Digital Diversion

Having been touring up a storm since the release of Something for Everybody in 2010 (the first studio album since 1990!), Devo made a return visit to San Francisco, this time with two nights at the Fillmore.  With the the small stage crammed with a huge LED screen and equipment, it was obvious to the packed house even before the band took the stage that Devo had come to  deliver the goods.

Wasting no time diving into the new material, the band took the stage donned in Everybody masks and track suits and busted into Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man) which got the crowd bopping along in a way that suggested that most were on top of the new stuff.  Things really started to gather steam with a fast costume change and a return to stage with the classic energy dome hats (now in blue) for a trio of tunes off of their break-through, Freedom of Choice.  By the time Mongoloid hit, the liquored-up crowd of 40 and 50-somethings up front were bordering on fisticuffs as the pogoing hit high gear (I’m looking at you, drunk dude from Portland).

The setlist seemed to stick to the script of previous shows (apologies in advance for any misses below) and while I would have preferred that they mix things up, it’s hard to think of any glaring omissions.  The band was tight but I had to wonder whether they looked a little ready for something other than the well-scripted and well-executed set which featured instrument musical chairs, more costume changes and than a Cher concert and hand fulls of souvenirs being tossed into the audience by Mothersbaugh.

But amongst the synthpop, it’s easy to forget that that the band has always carried a serious message that still resonates today; during the encore Freedom of Choice was a keen reminder of this. And while everyone is quick to remember the big hits and get distracted by the theater, great songs run deep within the Devo catalog and the 80 minute set proved that in spades.

Setlist:

• Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)
• Peek-a-Boo
• What We Do
• Going Under
• Fresh
• That’s Good
• Girl U Want
• Whip It
• Planet Earth
• (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
• Secret Agent Man
• Uncontrollable Urge
• Mongoloid
• Jocko Homo
• Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
• Gates of Steel

–Encore–

• DEVO Corporate Anthem
• Freedom of Choice
• Beautiful World

• Supporting act:  The Punk Group
• Photographer’s notes

© 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.

Japanese experimental band Dir En Grey hit San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom on their Age Quod Agis Tour, supporting their 2011 release, Dum Spiro Spero. Despite the less-than-ideal pre-holiday weekend timing, there was a decent-sized crowd amassed in front of the barrier and erupting in seemingly random cheers as they waited for Dir En Grey to take the stage.

At 8:30 sharp, Dir En Grey took the stage to Kyoukotsu No Nari and a shrieking crowd that belied its size. Throughout the set, vocalist Kyo seemed particularly agitated … at one point summoning a member of the crew to unplug one of the spotlights beneath his riser. Apparently not satisfied with the on-the-fly lighting adjustments, Kyo proceeded to knock the rest of the lights over before eventually tossing the whole riser on its end.

Despite whatever may have been going on in the frontman’s head, he delivered a blistering performance that showcased his vocal range … from the guttural roar to the ear-splitting falsetto … across a setlist heaped with a healthy dose of Dum Spiro Spero.

During the break before the encore, a crew of four dutifully replaced the riser (but not the lights) and did their best to secure it to the floor with tape and sandbags … knowing full-well that it wouldn’t stand a chance against Kyo.

Setlist:

• Kyoukotsu No Nari (intro)
• Juuyoku
• Obscure
• Lotus
• Dozing Green
• Rotting Root
• Kasumi
• Shitataru Mourou
• Inward Scream
• The Blossoming Beelzebub
• Tsumi To Batsu
• Yokusou Ni Dreambox
• Different Sense
• Merciless Cult
• Hageshisa To, Kono Mune No Naka De Karamitsuita Shakunetsu No Yami

–Encore–

• The Final
• Reiketsu Nariseba
• Rasetsukoku
• Vanitas (outro)

© 2011 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 for access to exclusive photos.

A sold out event at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom is not a particularly rare occurrence, but there was something about Saturday’s Kyuss Lives show that felt out of the ordinary … an over-heated pot of water, rapidly approaching a raging boil and threatening to make a mess all over the place.

A few clicks before 8 pm, a recently-resurrected Papa Wheelie took the stage to Queen’s Bicycle Race and an already healthy-sized crowd that were probably surprised to find Jason Newsted of Metallica fame slinging a guitar and fronting the band. “We ain’t good, but we’re LOUD” may have been a bit of an understatement and by the end of their tight, 30 minute set, there was a palpable booze-fueled buzz in the room. Next up local two-piece sludge metal from Black Cobra. It’s always cool to see a local band supporting a national tour in their home down and neither the band nor the crowd disappointed. The amount of noise coming out of Landrian and Martinez was frankly astonishing for a two-piece and by the time they wrapped up, the Regency was nearing capacity.

From the edge of the stage, you can’t always get a feel for what’s going on in the rest of venue. The first inkling that things were teetering on the edge of a boil-over hit when The Sword took the stage. When they passed through the Bay Area last October, it was a pretty mellow show but tonight when they opened with Freya, the front row went absolutely bonkers and, unlike last year’s show when the band largely stood unmoving throughout the entire performance, these guys actually rocked it this time around.

Cutting out midway through The Sword’s set for a trip to the lobby bar stopped me in my tracks; it was absolutely packed and the drinks were flowing freely … including from some drunk joker’s cup of beer to all over my camera (thanks dude). It got me thinking, if all these people are out here drinking and all those people are in there watching The Sword play, what’s going to happen when Kyuss Lives hits the stage?

Kyuss Lives features only two member of the original line-up, Brant Bjork (drums) and John Garcia (vocals), who have chosen to carry on the name, most notably, without Josh Homme. And while the use of the word “Lives” in the band name probably has something to do with an agreement between former band members on how to present the latest instantiation of the band, it was also clearly a statement that they were here to play and to do it right.

Taking the stage at a prompt 10:40 with a huge “Kyuss Lives” backdrop and glum back-lighting, Garcia clutched his mic stand like his life depended on it as the band launched into their first song. The crowd went absolutely nuts and the bodies started landing left and right in the photo pit which was still relatively safe compared to the apparent crush on the barricade. Half way through the second song, Garcia somehow managed to lose the bass of his mic stand, briefly throwing him off-kilter as the crew scrambled for a replacement but nary a note was missed.

Three songs and out found me picking my way from the photo pit across the sticky, beer-soaked floors looking for a place to stand. There were none to be found. And all those people that were in the bar? They were now filling the absolutely packed ballroom floor. Finally settling down in the relative safety of the balcony bar provided a perfect view of the ensuing chaotic mess as the boil-over hit in what looked like a pretty brutal pit which only mellowed slightly an hour into set during an extended jam.

Dark, heavy, brutal, chaotic … ninety minutes well spent. Yes indeed, Kyuss lives.

Supporting acts: Papa Wheelie, Black Cobra, The Sword

© 2011 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 for access to exclusive photos.

The extra tables set up on the floor of the Fillmore should have been an early indicator that the crowd for tonight’s return of the Bangles was going to be on the older end of the age spectrum. And while there were some young ones in the crowd, it seems that the release of the Bangles new album (Sweetheart of the Sun) has largely brought the old fans back for more, pushing the average age in the room  into the high 40’s.  No matter … the crowd was clearly ecstatic to see original members Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson back on stage in San Francisco.

If you only know their hits, you may have been surprised by how firmly the rest of their material is rooted in 60’s-era rock … vibes reminiscent of classic Beatles and The Who woven into the melodies.  The setlist ran the gamut including a healthy dose (6 songs) off of Sweetheart of the Sun during which some impatience  on the part of a few in the crowd drew assurances from Vicki that they’d get to the old stuff.  Songs like the “stalker rock” tune I’ll Never Be Through With You and Ball ‘n’ Chain blended quite well with the old.  And impatience aside, the audience seemed equally appreciative of the new material and enjoyed the on-stage banter such as Vicki’s introduction introduction of Under A Cloud as, “a “chirpy little song about depressing things.” 

As for the band, it’s hard to imagine that it’s been 30 years since they first started together. They all looked and sounded great as they traded off vocal duties and nailed those classic 60’s-infused harmonies. And while there were a few men in the band (“Bangles with dangles,” quipped Debbi at one point), the spotlights were pointed at the original members who were clearly enjoying their time on stage together.  As a smokey haze formed over the crowd, Vicki and Susanna joked back and forth about the smell of “incense” and at one point Susanna copped to having a slight contact high, getting a knowing chortle out of the room.

Debbi finally stepped out from behind her kit and picked up a guitar for a few songs including Going Down To Liverpool, addressing that nagging question of what that extra mic stand was for.  Taking a short break after Hero Takes A Fall, the Bangles wrapped up their 90 minute set with the song that everyone in the building knew was coming, Walk Like An Egyptian, which included a mid-song jam on the Who’s Magic Bus.

Setlist:

• Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the Sun)
• Hazy Shade of Winter
• Some Dreams Come True
• Manic Monday
• Ball ‘n’ Chain
• I’ll Never Be Through With You
• The Rain Song
• If She Knew What She Wants
• Restless
• Live
• September Gurls
• He’s Got a Secret
• Under a Cloud
• Going Down to Liverpool
• Eternal Flame
• Get the Girl
• Open My Eyes
• Ride the Ride
• In Your Room
• Hero Takes a Fall

–Encore–

• Sweet and Tender Romance
• Walk Like an Egyptian

Opening act: A Fragile Tomorrow

© 2011 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 for access to exclusive photos.

The Damned brought their 35th Anniversary Tour to the House of Blues on Sunset for a history lesson on the roots of the punk and goth movements with full performances of Damned Damned Damned and The Black Album in their entirety.

Taking the stage at 10 pm in front of a packed house which included a number of people that went on to make their own place in punk history, the band busted into (surprise, surprise) Neat Neat Neat, Vanian looking as dapper as always in his suit and monocle (he’s one of the few people out there that can pull off a monocle). It may have been 35 years since the song first came out, but after all these years the band sounded tight and looked loose … just what the doctor ordered.

After a 10 minute intermission and a quick wardrobe change, the band came back for the second half of their set, fast-forwarding to 1980 and The Black Album. The Captain came out in his pirate page boy costume complete with white tights and Monty donned his mad-composer outfit and continued to create a spectacle as he spazzed-out behind his keys. Things turn a little hazy as the night wore on and the drinks continued to flow, but they did throw in a few extras including fan favorite Eloise for what ended up being nearly a 2 hour set.

From here the tour heads off to Europe and then Asia so if you’re a fan of these albums and you missed their U.S. leg, you better hop on a plane because that’ll be your only chance to see this spectacle live (tour dates).

Supporting Acts: Manic Hispanic, The Cute Lepers

© 2011 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 for access to exclusive photos.