Last night i went to see a band that i was really into in high school. I always think that doing that kind of thing is a good idea, for some reason.
I'm talking about Sepultura. Back in high school i couldn't really afford a lot of CDs, but when i had money, that's what it went toward, generally. So often, if i'd find them at garage sales for, say, five bucks, i'd consider it a good investment almost regardless of what it was. I think that such was the tale for how i was exposed to Sepultura, when i grabbed Chaos A.D. for maybe two bucks. It had an interesting cover. I was into metal. Or so i thought. I'm not even going to tell you what my definition of "metal" would have been in high school (1999-2003, if you want to figure this out for yourself). Needless to say, Sepultura changed that. Chaos A.D. was unlike anything i'd heard at that point, and it was hypnotic, particularly the tracks Refuse/Resist and Biotech Is Godzilla.
I've since obtained about eight Sepultura albums, and in recent years my interest in them has waned. But, similar to the time i saw Meat Puppets a few years ago, when the opportunity to see them live came up, i decided that it was probably one of those things i should do before they die. After all, Sepultura formed the same year that i was born.
The first band, Havok, was alright. Nothing to write home about, but they did the job. Thomas was really excited about them, Bob thought they were ok, and that covers my group pretty well. It should be noted that Bob and Thomas are both members of my band, damidol.
I don't even remember the name of the second band, but we all thought they were boring, for speed metal. Their songs all sounded the same, and caused me to remark to Bob, "I've been watching their guitarist. Why do we play punk music? Metal seems easier." Midway through their set, Thomas had somehow started talking to these two middle-aged women standing near us, and disappeared with them toward the bar. When they were done playing, Bob and i ventured toward the bar. We learned that one of these women was Sepultura's accountant, and the other was her friend, who is a doctor. They were good company, we chatted throughout the lull in the show and partway through the next band, Death Angel. They bought us some drinks. Death Angel was pretty good, good stage presence, good music. Thomas and i did some moshing. Blah blah blah. I guess i don't really have much to say about it.
So when Sepultura came on, fulfilling a desire i've harbored for over a decade, an emotion swelled up from my guts, fully encompassing me. It was disappointment.
When your drummer has the most stage presence of the band, and your singer, who is not also playing an instrument, has the least, something's wrong. I mean, these guys played fast and heavy, just like i expected and just like i wanted to hear, but onstage, they mostly just stand there. Their vocalist, Derrick Green, is great while he's singing, but when he's not, he just kind of stands there and either bangs his head (just his head...his body doesn't move), or air drums. Air drums! Think about that for a minute.
Are you picturing a gigantic black man air drumming while two old hispanic guys rock out on either side of him with a shirtless white 20-year-old beats the fuck out of real drums behind him?
Also i'm a little bitter because, for the first hour of the set, there were these two guys standing right in front of me that kept carelessly backing into me, which was inconsiderate enough considering i had my back to a wall and i was there first, but they kept talking to each other the whole time. I'd try to move left or right a bit to get away from them, but they'd fucking move with me! It was really infuriating because, of course, i was trying to bootleg the show and was holding my H2 right at about shoulder level, or right where their stupid conversation was taking place. I haven't listened to my recording yet, but i really hope they're not prominent or anything.
They played Refuse/Resist second, and they didn't play Biotech Is Godzilla...but they did play Territory so i'm pretty ok with that. They played a two song encore, and after the first one, Derrick Green was trying to incite the audience to shout along with the last song, whether they knew the words or not. I turned to Thomas and shrugged, saying, "Biotech Is Godzilla?" He gave me the toothy, sympathetic "no fucking way" grin and shook his head, because of course it was Roots.
All in all, they played for just over an hour and a half, which certainly isn't bad, and they still sound great almost three decades in, and for a band with no original members left (i know Paulo Jr. has played bass on all of their albums, but he missed the founding of the band by i think about a year), but they just don't put on an exciting show.
And, for the record, Biotech is STILL Godzilla.
I'm talking about Sepultura. Back in high school i couldn't really afford a lot of CDs, but when i had money, that's what it went toward, generally. So often, if i'd find them at garage sales for, say, five bucks, i'd consider it a good investment almost regardless of what it was. I think that such was the tale for how i was exposed to Sepultura, when i grabbed Chaos A.D. for maybe two bucks. It had an interesting cover. I was into metal. Or so i thought. I'm not even going to tell you what my definition of "metal" would have been in high school (1999-2003, if you want to figure this out for yourself). Needless to say, Sepultura changed that. Chaos A.D. was unlike anything i'd heard at that point, and it was hypnotic, particularly the tracks Refuse/Resist and Biotech Is Godzilla.
I've since obtained about eight Sepultura albums, and in recent years my interest in them has waned. But, similar to the time i saw Meat Puppets a few years ago, when the opportunity to see them live came up, i decided that it was probably one of those things i should do before they die. After all, Sepultura formed the same year that i was born.
The first band, Havok, was alright. Nothing to write home about, but they did the job. Thomas was really excited about them, Bob thought they were ok, and that covers my group pretty well. It should be noted that Bob and Thomas are both members of my band, damidol.
I don't even remember the name of the second band, but we all thought they were boring, for speed metal. Their songs all sounded the same, and caused me to remark to Bob, "I've been watching their guitarist. Why do we play punk music? Metal seems easier." Midway through their set, Thomas had somehow started talking to these two middle-aged women standing near us, and disappeared with them toward the bar. When they were done playing, Bob and i ventured toward the bar. We learned that one of these women was Sepultura's accountant, and the other was her friend, who is a doctor. They were good company, we chatted throughout the lull in the show and partway through the next band, Death Angel. They bought us some drinks. Death Angel was pretty good, good stage presence, good music. Thomas and i did some moshing. Blah blah blah. I guess i don't really have much to say about it.
So when Sepultura came on, fulfilling a desire i've harbored for over a decade, an emotion swelled up from my guts, fully encompassing me. It was disappointment.
When your drummer has the most stage presence of the band, and your singer, who is not also playing an instrument, has the least, something's wrong. I mean, these guys played fast and heavy, just like i expected and just like i wanted to hear, but onstage, they mostly just stand there. Their vocalist, Derrick Green, is great while he's singing, but when he's not, he just kind of stands there and either bangs his head (just his head...his body doesn't move), or air drums. Air drums! Think about that for a minute.
Are you picturing a gigantic black man air drumming while two old hispanic guys rock out on either side of him with a shirtless white 20-year-old beats the fuck out of real drums behind him?
Also i'm a little bitter because, for the first hour of the set, there were these two guys standing right in front of me that kept carelessly backing into me, which was inconsiderate enough considering i had my back to a wall and i was there first, but they kept talking to each other the whole time. I'd try to move left or right a bit to get away from them, but they'd fucking move with me! It was really infuriating because, of course, i was trying to bootleg the show and was holding my H2 right at about shoulder level, or right where their stupid conversation was taking place. I haven't listened to my recording yet, but i really hope they're not prominent or anything.
They played Refuse/Resist second, and they didn't play Biotech Is Godzilla...but they did play Territory so i'm pretty ok with that. They played a two song encore, and after the first one, Derrick Green was trying to incite the audience to shout along with the last song, whether they knew the words or not. I turned to Thomas and shrugged, saying, "Biotech Is Godzilla?" He gave me the toothy, sympathetic "no fucking way" grin and shook his head, because of course it was Roots.
All in all, they played for just over an hour and a half, which certainly isn't bad, and they still sound great almost three decades in, and for a band with no original members left (i know Paulo Jr. has played bass on all of their albums, but he missed the founding of the band by i think about a year), but they just don't put on an exciting show.
And, for the record, Biotech is STILL Godzilla.
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