Daikaiju and Aquamen @ El Rio

Pan and I went to check out the annual Aquamen reunion show @ El Rio and hang with Victor. I was thankful that they were playing earlier than usual, but the turn out was a bit disappointing and made the show a little less engaging. Jon was coming over to meet us for a beer, so we decided to check out a few song from the headlining band. Band from Alabama. Might be interesting. These guys came out with these Japanese theater masks on. Thought it was kinda gimmicky but whatever. They proceeded to blow my mind! Surfy sound very much like Man or Astroman?, but man they had a crazy energy and sound that had me spellbound. One of the best shows I've been to in a while. At the end they had everyone on the stage and they were playing on the floor and proceeded to put their instruments on other people including PP.

Bought their CD and asked my wife what the name meant. She replied, "Big, Scary Monster!"

Torche and Big Business @ Slim's in Aug

Big Business put on their usual amazing show and sounded awesome to boot! Unusual for Slim's. Torche was awesome but probably really should've opened for BB. They played some of my favorite songs off of Meanderthal.

Crosstops and Sassy Record Release @ Benders

Late on this one too. Oct 23rd. Love it when a some great local bands are playing a short walk from my house @ one of my favorite bars! Caught the Giants playoff against the Phillies before the show at Shotwells. Had the Brewdog Tokoyo Stout (18%). Giants win the NLCS and champagne is flowing. Then food at a mediocre new Mexican place near by (Jalisco?), and finally onto Benders! Sassy was good. Lady power duo. Crosstops on next, but I was so loaded and tired I couldn't even make it 'til the end of the show. Stumbled home at 12:30am.

Flaming Lips and Health @ The Fox in Oakland

Late posting this. This was in October 2nd. Rich and I were too busy drinking @ Beer Revolution and missed the super early set of Health @ the Fox. Tix were expensive and wasn't super excited to see the Lips, but they were pretty damn amazing!

High on Fire and Torche @ GAMH

Met up with E in the Tenderloin before the show for some Indian food at Shalimar. Hadn't walked around the Loin in years and it hasn't changed much. Always exhilarating and a bit scary. Hookers, crack head, etc. Great people watching. We grabbed a beer at Olive near GAMH and got in just as Torche was about to go on. The went on with a bang but the dynamic was tempered by the vocals being way too low. And this went on for 3 songs before they sound man finally got it right. What's up with that?! They are great live though. Highly recommended. Love their new album. Next up was High on Fire. Their sound was a bit muddy, but much better than the last time I caught 'em at the FOX opening for Mastodon. Super heavy! They played an interesting set that was quite different from the last few times that I saw them. They started with Turk which is one of my favs. They played a few oldies off of Surrounded by Thieves which was a change. Good to see that they sold out GAMH. High on Fire!

American Carnage Tour! Slayer, Megadeth & Testament @ the Cow Palace!

Matt and I got caught in traffic on the way down and ended up missing Testament! Luckily, we recently saw them but still bummed because they were really good. The old school and new school metal heads are an interesting combo. Lots of aggro vibes. To be expected. Awesome people watching. Jesus freaks were out protesting the show and handing out "Get Out of Hell Free" cards. Can't believe these morons!



Megadeth put on the usual polished show with an awesome light show. They played the entire Rust in Peace album, a few new tunes and followed up with a few other classics like Peace Sells and Symphony of Destruction. What made it worth it to me to see 'em was when they played My Last Words.



Slayer opened up with World Painted Blood which was a great song to start with. Slayer truly has that dark, evil music thing down! I have to say I was a little spellbound. I understand why the bible beaters fear them. They played another new one and started in to play the Seasons in the Abyss album. The pit was probably the biggest and most violent one that I've seen since I've lived in California. One main pit and 2 side pits. Hope Slayer comes back soon!

Mastodon & High on Fire @ The Fox in Oakland

E, Matt and I met up with some friends at the Trappist for a few brews before the show. Walked over at about 7pm. Super excited to finally check out The Fox Theater after it's reopening. The theater sign looked awesome from the distance as we approached. The venue is amazing. Super ornate architecture. A perfect environment for this metal show! Got there for the last few songs of Baroness. Need to check 'em out more. Went down near the front for High on Fire. The local following was out in force. The sound unfortunately was muddy and much of the music was indistinguishable if you didn't know what the songs. They had good stage presence though and put on a great show. Between the Buried and me was much more interesting than I thought they would be. Lots of diverse musical styles dominated by progressive metal. Mastodon was good but not outstanding. The vocals just aren't quite where they should be in their live performance, but the music is dead on. Played some cool, trippy art on the digital display behind the band in the style of their new album art.