In perfect honesty, I shouldn’t be writing this review.
Calling it a review even seems inaccurate. I’ve never listened to much Misfits
or other Danzig projects, not from any real dislike--just one of those artists
that’s inexplicably managed to fly under my radar. And for whatever reason, I
make it a habit of seeing musical legends, familiar or not, probably just for
bragging rights. At the least, I was hopeful for a better night at the Congress
than the last time I was there.
Oh, but I could tell right away that the $35 and up tour
shirts weren’t gonna bode well. Not to mention the ubiquity of people already
wearing Misfits or Danzig merch (there’s a lot of people out there that need tosee PCU). For whatever reason I was cynical off the bat. Something about the atmosphere
was rubbing me wrong. And it didn’t help to look up at the dome of the majestic
theater to see that Riot Fest (of which this show was a part of) was brought to
me by Red Bull. Thanks, guys. So Danzig and his backing band finally take the
stage in their all black attire. And they play some tracks that I find out
later are performed officially under Danzig (followed by a set of Samhain,
followed by a Misfits set, thus: Danzig Legacy). Well, remember my
unfamiliarity with the material. So instead of being able to differentiate
between songs, I heard a lot of cheesy guitar solos, unimaginative drums and unintelligible
vocals coming from a dude that at the least could psych the crowd up.
So I got pretty bored. Having decided that I wasn’t going to hear any of the songs I was at least somewhat familiar with (as I found out what the whole purpose of the night was after the fact), I resolved that I didn’t want to really waste any more time on this. I felt like I was just watching some friends play Guitar Hero, the show being such an archetype of the idea of Rock Show that it just becomes a parody of itself. And I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw so many people waving the devil horns back to the band (as if they knew to be archetypal Rock Show fans).
I recognize who Danzig is and why people like the stuff. But
I’m just really getting over artists that make a name for themselves and
continue to live on their past success, instead of continuing to experiment and
come up with something new. Since I couldn’t even rely on nostalgia (or even
fake nostalgia) to hold my attention, I left early, sort of wishing I saw T’Bone
and Vamos at Quenchers. Slowly learning my lesson that seeing rock musicians
late in the game is rarely worth it.
###
Check out more show reviews:
The Drums at Subterranean
Atari Teenage Riot at Reggies
Jane's Addiction at Metro
Peter Hook & the Light at Metro
Swans at Bottom Lounge
###
Check out more show reviews:
The Drums at Subterranean
Atari Teenage Riot at Reggies
Jane's Addiction at Metro
Peter Hook & the Light at Metro
Swans at Bottom Lounge
Posts
cool story, bro
ReplyDeleteWow, you're ignorant... Of course you were bored you aren't a fan in the place.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Danzig pre- show at the bottom lounge ....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZcPiaWlppM
"In perfect honesty, I shouldn’t be writing this review."
ReplyDeleteI agree.
@anonymous 1: thanks, bro
ReplyDelete@anonymous 2: live music has been known to change opinions. Hideout block party for example. Never listen to much Booker T, but was my favorite of the day. Likewise, big fan of Bird but thought set was going on for too long, was lackluster compared to other times I've seen him.
@anonymous 3: this site needs a 'like' button.
@anonymous 4: glad you agree with me :)
And only semi-related, here's some Nelson Algren for ya: "Mediocrity is never a passive lack of originality: it avenges its deprivation. Affording it anonymity, like furnishing a toothless man with artificial teeth, excites it toward taking measures. It wishes to bite something that will not bite back."
What's a "Nelson Algren?"
ReplyDeletePost-Cosby Industrialcore
ReplyDeleteFirst of all Danzig just released a new album last year, so they're hardly just hanging onto the past. Everyone in the band has been making legit, meaningful music for decades. The Misfits and Samhain are credited with influencing bands such as Lamb of God and Metallica. Go listen to your hipster crap and do all us metal fans a favor and stay away from us at the next show.
ReplyDeleteThis review was not at all constructive. You were very close minded and even biased towards the whole event. As the guy above mentioned. He just released an album that debuted at 36. Also as mentioned, your not a fan by any stretch so your opinion holds little to no weight.
ReplyDeleteHey calm it down people, it's one persons review and like it was said they wasn't the best person for the job.
ReplyDeleteInstead of whining and chalking it all up to nostalgia, maybe try doing some homework before you write a review - what impact did Danzig or the Misfits have on music? What's in store in the future? There are other things you can talk about, even if you didn't like the band. Otherwise, reading this is a total waste of time.
ReplyDelete@anonymous5: Too late, I already went to Boris. Check out that review if you'd like.
ReplyDelete@anonymous6: So preaching to the choir would have been constructive?
@wall art: Sigh, its ok, let them have their fun. A hipster like me doesn't know what he's talking about anyway :)
@anonymous 7: I guess the point I was trying to make (that I apparently didn't do a good job of) was that they seem to care very little what is in store for the future and would rather recycle the past. It doesn't matter that they have a new album (debuted at 36 I'm told), if it narrowly follows conventional formats. It might even sound good on the surface, but so does a lot of stuff. For an artist to continue to be worthwhile, they have to make a conscious effort to continue to push the boundaries, even if it means alienating fans that want them to keep making the same stuff. I admit legends have it harder since they have higher expectations, but they wouldn't be legends if they couldn't handle it now could they?
If you're going to pan a show, at least stay for the whole thing. You presumably missed the whole Misfits set.
ReplyDeleteAmateur hour.
Yeah, you shouldn't be writing this review, should've at least educated yourself on the band first. Calling Danzig an artist holding on to his past is ignorant. Main reason for the Danzig Legacy shows is to hear music from his past, which is a rarity for him to perform live.. Going to a show for bragging rights holds no weight here.
ReplyDelete"It might even sound good on the surface, but so does a lot of stuff. For an artist to continue to be worthwhile, they have to make a conscious effort to continue to push the boundaries, even if it means alienating fans that want them to keep making the same stuff."
ReplyDeleteDanzig already did that -- try listening to Danzig 4p as well as blackacidevil sometime. And he's taken shit every time he's really pushed the envelope that far. In fact, Danzig's never been one to keep replicating the exact same thing. You just sound like a pretentious college boy jackass who needs to get get over yourself and do some actual work. Ripping on an artist whose work you are not familiar with is a big no-no.
If you want to know what Danzig is like behind the scenes here's a report from Graham Williams, the guy who books Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. This event took place just a few days ago:
ReplyDeleteHi. I book Fun Fun Fun fest. Those that are hating could NOT be more wrong. Yes, someone has your money and ripped you off. His name is Glenn. Stop by his house in LA with some kitty litter in trade for your refund, but we still had to pay him and he didn't deserve it after what he pulled.
He...re is how it went down...check the timeline: -glenn flies in this morning and says he has a cold and doesn't want feel like playing the show. he demands french onion soup and vitamins brought to his hotel suite. he wants to soup now and wants it hot. We get it. -glenn says it's freezing in austin and he can't go on. says it's going to be 28 degrees tonight and he won't perform (keep in mind, it's currently 71 and sunny with a night forecast of maybe 50+).
he says we have to move the show/festival inside if we want him to play (obviously, that's not possible). -we rent stage heaters (no other bands, public enemy, mcd, passion pit, etc need or want heaters on stage...it's warm up there and not cold out) for glenn per demand, as well as bring in an onsite doctor to make him happy and be there if his cold doesn't go away. -agents and managers assure us he's going to play now.
ReplyDeleteGlenn's band/crew arrive before him in the afternoon and load gear. they said it all works, they get up the danzig banner, check lights, are happy. -glenn arrives at 7:45 (half hour before showtime, they go on at 8:15 exactly and have a 90 min set...park curfew by the city/police is 10pm sharp)...when he arrives, he says he's not going to play. says he doesn't like how the banners are hung on stage and doesn't like the lighting or stage size (all this was advanced in email and phone well in advance and the band/crew loaded in mid day and were happy with it and said it would work...stage wasn't small at all).
he wouldn't leave his trailer to go look at the stage, though, so the lighting company drew up specs for him to look at of the stage lighting 50 feet from his trailer and brought it to him to look over and prove him wrong. -in the meantime, glenn's bodyguard gets pushy (literally) with murder city devils manager and tells them they can't have their friends watch MCD from stage and wants them to cut their set. kicks them off stage and gets physical with the band and stafff....oh, also danzig says he's just as big as slayer and slayer is playing a bigger stage on sunday and that's bullshit and wants to play the same stage slayer is playing...or won't play. makes him look bad. -it's now 8:15 and time for them to go on. the band is ready, corpse make ups done, guitars tunes. glenn says he's not playing and that it's too cold outside. he said big stages should have windscreen so wind can't blow on him from the side. the stage managers then goes and gets tarps and tarp the entire side of the stage so now wind will hit him. -it's now 8:40. we explain that it's cutting into the set and he's going to have cut the 90 min set if he doesn't play soon, as park curfew is 10. he says he doesn't feel like playing. says "i got a deathbug. if i go on stage and get sick, i'll die. i'm not getting sicker for this show" (NOTE: he totally looks and seems fine...no coughing, no paleness, no vomiting, just some balding and a gut, from what i can tell). we get the Dr and he says he can do a b12 shot or anything he needs if he feels bad...danzig says he only treats illnesses naturally, so won't do that. we finally get him to agree to play and have already informed his crew that it's only 60 mins (9pm at this point) and they start cutting some songs from the set list, so they can still do misfits, but obviously didn't cut enough. -they went on almost and hour late due to the HANDS DOWN biggest rock star moment we've ever dealt with and then he tries to start a riot and blames the fest, the city, the cops and everyone, but himself. goes backstage and tries to fight a few ppl and get in the van and leaves. The end...
ReplyDeleteDamn, beat me to it. Apparently the Damned mocked him during their set the next day too.
ReplyDelete