Digital Diversion

Korn wrapped up the second leg of their North American Path of Totality Tour at the Warfield in San Francisco, opting for a smaller-than-normal venue as they take a pretty substantial step in a new musical direction. Those in attendance that hadn’t yet given The Path of Totality a spin were probably surprised to find that the supporting acts were DJs (including Jonathan Davis) and while people were polite for the openers, it sure seemed that they were less of the Skrillex crowd and more of the Korn die-hards.

Given the shift in musical style, Korn took a pragmatic approach to their setlist which was designed to expose a substantial amount of the new material while ensuring that the old fans walked away satisfied. They did this by dividing the show in to three sections, starting with classics off of their self-titled debut and Life Is Peachy before moving into a block of five tunes off the new record. It wasn’t until they kicked of the “hits” section of the set with Here To Stay that things got nutty with the crowd … this is clearly the reward that they had been waiting patiently for.

Just because they were playing a smaller venue didn’t mean that Korn was going to skimp on the show. While the production wasn’t up to the level of their elaborate “Oildale” set from 2010 Mayhem Fest, a load of LED screens fit the size of the stage well and the strobe-heavy set probably set off a few seizures. The band was energetic as always although Jonathan seemed to be happier than I remember seeing him … maybe because it was the end of the tour leg or maybe it was the family and friends in attendance (including what appeared to be his son sitting at the back of the stage for a perfect view of all the goings on). Even the Brian Welch replacement was doing some pretty epic jumps despite being relegated to the shadows at the back of the stage.

So what’s the verdict on the 1 hr 25 minute set? Korn chose to walk a fine line between the new material and the old fans. Will the old fans adapt? Will Korn develop an all new fan base? Or will it be enough to keep everyone coming back? Only time will tell whether The Path Of Totality would have been better named The Path of Obscurity …

Setlist:

• Predictable
• Lies
• No Place To Hide
• Helmet In The Bush
• Narcissistic Cannibal
• Chaos Lives In Everything
• My Wall
• Get Up!
• Way Too Far
• Here To Stay
• Freak On A Leash
• Falling A Way From Me
• Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd Cover)

–Encore–

• Shoots And Ladders / One
• Got The Life
• Blind

View photos at SmugMug

© 2012 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. You can also become a fan on Facebook.

Dave Mustaine has brought his Gigantour back for the first time since 2008 with arguably the best line-up to-date featuring Lacuna Coil, Volbeat, Motörhead and (of course) Megadeth.  This is definitely one of those tours where it’s worth getting there early to catch all of the bands.  [Click on photos see a photo gallery for each band]

First up and taking the stage promptly at the uncivilized hour of 6:30 pm was Lacuna Coil. With only a 30 minute slot, Lacuna Coil took the opportunity to promote their January > release Dark Adrenaline by dedicating half of their setlist to the new album.  Unfortunately a 25-30 minute set isn’t nearly enough but thankfully for those that couldn’t make it to San Jose in time or were left wanting more, Cristina announced that there would be a headlining tour in April.

Lacuna Coil Setlist:

• Our Truth
• Upsidedown
• Fragile
• Kill the Light
• Trip the Darkness
• Spellbound

Second on the bill … Danish rockers Volbeat. After first being brought to the attention of the U.S. a few years ago, it was clear from the number of Volbeat t-shirts and movement on the floor during their set that the band has been successful in consistently building a U.S. fan base. Tailoring their setlist for the Gigantour crowd, Volbeat focused on the heavier aspects of their catalog and also pulled more of their setlist from last year’s Beyond Hell / Above Heaven than on previous runs.   With the departure of guitarist Thomas Bredahl last year, Volbeat brought on tour none other than the legendary Hank Shermann of Mercyful Fate to fill in.  I was always a big fan of Thomas but I must admit that Hank really killed it on stage and seemed to fit in well with the rest of the band. Closing their set with a snippet of Slayers Raining Blood set things up perfectly for the Motörhead set.

Volbeat Setlist:

• A Warrior’s Call
• Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood
• The Human Instrument
• Sad Man’s Tongue
• Hallelujah Goat
• Who They Are
• Fallen
• The Mirror and the Ripper
• Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza
• Still Counting
• Raining Blood (Slayer cover)

Gigantour had seemed to be ticking along well up until now, but things kicked into high gear when Motörhead took the stage and the relatively structured circle pits of the previous bands transformed into an anarchic free-for-all as the crowd surged in multiple directions at the same time. Lemmy’s not one to run around the stage but there’s no denying the power that this band still has after all of these years.  Even with the predictability of closing out the set with Ace of Spades and Overkill, Motörhead would prove to be a tough act to follow.

Mötorhead Setlist:

• Bomber
• Damage Case
• I Know How to Die
• Stay Clean
• Over the Top
• The Chase Is Better Than the Catch
• The One to Sing the Blues (with Drum Solo)
• Going to Brazil
• Killed by Death
• Ace of Spades
• Overkill

Once Motorhead left the stage, a huge black curtain was hoisted across the front of the stage, adding an air of mystery as the crew set up for the final act.  When the black curtain finally fell, it revealed a massive stage with Sean Drover propped up on a platform at the far back  in front of a huge LED screen. Mustaine is not one for stage theatrics but thankfully Broderick and Ellefson were on fire, rocking the giant stage in a way that ensured the crowd wasn’t falling asleep (as if that was even a possibility).  The setlist was a healthy mix of the classics as well as new songs from their latest release TH1RT3EN. Unfortunately Endgame continues to be underrepresented live, with only the usual single song (Head Crusher) being played.  In any case, if that’s the only complaint from the evening, the show clearly lived up to the name Gigantour.

Megadeth Setlist:

• Trust
• Wake Up Dead
• In My Darkest Hour
• Foreclosure of a Dream
• Sweating Bullets
• Public Enemy No. 1
• Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
• Guns, Drugs & Money
• Head Crusher
• Hook in Mouth
• A Tout Le Monde (with Cristina Scabbia)
• Symphony of Destruction
• Peace Sells

–Encore–

• Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

© 2012 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. You can also become a fan on Facebook.

The Darkness. What’s that you say? The name sounds familiar but you can’t quite place it? The UK band that hit uber-success with that song off their 2003 debut that you just couldn’t escape (I Believe in a Thing Called Love) which was followed by a second album and the inevitable flame-out a few years later. Fast forward to 2012 and The Darkness is back with all of their original members, a reunion tour and promise of new material. Oh .. and a sold out show at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

There’s an easy path for a band in this sort of situation … ride the nostalgia wave with a lackluster performance all the way to the bank. Not so the Darkness. With a 20 some-odd song setlist (including new material and a Radiohead cover) and an energetic performance it’s hard to imagine that anyone went home disappointed. And with the ballsy move of taking Foxy Shazam providing direct support, it’s hard to imagine that the Darkness didn’t come prepared each and every night to hit the stage with their A game.

While it may be billed as a reunion of the original members, the show was clearly punctuated by frontman Justin Hawkins’s performance; he had the spotlight trained on him throughout the night while the rest of the members were mostly hidden in dim washes of light. Sporting some funky facial hair and a stars-and-stripe leather suit, Justin was no less glammed-out than you may have remembered him in the band’s last incarnation. It’s pretty amazing how he manages to hit those high notes that no man should be able to hit and do it in such a way that it doesn’t make the audience wince. And while brother Dan chugged out the riffs, Justin was there with the solos.

Admittedly more relaxed than they were at their previous show in Los Angeles, the guys put it all out there and most certainly left the fans in anticipation of new material.

Supporting acts: Foxy Shazam, Crown Jewel Defense

Setlist:

• Black Shuck
• Growing On Me
• One Way Ticket
• Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us
• Get Your Hands Off My Woman
• Out Of this World
• Holding My Own
• Love Is Only A Feeling
• Concrete
• Friday Night
• Hazel Eyes
• Physical Sex
• Is It Just Me?
• Street Spirit
• She’s Just A Girl Eddie
• Givin’ Up
• Stuck In A Rut
• I Believe In A Thing Called Love

–Encore–

• Bareback
• Love On The Rox With No Ice

View photos at SmugMug

© 2012 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. You can also become a fan on Facebook.

Prong is back! Tommy Victor, once again joined by Tony Campos (bass) and Alexei Rodriquez (drums) have hit the road with a slew dates for the first time in over a year and a half. And more importantly, Prong is back with new album, Carved Into Stone, to be released April 24. I sat down with Tommy Victor before Prong’s February 16 show at the Avalon Nightclub in Santa Clara to hear all about it.

The big news on the Prong front is a new record coming out in April. Tell me about it.

It’s called Carved Into Stone and it’s got 11 amazing tracks; the best songs that were written in a while at least for Prong records. We dialed it in on this one. Proper producer, great line-up, just fantastic effort all around by everybody. I’m really proud of it. It came out really good.

You’ve been busy with other projects … touring with Danzig and Al [Jourgensen, Ministry] …

I was out with him [Al] for a week but that’s the end of it. I’m not doing any more with him.

… how did you fit the new record in?

We’ve been working on songs for a while. The last time we saw you [October 2009], we were writing at that point. Then everyone was doing things individually, then we came back together and combined our ideas and put more songs together in about four different stages. Finally we had about 25 songs, knocked them down to about 15, and with the help of Steve Evetts the producer we arranged a couple of things and finally got the solid 12 which came down to 11 that we actually recorded. Yeah, it was a long process. I’ve been working on this stuff for a while. Mikey Doling [Soulfly, Snot, Channel Zero] and I wrote a song together and then Mike Longworth and I had a song that just continued to be a favorite. We kept that one in, it’s called Revenge … Best Served Cold.  Looking for the best songs takes a while. It wasn’t that difficult fitting it in, it just took a while.

Do you find that it’s tough to get consistency when the process takes several years?

Not really, I didn’t see any problem with consistency. I think it’s just getting better. You realize what you need and what songs are eventually not as good as the other ones. The better ones start coming to the forefront. There’s been problems on our previous records when there’s too much work done, where we started second-guessing everything and rearranging stuff a little bit too much. I think we just had the right idea … we blasted out like six songs in three days a couple months before we went in [to the studio]. Everything went really smoothly. It was a lot of work but everyone was really experienced so we knew when to stop and knew when to start.

How would you describe the new stuff in the context of the Prong library?

It has it all in there. There’s a couple that are very definitive Prong. There are a couple of barn-burners; definitely the fastest stuff that we’ve done in a while … at least since Force Fed so it packs a big punch. Every song is good and there’s nothing that sounds like anyone else. It’s very original but at the same time it sounds modern, too … the production’s modern. A couple of years ago people were using ProTools extensively; we didn’t go that route. It’s natural sounding and it just rocks. It’s very impressive to hear … I can’t wait for you to hear it.

Do any of those other bands that you’ve been working with seep in there with any type of influences?

Not at all. It’s a whole different mindset with the way those guys work. This is completely a whole different bag. Glenn self-produces everything, so does Al. I wanted to get a guy that was going to bust my balls and say ‘no’ a lot and try to lead me in a different direction that’s in me but I haven’t really captured yet. A real producer that’s done a lot of records, successful ones, was something that I really wanted and that was important to get new music and new sounds in there to really make sure that we’re doing the right thing. If you leave it up to the band guys all the time it goes all over the place.  Power of the Damager I just did with an engineer. The one before that we really didn’t have a decent producer at all. And even Terry Date records that Prong has done, Terry didn’t really get involved with the songs, wasn’t a musician, didn’t really give any direction as far as the vocals went. I was pretty much on my own, you know. The only guy that I really worked with was Mark Dodson who was a singer and he helped a lot. After listening to some of the older stuff too … he [Evetts] never said you gotta scream everything and push too hard from a vocal standpoint. He helped me accept my natural voice and just go for it instead of trying to disguise it with over-shooting things and barking and being brutal all the time. It’s unnecessary. And understanding the lyric and making sure that every line was heard is something that I haven’t really done that much of in a while. Everything is designed and really looked over with a fine tooth comb … like reflecting part of the vocal with the guitar part, minimizing the over-dubs to where they’re essentially needed and working on drum parts. Really dialing everything in the best we could with the amount of time and budget that we had.

How did you go about choosing a producer given that you wanted to have more of a musician?

We have new management. I’ve learned to trust Mike Gitter and Scott Koenig. They’ve listened to a lot of records and they’ve been around a while. With the budget we had, I took into consideration what they suggested and I listened to what this guy [Steve Evetts] did … the concentration on vocals and making sure that you get those right was a priority to me. I really wanted to get that done and this guy suited that really well. He was a workaholic. Some of his techniques I was questioning during the recording process and I was getting scared because I was trusting him so much but he was right about a lot things and I’m pretty happy about that.

So you’re doing some shows right now and then you’re going out with Crowbar on a more extended tour. What’s the thinking behind going out on tour before the record comes out?

That was a managerial decision. I was really hoping to take a couple of months off. I was pretty burned out after the making of the record and, as you know, I was doing a lot of Danzig stuff. The Legacy shows took a lot out of me. It was a very stressful thing. We were on tour with the Bad Brains before Cleansing came out … I really just want to do as much work as we can. Just stay out … that’s the only way you can do it really. I mean, what else am I going to do? I wanted this time off but what do you do? You sit home and get fat and watch TV and get lazy. To go out and do shows, it’s harder these days but if you have the opportunity you might as well go out and do it.

Are you going to play some of the new stuff live on these tours?

We’re trying to fit them in. Until people really know them, we chose to center in on the standards. With Al, you put out a record that no one really knew about like The Last Supper and on a farewell tour he’s playing 70% of the new album and no one even knows the songs. When they [the fans] get the record and they hear what’s going on you can see which ones people want to hear and hopefully we can fit them more into the set.

Any plans to tour after the record comes out? Have you thought that far ahead?

Yeah, of course. Since this record was done correctly, we’ve already set it up as best as we can. We want to take advantage of that and continue working. It’s not like the last couple of record cycles where I really didn’t dedicate any time to it and we were really disappointed with the labels. A lot of the business side wasn’t really together that much. I think that now things are set up properly where we could keep going on it until people know the record and know that we’re still around and that we’re whooping ass.

It’s been 4 ½ since the last record came out.

Nobody knows that record still. That’s almost a good thing. It feels fresh now in a way.

And the business has changed quite a bit over the course of those years.

Oh yeah.

How did you think about things differently for the new record?

You know what? It’s really gone full cycle. It’s not that much different [from the early days], really. When you have a major label and you have A&R people and this huge team of people like a metal department that was at Epic back in the day, everyone was putting their two cents in … the stress level was unbelievably high. You tend to have to listen to people. I don’t think we were natural back in that period. Initially it was sort of like this … we’d go out and knock some songs out and you just do what you do. You don’t look at the charts, you don’t try to match what other people are doing. For me at least, it’s sort of gotten back to that, where I really don’t give a fuck what anyone else is doing. I really don’t care. That’s how it was initially. When you get everyone pulling out Billboard and pointing to what Soundgarden is doing and how come we’re not like that, you start getting all paranoid about what you’re doing. Prong was always misunderstood, it was a hard band to market on a big scale and it definitely wound up making the band disintegrate back in those days.

Do you think there’s more of a place for Prong today?

I don’t know. I try to keep my nose out of the things I don’t care too much about. I was almost forcing myself to be aware of what other people were doing and really be concerned about these things that had nothing to do with me picking up a guitar and writing songs. That’s really what I’m supposed to be doing, right? Writing lyrics that are true to what I feel and coming up with riffs that I think are meaningful or cool … whatever cool means. And not worrying about copying anybody or what other bands are doing. Let it be as it may. I think that’s the problem with a lot of bands and kids today … they’re copying what guys like Avenged Sevenfold are doing. It’s cookie cutter music. Production is real cookie-cutter. Guys like Glenn and Al, they don’t give two shits about what anybody else does. I really need to embrace that too. That’s where we come from and whether the audiences today understand that, there’s nothing you can do. You really just have to be true to where you’re from.

So how did Prong sound live, you may be wondering? They stuck to the tried and true, only throwing in one tune from the upcoming release, Carved Into Stone. The only noticeable flub was a bit of a disconnect on when to end Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck made light by the band in their recovery. And despite an apology from Tony half way through the set for sounding rusty after a year and a half apart, it sounded pretty damned tight.  Surprisingly so, in fact.  Welcome back Prong!

Supporting acts: Rivals, Psychosomatic, Toy Called God

Upcoming Tour Dates:
3/21: San Diego (Hillcrest) @ Ruby Room
3/22: Los Angeles, CA @ The Viper Room
3/23: Las Vegas, NV @ LVCS
3/24: Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
3/25: Fresno, CA @ Starline
3/26: Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar

With Crowbar and Witchburn:
4/5: Dallas, TX @ Trees
4/6: Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
4/8: El Paso, TX @ House of Rock
4/11: Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky
4/13: Gallup, NM @ Slopshot Billiards
4/14: Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
4/16: St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
4/17: St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
4/18: Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s
4/19: Louisville, KY @ Phoenix Hill Tavern
4/20: Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
4/21: Detroit, MI @ Harpo’s

© 2012 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. You can also become a fan on Facebook.

Mega-metal month of February continued with a headlining set by thrash metal titans Testament at the Avalon Nightclub in Santa Clara. The first clue that we were in for a spectacular evening was when there wasn’t a single parking space to be found within a block of the venue. Sold out? Not sure, but damn close; I’ve never seen so many people crammed into the Avalon.

10:30 rolled around Testament took the stage to an eager crowd including quite a few kids … most likely the children of old-time fans. After nearly 30 years, these guys clearly still have the energy and enthusiasm to put it all out there for a phenomenal set.

The crowd was absolutely nuts! Standing in the cramped photo pit as security fended off the crowd surfers, the vibe was insane … there were grins all around as the metal masters thrashed through classic after classic. Trying to photograph Chuck Billy, who air-guitared his ass off with his lighted half-mic stand is like trying to photograph a redwood tree from up-close. The guy is massive in both stature as well as personality. And not to take a thing away from any of the other musicians, but Skolnick is a force! Shredding his ass off … entertaining and dynamic as any metal guitarist in the business. There’s nothing quite like seeing a band and a crowd in perfect simpatico.

And you know what’s great about the San Francisco Bay Area metal scene? The bands support each other. Not only did Steve Souza from Hatriot … who sang for Testament’s predecessor Legacy as well as a post-Baloff Exodus … come out to sing a song with Testament, but Gary Holt (Exodus/Slayer), Phil Demmel (Machine Head) and Ted Aguilar (Death Angel) were all in the house to witness the spectacle. Respect.

Setlist:

• The Preacher
• The New Order
• The Persecuted Won’t Forget
• Practice What You Preach
• Over The Wall
• Souls of Black
• Into The Pit
• The Haunting
• Electric Crown
• Henchmen Ride
• More Than Meets The Eye
• Disciples Of The Watch
• D.N.R.
• 3 Days In Darkness
• The Formation of Damnation

Supporting acts: Angerhead, Hatriot

© 2012 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. You can also become a fan on Facebook.