Tag Archives: las vegas

Cradle of Filth House of Blue 2/16/2016

Cradle of Filth had finally made their way back to America for their Witches of Hammer Tour. For those of you who do not know, the last time that Cradle was set to have an American tour they were not able to because America would not grant them visa's which is very confusing because their on stage performance does nothing that is offensive. Anyways the wait was well worth it, with an added date to Vegas it was quite a performance.

This was by far one of the barest sets I have seen, the only thing that was on stage was the very intense drum set, the amps that come with the venue, a rounded keyboard, a ramp underneath the banner and the banner itself. This is not to say that the stage was not full of entertainment, it just was not about the antics that the band could provide the audience but rather it was about what the band was playing. When you are listening to Cradle of Filth there is a certain type of expectation to hear the famous scream, much like Courtney Love, one expects to hear it and Filth did not let anyone down. In fact his vocals was so much better then any album he had put out. The fact that he can hit such high notes is amazing but to have the moment to check it off of a personal bucket list is always amazing. It is not only Filth that can those lovely notes but female vocalist and keyboard player Lindsay Schoolcraft. The two of them singing together for songs like “Nymphetamine”. This might have been an encore song but it by far stole the show. It is one thing to hear it on a record but another to hear it in person and the band had SLAYED this song. I was getting snapchats of this song from friends who went to other shows.

Aside from playing such classic the band had also played new songs off their album. For me one of the things I like is when the set seamless flows into one another, new and old, which is the case for the Cradle set. The way that it had flowed together was intertwining the old with the new which helps fans who have not had a chance to purchase the new album know what they are missing out on and that they need to go out and buy it 5 minutes ago. One of the nice thing about the guitarist and bass players is how they perform on stage. They did some of the head banging but they also played in a straight line stiffly but with creepy stares and smiles embodying the melody and lyrics of the song. It was pretty cool to see something different but something that had worked well with the flow of the music. It sets them apart from other bands who do nothing but head-bang.

The show was a great one to attend and it hurts my soul that this was not a sold out concert because by all means it should have been. Hearing songs like “Malice Through The Looking Glass” and “Gilded Cunt” where amazing and more people should have been there to witness such an event. On a side note I did buy the Jesus is a Cunt shirt and I will proudly wear that to various function and laugh at the gasp that it will receive.

Meth the stupidest drug I’ve had to DEAL with

Las Vegas is not a city that would be described as the nicest place to live. Outside of the strip most of it is ghetto. I am a student at UNLV, I am taking 5 classes, 4 lit classes and philosphy. This is not an easy load I read anywhere from 500-800 pages a week if not more and I write a lot of papers that require a lot of thought plus I work as a nanny and I help her with her homework. This is a lot of work to do not to mention I work in this. I normally don't complain, I'm tired a lot and I know I have to do all of this in order to get to where I want to go but what I DO NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH its dumbasses on drugs. I live close to campus and this is not the best apartment building but as a student working this is the best that I can afford. I live in an apartment where I shared a bathroom and a kitchen. This is not much different then my friends who shares a house and a bathroom its just that this is an aparment and this is also what I can afford.

The woman who moved in next to me after the craziest person I have ever meet happened to be a meth addict. When I came home from Korn I was unlucky enought to be standing in my door way when she decided to start smoking meth in the bathroom. My entire apartment was full of meth smoke. After calling the cops and waiting three hourse just to get an event card, the cops told me that they did not know what meth smelt like and that they wouldn't do any thing about it. Lucky me. The main represcussion of this was that I got a bad contact high from being in my own apartment. I have never smoked meth nor wanted to, many of my friends, best friend included, was addict to meth by the time I was 17/18, I hate meth more then I hate anything else and here I am high on meth something I vowed I would never do. Just the contact high from it was awful and I know that you would think it would be hard to get a contact high from it but let me tell you its not. Since I have "emotional problems" it caused my anxiety,depression and paic problems to sky rocket. And by that I mean I was having 4 panic attacks a day because I was coming down from this awful drug. I went to see my doctor because it scared me and I thought well maybe I was over reacting. Turns out I wasn't. Apparetly this can happen to people like me because of how badly the druge fucks with your brain chemicals, so people like me have a sevre reaction when we inhale something likes this. Even a contact high did this to me. Another week goes by and I have no been able to move or anything then I come home from Skinny Puppy with my entire apartment full of white meth smoke. Called the cops and they still did nothing so another week high on meth. Two weeks of my life was wasted from a contact high from one of these worst drugs. This was top 2 worst experience of my life. My whole life was interrupted to the point where I could not function at my normal anything. I luckily moved out but at what cost? I just wanted to make people aware of what the drug was like, effects wise on me, to people that have never dealt with that. Within that two weeks my breathing, and mental state was tampered with. I think that there should be more ways to do something about it for people like me who have to walk in to it but apparently there isn't. So it goes.

Korn featuring Suicide Silence 10/23

Suicide Silence was the second band to play before Korn at the House of Blues on October 23^rd. The stage was set up for Korn so there was not a lot of space to be had for the fairly large band but that did not stop them from keeping up a high energy. The band all moved all over the small HOB stage with the many amps that had accompanied the stage. They played a fairly large selections of songs from their discography including new ones like “You Can't Stop Me”. Probably the most energetic on stage was lead singer Eddie Hermida. He moved around everywhere and it some times it seemed rather spastic but not in a negative way, more in the sense that he was correlating how he felt with the music.

Death Metal has some of the best riffs and to see the various guitarists play them and hear it in person is quite amazing. During song “Inherit the Crown”, these plays were very apparent. It is always nice to hear things in person because it demonstrates the technical skill that is require for such bands. Some people get held up by how hard it is to hear what the band is singing and they forget to listen to the music. Death Metal has such a technical play that is listening to the music is as important as listening to the lyrics. As a standard theme of the night was how low the bass player could get onto the ground before they were simply laying there playing. It is amazing how far a player can get and still play. That in itself is some skill. This was a sold out show on the bottom so it was wall to wall people who were excited to be there and the band was equally excited to be playing on stage.

After Suicide Silence had finished there set, Korn came on to play. This was not some ordinary tour, this was the celebration of the 20^th anniversary of their first album so for their main set it was just 15 songs that made us love Korn. It was amazing to see play. There was a lot of excitement from the crowd and despite the dumb ass next to me who came only to hear hits, Korn was playing to a very happy crowd. The walls literally vibrated with their set. Since it was a packed show it was hard for me to see much of the set since I am 5'4 and I hate being in the middle of a crowd. (which seems odd being a concert journalist). Despite that the little things I could see inbetween people shoulders were that of a band that was playing an album in pure gratitude of the fans that had gotten them to this 20^th land mark.

The song that seemed to have every railed up, myself included was when Jonathon Davis came out playing the bag pipes for “Shoots and Ladders”. This was a song that I was wondering how it was going to be done, was he going to come out and play? What was going to happen? Once Davis hit the stage with the first notes of the bag pipes, the crowd went completely wild. Everyone around was freaking out because this was one of those moments that we all knew would be a rarity. This is the first time I have seen Korn so I don't know how often he plays this song but it does not matter, the fact is that is a hard instrument to play and we all got to be a witness to it.

After the amazing full length album set, Korn came out for their encore and played some of their hits which people want to see when they hear Korn is playing. It is appreciative that they added these songs on to an already long set list. There was no slacking when these songs played but rather the same amount of love and consideration was given to these songs much like the ones that had gotten them this far. Over all it was a great show for the bands that had taken the stage that night.

Skinny Puppy The Hard Rock Live Las Vegas 10/30

Skinny Puppy started their tour Down the Socio Path with Youth Code at the Hard Rock live on all Hallows eve this year. Youth code is a band that they have toured with before so it was not like they were uncomfortable or nervous to be opening for such a band. I would like to start off by saying that lead singer should not have told us that they were not going to be at their best because her band member hurt is back. They played just fine and none of us would have said a damn thing because there was nothing that needed to be said. I would to have know there was a difference. I feel like she discredited the bands talent by saying that to us. That being said, I feel strongly that to me she was the female Andrew W K with her all white outfit and that is not in the least bit an insult. He is one of the most charismatic musicians I have had the honor of seeing and she moved around the stage in a very similar fashion. Not only was the stage presence strong but they also played some new music that will be delightful to hear in its while when the time comes.

After Youth Code had finished their set Skinny Puppy came on. This is a much smaller stage then when I had seen them last and the fact that they could fit their entire set onto it was pretty amazing. They had said that it was going to be different then previous shows and when Ogre came out in a mask that looked like it was inspired from Pan's Labyrinths monster, it gave it a different kind of creepy feel. They had started the set off with Jayhla, a first performance of that song off of the album Process. As Ogre was getting started, he had strange areas in his suit for syringes to be placed in and a minotour man would come out and put the syringes into place cause blood to come out all over his suit. It looked as if he was the tin man and each time one was placed in and the blood would flow out it would bring him more and more to life. The theatrics that go into this show always reminds me of the best kind of musical theater. One that has the best kind of music along with the stage presence that is required to pull off such an elaborate set. It is not like every band can get up on stage with those kinds of lights, have those kinds of costumes and have a deliberate idea/concept and pull it off without coming off as cheesy. This is not a cheesy set in the least bit.

The set list was just flawless. There was such a wide variety of songs, played before and ones that were not that it is always nice to see a band that pays that much attention to what they are going play. Sometimes you can see a band more then once and they seem to keep the same songs in the set list even though they have a huge discography like this band. The only song that I saw a double of from the last time I reviewed them was Assimilate which I am happy with because it is one of my favorite songs. Plus with the things going on in our country, you know the ass hole Trump top of the polls having a song like that in the set list is a good way to keep people thinking specially when images of the American emblem is being played on the screen in the background.

Everything that this band does is very on point and done with not only delicacy but with a distinct idea that comes off very soundly. There is a reason that a band like this has last over 30 years of touring without losing there edge.

Primus and the Chocolate factory featuring the Fungi with Special guest Clutch

There are very few moments in life where you know you saw something that was a one of a kind experience, sometimes you read about the show to be at, and for Primus and the Chocolate Factory featuring the Fungi band with special guest Clutch, it was the show to be at. I have been actively going to concerts since I was 12 and a music journalist for close to 5 years; I have seen everyone from Jackson Browne playing with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, to Black Sabbath, Skinny Puppy, Marilyn Manson, How to Destroy Angels first show and this show was the greatest thing I have ever witness. I need the video to this concert, the entire show. It was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen and this is why.

Clutch was requested by the band to come out to the Vegas show to play with the band. Front of men of both bands had talked about it while on stage, if this was a full blown tour with the duel bands it would be one dynamic concert to attend. With front man Neil Fallon, constant movement could come off as annoying or fake but rather a reflection of how the music and the energy that the band is giving off only reflects this on stage. (the photos I took only prove what he really looks like on stage through a lens of a camera) Much like with their last tour, they graced us audience members with a few songs from their upcoming album (due out in October). It is always nice to hear new music when the band is working on it because as fans it prompts us to really want the new album when it comes out. Aside from their new music, we were of course able to hear some of the classic songs like “Pure Rock Fury”, and “Unto the Beach.”. What is nice about seeing Fallon perform is that he not only gets into the grove of the song but we are able see him play different instruments for different songs. At one point he was playing with a cow bell and of course being a child of the 00's not only do I have a love of cow bell but I also have the need to yell out more cow bell because there is never to much cow bell. As a front man it is easy to think that they do nothing but sing but Fallon only proves that that is a small portion of what he contributes to the band. In general everyone works well with one another, and like Primus the sound was so on point it was ridiculous.

After Clutch had played their set, Primus came on to play their first set. That's right their first set. This was not like the 3d tour or what would come later. It was a stripped down version of their concerts, just the band jamming with lights that matched the speed of their music. They started the set with “Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers”, and songs like “Frizzle Fry” played, two songs I was very excited to hear. It was a great set, they had picked a great selection for the first half, playing all of their songs but I needed to know what the Chocolate Factory was and that would come much later.

When they did take their break and came back, behind the curtain was literally the Chocolate Factory. Les Claypool came out on stage wearing a mask and holding a stand up bass, not only was that going on but there was huge mushrooms, lollipops, the ever lasting goop stopper, and Willy Wonka playing on the back of the screen. Each of part of the movie that was played corresponded with what part of the song they were playing. I was not sure what was going to happen but to hear all covers of Willy Wonka gave me goosebumps down my arm because I did not know about the album that came out the year before (where was my memo? I went out and bough it the next day). To be quite honest there are not enough words to describe how amazing this performance was. It was literally the greatest concert I have been to overall. Both bands were so amazing I can not praise this performance enough. There were OOMPA LOOMPAS ON STAGE for the Oompa Loompa songs. The encore for the band was on the chocolate factory set and it was amazing. It was just amazing. I am currently not taking interviews because I'm taking so many classes at the University of Las Vegas but I would interview Les Claypool anyways so I can discuss how this all came to be. This was the show to be at for sure. Claypool is known for the strange way that he plays the bass, and this only added to how the sound came off. The fact that he played his metal stand up bass for most of the songs only made the sound perfect. What was awesome was that the guitarist was the one who sang “I want it know” which was a spot on performance. I have been gushing about this show to anyone who would listen to me for me then 5 minutes it was just that amazing.

As a side note Primus made special candy bars for this tour and that is by far the coolest band merch I have ever bought. I am framing it and it will become some of the coolest wall art along with some of the photos I was able to take.