line of people waiting to get in went nearly to my parking space.  I headed straight to will call to pick up my press credentials where I found a short but ridiculously slow line.  For some reason they had the VIP ticket holders using the same line as the press; while I’m somewhat used to the potential hassles of will call, I would have been pissed if I was expecting the VIP treatment.

In any case, by the time I got into the venue, all those people that were lined out to the parking lot were now inside and the first band, Norma Jean, was already done.  So much for getting an early jump on things.  I made a quick trip to the backstage press area where I checked out some of the bad-ass-est stage props that I’ve seen in a while. Custom mic stands seem to be the “in” thing these days and, while I have great appreciation for Jonathan Davis’ Geiger stand, I have to give the nod to Rob Zombie’s skeletons for the one I’d most likely try to steal if given the chance. Seeing all that stuff sitting there definitely added to the anticipation of the main stage performers. But there were 8 bands between me and the main stage and no time to dwell.

For being so early in the day, the place was packed and I couldn’t help but stop and admire the boldness (yes, I’m being polite) of the couple that chose to bring their infant, stroller and all, to Mayhem Fest.  The fact that we were only one band into the day and the baby was clearly unhappy made this couple hands-down winners for the day’s Digital Diversion inaugural Parenting Award.  Congratulations!  It was nice to get that award taken care of so early in the day!

Unlike the craziness of Warped where there were multiple bands playing concurrently, the Mayhem organizers took the rational approach of setting up the second stages right next to each other, making it easy for the crowd, crew and photographers to move back and forth.  Highlights for me were 3 Inches of Blood, Winds of Plague and Shadows Fall. I also gotta give some props to the local openers, Vengince, who held their own with the big hitters on this tour.  By the time that Hatebreed took the stage the crowd was enormous and, before long, they had fueled one of the largest pits I’ve ever seen.  It literally wrapped around the tent where they kept the soundboard … and it wasn’t even the only pit!  I’ve never seen anything like it in my many years of concert going.  More than anyone else, Hatebreed put the mayhem in Mayhem Fest.  After suffering through a few songs of In This Moment, the band that proves the point that you can get ahead in music even if you can’t sing by being good looking, I b-lined it to the main stage.

In between Five Finger Death Punch and Lamb of God we were treated to a special performance by Oompa Loompas.  I have no idea what they were doing there, but it was pretty damned funny.  Lamb of God was insanely good and there was a huge pit up on the lawn.  By the time Rob Zombie took the stage, the sun had gone down.  Between the lighting, big screens, flames and props, the stage show during Zombie’s set was stunning.  Regardless of whether you’re a Rob Zombie fan or not, it was hard not to be impressed.  Last up was Korn, their stage decorated in the Oildale theme with pumps, rigging and a refinery backdrop set up a cool ambiance for a performance that was not only solid, but much better than I had expected.

Click the links below to see pictures of each of the bands.

Main Stage:

• Korn
• Rob Zombie
• Lamb of God
• Five Finger Death Punch

Jagermeister Stage:

• Hatebreed
• Chimaira
• Shadows Fall
• Vengince

Silver Star Stage:

• Winds of Plague
• In This Moment
• Atreyu
• 3 Inches of Blood

© 2010 Alan Snodgrass | www.digitaldiversion.net. Please do not use without express permission (contact). If you like what you see, leave a comment below and subscribe so you can be notified of new posts.  Or even better, come find us on Facebook and become a fan.

How’s this for a story:  a group of middle schoolers start a band and by the time they’re 17, they’ve released their debut album on Megaforce Records.  Somewhere along the line, they were named one of the Top 20 Unsigned Artists of 2009 by PureVolume.com, won an MTV VMA for Best Breakout Bay Area Band and have performed on both Vans Warped and Project Revolution Tours.  Interesting yes, but what got me to sit up and take notice of Picture Me Broken was my first listen to that aforementioned debut album, Wide Awake, which opens with pummeling guitar riffage of their first single, Dearest (I’m So Sorry), and doesn’t let up through the final track. Imagine Paramore-quality vocals mashed-up with a more feminine version of Arch Enemy-style screaming, add-in some crunching guitars and the occasional keyboard melody and you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about.

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The Warped Tour is one of those shows that always sounds like a good idea to cover but for some reason I’m always kicking myself for going by the end of the day.  From the photogs perspective, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel; lots of eager-to-please bands bathed in daylight.  But with a total of eight stages and at least four bands playing at any given time, it’s impossible to see it all.

I wouldn’t say that the line-up was any better or worse than last year but it sure felt more crowded than last year.  Maybe it’s due to the economy improving or the fact that there’s only one Bay Area show this year (there were 2 last year, San Francisco and Mountain View), but there were definitely more people and more vendors.   Having covered both Bay Area shows last year, I was pleased that this year’s event was early in the tour schedule; there’s no denying that by the end of the tour, the bands that have done the entire route look flat-out tired and unwashed.  At the Shoreline, they were all bright-eyed and ready to rock.

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