“This stage is too small and these monitors suck big d-ck,” The first words Glenn Danzig said to us after his new lineup had charged through their first two tracks "Wotan's Procession"and "SkinCarver" on stage. The new Lineup for Danzig now includes drummer Johnny Kelly of Type O Negative fame, guitarist Tommy Victor of Prong , and bassist Steve Zing who previously played with Danzig in Samhain . Danzig’s words are somewhat in opposition with the concert, while perhaps the stage at Northern Lights is too small, I’m not so sure as it seemed like Peter Steele had plenty of room up there, but given the several times we were subjected to the lovely squelch of microphone feedback during the course of the evening, maybe the monitors really were awful, but what’s more important is that despite that, Danzig’s set was excellent.
Danzig himself is starting to show his age in how he carries himself but he’s absolutely back in his wheelhouse with the newest album Deth Red Sabaoth. Having released several albums, his musical production has varied from his early work with Rick Ruben, which often was clearly blues influenced, through a long period of experimentation where Glenn regularly composed and recorded much of the instrumentation himself, the albums often showing his love of industrial metal in the veins of early Nine Inch Nails . Danzig has put together a great lineup, and they do an excellent job recreating their music live.
Of course, if all I’m talking about is the headliner, I’ve completely missed the point, haven’t I? DevilDriver, the product of Dez Fafara leaving Coal Chamber , has been touring with Danzig, and are perhaps the heavier of the two well known acts on the tour. DevilDriver has done very well for themselves, as Dez proclaimed proudly from stage, their new album "Beast" has made the billboard top 40 with no commercial airplay, and no traditional advertising. DevilDriver was exactly what one could expect from them live, they were heavy, loud, aggressive, and packed their set with songs. Dez perhaps decided to forego some stage banter to really give the crowd as much as they could. DevilDriver has grown away from their first album, which clearly has worked for them very well despite my disappointment in their having become somewhat more typical in their musical approach, toward a more straightforward metal sound from what was once billed as ragtime-metal fusion which was more evident in their syncopated rhythms and clever song structure in the self titled first album. They have however made quite a name for themselves in the metal market, and certainly were an excellent live show in their own right.
2Cents opened the show, and were pegged immediately. My friend and constant concert companion Jaye leaned toward me to proclaim that they wish whole heartedly to be Pantera. They even went so far as to cover the song "Strength Beyond Strength" to close out their set. 2Cents isn’t explicitly bad though, it appears that their album quality doesn’t shine through well to their live show, which may come with a bit of time. There is little more to say about them, they have talent, and appear comfortable with who they are as a band, but perhaps are feeling the pressure of touring with two groups with much more history and are trying a bit too hard.
Overall, despite some minor frustrations, the show was excellent and I’d happily go again if This same touring group were to pass through the capital region again.
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