Tag Archives: Live

80's, Cleveland, Music, Photography, Punk, Review, Rock

Concert Review: Bad Religion / Bouncing Souls / Off With Their Heads – House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH – 10/12/2010

3 Comments

Anyone who was smart enough to go to the Bad Religion / Bouncing Souls show last night can agree with me on one thing – Best Show Ever.

A trio of punk rock bands with a 20 year gap in age difference treated all the fans to one hell of a show in tropical Cleveland, OH last night at the House Of Blues.  Honestly it was one of the highlight shows of the year for me and I left the venue last night beyond satisfied.  More on that in a second…

30 years ago, a punk rock band by the name of Bad Religion formed.  Seeing how I was only three years old, I had no idea who they were and pretty much had no idea who they were until I was about 12 or 13.  I can tell you this, the first time I heard them I became a fan instantly.  Intelligent and powerful punk rock was exactly what I was looking for at a young age.  I remember I used to take the cassette inserts and read the lyrics and look up the words I could not understand in dictionaries and encyclopedias.  I was a punk rock dork.

Just a little over 15 years ago I saw my first Bad Religion show and immediately knew I would love this band for the rest of my life.  Seeing them take the stage was one of the most important events in my life as a young punker.

I’ve grown up with this band and I have seen them well over a dozen times.  Ask me what my top 5 bands are of all time and Bad Religion will be one of them, if not number one.  I guess you would be correct in saying that I kind of like these guys.

Any fan of Bad Religion can agree, they are that amazing.

When Bad Religion posted that they were coming to Cleveland once again I was just as excited as I when I was granted permission by my folks to see them in the mid-nineties.  Add Bouncing Souls and Off With Their Heads to the bill, and I was even more pumped to be at the show.

When I arrived to the House Of Blues, the place was already crowded and Off With Their Heads were already rocking through their set.  From what I heard, they sounded good.  The crowd was getting a kick out of them too as they just pushed through their 30 minute set.

New Jersey heroes The Bouncing Souls took the stage to their adoring fans and blew threw a fun set including old and new tunes.  The foursome was impressed with Cleveland on a Tuesday night and did their best to keep the excitement overflowing.  They sounded better live this time as they played “True Believer”, “Lean on Sheena”, “Gasoline” and a hilarious screw up of “East Coast! Fuck You!” that had lead singer Greg Attontio on his knees laughing his ass off while the crowd took over vocal duties for him.

The band was all smiles on stage and I would have to assume much more excited to not be playing a Warped Tour.  Having seen them earlier this summer at the 100 degree nightmare of a festival, not only did the band look more comfortable this round, but there was also twice as many fans packed at the venue to see them.

Finally the punk rock godfathers most had gathered to see, Bad Religion, took their rightful place on stage to what looked like an almost sold out crowd.  Pacing the stage, the band took in their well deserved applauds from their fans of all ages.  Without hesitation the band ripped into “Do What You Want” and the place went insane.

Rather than focusing on their recently released album The Dissent Of Man, the band played select tracks from their 30 year catalog including “Only Gonna Die”, “Conquer The World”, and “A Walk”.  They sounded better than ever to my ears and seemed focused on only one thing – playing the best show that they could for their fans.

In between a couple of songs Greg Graffin talked about their 30 year career and at one time said “when you’ve been in a band for 30 years, every night could be our last show.”  Graffin also recalled the first time Bad Religion played Cleveland in the 80’s at some place called Peabody’s.

It was evident that the band was aging, well not Greg Hetson, but the others showed signs of aging. Graffin wore a more “dad-like” outfit while Jay Bentley’s beard was more salt and pepper.  The band though did not let age play a part in their performance.  In all the times I have ever seen Bad Religion, this was my favorite show.

I was not in the pit this time thrashing around screaming lyrics I held so close to my heart.  I sure as hell was not crowd surfing.  Instead I perched myself to the side of the stage anticipating which song the band would play next while gently rocking my head throughout.

The continued their set with “Suffer”, “Atomic Garden”, “Wrong Way Kids”, and two of my all time favorites back to back: “You” and “Fuck Armageddon”.  They finished their set with “American Jesus” and exited the stage.

The crowd knew an encore was going to happen and no one moved.  Instead, they cheered as loudly as possible letting the band know they wanted more.  Not even a minute, Bad Religion was back on the stage and Graffin joked “how’d you know we were going to play an encore?”

The encore consisted of three more tracks including two more of my favorite songs, “Infected” and “Sorrow”.  Everyone packed in the venue sang as loudly as possible through each song with arms raised high in the air.

It was an amazing night of punk rock goodness.  This show was one of the better shows I have seen in my time and I am thrilled to have been a part of it.  Punk’s not dead at all.  Trust me, I know this.

Bad Religion Set List:
Do What You Want
Sinister
Only Gonna Die
Recipe For Hate
Flat Earth
Before You Die
The Resist-Stance
Conquer The World
Digital Boy
New Dark Ages
The Devil In Stitches
Requiem For Dissent
A Walk
No Control
No Direction
Avalon
Suffer
Atomic Garden
Wrong Way Kids
Meeting Of The Minds
You
Fuck Armageddon
Generator
American Jesus
Encore:
Infected
Los Angeles Is Burning
Sorrow

80's, Cleveland, Good Times, Music, Punk, Review, The Awesome

Swingin’ Utters / The Menzingers / The Facials – Rockstar – Cleveland, OH – 08/27/2010 – Concert Review

1 Comment

Friday night the punk rockers took over Rockstar in Cleveland.  The small, and I mean small, venue that which lies on top of Peabody’s, hosted an intimate night of punk rock goodness with help from The Swingin’ Utters and The Menzingers as well as a couple of local acts including The Facials.  Regardless of size fans of all of the bands filled up the joint and were treated to an evening of fast, fun, and furious music.

The Facials

Openers SmyD (oh, NOW I get it…) were local and sounded just like Against Me!.  It was not a bad thing at all until I noticed that the lead singer had matching…Against Me! tattoos on his shoulder blades.  Still not a terrible thing, but enough to cause a momentary distraction to more than one onlooker.  Trying ever so hard to ignore the dual permanent tributes myself, I was able to enjoy their set even if there was a little too much talk and not so much rock going on from the lead singer.  Still, I would check them out again.  I took this opportunity to enjoy a nice tall refreshing PBR with my friends.

The Facials, another local act and good friend to BHP, hit up the stage next minus one.  Even though one of the band members could not make it to the show the band played on and did not sound that bad even if the back-up guitarist had three practices to learn all the bass lines.  Kudos to the vest wearing bandanna sporting musician for switching up duties.   Fans crept around the corner stage throughout the set and enjoyed their performance.  I took this opportunity to enjoy another nice cold tall refreshing PBR with my friends.  Do you see a trend here?  Well that was the extent of it, after all I did have to drive home.  I am responsible.

The Menzingers
The Menzingers

One of my favorite punk rock bands that I discovered this year, The Menzingers, finally were able to play a show for me.  After all the was the reason they came to Cleveland, for me (not really).  You see, earlier this year the band was supposed to play a show in Covington, KY but one of the band members succumbed to a nasty stomach virus and they had to make the difficult decision of canceling the show.  I was highly bummed out that I was unable to see them live but understood.  This time though all of the band members were in house at Rockstar and took to the stage for a very high energy and fun set.

Jumping around and having a good ol’ time the band played through a bunch of familiar songs including “I Was Born”, “Rivalries” (one of my faves), and “No We Didn’t” off their latest release Chamberlain Waits.  Their live stuff was move enjoyable to me than their studio material.  The boys just were so entertaining and the crowd was so into them screaming along to every song.  Music, friends, smiles, and singing – this is what a punk rock show is all about.

The Menzingers

I was thrilled to finally be up at the front of the stage watching this amazing band do their thing.  If that was not good enough, the band chatted with me throughout the night about everything from the Kentucky incident to the local punk house the Soggy Dog.  Greg and Tom were cool as hell and I can not wait till I run into them again.  I know, I sound like a freaking fanboy right now but in all honesty it is nice to meet a band that is happy to be in their surroundings and has no problem climbing the stripper pole with you.  If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out Rockstar next time you are in Cleveland.  Just don’t get too rowdy or else a mustache-clad bouncer might yell “settle down” at you and walk away… very effective I might mention.

Aside from that calamity there was in fact another performance by punk rock legends the Swingin’ Utters.  Even though I have been a fan of the Utters since I was a kid this was the first time I had ever seen them live and I could not be happier.  A little older and a lot wiser, the band took to the stage and put forth a killer set with lead singer Johnny Bonnel looking like he was feeling real good.  I say this not just because we were in a bar but also because in the middle of the set he screamed “piss break” and stumbled off the stage into the crowd and made a b-line for the men’s room.  It was hilarious.

Wost Pic Ever...
Wost Pic Ever...

Breaking into tracks like “Five Lessons”, “Windspitting Punk”, and one of my favorites “The Next In Live” the 20+ year old band sounded much better than I was anticipating.  It was amusing to see Spike Slawson up on stage too as I mostly know him for his cover act Me First and the GImme GImmes.  I should comment too that he looked like she shed some pounds since the last time I saw him.  Sporting thick rimmed glasses and what looked like an army issued jacket Spike looked calm and reserved throughout the set. He was perhaps the only one who maintained composure of some sort as the rest of the band, and the crowd for that matter, jumped and thrashed about while flinging beers and fists in the air.  Oh yes, it was a punk rock show for sure.

There was no encore for the night by the Utters.  They finished their set and exited the stage to an adoring crowd of longtime hardcore fans.  That was about the time I exited the Rockstar to get some air.  Looking around everyone had that look of satisfaction on their faces, you know, the one where you just witnessed something really really good.  Not sure when the Utters will make a trip back to Cleveland but I did get a kick out of a Tweet one of the band members posted later in the evening:

I don’t really understand why people make fun of Cleveland. I think Cleveland is kinda awesome. Romantic, even.

Cleveland is kinda awesome.  Romantic?  Perhaps.  Being with great friends and some amazing bands however was just perfect and I would not have wanted to spend my Friday night any other way.

00's, 80's, Claudio Sanchez, Cleveland, Live Shows, Music, Progressive Rock, Review, Rock

Coheed & Cambria / Porcupine Tree / The Dear Hunter – Nautica Pavilion – Cleveland, OH – 08/26/2010 – Concert Review

Leave a comment

Last Thursday evening progressive sci-fi rockers Coheed & Cambria headlined a triple bill with help from The Dear Hunter and UK’s Porcupine Tree.  The triple bill landed on a comfortable cool evening at the Nautica Pavilion, a perfect night to take in a show.  The venue sadly was not packed at all as ticket sales suffered but all who did show up that evening enjoyed three levels of prog-rock any aged fan could appreciate.

A fine mix of Coheed and Porcupine Tree fans gathered around the stage to give the night’s openers The Dear Hunter a chance.  The alt-prog act from Boston, Massachusetts took to the stage while the sun slowly crept away to open up the night.  Upon their first couple songs much of the crowd did not seem to pay attention but soon were sucked in to what sounded like a Mars Volta meets Queensryche.  Their set seemingly became more impressive through the lengthy songs to the point where people started turning their heads to the music.  Not being too familiar with their material I was impressed with what i heard.

UK’s Porcupine Tree took to a freshly vacuumed stage – yes, someone vacuumed the stage prior to them taking it – just after 9pm.  Older fans of the band, that started as just a concept in 1987, gathered around the stage and focused all of their attention to the band and the visuals being show on the backdrop.  Opening with “Ocean’s Razor” it was clear that I had never heard of them before.  I for some reason thought they were a newer act but was just a little bit wrong as I soon discovered they have been around for a little bit.

At one moment lead singer Steven Wilson asked everyone in the house if they sounded ok due to the position of the stage.  He then commented that everyone was treated to two shows – them and the Cleveland skyline.  Comically declaring “that’s one big reverb” got more than one laugh from the crowd but also hinted to the soundboard that they were not happy with their sound.

The videos that played behind Porcupine Tree was full of random clips and psychedelic light shows that periodically would sync up with the music.  At times I would almost fall into a musically fueled trance watching the screen trying to figure out what was going to happen next.  The prog-rock was almost a prog-jam during certain moments of their set was a lot more progressive than I anticipated but delivered a killer set.  I know I was not the only one impressed and I am pretty sure a lot of the younger Coheed fans went home later that night to check them out a little more.

The band thanked the fans for their support, thanked Coheed for their invitation, and then announced that it was the last night of their tour and that they would be retuning home.  For a band that has not really been plastered all over the radio it was refreshing to see an act 23 years in the making take the stage and play their hearts out showing no indication that they will be slowing down anytime soon.  I will be checking these guys out a lot more now that I saw them.

Porcupine Tree Setlist:
Ocean’s Razor
The Blind House
Great Expectations
Kneel & Disconnect
Drawing The Line
Open Car
Russia On Ice
Anesthetize
Trains
Blackest Eyes
The Start Of Something Beautiful
Way Out Of Here
Sleep Together

The headliners of the night, also known as Coheed & Cambira, took to the stage and opened with “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3”. Claudio Sanchez and crew tore up the stage with their sci-fi prog rock goodness to all of their adoring fans, well, those who decided to show up. The pit was sparse and the bleachers were not filled that all. It was almost depressing to see the turn out of the evening as many of the older fans who came to see Porcupine Tree headed out after their set.

Coheed did not let that bother them at all playing through with “The Suffering”, a song I sang along to as loud as possible. Continuing with selections from their latest release Year Of The Black Rainbow the band rocked out to “Year Of The Juggernaut” and the acoustic “Pearl Of The Stars” with Claudio whispering to the adoring crowd.  Starting strong the band had a couple of lulls in between songs but kept the momentum going with “Delirium Trigger” and closed out with the always amazing “No World For Tomorrow”.   With fans screaming for more the band took the stage for a couple more songs ending the night with one of my favorites “Wake Up” where the entire place sang along with lighters in the air.

Having seen Coheed many times in my time including last year at Bonnaroo I could not say this was the best show that I have seen by them but was far from terrible.  The fans sang along with practically every song but at times when Caludio turned the vocal duties over to the crowd it almost became difficult to hear them due to lack of a bigger fan base supporting guest duties.  I would have loved to seen more people fill up the venue that evening but at the same time was perfectly contempt with the almost seemingly intimate set.

The term “you get what you pay for” came to mind after the show’s end.  Three amazing bands took to the stage that night with long sets giving all who attended their money’s worth.  I do wish that some of the Porcupine Tree fans stayed a little longer to check out Coheed before calling it a night.  I am pretty sure they would have enjoyed what that amazing band had to offer.

Coheed & Cambria Setlist:
In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
Ten Speed (of God’s Blood And Burial)
Here We Are Juggernaut
The Crowing
The Suffering
Pearl Of The Stars
Everything Evil
When Skeletons Live
The Willing Well 1: Fuel For The Feeding End
Delirium Trigger
No World For Tomorrow
Encore:
Wake Up
Welcome Home

80's, Cleveland, Good Times, Got Local?, Live Shows, Music, Punk, Rock

Friday Night: $wingin’ Utter$, The Menzingers, & The Facials

Leave a comment

Do you like punk rock?

No seriously…do you?  I hope you have not made any plans this Friday because punk rock heroes The Swingin’ Utters are playing with The Menzingers, and The Facials in a small bar also know as Rockstar in good ol’ classy Cleveland, OH.

This is your chance to see 3 amazing punk rock acts for the low low price of $13.

The Utters just started recording new material after a seven year break and rumor has it will be releasing a new album shortly. This will be my first time seeing these guys live.  I swear, every time they have played Cleveland I either forgot or had to work.  No way am I missing out on this chance to see them finally.

The Menzingers, one of my top punk acts of 2010, are just full of energy and are looking to have a good time. This will be my first time seeing them live on account of the band canceling their set at the NOFX show I attended earlier this year in Covington, KY.  Needless to say I am psyched.

The Facials….suck.  Show up late so you do not have to see them.  I am kidding.  The Facials are like family to me and have been in the Cleveland punk scene for years now.  If you have not seen this local act yet do yourself a favor and get there early grab a PBR and enjoy.

Claudio Sanchez, Cleveland, Experimental, Live Shows, Metal, Music, Music Video, Progressive Rock, Rock

Tri-C: Coheed & Cambria + Cleveland

Leave a comment

Who:   Coheed & Cambria w/ special guests Porcupine Tree and The Dear Hunter
When:  Aug 26th – 7:30pm   
Where: Nautica Pavilion (or whatever the hell it is called)

Progressive indie rockers Coheed & Cambria return to Cleveland this week with special guests Porcupine Tree and The Dear Hunter.  I really didn’t think I was going to make it to this show but a pair of tickets landed in my lap and there is no way I am going to miss seeing them.  Having been to multiple Coheed shows over the years I know they never fail to impress.  Looking forward to seeing Porcupine Tree finally as well as taking in The Dear Hunter.