Download Festival
So as mentioned on my Facebook page, I went a little nutso with watching the Download Festival in Donningon, UK this weekend - the live stream, that is. I actually missed a couple of bands that I wanted to see, but tuned in Friday to watch Korn and then Faith No More, which was fantastic, as I have never caught them live. While I actually enjoyed playing air drums to "Freak on a Leash" and seeing Fieldy and Munky(?), their sound reminded me of engines being revved up...over and over and over again. Plodding and getting a bit boring after awhile. But the FNM dudes looked good - especially Mike Patton, whom besides being a bit weird, I have a crush on for years and years.
On Saturday I got up early and still missed a couple of bands, but tuned in to catch Hatebreed and Down. After catching Hatebreed at the Heavy MTL fest last year, I was looking forward to seeing them again - I actually think I prefer seeing them live, versus their recordings, as Jamey Jasta is an incredible frontman, really enthusiastic and seems to be really rabid about what he does. On a side note: During their set, the camera caught this black girl flashing her sagging breasts.....which confuses me: Why do women still do that? For the love of Christ, this ain't Woodstock. And why, at least from what I witnessed, is it always women who have sagging / small breasts?
I've never seen a live performance of Down, and wanted to check out guitarist Kirk Wienstein (Crowbar, Kingdom of Sorrow) and Rex Smith (ex-Pantera) and of course Phil Anselmo, whom I have loved / lusted since Pantera's Cowboys From Hell. He looked the best I have seen him in years, looked like he had gained some weight (on/off drugs?), muscled up a bit (on/off drugs?) and for the love of God, got rid of that awful shoulder-length bob and shaved the sides of his head, reverting back to the lovable skinhead we all once knew and loved. Sigh. Smokin' hot. Why I love the could-be-racist look, I'll never know.
On a side note, it's interesting to me how many of my black non-rock/metal lovin' friends loved Pantera. They loved that southern groove / raunch thang, and I loved, loved Down's set. Check it above! Later in the day was Slipknot, which again, wanted to see live (only if I could stand on the side of the stage, that is) and they were great. Love the antics of Clown,Seven, et.al.
New Sh#t
My interview with fellow music journo Amy Sciarretto who co-wrote Do the Devil's Work for Him is up at Hellbound, and my review of the (really good) new album from the 'Supergroup' Chickenfoot (Sammy Hagar, Mike Anthony, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith) is up at Consequence of Sound.
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