Brooklyn’s Dopapod announced yesterday an extensive 2014 fall national tour that includes several dates in Upstate New York.
Early fall will find them headlining a show in Saratoga Springs on September 27. They play Rochester on October 2 with supporting act Consider the Source opening.
They come back through the state later on in October to support Umphrey’s McGee at Niagara Falls on the 23rd and in Binghamton on the 29th before finishing up with Space Carnival at the Oneonta Theatre in Oneonta on November 1.
Check out the entire tour graphic below and mark your calendars for some Dopapod rage!
Back in 1993, ‘nu metal’ was barely a thing in the musical landscape. But five young guys from Bakersfield, California started a band that would become the powerhouse metal band Korn. From their debut self-titled album which gained instant success, to the slew of consistent chart topping albums for the last 20 years, they have been a lasting force in the heavy music scene.
The members remained constant until 2005 when Brian ‘Head’ Welch decided to leave the band because, in part, to his addiction to drugs. He then found religion, cleaned up, wrote books and started new bands. In 2013 he officially rejoined Korn, bringing the guitar double team of Brian and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer back to full strength. At the recent Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Saratoga Springs, I got to sit down with Head and talk about what the road back to Korn was like, and how it feels to be back.
Brian ‘Head’ Welch: Life is good, man. You know there is always something to do on this tour. We wake up, eat and then we are busy like crazy. I am also working on a new book, and I am way behind on it, so it takes any free second I have. There are other bands we want to see, on the small stages too. Then we have meet-and-greet, and after the show we are doing after parties. So we have like an hour to shower off, and then we meet like a hundred people every night and then it’s bedtime.
Jeff Ayers: How are those after parties? We heard that some are thrown by other bands.
BHW: Ours is more of a one with our fans kinda thing. We hang out, play some music, take pictures. It’s like a meet-and-greet, but you can buy drinks and hang out in a different atmosphere. There is a Q and A too.
JA: That sounds cool.
BHW: Yea, I don’t really like it. It’s a cool thing, but I was under the impression it was going to be the whole band there. Jonathan [Davis] has his kids out [on this tour] so he is never there. So the vibe is always, “Where’s Jonathan? Where’s Jonathan?” So I am not going to do it again, unless he signs an agreement that he is going to be there. I mean, I understand, he has his kids. But you know, I got a different impression about these after parties.
JA: What’s the new book going to be about?
BHW: It’s about my eight years away from Korn, and my road back to Korn. So it is about me, trying to be the normal person, trying to be dad, and getting my life together while breaking apart a few times a year. I was always wasted the whole time before, and I couldn’t run to that stuff anymore, but I wanted to. A few times. I went through a lot of stuff, and I am writing all that stuff down. It’s flowing out of me, so I think it’s meant to be.
JA: It has to be cathartic, too, to be able to get that onto the page. I am a writer myself, and getting hardship, pain, and loss written down can be helpful and help with the healing
BHW: Yea, you are right. But it is hard too, I mean, I’m feeling it too. I had this episode with my daughter, during the time we [Love and Death] were fighting with this label. They were stringing us along, and they had done it a few times before that, and then they were like “We are going to pass”. So I said “I’m done!” and threw my phone and broke it, but I had this episode with my daughter because she got hit by the phone on accident. It was the worst day, I felt like I might lose her. It has been hard at times, too.
JA: In that eight year recovery, is there a defining moment? That pinnacle moment that smacked you in the face and made life clearer?
BHW: I’d say when I finally hit the day, well I don’t know if it was a day or a time period, but when you hit a place in life where you step back and go, ‘Everything just changed right now’ whether it is a new a career or something. When I went through my bankruptcy, I hit a place where I realized ‘I just went through all of that for a reason.” I faced every fear that I had in life, I faced every emotion that was caused by my drug addiction, every bad thing that I could face, I did, and made it through. Facing those things actually cleansed me from them, so I am new man. It felt like for a time there was a curse on my life. I wrote my first book, and that was cool, but I then started a label, which failed, then I lost my house, then people were trying to sue me left and right. Then I moved to Nashville, I started a new band that wasn’t successful, and it was just like ‘C’mon man!’. But [looking back], it was all a process to make the person I wanted to be, this new man. Then I entered into peace right there, and I have been good ever since.
JA: Can I ask what happened recently in Europe? You guys, Love and Death, were just on tour and you had to cancel dates, didn’t you get sick?
BHW: Yea I had a kidney stone, and had surgery. I was in three different hospitals, called the paramedics twice, once in an airport, once in a hotel. Right in front of the Russian fans, it was just bad. I didn’t know what was going on, because they initially told me I didn’t have a kidney stone, but then my gall bladder started failing. Then my kidneys started hurting really bad. The doctors were just messing around, and I ended up having surgery. I had to Google translate with my surgeon. I asked, “I still feel like I am going to die, we had the surgery, what’s wrong?” Then he would Google translate back to me, it was rough.
JA: Wow, that sounds crazy!
BHW: Yea, remember how I told you everything got better after that certain day? Well that was challenging. But, after going through everything I had before, when I faced the kidney stone I was O.K.. Even though I was in extreme pain, I was fine inside, I knew I could get through it.
JA: You took those eight years off from Korn, now that you are back for a little over a year, how has it been?
BHW: 2014 has been great. 2013 was a little challenging. I came in from running the show at Love and Death. Even though it was a tiny show, it was my show, so I was making all the business decisions, saving tons of money on flights, and hotels and stuff. So I came back here, and I was all about trying to do things different, business wise. I talked with the guys, and was like “Why is this happening? You know how much money we could save, etc?” So I would let it eat me up inside. I was treating the tour manager pretty bad, and he’s been doing this for fifteen years, and he has his ways. He doesn’t work on the things that save nickels, he works on the things that save lots of money. I was sitting there worrying about the nickels, so it took me awhile to balance that. I had a conversation with him eventually where I apologized, because this was a big change for me and had to adjust. Once I got past that though, I have had a good year.
JA: Your new record, The Paradigm Shift, is doing great. You just came out with that the end of last year, what is the plan for after Mayhem Fest?
BHW: Well, I wish I had confirmation to tell you about this thing we are working on, but I can’t say it yet. We are looking to do a really nice tour in the fall. I thought it was just going to be a few shows to close out the year, festivals and stuff like that. But this thing came up, and I am really excited for it to come together. So big tour in the fall, and then I don’t know about next year. We haven’t really gotten that far yet. I think it would be good to take a couple of months off [from touring]. You know, do a couple of cool shows, but everybody just go away for a little bit. Give everybody a break, the fans a break, the band a break, and then start writing the next record. We will see what happens.
JA: Do you guys write music individually and then bring it together or is the writing process a collaboration?
BHW: The big thing with Korn, is we like to get into a room, and flesh it all out together. But we also write at home to bring ideas to those sessions. Definitely have to do that, because the famous thing we like to talk about is when we are holding our guitars and staring at our feet on the floor, and we try to do stuff and it sounds like we are beginning teenagers all over again. Looking around the room asking, “Is this cool?” [laughs]. That’s desperate, so playing on our own helps to stop that.
JA: You guys have been playing now for a long time, and being on the road with the same guys over and over again, it can put strains on dealing with each other. Do you guys handle that pretty well as a band?
BHW: Obviously, humans are humans. Even the people you love will get on your nerves, and it will happen out here on the road too. But you learn to just walk away, and then come back. That’s all is. There are some days, like four weeks into the tour, and you have a great night with everybody and you are on the bus just laughing. On the hard moments, you just walk away and try and go refuel by yourself. At this point, we all know how to do that really well.
Suicide Silence has made quite the name for themselves over the years, starting in 2002 in Riverside, California. They have worked hard to produce quality deathcore music, and have received many accolades because of it, such as Revolver Magazine’s Most Innovative Band in 2009 and a song on the motion picture soundtrack for SAW IV. But in 2012, tragedy struck when lead singer Mitch Lucker died from a motorcycle accident. Morning their fallen brother, the band vowed to push on, and hired All Shall Perish singer Hernan “Eddie” Hermida a year after Mitch’s death. I got to sit down with Eddie and talk about the transition of joining the band under such unfortunate circumstances, and how their new album You Can’t Stop Me on Nuclear Blast Records is tearing up the charts.
Jeff Ayers: So is this your first time on Rockstar Mayhem Fest?
Eddie Hermida: No, this is my second time, just my first with Suicide Silence.
JA: You did it with All Shall Perish?
EH: Yea we did Mayhem in 2011 with Suicide Silence.
JA: Did both bands meet on Mayhem? Or were Suicide Silence and All Shall Perish friends before that?
EH: We met in 2005, at a California metal fest. All Shall Perish drove down south the day before, and it was actually Mark [Heylmun] and I who met. We were just bull-shitting together, talking about how both our bands should do a tour together. So in 2006 they were headlining a tour and we were brought on as direct support. We did about 56 shows in 60 days.
Jim Gilbert: Oh my god. You guys were probably in a van right?
EH: Yea it was my first major tour. We were both in vans with trailers. It was crazy, we all became really close. They have been my homies since then. Then in 2011, it just made the bond stronger. All Shall Perish was in an RV for Mayhem, instead of sharing a bus with Suicide Silence. It was ten dudes packed in an RV, and it was brutal. So I ended up sleeping on the Suicide Silence bus a lot, because it was easier. They would stay late and party, and it added an extra two or three hours to my night to hang back, so i did it, because they allowed me to.
JA: So, obviously with the tragedy that fell on Suicide Silence, that must have strengthened the camaraderie between the bands. When you were finally announced as taking over for vocals for Suicide, how have the fans been, have they welcomed you?
EH: It’s been absolutely overwhelmingly good. A lot better than I thought it would be.
JA: It’s always tough, with a transition like that on the heels of a death in the band.
EH: That’s the thing. Mitch [Lucker] always meant so much to his fans, and the fans meant so much to him. Stepping into that role, I was very concerned with how that would be perceived. But coming into it, and seeing how lovely everyone has been, and how fired up the fans are to see the band again, it is such a good feeling. Being able to go out there, do what I do, and have no one judge me for it, and everyone just go nuts, is great. There is a lot of trust involved, and there is also a lot of welcoming too.
JA: You guys just came out with a new record. How has the response been on that?
EH: We just found out that we hit number 16 on the Billboard charts for our first week. We sold 16,000 copies, and it’s the highest charting record for Suicide Silence ever.
JA: That has to feel great.
EH: For a death metal band, it’s so amazing. The number really doesn’t matter anymore, because there isn’t the cd sales that there once was, and there is a huge drop off in numbers from the top five to everything underneath that. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of records difference. But it still feel great. To be in the history books as hitting number 16 on the charts for this week, for the rest of my life that is a good feeling. It is also a statement to where the music industry is. I mean a death metal band can chart in the top 40, and that is ridiculous.
JA: It’s happening more and more with your contemporaries. Cannibal Corpse helped pave the way for this, for many years with only underground recognition, and now bands like you and them are hitting top 40 on Billboard. You can talk of a lot of bands that can and have charted now.
EH: Exactly. Whitechapel is charting, Volume has charted, even All Shall Perish has been up there.
JA: So what’s the plan for Suicide Silence after Mayhem?
EH: Headline a tour. We want to go out there and play as much as we can. We are working on a tour that hasn’t been announced yet, but we are finalizing details on it. It will be a U.S. tour.
JG: You will be back up through this area though
EH: Absolutely. Saratoga Springs, Albany, Syracuse. Upstate New York has a lot going for death metal. I’d like to hit Upstate Concert Hall when we come around.
JG: We were just there covering Gogol Bordello.
EH: I got to see them recently and they are incredible. We were in Europe, and we played this festival called Rock am Ring, and it’s all like Europe bands that top charts, and we were thrown in there on a stage with Crossfaith, Battlecross, Mastodon, and Ghost. We got to see Gogol there, what a great show.
* I was wearing my trademark Boba Fett hat, and Eddie and I had a mutual moment admiring each other’s fandom, because he has a tattoo of Luke and Leia on his leg. Which led the conversation this way:
JG: Going back to Ronnie James Dio, with science fiction, and fantasy, they relate to metal and death metal.
EH: They go hand in hand for sure. I mean, Star Wars, it’s the battle of good and evil. It’s the oldest story there is, the story of Jesus, or the Matrix. It’s one guy, who is the good, but doesn’t know it, and has to go through the trials to figure it out and win in the end. It just goes to show you can adapt that story in many different ways and it’s still going to be an interesting story. To me, that is even a bigger middle finger to the bible story, and to christians and people who are so close minded and would turn an ear from music like ours.
JG: Back to the new album, You Can’t Stop Me. Did you write for this album, how was the contributing process?
EH: We worked a hundred percent together on this. I locked myself in a dingy, hot garage for four months with these dudes, and producer Steve Evetts [The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura] would come out and oversee the songs, and make sure it would all fit.
JA: How was it working with Steve?
EH: Amazing. He is such a genius. He is one of those dudes that wants you to understand that you don’t need all the electronics and digital bullshit to make a good sounding record. He knows how to take analog sound and make it sound huge. This record is huge. Drums are 100 percent natural, as well as guitars save for punch ins and edits. You can hear the flavor of each drum hit, you can feel the lick of each guitar strum, I love it. The mixing and the mastering is how he got such a big sound. He would run my voice, clean, through effects pedals and manipulate them as I recorded. The whole record is fluid and natural like that. I am really proud of the record, and I think everyone is really gonna like what we did on it.
With a band name derived from the Sumerian language, you know you are in for a treat before you even hear them. Erimha, or ‘army’ or ‘legion’ in Sumerian culture, has set a course to bring their haunting, melodic metal to the world. Starting from humble beginnings in Montreal in 2010, they quickly coalesced into a powerful sound and wrote and recorded their first full length, “Irkalla” by the end of that year. By 2013, their hard work and dedication put them in the sights of Victory Records, and they released their debut Reign Through Immortality in July 2013. In 2014, they were granted the opening slot on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, among some of the best metal bands touring today. Jim and I were lucky enough to sit down with Kthien, the rhythm guitarist, when they came to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the festival. Still wearing the remnants of corpse paint from their set earlier, he had a lot to say on what it means to be a hard-working, up and coming band.
Erimha’s Kthien and ‘s Jeff Ayers back stage at Rockstar Energy Drink’s Mayhem Festival. Photo by Jim ‘JT’ Gilbert
Jim Gilbert: So you guys were on first today at the festival, how did that feel?
Kthien: Good! I mean, we understand our position in the lineup. It does suck sometimes, to have fans say they were stuck in line, [trying] to catch our set, but we always have a good crowd everyday. We just go out there, and do what we would do if there was five hundred people or if there was only five.
JG: You guys are the only black metal band on the festival. How is the vibe between bands? A lot of bands must be fans of black metal, right?
Kthien: Yeah, yeah. It’s a little weird, we have gotten attention from a couple of bands, being the openers on this fest. I think even fans too, people who have never seen this kind of music, they are coming up to us and saying, ‘Listen, you have opened up a whole different style to us that we can actually appreciate from here on in. Because, [black metal] still stays in the underground, and I’m surprised still to this day that, and maybe it’s because our name isn’t out there enough yet, but I’m surprised that we haven’t been hated on by the whole black metal community. We don’t really consider ourselves to be black metal.
Jeff Ayers: What do you consider yourself then?
Kthien: Just extreme metal. I mean we just stick it to that. We do have black metal influences, we have death metal influences…
JG: Who are some of your black metal influences?
Kthien: I would say it’s mostly a lot of the other guys in the band. There is a lot of Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Watain, older Behemoth, and it could go all the way down to At The Gates. We are all different guys from different kinds of music. I am a lot more Led Zeppelin, old rock and roll, so I bring that touch a little more rock to the band. As much as we hate labels, we understand that we have to put one on the band. But in the future, it is never going to stop us from doing anything [in music].
JG: I get disgusted by genres because there are so many of them.
Kthien: Yea I agree. Someone asked us early on when we got on this tour what our take was on the lineup. I said that what I like about this festival is that it is all about metal. Who cares what style you play. All the bands talk behind stage, and no one cares if you play a bit more one way or the other, it’s all for the same reason. I think it’s cool to have a festival like this.
JG: I think that there is some much talent in black metal, and how musically gifted your style of music can be. People are not as aware of that, I believe.
Kthien: Thank you. Death metal is the sound and the aggressive part. What we consider a lot of what black metal is, you know in this band, is the ambience, and the lifestyle. I think that is where we bring in the black metal part to Erimha. Just how we live our everyday lives. How you decide to see things, how you decide to spend your time. None of us at home have TV’s, none of us really use social media, other than band related.
JG: Let’s talk about the metal scene in Montreal.
Kthien: Sure. I mean it’s really good. What’s weird is that we were lucky enough to want to start a band, get into a van and get out of there. As much as I think it’s scene is one of the best in Canada, and I would even put it up against a whole big part of North America as well, but at the same time, when you are an underground band and you are trying to play shows, and there is five underground shows in some very decent venues, you have to choose which gig you want to go to. You still end up playing to decent crowds, but when there are so many shows happening almost every night, you have to figure out a way to stand out. We had an issue in the beginning trying to land shows in Montreal. We are actually from fifty minutes south of the city, in Valleyfield, which is a small island off of Montreal. So we told ourselves, let’s just get in the van and get out and play shows. So we started playing shows in Ontario. We were accepted very well there and it was probably where we landed our first major shows. From there, we just decided, lets stay out of Montreal as much as we can and keep on the road and keep playing.
Erimha, Montreal Extreme Metal band, photo provided.
JA: Being in a big festival like this, big bands, corporate sponsors, publicists, how has that felt? Do they give the opening band a fair shake?
Kthien: What surprised me the most, coming into this festival, was that within the first day, I didn’t feel any different from say Cannibal Corpse, or anyone else. The whole team has been treating us so great. You know, playing a festival like this, you are asking yourself, ‘Will I be waiting in line, and some guy in Korn or whatever is gonna push you behind the line.’ But no, everyone has been treated the exact same way, and we are going to work so hard to get back onto this festival in the future.
JA: I am always interested in instrumentation, and I noticed when you started that you were a double guitar band with no bass. Was that a decision made from the get go, or one made out of circumstance?
Kthien: It really was just that way when we started. We had issues with bass players, and we decided to go out and play the first shows no matter what. Now, we have been a full lineup for over a year. We also have the guitarist who sessions with Vital Remains, Aaron Homma on this tour with us and we see what the future holds. For now, all the compositions we try to stick to the main guys no matter what. I’m guessing that might be an issue for, I don’t know how long, because we are extremely strict on what we want in this band. All of the main guys, we do not do anything else other than this. We are not living like gods or anything, and that was something we decided early on. Erimha and nothing else. It’s hard to find other guys who want to make that sacrifice.
JG: If this is the only thing you guys are all doing, how many days a year are you playing?
Kthien: We should have another tour lined up after this one, for October/November, and that will have us hit the 100-120 mark. That gives you a good idea on how we are living our lives outside of playing shows. Right now we are seven dudes touring in a van, no a/c. You sleep where you can. Usually we try to show up to venues early and I try to sleep either on top of the van or outside on a mattress on the sidewalk. Which has actually given us a good reputation with other bands. You have to start somewhere. To us, deciding to live our lives a certain way off the road, makes it easier to live on the road. You are doing a hundred percent of what you want to do.
JA: It’s definitely tough to be a touring band.
Kthien: Yea, but it’s awesome, too. It’s crazy. We joke around with some of the other bands, because some of them are complaining about problems with their tour buses or stuff like that, and then when you start talking about how you are touring and they are like ‘Holy Shit! You guys are doing this?” We don’t see it as anything, it’s just part of the whole process. The smartest decision to make in a band, it to get out there and tour in a van.
JA: You said you have seven with you right now. Are you touring with a roadie?
Kthien: Yea we have a merch guy. We call him Ace Boogie. He is the kind of guy you want on your team. I think they have it even more rough than us, because they are sacrificing just as much as us, but they don’t get to shake all the hands and meet the crowds. They are the guys in the corner actually taking a lot of weight off our shoulders, and I have a ton of respect for that. We had a tour manager too, but he had to leave us because he was under contract for some big productions in Quebec. But he decided to help us out for the first run of this tour. He helped take care of everything and making sure we headed out to merch after we played. Now we are just continuing to do what we do, working as a small team, and that’s our job.
JA: What do you have planned for after Mayhem?
Kthien: We are finalizing a tour for October through November, with two major headliners with full US/North American dates. We are really pumped to be on that because one of the bands have not played in some time.
JG: So could we speculate on who that might be?
Kthien: Even if you did, I couldn’t say who it is. But we are really pumped, really excited for this. We are trying to be out on the road as much as we can, and we have an awesome label who works their ass off. Seems like the whole ‘agent’ part of booking, I don’t know what you have to prove to these guys to make sure you are on the road, but that is what we are trying to do everyday. Whoever picks us up eventually will be a happy guy, and we will hopefully stay with them a long time.
JA: How is it being on Victory Records?
Kthien: One thing I like about this label is they have a lot of balls. You need to understand the industry is changing, you need to be on the road to make your name, and I think they realize that we have a certain market, and we need to step into this extreme market which has been exploding the last few years. All I have to say about the management at Victory is good stuff. When you sit down and talk to the team and see how many hours they put in, this is why we are with them. They are ready to put in as many hours as we are. If you go out and look at the promotion that is being done [on our behalf] the work speaks for itself.
JA: Again, thank you for taking the time to talk to us.
Kthien: Honestly, we appreciate you guys talking to us. I mean, I hold a lot back in interviews sometimes. But one thing I always say is that if in twenty years I am still sitting around being as friendly as we have been, then I believe I made it in music. I mean, we are talking to the guys from Cannibal Corpse, and they are giving us high fives back stage, and I have a lot of respect for that. Kids that are starting out, just picking up guitars or whatnot, look at us. We are just a few guys from a small area in Quebec and in four years here we are. Nothing is impossible, so keep it up.
JA: You do have the best outlook on this business: hard work.
Kthien: There are a lot of sacrifices, man. People that work 9 to 5 ‘s, and do four hours of traffic a day are sacrificing too. But we are lucky enough to do something that we have dreamt about.
Heavy music fans of all ages descended upon Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), starting at 1PM on July 23. The first sounds of pounding drums signaled the opening of the Saratoga gates, ominous clouds added to the palpable intensity of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Three stages adorned the lawn of SPAC, rows of tents flanked the main concourse. From the time the doors opened, until about 6:30PM, all three stages were in a constant rotation of hard-hitting, face-melting heavy rock and metal of all kinds.
The show kicked off with black metal newcomers, Erimha, a budding band from Montreal, playing on the Victory Records Stage. On paper they might seem out of place with the rest of the acts on the day long bill, but they were a good welcoming committee, setting the tone for the rest of the day. The tents were hot spots for patrons to meet and greet their favorite bands, before and after they played, and to pick up band merchandise as well as festival merchandise like T-Shirts, bandanas, and sunglasses. By 2:30, the crowd had already settled in for the day, flocking to each stage as new acts started their sets. Texas Hippie Coalition ignited the ColdCock Whiskey Stage with their southern heavy rock. At one point, lead singer Big Dad Rich claimed the lawn for his own, saying that anyone on it better raise their fist in acceptance. The crowd happily obeyed, and looks of joy and entertainment washed over the few hundred strong in attendance. Veil of Maya took the Sumerian Records Stage soon after and drew an even bigger crowd with their gigantic wall of sound.
The first ‘destination’ band of the day was definitely Mushroomhead out of Cleveland, Ohio. It seemed that everyone that was on the fringe of the stages or lost in the sea of tents during other acts all made the point to be in front of the ColdCock Whiskey Stage when the troupe of masked men started their performance. With multiple singers, crushing riffs, sound samples, and two powerhouse percussionists at the front of the stage, they ruled the crowd with ease. The second not-to-miss band of the day was undoubtedly Ice-T with Body Count. Strutting out on stage to the wail of guitars, Ice-T screamed, “Saratoga, we are moving right next door to ya!” and fired a (fake) gun into the air. Flanked on stage by his wife Coco and their two bulldogs, Ice-T whipped the crowd into a frenzied pit with classic Body Count songs, each getting a bigger response than the last. Rain started to fall finally during their set, and though it never became a torrential downpour, it helped to cool off the throngs of humans who had been dealing with the 80 degree heat and blacktop walkways all day long. Each of the three stages did a good job keeping the show running smoothly, with little to no down time between acts. By 6:00PM each stage’s headliners were finishing up their sets to satisfied crowds. The entire population turned its sights to the main stage, many taking their seats inside the amphitheater. Trivium and Asking Alexandria got great responses from their fanbases, a mostly younger audience, but the crowd grew bigger and bigger with all ages filling in the lawn. Parents taking their children to their first festival, or possibly first ever concert, and older couples reliving their youth with shirts they might have dug out of the back of their closets. All were enjoying the days festivities to their utmost potential.
By the time Korn took the stage, almost every seat inside was filled with people on their feet, the lawn was packed with fans, singing along with the opening song, “Falling Away From Me”. Playing hits from their extensive back catalogue, they stoked the fire that had been burning all day inside the rambunctious crowd. Favorites like “Freak on a Leash” and “Shoots and Ladders” complete with bagpipes, let the crowd join in the obvious fun the band was having on stage. With the return of Brian “Head” Welch last year, the band is back to its full original strength, and it shows. Lead singer Jonathan Davis crooned “You can’t bring me down” during one of their newest tunes, “Hater”, and he meant every word. They proved that they are still relevant in the ever changing world of heavy music, a landscape that they helped shape with set closer, “Blind” way back in 1993. Avenged Sevenfold are no strangers to holding the top spot, and they came out controlling the crowd from the start. They had a huge stage backdrop, reminiscent of a Dio fantasy, with large steps leading up to castle facades, and three arch ways with huge high definition screens. Showing animation and live feeds of the band members from the stage, the over the top scenery threatened to steal the show from the actual performers, but just barely. M. Shadows used his vocal prowess to capture the crowds attention, while guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates harmonic precision helped to keep hold. When the band finally touched on “Hail to the King”, the center screen opened up to reveal a towering animatronic Skeleton, complete with crown and sword upon a throne of skulls. A7X made sure that the culmination of a the day was brought on the wings of a nightmare, into the waiting ears of an eager audience.
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is now in its sixth year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Much like many of it’s predecessors, like Ozzfest and Family Values Tour, it is a haven for like-minded bands and fans to congregate and celebrate the heavy music and dark emotion filled culture they enjoy. If the thralls of happy faces throughout the day, or the inherent sense of camaraderie between musicians and fans is any evidence of success, then hopefully Mayhem will continue to return to Saratoga Springs, NY every year.
The Putnam Den has been a staple in the Upstate music community for quite some time and is known for bringing acts spanning many genres. This has not changed, in fact, it’s about the only thing that has stayed familiar. The walls have all been painted a dark red, sending a warming vibe throughout the club. The bras that once hung from above the bar are gone. Tables are placed methodically around the soundboard, leaving plenty of room for people to shake their stuff in front of the stage, which is now graced with a red velvet curtain. These changes, along with many made to the outdoor patio (such as ping-pong and baggo), have made The Putnam Den an even more desirable place to have a great time and see live music. Saturday night exemplified this tremendously. With a packed patio and even more patrons inside to see The Seth Yacovone Band, all of the ingredients for a fantastic night were in order.
The Seth Yacovone Band, who hails from Burlington, Vermont with a sound coming from below the Mason-Dixon line, had the crowd hooked right away. “Tonight the Night”, a Neil Young song, was pure blue-blooded American rocking magic, with wailing guitar solos that set the mood for the entire night. Stellar musicianship was shown by the whole band. Steve Hadeka was on the kit while adding some vocals and Alex Budney slapped the bass, making a sound that was untouchable by many three-piece acts. “Botulism” was a high point of the set. Musically it held its own with the rest, but listening to the lyrics, which addressed nasty mayonnaise and other things that spurred the title, was very funny. If you didn’t listen close enough, the song was just another groovy danceable number. Closing the set out with Bob Dylan’s “Isis” was a treat. The band took the slow Dylan tune and sped it up a bit, yet didn’t stray too far from the feel of the original, a talent many bands do not possess.
The second half of music opened with the bass-heavy, fast-paced “Storage Space”, a fantastic way to start the set, attracting people walking the streets of Saratoga to The Putnam Den. This vibe continued as the club became more and more packed of people who were digging the sound coming from the Vermont trio. “Gnashing Golgotha Footstomp Shindig Blues” was intense. Channeling the late Frank Zappa on this tune was completely unexpected as the rest of the night offered nothing similar. The slow start with a funky bass groove and drum beat kept the cool vibe going while Seth sang over it in a different tone than the crowd had grown accustomed to. As the solo emerged, the crowd was in awe. Shredding does not even begin to describe how hard and fast Seth was playing. It was as if he was on another sphere. Slowly bringing it down enough to not lose the groove was just pure brilliance and, without a doubt, the high point of the show. Closing with “What Have I Done Wrong”, a song where the title pretty much sums it up, is about a man wondering what he did wrong and asking his lady with little or no response. Showing the more bluesy side of the band as well as some pure emotion was a great way to end the show. Not a single person was not screaming for an encore; the band gracefully obliged by playing “Little Richard Will Rise Again”, a song that sounds exactly how you’d picture it with a title like that. The band picked a fantastic way to end the show and was tops from the first note to the last.
The SPAC lawn is almost famous on its own. How many musicians have shouted out from the stage to “the lawn people” to see how they out there are doing? Shout outs and reassurance that “they” are important, too. Sometimes over $40 a ticket, the lawn seats are no longer considered the cheap seats. For James Taylor, it seemed like everyone in Saratoga had their lawn chair out on the ultimate lawn enjoying the original ‘JT’ sing classics like “You’ve Got a Friend” or “Fair and Rain”. The lawn chairs were lined up on the hill and clear across the back lawn. Thousands and thousands of SPAC lawn chairs filled with four generations of James Taylor fans.
It was the second solo performance of the week at SPAC that seemed to attract a lot of couples. The night was the perfect July evening in Saratoga, the temperature was just right and not a drop of rain. The sound surrounding the crowd was spot on – perhaps the best sound mix of the season, thus far. Taylor and his All Star band played for nearly 3 hours covering his almost 50 year career. Even some new songs, such as “Today, Today, Today” were added to the night’s set list. The North Carolina native now lives just across the Massachusetts board from New York in Berkshire County, after an 11-year hiatus from playing Saratoga I think it is safe to welcome him back and hope for many encores in years to come.
Set 1:
Something in the Way She Moves, “Today, Today, Today”, Lo and Behold, Copperline, Everyday (Buddy Holly cover), Country Road, Millworker, Carolina in My Mind, One More Go Round, Sweet Baby James, You’ve Got a Friend (Carole King cover)
Set 2:
Stretch of the Highway, You and I, Handy Man (Sparks of Rhythm cover), Hour That the Morning Comes, Steamroller Blues, Only One, Fire and Rain, Up on the Roof (The Drifters cover), Mexico, Your Smiling Face
Encore:
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) (Marvin Gaye cover), Shower the People
The experience that “is” Summer Phish is not easily comprehended by those who have not yet partaken. It is unlike any other show or concert, with a fan base that travels from all over the country, and sometimes world, to come together for a brilliant evening of lights, music and a crowd experience opposed by no other band. Walking through the parking lots surrounding the shows one will see so many unique individuals from all walks of life spanning ages young and old. For some, it may be their first experience, and for others it is just another notch in their belt touring with one of the greatest bands in the world. The three-day Phish run at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) was capped off with another amazing performance by the four-piece rock phenomenon on July 5th.
Photo by Jim Gilbert
The band took stage later than the prior nights leaving the crowd restless with anticipation. The moment the band members strutted onto the stage, the crowd erupted into a roar of celebration. They opened with a short but sweet “Crowd Control” setting the mood for a fantastic evening of music. From there they went from the dark “My Friend, My Friend,” into “Scent of a Mule” which erupted a full on hoe-down on the lawn while members of the crowd linked arms to the kitchy-spacey-bluegrass. From there they busted out two back to back songs from their 2004 album Undermind with a short “Undermind” and “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing.” The set veered back into their wacky light-hearted typical “Phish-ness” with “I Didn’t Know,” fully equipped with a Fishman vacuum solo and “Foam > Wombat”, which kept the crowd cheering for more. The first few notes of “Divided Sky” reverberated through the crowd sending the lawn into a full-blown glow stick war, lighting the sky with a multi-colored war zone. From “Divided Sky” they ventured into the tear-jerker “Wading in the Velvet Sea” which took the crowd down a couple notches before the explosive set ending “David Bowie” that left the crowd excited and whirling with song predictions for set 2.
Like in Phish fashion, they came back for second set with a vengeance opening with a high energy “Carini.” Once you’ve heard thousands of people screaming in unison, “Carini had a lumpy head!” you will start to realize that Phish is not just your average concert experience. The “Carini” went from dark, evil jams, twisting with intensity into light, bouncy jams truly encapsulating all that is “Carini.” From “Carini” they segued into a personal favorite and absolutely beautiful and delicate song “Waves.” From “Waves” they went into “WingSuit”, which was perfectly executed for the set which had been intangible from beginning to end. A fantastic and energetic “Piper” kept the theme going straight into the crowd pleasing “Fluffhead.” After “Fluffhead” they took the set to a surprising place with a short and sweet “Heavy Things.”
From there they went into “Slave to the Traffic Light” with enough intensity to make you think the set was over, but sure enough those first sweet notes of “You Enjoy Myself” were ringing through SPAC as the crowd went wild and the glow sticks soared. At the past few three-night SPAC runs they had saved this treasure as their encore, but instead they utilized it for the set closer to end all set closers. They pulled out the trampolines for some super YEMmy, bouncy jams and Trey proved he still had the moves as he danced with full vigor through Mike’s solo. The band finished with the crowd still cheering for more, as only they could after a spectacle as amazing as “You Enjoy Myself” and the band took stage one last time for Summer 2014 with an encore of “Suzy Greenberg.”
From beginning to end Phish proved that they still had the energy and capability to take the crowd on a journey through their music, and not simply take stage and hammer out a bunch of crowd-pleasing songs. All three nights seemed to be slowly building the energy for one hell of a third night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Set 1: Crowd Control > My Friend, My Friend, Scent of a Mule#, Undermind, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, I Didn’t Know*, Foam%, Wombat, Divided Sky, Wading in the Velvet Sea, David Bowie
Set 2: Carini > Waves, Wingsuit > Piper > Fluffhead, Heavy Things > Slave to the Traffic Light, You Enjoy Myself
Phish, an American summer tradition for more than 30 years, celebrated the 4th of July with arguably the high-watermark for Summer 2014, and the tour is only four shows old. The second night of the nearly-annual three night run at SPAC was arguably the strongest of the shows and featured new material from Fuego and not a single cover song – a stretch dating back to December 28th, 2013.
Photo by Jim Gilbert
Naturally, the show opened with “The Star Spangled Banner”, on the 200th anniversary of the song’s birth during the War of 1812. “555”, the 2nd in 3 shows, filled in at the typical “Let’s play ‘Moma Dance’ and get the party started” slot, followed by “Kill Devil Falls” and then the first liftoff of the night with “Moma Dance”, later than usual but no complaints could be heard.
Then “Reba” appeared mid-first set, a seemingly rarer placement, but so perfect, as it kept things interesting and gave a chance for earlier than second set ethereal bliss. Speaking of bliss, “Waiting all Night” was a good pair to Reba, but also a good break time for anyone who hadn’t yet taken a minute to collect themselves amid an inspired and active first set. “Runaway Jim > 46 days, Rift” followed for a happy sing along dance time on the lawn.
“Split Open and Melt” – the potential set closer – continued the off and on dance frenzy of the show, flip-flopping back and forth between staples and jam vehicles. Melt’s ending jam was on par with versions from its last era of strong set closers, 2000. But this was not the end – “The Squirming Coil” emerged as the PERFECT first set closer, just as the sun was going down and the last bit of light left the Saratoga skies. Fishman hit the high note during “It got away…” and Trey lost it briefly before recovering. Page’s beautiful outro could have brought a tear to your eye.
When it comes to a seven-song second set, it means you have no complaints. Even with “Backwards Down the Number Line” showing up both expected and unexpected, we had one helluva time in those first five songs. “Fuego” is straight fire. Start to finish, a growing jam with a vibe in the same class as the 12/31/10 “Holy Ghost”, began with Mike’s bass groove and slowly pushed the jam, keeping Trey in check and progressing towards the beautiful jam that developed from the patience. The first must hear jam of the SPAC run, and the first Type II “Fuego” means we have a long and awesome summer ahead of us if this show is any indication.
“Down with Disease” and “Twist” were a nice 1-2 follow-up to “Fuego”, keeping the energy consistent and exhibiting great patience, a trait that Phish Trey does not always put forth. The result was Mike taking the lead on “Disease” with a recurring bass groove that flowed nicely while Page was nowhere to be found for a spell, although the mouth-popping noises were interesting as things eventually descended into “Twist”, full of ‘Woos’ and whatnot, but nothing too spectacular in this version.
Photo by Jim Gilbert
“Light” quickly emerged for a solid and progressing jam that built around Trey’s guitar riff, leading to a psychedelic jam straight from the late ’60s and Bob Ezrin’s tutelage on Fuego. Trey’s ‘Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind’-esque repetition comfortably landed “Light” right next to “Theme from the Bottom”, as pleasant and well placed as you could ask for after four powerful jam vehicles. There was hope that this would be a “Theme” ala Atlantic City 2013, but that may have just been a one-off treat.
“Backwards Down the Number Line” served as a breather song for both band and fans, and although we still danced, this song could be in the first set of any given show and receive far less audible groans than it did tonight. But when you follow “BDTNL” with “First Tube”, all is forgiven as we couldn’t have asked for a better closer to this show. And having Jedi Trey slowly rising his guitar into the air to cap it off – Priceless. A “Character Zero” capped the night and did nothing more than increase anticipation towards the final night of the run at SPAC.
Photo by Jim Gilbert
Setlist:
Set 1: The Star Spangled Banner, 555, Kill Devil Falls, The Moma Dance > Reba, Waiting All Night, Runaway Jim > 46 Days, Rift, Split Open and Melt, The Squirming Coil
Set 2: Fuego > Down with Disease > Twist > Light > Theme From the Bottom, Backwards Down the Number Line, First Tube
The show kicked off with black metal newcomers, Erimha, a budding band from Montreal, playing on the Victory Records Stage. On paper they might seem out of place with the rest of the acts on the day long bill, but they were a good welcoming committee, setting the tone for the rest of the day. The tents were hot spots for patrons to meet and greet their favorite bands, before and after they played, and to pick up band merchandise as well as festival merchandise like T-Shirts, bandanas, and sunglasses. By 2:30, the crowd had already settled in for the day, flocking to each stage as new acts started their sets. Texas Hippie Coalition ignited the ColdCock Whiskey Stage with their southern heavy rock. At one point, lead singer Big Dad Rich claimed the lawn for his own, saying that anyone on it better raise their fist in acceptance. The crowd happily obeyed, and looks of joy and entertainment washed over the few hundred strong in attendance. Veil of Maya took the Sumerian Records Stage soon after and drew an even bigger crowd with their gigantic wall of sound.
