Top 20 From The First 20 Years #2: Metallica/Danzig/Suicidal Tendencies 6/8/94

(i am incapable of taking a straight picture)

This show!

The open air on the water vibe of the Jones Beach Amphitheater combined with METAL!

I'm pretty sure this is the first show with top to bottom repeats. This was my third time seeing Metallica (i think i would go on to see them only twice more.), my third time seeing Danzig (i would go on to see them/him countless times, actually i'm still waiting for the 25th anniversary show announcement for nyc), and my second time seeing Suicidal (i would see them a week later and then not again till like two weeks ago.). So i was familiar with everyone and knew exactly what to expect. Then i had all of those expectations blown away.

Suicidal played a quick intense set, totally ignoring the fact that the amphitheater was less than half full, with a ton of people just chilling in the parking lot. The parking lot i'm pretty sure you can see from the stage. Mike was crazy and full of energy, taking full advantage of the giant stage. This was suicidal with both Trujillo and Rocky, classic lineup.

Danzig. Danzig in 1994. Danzig at the absolute peak of their popularity. The re-release of 'Mother' from the Thrall:Demonsweatlive EP was still in ridiculously heavy rotation on mtv and on the radio. This was the last go around for the original Glenn/Christ/Eerie/Biscuits lineup. The amphitheater was mostly full by the time they took the stage, as they were quite the draw at the time. A ten or eleven song 40 ish minute set that was all hits, opening with 'Brand New God' which was at the time a new song from their forthcoming record, 4P. Performing 'Mother' smack in the middle of the set as opposed to the tradition of closing out the set with the biggest song, came as no surprise as Glenn, the non-conformist, is actually quite predictable. The crowd was alive and headbanging the entire time (the fully seated venue was kind of a downer, but the atmosphere of the beach almost always makes up for it), singing along with most of the songs, but obviously 'Mother' was the moment. The biggest surprise was the fact that Danzig, the opening act, came out for an encore. Yep, he's that much of a dick.

The amphitheater was filled to the brim. The parking lot was full of people who couldn't get in. You could see the stars, you could see the stars reflecting in the water around the stage. The intro music hits, the people go crazy, Metallica takes their places, and BANG open with fucking "Breadfan." This was Metallica having fun. This was their "we're stir crazy in the studio and just need to get out on the road" tour. This was before all the psychiatrists and all the "coping with success" nonsense. They had released a monster record, toured the world, achieved more than any of their contemporaries, and were working on the follow up. This was their break. The set was a good balance from all the records (they played 'disposable heroes'!!) and they genuinely looked like they were having fun. Maybe it was the last time they had fun. It was all disappointment and over-thinking for the band from here on out.

Top to bottom an excellent show, metal head matt loved it, hardcore kid matt was still in his infancy...but he would be breaking out soon...three months or so from this show...

Letters from the editor 2

To the easily riled up adult black men of nyc,

I do not, for one fucking second, believe that you or anyone else im likely to come in contact with in my life, have paid anything close to $6000 for a fucking bicycle. If you did, my first question would be: was $35 for a lock and chain just too much? 2)do you really think you should just walk into whatever store you wish while carrying your mode of transportation? And 3)considering the fit of rage you just displayed over being "disrespected", do you really need the new issue of the hulk?

Warmest regards,
Matt-

Movie RantView: Iron Man 3

Finally found a chance to see the latest film in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe." While everyone seems to think this is the kickoff to "Phase 2," i think, pretty clearly, this is the cap off to "Phase 1." We'll get back to that.

In one of the box office reports after the opening weekend, one of the many entertainment sites seemed aghast at the amount of money Iron Man 3 made. The said Iron Man 3 was "performing more like a sequel to Avengers than to Iron Man 2." Well yeah, dummies, because it is a sequel to the Avengers. The movies are not tangentially linked...they are directly linked. The previous Iron Man films fed directly into Avengers, and clearly Iron Man 3 follows on that. To further the point, when Regal Cinema did their Iron Man marathon, it was Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3.

Onto the movie itself. Iron Man 3 is, without a doubt, an enjoyable movie that lives up to the high standards set by the other Marvel movies. Tony Stark, suffering from PTSD from the events at the conclusion of the Avengers, tinkers and twitches through the first half of the movie. Robert Downey Jr. is charismatic and quick witted and carries this well. There is something about soldiers who are injured who decide to volunteer for a procedure to heal them or maybe make them blow up, the ones who don't blow up, apparently forget what it is like to be a good guy and just decide to be weird nuclear mercenaries. Oh, and they can breathe fire, i guess, sometimes?

Blah blah blah...the cast is fantastic from top to bottom. Guy Pierce is clearly in a career renaissance. They find, literally, every reason in the book to keep Robert Downey Jr. out of the armor, which is awesome since there is that set piece with something on the order of 30 pieces of armor. Did Don Cheadle show up on set in a Fred Perry polo and no one decided to "costume" him? Why would a soldier, wearing Stark Tech Iron Patriot armor be wearing a polo and some dockers inside? Gwenyth Paltrow clearly did some serious ab work and they found a way to make sure that was showcased. Former director Jon Favraeu returns as Happy Hogan and, as always, is just delightful. Was there any doubt about the greatness of Ben Kingsly? If you had any, his performance in this will totally eradicate it. He is ridiculous in the best possible way.

My biggest complaint with the movie is probably part of its success. I would love to know how all of the events of this movie happen without there being even a mention of the Avengers, of SHIELD, there is a terrorist bombing the U.S. and threatening the president and there is not even a passing reference to Captain America? You spent all this time building this cohesive universe, you cannot just ignore it as you see fit. I'm not saying every movie has to have a team up, but you can't just pretend they are not out there. The next Thor movie will have Thor in yet another of the 9 realms, thus negating the need for explanation. The next Captain America movie will feature Black Widow, but even at that, with it being the Winter Soldier, that makes it a personal mission for Steve. He must handle it alone. It's his responsibility, etc. Iron Man 3 needed to at least address the situation.

The ending, the resolutions, even the credit sequence all have a bit of a finality to them. I doubt we will see an Iron Man 4. This movie acts almost like an epilogue to the Avengers, it certainly does not set up anything for Marvel's "Phase 2", it just seems to float between what has happened and what we know is coming. Apparently it is not even confirmed that Iron Man will be in Avengers 2. (Although Downey made 50 million dollars on the back end of the first Avengers...so i'm sure something will be worked out.}

It's fun. The post credit sequence, like the Avengers, goes for cute as opposed to hooking into the next movie. I still believe we will see Iron Man, in fancy new armor to boot, in Guardians Of The Galaxy next year, rushing back to earth after getting his ass handed to him by Thanos, to rally the Avengers to kick some ass.

And i will still be first in line.

Top 20 From The First 20 Years #1: Anthrax & Fight at Roseland 4/20/94

It takes two and a half years and twenty six shows before the first one makes the list, odd.

This was Anthrax on the sound of white noise tour, arguably (by me mostly) their best record. If memory serves me correctly this was the last show on this part of the tour, and this was the last leg of the SoWN tour. Before the record came out in may of 1993, Anthrax did a run of extremely small shows. They played at the Grand in NYC, it was the record release show the day before it came out. I remember walking into the local video store (tyler video in Woodhaven, Queens) with my friend to get a pair of tickets. There was literally only one left. I bought the ticket under the agreement that we would go down and scalp another ticket and split the cost. Then i had to have knee surgery the week of the show...and had to skip it. Damn. (I remember making my mom drive me to the record store on crutches to buy Sound of White Noise the day it came out.)

The first leg of the tour later in 93 i somehow missed...i can only imagine it was on the same day as a show i was already attending. Being that it was Anthrax/white zombie/quicksand...well...clearly i must have had something MUCH BETTER TO DO.

To say my anticipation for this show was high is a complete understatement. I had eleven months to digest that record, at that point they had a number of videos on headbanger's ball from that album. Just ridiculously amped for this show.

Then you have to take into account that FIGHT was announced as the opening act.

War of Words was a record that hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, i was familiar with Rob Halford, i liked Judas Priest as much as required by the metal head community, but FIGHT was a whole new ballgame. That record was far ahead of its time.

The show itself was amazing. Fight hit the stage like a wrecking ball. Im pretty sure they played the entirety of War of words, the crowd knew every word...moved to every song...in all honesty, when they were done, that would have been enough to get this show on the list. Then came Anthrax. The hometown conquering heroes. They had spent the previous year supporting their biggest commercially successful record ever. Had proved that replacing their singer would not only not be the death of the band, but instead infused new life and energy into their act. This was Anthrax at the absolute top of their game. If you needed to pinpoint the absolute PEAK of their career, I would be convinced it was this show. They played a shortish set 12-15 songs...but it was all go! If i recall, there was also a cover of "lookin down the barrel of a gun". John Bush absolutely killed the older material, and just shined on HyProGlo and the other "new" material. When it came down to the end of the set/encore part, they were just like "screw it, we arent going to pretend to walk off and come back...lets just do this." and continued through the end. For such a large show it seemed so intimate and small. Like everyone knew each other and everyone had a good time. The only downside was that the three friends i went with and i all bought the same shirt...we had to coordinate attending school for awhile. (it was the fight war of words tour shirt with all of the words maxi-printed on the front. I actually wore that shirt up until a few years ago, i remember wearing it to the gym when a guy struck up a conversation with me about how he knew rob halford when he lived in San Francisco. I had no idea i was being chatted up. i am a little clueless all the time)

Anthrax/Fight was the first show i went to where i had no complaints, had a good time throughout, and obviously to this day, still talk about.

The Top 20 Shows From The First 20 Years: An Introduction

Recently I finally got around to arranging the last year and change worth of ticket stubs. Put them all in a new binder...then rolled some out of the last binder into this one. Essentially dividing the first 20 years of concerts from what i hope will be the next 20.

I go to a lot of shows, always have. I decided last summer that i should put together a top list...top 10 did not seem enough, 20 certainly seemed like a possibility. So i gave myself some parameters. First being they had to fall within the first 20 years. That gives us December 18, 1991- the same date 2011. That is still a lot of shows. In order to help me narrow it down, and of course because i like to give myself ridiculous rules, the ENTIRE show had to be worthy. Opening acts, the bill from top to bottom. This made it more challenging. Made it a little more fun for me. The order will be chronological. I mean seriously, it was hard enough to pick 20, and as I sit here getting ready to do this, even the 20 I picked might not be set in stone.

Starting tomorrow and continuing over 20 posts (obviously), I will list the top 20 shows i have attended over those first 20 years. I reserve the right to make additional "honorable mention" posts, as well as particular break out sets that don't qualify because of poor openers or what have you. Who knows how long this will take, I am, obviously easily distracted by things. Lets have a little fun and talk about music for a bit.

Free Comic Book Day...What to do about this in the future.

Another FCBD came and went. Tons of people flood through the door to grab their freebies and leave. 90% of them never to be seen again. Every year they tout it as a huge success story, but is it really?

I assume everyone knows how FCBD came about, but just in case, here is a quick refresher. Joe Field of flying colors comics in California noticed a huge line at the nearby ice cream shop (i believe it was a Ben & Jerry's), discovered it was "free scoop day," said to himself, "why don't we do something like that?" and free comic book day was born. On the face this sounds like a great idea. In practice it works insofar as it does, indeed, get a lot of people into the stores. Who then go on to buy nothing.

Free scoops just deplete the stock of the standard product of the ice cream shop. Hell, it might even be done to address the over production from the previous slow winter season. I am fairly certain that any comic shop, if they wanted, could run a free comic book day promotion with just their back issue overstock. FCBD, however, requires the purchase of special comics. Sure, they are subsidized by the publishers to a degree, but they still cost the retailer money (between $.15 and $.50 each). Then there is the concept of being REQUIRED to purchase x amount of comics from x amount of publishers to even be permitted to participate in the event. Also a lot of retailers plan elaborate parties and bring talent in for signings and the like. It can be a lot of fun! It is, however, a medium to large investment for what is often little return. How can this be fixed?

Lets look at our comrades in arms over at the record stores. Have...have you been to Record Store Day? RSD is pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. Hundreds of people line up hours upon hours before the stores open cash in hand to PURCHASE limited edition product that is either a)brand new and special for the day or b)STUFF THEY ALREADY OWN BUT WILL BUY AGAIN BECAUSE IT IS ON A DIFFERENT COLOR VINYL!

The comic book industry was suffering, floundering, and they came up with free comic book day as a way to draw attention to the product. The record store industry was suffering, more so even, they deal in media that is all but dead, that an entire generation has decided that paying for is optional at best, came up with record store day as a way to draw attention to the STORES and to put actual money in the cash registers of the aforementioned stores. What have we taught our customers? We have taught them that our product is worthless, to be given away for free in piles. RSD has taught people that record stores are awesome places, independent businesses that are worthy of our support. The people who ONLY come to a comic shop on FCBD, spend nothing, the ones who go to a record store ONLY on RSD, well they made some money off that one person (actually RSD is now twice a year).

There is no way to wean these people off of their free comics. You give them something for free once and they expect it every time, it is the American way. That being the case, abolishing FCBD is not an option. Although, looking at the RSD example again, if that event can sustain two days, why not a Comic Shop Day?

Record Store Day is all about the limited editions. We are like THE industry for limited editions. We have comic con limited product for like 30 shows a year, retailer exclusive covers, etc. Why would we not be all over this? Limited CSD hardcovers (which would, more than likely, amount to a variant dustjacket), special CSD covers of recent books, perfect day to launch that new event book. Hey, you know how absolutely no one likes movie tie-in comics? Make the graphic novel prequel to the movie opening on the same weekend as CSD a CSD exclusive product and BANG instant sell out. CSD variant edition of the $200 IDW artist edition? two per store limited, guarantee it sells out in the first half hour. Seriously, it can be the artist's edition of fucking YOUNGBLOOD and it would sell.

Monetizing the big industry event is not impossible. We seemed to mess it up the first time around, but i think it can still be saved. At the very least i think it is a conversation worth having. Maybe it's just me, but i like the thought of making money, and comic shops still being around in 10 years.

Dear high expectations for X-men: days of future past based on the sheer awesomeness of first class

I feel that we've been growing apart for awhile now. The heavy concentration by singer to do away with almost everything vaughn contributed was the start, i think. The sheer amount of mutants being cast, literally 2 or 3 more names a week, have left me with a feeling that this was approaching last stand levels of trainwreck. The recasting of a now pregnant halle barre as the character with the absolute worst line of dialog in the history of comic movies, caused me to take a huge step back. But now...now you've gone and added warpath and bishop to the cast. Two mutants no one has ever cared about. One of which might as well be the harbinger for the near death of the comics industry in the 90s. Were you worried that there was, like one native american guy and one black guy with $14 in their pocket still on the fence about going to see this?

I'm afraid it is over. I cannot see you anymore.

Maybe i'll catch a glimpse of you at man of steel,
Matt