Jonathan Pirro – Page 15 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Dropkick Murphys with Youth Brigade, The Flatliners and The Insurgence at The Fox Oakland, 11/6/2009

Dropkick Murphys and the girls of Oakland, CA

There are 3 prominent bands that exist in the punk rock world today who seek to bend the genres and performance styles of their music by adding instruments or melodies from folk- or worldly-sources to their one-two-three-go raucous sound. One of them is Irish/American collective Flogging Molly, who sings songs of olden times and forgotten friends; another is Gogol Bordello, the Russian/gypsy revivalists infused with New York punk attitude in their songs about revolution, celebration, and wandering the world.

The third band has a simpler message: we were rudely kicked over here, but we brought enough beer and whiskey to keep us entertained, so let’s stir things up a bit! This band, of course, is none other than Massachusetts’ own Dropkick Murphys, who came to stake their claim in this year’s set of magnificent punk rock shows at Oakland’s Fox Theater.
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Show Review: Puscifer with Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival at The Fox Oakland, 11/5/2009

Hey! Wait! That title looks awfully familiar. You mean to tell me that those troublemakers in Puscifer, the art/music/performance collective spearheaded by Maynard James Keenan of Tool/A Perfect Circle, were allowed into the Fox Theater for yet another night of mayhem, debauchery and… Wait, what’s that? Country music? No, Puscifer doesn’t play country music, they play industrial-experimental-electronic… What do you mean, the stage is built like the front of a Wild West house, complete with porch armchairs and old-style pop filter microphones?

Yes, Puscifer was back. Yes, they brought Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival back with them. But, no, it was not like the first night — as evidenced by the aforementioned set design, Puscifer had come back to play some old-fashioned country westerns. Well, old-fashioned is actually an incorrect term — after all, these were their own songs, although there’s probably some desolate corner of the world where these bastardized country ballads could be considered old-fashioned westerns.

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Show Review: Puscifer with Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival at The Fox Oakland, 11/4/2009

Puscifer02

Forget any expectations you have for the evening at hand. Leave them at the door, which, in the case of tonight’s show, is beset with a flock of confused, wary patrons, eyeing a man in an off-tan suit and taped-together sunglasses, who is armed with a megaphone. The man is Brother Ed of Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival, and he is begging, PLEADING for the patrons to not enter the Fox Theater tonight, to not forsake their own souls as the cost of attending this show which, according to him, can only be the work of the Devil himself.

Brother Ed should be scared. His rants, while facetious at their core, are somewhat justified. He and his band will be opening, tonight, for Puscifer.

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Show Review: Melt-Banana with All Leather and We Be the Echo at Slim’s, 10/30/2009

ichirou — Ichirou Agata, guitarist of Melt-Banana

There were a great deal of shows to visit this All Hallows’ Eve’s Eve, ranging from electronica in arenas to punk rock in bars; despite the drastic number of shows involving bands that I’d seen on one-to-a-few occasions, it was Melt-Banana that I ended up seeing. It seemed rather appropriate; on the eve of the holiday most responsible for darkness, chaos and the warding off of evil spirits, what better occasion to see a trio of Japanese noise-punk musicians with their own sets of sonic banshee howls and thundering rhythms? Being an avid fan of experimental music and Japanese power noise, I had a feeling that this was going to be a rather exciting show; I was not prepared, however, for how wild it got inside.

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Show Review: Echo & the Bunnymen at The Fox Oakland, 10/22/09

my ship's a-sail, can you hear its tender frame?

My experiences of Echo & The Bunnymen have been few and far between. The first was hearing “The Killing Moon” while watching the opening of Donnie Darko, while others included their cover of The Doors’ “People Are Strange,” and listening to Jello Biafra’s humorous rant about his first appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, where guest Tipper Gore spoonerized the band’s name into “Bunny and the Echomen”. While I listen to them casually, I’ve never had a deep appreciation for their music; with this in mind, I was still very excited to see their second of three performances this year, which included two sets: their 1984 album Ocean Rain, in its entirety, and a second set of old and new songs. Continue reading “Show Review: Echo & the Bunnymen at The Fox Oakland, 10/22/09”

Show Review: Fever Ray at The Regency Center

Fever Ray

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion about what makes a show a “good” show, or a “great” show, and what makes for an “incredible” show. We came to the following consensus: a “good” or “great” show is one you go to because you know and love the band, and you will be there to sing every note of their songs until your throat is hoarse. An “incredible” show may include elements of a “great” show, but more often than not, it will be more than 50% surprise and unexpectedness; it’s even more incredible when it is able to knock even the casual listener off their feet.

So, to preface this review: Fever Ray gave an incredible performance. Continue reading “Show Review: Fever Ray at The Regency Center”