Yesterday was the day of the Mudvayne show I’d previously mentioned. I managed to get out of work a few hours early and met up with Rick over in St. Paul. We had a few minutes to kill before our interview was scheduled, so we walked around looking for a bathroom and eventually found a door that was open.
Rick gave Chad, Mudvayne’s tour manager, a call and he told us to meet him at the rear entrance near the buses. Rick and I walked right up to the loading door and were stopped by security. Once we let the guard know we were there for the interview, he let us stand there. We stood around for quite awhile, I think about 45 minutes total. During that time we watched a couple vans drive up and drop people and stuff off. There was quite a bit of activity. We could see the side of the stage from where we were at. They were doing some sound checking. I’m sure quite a few members of the bands walked by us and we didn’t even notice. Finally Rick and I got impatient of waiting around for Chad. Rick gave him a call again and turns out he’d walked past us twice without even knowing it. He told us we needed to make our way to Mudvayne’s dressing room and he’d make sure Matt got over there.
We went in and knocked on their dressing room door. A roadie-looking guy with a big beard came out and asked us what we wanted. We told him, and he went and got Matt. His one request was “no makeup questions.” This was pretty funny to me since I’d put out a request for some questions a few days earlier on the DecoyMusic forums and specifically said I wasn’t going to ask the makeup question. The few replies I got were “ask them why they stopped wearing makeup.” Anyway, I had a few questions on touring that Matt answered. Rick decided to ask a few questions on what Matt liked to do besides music. We found out he’s into art history and does a lot of reading on the subject. We also found that he’s a HUGE comic book collector. Rick was stoked about that and the entire rest of the interview consisted of those 2 discussing various comic books, artists, writers, series’, and so on. Pretty boring stuff for me, but it was cool to see how into the conversation they both got. Matt even pulled out his laptop to show us a few pictures of his collections. In the end, I think we ended up with a really unique interview. As Rick reminded me, it was my first one, so I had plenty of learning to do. Next time, I think I’ll limit myself to a couple music related questions and try to ask other things. Now that I think about it, bands probably get asked that kind of stuff in EVERY interview and rarely get to talk about anything else. Being that they’re people just like you and me, I’m sure they don’t like to talk about music ALL the time. Matt seemd to open up quite a bit.
After the interview, Rick and I headed out to find some food before the show. We had a little over an hour and it was really nice out for March in MN. Having been around downtown St. Paul a few times, I knew there’s not a lot for fast food. We managed to find a little Dairy Queen stand, but they didn’t have a grill. Besides ice cream, the only food they had were microwaved hot dogs. I scarfed a chili-cheese dog and a pop which I would regret later.
Doors were at 6, so we headed into the Rivercentre about quarter to. The types of people these shows attract is always quite interesting. Rick touched on that quite a bit in his blog, but I have a few thoughts too. Generally there’s the stereotypical metal kids there; males ages 16 to 22 wearing black t-shirts and long hair. Of course there are females there too, but they’re usually overweight and goth looking. Needless to say, I’ve never picked up a girl at a metal show. Then there’s always a few people who don’t fit the mold at all. I used to think they were posers but I’ve learned they’re usually the most sane people there. They just don’t care if they’re wearing black. Of course we saw all of this and more just waiting to get in.
Once the doors opened, past the overpriced merch booth and went right for the front of the stage. I was surprised Rick followed me as he usually prefers to hang more towards the back. We surveyed the crowd some more and found some interesting characters. There was drunken “CB or CD” (not really sure because of his drunken slur) who told us repeatedly how “hardcore” he was. He cited examples of this being he’d seen Gwar cut the heads off several political figures and celebrities and had blood spit on him by Rob Zombie’s guitarist. He really didn’t know anything about any of the opening bands except for they were surely “hardcore.” He thought Mudvayne was awesome though because they don’t just scream in words he can’t understand. I bored talking to him quite quickly, so I was happy to see him get distracted by a balloon.
Finally, (it always seems like such a long time) Bloodsimple took the stage. Having seen Mudvayne and American Head Charge several times before, and not giving a shit about Life of Agony I was most excited to see them. They did not disappoint. I felt bad they didn’t get much time on stage nor did they recieve the respect from the crowd that they deserved. However, their CD was just released on Tuesday so it wasn’t a huge surprise they didn’t have much of a fan base. They ripped through about 8 songs in 25 min without much chatter between. My enjoyment was somewhat diminished by another very drunk guy who was failing to stand on his own two feet. He must have decided that Rick and I looked like a good place to support himself. We tolerated it through the first band and kindly asked him to stop.
Grade: B-
Life of Agony came on next. At first I was thinking they were American Head Charge because AHC had gone through so many lineup changes since I’d last seen them. Rick quickly set me straight though. Plain and simple, they do not belong on this tour. Their brand of rock isn’t nearly heavy and dark enough. I imagine they got the slot because they share a label with Mudvayne and putting them on tour might help to reintroduce them to the scene. I’m not sure that most of the people there knew they’re old veterans of the business. Their guitarist was much better in Stereomud and the lead singer kept berating members of the crowd with the phrase “You’d never make it one day in New York brother.” Not really sure what that was all about, but it wasn’t aimed at me. Their set was slightly longer than Bloodsimple, but much less entertaining.
Grade: F
This time their was an excessively long wait for the set change. I think the problem was with one of the guitar heads. I’m not sure if American Head Charge will always be playing 2nd slot on this tour or if they were upgraded because they were in their home town. They came out and ripped through 3 or 4 songs from their first album. Hearing the old songs gave me that nostalgic feel. It definately picked me up a bit for the rest of their set. I wasn’t too interested in any of their new material though. The drunk guy I mentioned previously decided he wanted to get a spot on the rail, so I spent a good portion of the set fighting him. He managed to dig his knuckles into my lower back and give me a few bruises, but nothing I couldn’t shake off. AHC’s lead singer made a few forays into the crowd and managed to lose a mic and both shoes. One shoe came back, the other didn’t and the mic I found was taken by a fan in the crowd who I talked to after their set. They played through the 2nd half of the song with the mic and without shoes. A tech hooked up a new mic and the band played on. The crowd was pretty rowdy for their whole set and it definately kicked my ass.
Grade: C+
Rick, who was standing pretty close behind me during AHC had disappeared. I decided I wanted to stay right front and center for Mudvayne since that’s who I’d really come to see. As the break went on, I got more and more thirsty and I became increasingly aware of the chili-cheese dog in my stomach. I thought about leaving, but figured I could make it through a few songs. Drunk guy had moved far enough away that he wasn’t a bother anymore. Mudvayne started their set with Determined, a new song. The lyrics aren’t very impressive especially knowing what Chad, the lead singer, is capable of penning, but the song is fast paced and heavy so it got the crowd moving. Right away Chad pounded his head with the mic and was bleeding. It didn’t seem to bother him so much though and it looked rather menacing. Matt had informed me in our interview that they’d be playing a 14 song set with 4 new songs. The other new songs were Happy, Fall Into Sleep, and TV Radio. About halfway through their set, I was so beat and thirsty enough that I pushed my way to the back and found a drinking fountain. I remained towards the back and just took it easy for the rest of the show. I really wish I could’ve stayed right up front, but the crowd was getting to me. From where I was standing I couldn’t see much of what the drummer or the bassist (my two favorite members in the band) were really doing, so I just kinda watched the people and listened to the music. There were a couple moron’s who put on makeup like the band used to wear. I don’t know why they thought that was cool especially since the band themselves don’t like it. I did see a few decent looking girls though which surprised me. They must have snuck in after Rick and I got in. Mudvayne finished up their set with Dig, which the crowd was asking for all night. Listening to that song, I really noticed how different their newer songs were.
Grade: B+
Overall I really enjoyed the sets by Bloodsimple and Mudvayne. AHC and LoA were a different story, but I still found things I liked about each set. I’m not usually the type of person to let people get to me; especially people at shows who I’ll never see again. But that drunk dude was pissing me off entirely too long. Judging from the reactions of those around me, I wasn’t alone in my thinking either. I usually look forward to meeting cool people at shows who show me the same respect I show them, but I’d forgotten what a beast mainstream metal can be.
Overall Grade: C
Right on time, Walls of Jericho took the stage. I hadn’t heard any of their music before, but I’d heard they had a female lead singer. It surprised me to find out she can growl just as feirce as the boys in her genre. By the 2nd or 3rd song all of their material started sounding the same and I started getting bored. The pit was in full swing though and provided enough entertainment until they finished up. I am thinking they deserve a D, but their lead singer is kinda hot in the goth chick sorta way. So I gave them a little bump…
After the set up time, Scars of Tomorrow took the stage. I was actually wanting to see these guys ever since I reviewed them last summer. They’re crushingly brutal on their CD, but I wasn’t sure it’d translate very well live. They put on a decent show, but not being too familar with their songs, I became bored once again and started watching the hardcore dancing in the pit. I did notice the quality of dancing had improved since last I saw a show. Looks like the hardcore kids have been practicing.
Going into the show, I was excited to see Unearth. Rick had been doing some Atreyu bashing which I was trying to ignore, but I think it got to me a little as I was more excited for Unearth than Atreyu. Unearth came out and busted right into “The Great Dividers.” The floor opened up twice as big as it had been all night. I was eating up every second they were on stage. Both guitarists managed to do a beer bong and then rip a fantastic solo immediately after. The best part was when the two guitarists and the bassist all stood in a circle and played each other’s guitars. From front to back their whole set was solid. They played a good mix of material from both albums although there was slightly more from The Oncoming Storm. These guys definately rocked my face off and then some. If you get the chance to see them and you are at all a fan, DO IT.
Finally at the headlining portion of the show, Atreyu took the stage. I’d had enough of just standing around for the night. I asked Rick to watch my jacket and headed downstairs. Right away I hopped into the pit and started hardcore dancing. About 20 seconds after I got in, I got kicked in the head and decided to just go up front. I pushed my way in, and was 3 to 4 people back from the railing for most of the rest of the show. I don’t know if it was Rick getting to me even more, but I just wasn’t into most of Atreyu’s set. They put on a good show. Very high energy with lots of crowd participation, but I just wasn’t feeling it. They played several songs off of Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, but the majority of their material was from their latest album. They ended with “Lipgloss and Black,” but were cheered back onstage for the encore. Predictably, they closed with “You Gave Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi. There was something strange about a bunch of hardcore kids rocking out to a song from the 1980’s. For the last bit of the song, they did bring out all the bands on stage to help them sing. I got a good high five from Trevor of Unearth at the end of the song.
