It was a night for metal last weekend in San Antonio, and as everyone knows San Antonio loves its metal. When I pulled up to the parking lot of the AT&T Center, I was more than a little disappointed that there was no resemblance to the classic cult film “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” filmed before a Judas Priest concert in Maryland in ‘86. If you haven’t seen it, well, you can find it here. Check it out. The crowd was slow coming in and the first band didn’t have much of a crowd. The band was called Pop Evil. How can I put this nicely? They were wretched. Sort of a watered-down Creed. They seemed to be trying to rock, banging their heads furiously to mid-tempo songs with instantly forgettable lyrics. Needless to say, the crowd wasn’t impressed.
Next up came the co-headliners of the show Whitesnake. Being a pretty big fan, I was stoked to see them back together. David Coverdale being the only original member left of the line-up that was best known for the hit songs from the Slide It In era. However, Reb Beach from Winger joined on guitar and the dude is a real shredder. Coverdale strolled out with his hair looking like a lion’s mane. Whitesnake started off pretty slow, playing mostly lesser known numbers. Coverdale is almost 60 years old, and although he looks to be in pretty good shape, his voice was definitely getting rough by the time he got about halfway through the set. I was surprised he actually nailed the high notes on “Still of the Night”, but he did. All in all, Whitesnake played a pretty good set with a high energy level. I wasn’t floored, but it was a respectable showing.
It was pretty obvious the crowd was here to see Judas Priest. There were lots of aging metalheads and heshers. Surprisingly, there was also quite a large contingency of “normals,” most with their kids in tow, presumably reliving the brief fling they had with metal in their youth. The original band members, with the exception of the drummer, stepped on stage to thunderous applause and ripped into their set consisting of their classic breakout album British Steel in its entirety. They were simply amazing. Singer Rob Halford’s voice sounds just as good today as it did in Priest’s heyday, and those geezers can still shred their guitars just like young bucks. After blazing through British Steel, the crowd went nuts and Rob Halford assured the crowd “We ain’t done yet, we got some more metal for ya.” Then they tore into The Ripper. Priest rocked a few more of their most popular numbers as well as a couple off of their new album (which rocks). It was an amazing set by one of the most influential metal bands of all time.
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Oh I see. I was wondering if you were talking about the picture. Really glad you liked it. Have you checked her out yet?
by Colin on Sun Mar 14, 2010 at 02.29 pm from the entry: Interview - Kelli Schaefer (Portland, OR; Winter, 2010)
yes! The interview is great, and the photo shows off the glow
by Ian on Sun Mar 14, 2010 at 01.29 pm from the entry: Interview - Kelli Schaefer (Portland, OR; Winter, 2010)
Great post! Really digging the new record a lot. The Rainwater LP has some gorgeous moments - definitely recommend checking it out. There are 3 of the new songs up on the myspace page: myspace.com/citizencope
by MattKlomp on Sun Mar 14, 2010 at 03.16 am from the entry: Citizen Cope - Paradise Theater (Boston, MA; Feb. 27, 2010 )
haha is that a compliment?
by colin on Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 06.49 pm from the entry: Interview - Kelli Schaefer (Portland, OR; Winter, 2010)
love that melophobe has more “couples” reviewers, and more “Ian/Ion/Ian/Iain” than the average site…
by Ian on Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 06.48 pm from the entry: sevendust + drowning pool + digital summer + the flood - showbox market (seattle, WA; Mar 07, 2010
you’re positively glowing in this interview, Colin
by Ian on Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 06.46 pm from the entry: Interview - Kelli Schaefer (Portland, OR; Winter, 2010)
Hey Merseilles did a live web show at sonicbirds office gig on Friday that was pretty spectacular. Can anyone find a copy of that?
by Smallweed on Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 11.40 am from the entry: SXSW Send Off Show - Visqueen + Hey Marseilles - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Mar. 5, 2010)
