Bay Area Backstage Blurb in San Jose Mercury News [Thursday, July 20, 2006]
Kava: You choose: country or heavy metal?
Brad Kava
Mercury News
A little quiz for you readers on your summer break.
I give you a lyric, you tell me who sings it: Slayer, who played HP Pavilion last night, or Rascal Flatts, who play Shoreline tonight.
1. ''We sat there and shot the bull/About how it would be/If we could turn it all around/And change this C-R-A-P.''
2. ''Your pretty little thing/Your bling bling bling.''
3. ''I see a dust trail following an old red Nova . . .T-shirt hanging off a dogwood branch.''
4. ''I feel bad that I don't feel bad/No, I don't feel bad.''
5. ''Even though some things are better left unsaid/There's a few things I need to get off my chest.''
6. ''We hold these truths to be painfully self-evident/All men are not created equal/Only the strong will prosper.''
7. ''Only in the darkness of Christ have I realized/God hates us all.''
Answers: 1, 2, 3, 4, Rascal Flatts; 5, 6, 7, Slayer.
Which show will sell more tickets? Answer: Rascal Flatts, which should sell at least 17,000 tickets vs. fewer than 10,000 for Slayer.
Question: Did anyone go to both shows? I want to meet that person. E-mail me. I have to know if your head exploded. There couldn't be two more opposite shows on Earth, despite Rascal Flatts' use of a crude word in its hit ``Backwards'' and Slayer using them in most every song.
Rascal Flatts, an Ohio country trio that has that please-all-the-people-all-the-time sound of Air Supply, is poised to be one of the bestselling shows of the year at the Mountain View amphitheater.
Enough frivolity -- here are some shows the rest of us can get excited about:
On Friday, metal-heads will want to check out four hard-hitting area bands, sponsored by radio station ''The Bone'' (107.7-FM) at San Jose's Blank Club. Black Furies, Leopold and his Fiction, Sheol and the Hooks promise to give you an earful of what's happening here.
Tickets are only $1.07 for the show that goes from 7 p.m. to midnight at 44 S. Almaden Ave. Call (408) 292-5265.
By the way, Bay Area Backstage, which airs on Cable Channel 30 around the Bay at midnight Fridays, presents a history of San Jose's Cactus Club this week.
Slayer Lamb Of God Shark Tank Nikki Backstage Crew Intern Review Current mood: amused
Backstage Crew TV Intern Nikki
Hello Backstage Crew,
We survived the Unholy Alliance concert at the Shark Tank.
Here is our new intern Nikki's Review of the Show.
Rock On
See you at a show.
Ive been looking forward to Unholy Alliance since the day that the tour was announced. When I first heard that Children Of Bodom, Mastodon, Lamb Of God, and Slayer were all on the same bill, I knew that I had to witness this very unholy event. After months of waiting, I finally arrived at the HP Pavilion on July 19th ready to rock.
As I started walking toward the Pavilion, I felt a little sick. I was not only very uncomfortable in the summer heat, but I was also very nervous about my upcoming interview with Children Of Bodoms bassist, Henkka Blacksmith. For the interview, I went backstage into Bodoms dressing room, which was unreal. Children Of Bodom is one of my favorite bands, so I was blown away when I walked into Bodoms room (guitars, vodka bottles, and other Bodom belongings filled the space...it was every Bodom fan's dream).
While I asked Henkka some questions, I still felt pretty nervous. But I dont know why I felt that wayHenkka was very friendly during the interview. I was expecting to interview a wild and crazy, beer-drinking dude from Finland, but he turned out to be a very normal, laid-back guy. It was a very awesome experienceI couldnt have asked for a cooler person to interview.
After I left the backstage area, I headed for the line to get inside. My boyfriend and I entered the doors and headed straight for the merch stand. We bought a few items and made a dash for the floor. During that short period of time while we were buying a few t-shirts, people had filled up about a third of the floor. The crowd was very mixedevery rocker imaginable was present at this event, from young metal-heads to the Kerry King look-a-likes.
We were initially towards the back of this crowd, but we pushed our way up to the barrier as soon as Thine Eyes Bleed took the stage. I wasnt that impressed with Thine Eyes Bleed. There wasnt anything super special or memorable about them--they were a decent opening band, but their sound wasnt that much different from all the other metal bands out there these days. After Thine Eyes Bleeds short set, Children Of Bodom took the stage. They put on a great show, but I was a little disappointed with the songs that they chose. Bodoms set has very few surprises in itthey seem to stick with the same songs to fill their set lists.
I saw Bodom earlier this year on their Are You Dead Yet? tour, and the set from that show was essentially the same as the set from Unholy Alliance. But Bodom had a lot more energy this time aroundthey seemed to come alive in the arena setting. When I saw them on the Are You Dead Yet? tour, they played small clubs with small stagesin the arena, they had a lot more space to move around and be themselves.
Overall, I thought Bodom put on a great showI definitely enjoyed seeing those guys onstage again. Mastodon went onstage after Children Of Bodom, and I also enjoyed their set a lot. But I noticed that there werent many Mastodon fans in the crowdsomeone in the crowd chucked a bottle at Troy Sanders head, and a lot of people seemed anxious for Mastodon to exit the stage. I dont know why the crowd reacted this wayMastodon was great.
My only complaint about their set was their overly heavy soundboth my boyfriend and I noticed that their sound was a lot more down-tuned than usual. But other than that, a very solid set. After Mastodon, we left the floor area and headed for the seats to watch Lamb Of God and Slayer. Unholy Alliance was the first time that I saw Lamb Of God and Slayer live, and both bands stole the show for me.
Lamb Of God was awesome. Im not that familiar with the band, but I thought that all of the songs that they played were rockin. And the crowd was insane during their set. From our seats, we saw this huge pit that filled about a third of the floor spaceIve heard stories about Lamb Of Gods pits before, but I never fully realized how crazy people get when Lamb Of God takes the stage.
I would definitely see this band againI cant think of any complaints about their performance. But I think I like watching Lamb Of God from a distance--I dont know if I could survive in a crowd full of their diehard fans lol. The last band of the night was Slayer, and they were even better than I expected. Their stage setup was very cool (the amps were stacked in the shape of an upside-down cross, and there was a screen behind the band that flashed other satanic images Picture This is Spinal Tap).
All they needed was a miniture Stone Hedge ( Memorable Spinal Tap Scene).Slayer played all of the songs that I wanted to hear, and I thought that they put a lot of energy into their set. I was especially impressed with Dave Lombardo. Hes a great drummer and it was amazing to watch him tear it up onstage. Slayer ended the night with a bangthere wasnt a better band to finish off the show.
So Unholy Alliance was everything that I expected and more-- I got to see a bunch of awesome bands all under one roof, plus I got to meet and interview Henkka from Children Of Bodom. Whats better than that??
-- Nikki
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