Rebel Reviewer Dot Com

Stone Temple Pilots
Kool Haus - Toronto - Nov 17
Copps Coliseum - Hamilton - Nov 18
John Labatt Centre - London - Nov 19

Toronto & Hamilton Tix
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&q=stone+temple+pilots&search.x=36&search.y=1

London Tix
http://ev12.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=...GS%3AGLOBAL-LABATT%3AJLC10%3AK19%3A&linkID=global-labatt&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=Read More

Lamb of God
JLC & ACC
London & Toronto, Ontario
October 25 & 26, 2009

Photos: Mike Forbes
Review: Karen Fader McBride

Lamb of God front man Randy Blythe openly declared why they love Canada so much... we "Bring the Ruckus!" We definitely didn't disappoint the band as around 2000+ fans rocked out to the bands headlining set a...t RBC Theater in John Labatts stadium in downtown London. Openers for the evening were fellow Virginia natives GWAR, who oddly enough had LOG open for them back in the day. Tonight LOG had it all in their hands. Even those with seats didn't use them as everyone stood, jumped and headbanged to each track as the band gave the them a 1 and a half hour long set. Randy was all over the stage, leaping from Chris Adler's drum riser and leaning out over the crowd at times pointing to those high in the stands. Willie Adler on guitar and John Campbell on bass kept up the pace with fellow guitarist Mark Morton, interacting with the crowd and each other. They tore through plenty of tracks from the new album; Wrath, including Set to Fail, In Your Words and The Passing. Some older favourites like Black Label & Ruin got the crowd riled up and Randy demanded the entire crowd sing along with him to Laid to Rest. Constantly encouraging the pit kids to "bring it on" he had the masses thrashing and moshing til the end of the show. Amongst them was a youngster confined to a wheel chair who was in the midst of it all, by choice. Randy made sure to give him a shout out at the end of the night. Mr. Blythe and I discussed this kid post show; when he first came out and saw him wheeling through the pit he was going to stop the show and ask for him to be removed for saftely concerns, but it quickly became obvious he was in his element so Randy went on with the show. Perhaps LOG was even upstaged a tad by this show off on wheels. All in all a kick ass show, Props to the 519! You can catch LOG as direct support for Metallica in a city near you.
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Metallica
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
October 26, 2009

Seems to me the last batch of bands I’ve seen have been a then and now type of comparison that I’ve quite enjoyed studying. Seriously, out of the last dozen bands or so, most of them have I’ve seen way back when and then waited at least 10 years to see them aga...in. Motorhead, Kiss, Helix, Headpins, GWAR, Stone Temple Pilots, Our Lady Peace… there’s probably a few more but I think you’ve heard enough already. Well you have to hear about one more. One of my all time favourite top notch acts of all time, Metallica.

Back in 85, my cousin dropped a couple albums on me and said I must try these out. They were “Kill em All” and “Ride the Lightning”. 3 notes into “Hit the Lights” and I knew I had just found the band of all bands. The most awesome sounding heavy metal unit that combined great lyrics with some totally original riffing, instrumentals and leads that would bring any musician to their knees.

I made it a point to promote this new band wherever I possibly could. I just wanted to share the awesomeness that was Metallica with everyone. I was constantly making compilation tapes of their stuff and dropping them on people. I made sure I had at least one Metallica tape on me at all times and would thrust it into the gaping maw of any cassette tape player I could find.

Those Northern BCer’s just weren’t ready for it yet though. Still firmly grasped by the claws of Judas Priest, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and the other “mainstream” metal of the time, these guys just couldn’t handle the “THRASH” metal that Metallica was pimping out. It wasn’t until Ozzy took Metallica on tour that these guys finally started to take notice. Funny though, the guys I hung out with all the time were all musicians, and we all knew Metallica was the shit. Listening deep past the heaviness revealed a talent, rawness and attitude that no other band was sporting at the time.

They showed a lotta personality and never took anything too seriously with hilarious photo shoots by the infamous Ross Halfin depicting the band on a lighter side with his instantly identifiable fish-eye lens shots of the band goofing around and having fun. Then the shit hit the fan.

Two things happened that changed the band forever. Two crucial pieces of that old unit died. For one and on the humanity level of it all, by far the worst of the two occurrences, was the death of the incredibly talented, one of a kind, Cliff Burton. When he was crushed by a tour bus accident in Sweden, Metallica never looked, sounded or felt the same. It’s almost as if the band lost it’s sense of humour. Maybe not all of it, but a good chunk flew right out the door and Metallica became a much more serious band.

Gone was a truly gifted bass man and an undeniable grounding influence on the band but before that happened, Metallica lost their sound. That one of a kind sound that no other band could imitate. Not even themselves. James had a Marshall tube amp that had it’s own sound and a character of it’s own. The first two albums were recorded with this amp in the studio to get that distinctive guitar sound that NOBODY could duplicate and EVERYBODY tried.

Just listen to any song on “Kill em All” then any song from “Ride the Lightning” and then slap on “Master of Puppets” and the difference will punch you right in the nuts if it hasn’t already. Getting over the death of an original member and the loss of the old sound, would kill a lesser band but Metallica rose above the whole thing and propelled itself into a whole new level of confidence and power that took the band to the highest heights of achievement in the music business only dreamt about by most musicians.

I finally got to see the guys in 1989 on the “Justice For All…” tour with Queensryche and Dokken opening. The show was at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton and we were totally disgusted that every time we went to light up a smoke, a security guard was on our asses threatening to kick us out. This, of course, meant we couldn’t fire up a joint and thoroughly enjoy the experience and it really took the wind out of our sails and pretty well ruined what was supposed to be the concert of all concerts for me.

Fast forward, 20 years later, waiting in a small area just outside of centre stage with a photo pass and some great equipment that I actually know how to use, waiting to see Metallica once again. I know most of their catalogue inside and out. I can jam most of the tunes on the drums and I know more than a few of their lyrics so singing along is not a problem.

So what’s a guy supposed to do when he’s standing in front of one of his all time faves with only 3 songs to shoot/rock out? ONLY 3 songs. In Metallica’s world that’s about 45 minutes! As much as I just wanted to rock out, I knew I had a job to do in getting as many great shots as I possibly could before going up to the rafters to review the show.

The band put on a heavy rotation of their latest album “Death Magnetic” with a showing of 6 of the 10 tunes the album has to offer. And they’re great tunes too. Every one of them. One thing for sure that Metallica is still as strong as ever is the songwriting. Most bands die out and their creativity loses it’s sting after a while but Metallica’s has always been there. They’ve always pulled something outta the bag for every album they’ve ever done. I don’t care what anyone says about any of their albums, they’re all incredible in their own way and if Death Magnetic is any indication, it’s fuckin far from over.

Personally my faves were the oldies. From those first two albums. It was so cool hearing “Fight Fire With Fire” and “Whiplash”… oldies that you’d think couldn’t or wouldn’t even be played these days. “One” totally brought the place to it’s knees with the incredible pyro show and the crescendo of the song building to the frenzied ending that still stands as one of their finest to this day. “Sad But True” reminded us that Metallica is as heavy as they come. That drop D tuning has a way of bringing a whole new meaning to the word heavy.

The band was tighter than a Scotsman. On numerous occasions I saw the guys smiling their asses off genuinely showing they were having a great time out there. The guys at times interacted onstage like brothers. Robert Trujilo, bassist, at one point stomped over to Lars Ulrich on drums and rubbed his bald forehead while they both laughed. Trujilo feels like he should have been in the band from the very beginning, and knowing what I think of Cliff Burton that is saying A LOT. That’s not to knock Newsted either, but the ex Suicidal Tendencies bassist has really found a home with the best metal band of all time.

James n Lars squared off face to face rocking out, smiling and enjoying themselves. This notorious duo who love and hate each other like only brothers do. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, the quiet little brother of the band spent most of his time basking in the cheers of his dedicated fans, smiling and rocking out, all the while slicing us apart with his incredible abilities and talent on lead guitar.

For any metal fan who has or hasn’t seen Metallica, this is a tour you just can’t miss. Opener, Lamb of God is a worthy unit to fire up the ceremonies. Metallica hasn’t jacked the prices out of this world so there’s no excuse why anybody can’t go and see them. All the elements are there, now all you need to do is plug yourself in and just go for it.
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GWAR
John Labatt Centre
London, Ontario
October 25, 2009

http://www.rebelreviewer.com

20 years ago I saw GWAR for the first time in Edmonton Alberta… Canada in case you were wondering. At the time I hung out with a biker dude who made a lotta cash and insisted on paying for EVERYTHING for his friends. The order at the bar... always started out something like this: “Hi there, bring us 5 pitchers of beer and an order of nachos. We’re just gonna slip outside n smoke a joint and we’ll be right back in, to get the party started.” There were usually 2 or 3 of us when the order was placed. A dozen or more by the time they had to pour us outta there.

Well this night back in 1990 was no different. My buddy was friends with this promoter who’s first show consisted of a band that I’d just bought their debut full length tape, “Scumdogs of the Universe” based strongly on their look and the latest video floating around the airwaves for “Sick of You”. I was quite surprised when my friend asked me if I wanted to go see GWAR, adding that I was the only fucker he knew that was into that shit. He told me he knew the promoter and that if I brought my camera, the guy would really appreciate some nice photos seeing as it was his first show he put on.

Of course I jumped at the chance but reluctantly brought my camera as the first show I’d ever shot, Sacrifice, a metal band outta Toronto, was a disaster.

The order at the table was an absolutely ridiculous amount of booze, complete with shots and several “trips outside”. By the time GWAR hit the stage I couldn’t even stand, let alone operate a camera. But I pressed on. No amount of booze or other mind altering substances will hold this guy away from a lit stage fulla rock n roll. The pics really sucked. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and I was literally tripping and falling all over the place trying to hold the camera steady.

For those of you who don’t know, GWAR is like Kiss on steroids. They wear giant costumes, face paint and bring out crazy props to chop up, behead and kick the shit out of. One part of their show which pulls all kinds of people to front row, yet totally repels others, is the blood. Fake blood, but blood nonetheless. These guys dump gallon upon gallon of blood all over their audience and the kids just eat it up. The signs on the outside of the venue warn you, “GWAR will be spraying the audience with liquid projectiles. It is non-toxic and water soluble.” Nice warning. Why not just say, “Anyone within 40 ft of the stage is gonna get drenched in blood. Don’t worry, it washes out.”

People actually show up dressed in all white t-shirts etc just to be there in the front row and get drenched by their heroes. It’s like wearing your badge of honour when you leave a GWAR show and people can see that you were definitely in the front line of fire. Back in the day, they bragged about dumping 90 gallons of blood on an audience. Well back then their show was only an hour long and they didn’t have the technology they do today to dump 10 times that in half the time.

As photographers, we were warned: 1st song will be dry. 2nd and 3rd song, they’re gonna start with the blood. Well song two they roll out this giant blood squirting, futuristic, tripod mounted laser cannon and start up the festivities by rocketing an arch of blood 40 feet in the air over the crowd and directly hammering the front rows with a full out laser spray of blood. It was hilarious. Photographers diving for cover and kids in the front row getting drenched and just loving it. All the photographers ended up piled into one corner of stage right where we were told it would be “safer”.

After watching this laser cannon do it’s job for a minute, I figured, to hell with this, I’m gonna go face that fucker straight on. When the blood laser operator wasn’t looking, I walked out in front, held my camera up and snapped a pic of him and his toy. Once he noticed me, he started spraying in my direction but I noticed he could only tip the thing so far forward. I ducked down in the photo pit right up against the stage and the blood fired straight over my head. I’d foiled his evil plan to drench the photographer!! So I’d wait til the moment was right and pop up, snap another shot and deek down to safety.

Well that took care of song 2. But song 3 had something in store that none of us could get away from. Some little robot guy came out and they stabbed him a few times gushing blood out of all the holes in all different directions. I had to get a shot of it but this guy was spraying blood 20 feet in all different directions and hiding under the stage wouldn’t have worked as I watched the blood spraying the security guys. I did get one great shot though. Walked up and snapped him just as he was turning towards me. I turned around and sheltered my camera from the inevitable. I was drenched all down the back of my coat and blue jeans as well as a big dripping of blood running down the side of my face. Looked like I’d just earned my red wings!

GWAR was always one of those bands who had a cult-like following but could never really break into the upper echelons of rock n roll success as they were hard to take seriously. But that was the beauty of it. They never expected to be taken seriously. Sure they flirted with changing their sound and trying the whole “music thing” but their real success was wrapped up in the live show which they perfected and returned to the heavy metal/hardcore approach to bring them into their 25th year running. That being said, they found themselves in the opening slot for Lamb of God, a band who gave kudos to GWAR for having been one of the first bands to take them on the road.

Their show is so tongue in cheek and sarcastic that you’ve got to laugh at the whole thing or you’ll end up leaving disgusted, pissed off and ready to form another version of the PMRC who had fun targeting GWAR back in the day. Some of the things these guys did on stage (and the GWAR Women) were nothing short of disgusting. But it was all done in the shock value aspect of it all like the kid who acts out in class just to get attention. In a world where “it’s all been done before” I can promise you, some of those things have ONLY been done by GWAR and that’s what really made them stand out as an original shock rock/hardcore/heavy metal act that’s enjoyed 25 years of enough success to keep them from having to get real jobs. Well done guys!!
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Metric
Centennial Hall
London, Ontario
October 23, 2009

Photos & Review: Baden Roth

The heat was on in the streets of London Friday October 23rd when indie superstars Metric played another sold out tour date at Centennial Hall.

From the moment Emily Haines took centre stage to sing "Help, I'm Alive", the crowd was at her me...rcy for the entire show, with their signature wave of hypnotic electro-rock.

Haines' dynamite energy and unique vocals impressed fans, solidifying her reputation as "the ultimate frontwoman", she had a stage presence that had the crowd engaged and interacting with her. She rocked through with high-powered energy to such hits as "Dead Disco", "Give Me Sympathy" and "Sick Muse", as well as a well-received acoustic version of "Combat Baby” and as bonus she jumped into Monster Hospital which was one of the encore acts which fans received another jolt of energy to dance to.

Emily danced and sang throughout the entire performance without taking a break. Even while she was jamming on her synthesizer she did not rest and gave the crowd a highly electric performance that is unique and entertaining.

Metric was on fire, giving the audience exactly what they wanted and feeding off of their promising energy. Crowd surfing and trance-light shows abounded. It created a sense of real entertainment and everyone could see why Metric have become one Canada’s biggest music sensations in the last five years.
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