The intergalactic warriors GWAR, from the planet way past Uranus called Scumdogia (also known as Richmond, VA) are returning to wreak havoc on the innocent! The spectacle that is a GWAR show returns to the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC this Sunday, and TVD has a pair of tickets for one lucky winner.
GWAR’s unique brand of satirical metal has been shocking and entertaining audiences since the eighties, and their stage show has become the stuff of legend. Beheadings, meat grinders, dinosaurs, and monsters abound, and their shows never fail to sicken or disappoint (or at a minimum cover the audience in blood and gore).
Over the years, while keeping their sardonic sense of humor, their music has taken a much on heavier, thrashier, and more technical sound. From our recent review of their show in San Francisco, Jason Miller writes, “Oderus Urungus has brilliantly lead Earth’s only openly extraterrestrial metal band for more than twenty-five years now. Touring in support of their latest record Battle Maximus, Gwar are still going strong and are equally, if not more, offensive now than when they first began back in 1984.”
In 1987, following the death of bassist Cliff Burton, metal titans Metallica brought a young fresh face into the band, and Jason Newsted would forever seal his legacy in the metal ranks. After the well-publicized split from Metallica, Newsted has become the ultimate journeyman of metal, playing with everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Voivod, with a plethora of projects in between. Now Jason looks to step out of the shadows of his past, break away from short-term projects, and unleash his new band, aptly called Newsted, upon the world.
Personally, getting the chance to talk to Jason was special for me. Metallica was the first concert I ever attended (March 11, 1989, to be exact), and it was a life-changing day that Jason was a part of. With a new album, Heavy Metal Music, released this week, I talked to Jason about life, vinyl, playing bass with a pick, and the past, present, and future of Jason Newsted.
Hi, Jason! How are you feeling after your bout with pneumonia?
I’ve still got it in me some, just kind of fighting through it. I’m better than I was, but there still a chunk of it over here in my lung. That’s what it does, it kind of finds a spot, and sits there for some weeks. I’m just kind of getting through it. I think the worst part is behind me. It took them a while to find the right antibiotics, so there was a little challenge there, but I’m good.
Still hanging in okay while on stage?
Oh yeah, man, no problem. Once I get out there, I mean, you could have both broken legs, man, once it starts, it don’t matter. Feel no pain! (laughs)
So tell us about the Newsted project.
Things are going good! We’ve been together five months now, and this shit is moving very fast. We put the Metal EP out in January, and Mike Mushok [of Staind] joined the band in February, and then we started making a record. Now we’ve played in 17 or 18 countries. We’ve got the EP done, the LP is out next week, and now we’re on Gigantour for another week and a half, and it’s been going very fast and very successful, actually. Very positive reactions from the people around the world so far. It’s been very, very overwhelming for me, so I did something right along the way, I guess.
As loyal concertgoers—in whatever area you may be in—we all have our favorite clubs, and along with that, our favorite bartenders. They know “our drink,” and are a key part of the concert experience for many of us.
Paul Rondelli was that bartender for many people in the DC area. Paul was a longtime bartender at the 9:30 Club. The guy in the hat, the guy with that smile. Ask anyone who knew Paul, and one of the first things most people would mention is his smile.
Sadly, Paul was in an auto accident on his way home from work at the 9:30 on April 29. He was surrounded by love and support in the ICU for several days while the doctors tried to assess and heal his injuries. Unfortunately, the brain damage was too severe, and Paul died on May 5, 2013.
Paul left this world as a superhero, however, and because he was an organ donor, he impacted the lives of up to 100 people. Paul is survived by his wife Kate, as well as a 4-year-old daughter and a 5-month-old son.
There will be an event to celebrate Paul’s life on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) at the 9:30 Club.
Their live shows are referred to as “rituals.” They wear masks and robes and remain anonymous. Nearly every song is a celebration of Satan. The mystery that is Ghost B.C. continues to grow every day.
The Swedish metal band burst onto the scene in 2010 with their debut album, Opus Eponymous. Soon they were all the buzz, with people talking about the retro-metal sound, or about their image and keeping their identities hidden. 2013 saw the release of Infestissumam, with the band experimenting with different styles rather than sticking to the same game plan. On Monday, the ritual at the 9:30 Club was a sight and sound to behold.
Opening the evening was Ides of Gemini, a seeming witches’ coven of a trio from Los Angeles, CA. The slow, heavy dirge of the first song began, and haunting vocals of vocalist/bassist Sera Timms oozed from the speakers, resembling a gothic Marianne Faithfull. The songs were dark, yet full of low tone, the music kept as simplistic as their all-black garb. The music edged into doom-metal territory at times, swooning and atmospheric at others. Between songs, there wasn’t much banter from the stage, just eerie rumblings and ambient noises from the speakers until the next song began.
It’s not lost on us that some of the biggest and most talented artists and musicians of this or any generation have gone on the record—on records—here at TVD. This week we’re sharing some of our favorites from the archive. —Ed.
Ask anyone these days what comes to mind when you say “The Scorpions,” and your average music fan is going to answer with something along the lines of “Rock You Like a Hurricane” or “No One Like You.” For a number of die-hard fans, they will say “Go back to 1973…you’ll hear something very different.”
Those were the days when The Scorpions were a young, eager rock band from Germany, with burgeoning hits like “Speedy’s Coming” and “Steamrock Fever.” At the center of it all was guitar wizard Uli Jon Roth, a Hendrix-inspired, new breed of rock guitarist. After leaving the Scorpions of his own accord in 1978 (an amicable split due to artistic differences), Uli has carved his own unique path on his musical journey from seamlessly fusing rock and classical together, to creating his own unique brand of guitar, all while honing his craft to a master level.
We caught up with Uli Jon Roth during his stop at Sully’s in Chantilly, VA in February and what followed was an enlightening conversation about music, technology, and a bit of rock history.
Tell us about the current tour, and what you’ve been up to lately.
I’ve been up to quite a few things. The current tour has got one main theme, and that is my 40th anniversary with the Scorpions, meaning that I joined that band in 1973. In fact, it was not a band anymore. We reformed the band, it was only Rudolf [Schenker] left.
Really?
Yeah, the band had broken apart, and Rudolph was left, but there was still a record contract in existence. Somehow, we joined bands. My band, which was Dawn Road, and Rudolph became the new Scorpions. Then a little while later, Klaus joined again, because Klaus had kind of retired, withdrawn from the business all together. He became a little disillusioned with it I guess, but he came to the rehearsals and he really liked it, so then we were the new Scorpions. It was 1973, it was 40 years ago.
How many times can a band be reborn?
Yeah! I mean, this is the first time I have done any such anniversary thing, I mean, 40 is a big number. For me, the Scorpions were a very important part of my life. Those 5 years were a very life-changing experience. I learned a lot during that time, and I progressed, experimented, changed, and it was a good time, you know? Now I am kind of revisiting that experience many years later, and I am finding it a very interesting experience. I am really enjoying it. I mean, some of the songs, I have been playing in my live sets on and off for the last few years, and now we’re trying a whole bunch. Some of them we’ve never even played.
Iconic bluesman Charlie Musselwhite has been belting out the blues on his harmonica since the 1960s. He has played the blues with the best of them, but in a guest appearance on a John Lee Hooker album in 1997, he met Ben Harper. It may have taken 16 years to finally get these two together to do an album (2013’s Get Up!), but last Thursday at the 9:30 Club, they proved that the wait was worth it.
There would be no opener this evening. Billed as “An Evening of the Blues featuring Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite,” this was sure to be an interesting evening. As the nine o’clock hour neared, the lights went down, and Ben, Charlie, and the band took the stage. Without any banter or fanfare, the two took seats front and center and instantly charged into “I Don’t Believe a Word You Say.”
The pair was two different sides of the same coin. Ben, playing the lap slide guitar, wore on his face a mask of serious passion. Charlie, on the other hand, had a twinkle in his eye as he wailed on his harmonica, and every time it came away from his mouth, a big smile was left in its place.
If you were a scientist and tried to go into your laboratory to create Orange Goblin, you would probably need equal parts whiskey, doom metal, classic rock, beer, stoner rock, and the Incredible Hulk to begin to replicate their enormous sound. Since 1995, they have been bringing their Sabbathesque brand of heavy metal to the masses, through albums and a relentless, yet mostly European touring schedule.
Orange Goblin has finally returned to America, hitting the road with the road warriors of rock, Maryland’s Clutch (our review of the Baltimore, MD show is here), in support of their 2012 breakout album A Eulogy for the Damned. We sat down with singer Ben Ward and drummer Christopher Turner, and chatted about everything from tour riders to Adam and the Ants.
Welcome back to America!
Christopher Turner: Thanks!
Ben Ward: Thank you!
How are you finding touring in America different from touring in Europe?
BW: Well, obviously the drives are a lot bigger. There’s greater spaces between each city or town. That can be kind of draining each day but, you know, it’s part and parcel of it. I think hospitality riders in Europe are generally more generous than you get in America. Not to say that we’ve been not done by, but I think any American band that’s been to Europe will testify to that.
CT: This is the sixth time we’ve been here, so we’re a bit used to it.
BW: You know, we’re not strangers, we know what to expect. It’s just something we’ve learned to deal with.
If Jeff Spicoli was an actual person, in between partying and catching tasty waves, he would most definitely be listening to Fu Manchu. The California stoner rock outfit has been laying down heavy grooves since 1990, and Monday, 4/22 at the Black Cat, Fu Manchu took us back 16 years, playing all of 1997′s The Action Is Go album.
Local support for the night was handled by DC’s Borracho. By the time they took the stage, the small room was already gathering a decent crowd. With singer Noah Greenburg going on hiatus, the band continued on as a three-piece, with guitarist Steve Fisher taking the reins on vocals. With the mic above his head and pointing down, reminiscent of Lemmy, and a gruff snarl to match, Fisher led Borracho across their set like Hannibal leading his elephants through the Alps.
Mid-tempo songs and heavy, low, churning chords gave way occasionally to fast-paced neckbreakers, and back again. Bassist Tim Martin and drummer Mario Trubiano provided the audio equivalent of a thunderstorm and an earthquake, yet did it with a cool, focused calm about them. As the set went on, Borracho alternated between songs with and without vocals, and it made for a perfect mix of their material. As they closed their set with “Concentric Circles,” the crowd showed their appreciation for the hometown boys and began their mingling during the set break.
One of the most common questions people ask if they’ve never heard Clutch is “What kind of music do they play?” A knee-jerk response might be to label them as “stoner rock” or just “rock,” but Clutch is so much more, near impossible to put a label on.
Most of the time, the number one answer given is, “They sound like Clutch.” With an eclectic, never-duplicated sound that draws on many different styles and influences and makes it uniquely their own, Maryland’s heroes returned home to Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Saturday, to preach their gospel to the bearded masses.
First up for the night was Austin, TX retro-rockers Scorpion Child. When I say retro-rock, I mean it in every sense of the word: vintage clothes, vintage instruments, and the music, while played very well, seemed like an amalgam of any number of bands you’d hear on a classic rock radio station, with Led Zeppelin being the biggest flavor running through their sound. Singer Aryn Jonathan Black sounds like Robert Plant mixed with Billy Squier, and he and the band have drawn many comparisons to Zeppelin in the press.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate Scorpion Child – these guys can play. It’s just that every time I started to get into a song, I couldn’t help but feel like I had heard it before. With the talent these guys displayed, I would love to hear them come into their own and distance themselves from the obvious comparisons. Hopefully they will flourish and show us the first coming of Scorpion Child rather than the second coming of Led Zeppelin.
26 years ago, I was in 7th grade (insert old guy joke here). I was a little rebellious, listening to Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, and [gasp] Bon Jovi. Then I moved, met my friend Rick, and all that changed. After many days on the bus talking music, he floored me with this band called “Metallica.” After Kill ‘Em All made me rethink everything I thought I knew about music, he suggested a band called “Anthrax.” Back in ye olden days, anthrax was just a weird disease that cows got, not a weapon for terrorists. But the name sounded cool, so I picked up Among the Living, and my life was forever changed.
Fast forward to 2013, and Anthrax is on the road headlining the Metal Alliance tour, playing every song from their 1986 thrash metal classic. The crowd, a sea of long hair and a varied assortment of black t-shirts, slowly trickled in to the Fillmore Silver Spring as openers Holy Grail took the stage, playing a powerful mix of classic metal meets new thrash.
The enthusiasm and energy from these guys was overflowing, and every solo was a dual-guitar battle, with sweeping arpeggios their ammunition. Bassist Blake Mount was a dead ringer for Opie from Sons of Anarchy, and held down the rhythm while singer James Paul Luna made banging his head while singing long high notes an art form.
Ask anyone these days what comes to mind when you say “The Scorpions,” and your average music fan is going to answer with something along the lines of “Rock You Like a Hurricane” or “No One Like You.” For a number of die-hard fans, they will say “Go back to 1973…you’ll hear something very different.”
Those were the days when The Scorpions were a young, eager rock band from Germany, with burgeoning hits like “Speedy’s Coming” and “Steamrock Fever.” At the center of it all was guitar wizard Uli Jon Roth, a Hendrix-inspired, new breed of rock guitarist. After leaving the Scorpions of his own accord in 1978 (an amicable split due to artistic differences), Uli has carved his own unique path on his musical journey from seamlessly fusing rock and classical together, to creating his own unique brand of guitar, all while honing his craft to a master level.
We caught up with Uli Jon Roth during his stop at Sully’s in Chantilly, VA in February and what followed was an enlightening conversation about music, technology, and a bit of rock history.
Tell us about the current tour, and what you’ve been up to lately.
I’ve been up to quite a few things. The current tour has got one main theme, and that is my 40th anniversary with the Scorpions, meaning that I joined that band in 1973. In fact, it was not a band anymore. We reformed the band, it was only Rudolf [Schenker] left.
Really?
Yeah, the band had broken apart, and Rudolph was left, but there was still a record contract in existence. Somehow, we joined bands. My band, which was Dawn Road, and Rudolph became the new Scorpions. Then a little while later, Klaus joined again, because Klaus had kind of retired, withdrawn from the business all together. He became a little disillusioned with it I guess, but he came to the rehearsals and he really liked it, so then we were the new Scorpions. It was 1973, it was 40 years ago.
“I’m not even supposed to be here today.” Not since Dante uttered those words in Clerks has that statement meant so much, but it’s true. I was already lined up to cover another band at a larger, trendier venue. Then I got the email…”Would you be willing to cover Uli Jon Roth at Sully’s in Chantilly, VA?”
The surprise and joy I felt were immediate and overwhelming. He may not be prancing around at the Super Bowl Halftime Show or selling out huge venues, but this is Uli Jon Roth, guitarist for this little band from Germany that you might have heard of, The Scorpions.
Uli was guitarist, occasional singer and songwriter for the band from 1973 to 1978 (in the pre-“Rock You Like a Hurricane” days), recording classic early albums like Virgin Killer and Taken by Force. At Sully’s, the rock legend would forego his recent orchestral rock material and celebrate his 40th anniversary of The Scorpions, playing some songs that have never been played live before.
By now, the spectacle that is a live GWAR show has become the stuff of legend. The extra-terrestrial warriors from the planet Scumdogia (or Richmond, VA, depending on whom you ask) have been horrifying audiences since their debut album, Hell-O, was released in 1988. Much to their fans’ delight, their live show has gotten messier and more offensive with every passing year, and Thursday night (12/20) at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. was no exception.
December in D.C. has become something of a tradition for GWAR, with the visit being affectionately known as “Gwarmas.” (The occasional October visit is known as “Gwar-o-ween.”) As you entered the main floor of the 9:30, the first thing that you noticed is that the club had been GWAR-proofed, with massive plastic sheets hung covering the speakers and protecting the bars from the carnage. The mood in the air was celebratory, with everyone in attendance buzzing with excitement over what was about to transpire, except for the occasional skeptical glance from first-time attendees.
The bill was solely composed of bands from Richmond, VA, and first to take the stage was Iron Reagan, a hardcore/thrash crossover band featuring two members of Richmond thrashers Municipal Waste (vocalist Tony Foresta and guitarist Phil “LandPhil” Hall) and two former members of DC metal heroes Darkest Hour (drummer Ryan Parrish and bassist Paul Burnette).
On Sunday evening in the District of Columbia, Streetlight Manifesto returned to the 9:30 Club stage. With a feverish set of their signature ska-punk, this was a night that truly belonged to the horns.
Streetlight Manifesto has etched their own place in the music continuum, not quite a throwback to the third wave of ska in which they get lumped in (which peaked in the ’90s with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Goldfinger, and Reel Big Fish), yet not exactly a full-fledged member of the still-evolving fourth wave. Held together over the years vocalist/guitarist and founding member Tomas Kalnoky (the only constant member since the band’s inception in 2002), they have proven themselves true road warriors, and have made D.C. a regular stop on their travels.
As the doors opened at 6pm, presumably for a slightly younger crowd, a herd of fans eager to get out of the evening rain filed in and filled the venue in short order. As if the anticipation was just too much to bear, the evening kicked off to a slightly early start, with Lionize taking the stage just after the 7 o’clock hour.
The intergalactic warriors GWAR, from the planet way past Uranus called Scumdogia (also known as Richmond, VA) are returning to wreak havok on the innocent! The spectacle that is a GWAR show returns to the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on the eve of the Mayan apocalypse (12/20), and TVD has a pair of tickets for one lucky winner.
GWAR’s unique brand of satirical metal has been shocking and entertaining audiences since 1988, and their stage show has become the stuff of legend. Beheadings, meat grinders, dinosaurs, and monsters abound, and their shows never fail to sicken or disappoint (or at a minimum cover the audience in blood and gore).
Over the years, while keeping their sardonic sense of humor, their music has taken a much on heavier, thrashier, and more technical sound. Metalunderground.com proclaimed that “The music on ‘Bloody Pit of Horror’ is heavier and more complex than anything else the band has done in the past. The lower tuning used in the writing process creates intense heaviness, something even seasoned GWAR fans aren’t used to hearing from their favorite space marauders.”
