RECORD STORE TALES #1084: Ghost’s No Cell-Phone Zone
Those of us over a certain age, don’t we all long for the old days? Wouldn’t it be nice to see an arena full of cigarette lighters instead of cell phones for a change? Ozzy used to scream to the audience: “Let me see your cigarette lighters!” Does anyone ever command an audience to raise their cell phones?
I kid, of course. The real issue is that some bands today, such as Ghost, don’t want to see a show being filmed and uploaded to YouTube. I get it. Bootlegging is far more ubiquitous than it was when I was in my 20s. Back then, if you had the balls, you could try to a record a show yourself, like my sister’s friend did with the Barenaked Ladies in the 90s with a mono microcassette recorder. They were able to get a few unreleased BNL cult classics on tape that way. It sounded like shit, but they had it. It was easy to sneak in the tape recorder, but you had to flip the tape and make sure you had fresh batteries in there. Not to mention, you had to actually own a small tape recorder, which not everyone did! Today virtually everyone has a cell phone, and virtually every cell phone has a hi-def camera built in. You can even record in stereo on some.
Presumably for this reason, Ghost have initiated a No Cell-Phone Zone at their concerts.
The comments on this news were predictable. “I have no problem with this,” said one troll, “since I have no desire to see Ghost.”
What about someone like me? I am a full-time caregiver. My wife has uncontrolled epilepsy and would not be at a concert of any kind with me. I get a call, I leave. That’s it. I need my phone.
Here’s how it works.
Upon entry, your phone will be placed in a Yondr pouch, and locked. You take the pouch and phone with you, pocket it, and enjoy the show. After the show, you can unlock the pouch at an unlocking station. How many of these are available, and where they are exactly, is not clear from the Ghost press release. As long as these are plentiful and easy to access, this situation is not too bad.
If I got an emergency call mid-show, I could feel the vibrations, but I would not be able to answer. However I would be able to step out, unlock my phone, and call back.
If the call turned out to be another air-duct cleaning company, or another scam, I would be pissed off that I exited the show to check my phone. I wouldn’t have a choice. If it rings, it could be an emergency. That’s just my life. That’s just how my life works and has worked for 15 years.
Although this scheme is something that seems new and therefore scary and threatening, it does seem to be workable. You can feel your phone vibrate through the pouch, and still know your phone is getting a call. What happens after that is up to you. In my case, I would need to know what it was, and chances are, I’ll miss a song because of some stupid scam call. In most cases, people will not check their phones at all, and just keep enjoying the show.
No cell phones waving in the air in front of you. It doesn’t seem so bad.
The main factors are two: the unlocking stations must be numerous, and easy to access. Otherwise I’d have problems with this plan.
I’m cautiously on Ghost’s side with this one. It will be interesting to see which bands adopt this, and who are opposed.
With the Dead Daisies having just played here, and Sven Gali coming this fall, this seems like a timely posting for today.
RECORD STORE TALES #1081: Have I Ever Really Enjoyed A Concert?
A few years ago, I outed myself as someone who suffers from high anxiety in public places. That wasn’t easy for me. I had this reputation as this cool music guy, but contrary to that image, my concert resume was light. People did wonder why there were bands I loved, like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, that I had never seen live. I won a ton of concert tickets from the radio, Kiss, I Mother Earth, Billion Dollar Babies, and lots more. Yet at those shows, I wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Why?
I’ve avoided a lot of events over the years, big and small, just because that anxiety makes it really hard to actually push myself out the door. I’ve paid for tickets…many tickets…and never attended. The money wasted is one thing, and missing the event is the other. I blew my chance to meet Sean Kelly and Andy Curran at a Coney Hatch show in Waterloo. Sean even promised me. I blew it. Couldn’t do it. Too anxious. Small room, lots of bodies. So uncomfortable, being conscious of every human surrounding me, and trying to maintain a small amount of personal space. Keeping my limbs tight to my body. Feet firmly planted on the ground. That’s what a concert feels like to me.
How can you enjoy a concert when your whole body is on red alert? I can ignore it somewhat, but it’s always there, clawing away at the back of my brain. My eyes dart from one side of the room to the other, as I battle the feeling of imminent panic. Always tickling my nerves, asking me if I’m truly comfortable?
I’m not.
In concerts, my mind wanders. How many more songs? Will that guy with the beer spill it on me? What about the guy pounding his fists behind me? Will he lose track of his personal space and make contact? What about that girl in front? She’s so tall, I can’t see the drummer, but if I move, I might lose sight of my friends. Those kinds of thoughts. Seated shows are not as bad, but there’s still the usual anxiety before and after. Standing in a line close to other people. Exiting the venue with the mob.
Can you truly enjoy and lose yourself at a show when these kinds of anxieties are always gnawing away at the mind and stomach? I have a hard time. I have a hard time feeling comfortable.
I can think of a couple times when I truly did enjoy myself. Small shows. Familiar venue. Lots of friendly faces in the crowd that I knew from work. Feeling more like home.
Scratching Post was a band I saw twice under circumstances like this. They were great! I shouted and screamed and rocked! They were at a small room called the Banke, which no longer exists. I had been there a number of times to see friends’ bands. It felt like all the usual faces were there; welcoming and inviting faces that allowed me to drop my fears and anxieties. I lost myself in those shows at the Banke, with those people. I truly enjoyed those concerts.
Another example was Brent Doerner’s Decibel at another small venue. Jen and I had a table (hardly any seizures back then) and the band knew us. Their manager came up and introduced himself. I felt like a guest of honour in some ways. That was a show I thoroughly enjoyed.
I didn’t feel that way at Rush in 2008. Jen had a fall down some stairs and I just wanted to go home. We left during the intermission. We never caught the second half of the show. Too many people, too much of a crush, and I was not enjoying myself at all. I could not wait to get the hell out of there and get home. I was always checking on Jen to make sure she was safe. It wasn’t a good vibe. The tickets were a wedding gift from her.
So, have I ever really enjoyed a concert? A few. Small ones, more like parties with friends than concerts. Sadly, I think that euphoric concert experience of losing oneself in the music and the atmosphere is one that is totally lost on me.
Dave Lizmi was a no-show, but that can’t stop the LeBrain Train from rolling.
We’re good at improvising, so tonight’s show was a discussion of favourite concert memories and rock star encounters. Encounters such as: Rush, Kim Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper and more. Have you heard the story of Lauper asking T-Rev for directions in Sarnia? Or Uncle Meat blowing pot smoke in Geddy Lee’s face? You will after watching this!
Thank you T-Rev for your understanding, and thanks to Uncle Meat for pinch-hitting at the last minute. Apologies to you for the change of plan. I talked to Dave a few days ago, and he was good to go. I don’t know what happened. But we rocked it anyway!
Also — a couple of minor announcements were made, although as we’ve seen, anything can change. Let us know what you think.
CHANTAL KREVIAZUK – Friday, February 12, 2021 (via Sessions Live)
I’m going to preface this review by saying that at the start of the pandemic, I spoke openly about how I didn’t like virtual concerts and didn’t think they could ever replace live concerts. While I still feel that virtual concerts can’t and won’t replace live concerts, now, after viewing a number of virtual events, I’m seeing that they are simply different animals. And the best virtual concerts I’ve seen are the ones that embrace the fact that it’s a different and new platform. In other words, the ones that aren’t trying to be replacements for live concerts. Friday night (February 12 2021) I attended Chantal Kreviazuk’s live-streamed concert presented by Sessions Live, which definitely falls into the category of digital concerts that embrace the platform, and in the process give you something new and innovative, and in this case, really intimate as well.
Chantal’s concert was streamed from her own home. We got to see her perform on her own piano with a simple black background with three of her own paintings in the background with a couple of candles in front (we learned during the concert that the artwork was all painted by Chantal and put on display for the live concert by her husband, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace). There was a single camera being used that allowed the audience a side view of Chantal and her piano as she performed. The format was very unique: She had no pre-determined set list going into the concert. Instead, she asked for audience requests via social media leading up to the concert, and then also took requests via the chat option on the Sessions Live platform. You really felt that you were witnessing something new and special. Nothing was pre-planned, which meant that Chantal would get requests for songs that she hadn’t played in decades. What I loved about this was that instead of just skipping over those requests, she tried to play the songs anyway – even when she couldn’t remember the lyrics and wasn’t sure of the melodic or harmonic material either. As an artist myself, I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t have even attempted to play something for an audience that I wasn’t 100% confident in my ability to do – so I really, really admire her for doing this. The music was all about the fans – not her image, not her vanity, not to display her skills as a pianist or singer. I feel that this is exceptionally rare, and it was one of the things that made the night so special.
In addition, doing the concert from her home meant that you got a little glimpse into Chantal’s life. At one point she wanted some water, so she grabbed her phone and texted Raine upstairs, asking him to bring down a glass (during the middle of her live stream!). Raine arrived a couple minutes later with a glass of white wine instead of water. While Chantal wanted him to appear on camera, he refused and all we saw was his hand as he handed over the glass of wine. During her performance of “Before You”, which she sang right after receiving the glass of wine, and she referred to as Raine’s song, she tried to keep herself composed as her 12-year old son mimicked and did impressions of her off camera. These are the types of things that may seem trivial, but you’ll never see them as a part of a live show. As I said earlier, this show was just about the fans and what they wanted to hear, as well as creating an intimate and unique experience from home.
While I am most certainly fan of Chantal’s music, I must be perfectly honest and confess that I am primarily a fan of her first two albums. I own the first four, but I mostly just listen to the first two. When she first emerged in 1997 with the album Under These Rocks and Stones, her music hit me hard at a pivotal moment in my life. I was in my early 20’s and the raw and angst-filled themes in those songs resonated with me in a way that no other music did. The first album does have some happier themes, but it also deals with loss, low self-esteem, feeling that one lacks in social prowess, death, unhealthy relationships, and feeling like one doesn’t deserve to be treated well by others. Chantal is only 2 years older than me, so I believe she was likely writing about what young women of that age feel and experience – and boy did it speak to me. Her second album, Colour Moving and Still was also a big favourite of mine. At this point in her life she was with Raine (she got married to him the same year the album was released), and you could begin to hear the influence of those “happier” themes in her music (such as in the song “Before You”). While this album wasn’t as dark thematically, it still had some very powerful material and still dealt with themes of death, loss, separation, and uncertainty. While the first album was more emotionally raw, the second album was more musically strong. Chantal is a classically trained pianist and you can really tell – there’s no doubt that she has chops. As someone who was studying music performance in university at the time, this was another reason why her music resonated with me. The music and the piano playing were so much more sophisticated than most of the other popular music I was hearing at the time. As I said earlier, the first two albums are what I’m mostly a fan of. That’s not to say her later music isn’t as strong, it just didn’t impact or resonate with me the same way, so I’ve found myself less attached to it (even though I love many of the singles from her third and subsequent albums). Chantal writes from within – from her own life. And I think that when she got into a happy marriage and had kids, her music shifted along with her lifestyle, and I just didn’t exactly shift with it. I couldn’t relate to it the same way.
That being said, last night’s concert was a real treat because many of the fans sending in requests were asking for songs from the earlier albums. While I think I may have forgotten a song or two, I do recall the following songs being performed: “Feels Like Home”, “Time”, “Green Apples” (she couldn’t quite remember all of this one), “Souls” (she also couldn’t quite remember all of this one), “Before You”, “Unforgivable”, “All I Can Do”, “What if it All Means Something”, and “Surrounded”. She also sang a rendition of “Happy Birthday” to an audience member named Jennifer. This is where I learned that Chantal’s real name is Jennifer, and Chantal is actually her middle name. She mentioned that this concert was one in a set of three that will be coming up over the next little while. She also ran out of time and promised that the next performance would feature “Wayne” from the first album (the song that hooked me as a fan), and “Wings” from her most recent album. I also have a song named “Wings” on my latest album! But they couldn’t sound more different from one another.
In addition to the concert ticket, I also purchased a one-on-one meet and greet with Chantal following the show. It was very brief, but really great (each person had only 3-minutes, but she did go a little over with most people I think). I was very nervous and while I had several questions and comments pre-planned, I didn’t actually get any of them out. Instead I asked her about her dog who jumped into her lap during our chat. She is very personable though and I really appreciated even just having a couple minutes to talk to her like anyone else. I did want to tell her how much her first two albums impacted me, but I didn’t get that out either. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and I will definitely be attending the next live-stream in mid-March.
This week’s topic comes to you from the originator of the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten series of lists, Uncle Meat himself.
Top 11 Favourite Concerts of All Time!
We may have listed “best concerts” before, but this will be special. Meat, Mr. Books and Superdekes will be joining me Friday night at 7:00 PM E.S.T. with as many facts as we can recall about our favourite concert experiences. There will also be one “surprise” list that will blow you away.
Now fuelled by Streamyard, the shows keep getting better and better! There have been so many great list ideas that we have not got to yet. We have new guests lined up. Critical to this growth has been Kevin/Buried On Mars who hooked me up with Streamyard, vastly improving the quality of the show. I’m very fortunate to have Uncle Meat by my side with his Nigel Tufnel Top Ten concept. I think if Meat didn’t come up with that idea, these live streams might have ended a long time ago! And of course Superdekes, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty on multiple occasions. He doesn’t have to do this, but he loves doing it!
Dr. Kathryn saw Cheap Trick at the Centre in the Square and has returned with photographic proof.
Comments:
“Cheap Trick were great! They played for about an hour and a half straight with no encore. It was a good mix of old songs and new. There were a bunch in the middle I didn’t know. Robin Zander can still sing pretty well, but his shortcomings were very obvious when he started to sing ‘The Flame’ with just himself on guitar. When he has all the other players behind him, his voice sounds much better and you can’t hear where he’s lacking. There was an extra guitar player (Robin Zander’s son Robin Taylor Zander) in the back and Tom Petersson played a twelve string bass. Rick Nielsen threw picks into the audience and I caught three! Looking back, I didn’t get any close ups of Robin Zander! He was right in front of me plenty.”
Setlist:
Hello There
Way of the World
Oh, Candy
Big Eyes
California Man (The Move cover)
On Top of the World
Stiff Competition
Downed
Ain’t That a Shame (Fats Domino cover)
High Roller
Lookin’ Out for Number One
Stop This Game
I’m Waiting for the Man (The Velvet Underground cover)
CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, April 10 2019
By Uncle Meat
Sometimes you go to Rock shows and are blown away by the venue, or the sound of the band, or the band itself, or something extra special happens. Usually you are lucky to be subjected to one or two of these wonderful things. It’s rare when all these things happen at once to make truly iconic memories you could never possibly forget. This happened for me last night. Music is the gift that keeps on giving.
Found out yesterday morning that I was going to see Claypool Lennon Delerium at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. Special thanks to friend and fellow Sausagefester Aaron Stepaniuk for inviting me. I had never been to the venue, nor had I ever seen Les Claypool perform. I found it interesting as well that it was the very first show of their tour, showcasing their new album South of Reality.
Walking into the venue during the opening band, instantly I loved the Danforth Music Hall. Very cool place to see a show. Warming up the proceedings was someone by the name of Jim James. All I knew was that he used to be the singer for a band I know nothing about called My Morning Jacket. I was informed on the way to Toronto by Aaron’s girlfriend Rachel that there is an American Dad episode basically dedicated to “the angelic voice of” Jim James. Gonna have to check out some American Dad. The few songs we caught I deemed as “whispy”. It wasn’t bad but didn’t resonate with me. Jim James’ look reminded me of Daryl Hall dressed as the Joker and I was kinda glad when it ended so we could go out and smoke a huge joint.
As I am hauling off of this Buck-constructed, Buck-approved monster of a spliff, a door opens beside me, (I was too concerned with smoking this massive joint to even realise we were standing right beside an equally massive tour bus) and while I’m taking a healthy drag out walks Geddy Lee. Yes…THAT Geddy Lee. I almost exhaled the drag right into his nose, he was that close to me. Instantly I started wondering if he could be getting on stage, but that stuff never actually happens for real…Right?
The show starts off with Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine”. I knew they might do some covers since they released an EP of covers in 2017 called Lime and Limpid Green. On that note, the covers played that night were epic songs that most bands wouldn’t dare even try. “Astronomy Domine”, “Boris the Spider” and “The Court of the Crimson King” are songs that you MUST play well live to even consider such an idea. Interspersed throughout the covers were songs from their 2016 debut album Monolith of Phobos and their newest album South of Reality. I enjoyed everything I heard that night. First of all, Claypool and Sean Lennon can both sing very well and both comfortable in a high vocal range. The keyboard player also sang backup vocals. No matter if it was Lennon or Claypool taking lead vocals, the background vocals were top-shelf fucking glorious. This aspect was a definite highlight of the show. I was there to see Claypool and he didn’t disappoint whatsoever. However Sean Lennon was a bit of a revelation to me. He is an amazing singer and a much better guitar player than I would have imagined.
The stage banter between Les Claypool and Sean Lennon (or “Shiner” as Les kept referring to him as) was comfortable and cool. After some more of their anecdotes, the drummer breaks into a very familiar drum pattern. I turned to my buddy Bucky and said “They aren’t really gonna play this are they?” The rest of the band started to join in and yeppers , they are playing Tomorrow Never Knows, written by the guitar player’s father. You may have heard of him. I can see off stage as a stage hand is standing there with a bass in his hand. He hands it to an emerging shadow and out walks Mr. Geddy Fucking Lee, possibly still on a contact high from the joint smoking he walked through earlier. Now I am watching Sean Lennon sing his late father’s song with two of the greatest bass players of all time on stage. You cant make this shit up. This kinda stuff never really happens and now it is happening. As they are jamming out the song hard, Les Claypool does one of the coolest things I have ever seen. He takes off his bass and starts kinda bowing to Geddy Lee with a huge smile on his face, gives a little “see ya” nod to the audience and walks off stage, leaving now only Geddy finishing “Tomorrow Never Knows” with the band. For a couple minutes it was actually The Lennon Geddy LEErium. The respect and tribute that Claypool shone upon Geddy by the nod and walking off stage will be a top 5 (Or higher) concert moment for me. I had the utmost respect for Claypool before this night. With one little wave to the crowd and the walk-off, he made my Rock & Roll heart melt. I so wish Tom Morwood was there. He would have cried like a big bearded baby.
The band walked off and came back for an encore. Claypool says something like, “Gotta love when guys like Geddy Van Halen just walk on stage. That’s what still gets my dick erect”. The Delerium then went into their lone encore song, Primus’s “Southbound Pachyderm”. It totally kicked ass with a sensational bass groove. What a show.
What more could you ask for? Did that really just happen? Mind…Blown.
UNCLE MEAT: Well…I guess tonight I experience the controversy head on.
LeBRAIN: What’s tonight?
MEAT: Members of Black N’ Blue and Badlands.
LB: Kiss? You are going? If so you are REQUIRED to write something for me. Or else!!
MEAT: Old buddy, Scott Hunter, who I saw Kiss with twice in 1982 and 1983, messages me out of nowhere and has a paid-for ticket. Him and his buddy have VIP but only two, but who cares. They had the Vault Experience with Gene last year too.
LB: Go go go.
MEAT: Only been 36 years since I saw Kiss live. Mid-arena, 20 rows up.
LB: It’s gonna be sad I think. Just my feeling.
MEAT: Fairly good tickets. But yeah. The spectacle is the part to enjoy I guess.
LB: I hope you have a good time. But seriously if you don’t write this up for me, I am going to probably hurt you very badly. You won’t see it coming. Maybe we will be driving to the farm and I will punch your nuts so hard that you bleed from your ears. Just saying. Not that you “owe” me anything, you just have to. Or have your nuts tenderised. Your choice! You won’t see it coming but it will happen!
– Toronto – Scotiabank Arena, March 20 2019 Review by Uncle Meat
Kiss in 2019 was the best “show” I have ever seen. Easily.
What about the singing? I had watched a cool video the other day, where a guy pointed out in each song where Paul is lip syncing and where he is actually singing. Which was good because before that I thought it was pretty much all tape. That being said, I could notice both last night. It’s like he is trying some songs’ verses (or what have you) on different nights. But, 60% of the vocals (at least) were the same as they had been on other stops. I have heard the “Love Gun” track several times, how the verses have been re-recorded, and he does exactly the same inflections within the verses.
BUT!!!
Truth is? 20 seconds in, and I didn’t give a shit. And while I hold the same opinion about it, it literally took ZERO away from a show I can only describe as almost perfect.
Gene sings 100% of his vocals, at least on the verses, and was kinda goofy all night. More aloof than he usually is. Less Demon. More Mike Myers. He is getting fat in the face though, wow…he looked like Bea Arthur in Gene makeup.
Paul still is on the very top shelf of frontmen, as per between-song banter. He had me right in the trenches, clapping along, laughing out loud several times, just fuckin’ entertaining.
Eric Singer was a great drummer. LOVED his voice in “Black Diamond”, and really really enjoyed “Beth”. Like alot. Surprising.
I was really blown away by Tommy Thayer’s guitar tone. Fucking powerful, and creamy. He changed just enough of the Ace solos to put his mark on it, but leaving the important parts of the solo in to suit the songs. Great set list too. “100,000 Years” and “Let Me Go, Rock and Roll” were serious highlights.
4.5/5 steaks
The missing 1/2 steak only because of the lip-sync stuff.
Music is the most wonderful of hobbies. Scratch that — it’s not a hobby when you love music. It is your lifestyle. It’s healthy, it’s fun, and it can open up feelings you didn’t know you had. I’m glad that music is my life.
As much as I cherish music, and try to spend some time with it every single day, there is one huge hole in my life: The concert experience.
You could argue that music is best enjoyed at a good concert. There is magic in a live performance; a kind of telepathy that occurs between the players on stage. Then their collective sound and vision is pumped at 120 decibels to the hungry audience. The crowd is like a single entity with one voice. There is no substitute for the live concert experience. No Blu-ray could ever hope to match it, not even at 1080p with 5.1 surround sound.
Yet, I’ve seen only a few dozen concerts over the years. I can’t even remember my last one.
I would love to have new concert reviews for you every single week. The most popular post on this site in its six years of operation is a concert review.
It’s true that I don’t get out as often as others might. Some of this is because my beautiful wife has been battling with uncontrolled epilepsy for the last decade. Her health struggles have turned me into a bit of a homebody. I’m not complaining. Being her support is a privilege. I’ve always been a bit of a homebody, but it’s certainly gotten worse as her health got worse. The good news is that not only has Mrs. LeBrain beaten cancer, but she has also managed to reduce her seizures to one or two a week. A regular week, anyway. A week with stress or lots of travel can cause more.
How has she managed to handle her epilepsy so well? Lots of self care. Plenty of pre-planning for every outing, a few taxi cab rides, lots of caution, and a little bit of Canada’s best prescription marijuana. I’ve seen it work.
She can’t go to movies and she can’t go to concerts, and we’ve accepted that. It hasn’t been easy. When Jen worked at Research in Motion, their free company concert was U2 in Toronto. She wanted to go so badly. She was willing to go blindfolded if she had to. Every U2 Blackberry ad on TV was a bitter reminder that Jen could not do what other people take for granted.
But that’s no excuse for me missing out on shows. Maybe I lost my concert wing(wo)man, but I’m a grown up. Right?
So we get to the crux of it: my confession.
I’ve never really gotten into any of this in public before. A few friends know. I’ve lived with it long enough. I used to care what friends, random strangers, or potential future employers would think of me. I was ashamed of myself.
Over the years I’ve developed a severe fear of crowds. It’s always been there, but it got a lot worse in my 20s. If I was with people I knew and trusted, I could control it. I first confessed my fear of crowds to T-Rev back when we were roommates in 1998. He used to like to go clubbing at the Flying Dog up in Waterloo. I went with him twice, and it was OK. I had a good enough time. But I needed my wingman. T-Rev was wise. “The best way to beat your fear of crowds is just to face it. Try to have fun.” He’s right to a certain degree. The Flying Dog just wasn’t the best place to try and beat a fear of crowds. Packed with douchebags and girls that I thought were way too hot for me, anxiety piled up on top of more anxiety.
I did better at small concerts. There was a joint in town called The Banke. A lot of our friends played there. The more often I went, the more comfortable I was. You start to recognise other faces, and familiar faces and places are soothing for anxiety. It was good while it lasted. T-Rev’s life path took him to a lovely wife and two kids, three hours away in Sarnia, Ontario. He was a good wingman, because he understood me.
Having a wingman is really important. A few weeks ago I went to TF Con in Toronto. My buddy Jay asked me, “So how does this make you feel with your fear of crowds?” I told him it didn’t bother me at all because he was my wingman. (Also it’s not a very intimidating crowd. I could bowl them over with a sneeze.) I’ve had a panic attack at a farmer’s market, but not a TF Con.
There have been a couple incidents that happened at concerts. Jen had a fall at Rush — that one was upsetting. She had a seizure at Trailer Park Boys, which was the last time she went to any kind of show. The association of these events with concerts just made me…more sour.
When Jen got sicker and sicker, so did I. I became a tense, nervous mess, and it was almost all the time. Something had to give, so when I couldn’t take it anymore I sought help. Family and friends made sure that I did. It took some pushing, because I am stubborn by nature. Help is available, but you have to work at it. Medication doesn’t fix everything, and it has its own costs on both your body and your wallet. You have to unlearn what you have learned. Then, you have to practice better ways of dealing with situations. It’s hard work. It’s also life long work. You will stumble and there will be pain.
In spring 2016 I was in Ottawa visiting family. By coincidence, both the Killer Dwarfs and rock journalist Mitch Lafon happened to be in town that weekend. The Dwarfs were playing the Brass Monkey, and Mitch was going to check them out. Knowing I was in town, Mitch asked me if I wanted to come and meet him at the show.
It’s painful remembering this.
Of course I wanted to go see the Dwarfs. Of course I wanted to meet Mitch! I have been a fan of both for a long, long time! Mitch is the premiere go-to guy in hard rock today. Not only would it be a personal thrill, but meeting Mitch and taking a selfie with him would have been a fantastic bonus to top off a Killer Dwarfs concert review.
I turned him down.
Out of respect for the man, I told him the truth. I wasn’t prepared to handle a crowd that night.
Mitch promised to keep my secret, and he’s been really supportive to me.
It might be frustrating for some, but it helps me a lot to deal with anxious situations if I know in advance, and I can prepare myself mentally for it. I admit I can be very frustrating sometimes. I’m lucky that Jen gets me. She’s one of the only people in the world who truly gets me. Jen and my grandmother really know how my brain works.
It barely works, but it works!
I have my ups and my downs, and it’s largely dictated by how I respond to daily challenges. I confess that I have not tried to challenge myself in a long time. When was my last concert? I used to love going out to see stand up comedy, too.
I’ve been itching to see live music again. I think I can handle it. I’ll go slow. I won’t start by going to see Bryan Adams at the Arena.
Something smaller and more local would be good.
Hey! Would you look at that?
It looks like I have to be ready by February. Sasquatch is coming to town!Sasquatch: The Opera that is, composed by Roddy Bottum of the band Faith No More. Four shows, February 14th through to the 17th, 2019 at the Registry Theatre in Waterloo. And I happen to know the promoter. I’ve been promised an interview with Roddy about the musical, and ideally I would like to see all four shows. I’m not worried about the interview, but I do need to beat my anxiety to go to the shows.
This is called having a “S.M.A.R.T.” goal.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-based
Is my goal specific? Yes. I want to see the Roddy Bottum show. Measurable? Yes. It’s as simple as go/don’t go. Achievable? I believe a realistic goal would be to make it to, at minimum, one of the four shows. Bonus points for anything more. Is my goal relevant to my situation? Absolutely. It is a big part of it. And is it time-based? You bet. Can’t procrastinate on this one, February is gonna come one way or the other!
I’m hoping to have Dr. Dave or Uncle Meat as wingmen for a show. Dr. Dave is, in fact, a believer in the real Sasquatch!
I believe in baby steps so I think a good plan would be to try and see a small show in advance of the Bottum musical. It’s exactly like building up a tolerance. My tolerance has slipped a lot over the years so I have to build it back up again. I’m trying to be proactive.
That’s my confession, and I have to admit, it really does feel good to get it out! Did I have to do it publicly? No, but I’m sick and tired of lying to people every time the subject of concerts comes up. Here’s the truth. Think whatever you want to. All I really want to come out of this is somebody out there to read it and say, “Hey, I get it too.” There are bullies in the world who would pick on me if they read this. I don’t care. They can pick on me for a lot of things already.
I accept that crowds and I might never be good friends. I just want us to get along.
OZZY OSBOURNE/ROB ZOMBIE/IN THIS MOMENT live at the ACC, Toronto Ontario, 01/21/08, on the Black Rain tour
When you pay $100 a ticket you’d better get a hell of a show, no pun intended. While Rob Zombie rose to the occasion and put on the show of a lifetime, Ozzy Osbourne stumbled, carried only by his seasoned band and the love of a metal craving audience.
First up were newcomers In This Moment, who played a short 4 song set to a half filled house. Singer Maria Brink managed to get the crowd going even though most of them didn’t know there was a third band on the bill. Coming out in her trademark blue dress, and screaming her lungs out, I could not believe the power in this woman’s voice. The whole band was hampered by horrible sound which unfortunately rendered her screaming and singing unintelligible. However, at one point she let loose and screamed for a good 30 seconds straight…how she does this is beyond me, I sure can’t! In This Moment played their hit “Beautiful Tragedy” second-to-last and then revved up the audience to see Rob Zombie.
This was Zombie’s last night of the tour, and his crew played pranks on In This Moment through most of their set, however it was dead serious once Zombie hit the stage. Hidden by curtains, the audience could not see Zombie’s amazing stage set until the lights came up. And that was not to happen before we were treated to a surprise: Rob Zombie’s Grindhouse trailer “Werewolf Women Of The S.S.” starring Nicholas Cage as…FU MANCHU! (Zombie is considering making a full movie based on this trailer.)
Then the lights came up, dancing girls on either side of a giant devil head, and band roaring. The head cracked open and an adrenalized Rob Zombie emerged to “American Witch”! What an entrance.
John 5 was at the top of his game on guitar, playing with his teeth, behind his back, throwing his instrument all over the stage. For his guitar solo he even played a snippet of “Oh Canada”, but more on that shortly.
Zombie played all the hits with tons of syncopated pyro behind him, so much that you could feel it from the nosebleeds. “Dragula”, “Living Dead Girl”, “Thunderkiss ’65” and of course “More Human Than Human” were all played expertly, Zombie himself all over the stage at all times. He had ample video footage behind him, showing original film footage from House Of 1000 Corpes, The Devil’s Rejects, his own animation, and classic horror films such as Nosferatu.
Zombie’s crowning moment was during John 5’s guitar solo, at which point he grabbed two flashlights and headed into the crowd, all backed by John 5’s incredible shredding. I mean, come on folks…this is the guitar player that David Lee Roth chose to stand where Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Steve Hunter and Jason Becker have stood.
The only thing wrong the whole Rob Zombie show is that there was so much going on at once, with the video screens, dancing girls, drumming robots, props, lights, and pyro, that you can’t see it all at once. I would like to see Rob Zombie twice or three times…difficult now that his tour is over!
A short break ensued, and then we were treated to some video footage courtesy of the Ozzman. It was a humourous medley of popular film and TV footage from the last year, all recut to star Ozzy himself! Imagine Ozzy in: The Queen. Or Ozzy under Azamat’s ass in Borat! It was good stuff, but unfortunately it underlined that the once and future singer of Black Sabbath has now become something of a joke himself.
Ozzy and his band (Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Bordin on drums, Blasko on bass, and Adam Wakeman on keys) then blasted through his first single from the new Black Rain CD, “I Don’t Wanna Stop”. A great opener, unfortunately hard to appreciate with Zakk Wylde’s guitar sounding so harsh in the ACC. Ozzy played most of the classics with very few surprises: “Bark At The Moon”, “Suicide Solution”, “Crazy Train”, “I Don’t Know”, “Mr. Crowley”, “Road To Nowhere” and “Not Going Away” from the new CD.
Ozzy’s problem, both as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath, is his unwillingness to change his setlists. While I’m sure everybody there would have died and gone to heaven if Ozzy played a song like “You Can’t Kill Rock And Roll” or “Diary Of A Madman”, his setlist was based almost entirely around his Blizzard of Ozz and No More Tears CDs. Too predictable, Ozzman. His other problem is his lack of range. His voice cracked many times, and the band lowered the key for him the old songs.
A few disappointing choices: Ozzy did not play “No More Tears”, but instead treated us to the overrated “I Don’t Wanna Change The World”. And for an encore, yes, of course…”Mama I’m Coming Home”. Shame about that, as there are so many better songs to play. “Mama” sure did get the cigarette lighters out [see picture below].
Zakk Wylde did a ridiculous 10 minute guitar solo, which sounded mostly like razorblades coming at your ears. He too played with his teeth, but it was only when he quoted Randy Rhoads’ classic “Suicide Solution” live solo that sparks flew.
As a last song, of course, Ozzy played “Paranoid”. He had to. He couldn’t show up and not play any Sabbath material, although “Iron Man” and “War Pigs” didn’t make his short set. Shame, considering that he reminded the audience that Toronto is where he recorded Never Say Die.
In the end, we all got tired of Ozzy’s endless “I can’t fucking hear you” and “Go extra extra extra crazy!” When Ozzy shouted “I still can’t fucking hear you” for the 100th time, people started responding, “Because you’re fucking deaf”!
There was no question that Ozzy came, saw, and conquered because of his excellent band and the love that the crowd had for him, but it was also obvious that this was Rob Zombie’s show, and there was nothing Ozzy could have done to change that, aside from bringing Randy Rhoads back from the dead.
In This Moment – 3/5 stars
Rob Zombie – 5/5 stars
Ozzy Osbourne – 3.5/5 stars
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