I mean, I went to a lot of shows in my youth. I've seen just about everyone I've ever wanted to see. I saw Nirvana, both electric and at their infamous MTV Unplugged show. I got to see David Bowie perform all his greatest hits at Queens College. Members of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson playing Twisted Sister songs with Dee Snider at the Elbow Room in Manhattan. Portishead's legendary Roseland show that became their live album. The Ramones. Morrissey in Central Park. Not to mention all the amazing shows at CBGB's: The Melvins, The Muffs, Vision Of Disorder.
So, it's rare I'd feel the need to see shows these days, because I've already seen it all. But when these two came up, I couldn't pass them up.
First up, SURVIVE, the electronic act that I first discovered for their music in the 2014 flick THE GUEST, were doing a gig at the Echoplex. And several months back, my buddy Mike Williamson alerted me to the return of 90's grunge prodigal sons FAILURE, who would be playing in it's entirety, their album "Fantastic Planet" from start to finish in celebration of it's 20th anniversary. Failure is not only one of my favorite bands that inspired me back in my late teens / early 20's, but "Fantastic Planet" in particular is essential listening. There were a handful of albums that became so indelible and influential to me as I was learning to hone my own craft of songwriting. (That's for another blog!) And for whatever reason, Failure always alluded me live. I don't recall them coming around to New York that often, if at all, during the height of my fandom for them. So up until now, I'd never seen them.
If you're reading this, then you no doubt know that horror is my business, for better or worse. And being that I write about horror movies on a daily basis, October becomes somewhat of a problematic month in terms of properly rationing my time. But again, I bought these concert tickets ages ago, and didn't think about how they'd fallen directly at the beginning of the busy Halloween season.
Another sting was that I had to attend both shows on my own. I normally don't care about that sort of thing. I go to movies by myself all the time, but I'm a little anxious when it comes to going to shows. You have to time it out so perfectly. You have to plan for expensive parking lots, unless you're lucky enough to stumble upon an open street parking space. A damned rarity for Hollywood. I've sat through enough opening acts in my day that I just don't have the energy, patience or stamina to stand in the same spot for hours on end anymore.
So, with SURVIVE, I tried to arrive as late as possible in the hopes I'd make it just in time. My date for the evening was feeling ill, and had to bail last minute, which was OK, because then I could just wing the entire evening. After a few strolls around the sketchy neighborhood that harbors the Echoplex, I miraculously found free parking in a small outdoor lot! It was already just past 9PM as I arrived and that was exactly when the parking time was up! I walked into the packed venue to learn that my timing wasn't nearly as spot on as I'd hoped. I would have to sit through one opening act before SURVIVE took the stage. I managed to find a predominantly uninhabited spot to the right of the sound board, which was in the center of the venue. As I got settled leaning up against the booth, MAJEURE took the stage and settled up behind a full drum kit.
I don't have any problem with electronic music, but it's a bit weird to see it performed live because for the most part, all you're going to see is some really, really high guys standing still behind a laptop and keyboard occasionally bopping their head, and maybe someone in the audience will actually dance to it rather than foolishly just staring at a guy playing a loop. But alas, you never know what you're going to get, and in the case of MAJEURE, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise! MAJEURE is actually Anthony Paterra, whom along with Steve Moore make up the prog-y band ZOMBI. Here, he played live drums over a series of synth programmed samples and selections. So, although it was something that required a laptop and a keyboard, it benefited greatly from watching this guy pound along on the drums the entire time too. He was wrapped before I knew it, and I patiently waited for SURVIVE to make their 11PM call time. (Is it me, or is is it... yawwwwn... getting late?)
As the minutes went on, of course my safe haven spot had been invaded by crowds of people trying to get a closer look. A couple next to me got a little too close for comfort, but I was already up against the wall of the sound booth, so there really wasn't anywhere else I could go. And then directly next to me, a large 6 and a half foot man suddenly appeared who would periodically cough aloud, as the neurotic in me started freaking out that I hadn't taken enough Vitamin C that day.
It was a bit late, but finally SURVIVE took the stage and my excitement immediately waned. It was 4 dudes, behind 4 keyboards that were cranked really, really loud, not doing much else except occasionally sipping at a beer. The energy level was low, and no one around me was really dancing. The second track in the set was "Hourglass," one of my personal favorites and most well know as the song playing in the bar scene of THE GUEST. And... it sounded kind of puny in comparison to the album version. I mean, it was loud, for sure. But it just didn't sound... right.
Regardless, I stuck it out, and the next song was both equal parts loud and drastically out of tune. Look - maybe I was already in a bad mood coming into the venue. It was late. It was an inconvenient time. I not only had to eat the 2nd ticket I paid for for this show, but a few weeks back, I ate an additional ticket to see DJ Christian James Hand perform his shtick. And later this month, I have to miss a special charity screening of CARRIE that I already paid for. So I guess I wasn't in the best of moods, but these guys weren't blowing me away either. At all. At least with John Carpenter's band it was a full on band, all playing their respective instruments and making each track sound even better live than it ever did on record. Here, it was the opposite. It made me want to go home and just crank my SURVIVE LP's. So halfway through the set, that's exactly what I did. I went home.
I started to wonder, is something wrong with me? Have I seen too many shows? Have I finally hit the age where this doesn't excite me anymore? Am I too old for these hip young electronic acts? I don't know. All I knew was I was still going to see the mighty FAILURE, even though I had to brave that show alone as well.
The ticket for that show said 8PM doors and 9PM show time. There were no opening acts listed anywhere online, including The Roxy's webpage. And since this was advertised as the band playing one of their fairly epic albums from start to finish, I assumed I wouldn't have to make it there until just before 9, and I was right. I bit the bullet and paid for the $10 dollar parking in the lot next door, which coupled with the hefty $45 ticket price brought this evening up to a $55 dollar street value. The venue was tiny, and already pretty full, but even being in the far back as I was, wasn't too far from the main stage and would be totally suitable to enjoy the performance. It didn't help that literally all of the tallest guys in Los Angeles had decided to attend this gig, and felt their height had earned them the right to be closer to the stage than the other mostly vertically challenged patrons.
Again, I had never seen this band live before. And they were among my biggest musical heroes. I had waited a long time for this moment. I hope I was ready for it. And then, the first few chords of album opener "Saturday Savior" began. Ken Andrews voice couldn't have been crisper, cleaner or more perfect. And when the distortion and drums kicked in for the chorus, a wave of sound hit me head on, and I was truly swept away. They were amazing. And the power of a good live act was well in tact, after the previous night's disappointment.
That's not to say there weren't the usual obstacles present when it comes to sharing confined space with large groups of sweaty, beer guzzling people. I had already mentioned the over population of tall people, right? Well, yet again, there was a rather large gentleman standing directly next to me with long shoulder-length curly hair. As the band rocked the pillars, he was headbanging furiously and on the first head swing, his sweat hit the side of my face. Sure, it was kinda gross, but after all this is a rock show. And when a few minutes later in between songs, he cried out, "this is the best thing of ever and I'm loving it!" His like-minded enthusiasm won me over.
I usually hate when people spend an entire show with their phone in the air documenting the whole show, and I didn't want to be one of those assholes. But fuck it. I paid $45 bucks. And I was standing pretty close to the back. I wanted to at the very least document a few seconds of my favorite tracks off the album. So I tried to time it for a chorus here, or a guitar solo there, very sparsely through out the show. But again, those tall peeps. So I had to put my arm up pretty high to get the decent quality video you see here in this blog. After this one from "The Nurse Who Loved Me," some semi-drunk guy behind me with a beer in his hand yelled at me to put my phone away, man. I promised him it was just for that solo, and he still gave me a dirty look. Shrugs. Screw you, man. I'm 40. And this is my first time seeing FAILURE!!!
And that's when all these random thoughts from the previous two nights began swimming around in my head, and inevitably were destined for this blog. Because one night I thought I was too old for this shit. And the next, I'd witnessed one of the best shows I'd ever seen in my life. In the top 10 and one I'll always tell people about.
I guess you're never too old for this show going thing. For all the follies that surround them, including parking and the people around you, the reward is sometimes a life long memory to cherish forever.
