Pedal To the Metal Tour 2009 – Big Flats, NY, July 30th
I, The Mayor, and two very important friends (Hon. Judge J. Bancroft and Duke of Mayonnaise) caught up with this show in one of the Greene Falls neighboring towns, Big Flats, NY. For those in the know, Big Flats is sort of an out of the way place for this type of tour.
The tour featured Mudvayne and Black Label Society as its co-headliners, with support by Static-X, Suicide Silence, and Bury Your Dead.
We arrived at the venue at 4:30, when the doors were slated to open, but they didn’t start letting people in until sometime between 5:00 and 5:30. It had been raining all day, and by now the sun was out. So we were standing in a long line in a wet field, sinking in the mud as the moisture crept up our slacks. We were wearing slacks, you see, because we were there on official Greene Falls Township business. Otherwise, we would’ve been in our best and most relaxing golf pants and Land’s End polo shirts.
Hellzapoppin Sideshow
This was the first indication for us that the 90’s took a giant shit all over this tour. This was collection of self proclaimed “freaks” that were sent to “entertain” the crowd while the roadies set up and tested equipment. They had a marginally attractive half naked sword swallowing chick, a dude with no arms, another guy with a glass orb on his head and some sort of guy who stuck pins through his face and lay down on blades. They were really fifteen years too late for anyone to really give a damn.
Bury Your Dead
Bury Your Dead was the first band to play, and they weren’t absolutely terrible. They were kind of just generic hardcore and didn’t really have anything unique enough to make them stand out from the other 2.5 million “metal-core” bands that are on tour at this very moment. They all had matching outfits, which seems to be all the rage with the tweens these days, but it kind of detracted from their credibility. The band wore white dress shirts with black slacks, and they had two white guitars, a white drum kit, and the bass was off white. Apparently, they were out of stock on white basses at Guitar Center. Their singer (their third or fourth, I discovered after I looked them up the next day) and his outfit was all black, which I suppose denotes he’s supposed to be their leader. He did have a good control of the crowd, and they did get most people moving during their 20 to 25 minute set.
See what I mean about the outfits? I spent more time talking about that than their set.
See what I mean about the outfits? I spent more time talking about that than their set.
Suicide Silence
This band was absolute garbage. The Duke and The Judge and I all agree. The band itself; two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer; were decent enough musicians. By their style, they definitely were more primed to be a technical death metal band (although the “lead” guitarist played the same solo for every song). They played hard and fast, but their efforts were destroyed by a singer-slash-hipster wearing black, tight, girl’s jeans with black keds and no socks. He also had that windswept hair that all the emo-kids are sporting these days.
Not only did he look like a clown, but he screeched like a dying owl through their entire set. He had a riser up front, bigger than the drum riser, to stand on to help him get the crowd moving. LAME.
About the band’s overall performance: They were playing hard, and they seemed to be really trying (except the screeching owl), but they were down tuned so low that you couldn’t even discern where they were changing chords or notes. I could see their hands moving furiously, but the sound left plenty to be desired. Not to mention that three (THREE!) of their songs had a breakdown part, then silence, then the drummer hit a tiny cymbal (I think it was a splash) that went “TING!”, then silence, then back into a breakdown. Three of their songs did this. Three of them. Out of maybe six. At least fifty percent of their set-list consisted of this gimmick.
The crowd, at this point was full of fourteen year old girls. I’m not even kidding. The thought of fourteen year old listening to this music was amusing to me, and I hoped they might be exposed to some of the other bands and expand their horizons (if only a little). But they I realized that Suicide Silence was every bit as terrible as the rotten pop music of today. In fact, it’s worse. Pop music makes no bones about what it is, where this music is masquerading as something… else.
Not only did he look like a clown, but he screeched like a dying owl through their entire set. He had a riser up front, bigger than the drum riser, to stand on to help him get the crowd moving. LAME.
About the band’s overall performance: They were playing hard, and they seemed to be really trying (except the screeching owl), but they were down tuned so low that you couldn’t even discern where they were changing chords or notes. I could see their hands moving furiously, but the sound left plenty to be desired. Not to mention that three (THREE!) of their songs had a breakdown part, then silence, then the drummer hit a tiny cymbal (I think it was a splash) that went “TING!”, then silence, then back into a breakdown. Three of their songs did this. Three of them. Out of maybe six. At least fifty percent of their set-list consisted of this gimmick.
The crowd, at this point was full of fourteen year old girls. I’m not even kidding. The thought of fourteen year old listening to this music was amusing to me, and I hoped they might be exposed to some of the other bands and expand their horizons (if only a little). But they I realized that Suicide Silence was every bit as terrible as the rotten pop music of today. In fact, it’s worse. Pop music makes no bones about what it is, where this music is masquerading as something… else.
Dope
Dope was dropped from the tour and we couldn’t have been happier. I suppose some people were upset by this, and word didn’t get out until the tour was underway, so if you paid to see them you got the shaft, which is unfortunate. I’d had the displeasure of seeing them open three times previously and they were shit every time. So for us, it was a major win to not have to sit through their set.
Static-X
I had seen Static-X five times previous to this, The Judge and The Duke four times previous each. This was the main reason we were going, really. Well, them and Mudvayne. Their set was energetic and the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Wayne was in top comedic form with his banter. It was also good to Kochi back on stage, as the last time we saw them, they had statutory rapist Tripp playing guitar.
Static-X only played for 30 minutes, but it was packed with all the fan favorites. Their touring drummer was very adept, and in fact my only complaint is that he overplayed some of the early songs a little bit. The early songs need to be basic, and he kind of went all over the place, but it was still good.
One thing to take note of, is that Static-X sold a thumb drive with that very evening’s show on it. This is a fantastic souvenir, to have a recording of a show you attended. I know Pearl Jam was trying to do this a few years ago, but couldn’t get them mastered in time for the fans as they left the show. That’s why a search for Pearl Jam album yields some hundreds of results because they sold each show of their tour on CD some weeks after the shows took place.
I haven’t listened to it yet, but it is a soundboard recording. It probably won’t sound as good as the Pearl Jam CDs as the thumb drives aren’t mastered, but you can tweak the audio anyway you like with software these days. I may end up posting it in the near future, depending on if the band still makes it available afterward. If they don’t and it is indeed rare, I’ll post it up and throw together some artwork.
Static-X only played for 30 minutes, but it was packed with all the fan favorites. Their touring drummer was very adept, and in fact my only complaint is that he overplayed some of the early songs a little bit. The early songs need to be basic, and he kind of went all over the place, but it was still good.
One thing to take note of, is that Static-X sold a thumb drive with that very evening’s show on it. This is a fantastic souvenir, to have a recording of a show you attended. I know Pearl Jam was trying to do this a few years ago, but couldn’t get them mastered in time for the fans as they left the show. That’s why a search for Pearl Jam album yields some hundreds of results because they sold each show of their tour on CD some weeks after the shows took place.
I haven’t listened to it yet, but it is a soundboard recording. It probably won’t sound as good as the Pearl Jam CDs as the thumb drives aren’t mastered, but you can tweak the audio anyway you like with software these days. I may end up posting it in the near future, depending on if the band still makes it available afterward. If they don’t and it is indeed rare, I’ll post it up and throw together some artwork.
Black Label Society
Zakk Wylde and BLS have this really great stable of biker people as fans, and I love to see them out and about. They generally love to have a good time and just hang out and drink beers and listen to Zakk rip.
As decent as BLS was, Zakk spent a lot of time on guitar wankery, which wasn’t that fun for me. Zakk’s vocals were buried so deep in the mix that you couldn’t make out a damn thing.
After the show, the band hung out on stage for a little bit and pulled some fans up on stage. They appreciated their fans, their fans appreciated them, and the band clearly had a close bond and that was great to see.
They weren’t a terrible way to spend an hour, but I wish I knew more of their material.
As decent as BLS was, Zakk spent a lot of time on guitar wankery, which wasn’t that fun for me. Zakk’s vocals were buried so deep in the mix that you couldn’t make out a damn thing.
After the show, the band hung out on stage for a little bit and pulled some fans up on stage. They appreciated their fans, their fans appreciated them, and the band clearly had a close bond and that was great to see.
They weren’t a terrible way to spend an hour, but I wish I knew more of their material.
Mudvayne
Before I get into this, let me just say that of all the stuff that came out in the era of “Nu Metal”, I think they had one of the most original sounds. Not only that, but they were smart enough to remove their gimmicky makeup before they got stuck with it like KISS or Slipknot. It’s too late for the ‘knot, they take them off now they are dead in the water.
That having been said, they’re show was not very good. They were a disappointment to be sure. It was in the first week of the tour, and they already seemed to be phoning it in. I saw them in 2000, and they were still young and hungry and they killed it. They were definitely a hard act to follow 9 years ago.
Guitarist Greg Tribbett and Vocalist Chad Gray barely moved. Drummer Matthew McDonough was invisible behind his massive kit. However, bassist Ryan Martinie was animated and fun to watch.
The real problem was with the band’s sound. It was horribly muddy and the only thing you could hear was Greg’s guitar (which couldn’t seem to stay in tune) and Matthew’s bass drum. You couldn’t tell when Chad was singing, and Ryan’s bass (which, let’s be frank, is the best thing the band has going for them) was buried so deep in the mix you could only hear it for brief seconds in between the other band members pauses.
They only played for an hour, so the show wrapped up at 9:30 which seems kind of early. It would’ve been nice if some of the bands (anyone but Suicide Silence, please) had expanded their sets by a few minutes to make up for the absence of Dope.
All in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.
That having been said, they’re show was not very good. They were a disappointment to be sure. It was in the first week of the tour, and they already seemed to be phoning it in. I saw them in 2000, and they were still young and hungry and they killed it. They were definitely a hard act to follow 9 years ago.
Guitarist Greg Tribbett and Vocalist Chad Gray barely moved. Drummer Matthew McDonough was invisible behind his massive kit. However, bassist Ryan Martinie was animated and fun to watch.
The real problem was with the band’s sound. It was horribly muddy and the only thing you could hear was Greg’s guitar (which couldn’t seem to stay in tune) and Matthew’s bass drum. You couldn’t tell when Chad was singing, and Ryan’s bass (which, let’s be frank, is the best thing the band has going for them) was buried so deep in the mix you could only hear it for brief seconds in between the other band members pauses.
They only played for an hour, so the show wrapped up at 9:30 which seems kind of early. It would’ve been nice if some of the bands (anyone but Suicide Silence, please) had expanded their sets by a few minutes to make up for the absence of Dope.
All in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.
