A Perfect Circle at Uptown Amphitheater 7-19-2011

I still think that A Perfect Circle's "Mer de Noms" album was one of the best hard rock albums ever written, but despite the band's putting on a good show in Charlotte, I still left disappointed. Understanding that A Perfect Circle's most recent album "eMotive" centered on cover songs with a political theme, I was not surprised that much of their set consisted of these re-made familiar songs, but I was a bit disappointed in the overall energy of the performance.

The first band, Red Bacteria Vacuum offered a bunch of screaming punk and a lesson in Japanese. All girl Japanese punk band, eh? Interesting choice for an opener, APC. I found it kind of weird; the members were all these cute little short chicks, but with veins full of raging angst--kind of like Hello Kitty with PMS. The drummer's kit looked like a disassembled Mickey D's play land, with bright yellow pipes supplanting normal drum shells. The ladies jumped around and thrashed a lot to their overly simple riffs and beats, but seemed to be having a ton of fun--but who wouldn't be, opening for an awesome American band?

Since jumping into the local scene myself, I have come to expect that major label bands will lack in stage antics in comparison to local and regional independent bands, but normally the major label artists still have some energy in the music, itself. Maynard James Keenan is one of the most talented singers in today's rock world, but Tuesday night he seemed a bit detached from the emotion of his lyrics and didn't seem to get into it very much. I even detected a bit of off-centeredness from a strong pitch in his voice for the first couple of songs--an indicator that he may not have warmed up his voice sufficiently. There was a song or two where he shone through with emotion, such as "Magdalena" from the best CD ever, but some of the rest of the songs just came across as flat from his hiding platform in the back corner of the stage.

I can't say that I was thrilled about all the cover songs; if I had wanted to see a cover band, I could have done that much cheaper and seen a lot more energy. The worst cover they did, though, was of their own song "3 Libras," also from the best CD ever, but it was so far removed from the song I know that I literally did not even recognize it anymore--I had to look up the song on YouTube to hear what I should've been listening for. The soul of the song was gone, replaced with weird samples and repetitions of lyrics of the song taken out of context in a way that made me uncomfortable, similar to how some of Maynard's other band Tool makes me feel. I'm glad I didn't recognize it when they played it, because it probably would have made me mad. I recognize that artists have a right to alter their own songs, but they must recognize that fans have an equal right not to like it. I didn't.

What I did like was their performance of "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums;" this one actually had feeling in its performance. The thunderous war drums evoked a feeling of oppressive, martial control, and the heavier guitars displayed the underbelly of angst from the oppressed. I will have to go back and give "13th Step" another listen to find this one.

The bad thing about loving a band's work and being ultra-excited to see them in concert is that expectation are high. Few bands could live up to the build-up I gave this concert. I am still glad I went so I can add another notch in my concert belt, but I'm not sure I would go see them again if they are this lethargic onstage every time.

Top 16 Rock Vocalists Who Inspire Me

Originally published here: http://shutter16.com/wp/2011/07/20/top-16-rock-vocalists-who-inspire-me/ 1. Brent Smith (Shinedown) – While I’m not too keen on the over-produced sound on their newest album, I can’t deny that Brent Smith is a fantastic singer. He’s just as great live, too, which is pretty rare these days. I just wish the band would go back to a more raw, rock-oriented sound rather than the fuzzy, homogenous radio mix. 2. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) – I’m not sure I can think of a vocalist with versatility like that in the hard rock genre who can top this guy. He has a bag of tricks for vocal effects from smooth to raspy and everything in between, great control, and a killer range. I’ve heard he’s not so good live, but not having seen him myself, I will maintain my illusions for now. 3. Phil Collins (Genesis, solo) – … So he’s on the lighter side of rock. So sue me. Some people may judge me for this choice, but YOU try to sing “Against All Odds” with that kind of flexibility and control that’s still drenched in emotion. If you can do it better than Phil, then judge me. 4. Glen Phillips/Todd Nichols (Toad the Wet Sprocket, Solo/Lapdog) – Since we’re talking about the lighter side of things, I’ve got to admit that I still think Toad the Wet Sprocket’s album “Dulcinea” might be my favorite album ever recorded. I have to put both of them on here instead of just Glen, the lead vocalist, because the harmonies are one of the things that makes this band’s vocals as amazing as they are. However, Glen and Todd both have some wildly large vocal ranges and write some of the most well-thought-out vocal lines and lyrics with which I’ve ever had the pleasure of singing along. 5. Maynard James Keenan (A Perfect Circle, Tool, Puscifer) – When most people think of Maynard James Keenan, they think of Tool. I like Tool, don’t get me wrong, but the melodies in A Perfect Circle are what really get to me about him: the power, the range, the beauty of controlled dissonance. That, and the fact that he can write lyrics in Tool that are so hateful and disgusting and turn right around and write something as beautiful as “3 Libras” just baffles me. 6. Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver) – I don’t want to be one of those drug pushers, but I must confess that I thought his work with STP was better before Scott went to rehab. “Core” was one of the first albums I ever bought that I listened to from start to finish just about every time, singing along to every word. “Purple” was like that, too, and some of Velvet Revolver’s songs kicked a lot of ass as well, but it’s been pretty hit or miss for STP since “Purple.” Still, he put on one of the best live shows of any major label band I’ve seen in the past 10 years of concert-going. 7. Aaron Lewis (Staind) – If you listened to Staind’s first album “Tormented,” you would probably wonder how the hell they got a record deal with that assault on the ears, but Aaron Lewis has come a long way since then. Finally shedding his self-flagellating, angry shell for some more muted melodic rock, the “Break the Cycle” album has some of the most breathtaking vocal lines I’ve ever heard. Compare “Epiphany” off that record to “Self Destruct” from their first record, and you’ll see what I mean. 8. Amy Lee (Evanescence) – No surprises there, I’m sure, if you’ve ever heard my band tattermask. Amy Lee finally grabbed the idea that Lacuna Coil had made underground headway with and brought female-fronted melodic metal into the mainstream. Of all the vocalists here, she inspired me the most, personally. She proved that female singers can succeed at metal without screaming like banshees. 9. Brad Delp (Boston) – Back before the days of Autotune and digital pitch correction, Brad Delp was squealing out high notes and sounding awesome doing so. It’s hard to respect modern day vocalists who rely on digital effects to make their high notes pop when people in the ’70s and ’80s could do it organically. Not only was his high range impressive, his lyrics were insightful and his melodies fun to sing. 10. Steve Perry (Journey) – Another throwback artist with an impressive upper range, Steve Perry wrote some of the biggest ’80s power ballads of all time that are still all over the classic rock radio–and Family Guy’s karaoke episode. 11. Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) – Unlike other artists, Raine Maida fearlessly did something different with his voice that no one else was doing–super-high, nasal falsetto. Maybe not everyone digs the sound, but his voice is definitely distinguishable from the rest of the pack. He has a lot of control, bending his voice all over the place and trying a lot of unconventional things with odd pitch intervals and controlled dissonance. His lyrics, too, are intelligent, cryptic, and make a lot of cultural and literary references that not everyone would catch, which I love. He also helped write write and produce some pop songs for two of my favorite female vocalists: Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. Not only do I respect his choices as a vocalist, I can appreciate his choices as a producer as well. 12. Chris Daughtry (Daughtry) – Remember when American Idol was still American Idol, a competition to become a singer as opposed to a sideshow of fame-rabid freaks? That’s when Chris Daughtry was on the show, and I actually watched. He lost, but I don’t even remember who actually won that season, yet I own Daughtry’s CD. Getting fame and fortune without all of the red tape… I think that’s a “win.” 13. Alanis Morrisette (Solo) – Whether or not she knows what irony actually is, it’s Alanis’s “You Oughta Know” that let the rocker inside her come out to play. Such an angry song with one hell of a power-wailing chorus, that’s the one that impressed me. Even after belting it out a thousand times, I still love that song. I think some of her other work, including her hilariously melodramatic cover of Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps” was pretty good, too. 14. Brandon Boyd (Incubus) – I like how distinctive Brandon Boyd’s voice is and how those fifths harmonies he does are so classic for that band, yet never get over-used. I’ve also found myself connecting very deeply with his lyrics, especially to “Drive.,” what a great song. 15. Layne Staley/Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) – This is another duo where the harmonies between two equally awesome voices are what really make the band. It hasn’t been the same since Layne passed on, but that’s what CDs are for. I’ve always admired the duet in the song “No Excuses” as a standout piece for having extraordinarily different melodies working together to create a bad-ass vocal line, and I love the three-part harmonies for which Alice in Chains is famous. 16. Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) – Last, but not least, on my list is one of the most talented musicians in mainstream rock today: I admire so much about Dave Grohl and his holistic approach to music. On Foo Fighters’ first CD, Dave played all the main instruments himself. Despite somewhat simple beginnings as a singer/songwriter with the verse-chorus-verse debut album, Dave Grohl has blossomed into a singer who goes beyond conventional rhythm and song layout patterns and seeks to weave together all the parts of the song instead of just embroidering vocals on top of everything else. I’m definitely going to be seeing them on their tour this fall. They’ve changed astronomically since I saw them in 1995, I’m sure.

Manamana — It’s Kinda Like Rob Zombie As A Muppet

Originally Published Here: http://shutter16.com/wp/2011/07/06/show-review-manamana-%E2%80%94-its-kinda-like-rob-zombie-as-a-muppet/

Published Wednesday, July 6, 2011 By amanda_caines. Under Editor : Amanda Caines, Photographer: Rebecca Ruddy, Show Review, The Milestone Club, Writer: Amanda Caines Tags: Amanda Caines, Death Proof, heavy metal, Luna's Lament, Manamana, muppets, The Milestone

With mic stands decked in American flags and band members bearing patriotic colors, Manamana kicked off a great Fourth of July weekend at The Milestone. As is customary at the infamous Ghetto Fortress, there was a lot of music, drunken partying, and partial nakedness, all led by the aggressive rock of the three bands on the bill. For those into heavy metal & nakedness—you missed a great show if you weren’t already there.

Starting off the night was the oft-mentioned Death Proof from Greensboro. This is one of several times they’ve made their way onto a bill in Charlotte in the last couple of months, and they had as big a crowd at the bar as the two Charlotte-based bands with whom they shared the stage. While I won’t go into a great deal of detail since we’ve recently included them in a previous article, I will testify that they are every bit as powerful and rambunctious on stage as previously described, and their style, akin to that of Disturbed or Godsmack, had me wanting to mosh—and I don’t mosh.

Following Death Proof came the illustrious Luna’s Lament, with two lady rockers in the band, bringing the female rocker total for the night to three—Death Proof’s drummer is also a woman. Compared to the first time I saw Luna’s Lament last July, they all have come a long way. Guitarist “Kimniption” and drummer “Digi” always had a good stage presence and technical precision at the same time, but bassist “Moose” loosened up a lot since then and continues to be more active on stage. The most drastic change was that vocalist Morgan Riley is suddenly on fire on stage—the bright red hair just feeds the flames. She attributes her newfound stage energy to having watched Jaycee Clark from Greensboro band A Light Divided: “I saw [her] on stage and was like ‘Wow—I’ve really got to step it up.’”

Morgan and Kim started the evening’s trend of stripping down to bra/bikini tops in the sauna-like venue, and by the end of their set, the gaggle of girls in bikini tops both on and off stage certainly made it an interesting evening. Music-wise, Luna’s Lament has some engaging guitar parts and creative layouts, but Morgan, despite having a lovely upper range, sings well below her natural voice most of the time. It makes sense on the older material written for a man’s voice, but the new song they unveiled tonight was not noticeably different. I look forward to hearing what they can pull out when Morgan gets a little more comfortable breaking out of the low zones of former singer Ziggy’s material and writing vocal lines in her power range.

Even with some killer supporting bands, Manamana still rocked the headliner spot of the night with an upbeat set played to a great group of adoring—and half-naked—fans. After announcing that they hoped we all brought earplugs, the guys opened their set with a heavy cover of CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” but these guys are not your typical Southern rock cover band. Like Lynyrd Skynyd—and this is about the only characteristic the two bands share— three of the guys play guitar, offering a lot of awesome options for guitar harmonies and a sonic wall of distortion for the heavy parts, both of which they explored quite a bit. Not being well-versed in death metal vocals, I’m not sure you can call the three guitarists’ simultaneous-but-different screaming “harmony,” but paired with some fresh grooves and layered guitars, it’s an effective communication of the complexities of a dark and angry mood and perfect for this breed of metal.

It’s so refreshing to hear a metal band doing something different from the run-of-the-mill, three-chord guitar parts in 4/4 time signature, with a bunch of screaming that doesn’t change registers or quality. Manamana hits a variety of time signatures, multi-faceted riffage, and boasts a playful chorus of screamers who smile on stage more than any local metal band I’ve ever seen. They cut up with each other on stage and simply exuded the joy of metal during their set—and the fans ate it up. There were sequined-bra-wearing dancers, moshers, and head-bobbers all enjoying the different aspects as Manamana changed gears from death metal to bluesy rock and back again. Guitarist/vocalist Carmen Piro even joined in the strip show and took off his Captain America shirt, revealing an even more patriotic “Freedom” shirt to match the garden of little American flags all over the stage—and some of the guys in the crowed followed suit.

Seeing the aftermath of gleeful, drunken nakedness that followed Manamana’s set, I wanted to go high-five everyone in the band for putting on such a blatantly fun show. This is one heavy metal party band that can deliver a good time that inspires people to get drunk and take their tops off while maintaining enough substance to entertain even the most sober of designated drivers. Every metal head who likes to party should check out Manamana at least once, if not once weekly.

AACK! It’s The Zombie Apocalypse In Epicentre!! Oh, Wait, No…

Published Friday, July 8, 2011 By amanda_caines. Under Editor : Amanda Caines, Festival Coverage, Show Review, Writer: Amanda Caines Tags: Autumn's Blood, cops, Dead White & Blue, death metal, metal, Nephilim, Rusted Radio Dial, Zombie March, zombies

It’s the Dead White and Blue Zombie March!

What started on July 2 as an afternoon of frightful fun for those eager to donate blood or canned goods in exchange for gruesome zombie makeup ended up getting severed prematurely—like a victim’s head—but not before some good-natured mayhem occurred. The event over a thousand canned food items for Metrolina Food Bank and 47 pints of blood for the Red Cross, but still the cops shut the bands down just before 6pm, right in the middle of Nephilim’s set—only the third band of the day.

When I arrived with my crew at the scheduled beginning time of the event, the Epicentre was teeming with zombies, and the pile of bags of canned goods was monstrous. Three makeup artists worked hard to accommodate the large number of people who took advantage of their “bring ten cans and get free zombie makeup” advertisement. Next to them were a tarp and a table with gallons of red liquid labeled “Gallon of Blood” so everyone could get good and bloody before leaving the makeup station—but without bloodying the pavement beneath.

People’s reactions to the undead and the death metal in the family-friendly Epicenter were rather mixed. The old folks got more than they bargained for in their Uptown walk and thought the prophesied Zombie Apocalypse was upon us. Some parents complained to security about zombies menacing their children, but from my observation, the zombies only bothered the kids who were actively bothering them in the first place. Admittedly, there was little forewarning about the presence of monsters in morbid makeup. There might have been signage to that effect had planning for the event not gone a bit awry. The event was originally planned to take place in the somewhat sequestered beer garden in Epicentre, but due to some miscommunications between event staff and Epicentre staff, the bands had to play in a hollow near the 4th Street entrance stairwell. The beer garden is upstairs and has limited access, and children aren’t supposed to be up there, anyway, so that would have been a more appropriate spot for the monstrosities this event brought out. The stage up there would have been much nicer, too.

The sound system that was used was okay, though the vocals seemed a little quiet, which, I’m not going to lie, I didn’t mind because I really don’t dig hardcore. The first band, Autumn’s Blood really had the crowd moving at an early hour for the event. Being a young band, they still have a lot to learn about consistency of stage presence—e.g. you don’t get to move around until you play a solo and then stand stick-still— but they played in tune and time together pretty well, nonetheless. The next band, Rusted Radio Dial tried to pass off a two-piece punk band as something legitimate, but one guitar and a singing drummer playing overly-simple music just doesn’t impress me. Others in our clan liked it, though. Nephilim sounded pretty good, but by the time their licks started to impress me, the cops shut them down. They egged on the cheers of “Fuck the Cops”—at least that’s what it sounded like— with an accompaniment of bass drum kicks in time, further angering security.

Despite the derailment of the concert aspect of the event, the frightful festivities such as “Tha Blood Chug” and the “Brain Eating Contest” continued—and they proved to be some of the grossest stunts I’ve ever seen—so people could win the variety of excellent prizes donated by the event sponsors. Shortly after the festival-sponsored musical entertainment got the big, black boot, some middle-aged guy with tired cover songs and an acoustic guitar came out to play in place of the molten metal bands. No one was out there to see him, but he was preferable to the metal bands, apparently—that’s Charlotte for you! The zombies danced mockingly to his set, and at one point they all lay down together in the middle of the Epicentre right in front of him.

All-in-all, I think this event was a great idea, and I’m sure the benefitting charities would agree. The organizers did a great job of soliciting sponsorships for prizes, and obviously the event was marketed well considering the mobs that showed up. Even as we were leaving, three hours before the scheduled end to the festival, people in tattered, bloody clothing were headed toward the dying party we’d just left. It’s unclear exactly how or why somebody dropped the ball, but the real victims of the debacle were the charities, who could have collected even more goods for their good causes had the event continued through its scheduled ending time.

The highlight of the evening, though, was watching the huge crowd of zombies dancing to the acoustic guy’s cover of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”

More Photos Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutter16mag/sets/72157627023804927/
And Here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutter16mag/sets/72157627148413862/