Overdue Review of Adult Swim Metalocalypse Tour: Dethklok and Mastodon, October 17, 2009

All righty, moving along with our overdue reviews. I'm working on Iris to do the Indigenous review because she knows a lot more about that band than I do. Come back, Iris!

So if you're familiar with Dethklok and Mastodon as well as opening bands High on Fire and Converge, you might be thinking, gee, Maise, that doesn't seem like your musical genre. You're right; it's not. I drag Mr. Maise to so many concerts and social events that every now and then I choose to do something that he would actually enjoy doing. Sometimes this means that I sit through Ozzfest in 118-degree heat or endure an evening of Godsmack. And he's been kind of going through a country music phase lately, so in comparison to some of the things he could drag me to, a Dethklok show is a piece of cake because I do enjoy the show Metalocalypse on Adult Swim. It's kind of a hard show to describe, but it involves the exploits of Dethklok, a metal band with endearingly stupid members. Somehow a sinister group of world leaders and religious figures fears the power that Dethklok has over its fans, so they always have some sort of plot to take down the oblivious members of this band. And their concerts are always extravagant, resulting in the gruesome deaths of audience members...like I said, it's kind of hard to explain, but here's the theme song and a little clip, just to give you an idea, if you haven't seen it before:



In one of my favorite little scenes, bass player Murderface encounters the "rock and roll clown," Dr. Rockso:



So obviously since this is an animated band, I was expecting something along the line of the Gorillaz. Animation playing on the screen to a live accompaniment. Since death metal isn't really my thing, as I explained above, I figured that at least I would have something to look at. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the show as much as I did. However, there were some opening acts to endure first.

The first act, High on Fire, was actually pretty good. I certainly didn't hate them. It's not necessarily something I'd listen to on my own, and it kind of felt like A Day in the Life of Dan Angel, but considering it was a metal opening band that I've never heard before, I felt pretty fortunate. Their songs had some melody, which is optional when you're dealing with the "cookie monster metal" bands. Here's a general example.



Next up was Converge. You probably wouldn't peg the members of this band as death metal types. They are short-haired and look a little like frat boys (except with more tattoos). The lead singer's vocal stylings sound EXACTLY like my male dog barking. EXACTLY. It's a lot of "WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!!!!!" Needless to say, the lyrics of their songs are completely unintelligible, and I started to get bored with them very quickly.



Mastodon was up next, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. They sort of reminded me of Metallica, when Metallica was good. They played "Crack the Skye" for us, their concept album that is kind of about some guy in a coma and Rasputin. They had some cool imagery for us to look at...scenes that seemed to come out of an old B-movie, psychedelic pictures of Rasputin holding bears on leashes, interstellar travel, and other trippy stuff. But I could really only handle an hour of them. They played "Crack the Skye" all the way through, and then they started playing older stuff, I presume. But I needed to take a break in the lobby because I was starting to get antsy, and they were really LOUD. So loud. OMG. This concert had me feeling my age, that's for damn sure. I had forgotten ear plugs, which I normally don't have to wear at shows, but this was just way beyond my comfort level. I could have sworn that my ears were about to start bleeding at some point.

Here's a clip of Mastodon live, to give you the general idea:



With the surprisingly painless (well, except for my ears) opening bands out of the way, I was eagerly anticipating Dethklok. They opened, naturally, with the Dethklok theme. In this video, you can get a better look at the guys actually playing the music; they seem unlikely candidates for the creators of heavy metal:



Brendon Small, one of the series' creators, writes and performs all the music and does the voices for at least three of the Dethklok members. I have a hard time believing that the voice of Nathan Explosion, Dethklok's lead singer, comes out of his mouth. If you've ever seen Small's work on another animated series, "Home Movies," you'd probably find it even more surprising. He would occasionally banter with the crowd, using the different character voices. It always fascinates me to see a real live person talking in a famous cartoon voice...maybe that's just me.

They played a lot of songs from their first album, accompanied by videos, which were, like the show, grotesque and hilarious and kind of epic. I'll post a couple of my favorites here. These two had me laughing out loud while totally rocking out.



This one, in particular, is the perfect theme song for the health care debate. I'll post the lyrics below because I never have any idea what "Nathan" is saying:



Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug
Pull the plug

I drove my truck into a moving van
It was all filled up with jet fuel and
I crashed right in and explosion
Smash through the window and ripped off my hands

Medical team drove up and found me
Bleeding in pieces picked up off the street
Drove me into a filthy hospital
Horror experienced financially

Woke up in pain in a gown in bed
Internal hemorrhaging inside my head
I really think that I should be dead
I saw the bill and then I cry bled

To keep me alive it is costing me
National deficit times three
There is no way to avoid this fee
Please pull the plug and kill me

It's costing too much

Pull the plug plug

Aneurysm
Botulism
Epilepsy
Narcolepsy
Pull the plug

Nearsighted
Breath lighted
Cataracts
Heart attacks
Pull the plug

Hepatitis
Bronchitis
Appendicitis
Arthritis
Pull the plug

Encephalitis
Adenitus
Mastoiditus
Capsulitus

Pull the plug

Pay you my life instead of life support
Harvest my plasma because it's worth more
Take all my blood and my organs
Sell them to buyers over in third worlds

Burn my cadaver for some energy
Charge the patients in their misery
Such a strong quarter for the industry
Pharmaceutical fucking victory

Can't pay the price
Pull the plug
Pay with my life
Pull the plug
Say my farewell
Pull the plug
See you in hell
Fucking pull the plug

So. Fucking. Brilliant.

So although this was an evening I originally thought that I was going to tolerate at best, I had a great time. Mr. Maise enjoyed himself too, and it was actually something that he wanted to do, for a change. I'd highly recommend checking out Dethklok, primarily for the experience of the animation + live music. Plus, if you don't already watch Metalocalypse and think that might be your absurdist cup of tea, I'd recommend that as well. I'm kind of hooked now, myself.

Any pleasant surprises in your lives lately?

NIN Live at the Charter One Pavilion, Chicago 5/29/09

And now, finally, we can talk about the concert itself!

I was deeply concerned as the crowd started to gather and the sun set. My limping and hobbling was only getting worse, and I had several more hours to stand on my blistered feet. In addition, my headache wasn't improving, despite the regular Tylenol dosing and eating a million-dollar cheeseburger. The ear-shattering noise of a NIN concert was surely a one-way ticket to Migraine-land. I was never prone to this condition when I was younger, but I am sadly afflicted now, and I was worried that to counter the ecstasy and joy of the meet-and-greet and soundcheck, I would be spending the next few hours in agony until I barfed with an aching head. What I really wanted was a dark room, a cold compress, and silence. For this reason alone, I was not particularly looking forward to Street Sweeper Social Club.

As lead vocalist Boots Reilly is fond of proclaiming, "The Street Sweeper Social Club is more than a band--it's a social club." It's also more than a social club; it is also apparently an analgesic, as I swear my headache completely disappeared by the time they were finished with their half-hour set. I attribute my miracle cure to the fact that I had so much fun watching them. They sound quite a bit like Rage Against the Machine to my ears, except perhaps...less enraged and dancier. Don't get me wrong, Tom Morello is still committed to any number of leftist social causes, and part of the purpose of Street Sweeper Social Club is to bring awareness to these causes, but Boots Reilly (who I SWEAR looks just like the dearly departed Warrick on CSI) won't stop the show in order to rant and preach, a la our friend Zack de la Rocha. Tom Morello still does amazing things with his guitar, and Boots has some pretty sweet moves.

Here they are, performing "100 Little Curses":



Okay, doesn't that just melt your fucking face off? Seriously, it was love at first sight, and I was not at all in the mood for an opening band when they first took the stage. I don't really know the lyrics to this song, but even if it's just as commie pinko as anything RATM made (and mind you, I'm a hemorrhaging-heart liberal), it's just so...fun. Street Sweeper Social Club's album comes out on June 19th, I believe, and I definitely will be getting it and look forward to seeing them again in concert soon.

Now that I look back on it, this last NIN show was kind of a bittersweet blur. Although I strongly doubt that it's the last time I'll ever see Trent Reznor on a stage, I think he's giving himself permission to retire the old chestnuts. (Unless he's hard up at any point and needs a cash infusion with a "reunion" tour) And I'm fine with that. I mean, after eight live shows in a relatively short period of time, even I am like, "Oh God, 'Suck' again?!" I can't even imagine how repetitive it gets for Trent and the band on one tour, let alone all the touring that's been done since 2004-ish. On the other hand, these songs are so close to my heart and have been and continue to be like friends in my times of need, that it's sad to reflect on the fact that this may very well be the last time that I will be so transported to a place of elation and excitement. Because I was seriously blissed out through this entire show. I thought of all the times I've been in some hardcore emotional pain, shouting along with these songs in the car, except in concert it just feels like tremendous happiness and catharsis, and no matter how many times I hear them live or how some idiot goes "WHOO!" at the wrong part or some eight-foot-tall guy blocks my view of the band, these songs will always belong to me in a very deep and personal way. And these songs will belong to everyone else in similar ways, I expect. And it's sad to see Trent put them away in a cardboard box and go on to his new and contented life, but I try to keep in mind that I will still have these songs when I need them, right on my ipod. Trent's like The Electric Grandmother in that way. (And that movie always made me cry, incidentally.) And that's probably the first and last time Trent has ever been compared to The Electric Grandmother.

Anyway.

Here is the setlist, courtesy of "stealth_" at nin.com because my blissed out state prevented me from taking on any secretarial duties:

"Somewhat Damaged
Terrible Lie
Heresy
March of the Pigs
Piggy (regular)
Metal
The Becoming
I'm Afraid of Americans
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Gone, Still
The Way Out is Through
Wish
Survivalism
Mr. Self Destruct
Suck
The Day the World Went Away
Hurt
The Hand that Feeds
Head like a Hole"

A solid, hard-hitting line-up. You'll notice something missing, though. Hmmmm...

NO "PHYSICAL (YOU'RE SO)". I PHYSICALLY asked Trent to play "PHYSICAL" and was in PHYSICAL pain all throughout the show, and I was denied. Bah! And to rub it in, he played it the next night! Whatevs, Old Man Reznor, I prefer the l'orangerie stank version anyway. So there.

One thing did make up for this minor disappointment, however. (And I wasn't REALLY expecting him to take requests, after all). That was this song:



What a pleasant surprise! I've heard David Bowie play this live in the past, but not Trent. You'll notice at the beginning of the clip, Trent was bitching about the weather because he seems to be under the impression that May 29 = Summer in Chicago. No, sir. May 29 = Not As Likely To Snow. Summer doesn't begin until somewhere around June 30th or so.

A new song for me was a cover of Gary Numan's "Metal":



I'm not the big Gary Numan expert, so I don't have a lot of analysis to provide, but watching this video is causing me to dance at my desk here at work. Ahem.

The Downward Spiral was well-represented in this show. How awesome is it to hear "Heresy" again?



Also, they have a new and improved intro to "Mr. Self Destruct" these days:



Didn't we just have an Anonymous bitching that he/she heard from someone else that the show wasn't good? This person called Trent Reznor a "donkey," so I can only presume that it's Gordon Ramsey. Well, I can inform you, and I hope that you can tell from the clips above, that all of the old passion was there, even though Trent's voice did sound kind of raggedy. This could just be a natural result of screaming his head off every night while on tour for the better part of five years, or maybe he was catching Robin's illness. But at no point did I feel like he was phoning it in. Jesus, there's no pleasing some people.

We also heard some "Fragile" favorites, including, surprisingly "The Fragile." I know it's probably like the fangirl anthem because it's as close to a love song as classic NIN gets, but I've always loved it and was happy to finally hear it live. Some good jamming goes on during "The Day The World Went Away." (Made me feel like I was watching the Terminator: Salvation trailer):



As usual, Trent wasn't terribly chatty during the show, but we did get this speech from him:



Oh hey, Trent! I noticed that you screwed up the lyrics to "Terrible Lie," and now I'm BLOGGING about it. Mwa ha ha ha ha!

So yeah, I think about wraps it up, unless Iris or Ro can think of anything to add. I'm very grateful to Trent for the music, the shows, the entire Maise experience. It's led me to meet some very cool people and go to very cool places. I hope he enjoys his break, has fun with his dogs and fiancee, rests his voice, and gives us something new to talk about very soon.

But of course, we'll carry on here at Places Parallel. There's other music out there to discuss, even if it's not nearly as fun as talking about NIN. We've got Lollapalooza coming up this summer. And I'm sure something or other Trent says on Twitter will bring the Anonymi out of the woodwork. So never fear, friends! It's not the end of the road for US!



(oh, and always, more pictures to be found here.)