Posts
Provided by the compucert 
I've seen Static-X several times at various venues in NY. This was either the second or third time for me seeing them perform at Irving Plaza. Currently they are touring for the new album START A WAR.
Oddly, the doors opened for this show at 8:00. They usually tour with three other bands and the hour seemed rather odd to me. Perhaps they were planning fewer bands this time around? More on that later. I arrived straight from the office at about 5:20. I was in the first dozen on line. My wife, Stacey, joined me by 7:30 or so.
Sure as shooting, they didn't start letting people in until about 8:00. We were able to right to the barrier and claim spots right in the front, and slightly to the right. We've been going for spots like these for years now so I can protect my wife from the surging crowds. She stands by the barrier and I put my arms around her and clamp down on that barrier.
The first act didn't get started for another good half hour or more after we got in. Four little guys walk out on the stage, three were in masks. The fourth was just there to escort the drummer to his spot through the mess of cables and equipment in the dark. They're called ASESINO, and they played "Mexican Death Metal," a genre I am not all too familiar with. The bassist/singer and guitarist seemed familiar even though their faces were covered. The voice gave away the bassist, it's Tony Campos of Static-X. The guitarist was from Fear Factory. The drummer was from some other band that I can't recall. For a side project, they were really tight and had a good sound. The performed for more than 30 minutes. During their set I noticed that this was a fairly rowdy crowd and that things could get hairy during the concert.
In a side story, during the Asesino set, some girl weaseled her way in front of the big guy who was next to us. Most of the front row was all guys holding onto the barrier to protect their women from the surging crowd. So that girl kept bothering the guy until he gave in to her pleading. It appeared that in exchange for his kindness she gave him a standing lapdance and allowed him to grope her all over. She was a sleazy kinda sexy, short, shapely, and looked very young, but had a booze bracelet which meant she's at least 21. But she had men all over the place at her beckon call...
The second band took to the stage in a reasonable time. BLOODSIMPLE. They also sounded okay, but didn't really impress me. They had some bad attitudes before the show. The members of the band were walking up and down the line, as if waiting to be noticed by someone... ANYONE. And when someone did they acted all snotty and bark out, "No phukkin autographs!" I witnessed the bassist say just that. Way to appreciate your fans, loser. Well, none of them seemed as good at playing as their egos lead on.
After they got off the stage the lil ho asked my wife and me if we had a cellphone she could borrow because she lost hers during the previous act. I pull out my Palm, turn it on like a flashlight and start checking the floor. She asked to borrow it. Borrow it? It's not a cellphone? Forget it. She needs a phone to call someone. Don't bother looking for her phone either, it's surely long gone. She borrowed someone else's phone to make her important call. She was just yakking to someone about how she got to the front row and the show was really cool so far. Yotch.
Third band hits the stage. AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE. Their sound was also fine. The sound crew was doing a bang up job that night. Everyone's levels were good. No muddied sounds. Not too loud, not too low. This band was right away more likeable than Bloodsimple. They just looked like nice guys. Some buddies you'd want to have over for a bbq and some beers. Apparently they have quite a following. The crowd, which had already been rowdy all night, picked up the pace. More crowd surfing. More surging bodies. This was when the hoe next to us started acting a little unreasonably with her arms flailing all over, and smacking my wife a couple times too many. So Stacey shoved the girl's arms out of her face. All the while I'm trying to keep the crowd from crushing my wife and me into the barriers. I notice that the lil ho stepped up her attacks. Bumping into the person next to you at a rock concert with only standing room is understandable, but purposely throwing elbows and slaps to the face is inexcusable behavior. I grabbed the ho and warned her to cut it out. "We're all there for fun," I said, "just watch the slaps and elbows." That made the lil slut furious. She's complaining to the security guys in a flash, who told her to cut the crap because they saw her slap my wife in the face twice. Another song started and that tramp started up worse than before. So I'm trying to deflect her elbow from my wife while trying to keep the crowd from crushing us both. At the calm at the end of that song I grabbed the girl again, issuing a final warning. The guards were growing weary of this girl's tantrums and moved her further down the barrier and warned that any more nonsense will result in people being thrown out. There was peace for the rest of the set.
Finally STATIC-X takes the stage. The opened with Bled for Days from their first album. Original guitarist Koichi was back in the fold and in perfect form. The samples were perfectly clear. The mix and levels were perfect. The band looked like they were having a great time on stage. That's important to me. Getting to perform in front of a crowd is exhilarating and a really cool job, so enjoy it! And that they did. And we got to enjoy the music.
That is, until...
The lil ho decided to take another swing at my wife again. She slid down the rail throwing elbows the old Double Dragon arcade game. The guy whom she weaseled in front of was franticly trying to restrain her. He didn't want to get thrown out. I'm deflecting her elbows from my wife, catching them on my forearms when security saw what she was up to. The two guys grabbed her and pulled her out. Oh snap. We can enjoy the show in peace now.
Static-X did some cool stuff with their songs. They changed the speed of some songs. Usually bands like to speed things up, but they slowed some down a little. They played some of the songs with more of a "gallop" to the rhythm than on the album versions. The played songs from all of their albums except for "Beneath... Between... Beyond..." which they played several from the last time around. The band is very animated and dash around during songs. They interact with the crowd. They toast the crowd during their in-between-song shots. They are just fun to watch.
Then during one of the songs I feel a pain in my back, not the usual person jamming against me. More like a sharp punch, or an elbow... I look behind me and that lil yotch is there again. She's taking swings at me, so I leaned back like I was doing each time the crowd surged into me. Now I feel fingernails digging into my back. This was not "hardcore show" behavior. This was a spiteful bitch getting upset because she's used to getting her way. Well, she made a mistake because at that moment the crowd forcefully surged forward as I was pushing backwards trying to get her to stop raking my spine. The sting instantly vanished. Moments later, in amongst the crush, some dude asks me to let the girl through, that she's hurt. I really had nowhere to go. It was that packed. I called over security and the other guy lifted her and she was passed to them. I never found out what happened to her exactly, nor did I care to.
Static-X performed for about an hour, give or take, including one encore. We hit the streets around 12:30. The cool air was quite welcome, as the concert was incredibly hot. I don't think I've sweat so much in my life. Out of fear of passing out from dehydration, we were gouged at a hot dog stand on the corner. A can of soda and a water were $5. Wonderful.
We were home by 1:30 or so. I went to the bathroom for a shower and saw blood on the side of my nose. I had a cut, which I assume was from that slut's fingernails about half an inch from my left eye. I don't even want to go into the numerous bruises and abrasions I suffered from this show.
While I did enjoy the show, I fear that I may be getting too old for these sorts of shows. I've been a fan of Static before they were "big" and now that they are, the shows are attracting an increasingly more savage crowd. I've never seen a mosh pits the size of the ones at that show. People just don't seem to know how to enjoy music, and watch your fav band perform.
Are seated shows all that I have to look forward to in the future? Time will tell.
Oddly, the doors opened for this show at 8:00. They usually tour with three other bands and the hour seemed rather odd to me. Perhaps they were planning fewer bands this time around? More on that later. I arrived straight from the office at about 5:20. I was in the first dozen on line. My wife, Stacey, joined me by 7:30 or so.
Sure as shooting, they didn't start letting people in until about 8:00. We were able to right to the barrier and claim spots right in the front, and slightly to the right. We've been going for spots like these for years now so I can protect my wife from the surging crowds. She stands by the barrier and I put my arms around her and clamp down on that barrier.
The first act didn't get started for another good half hour or more after we got in. Four little guys walk out on the stage, three were in masks. The fourth was just there to escort the drummer to his spot through the mess of cables and equipment in the dark. They're called ASESINO, and they played "Mexican Death Metal," a genre I am not all too familiar with. The bassist/singer and guitarist seemed familiar even though their faces were covered. The voice gave away the bassist, it's Tony Campos of Static-X. The guitarist was from Fear Factory. The drummer was from some other band that I can't recall. For a side project, they were really tight and had a good sound. The performed for more than 30 minutes. During their set I noticed that this was a fairly rowdy crowd and that things could get hairy during the concert.
In a side story, during the Asesino set, some girl weaseled her way in front of the big guy who was next to us. Most of the front row was all guys holding onto the barrier to protect their women from the surging crowd. So that girl kept bothering the guy until he gave in to her pleading. It appeared that in exchange for his kindness she gave him a standing lapdance and allowed him to grope her all over. She was a sleazy kinda sexy, short, shapely, and looked very young, but had a booze bracelet which meant she's at least 21. But she had men all over the place at her beckon call...
The second band took to the stage in a reasonable time. BLOODSIMPLE. They also sounded okay, but didn't really impress me. They had some bad attitudes before the show. The members of the band were walking up and down the line, as if waiting to be noticed by someone... ANYONE. And when someone did they acted all snotty and bark out, "No phukkin autographs!" I witnessed the bassist say just that. Way to appreciate your fans, loser. Well, none of them seemed as good at playing as their egos lead on.
After they got off the stage the lil ho asked my wife and me if we had a cellphone she could borrow because she lost hers during the previous act. I pull out my Palm, turn it on like a flashlight and start checking the floor. She asked to borrow it. Borrow it? It's not a cellphone? Forget it. She needs a phone to call someone. Don't bother looking for her phone either, it's surely long gone. She borrowed someone else's phone to make her important call. She was just yakking to someone about how she got to the front row and the show was really cool so far. Yotch.
Third band hits the stage. AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE. Their sound was also fine. The sound crew was doing a bang up job that night. Everyone's levels were good. No muddied sounds. Not too loud, not too low. This band was right away more likeable than Bloodsimple. They just looked like nice guys. Some buddies you'd want to have over for a bbq and some beers. Apparently they have quite a following. The crowd, which had already been rowdy all night, picked up the pace. More crowd surfing. More surging bodies. This was when the hoe next to us started acting a little unreasonably with her arms flailing all over, and smacking my wife a couple times too many. So Stacey shoved the girl's arms out of her face. All the while I'm trying to keep the crowd from crushing my wife and me into the barriers. I notice that the lil ho stepped up her attacks. Bumping into the person next to you at a rock concert with only standing room is understandable, but purposely throwing elbows and slaps to the face is inexcusable behavior. I grabbed the ho and warned her to cut it out. "We're all there for fun," I said, "just watch the slaps and elbows." That made the lil slut furious. She's complaining to the security guys in a flash, who told her to cut the crap because they saw her slap my wife in the face twice. Another song started and that tramp started up worse than before. So I'm trying to deflect her elbow from my wife while trying to keep the crowd from crushing us both. At the calm at the end of that song I grabbed the girl again, issuing a final warning. The guards were growing weary of this girl's tantrums and moved her further down the barrier and warned that any more nonsense will result in people being thrown out. There was peace for the rest of the set.
Finally STATIC-X takes the stage. The opened with Bled for Days from their first album. Original guitarist Koichi was back in the fold and in perfect form. The samples were perfectly clear. The mix and levels were perfect. The band looked like they were having a great time on stage. That's important to me. Getting to perform in front of a crowd is exhilarating and a really cool job, so enjoy it! And that they did. And we got to enjoy the music.
That is, until...
The lil ho decided to take another swing at my wife again. She slid down the rail throwing elbows the old Double Dragon arcade game. The guy whom she weaseled in front of was franticly trying to restrain her. He didn't want to get thrown out. I'm deflecting her elbows from my wife, catching them on my forearms when security saw what she was up to. The two guys grabbed her and pulled her out. Oh snap. We can enjoy the show in peace now.
Static-X did some cool stuff with their songs. They changed the speed of some songs. Usually bands like to speed things up, but they slowed some down a little. They played some of the songs with more of a "gallop" to the rhythm than on the album versions. The played songs from all of their albums except for "Beneath... Between... Beyond..." which they played several from the last time around. The band is very animated and dash around during songs. They interact with the crowd. They toast the crowd during their in-between-song shots. They are just fun to watch.
Then during one of the songs I feel a pain in my back, not the usual person jamming against me. More like a sharp punch, or an elbow... I look behind me and that lil yotch is there again. She's taking swings at me, so I leaned back like I was doing each time the crowd surged into me. Now I feel fingernails digging into my back. This was not "hardcore show" behavior. This was a spiteful bitch getting upset because she's used to getting her way. Well, she made a mistake because at that moment the crowd forcefully surged forward as I was pushing backwards trying to get her to stop raking my spine. The sting instantly vanished. Moments later, in amongst the crush, some dude asks me to let the girl through, that she's hurt. I really had nowhere to go. It was that packed. I called over security and the other guy lifted her and she was passed to them. I never found out what happened to her exactly, nor did I care to.
Static-X performed for about an hour, give or take, including one encore. We hit the streets around 12:30. The cool air was quite welcome, as the concert was incredibly hot. I don't think I've sweat so much in my life. Out of fear of passing out from dehydration, we were gouged at a hot dog stand on the corner. A can of soda and a water were $5. Wonderful.
We were home by 1:30 or so. I went to the bathroom for a shower and saw blood on the side of my nose. I had a cut, which I assume was from that slut's fingernails about half an inch from my left eye. I don't even want to go into the numerous bruises and abrasions I suffered from this show.
While I did enjoy the show, I fear that I may be getting too old for these sorts of shows. I've been a fan of Static before they were "big" and now that they are, the shows are attracting an increasingly more savage crowd. I've never seen a mosh pits the size of the ones at that show. People just don't seem to know how to enjoy music, and watch your fav band perform.
Are seated shows all that I have to look forward to in the future? Time will tell.
0 comments:
Post a Comment