Titanic klash of thrash turns Aztec Theatre into hell on earth

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Titanic klash of thrash turns Aztec Theatre into hell on earth

Fans entering the Aztec Theatre on Saturday night may have expected a heavy metal concert. What they got was so much more: a conglomeration of historical celebration, hell unfolding into not one but two walls of death, and one of the genre’s most inspiring examples of living life to the fullest all wrapped up in a clash for the ages.

The Klash of the Titans tour featuring Testament, Kreator and Possessed delivered on more fronts than simply reinvigorating memories of the 1990-91 Clash of the Titans trek that tore through North America behind Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and a then-novice Alice In Chains.

Testament’s 1-hour, 7-minute closing co-headlining set brought its first two albums, 1987’s The Legacy and 1988’s The New Order, back to life — something the Bay Area thrashers originally did during the inaugural 70000 Tons of Metal cruise in 2011, which Alamo True Metal also witnessed up close.

This time, Testament may have become the first band in history to tour in support of the remastering of classic albums. And this time, the mainstays of those two records in vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarists Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson chose not to play them in sequence or in entirety but to mix the best songs from each into a melting pot of mosh pit inducing fury.

Along with bassist Steve DiGiorgio, who began the set with a five-string instrument and ended it with a unique three-string version and new drummer Chris Dovas, Testament allowed itself to recreate deep cuts such as “A Day of Reckoning” and “Do or Die” and mix them with all-time favorites “Over the Wall,” “The New Order” and “Trial By Fire.”

Much like the cancer-surviving Billy dedicated “Do or Die,” the first song he ever worked on upon joining the group as it was transitioning between calling itself Legacy and Testament, to a friend of his restricken with a disease, ATM would like to produce this article especially for those in and around the author’s former stomping grounds of St. Petersburg, Florida, and all along the Florida Gulf Coast still persevering through the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. That includes personal friends unable to watch this tour three days before the San Antonio stop at Jannus Landing in St. Pete due to that visit’s cancellation. Hopefully through this piece of work and its art, they will feel as if they were at the Aztec as well, and they can get a taste of Testament’s set through ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “The Preacher” and “The Haunting” (no professional video was allowed).

Testament ended its performance eight minutes earlier than the venue’s official set times, which would’ve been ample time to include the first album’s “Curse of the Legions of Death” and second album’s Aerosmith cover “Nobody’s Fault.”

Nevertheless, watching the Aztec’s patrons overcome a dearth of available room to mosh their hearts out thanks to the venue’s multi-layered levels of general admission space in close proximity to one another by body surfing on “A Day of Reckoning” and letting it all hang out on closer “Into the Pit” was a sight to behold.

And here’s something to put the albums’ longevity into perspective for ya: The Legacy and The New Order are 11 and 12 years older, respectively, than the drummer who performed them on this night.

The confined space, however, did nothing to stop Kreator frontman Mille Petrozza from performing with the same intensity as if he was in front of 80,000 maniacs at his home nation’s annual Wacken Open Air festival.

Making their second appearance at the Aztec in 17 months after supporting Death Angel here May 23, 2023, Kreator made it clear that hell was about to morph into the laps of those who dared to allow the band to take them on the journey.

Six stage-prop corpses hung from the rafters while three inflatable demons towered over Petrozza, guitarist Sami Yli-Sirnio, former Dragonforce bassist Frederic Leclercq and drummer Jurgen Reil. Petrozza bellowed all of his lyrics with bombastic fury as Kreator (and Testament and Possessed, for that matter) played roughly 80 percent of their respective sets in a flurry of bright blood red lighting.

Petrozza demanded two walls of death (see 65-photo gallery), but even more menacing and horns-inducing was his desire to know “Is there something following you” during the riff mastery of “Phobia.”

The hellacious tone continued throughout the co-headlining performances of “666,” “Phantom Antichrist” and “Enemy of God.” Watch ATM Facebook Live footage of “Hail to the Hordes,” 1989 classic “Betrayer” and “Satan is Real” and view the setlist in the photo gallery, as Kreator was arguably one of the clearest-sounding bands in Aztec history. Everything about the band’s set was crisp, hard-hitting and memorable.

Petrozza and Possessed vocalist Jeff Becerra first met when the Berlin Wall in the former’s country still existed. Now in 2024, they’re touring together, and the latter has served simultaneously as arguably one of the founding fathers of death metal while exhibiting his own brand of perseverance through personal tragedy.

As most vocalists tend to do in concert, Becerra asked the Aztec’s visitors who was seeing his band live for the first time. While many raised their horns and voices in approval — with many of them likely not familiar with Becerra’s story — the singer carried on musically as can be viewed via ATM’s footage of “The Exorcist” and “Demon.”

But to say he’s carried on in life would be the ultimate understatement.

Becerra was shot during a 1989 robbery while buying cigarettes and is paralyzed from the chest down. For 3 1/2 years, he was on a waiting list just to try out a pair of robotic legs before finally receiving the chance three decades later to walk for the first time in 2019.

Chew on that for a few minutes.

That year, Possessed released its third and most recent album Revelations of Oblivion, the follow-up to 1985’s Seven Churches and 1986’s Beyond the Gates. Becerra continues to make music, sing for the masses, headbang and will likely forever be known as the one who invented death metal.

Oh, by the way, Becerra also has had nine eye surgeries for cataracts.

Saturday night wasn’t simply a klash of the titans. It was an occasion to unleash pent-up emotions in remembrance of someone those in attendance may have lost recently. It served as a reminder those on stage have had their lives disrupted in horrible ways too but have worked immensely hard every day to come out on top and continue to do what they were put on this earth to do. And it was simply another chance to enjoy classic thrash and death metal at its finest.

Whatever your reason for attending, there’s no denying that Testament, Kreator and Possessed could not have provided a more ideal soundtrack and antidote to each and every fan’s own personal hell.

May the metal titans continue to heal us all as only they know how.

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Udo's 'nightmare' of albums a dilemma fans have come to Accept

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Udo's 'nightmare' of albums a dilemma fans have come to Accept

When a stocky diminutive German with an unmistakably raspy metallic voice debuted in 1979, he likely couldn’t have imagined having 27 studio albums under his belt by the time 2024 rolled around.

Most vocalists would see that as a blessing. And, in reality, Udo Dirkschneider most likely does. But when it comes to selecting songs to play live these days, the original voice of Accept views it as something else.

“There’s too many albums,” the 72-year-old Dirkschneider told his fans last Saturday night at Fitzgerald’s. “It’s a nightmare, really.”

Udo’s dilemma is his followers’ gain. Especially on this night.

That’s because eight years after declaring he would no longer perform tracks from his Accept days, the original voice of that seminal band mixed in a trio of those classics as part of a 90-minute, 16-song set touring in support of 2023 album Touchdown.

And this latest visit, supported by New Jersey thrashers Midnite Hellion, Christian outfit KillDevil Theory from El Paso and local veterans S.A. Territories, came with a bonus: original Accept bassist Peter Baltes left his longtime band to reunite with Dirkschneider’s solo group, which includes the singer’s son Sven Dirkschneider on drums with Andrey Smirnov and Fabian Dee Dammers handling dual guitar duties.

Patrons at Fitzgerald’s could also feel fortunate to witness Udo and company on a couple of other levels: a) this visit was originally scheduled for last November at Rolling Oaks Mall’s Events Center, only to have visa and travel issues disrupt those plans. b) shortly after Saturday’s gig, the bands had to cancel the El Paso stop in KillDevil Theory’s hometown due to a promoter snafu, according to Dirkschneider’s social media pages.

So a sizable audience at Fitzgerald’s took in Dirkschneider taking the stage to new track “Isolation Man” followed by 1989 tune “Break the Rules” (ATM Facebook Live footage of both here). Udo would go on to play Accept track “Midnight Mover” and four Touchdown tunes in all before ending the night with a pair of 1987 classics from personal favorite Animal House — which Dirkschneider told Alamo True Metal in 2015 was supposed to be the next Accept studio album that turned into his first solo record after his departure — and putting the cherry on top with a pair of his best-known Accept offerings (ATM footage of all four songs below; setlist in 46-photo gallery).

On paper, having a thrash trio and a Christian band provide direct support wouldn’t appear to be a good fit on a Dirkschneider-led bill. But who doesn't appreciate an eclectic show?

Midnite Hellion’s second album Kingdom Immortal dropped two years ago, but the group was finally able to bring the tunes to the Alamo City, and it didn’t disappoint.

Founded by drummer Drew Rizzo and fronted by singer/bassist Rich Kubik (who sports a resemblance to Corey Taylor and the late Grim Reaper vocalist Steve Grimmett), Midnite Hellion brought the heaviness to the Fitz. The eight-song album was recorded in a six-day span, a tempo representative of the group’s hard-hitting sound, with producer Alex Perialas, who has worked with Overkill, Testament and Joe Bonamassa among others. Perialas is also known for having recorded S.O.D.’s Speak English Or Die in two days and mixing it on the third day while Anthrax was recording Spreading the Disease.

Check out ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Phantomland” and “Cross the Line.” The former was inspired by Tom Petty’s “Refugee” and “thematically inspired by the original Nosferatu,” according to a press release.

KillDevil Theory didn’t hit the Fitzgerald’s audience over the head with Christian messages. In fact, the C word wasn’t mentioned at all. But the band, fronted by singer/keyboardist Deanna Crane with her husband Curtis Crane on guitar, her brother-in-law Phil Evans on bass and the intense Johnny Torres on drums did deliver some uplifting Rock N’ Roll that was both melodic and heavy. That was most exemplified on “As I Kneel,” which was highlighted by Curtis Crane’s guitar solo (watch here).

KillDevil Theory has three albums under its wings, with the latest being 2021’s Second Coming, highlighted by “Die Another Day.”

The Cranes’ formation of the band, and its sparking of Christian overtones, came about as a result of their daughter being born prematurely which resulted in the couple living with her in the hospital for her first nine months. They discovered Christ in the process, and the band is happy to report that their daughter is now doing well at age 15.

Not to be outdone was longtime local favorites S.A. Territories. Led as always by guitarist / vocalist Orrie V., the quartet took the stage at an early 7:15 p.m. (heck, Udo rocked from 10-11:30 p.m., one of the rare times a Saturday night gig at Fitzgerald’s didn’t end the following morning) and delighted the locals with a slew of tracks including “Promises”, “The Conquerors” and “Eternity,” the latter able to be seen here).

Orrie and his crew are true metal representatives of the San Antonio scene, and one of the things that makes them a joy to watch is that their style, while still being heavy at heart, can fit on virtually any bill supporting any type of national artist.

When Orrie isn’t on stage with his main act, he’s also singing nowadays in Iron Maiden tribute Seventh Son and has an ode to Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush as well.

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Lamb Of God, Mastodon celebrate 20 years of breakthrough albums

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Lamb Of God, Mastodon celebrate 20 years of breakthrough albums

AUSTIN — In 2004, a pair of metal bands — one hailing from Richmond, Va., and the other from Atlanta — weren’t too far into their careers. The former released an album called Ashes of the Wake while the latter dropped its second record called Leviathan on the same day: Aug. 31.

Little did Lamb Of God and Mastodon know that 20 years later, they’d still be around, let alone on tour together playing those efforts in their entirety.

But that’s what happened Saturday at Germania Insurance Amphitheater to approximately 7,000 fans as both bands played the second gig of their co-headlining “Ashes of Leviathan” tour after kicking off the night before in Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas. Kerry King’s solo band (coverage here) and United Kingdom metalcore band Malevolence opened the show.

How special was this occasion? Mr. T and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair issued congratulatory videos via social media to Lamb Of God on the 20-year anniversary of their groundbreaking album.

Ashes of the Wake songs usually make up a decent-sized chunk of Lamb Of God’s sets on a normal tour, but this trek marks the first time they’ve played the album all the way through. And that meant kicking off with live staple “Laid to Rest,” which in turn meant there wasn’t a much better way to jump start a band’s set than to have thousands screaming out “See who gives a fuck!” during the midway point.

It also signified that “Hourglass,” “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For,” “The Faded Line” and “Omerta” would ensure that the intensity of a long, muggy mid-90s day-turned-into-evening would not lose any steam if vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, bassist John Campbell and drummer Art Cruz had anything to say about it.

Blythe even called out for a Flair-like “Wooooo” as the lead-up to “One Gun” and “Break You” (ATM Facebook Live footage here).

Bursts of pyro accentuated the flaming temperatures and performance for both Lamb Of God and Mastodon, with the latter adding a different type of flair to its act.

Mastodon utilized breathtaking oceanic special effects on the backdrop to Brann Dailor’s drum kit in playing its concept album Leviathan to Herman Melville’s 1851 book “Moby-Dick.” They also brought out Cysquatch, an imposing one-eyed creature that resembles “The Simpsons” Treehouse of Horror characters Kane & Kodos, during the second of three encores following the album’s completion: “Circle of Cysquatch.”

Bassist Troy Sanders, guitarist Brent Hinds and Dailor took their turns at lead vocals while guitarist Bill Kelliher played plenty of unassuming riffs accompanied by fireworks being released behind the keyboardist. Watch them in action via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Megalodon” and “Naked Burn” here.

Malevolence brought its brand of English metalcore after taking the stage at 5:55 p.m., all culminating in Lamb Of God’s two-tune encore of “Memento Mori” and “Redneck.”

The only other thing that can be said after all of that molten metal? Pity the fool who misses this tour.

LAMB OF GOD SETLIST: Laid to Rest, Hourglass, Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, The Faded Line, Omerta, Blood of the Scribe, One Gun, Break You, What I’ve Become, Ashes of the Wake, Remorse is for the Dead. ENCORES: Memento Mori, Redneck

MASTODON SETLIST: Blood and Thunder, I Am Ahab, Seabeast, Island, Iron Tusk, Megalodon, Naked Burn, Aqua Dementia, Hearts Alive, Joseph Merrick. ENCORES: More Than I Could Chew, Circle of Cysquatch, Steambreather

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Kerry King's all-star band rises from hell to scorch Austin with fresh thrash

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Kerry King's all-star band rises from hell to scorch Austin with fresh thrash

AUSTIN — When the co-founding guitarist of one of thrash metal’s Big 4 walked off stage toward the end of 2019 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, fans had no way of knowing if it was going to be the final time they would see Kerry King shred.

The riveting riff master of Slayer since 1983’s Show No Mercy debut, King eventually made no bones about the fact he still had plenty of music left to get off his chest and onto his Flying V, and that Slayer’s premature retirement was not his call.

Roughly 4 1/2 years and a bunch of well-kept secrets from within later, King hasn’t just re-emerged with a solo band in supergroup form.

He’s risen from hell.

Having unleashed From Hell I Rise on May 17, King brought his new-look musical outfit to the Germania Insurance Amphitheater on Saturday night as a support act for the co-headlining Lamb Of God / Mastodon trek known as the Ashes of Leviathan tour. And though he was relegated to a 40-minute set in the death of Texas’ muggy mid-’90s temperatures, Kerry King the band pulverized the amphitheater the only way its namesake and his cohorts know how.

Basically sworn to secrecy for several months, King’s bandmates came to fruition in the form of Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda, ex-Machine Head and Violence guitarist Phil Demmel, Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders and one-fourth of Slayer in drummer Paul Bostaph.

King’s solo album could very well have served as a new Slayer record. For many fans, that would’ve been just fine. For others, perhaps they’d want something a little different.

But thrash, anti-religion and to-hell-with-political liars lyrics reside like residue in King’s blood, and From Hell I Rise — a strong candidate for metal album of the year — sports many tunes that get heads banging and pits swirling.

King’s band played seven of those tracks, opening with the album’s intro “Diablo” on the P.A. before taking the stage at 6:50 p.m. to “Where I Reign.”

Other album highlights included second tune “Trophies of the Tyrant” and initial single “Idle Hands,” with Osegueda commanding the crowd’s attention and energy as if his life depended on it.

And if for some reason you were in the merch line or, worse yet, the venue’s facilities during King’s set, you should be kicking yourself for missing the intensity of “Toxic.” With the Death Angel frontman spewing out: “Too many people, spend too much time, forcing their opinions on other people’s lives. Toxic rhetoric. Toxic government. Toxic politics. TOXIC. HYPOCRITES,” you may as well have been clinically dead if you couldn’t get fired up after that one.

Not exactly to be confused with the Britney Spears hit.

But of course, it wouldn’t have been a crowning performance without a taste of Slayer, and King obliged with the mandatory “Raining Blood” segueing into “Black Magic.” Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of those along with new track “Shrapnel” here.

The danger with supergroups is getting each member’s schedule from his main band to mesh if the new unit has a desire to take its act on the road for longer, non-supporting periods of time. Although Slayer is set to put an end to its time off with a couple of festival gigs that are said to be more reacquaintances than anything permanent, you can bet Slayer fans — and true metalheads in general — would be even happier to see Kerry King on stage more often, bringing the best that 40 years of material plus From Hell I Rise have to offer.

So while King may have been happy to unveil his new gathering as part of a Lamb Of God / Mastodon package, a major jaunt of his own would be just what the metal gods need to order.

Sign us up, San Antonio promoters. It can’t come fast enough.

SETLIST: Diablo (intro), Where I Reign, Trophies of the Tyrant, Residue, Toxic, Idle Hands, Shrapnel, Raining Blood, Black Magic, From Hell I Rise

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Heavy funkateer Jason Kane throws down for hometown with all that live album Jive

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Heavy funkateer Jason Kane throws down for hometown with all that live album Jive

The scheduled band at Jandro’s Garden Patio took to the stage Friday night on the St. Mary’s Strip and had a very simple message for its audience:

“We’re Jason Kane & The Jive — and you’re being recorded.”

For the next hour and 10 minutes, a flurry of heavy funkateer fury blitzed Jandro’s (pronounced HAHN-dro’s) with one rockin’ tune after another. No further spoken words. No song-title introductions. Just in-your-face Rock N’ Roll from one of the Alamo City’s veteran musical acts.

It’s only fitting Jason Kane & The Jive is a trio because if good things come in threes, well, 2024 continues to be a banner year for the group and its namesake.

First, The Jive toured Spain in February and March, a huge deal that should’ve gained more recognition around these parts given that it’s not every day a local band undertakes a significant jaunt overseas. The trek encompassed 18 shows in 20 days covering 19 cities. Three of them sold out.

“It was fucking great, man. It was one of the best experiences,” Kane told Alamo True Metal moments before hitting the stage Friday. “They fucking still love Rock N’ Roll over there. Had us playing on the radio. It was just us. We had no other band we were touring with, and the word was really spreading really fast.”

Second came the gathering at Jandro’s, with Friday marking the second of back-to-back nights in which the band was recording Jason Kane & The Jive: Live at Jandro’s. The album is expected to feature eight tracks covering not only the group’s three full-length records (2017’s self-titled debut, 2018’s Hellacious Boogie and 2020’s Soggy Noggin) but also a pair from its forthcoming studio CD (see 30-photo gallery for the expected track listing).

The third is that upcoming album, with Kane revealing it will be called Find Out For Yourself.

“There’s eight songs on it, and man, we’ve been working on it for like two years now,” Kane said. “Just dying to get it out, but I’m trying to have it follow up the correct tour. So next year, we’ll be touring the fourth (studio album) and this (live) album for Portugal, Spain, France, and then hopefully do a whole U.S. tour when we come back, and go back out there and kind of bookend the year with Europe. I’m shooting for a November/December (release).”

Kane, 28, is a native of Berwyn, Illinois, who moved to San Antonio in 2005. His blend of blues, funk and loud Zeppelin-ish pure Rock N’ Roll harkens back to the era of bellbottoms that makes one wonder if he was born in the wrong era. Kane has been tearing up the local scene for nearly a decade, long before his songs were officially released in album form while also frequently returning to Chicago, even staging a live residency in the Windy City.

“When I did the residency at Reggie’s, one of the opening bands, I was a big fan of his band The Last Vegas,” Kane said of guitarist Adam Arling spearheading The Jive’s trek overseas. “We hit it off, and I was just fan girlin’ over my buddy Adam. And he was like, “You guys ever think about going to Europe?” And I was like, ‘No.’ It wasn’t even in my mind yet or like a thought. And he was like, ‘I wanna connect you with my people out there, and then I’ll let you take it from there.’ He came through.

“The weirder thing is that when we got there, our driver, he used to drive my dad’s band Master,” Kane said. “Chicago death metal was still full circle in Spain, and I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ “

The Arling-Kane connection was not the first time The Last Vegas had a tie-in with a San Antonio act. In 2008, The Heroine made it to the finals of Guitar Center’s contest to see who would open for Motley Crue on the inaugural Cruefest, beating out thousands of entrants and receiving the chance to impress Motley Crue members at The Whisky A Go-Go, only to fall short to the contest’s winner: The Last Vegas.

Kane has had a revolving door on bass and drums the past few years. The latest incarnation of The Jive features two more new players.

James Powell, who goes by J Pow Pow, not only unveiled a bass with different colored strings, but an infectious sense of humor when describing to ATM how he joined the band, resulting in this exchange:

POWELL: “Did you just call me by my legal name? What the hell is going on right here? I’ve gotta get away from this guy!”

ATM: “That means I know you without knowing you.”

POWELL: “Hey, I don’t want you knowing me without knowing me! I had that happen one time. But I like you a little bit.”

Then Powell got serious. Sort of.

“So I saw him on the side of the road one time,” Powell said of meeting Kane. “Naw, for real! He was begging for change with a guitar. And I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’

“But actually, when I first moved to Texas, Jandro’s was having Thursday open jams. And I would come, and I would play, and a couple people was like, ‘Have you met Jason Kane?’ Like, they was really talking about him. I was like, ‘No. I have not. I just moved here.’ And then one Thursday, we ended up jamming together, and we just kind of stayed in contact over the years. I followed his band, he would follow my band, showing a lot of love. We played a gig together, but he doesn’t remember that. Just being friends over the years. And then last year, he hit me up. He was like, ‘Hey man, I need a very sexy, beautiful, dark-skinned, chocolate bass player.’ And I was like, ‘I think I can fit that bill.’ So Jandro’s has really been a connection place for me, because this is where I met him.”

Tommy Bryant, aka Tommy Paycheck, rounds out the trio on drums out of Austin.

“His drummer at the time wasn’t able to go,” Bryant said of his involvement with The Jive. “We had a mutual friend, and (Jason) was like, ‘Do you know anybody who can play these songs and leave next month to go to Spain?’ And then he sent him my contact. I went and watched them play and thought it was incredible. I worked for myself and was able to carve away some time. Did some rehearsals with them, played some shows, and then we went over there, and the rest is history. They’ve been my brothers ever since. We made it through Spain together.”

All of which led to Friday. Taking the stage at 11:22 p.m., the all-white leather jacket and pants clad Kane, shirtless J Pow Pow and small-kit bangin’ Tommy Paycheck kicked things off with 2018 tune “Gypsy Kiss,” jump starting an 18-song performance plus bass jam and drum solo that ended at 12:32 a.m.

Tossing in a cover of UFO’s “Doctor Doctor,” The Jive had Jandro’s jammin’ all night. Watch them in action below on ATM footage of “Chica Boom” and “Titty Boi Rabbit,” the latter a funkabilly tune that, as J Pow Pow demonstrates, makes you want to run in place while slappin’ da bass.

“Last night was like tweaking and kind of feeling out the waters,” Kane said of Thursday’s first night of live-album recording at Jandro’s. “And tonight, we’re doing the full Spain set. Non-stop, just gonna keep going as soon as we start. Yesterday, I tried to chop it up and do all this shit, and I fucked it up.”

Making the live recording come alive was Studio E and owner Brant Sankey.

“I love working with Brant,” Kane said. “His approach to recording is not like most people’s. He just captures what the band sounds like instead of trying to change them, you know, and get all processed. He captures the raw live sound. We’re a dirty live band.”

Fans will be able to judge for themselves in the coming weeks when the live album drops on vinyl and all major streaming platforms before Find Out For Yourself sees the light of day. The two releases will give local metalheads and rockers more opportunities to support one of their own in greater numbers than in years past.

After all, San Antonio — you wouldn’t want Spain to outdraw you for one of your own musical artists, would you?

“I think it’s just the States in general,” Kane said of the difficulty of San Antonio bands breaking through in their own city. “Right now, with the live shows, in Europe, they’re still crazy about it. But I still consider Texas my home. I’ve been here longer even though I still say I’m from Chicago. But I’m more Texan now. Texas gave us the start. It’s definitely different, man. I’ve noticed here in San Antonio, they want a lot of cover bands. Which is no offense against covering musicians. It’s hard. But for original Rock N’ Roll, it’s harder.”

Now that The Jive has even more countries on its radar for the remainder of this year, it’s all about giving the general public more material to get their boogie on.

“I feel like this album is going to capture what everything pre-recorded should sound like and how it should be done, you know, with attitude,” Kane said. “With these guys playing — J Pow on bass and Tommy on drums — it’s going to bring a new life.”

Powell had a premonition on that too: “I thought I was playing triangle tonight.”

“No,” Kane said. “That was yesterday.”

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Saxon treat 'favorites' to hell, fire, heep & heavy metal thunder

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Saxon treat 'favorites' to hell, fire, heep & heavy metal thunder

When a band storied enough to be part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement has played in a city for nearly 45 years, the venues tend to come and go. But the heavy metal thunder remains. In Saxon’s case, that thunderous music just keeps getting better.

On a co-headlining North American trek with fellow NWOBHM friends Uriah Heep, Saxon added another Alamo City concert residence to its San Antonio history by performing at the Tobin Center for the first time this past Thursday night. The “Hell, Fire & Chaos” tour celebrated Saxon’s latest album Hell, Fire & Damnation in conjunction with Uriah Heep’s 25th and newest studio effort Chaos & Colour.

A sold-out four-story crowd of approximately 1,800 relished a Saxon performance that lasted from 9:40-11:12 p.m. following Uriah Heep’s rockin’ set that went from 7:49-9:14 p.m.

After opening with the obligatory title track to Saxon’s new album, vocalist Biff Byford had the fans eating out of his spread-out hands when he quipped, “You know you’re our favorites, right?” The standard company line of many a vocalist playing any city isn’t a load of bullocks as far as Byford is concerned.

Saxon received its first taste of American radio airplay in 1979-80 here thanks to the late legendary disc jockey Joe Anthony. “The Godfather” is the reason Byford, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford and several others mention Anthony by name every time their band plays San Antonio. On this night, Byford dedicated the classic title track to 1980’s Wheels of Steel to Anthony.

“We’ve been playing San Antonio since 1980,” Byford acknowledged to thunderous applause. “We’ve played the (HemisFair) Arena. We’ve played Sunken Gardens. We’ve played everywhere! We even played in a sandwich bar,” he recalled, referencing Saxon’s impromptu gig at Sam’s Burger Joint Music Hall on Sept. 2, 2015, when they were supposed to support Motorhead at the Aztec Theatre, only for that show to be called off due to Lemmy Kilmister’s illness — something Byford discussed exclusively with yours truly in 2017 (watch here).

Saxon and Uriah Heep helped the Tobin Center mark its 10th year, which is also how long ago Byford’s prog metal masterpiece as part of The Scintilla Project, entitled The Hybrid, was released, which Byford also discussed in the aforementioned interview link.

This particular night also made Saxon history in another way. It was the first San Antonio gig as a member of the band for lead and rhythm guitarist Brian Tatler, who was brought in after last year’s surprising departure of original guitarist Paul Quinn.

Tatler, of course, is known for his current stature in Diamond Head — the group made even more popular thanks to Metallica’s covers of their tracks “Am I Evil” and “It’s Electric” — which comes full circle given that Metallica’s second concert was opening for Saxon. Byford also flew from Helsinki, Finland, to San Francisco to perform “Motorcycle Man” at Metallica’s 30th anniversary bash in 2011 (yes, that too was discussed in the interview above).

Tatler had little trouble integrating with Byford, fellow guitarist Doug Scarratt, bassist Tim “Nibbs” Carter and the “Bucc-ee’s Tour” T-shirt wearing and Austin resident drummer Nigel Glockler as evidenced below on Alamo True Metal’s footage of seven Saxon tracks including new tunes “There’s Something In Roswell” and “Madame Guillotine” plus oldies “Heavy Metal Thunder,” “Dallas 1 p.m.,” “Crusader” and “747 (Strangers in the Night).”

With so many classics from which to choose while touring in support of a new album, that means Saxon felt the need to omit a couple of its more recent bangers such as the title track to 2013’s Sacrifice and “Age of Steam” from 2022’s Carpe Diem.

But when it comes to the Alamo City in particular, all of that goes by the wayside as it pertains to arguably metal’s most recognizable anthem that does not mention “rock” or “metal” in the title: “Denim and Leather, brought us all together,” which you can also watch below.

Not to be outdone was Uriah Heep, which, unlike Saxon, doesn’t exactly come around to San Antonio every other year.

The group’s lone remaining original member, guitarist Mick Box, is joined these days by vocalist Bernie Shaw, who’s been fronting the group since 1986 — in other words, almost an original himself.

And while Uriah Heep’s debut album came out a year before yours truly was born, they, like Saxon, aren’t hanging their hats on the past. Uriah Heep’s 2023 effort Chaos & Colour spawned three new tracks at the Tobin that are worth checking out — two of them can be seen below in “Hurricane” and “Hail the Sunrise,” which flanked ‘70’s era’s “Sweet Lorraine” and “Free ‘n’ Easy.”

Shaw demonstrated he’s the ideal complement to Box’s playing in both vocal skills and sound as well as stage presence and commanding the Tobin audience. Along with bassist Dave Rimmer, drummer Russell Gilbrook and new touring keyboardist Adam Wakeman — the son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman and who also played keys on Ozzy Osbourne’s 2008 Black Rain tour — Box and Shaw also shone on “Gypsy,” and “Stealin’.” The latter was once covered by local rock and blues guitar/vocal thoroughbred Jason Kane of Jason Kane & The Jive.

Uriah Heep’s performance may have been a tad too long for some given rumblings that could be heard by these ears around the Tobin from fans eager to see Saxon. But that sentiment evaporated when UH prepared to unveil its final encore with Shaw declaring, “We didn’t come all this way not to play ‘Easy Livin’!” Similar to the Metallica/Diamond Head relationship with “Am I Evil,” the 1972 Heep hit gained more notoriety to a new generation when W.A.S.P. covered it on its 1986 release Inside the Electric Circus.

But once again, it was Saxon’s hand-in-hand relationship with San Antonio that was the story. Saxon eclipsed the scheduled 11 p.m. end time by 12 minutes, treating the Tobin to a trio of encores.

Byford gave the crowd a chance to show applause for possible extras Saxon would play, warning the Tobin that the eventual first encore, “The Eagle Has Landed,” is a seven-minute song as if to say the show might run long or that playing that song would negate the possibility of hearing other expected ones.

But of course, all rules are tossed out when Saxon invades San Antonio. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a burger joint or on the night of tornadic conditions during a show with Armored Saint at the Vibes Event Center.

So Saxon found room for two more, performing its cover of San Antonio native Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind” before ending with “Princess of the Night.” The latter was once a funny topic of discussion on an episode of “That Metal Show” when host Eddie Trunk poked fun at Lady Gaga claiming she was a Saxon fan, only to have Byford chime in with, “Well, she knows the words to ‘Princess of the Night.’ “

Whether Lady Gaga is a “Northern Lady” or not, she still might have a long way to go, however, before matching the Alamo City’s dedication to Saxon. After all, the heavy metal capital will always take pride in being home to heavy metal thunder.

SAXON SETLIST: The Prophecy/Hell, Fire & Damnation; Motorcycle Man; This Town Rocks; Power & The Glory; There’s Something In Roswell; Heavy Metal Thunder; Madame Guillotine; Dallas 1 p.m.; Strong Arm of the Law; 1066; Crusader; 747 (Strangers in the Night); Denim & Leather; Wheels of Steel (dedicated to Joe Anthony). ENCORES: The Eagle Has Landed; Ride Like the Wind (Christopher Cross cover); Princess of the Night

URIAH HEEP SETLIST: Save Me Tonight; Grazed By Heaven; Rainbow Demon; Stealin’; Hurricane; Sweet Lorraine; Hail the Sunrise; Free ‘n’ Easy; Gypsy; Look At Yourself; July Morning; Sunrise. ENCORE: Easy Livin’

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Salvation turned up to 10 as Armored Saint conquers Austin with Dangerous Toys

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Salvation turned up to 10 as Armored Saint conquers Austin with Dangerous Toys

Writers have their blocks. Baseball players call it the yips.

Those moments when the part of your craft you’ve been doing routinely for years — putting thoughts to paper or computer or throwing a baseball — suddenly gives way to something unexplainable that causes you to tighten up and either forget how to do it or do it horribly wrong.

Singers can take it further. Not that they forget how to sing. But when their voice lets them down in the middle of a tour, and there’s a show to play that night, all hell can break loose. Do you postpone or cancel the concert? Can you find a replacement, and even if you do, will fans accept it or demand a refund if the singer they came to hear can’t perform?

Thousands of vocalists have endured this nightmare at one point or another — especially if they’ve been in a band since 1982 and singing for much longer.

On Thursday night, Armored Saint vocalist John Bush not only showed the packed house at Come And Take It Live in Austin he was back and in rare form. He also got to thank, jam, and even cry with his temporary replacement at three gigs earlier this month that followed two postponements.

Playing in Austin on their “Saints Will Conquer” tour for the first time since 2001, Bush and Armored Saint headlined the Riverside Drive venue fresh off a tour supporting Queensryche. Supporting Armored Saint on this night were Austin natives Dangerous Toys and Snake Skin Prison.

Dangerous Toys frontman Jason McMaster, a member of the South Texas Music Walk of Fame among other illustrious honors, filled in for Bush to help save Armored Saint’s tour, much like McMaster had done last year for Accept vocalist Mark Tornillo.

This time, McMaster’s band was supporting Bush’s, and the significance of the moment overcame the latter when his good friend was in the front row watching Armored Saint’s set following his own performance.

After Armored Saint played 1985 deep cut “Aftermath,” the beginning of which Bush sang from the middle of the crowd, the veteran vocalist went over to McMaster, shared an embrace and came up teary-eyed. Not even a knucklehead from the back of the venue who didn’t realize what was happening, or simply didn’t care before shouting, “Why’s it so quiet? Play some fuckin’ music! Goddamn” could ruin the moment.

Bush called himself a “pussy” for crying, then shared with the audience his gratitude for McMaster and the emotion he felt while believing his prior vocal issues had let down fans and his bandmates, saying in part, “Only singers know, when you lose it, it’s utter misery,” before Armored Saint dedicated the title track to 2015’s Win Hands Down to McMaster (see ATM footage of it all below and 65-photo gallery).

But that wasn’t all of the feelgood story.

Bush referred to McMaster as “a diehard fucking fan” and thanked him for coming out “on a day’s notice” during the fill-in shows before giving him the ultimate compliment, calling him “an extra member of Armored Saint at this point.” So of course, the only way to punctuate the moment was to have McMaster come up and sing “Can U Deliver” with Bush and the band (ATM footage below).

If Bush hadn’t said anything about it, or you hadn’t kept up with the band’s recent happenings, you wouldn’t have had much indication that the singer was coming off a troubling couple of weeks because Armored Saint, as usual, was firing on all cylinders from the get-go.

Appropriately, the group hit the stage running by opening with the best song off 2020 and latest album Punching the Sky, the in-your-face “End of the Attention Span.” Founding brothers Phil Sandoval on guitar and Gonzo Sandoval on drums, along with veteran mainstay bassist Joey Vera and guitarist Jeff Duncan jammed as if their lives depended on it right into the title track to 1987 classic album Raising Fear, ensuring the headbanging was not about to stop anytime soon.

Considering they only played 13 tracks as the headliner in an approximate 75-minute set, the presence of multiple deep cuts such as “Head On” from 2010’s La Raza and “Tribal Dance” off 1991’s Symbol of Salvation had to please the biggest of Armored Saint diehards. The downside was the absence of personal 1987 favorite “Chemical Euphoria,” but the group nevertheless was absolutely killer on everything else including “Symbol of Salvation,” “March of the Saint,” and closers “Reign of Fire” and “Mad House” (ATM footage of both below).

Bush’s passionate style is something he spoke about exclusively with ATM during the Win Hands Down tour (watch here). One of the reasons McMaster was more than a suitable fill-in is because the Dangerous Toys frontman exhibits similar qualities.

Even though DT hasn’t released new music since 1995, you don’t have to ask McMaster and Co. twice to play a hometown show. And although they’re used to headlining their backyard, McMaster shared it was a no-brainer to support Armored Saint when that band came a-callin’.

Emphasizing tracks from their smash self-titled 1989 debut album, McMaster and original mates Scott Dalhover (lead guitar), bassist Mike Watson and drummer Mark Geary, along with rhythm guitarist Paul Lidel (McMaster’s onetime mate in Broken Teeth) rocked the house on “Outlaw,” “Take Me Drunk” and “Queen of the Nile” to help get things warmed up.

With Broken Teeth guitarist David Beeson among the crowd up front, Dangerous Toys kept the hits coming on the title track to Pissed plus cock-pleasing “Sport’n A Woody” (ATM footage of both below). The band ended the 12-song performance with obligatory closers and two biggest MTV hits: “Teas’n Pleas’n,” and “Scared,” the latter originally dedicated to Alice Cooper with McMaster telling the crowd that the king of fright “probably used the album as a coaster” (see setlist below).

If you missed DT in action on this night, don’t fret. They’ll headline Deco Ballroom in San Antonio on June 21 with Hollywood Guns N’ Monsters and Even In Death (tickets here).

Another Austin band, Snake Skin Prison, opened the night in a unique way that wasn’t necessarily by choice. But it benefitted the fans in an unusual way.

With space for three bands’ drum sets at a premium inside Come And Take It Live, Snake Skin Prison had their drummer not only set up in the center of the stage but pressed to the barrier as they rocked out five tracks including “The Great Texas Death Ride,” “Come and Take It,” and new tune “The End of the World.”

But the story on this night was Bush’s return to the stage. Yet Armored Saint is no longer his only obligation.

Bush recently became part of supergroup Category 7, which will release its debut self-titled album July 26 on Metal Blade Records (see a complete list of “New Releases” here; best viewed on a computer). Bush’s mates in that band are ex-Machine Head and current Kerry King band guitarist Phil Demmel, Adrenaline Mob guitarist and main songwriter Mike Orlando, Exodus bassist Jack Gibson and Shadows Fall/Overkill drummer Jason Bittner.

ARMORED SAINT SETLIST: End of the Attention Span, Raising Fear, Tribal Dance, Symbol of Salvation, March of the Saint, Head On, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Over the Edge, Aftermath, Win Hands Down, Can U Deliver (w/Jason McMaster), Reign of Fire, Mad House

DANGEROUS TOYS SETLIST: Outlaw; Take Me Drunk; Sugar, Leather & The Nail; Gimme No Lip; Bones in the Gutter; Ten Boots (Stompin’); Queen of the Nile; Pissed; Sport’n A Woody; Line ‘Em Up; Teas’n Pleas’n; Scared

SNAKE SKIN PRISON SETLIST: The Great Texas Death Ride, Come And Take It, The End of the World, Bury Me in the Mountain, Smokin’ Whiskey

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'80s bands turn back the clock & rock the halls

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'80s bands turn back the clock & rock the halls

The holidays got off to an earlier than normal loud and fun start Friday, Dec. 15, when four of the ‘80s’ mainstay artists rocked the pavilion of The Espee downtown to show their fans they’ve still got it.

Warrant, Winger, Lita Ford and Steelheart teamed to take part in the inaugural 106.7-FM The Eagle’s Rock the Halls before an estimated crowd of 500 enthusiastic fans of what, for many, is the best era of hard rock and heavy metal music to have partaken in.

But before things could get rockin’, they got a bit rocky. Doors were supposed to open at 5:30, but Steelheart was doing a lengthy soundcheck that resulted in the band starting promptly at the scheduled 6:30 while many patrons were still in line outside the entrance. Sound issues continued to plague theirs and Ford’s sets until eventually, the rock, and the celebrating, went on without further annoyances.

Ford played the exact same seven songs, in order, that she performed Sept. 24, 2022, at the Boeing Center at Tech Port when she was part of the several support acts opening for Legs Diamond. That show actually saw Ford play eight tunes, with “Back to the Cave” drawing the short end this time.

Warrant was making its first appearance in San Antonio since a 2017 showing at the Tobin Center. Winger and Steelheart, meanwhile, hadn’t been in S.A. in seemingly forever. And Winger stole the show.

Believed to be the only rock band out there still going strong with all original members, singer/bassist Kip Winger and crew were proud of that distinction in marking 35 years as a band and its smash self-titled debut album. But Winger, guitarists Reb Beach and John Roth, guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor and drummer Rod Morgenstein also dropped Seven in May and showed they’re not resting on their laurels by opening with new tune “Stick the Knife in and Twist” and unveiling the album’s first single “Proud Desperado” (ATM footage below).

To be technical, Winger took their member milestone a bit further in 1992 when Roth was initially added to the original quartet. And they demonstrated in 2023 that their musicianship is as tight as ever. Watch them further in action via Facebook Live footage as they ended their set with first two album hits “Easy Come Easy Go,” “Madalaine” and even a brief instrumental jam of “You Are the Saint, I Am the Sinner” here.

With so many hits to play in a 50-minute stanza coupled with the fact they weren’t headlining, Winger cut out second verses of several tunes, including its biggest smash “Seventeen,” which was quickly inserted as the set’s second track.

Morgenstein was having a blast throughout the show, Winger sang and talked through his patented drive-thru styled mic, and Beach and Roth were steady as usual (see setlist in 72-photo gallery). Taylor received a bit of the spotlight as Winger introduced him on “Miles Away” while explaining Taylor wrote the song by himself after the two had initially come together in Alice Cooper’s band (watch below). For those remembering Taylor as he appeared in the group’s hit videos with curly long hair and a beard, you wouldn’t have recognized him on this night if he was standing next to you as he sported a baseball hat and clean shaven cut.

And for those who only know Winger songs from the first two or three albums, do yourself a favor and check out 2009’s Karma, which is right up there with the first two records if not better. It would’ve been great to hear “Stone Cold Killer,” “Supernova” or arguably their heaviest tune recorded in “Pull Me Under,” so hopefully Winger will return in headlining mode and play a few of those songs.

The Eagle’s “Crash,” Joe Calguero and Joe Rock told the crowd that “Rock the Halls” will become an annual event. But before that can happen, the inaugural one had to commence and end, and Steelheart etched its name into "Rock the Halls” trivia lore by becoming the first band to perform.

Vocalist and band founder Miljenko Matijevic, backed by guitarist Joe Pessia, bassist James Ward and drummer Mike Humbert, spotlighted his 2001 “Rock Star” movie contributions with second song “Livin’ the Life” — a track that also opens Jeff Scott Soto’s 2021 album The Duets Collection: Vol. 1. Matijevic, who lent his voice to Mark Wahlberg’s character Chris Cole and the fictional band Steel Dragon, will always be known for his incredible high-pitched range on smash ballad “I’ll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes).”

Stunningly, however, the band was unable to play it when Matijevic was informed by Calguero that their 30-minute set only had time for one more tune. The unhappy vocalist had the crooning hit and one more track planned but was suddenly forced to only choose one. He began to give the option to the fans before declaring he would go back to “Rock Star” and closed with “We All Die Young.” Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of it here as Matijevic inserted himself into the middle of the crowd for part of the song.

The fact that the Croatian native, who moved to America when he was 6, and Steelheart were even able to play the Alamo City was a victory of major proportions. Matijevic was severely injured during a gig in 1992 when he climbed a lighting truss that wasn’t completely secure and suffered a twisted spine and broken nose, cheekbone and jaw.

So now that Steelheart, like Winger, has a solid reason to return to the Alamo City . . .

Calguero tried to lighten the programming blunder by telling the crowd, “Maybe we’ll sing ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’ “ as he began to introduce Ford’s band. In case you were wondering: no, that didn’t happen.

The 65-year-old Ford, accompanied as usual by San Antonio native Patrick Kennison on guitar, drummer Bobby Rock and bassist Marten Andersson, was solid again and engaging with the audience. She told a sentimental story about how her B.C. Rich guitar was made out of a tree trunk she found with her father on a fishing trip in 1980 prior to performing her hit with The Runaways, “Cherry Bomb,” and “Close My Eyes Forever” (ATM footage of both below). Watch the group in further action on the song Ford and the late Lemmy Kilmister co-wrote, “Can’t Catch Me.”

Warrant’s headlining set, naturally, was filled with hits from the first three albums: Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, Cherry Pie and “Machine Gun” from 1992’s vastly underrated Dog Eat Dog (watch here and see setlist in photo gallery).

Although accomplished vocalist Robert Mason has been in the group for 15 years following the departure, return, and eventual death of brilliant songwriter and vocalist Jani Lane, he has the difficult task of knowing the band is always going to have to fill its shows with Lane’s songs no matter how much new music the group chooses to make in the future with his voice. Still, Mason always puts his balls into his performances whether the songs are originally his or not, and he’s a big reason Warrant is always worth the price of admission.

On this night, original guitarist Joey Allen and drummer Steven Sweet did their thing as usual, but original guitarist Erik Turner and bassist Jerry Dixon, while still members, were nowhere to be found. A date with paying the bills necessitated an early departure halfway through the group’s set, so if an explanation of their absence was given, it wasn’t heard by these ears. But a familiar face filled in on bass in the form of Robbie Crane of Ratt, Lynch Mob and now Black Star Riders fame. Watch the group in further action below on “32 Pennies” and the ballad “Blind Faith.”

So there was no snow, and there were intermittent moments of audio and technical difficulties. But the first “Rock the Halls” had a slew of memorable hits from the past, plenty of energy and was a rockin’ good time. The way it was intended to be. And it gave future installments something to live up to.

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Bodysurfers go loko and take the bullet in name of metal dedication

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Bodysurfers go loko and take the bullet in name of metal dedication

Given that his band from Wales hadn’t performed in the Alamo City in five years, one could understand Bullet For My Valentine vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Tuck for thanking the nearly sold-out crowd of just under 3,000 fans on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Boeing Center at Tech Port for not forgetting about them.

Not to worry, Mr. Tuck. There was no chance of that happening. And even if there was a remote one, support acts Of Mice & Men and Vended weren’t about to let that occur.

The dedicated faithful expressed their love for all three acts in true metal fashion, riding a wave of bodysurfers and not one but two mosh pits almost from the opening note of the evening.

Touring in support of their latest and self-titled album, Bullet For My Valentine also marked 20 years as a band by tilting its 15-song setlist heavily toward first two albums The Poison from 2005 and 2008 masterpiece Scream Aim Fire.

Make that a 16-song setlist (more on that soon).

Referring to the Boeing Center as “an incredible venue,” Tuck joined lead guitarist Michael Paget, bassist and scream vocalist Jamie Mathias and drummer Jason Bowld in shredding the audience into two pits with one heavy track after another. Watch them in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “4 Words (To Choke Upon)” and “The Last Fight” here and view the printed setlist in 40-photo gallery (no professional video was allowed).

After “The Last Fight,” Tuck had another label for the venue’s patrons: “Fuckin’ hell, you guys are psychos,” he said. “We love it!”

Bullet’s five-year visits to San Antonio date back to the inaugural River City Rockfest in 2013 before the previous stop in 2018 at the Aztec Theatre. This time, Tuck told the crowd that the band would spend next year “writing the best album” and “the earliest we’ll see you again is 2025.”

But it’ll be tough to top the Scream Aim Fire record. B4MV could’ve performed that album in its entirety and would’ve received no bothersome feedback from this writer. Alas, they spread the set among several records, as evidenced by final two songs “Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow” and “Waking the Demon.” But the crowd didn’t exactly want to stop moshing and rocking, so a funny thing happened after the band had waved goodbye and walked off. Chants of “one more song” echoed throughout the Boeing, and the Welsh boys happily obliged, adding unplanned (at least from the printed setlist) “Hearts Burst Into Fire” (watch all three songs here).

Despite being the Jan Brady of the three-pronged dose of metal, Of Mice & Men was not to be outdone when it came to eliciting its own crazies in the crowd.

Just call ‘em lokos.

Highlighted by the first song on second album The Flood from 2011 in “O.G. Loko” and new track “Into the Sun” (watch both here), vocalist Aaron Pauley and his mates had also previously performed in S.A. at the Aztec Theatre, though their show came in March 2019 opening for hometown heroes Nothing More (coverage here).

On this night, the band had the bass pumped in to accompany Pauley’s vocals, lead guitarist Phil Manansala, rhythm guitarist Alan Ashby and drummer David Valentino Arteaga.

Pauley showcased his range of stage presence throughout the group’s set that also included “Castaway,” “Obsolete,” and “Warpaint.” He encouraged the audience to give security a hand for the job it was doing handling the influx of bodysurfers and dedicated “Bloom” to those who’ve lost a loved one by stating, “If you’re walking around with the crushing weight of grief. . . . “

Pauley also expressed his gratitude with, “We’re not rock stars. We’re just people like you who love music, and the only reason we get to do this is because of people like you.”

Then there was Vended. Or, rather, Vended was first. But definitely not least.

Having opened for Punjabi metallers Bloodywood on May 15 at Vibes Event Center (coverage here), the boys from Des Moines were even more ferocious this time around.

A buzzcut Griffin Taylor shed his curly locks from the prior visit and moreso demonstrated that the apple doesn’t fall far from the studio, rehearsal space or stage. Hell, Taylor even says “Good. Fucking. Night!” identically to his famous father who fronts Slipknot and Stone Sour.

Watch Taylor and guitarists Cole Espeland, Connor Grodzicki, bass player Jeremiah Pugh and another Slipknot offspring — drummer Simon Crahan — in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “The Far Side” just prior to the band ending with “Asylum.”

On this night, the inmates definitely ran it. Not casually, and not just for one band.

The bands killed it, and San Antonio repped it — demonstrating that the heavy metal capital is going to do just fine with the current, and perhaps future, generations of metal concertgoers.

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Skillet epitomizes true live performance on Rock Resurrection tour

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Skillet epitomizes true live performance on Rock Resurrection tour

When those in the professional wrestling or weightlifting industries speak of athletes who are the strongest pound for pound, it means they can lift more than those with more menacing muscle girth. In other words, those who should be able to lift more than them but can’t.

That’s Skillet on stage.

A band that personifies what a live rock show should be by erupting with energy and fury every time it steps in front of the curtain and never lets up despite not receiving the same type of notoriety as a Metallica or an Iron Maiden.

Skillet’s latest display in the Alamo City came Sunday night as co-headliners with Theory Of A Deadman, plus openers Saint Asonia, on the Rock Resurrection Tour at the Boeing Center at Tech Port (see 80-photo gallery).

Touring in support of February’s release of Dominion, Skillet’s quartet of vocalist/bassist John Cooper, his wife, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Korey Cooper, lead guitarist Seth Morrison and uber-talented British drummer/vocalist Jen Ledger rocked everyone’s socks off in an energetic, smoky and inspiring 70-minute set. And let’s not forget cellist Tate Olsen, who’s been rocking with Skillet for roughly 15 years.

On this night, Skillet was the middle band on the bill as Theory Of A Deadman closed out the night with its own 70-minute set. But Skillet’s undeniable and invincible energy was not even close to being matched.

Theory Of A Deadman and Skillet partnered with Plus 1 to ensure $1 from each ticket would go toward the Alzheimer’s Association, yet that’s where the similarities between the two performances ended.

Skillet stormed to the stage with “Feel Invincible” off 2017’s Unleashed. The band kept the intensity up on “Rise” and former World Wrestling Entertainment “Monday Night Raw” theme song “Legendary.”

Watch them in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of 2009 tracks “Awake and Alive” and “Hero,” which bookended John Cooper’s version of a State of the Union address. Not only are Ledger’s vocals on display during these tracks, but you’ve gotta give props to the band for allowing Olsen to not only play his cello in front of the stage, but to run across the podium mid-song and hop on board one of the two risers that Korey Cooper and Morrison were utilizing as well.

Skillet was especially cooking (sorry, couldn’t resist) on all cylinders during “Whispers in the Dark” and new tune “Psycho In My Head.” They also gave fans a treat by having Saint Asonia’s Adam Gontier join them on “Finish Line” as he does on the latest album. The rest of Gontier’s band was in the back of the GA section looking on while chatting with Kingdom Collapse vocalist Jonathan Norris.

Casual Skillet fans — or at least the many who raised their hand when John Cooper asked how many were watching them live for the first time — might have difficulty distinguishing songs when an artist has tunes called “Rise” and “Rise Up” plus “Invincible” and “Feel Invincible.”

But there was no double-take necessary when Skillet pulled out the menacing podium that possessed glaring eyes and blew smoke for another 2009 hit: “Monster.” Skillet ended its powerful set with “The Resistance” before quickly paving way for Theory Of A Deadman.

TOAD definitely had a tough act to follow, and many artists would’ve been hard pressed to match Skillet’s energy and intensity. Just so happened that TOAD was the final band to perform on this night, and in comparison, yes, they unfortunately fell flat overall.

TOAD’s music is always entertaining to listen to and rock out to, particularly the tracks that deal with the perils of relationships. Vocalist/guitarist Tyler Connolly has a talent for weaving his anti-relationship lyrics into ways that can make listeners simultaneously relate to, laugh along with and throw one’s horns up at while enjoying those songs.

With Skillet having just upped the ante during its 70-minute showing, TOAD could’ve only approached the same type of performance if it had come out blazing with the heaviest song in its arsenal and smashed its guitars on stage. Alas, that didn’t happen, and it shouldn’t have either given that such an act is not in the band’s character.

However, TOAD compounded the difficulty of keeping the crowd’s attention and enthusiasm throughout its own 1 hour, 10-minute stanza by playing long parts of, or the entirety of, a slew of cover songs. And they came after nearly each one of their own tunes.

For example, after opening with the title track to latest album Dinosaur and one of Connolly’s fun masterpieces in “Bitch Came Back,” the frontman told the crowd that he and his mates wanted to play another song from the new album — only to have it be their cover of “Two of Us (Stuck)” by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers.

Normally at this point you’d say the hits kept comin’. In TOAD’s case, you’d have to say the covers kept comin’ in the form of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” a sing-along to “Friends In Low Places” and a brief “Paradise City” jam.

The only cover that mattered was an instrumental version of Alice In Chains’ “Nutshell” inserted between “Lowlife” and “Santa Monica” (ATM Facebook Live footage of all three here). The band performed an acoustic version of the 1993 Jar of Flies EP hit during the 2013 Fiesta Oyster Bake, an occasion during which Connolly sat down with yours truly for a preshow interview (watch here).

Connolly, guitarist Dave Brenner, bassist Dean Back and drummer Joey Dandeneau finally turned it up a notch during seventh song and new track “Ambulance”. But the bevy of covers and non-TOAD moments was a bit too much and unexpected on the wrong side of the ledger.

Connolly catered to the fans by tossing out four T-shirts and a koozie before the group played two of its mainstays to end the show: “Hate My Life” and the song that arguably helps fans identify with this band: “Bad Girlfriend.” Surprisingly and disappointingly, they left off one of their first smash hits in “So Happy,” and when you consider the number of covers played, omitting that tune was definitely a no-no.

The show kicked off with Saint Asonia, and first things first: referring to this band as a supergroup would be a misnomer.

Saint Asonia is a kickass rock band through and through. It has gone through a few lineup changes since debuting in San Antonio in 2015 at the Aztec Theater, a gig in which vocalist Adam Gontier and then-rhythm guitarist Corey Lowery sat down with ATM for a fun chat (watch here).

These days, Gontier has enlisted 75 percent of Art Of Dying to round out the band — including his cousin. Cale Gontier plays bass, Tavis Stanley handles lead guitar, and Cody Watkins takes care of the skins. Adam Gontier has taken on guitar duties as well with Lowery having moved on to Seether and Mike Mushok returning to the road with Staind, and the result Sunday night was a rockin’ start to the evening. Click here to watch ATM’s interview with Cale Gontier and Stanley from 2016, along with Art Of Dying vocalist Jonny Hetherington.

After opening with “Better Place” and following with “Above It All” and forthcoming single “Wolf,” it was nice to see Adam Gontier embrace, rather than shy away from, his Three Days Grace past. He performed “Never Too Late” by himself on guitar, then the rest of the guys joined in on “I Hate Everything About You.” Watch the group via ATM Facebook Live footage of the track Gontier did originally with Apocalyptica: “I Don’t Care.”

Saint Asonia also played “Devastate” before ending the set with the best song from its self-titled debut album, “Let Me Live My Life.” As exhibited in the aforementioned interview clip, even eight years later, Gontier’s bellowing of “I can go get my knife, or I can pull out the one that you stuck in my back” still resonates.

Afterwards, Saint Asonia spent the rest of the evening in the balcony watching Theory Of A Deadman’s set — mostly undisturbed. That is, until the show concluded, and the guys graciously turned it into a small meet-and-greet with those upstairs who had left them alone, at least until the final note had sounded.

But this particular evening was mostly about Skillet.

Whether they’ve played the inaugural River City Rockfest in 2013, the Fiesta Oyster Bake in 2017, opened for Alter Bridge in 2019 or this show, Skillet continuously sets the bar high for many artists by putting the studio version of its songs on steroids with props, risers, icy smoke blowing out from John Cooper’s arms, and bringing their songs to life energetically — some of which feature Cooper and Ledger trading their contrasting voices symmetrically.

If only the Boeing Center allowed pyro. Because that was about the only thing missing from a mostly riveting night of rock. Resurrection style.

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State of Minds & Rock Come to Life on Revolutions Live Tour

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State of Minds & Rock Come to Life on Revolutions Live Tour

For years, it was trendy for rockers to address their fans one of two ways when taking a break between songs during their concerts:

1) Spew some political vitriol in an attempt to sway their ticket-buying faithful to think just like they do

2) Forego messages altogether by reminding fans they came to the show to forget the world’s issues, and their own, for a couple of hours in the name of entertainment

But what if musical artists entertained and made those spoken words count by eliciting inspiration and hope?

Welcome to Planet Zero. And welcome to the Revolutions Live tour.

Headlined by Shinedown, kicked in by Papa Roach and jumpstarted by Spiritbox, the Revolutions Live tour visited Freeman Coliseum this past Monday night and treated just under 5,000 fans to headbanging Rock N’ Roll, pyro displays that could’ve taken the hair off your arms several rows deep and yes, dialogue that intended to make a difference.

Shinedown isn’t exactly the first, and won’t be the last, band to emphasize the importance of mental-health awareness. For San Antonians in particular, think back to Disturbed’s concert in January 2019 at the Illusions Theater inside the Alamodome.

But as vocalist Brent Smith told the coliseum’s patrons, Shinedown has been talking about mental health “since before it was in the news.” To wit, a majority of the group’s songs more than shed light on the subject. That’s saying something given that not only is Shinedown touring in support of a bitchin’ album released July 2022 entitled Planet Zero that is heavily laden with slow and heavy mental-health tracks, but because this tour is also celebrating 20 years of the band’s debut effort Leave A Whisper.

Following a series of big-screen photos that showed what Shinedown likes to do behind the scenes and on the road, the band took to the stage that jutted out into the general-admission portion of the crowd by opening with “Diamond Eyes” (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom) — a 2010 non-album track (sans deluxe edition, that is) written for Sylvester Stallone film “The Expendables.”

For yours truly’s first time experiencing Shinedown live, the only appropriate way to open the show would’ve been to come out guns blazing with Planet Zero kickstarter “No Sleep Tonight.” Instead, it was a trip to Bummer City having to endure the entire night without hearing the 2 1/2-minute track that could give any top thrash song of 2023 a run for its money.

And while Planet Zero is arguably Shinedown’s best album (give it time, old-schoolers), mohawked vocalist Brent Smith, guitarist Zach Myers, bassist/pianist Eric Bass and drummer Barry Kerch did perform four new tracks, including “Dead Don’t Die” and “A Symptom of Being Human.”

It was Smith’s introduction to the latter that emphasized the theme of the evening. He gave a somewhat long, but more importantly moving, speech about mental-health awareness, suicide prevention and the importance for people to accept themselves for who they are. The group then performed its latest single with many in the coliseum belting out every word as if they had their own invitation to the lunatic ball.

But Shinedown’s 1-hour, 50-minute performance wasn’t limited to waxing poetic or urging fans to ask for help if they needed it. There was plenty of rock to be had too.

Shinedown delivered the goods with a mixture of songs from the old and the new and 2008 hit album The Sound of Madness.

The hits were there in “45,” “The Sound of Madness” and “Second Chance” — the latter preceded by an introduction from the late radio legend Casey Kasem on “America’s Top 40.”

So was somewhat surprising finale “Cut the Cord.” And of course there was the mandatory cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” (during which Smith had the crowd hold the first six instances of “Simplllllllllle kind of man”). There was even an unexpected cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” with Myers taking over lead vocal and acoustic guitar duties before Shinedown crew members received their moment in the sun by joining in on guitar and drums.

And the flying piano was not to be outdone.

Yes, out of the ceiling emanated a grand instrument illuminated in purple and white light that Bass played on “I’ll Follow You.” Myers stood on top of it for his guitar solo while Smith paraded around the stage and eventually sat next to Bass on the piano. Later in the Columbus Day evening, Myers told the crowd, “Give it up for the flying piano. We know everyone’s come through San Antonio. We know Elton John and Billy Joel have come through San Antonio. But none of those sons of bitches had a flying piano!”

Although professional video was not allowed — and thus, no evidence here of the piano’s ability to spread its wings — you can watch a sampling of Shinedown’s performance via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Devil,” “Unity” and “45.”

Papa Roach has fought for world hunger among its causes, and the Revolutions Live tour, in conjunction with latest album Ego Trip, enabled the band to get into the mental health awareness act.

Acknowledging “we never normally break it down like that,” vocalist Jacoby Shaddix and company did their own acoustic jam with “Leave A Light On.” The band accentuated the track by declaring it was donating proceeds from the gig to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

But of course, Papa Roach has had too much of a history with the Alamo City to let down its guard. Whether it’s been Siesta Fest in 2013, the River City Rockfest in 2017 or any gig prior or since, Papa Roach has built a cult following in San Antonio. On its latest visit, it also gave the fans what they wanted on “Getting Away With Murder,” and ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Forever” and “Scars.”

During its longtime smash World Wrestling Entertainment “Monday Night Raw” theme song “. . . To Be Loved,” Shaddix made his way through the GA crowd and into sections 22-24 before emanating down the steps and coming face to face with Alamo True Metal (see photo gallery). Shaddix spoke with ATM in 2014, prior to the release of F.E.A.R., about the massive exposure that song received (listen here).

Spiritbox opened the show as the newcoming band to many in the audience. But fans may not have realized they’ve probably seen at least three quarters of the quartet by other means.

Vocalist Courtney LaPlante and guitarist Mike Stringer are not only married to one another, but they were both in now-defunct Vans Warped Tour metalcore act Iwrestledabearonce. Bassist Josh Gilbert, meanwhile, was in As I Lay Dying and that band’s spinoff group Wovenwar.

LaPlante was the only female on stage among these three artists — and the only one providing metalcore angst, which can be heard via ATM Facebook Live footage of closer “Holy Roller” from 2021 album Eternal Blue and on the band’s forthcoming EP The Fear of Fear on Nov. 3.

Although Shinedown’s preferred way to open the show wasn’t what this writer had in mind, yours truly entered the coliseum believing the only appropriate way to end it would be to hear Planet Zero finale “What You Wanted” performed live or blaring from the P.A. system as the lights came on. The latter is exactly what happened as the studio-version lyrics bellowed, “So long, we hope you enjoyed the ride. Did you get what you wanted? Is this what you wanted?”

For the most part, the answer was yes. All three groups made their performances — and non-singing words — matter. They demonstrated that in the name of entertainment and heavy metal, words and lyrics don’t have to preach to get the message across in useful fashion.

Maybe even useful enough to save a life. A life that matters to you.

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Watchtower reunion show resurrects legion of South Texas metal memories

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Watchtower reunion show resurrects legion of South Texas metal memories

The Sunset Strip in Hollywood had its hairday in the ‘80s. The New Wave of British Metal enjoyed its influx of influential bands that went on to carve their own niche in history.

San Antonio and South Texas? Well, the Heavy Metal Capital was building its scene during that same time frame with a horde of bands mostly unique to its geographical mecca.

South Texas metal four decades ago was comprised of artists filled with precocious teenagers and 20-somethings unleashing their brand of angst, riffs and high-pitched screams yearning to be heard by the world. As the NWOBHM and Los Angeles scenes exploded with legendary artists that produced album after album after album, a bulk of San Antonio’s early ‘80s artists put out an album or EP here and there before branching out into other projects.

Or coming to a halt altogether.

But that turn of events for artists such as Watchtower, Militia, Karion, Juggernaut, S.A. Slayer and Wicked Angel resulted in a more close-knit scene than those other two more famous factions could claim. That camaraderie has enabled many involved with those bands to reunite on occasion decades later and join forces to show they’ve still got it.

Collectively calling their all-star formation the South Texas Legion, the latest special occasion occurred Friday night at Fitzgerald’s for a $20 sold-out gig dubbed The Masters of Chaos highlighted by Watchtower’s first show with vocalist Jason McMaster in 19 years. Helstar vocalist James Rivera brought his James Rivera’s Metal Asylum bandmates to provide support and played a special set of classic Helstar tracks before spearheading the South Texas Legion jams. And Wicked Angel began the festivities with another riveting and fiery (literally) set.

First, Watchtower: The Austin-based progessive and technically refined metal act fronted by the Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth, Ignitor and Evil United vocalist specializes in out-of-this-world time signature changes and unpredictable directions in its riffage courtesy of San Antonio guitarist Ron Jarzombek, bassist Doug Keyser and drummer Rick Colaluca.

Jarzombek and Keyser were a whirling dervish of musicians encircling McMaster around the stage frequently while playing a slew of songs from its lone two full-length albums: 1985’s Energetic Disassembly and 1989’s Control and Resistance (see setlist in 60-photo gallery).

Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of the first two songs Watchtower played on stage since 2004 — “Asylum” and “The Eldritch” — here.

McMaster joked after one song to Keyser and Jarzombek, “Why don’t you guys put a few more notes in that song? You probably need to add a thousand more notes to that one.” That’s because the duo’s technical mastery was on full display as if they had been playing together continuously the past 40 years. Further evidence can be seen below via ATM footage on the title track to Control and Resistance plus “The Fall of Reason” and “Tyrants in Distress.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Watchtower ended a set that lasted from 11:41 p.m.-1:07 a.m. by playing the first half of Rush’s 1975 epic tune “By-tor and the Snow Dog,” a complicated track Jarzombek can perform in his sleep largely due to his inclusion in Rush tribute band Exit Stage Left (ATM footage below).

The middle of the evening was set aside for James Rivera’s Metal Asylum transitioning into Rivera and Militia vocalist Mike Soliz bringing the South Texas Legion to fruition.

The South Texas Legion appeared five years ago on the same stage (ATM coverage here) for an evening that was half Q&A, half feelgood jam session.

This time, the entire night was concert oriented. Rivera’s Metal Asylum focused on a classic early ‘80s set of his Houston band Helstar backed by San Antonio’s Ozzy Espinoza and Craig Leach on guitars, Blood Moon frontman Michael Canales on bass and drummer Miguel Morales of Megadeth tribute Rust In Peace. Watch them in action via ATM Facebook Live footage of Helstar’s “The King Is Dead” and “Bitter End.”

Soliz helped the Metal Asylum end its set with Helstar’s “Run With the Pack,” a perfect segue into Soliz leading an onslaught of early South Texas metal brethren hitting the stage as South Texas Legion. But first, Soliz joked: “This is how I got in for free tonight to see Watchtower.”

And with that, it was time for Militia, Karion, S.A. Slayer and Juggernaut songs and personnel to take center stage. Guitarists Tony Smith, Scott Womack and Art Villareal, bassist Pete Perez and drummers Chip Alexander and Bobby Jarzombek teamed up to play Militia’s “Metal Axe,” Karion’s “Panzer” and Juggernaut’s “All Hallows Eve,” all of which can be viewed via ATM Facebook Live footage here.

There were several references to old-school venues such as The Cameo Theatre and Villa Fontana. The latter, of course, featured the Nov. 30, 1984, “Slayer vs. Slayer” gig of San Antonio Slayer and Los Angeles’ Slayer on the same stage when the thrash band that eventually became part of the Big 4 toured in support of its 1983 EP Haunting the Chapel. Former S.A. Slayer guitarist Villareal gave a shout-out to the late S.A. Slayer vocalist Steve Cooper as Rivera and Co. took the reins on “Final Holocaust” (ATM footage below).

S.A. Slayer was one of those bands that only released one full-length album and one EP. But its roster was a who’s-who of San Antonio metal including Villareal, Cooper, longtime and current Riot bassist Don Van Stavern, former Machine Head drummer Dave McClain, Ron Jarzombek replacing Villareal in 1984, guitarist Bob “Bob Dog” Catlin (who was part of the 2018 South Texas Legion at Fitzgerald’s) and one-time Fates Warning vocalist Chris Cronk. Van Stavern was unable to make Friday’s conglomeration of San Antonio metal because Riot is playing in Germany.

For those reading this outside of Texas wondering how San Antonio could be dubbed the Heavy Metal Capital given the aforementioned, more publicized, metal movements — it’s a combination of this storied San Antonio scene and the fact renowned late disc jockey Joe “The Godfather” Anthony gave numerous European, German and Canadian bands their first taste of American radio airplay in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s: Scorpions, Rush, Triumph, Killer Dwarfs, Judas Priest . . . the list goes on.

Wicked Angel’s 45-minute opening performance, meanwhile, set the tone splendidly for Fitzgerald’s filled house.

Vocalist Dave Caballero, guitarists Joseph Valdez and Roland Casias, bassist Raymond Castaneda and drummer Ernest Chavarria brought a slew of fans to their warm-up show two days prior. Technical difficulties and a damaged double-bass drum pedal threatened to spoil Friday’s party, but that was not an option for Wicked Angel.

Chavarria engulfed his set in flames as is the band’s traditional way of starting. Cloaked in his patented black robe, Caballero’s high-pitched vocals and melodies helped kick off “Legions of the Dead” and “Black Mass.”

Valdez began the mentions of the Cameo Theatre and other now-defunct San Antonio metal venues while introducing Wicked Angel’s version of “Breaking the Spell” (ATM footage below), originally done by San Antonio’s Wyzard.

Wyzard featured 18-and-19 year olds such as Gilbert “Buster” Grant on vocals, guitarist Mike Valenzuela, bassist John Alvarado and the late drummer Rene Cox. Alvarado was in attendance Friday, while Grant nowadays fronts Livin’ Dark Daze.

Barely getting a chance to digest Watchtower’s first onstage appearance in nearly two decades, McMaster mentioned he was about to get on a plane to Denver to perform with Dangerous Toys.

However, Watchtower is also headed to Germany on Oct. 7 before kicking off 2024 on Jan. 5 in its hometown of Austin’s Come And Take It Live (tickets here). McMaster plugged that show by saying, “Lots of cool air conditioning. No offense. I like sweaty shows.”

Many would-be concertgoers who slacked on buying tickets were left watching social media for footage rather than being at Fitzgerald’s live and in the flesh. And yes, there were some technical difficulties and lukewarm temperatures in the venue on another muggy 100-degree night — a dilemma that has plagued various San Antonio bars in the past when they’re hosting some of their biggest shows of the year.

But none of that could stifle San Antonians’ dedication to a 40th anniversary of sorts for a burgeoning host of South Texas metal mainstays.

The legion is alive and well. And its legacy will only continue to live on and grow in the heavy metal capital. And beyond.

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Skid Row, Buckcherry grind out good time for dedicated slaves to rock

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Skid Row, Buckcherry grind out good time for dedicated slaves to rock

On paper, a tour pairing Skid Row and Buckcherry would have “fun-filled night of rock and debauchery” written all over it. And Saturday night’s gig at the Aztec Theatre certainly delivered. But it was more.

Headlined by a mostly ‘80s band that’s still putting out new music in the past year, directly supported by an early 2000s artist that’s also continuing to put out killer fresh material and opened by a frontman who only hit the music scene in the past couple of years but was already making his third appearance at the Aztec in 22 months begged the question: why don’t more tours combine bands from various eras who are still going strong?

In other words, there was something for everyone, or at least for the approximate 1,200 in the 1,600-capacity historic downtown venue (according to a staffer).

Skid Row’s visit was especially long-awaited since, well, who remembers when? You could make the joke that the band has had nearly as many vocalists (five) as full-length albums (six) since its smash 1989 self-titled debut — only surpassed by last year’s release of The Gang’s All Here — but the New Jersey outfit’s timeless music is nothing to sniff at.

While “Youth Gone Wild” still resonates as the FU anthem to corporate America 34 years after its unveiling on MTV, it’s the kick-in-the-crotch heaviness of 1991 follow-up Slave to the Grind that cemented Skid Row’s place in rock after only two albums.

So it should come as little surprise that 11 of the 13 songs performed were from those two mainstay efforts combined, even with new vocalist Erik Gronwall making his live San Antonio debut. Following in the footsteps of former Dragonforce vocalist ZP Theart, TNT singer Tony Harnell, the late Johnny Solinger and of course original voice Sebastian Bach, Gronwall endeared himself to the Aztec audience with his stellar mix of vocal prowess and crowd banter.

Backed by the original trio of guitarists Dave “Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill plus bassist Rachel Bolan, along with drummer Rob Hammersmith, Gronwall packed his own punch to Skid Row’s classics. It would’ve been nice to hear at least one track from vastly underrated third album Subhuman Race from 1995 such as “Bonehead,” “Frozen” or the title track, because it’s a record that’s not solely appreciated by a famous rock DJ and journalist.

The new album can also stand on its own, though the group only performed two new tracks including “Time Bomb” (ATM footage below) and the title tune. But considering how many popular songs reside on those first two albums, you can’t argue with the group giving the people what they wanted, again taking into account the fact Skid Row doesn’t come around to the Alamo City as often as its support acts on this night.

Gronwall was a particular force when he held the “I’m so far awaaaaaay” part on 1991’s “Quicksand Jesus” in admirable fashion. He also proved he could multi-task without issues when he borrowed not one, not two but three fans’ phones and filmed himself and the crowd singing the new album’s title track 12 songs into the 13-track performance (see setlist in 65-photo gallery). It was also nice to see generations older and newer getting into Skid Row’s two new songs, something practically unheard of at concerts in a city that worships its classic rock. Watch the band via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Piece of Me'“ and “Livin’ On A Chain Gang.”

On a night in which Skid Row had plenty of competition for fans’ adoration given that Glenn Danzig was playing his 1988 self-titled solo debut in its entirety at the Boeing Center at Tech Port, Yngwie Malmsteen and Glenn Hughes joined forces at the Tobin Center and Texas wrestling legend Kevin Von Erich was hosting a story-telling show next door at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, the fact Sabo and Skid Row were on stage at all cannot be taken for granted.

Sabo, who’s also the tour manager for Down — the New Orleans outfit fronted by Pantera’s Philip H. Anselmo — recently spoke with RockCelebrities.net about his multiple suicide attempts. Anytime a musician perseveres through never-ending struggles such as mental illness, depression and suicidal thoughts and comes out the other end playing live on stage, well, he or she deserves ultimate props, applause and support.

Unlike Skid Row, Buckcherry has been a live staple in San Antonio for many years. This time, vocalist Josh Todd and guitarist Stevie D. and their newest bandmates are touring in support of June’s release of Vol. 10. Like Skid Row, the band only performed two new songs — one of them being its cover of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ‘69” — due to the bevy of hits it needed to squeeze in for what amounted to a 53-minute showing. Watch them via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Ridin’ “ and “Hellbound.”

Buckcherry is shake-your-head amazing in that here’s a band whose biggest hit is “Crazy Bitch,” has the balls to release an entire EP entitled Fuck in which every song burns the magic word into your brain cells — yet can also write a song raising awareness about child abuse (“Rescue Me”; not performed on this night, however) or hit you with its soft side on 2005 ballad “Sorry” (ATM footage below).

And Buckcherry carried the fun oxymorons a step further at the Aztec. Todd, who spoke exclusively with ATM in 2017 about his side band Josh Todd & The Conflict (listen here), might be the only vocalist who could interject a “Rolling On A River” ode to the late Tina Turner in the middle of “Crazy Bitch” and still have it ring out as the ultimate compliment.

Along with bassist Kelly Lemieux and recent guitarist and Jetboy co-founder Billy Rowe, it’s the 2019 addition of drummer Francis Ruiz that may be rock’s best-kept secret, at least to the general public and fans if not those on the inside of the industry.

A native of Albuquerque, Ruiz has been known to appear at shows in South Texas when he’s not on stage, such as checking out Judas Priest last Thanksgiving Eve at the Boeing Center. More importantly and incredibly, Ruiz has served as the drum tech for legends and standouts such as Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake), Mikkey Dee (King Diamond, Don Dokken, Motorhead, Scorpions), Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Paul Bostaph (Slayer), “Wild” Mick Brown (Dokken, Ted Nugent) and Jeff Fabb (Black Label Society, In This Moment).

For good measure, Ruiz has also been a member of Great White and Samantha 7, the latter the side band of Poison guitarist C.C. Deville. Moments after getting off stage, Ruiz patrolled the VIP section of the Aztec and wished fellow drummer, friend, San Antonio native and — ironically — longtime drummer for Bach’s solo band Bobby Jarzombek a happy 60th birthday (see photos).

Opening up the evening was Cincinnati native Kurt Deimer, who was making his third Aztec Theatre appearance after opening for Geoff Tate in November 2021 and Tesla in September 2022. On this night, Deimer was accompanied behind the scenes by Tesla bassist Brian Wheat, who took photos of Deimer’s performance from the soundboard.

Deimer and guitarist Phil X spoke with ATM prior to the Tesla concert (watch here). With the latter just coming off a tour of Indonesia with Sons Of Apollo keyboardist Derek Sherinian, Deimer this time was backed by guitarists Brandon Paul and Sammy Boller, bassist Brendan Hengle and drummer Dango Cellan.

Much like Deimer’s appearance with Tate was mostly unbeknownst to the crowd that would show up at the Aztec, so too was the third time around. Deimer has been doing his own self-promotion for this tour with scant mention by Live Nation or the main acts. In fact, the show began at 7 p.m. — 20 minutes prior to the official start time that had been given to media and venue personnel by Live Nation.

Nevertheless, Deimer and his band got things going with the crowd-pleasing sing-along and message-inspiring “Hero,” the Pink Floyd cover “Have A Cigar” and forthcoming album track “Live or Die.”

Many may have wished they could’ve been in three venues at the same time on this particular evening. But for those on hand at the Aztec, a chance to see these three staples of the rock scene past and present was too good to pass up.

After Skid Row took its well-deserved bow and exited the stage, “Margaritaville” graced the P.A. as an ode to the man who passed earlier in the day. It was a classy touch and end to a show that will go down as one of the best 2023 has offered up in this neck of the woods — and one those in attendance would certainly pay to see again.

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Shock rock maestro Alice Cooper makes nightmares fun at Tobin Center

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Shock rock maestro Alice Cooper makes nightmares fun at Tobin Center

He’s the man behind the mask, he knows when you’re hungry — and at 75 years young, Vincent Furnier continues to parade around the world as the king of horror rock known as Alice Cooper.

So after the children had been put to bed — well, except for the 3-4-year-old boy wearing oversized headphones — parents ventured to the Tobin Center on Tuesday night to make up a crowd of 1,200 in the 1,600 capacity Performing Arts Hall and watch Cooper unveil his traditional bevy of rock, theatrics and nightmares in the name of fun.

Backed again by the triple guitar attack of Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen and “Hurricane” Nita Strauss (the latter returning to Cooper’s band after playing with Demi Lovato earlier this year), drummer Glen Sobel and bassist Chuck Garric, Cooper took to the stage at 8:18 p.m. behind an enlarged newspaper banner declaring him “Banned in Texas.”

Oddly enough, the opening track “Lock Me Up” from 1987’s Raise Your Fist and Yell only featured the first verse and chorus before Cooper unleashed elder classics “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen” and “Under My Wheels.”

Surprisingly, Cooper remained in the same long-sleeved black shirt and black leather pants ensemble for the first half of the 95-minute performance before exhibiting the props he’s known for. And boy, did they come in bunches after that.

First, however, Cooper delved into “Billion Dollar Babies,” “Fallen In Love” and “Snakebite” (watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of all three here). The first of those tracks is another Cooper staple from the 1970s. The second is a 2017 tune on which he collaborated with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. And the third. Well, that one made the guys eat their hearts out.

That’s because when Cooper brought out his traditional snake friend, the constrictor wrapped around his neck nearly fulfilled many fantasies by coming this close to kissing the recently engaged Strauss on the lips faster than you could say, “Ewwwwww!”

If the slithering animal wasn’t your cup of tea, Cooper’s other two main highlights from a visual sense continued to be the namesake monster on another 1991 Hey Stoopid track “Feed My Frankenstein,” whose larger-than-life appearance left this writer wishing to witness a face-off with Iron Maiden mascot Eddie.

Unofficial seventh member Cheryl Cooper danced around the stage on a few tunes as well, but her main duty was to work Cooper’s third main prop — the guillotine. After chopping off Alice’s head and displaying it proudly for the audience, the slew of ‘70s and ‘80s hits kept coming. Watch ATM footage of seven more songs and jams in the YouTube clips below.

Cooper dropped new album Road on Friday, three days after the show, but nary a mention of it came even when “Alice finally speaks” during band intros on traditional closer “School’s Out” (watch below).

When an artist such as the long-standing Cooper comes out with new music, it’s a bonus of extra material that adds to an artist’s legacy rather than anything that’s going to be spotlighted in concert.

Cooper hooked up on tour with Rob Zombie two days later in Dallas, a trek that isn’t scheduled to come to San Antonio. But for one night only, Cooper was “too close for comfort” in headlining mode. And as he so eloquently put it at the end, he could only hope that everyone’s nightmares going forward be “horrific.”

As long as Furnier carries a ghoulish Cooper side to himself, he might make the top of any mythical most-likely-to-keep-rocking-live-at-100 list.

Perhaps therein lies the secret to living well at his age: a heaping of bad dreams tossed with a side of snake and Frankenstein — and a desire to keep making new music while giving fans a heavy dose of the classics they’ll always crave to hear.

The way only Alice can.

SETLIST: Lock Me Up (first verse), No More Mr. Nice Guy, I’m Eighteen, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies, Fallen In Love, Snakebite, Be My Lover, Lost In America, Hey Stoopid, Glen Sobel drum solo, Welcome To My Nightmare, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Poison, Feed My Frankenstein, Black Widow (jam), Ballad of Dwight Fry, I Love the Dead, Escape, Elected. ENCORE: School’s Out (with Another Brick In the Wall section)

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Connections come to life as trio of mainstays rocks Boeing Center

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Connections come to life as trio of mainstays rocks Boeing Center

The longstanding friendships, musical similarities and collaborative connections between and among the trifecta of bands that rocked the Boeing Center At Tech Port on Sunday night were so abundant, it would’ve been easy to get so caught up in them that the performances became secondary.

OK, let’s be honest. Most in attendance were fixated on what was happening on stage. And with good reason.

Alter Bridge was headlining in support of last October’s seventh studio album Pawns & Kings. Sevendust was the middle band after releasing Truth Killer just four weeks earlier. Then there was Mammoth WVH, the concoction of Wolfgang Van Halen, opening up the evening in support of their sophomore album Mammoth II released only 16 days before the show and serving as their final night touring with the two veteran bands.

A crowd of approximately 1,500 in the 3,100 capacity Boeing would normally be considered a disappointing turnout. But those on hand chose this trifecta over some of metal’s heavyweights. After all, Pantera was headlining the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin, while Metallica was on its second night in Arlington and being broadcast in movie theaters. For those so inclined, Trapt was headlining The Rec Room with local and tribute acts to boot.

So while all three bands delivered the goods for those concentrating on the music, some of the obvious, and not so obvious, degrees of separation on stage couldn’t help but not go unnoticed. At least by Alamo True Metal.

Such as (take a deep breath . . . ):

Wolfgang Van Halen played bass in Van Halen from 2008 until his legendary father’s death in 2020 with, of course, David Lee Roth as vocalist. Roth covered on 1986 solo album Eat ‘Em and Smile a cover song made famous by Frank Sinatra: “That’s Life.” . . . Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti released last year Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra, which includes his version of that tune, and he spoke about the album with ATM here. . . . Wolfie and his Mammoth WVH drummer Garrett Whitlock each spent time in Tremonti’s solo band Tremonti Project . . . Wolfie performed bass on the solo album of Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery. . . . Tremonti and Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy appear on Sevendust’s Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow, the former on “Hope” and the latter on “Sorrow.” . . . Tremonti also once shared with ATM that due to his friendship with a young Wolfie, he was invited to the 5150 Van Halen studio and was one of the first persons to hear Van Halen’s last studio album A Different Kind of Truth prior to its 2012 release.

You may exhale now.

There’s not much to be said about Alter Bridge and Sevendust that hasn’t been said in this space over the years, having covered many of their San Antonio visits. Both bands keep getting better and bringing it on each subsequent tour.

Sevendust was particularly loaded with energy as vocalist Lajon Witherspoon, guitarists John Connolly and Lowery, bassist Vince Hornsby and drummer Morgan Rose opened with traditional closer “Face to Face,” melting the faces of those up front in the process. The energy was so palpable, yours truly wiped out in the photo pit (albeit on a wet spot that was quickly mopped up by security). Watch the band in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of new track “Fence” and 2003 tune “Disgrace” here (no professional video was allowed of either artist; see setlist in 71-photo gallery).

Alter Bridge opened with new track “Silver Tongue” before rocking into older songs “Addicted to Pain” and “Ghosts of Days Gone By” (see setlist in photo gallery). Kennedy even acknowledged the preceding bands were tough acts to follow (not something most headliners would admit regardless of the openers), forcing Alter Bridge to step up its game every night.

Truthfully, Alter Bridge did that during the rocking tunes, but some of their mandatory songs to be played live are of the acoustic variety, such as “In Loving Memory” and “Watch Over You.”

But Alter Bridge dusted off debut-album track “Broken Wings” to go with One Day Remains mainstays such as “Metalingus.” Watch them in action via ATM Facebook Live footage of new tune “Sin After Sin” and first-album track “Burn It Down” here plus “Come to Life” and new song “Fable of the Silent Son” here. Listen to prior ATM interviews with Kennedy and drummer Scott Phillips here and here.

Alter Bridge was scheduled to end with traditional closer “Rise Today” by 11:05 p.m., but an 11 p.m. Sunday night curfew forced them to omit the track and end the show with “Open Your Eyes.” Then the quartet took a bow with picks being tossed and Phillips autographing items for fans up front (see photo gallery).

Due to their freshness as a band, Mammoth WVH was arguably the most intriguing artist to check out. Kennedy and Witherspoon each told their respective audiences that even though it was bittersweet to bid farewell to Mammoth on this night from the tour, they couldn’t be prouder of the fact Wolfie’s crew was about to embark on a trek with the aforementioned mighty Metallica.

If anyone showed up to the Boeing Center expecting WVH to wail on some riffs like his legendary father or to mention him by name after every other song, they would’ve been disappointed.

Wolfgang is respectfully doing his own thing. He played all of the instruments on the band’s self-titled debut album and is his band’s vocalist/guitarist. Along with Galveston native and guitarist Jon Jourdan, guitarist Frank Sidoris, bassist Ronnie Ficcaro and Whitlock on drums, Mammoth can be seen in action via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Distance” and “You’re To Blame.”

Wolfgang could’ve introduced the former with a lengthy diatribe about his father, and it all would’ve been justified. Instead, the more-than-budding musician deserves mad props for allowing the audience to listen to the lyrics carefully in a live setting and letting the music speak for itself.

Which is what Rock N’ Roll boils down to in the first place. And these three artists proved they’re as good as it gets to doing that — even when they don’t have much to prove anymore at all.

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Resurrection of The Espee: Stryper, Vixen righteously rev up long-idled venue

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Resurrection of The Espee: Stryper, Vixen righteously rev up long-idled venue

It may not have been Easter weekend. The 100-degree sauna enveloping all of San Antonio for the past two months staunchly indicated that.

And there may not have been any churches nearby or religious symbols adorning the picturesque The Espee Pavilion this past Thursday night.

But there were multiple resurrections nevertheless.

The flag-bearers of Christian metal, Stryper, brought their yellow and black attack to the Alamo City’s downtown venue formerly known as Sunset Station accompanied by late ‘80s female heartthrobs Vixen and rocked a dedicated and faithful few hundred who came, saw and knew what to do.

An indoor show last Oct. 4 headlined by Accept notwithstanding, the Stryper/Vixen package is believed to be the first outdoor metal concert at the railroad pavilion in nearly 12 years when Hatebreed and Cannibal Corpse played a 35-degree November night in 2011.

Triple digits reigned this time, but not even unbearable humidity could halt a celebration of two long-standing Sunset Strip bands — one that delivered on all counts.

The return of Stryper could be viewed as a resurrection all unto its own, too.

Vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet has overcome multiple retina detachments in his right eye, and lead guitarist Oz Fox has had multiple tumors removed from his brain since 2018. So any show Stryper puts on going forward is a blessing to its fans in more ways than one.

Along with fellow original member Robert Sweet on drums and former Firehouse bassist Perry Richardson, Stryper performed two 40-minute sets separated by a 10-minute break because “we felt it was the safest thing to do,” as Michael Sweet told the crowd.

Although they’re touring in support of last October’s The Final Battle, Stryper omitted the lone new-album tune on its printed setlist “No Rest For the Wicked” (setlist in 87-photo gallery) and stuck to mostly classics. Four of the first five tracks came from Stryper’s biggest album, 1986’s To Hell With the Devil, a taste of which can be viewed here via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Free” and two more tracks.

And while Michael Sweet showed no visionary ill effects, his voice continues to be one of the most heralded yet underappreciated ones in rock. Although Sweet has long scaled back on the patented high-pitched wails that adorn many Stryper songs, and despite the fact he didn’t attempt to hit them on classics such as the always jammin’ “More Than A Man” or “To Hell with the Devil,” his best note of the night was the long-held effort on 2020 track “Divider” after Stryper returned from the short break.

Despite stating on 2003 live album 7 Weeks In America that “Honestly” was the song that took Stryper out of clubs and put the band into arenas, Sweet and his mates did not perform it this evening. In fact, all ballads were left at home. Although Stryper has produced some of the best ballads in the business such as “First Love,” “Together As One” and "Alive,” the band deserves mad respect for simply going balls-out with every song performed on this steambath of an evening.

The hits kept coming with “In God We Trust,” “Calling on You” and “Always There for You,” and you can watch more ATM footage below of the final three tracks of the show. That included 2018’s “The Valley,” which Michael Sweet preceded by revealing Stryper plans on recording a new album next year before embarking on a 40th anniversary tour that will include a classic and modern era set each night.

“I’ll be praying that we come back here on a 75-degree night,” Sweet added.

The appearance of Vixen was an added bonus given that the lone ‘80s female hard rock band to sell more than one million albums hadn’t performed here in more than two decades.

Nowadays, Vixen features drummer Roxy Petrucci as its lone remaining original member helping to keep the songs alive following the 2013 death due to cancer of guitarist and founder Jan Kuehnemund.

But if you’re not familiar with the other members, well, that’s what Alamo True Metal is here for.

Other than Lita Ford’s “Kiss Me Deadly” video, the sex symbol of 1988 was easily vocalist Lorraine Lewis. Like Vixen, Lewis’ group Femme Fatale debuted in 1988 with a self-titled album. For those who don’t remember, look up the videos of “Waiting For the Big One” and “Falling In and Out of Love.” The former was performed after opener “Rev It Up” as an ode to Lewis’ former band.

Meanwhile, guitarist Britt Lightning may be recognizable in some circles from the all-female Guns N’ Roses tribute Paradise Kitty.

Julia Lage joined Vixen last year after original bassist Share Ross (formerly Share Pedersen) announced a hiatus from the group. Lage, a native of Brazil, is not only the wife of The Winery Dogs singer/guitarist Richie Kotzen but also the bassist in Smith/Kotzen, the side project her husband shares with Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith.

And in case you were at The Espee but didn’t recognize him perched as far back stage left as a keyboard player could be, the forgotten fifth member of Vixen is, alas, a man. Tyson Leslie may not be familiar to many rockers, but he has performed with everyone from Slipknot and Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor to country star Tracy Lawrence as well as Faster Pussycat, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Enuff Z’Nuff.

Watch Vixen in action via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Hellraisers” and “I Want You To Rock Me” — the latter featuring a jam of famous guitar riffs — and below on the evening’s final two tracks.

Stryper performed here twice in 2016 at The Rock Box and the now-defunct Backstage Live/Alamo City Music Hall, the former show being another 100-plus degree one indoors when the air conditioning malfunctioned. Listen here as Sweet recalled that night with yours truly.

Stryper’s inadvertent knack for returning on triple-digit nights to one of the states that held its first tour in 1984 wasn’t lost on Michael Sweet when he concluded, “This is one of the hottest shows we’ve ever done. Literally. But you guys stayed, and you prayed, and you made it all happen.”

Perseverance. Resurrection.

Whatever you want to call it, it was in full force Thursday night accompanied by several Stryper-styled Bibles tossed into the crowd.

By the strength and glory of God, no one passed out. Nobody required medical attention. The only fever present was a bevy of ‘80s metal mainstay songs that all in attendance enjoyed reliving live with a pair of their favorite bands. At a venue that many are glad to see back on the Alamo City metal map.

STRYPER SETLIST Part 1: Sing-Along Song, More Than A Man, Surrender, Calling On You, Free, In God We Trust, Revelation, All For One, Always There For You

10-minute break

STRYPER SETLIST Part 2: Divider, No More Hell To Pay, The Valley, Soldiers Under Command, To Hell With the Devil

VIXEN SETLIST: Rev It Up, Waiting For the Big One, How Much Love, Cruisin’, Cryin’, Hellraisers, I Want You To Rock Me, Streets In Paradise, Love Made Me, Edge Of A Broken Heart

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Underappreciated bands put the jam in underground Glam Slam metal tour

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Underappreciated bands put the jam in underground Glam Slam metal tour

For nearly 35 years, Chip Z’Nuff has comprised one half of one of the most overlooked rock duos in Glam Slam history.

Along with original and longtime vocalist Donnie Vie, Chicago-area band Enuff Z’Nuff has stockpiled 17 studio albums that have rocked diehards to their core.

But that boatload of stellar Rock N’ Roll came with one double-edged sword: although it may not even be one of the top 50 songs Enuff Z’Nuff has ever recorded, 1989 MTV hit in “Fly High Michelle” filled the band’s pocketbooks higher than most of us will ever see, yet still has the group pigeonholed for that one song 3 1/2 decades later.

So while Z’Nuff has been bringing his group to San Antonio regularly since assuming lead-vocal duties in 2016 following Vie’s departure, including Friday, July 21, at Vibes Underground, you can excuse the vastly underrated songwriter if he sounds bitter for playing such an intimate venue.

“My father said it best,” Z’Nuff told a travesty of a turnout of 50-ish fans prior to introducing 1989 single “New Thing” and Beatles cover “With A Little Help From My Friends” (ATM footage below). “Enuff Z’Nuff is an arena band playing clubs all around the country.”

Earlier in the evening of the Glam Slam Metal tour that included The Quireboys, Bad Marriage and local openers Eden Burning, Z’Nuff said, “We should be playing arenas. But we came to play for you guys!”

It may have sounded like a backhanded compliment, but it was anything but. Z’Nuff was merely speaking the truth. In fact, you could argue that Enuff Z’Nuff would’ve fit right in on last year’s stadium tour featuring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett — and would’ve been more appropriate than the latter.

And if San Antonio wants to reclaim its place atop the Heavy Metal Capital perch, a paltry turnout in the double digits for an artist that has graced the landscape with heavy Beatles influenced Rock N’ Roll for as long as it has is unacceptable.

But that sentiment, naturally, didn’t apply to those in attendance. Nor did it fit yours truly, who showed Z’Nuff several years ago just how much the musician’s musical brilliance means to him (watch here).

Despite the concert being switched at the last minute from the more spacious Rock Box within the same venue next door to Vibes Underground, giving way in the process to younger bands Thousand Below, Until I Wake, A Tragic Setback and Kill Lonely, those who wanted a little glam with their slam weren’t disappointed.

Z’Nuff, guitarist Tory Stoffregen, new guitarist Jason Camino and drummer Daniel B. Hill pulled a pleasant surprise by opening with “Rock N World,” the final track on third album Animals With Human Intelligence from 1993. Hits such as “Baby Loves You,” the aforementioned “Fly High Michelle” and 1989 single “New Thing” (ATM footage below) were interspersed with four Beatles covers from the group’s 2021 album of The Fab Four’s hits Hardrock Nite.

There was nary a mention of last year’s release of new studio effort Finer Than Sin, let alone any tunes performed from that record. It was as if Enuff Z’Nuff was touring in support of The Beatles covers rather than a new record of its own (see setlist in 75-photo gallery).

Either way, it’s a blessing that Z’Nuff chose to continue with EZN after parting with Vie, although the two are still said to remain in touch and occasionally collaborating on songs together, including the 2021 release of Never Enuff: Rarities & Demos featuring a slew of songs recorded from their early days that never made it onto those 17 albums.

Watch the group in action here on the opening two tracks and below on “New Thing” and Beatles tune “WIth A Little Help From My Friends.” The latter included appearances from members of The Quireboys and Bad Marriage.

As if Z’Nuff didn’t have enuff on his plate these days, he officially became the bassist in The Quireboys earlier this year and is pulling double duty throughout the tour.

Formerly known as The London Quireboys, this version of the two-outfit band is continuing on after parting ways with original singer Spike last year. Longtime guitarist Guy Griffin, like Z’Nuff with EZN, has assumed lead-vocal duties and is carrying on the group’s similarly lengthy yet somewhat underappreciated career with guitarist Paul Guerin, keyboardist/pianist Keith Weir and drummer Pip Mailing. Check them out below via ATM footage of brand new track “Lie to Me” and via Facebook Live footage of “Misled” and “Gracie B.” plus “7 O’Clock.”

Opening more than a few eyes on this night, for multiple reasons, was Boston band Bad Marriage.

Despite having only formed in 2015 and possessing just two albums and an EP under its belt, the band played like seasoned veterans mixing a bluesy Zeppelin-eque swagger with in-your-face heavy rock.

Fronted by Jonny Paquin and under the leadership of lead guitarist Mike Fitz along with rhythm guitarist Ian Haggerty, bassist Todd Boisvert and drummer Michael Delaney, Bad Marriage scored a major coup earlier this month by snagging Tesla co-founder and original guitarist Tommy Skeoch.

Incidentally, Skeoch was in town March 3 playing with his previous band Resist & Bite at Fitzgerald’s. This gig marked one of his first with Bad Marriage, and lest ye think the members of the latter would try to tone down Skeoch’s presence for fear of having the audience’s focus turn to him for his Tesla pedigree, you’d be mistaken.

Fitz proudly recalled that Bad Marriage’s previous San Antonio visit was at the Aztec Theatre opening for Tesla (sans Skeoch, of course) and that now Skeoch’s presence added a well-known axe to a triple-guitar attack that shone through rockers “Ready, Aim, Fire” and “Second Hand Smoke” plus yet-to-be-released track “Match Made In Hell” and “Victory Is My Name” (ATM footage of both below).

Ironically enough, the group’s Artificial Mind EP was produced by Tesla bassist/pianist Brian Wheat.

The evening started with the lone local flavor in the form of Eden Burning.

Led by singer/band founder/guitarist Phil Salazar, Eden Burning is another example of a talented and rocking San Antonio quartet that finds it difficult to carve a strong niche in its hometown despite having rocked local bars and theaters, not to mention the famed Whisky-A-Gogo and Rainbow Bar N Grill in Hollywood, since 2007.

Whether it’s performing at Vibes Underground in front of a double-digit crowd or mere feet away at the Vibes Event Center with Enuff Z’Nuff, Ace Frehley, Dokken, L.A. Guns and the Graham Bonnet Band as it did in 2017 (coverage here and here), Eden Burning and its Sunset Strip sleaze band influence deserves to be catching more eyes and turning more heads locally.

With Shane Breon on bass, Jarred Burns on guitar and the recent addition of former Wednesday 13, Evil United and Down Generation drummer Jason “Shakes” West on the kit, Eden Burning is an act that needs to be witnessed more regularly if you call yourself a metalhead in San Antonio.

Luckily for you if you were one of the folks who chose not to make this gig’s turnout a triple-digit affair like the temperatures outside, ATM has you covered. Watch Eden Burning in action below on “Glitter Girl” and via ATM Facebook Live footage of “Let’s Have A Good Time.”

The days of groupies backstage and on tour buses may be few and far between in 2023, but Z’Nuff proudly recalled the glam and sleaze Enuff Z’Nuff partook in when he talked about “shoving my tongue down your throat” as he referenced a female in the back of the bar before proclaiming, “This isn’t milk and cookies! This is Rock N’ Roll!”

He also relayed his love for the Alamo City before bashing San Antonio’s ordinance and curfew in the next breath, stating, “Don’t you want Rock N’ Roll all day long? I know I do!”

Another reference that touched closer came when Z’Nuff brought up his band’s days of opening for Urge Overkill at The Thirsty Whale in Chicago (suburban River Grove, Illinois, to be technical). That now-defunct venue is where yours truly was one of 200-250 fans recorded chanting “Kick your ass! Manowar kills” on the 1988 title track to Manowar’s "Kings of Metal.”

So yes, the sex and drugs portion of sex, drugs and Rock N’ Roll may not be what it used to be when these bands formed. Some of the cities hosting their gigs in 2023 may be a shell of their former selves as well.

But when these bands continue to put out stellar music combined with playing their old hits live while they’re still alive — albeit for 50, 500 or 5,000 — it’s up to the patrons to reciprocate with as much appreciation as possible.

For those in attendance on this night: give yourselves a round of applause.

And for all others: where you at, San Antonio? Your favorite artists ain’t gonna be ‘round forever.

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Desi Indian Boys Bloodywood & Iowa moshers Vended bring gift of diversity to Vibes Event Center

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Desi Indian Boys Bloodywood & Iowa moshers Vended bring gift of diversity to Vibes Event Center

For all the higher-profile, money-making, stadium-filling tours going on at the moment, one need look no further than an under-the-radar trek involving three bands with a combined total of one full-length album that are more aptly exemplifying what metal is supposed to be all about.

Teaming together from various parts of the world, the trifecta of Bloodywood, Vended and Wargasm electrified a dedicated Monday night crowd last week at Vibes Event Center with diversified messages of hope and inspiration blended with mosh pits.

Well, two-thirds of them did anyway. Wargasm had set up its gear in preparation to open the show, only to have its guitarist ask the early arrivals, “Are you ready for Wargasm?” After receiving a round of cheers, he continued, “Well, that’s unfortunate because our lead singer (Milkie Way) has fallen sick, and we cannot perform. You can watch us unpack, and we will be back soon.”

So that left matters to headliners Bloodywood and direct supporters Vended.

Hailing from New Delhi, India, the Desi quintet known as Bloodywood — a metal take on India’s movie, television and pop culture scene known as Bollywood — garnered enough of a following to comprise half of the Vibes’ spacious room on a rare Monday night show, treating a few hundred to a unique combination of dhol Bhangra drums, flutes and Hindi/Punjabi lyrics with folk metal, guitars and inspirational American rap.

Touring in support of debut full-length Rakshak (Hindi for “Protector”), Bloodywood has taken the underground metal world by storm on the strength of videos that portray a series of Bhangra dancers melding with the band much like human accessories accentuate the acts of Pitbull, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and the like.

The Vibes stage only adorned the kit of drummer Vishesh Singh, leaving plenty of room for the other four members and a few dancers and dhol players. Unfortunately, the dancers did not make the trip from New Delhi, most likely due to the cost logistics and/or visa issues that have plagued international artists’ travel plans since the Covid-19 pandemic.

But that didn’t stop Bloodywood from providing several inspirational messages to the Vibes faithful of hope and fulfilling one’s dreams. Rapper Raoul Kerr and lead Hindi/Punjabi singer Jayant Bhadula also sang of the perils of sexual assault and depression, mixing in a host of themes for an uplifting 61-minute Bhangra metal performance that riveted unlike any show San Antonio figures to see the rest of this year.

Watch a small sample of it via ATM’s video footage below of “Machi Bhasad” (“Expect A Riot”) and the diversity-is-a-gift mantra “Ari Ari.” The footage includes Bhadula’s humorous introductions of not only bandmates such as band founder/flutist/guitarist Karan Katiyar, bassist Roshan Roy and dhol player Sarthak Pawha but a few crew members as well. And the band wasn’t exactly shy about joining the masses in the pit either.

Also dotting the I’s on this night — as in India for Bloodywood and Iowa — was Des Moines natives Vended.

Featuring Slipknot kin Griffin Taylor on vocals, much like his dad Corey Taylor, and Simon Crahan on drums, the son of Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan, Vended annihilated the Vibes unlike many headliners, let alone support acts.

Touring on the strength of several singles that will eventually give way to a debut EP in the coming months, Vended also features lead guitarist Cole Espeland, rhythm guitarist Connor Grodzicki and bassist Jeremiah Pugh.

Vended has served notice of its potential by virtue of impressionable performances at Germany’s famed Wacken Open Air festival and of course one of Slipknot’s Knotfest gatherings. The showing at Vibes was no different as Vended moshed its way to several new fans thanks to stepping on the gas from the get-go and never letting up. Watch ATM’s footage below of “Burn My Misery” and Facebook Live clip of finales “The Far Side” and “Asylum.”

An unlikely pairing at first, Bloodywood and Vended meshed seamlessly to exemplify more of what’s needed in music today: inspirational, non-discriminatory metal for the masses that brings fans and musicians of diverse backgrounds together for not only the greater good.

But for awareness of various societal issues plaguing the world today — and messages of methods to combat those demons — without losing an affinity for releasing pent-up emotions while engulfed in a sea of mosh pit-swirling humanity.

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Till death metal do bands, fans part at S.A.'s newest concert venue

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Till death metal do bands, fans part at S.A.'s newest concert venue

Since 1947, San Antonians have strolled the Woodlawn Theatre District able to choose among restaurants and shops. Nestled within has been a venue primarily focused on weddings, recitals and other formal events.

In 2023, the love that brides and grooms share still exists at 1906 Fredericksburg Road. But now, so does an extreme love for metal. Death metal.

The Deco Ballroom & Events Center, San Antonio’s newest concert venue, staged its third metal performance event of the year last Saturday, hosting six death-metal acts that covered five cities and four states.

As part of their “Identity Crisis” tour, there was Baltimore natives For Fear Itself and Brooklyn, N.Y., outfit Court Order.

Texas was represented by a pair of Austin bands — Living Hollow and openers Azathoth, The Blind — plus Houston natives The Xebellian Triangle.

Then there was Bay Area, California, quintet Cyborg Octopus, easily the most unique artist on the bill after mixing keytars and tenor saxophone with their brand of death metal.

But the fans were not to be outdone in the “unique” department. Many of them were 7-10-year olds who stayed well past their bedtime at the barrier, checking out family members in Living Hollow and the other bands.

Considering that the spacious Deco isn’t exactly a hole-in-the wall bar, the ballroom that will house three stages of more than 70 bands at this weekend’s eighth annual three-day Memorial Day Metalfest (tickets and VIP options here) might be the last place in San Antonio one would expect to see an underground metal event.

The bands teamed with ballroom personnel, promoter Matt Louderback of Focus Star Media and sound gurus Wavstream Live for bonding on-stage photos between sets and plenty of getting-to-know you moments during breaks in the metal.

As word gets out, particularly with the forthcoming Metalfest, last Saturday’s turnout of fewer than 100 people for a free six-band concert will be a distant memory and can be chalked up to the fact the ballroom is still a work-in-quick progress given that the other stages were still being constructed while the artists were performing.

Included in the expansion will be the spacious disco/psychedlic vibe of the Atmosphere Theatre as well as the Aurora Theatre.

But before those venues within the venue can be completed, Saturday was all about death music.

Check out ATM’s exclusive Facebook Live clips of each band via the bold links plus additional full-length videos below:

So have no fear, traditionalists of the Woodlawn Theatre District and fans of the Deco Ballroom.

Love is still in the air. It just comes now occasionally with guitars, drums . . . and death-metal growls.

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Heed The Warning: Trio of female rocking bands are here to stay

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Heed The Warning: Trio of female rocking bands are here to stay

When three siblings from Monterrey, Mexico, opened for Halestorm last Sept. 29 at the now renamed Boeing Center at Tech Port, frontwoman Lzzy Hale referred to them as “my sisters from another mister” (coverage here).

That evening, the Villareal sisters — singer/guitarist Daniela, drummer Paulina and 17-year-old bassist Alejanda “Ale” — served notice that headlining status for their group The Warning wouldn’t be far away.

As it relates to the Alamo City, that evening came this past Thursday at the Aztec Theatre. And much like the position they were in that rocking night, this bill’s support acts — Plush and Holy Wars — weren’t exactly slouches either, showcasing musicianship and/or personality that keeps them true to themselves and that should serve them well for years to come.

The Warning’s hour and 17-minute set thrilled many dedicated fans who sang practically every word to most of their songs, even in the balcony on a weeknight at a venue in which bands with bigger names have found the upper level closed off.

Making waves with last summer’s release of third full-length album Error, the Villareals dominated their set with 10 of their 17 tracks performed coming via that effort (see setlist in 50-photo gallery).

While Daniela fluidly orchestrates the audience with her banter and sheer focus on simultaneous guitar playing and vocals, Paulina — or Pau to her siblings and closest fans — delivers the infectious enthusiasm of woman-handling the kit with bubbly backup and sometimes lead vocals. Alejandra — or Ale — is easily the most laid back of the three, at least on stage, as she provides the low end of the rhythm section.

Watch the sisters in action via Alamo True Metal’s Facebook Live footage of Error tracks “Choke” and “Amour” and below on “Dull Knives (Cut Better)” and “Kool Aid Kids.”

It was The Warning’s unique take on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” in 2014 that earned the attention of Kirk Hammett himself and garnered the band a spot on the Metallica Blacklist tribute album. Naturally, that monumental feat opened doors like no other for The Warning. Watch ATM’s footage of Thursday’s version below.

Continuing the entertaining set with the likes of the title track, Spanish-sung “Martirio,” new non-album single “More,” the story behind “Ugh” (ATM footage below) and finale “Evolve,” The Warning demonstrated how far they’ve come since 2017 independent full-length debut XXI Century Blood (which did not feature any songs played on this night).

Boasting musical maturity beyond their years, The Warning will undoubtedly be a major player in the rock and metal scene for as long as they choose. If they’re already headlining theaters now, think of the possibilities that lie ahead.

And speaking of maturity . . .

Middle band Plush showcased a heavy dose of lyrics serving as middle fingers to relationships gone sour led by the Ann Wilson-esque sound and vocals of singer/rhythm guitarist Moriah Formica.

Along with lead guitarist Bella Perron, bassist Ashley Suppa and drummer Faith Powell, the group ranges in age from 18-22.

Formica, however, was carving a niche long before, having shared the stage with Stryper’s Michael Sweet on his solo tour seven years ago when she was only 15. They performed Heart’s “Crazy On You” together — did we mention Formica’s resemblance in sound to Ann Wilson? — and Plush did the honors at the Aztec following Billboard Top 40 charting original “Better Off Alone” with Heart’s “Barracuda” (ATM footage of both here). Formica also guested on Sweet’s “Can’t Take This Life” from his 2016 solo effort One-Sided War.

Suppa is not to be outdone when it comes to her own solo material that can be checked out via YouTube and her socials.

Other standout tracks at the Aztec included “Sober” and a non-fanfare but riveting cover of KISS’ “Heaven’s On Fire” with Paul Stanley’s famous intro tailor-made for Formica’s chilling vocals.

Watch Plush shine below on “Hate” and new single “Left Behind.” The latter was “written for anyone who has ever felt like an outcast or a misfit,” Formica said in a press release. Plush is celebrating the new track with a limited edition “Left Behind” bundle that features a signed CD single and a T-shirt. It’s available for pre-order here and will begin shipping next month.

The evening began with Holy Wars from Los Angeles. Megadeth references and influence not included.

The three-pronged attack is actually a full-time duo featuring vocalist Kat Leon and her guitarist/boyfriend Nick Perez.

Bringing the heat and energy with her fiery redheaded 5-foot-1 frame, Leon and Co. played several songs from last year’s release Eat It Up, Spit It Out including “1% Milk” and “Suck It Up” with “Little Godz” (ATM footage of the latter two below).

Leon informed the audience that she got bullied a lot when younger and that she learned to combat it with “Invisible Dick Syndrome.”

What she didn’t reveal was the fact Holy Wars was birthed out of tragedy from 2015.

“The Holy Wars project was born out of my personal story of losing my parents,” Leon told “High Times” in 2021. “It was never even meant to be a band at that time.”

After her mother and father died six months apart eight years ago, reportedly from a heart attack and non-smoking lung disease, respectively, Leon carved a musical path prior to Holy Wars that is virtually completely opposite of what she exhibited at the Aztec.

Leon’s solo career includes emotional ballads and music that has been featured on Fox, Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime and more as part of special-event theme songs, TV show trailers and commercials.

With Holy Wars, however, Leon turns her personal heartache into pent-up angst and metal excitement on stage. Watch her and the band in further action via ATM Facebook Live footage of new single “Deus Ex Machina.”

Females may have been the dominant factor on this night at the Aztec, but each band brought its unique style, personality and showmanship to the forefront. Whether you only liked one, two or all three wasn’t as significant as simply seeing them and knowing that if their performances were any indication, the hard rock and metal landscape will thrive so long as bands such as these stay together and continue to grace us with their sound — and vision for what the future of their groups may hold.

In the cases of Plush and Holy Wars, they are prime examples something major and positive can result from life-altering experiences and bad relationships.

And in the case of the headliners — a little sisterly love can go a long way when families stick together.

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