Tattoo This

Let me start off by saying I'm not much of a tattoo fan. So I wasn't at the Tattoo the Earth concert for the toos. I was there for the music.

The day started pretty smoothly. Despite a couple of wrong turns and missed exits, I did end up in the parking lot at about a quarter to 1. Maybe a bit before. When I got there I took a quick tour of the place, and was a bit disappointed really. They had a few tattoo booths, a t-shirt stand, and two stages. Not much there. But who cares when the killer S bands (Sepultura, Slayer and Slipknot) are kicking your ass?

Despite the fact that I got there a bit before the printed opening of the gates on my ticket (1 p.m.) I had already missed a band. Still trying to figure that out. Maybe a bit too much bud from the concert promoters? The band I missed was Famous, and most everyone else missed them too, so I guess they won't be too famous in this area. (My god, that was a terrible pun.)

So I wandered over to the second stage hoping to check out a band, and was promptly told that there would be another band on the main stage before anything on the second stage. So I wandered back to the mainstage to find maybe 50 to 100 people milling about. Then Full Devil Jacket came on. I think they had some weird hair, or maybe not. I don't really recall. Oh, wait, yes I do. They're the ones that were complaining about the monitors. Couldn't hear anything they said. Which would kinda suck. But they sounded pretty tight despite that. Even though I thought they were subpar. Not a band I'd ever listen to I don't think. But hey, I think they had cool hair. Maybe.

Next up was Mudvayne. I had downloaded Death Blooms off Napster (RIP) a few months back and thought it was a pretty cool song. Kinda reminded me a bit of Nothingface (who were supposedly on the Tattoo the Earth tour, but a lot of bands were supposedly on the tour that I didn't see) mixed in with some Static X/ Fear Factory. They had some weird painted faces and the like (damn I'm beginning to hate all this crappy face painting shit. If you wanna be Kiss, be Kiss. If you wanna play real music, play real music) and sounded decent. I'm guessing they're going to be pretty big. Following the Slipknot blueprint a bit, probably won't be another Slipknot (cause the music isn't as good), but they're pretty solid. Overall I enjoyed.

So there I stood waiting for the third act on the main stage, and lo and behold the intro music (I think it's a Dr. Martin Luther King speech) from downset's do we speak a dead language album starts playing. And I'm thinking "Oh cool, they stopped playing the Suicidal Tendencies stuff through the speakers and switched to downset Pretty cool selection really" and then, downset hit the stage. I had totally forgotten they were there. It was pretty cool. They sounded really solid and tight too. That band has some serious talent. I'm kinda surprised that a band like Limp Bizkit can get so big and Downset can't. They're not really like Limp Bizkit I guess (seem a bit punkier) but it's still that rap/metal fusion thing. Anyway, the show was good, and apparently they have a new album out in October on Epitaph Records. As far as I had known, they had dropped off the face of the planet after that Ozzfest appearance a while back. But I guess they're back, and sounding damn good. Here's hoping they make some dough. Oh, that reminds me, seems some people were mixing it up in the pit a bit I guess and Rey told them to stop that shit. He told them they were hear to have fun, not hurt people. He then called them bubbleheads or something like that. It was quite funny. Cause the guys who were mixing it up are all then big shaved-head guys who like to throw elbows in the pit and really like to gang up on one person, usually the only person in the pit they don't know. They're pretty much regulars at every Somerset show. So the bubblehead comment was pretty good. Anyway back to the show, Downset displayed a few new songs (one of which was called Pure Trauma and was quite good) and some killer classics (opening with Empower and closing with Anger). A solid show by a great live band.

Next up was (hed)pe. I managed to get up to the front row, up against the cement wall, directly in the center of the stage by this time. It was a killer spot to watch the rest of the show, and one I wouldn't relinquish, even despite the tattooed Slayer fan's drunken attempts to move me.

Oh, that reminds me. Before (hed) PE took the stage, a 16-year-old girl (god I felt old) standing behind me was doing a bit of name dropping (talking about all her favorite bands...she thinks Chino is hot, but wishes he would lose some weight) and had some good information. Apparently, Puya had dropped off the tour as had Coal Chamber. And Cold wasn't going to play the show because they wanted to play the free Limp Bizkit show instead. Which I'm guessing pissed off Slipknot quite a bit. I'm still wondering why Limp Bizkit chose to do their free show at the same time as the Tattoo the Earth show. I think Durst has no respect for Slipknot, and, guessing from his childish ways, he was probably trying to undercut them by taking away their fans. Very Durst-like. But that's just my guess, so who really knows. Sadly enough, Fred Durst acts very much like all the 13-year-olds that listen to him. Just doing another one of his ego-tripping power moves again I'm sure.

Ok, my tirade is over. (hed) PE came next and sounded pretty good. A real tight band, and they played a couple of new songs (Bartender being one of them) and passed out some sampler tapes with a couple new songs on them. I got one, but haven't gotten around to listening to them yet. Let me just say that lead singer M.C.U.D. looked very fucking high. And he admitted it. He was listing off band names they were playing with, and then he stopped and said "That's all a lifetime pot smoker can remember."Apparently they have a new album coming out in August I think (called Broke?). I'll have to check that one out. The old one is solid, not great, got some really good songs, but also some really boring ones.

After that was Sevendust. Not a huge Sevendust fan, but I'll listen to em and enjoy it if given the chance. They came out, and really played a pretty good show. Had some cool backdrops (the outline of the hot chick relaxing that shows up on mudflaps all the time) and put on a pretty solid show. Even broke into a few seconds worth of Pantera's Walk (which seemed to get the crowd more excited than Sevendust's entire set). Anyway, a strange thing happened during the show too. Lajon said something to the effect that something bad had happened and they almost didn't play the show. I have no idea what that means. Anyone out there (all one of you that will actually see this review) have any idea what the hell that means?

Anyway, Sevendust had some good crowd interaction (the bassist kept pointing at people and smiling and just having a good time) and seemed to be having fun. They seemed to remember the venue (they've probably played there four or five times now) and seemed to enjoy the crowd (which, if I haven't mentioned it already, was fucking tiny. A very very small crowd). At the end, the drummer threw out his stick, and the security guy in front of me gave it to the guy two guys down. Then some chick grabbed at it (bitching "Give it to me. I love these guys") and they fought for it, and a whole bunch of people joined in and took it from the guy and all these other people kept saying "Just give it to the girl man. What's your problem?" I felt like telling them to give me their cars then. Cause I like them. And I want them. So I should be able to take them from them. Hey, bitch, if you read this, I think you're a bitch. Maybe you should have caught the stick in the first place instead of stealing it.

Next up were the best thing to come to America from Brazil since Pele: Sepultura. This was my first Sepultura show, and really the only reason I bought tickets. And let's just say I blew my load during that set. Still front and center, I had a great view of everything. Derrick was right in front of me, and let me say, he puts on a good show. Probably not as good as the original (or longest lasting) lineup with Max, but I thought he did a great job. You could tell he was new though. They had his vocals way way down in the mix. But the crowd was really singing along to every song, so who cares? Andreas was really tight, all over the stage, yelling, headbanging, just plain being fucking awesome. Paulo was a bit more subdued, but his bass was really tight. And then there's Igor. Man, that guy can play some major drums. He's got a kick ass set and really uses it all to create a unique percussive experience.

Apparently they've also got a new album out in the fall. They played a couple of songs (I think one was called Sepulnation or something to that effect) which was pretty good. Anice riff, followed by some chaos followed by the riff. That band can really rip. Those riffs are so killer. Chaos A.D., Roots, Against, all killer songs that sound so good live, I was fucking impressed. I went a bit crazy when they were playing and am paying for it as I type this (shit, my legs hurt...as do my ribs). But who cares? It's fucking Sepultura. Man they're good. Can you tell I'm a big fan? I'd pay to see them in an instant. Hopefully they headline a tour after the album comes out and I can go see them in a smaller venue (or a larger) and they can play longer. They actually played quite long really (an hour? 45 minutes?). And at the end I got a finger on Igor's drum stick. Overall, an excellent show, and the highlight of the day for me (and ranking up there in the top five performances that I've ever seen probably). Go buy Sepultura's albums now.

Well, that's my Sepultura ass-kissing for the day. Behind Sabbath they could very well be one of my favorite bands.

And that brought us to Slayer. Hey, I like Slayer (not as much as the tattooed guy behind me, but quite a bit) and they sounded solid as usual. I kind of thought the Ozzfest show a year earlier in Somerset was better (more people, so Slayer seemed more into it) but it was a good show. I must admit I spent a good portion of my time pretending to stare at Jeff Hanneman off to the left, when in all actuality I was staring at this hot chick (Tom Araya's girlfriend? wife?). Man, she was nice. Their entourage was kinda weird. Fake blondes with fake lips and fake breasts and the like. Party girls if you will. Fun to look at, but not much to talk to I bet. But I guess they're not there to be talked to. And then there was one who I hope to god was fat and not pregnant. Mainly because if she was pregnant that kid's going to be an alcoholic coming out of the womb cause she was really downing her Budweiser. Oh well.

Highlight of the show had to be when Tom dedicated a song to "those people in the middle here" he pointed at me "who must be feeling a lot of pain right now." Then he laughed at us. Hey, it was fun. Trying to keep your position in the front is twice as hard as getting up there. Shit, the drunken mullet behind me kept elbowing me in the face just trying to get in. So everytime he did, I'd just pretend not to notice and headbang that much harder. He gave up after a while and moved down the line. Anyway, Slayer was stellar, sounded pretty decent, drummer is a god, blah blah blah. Go read my Ozzfest '99 review. Cause it was pretty much the same thing. A good show by a good experienced band.

And that left Slipknot. This was the third time I'd seen them, and I was a bit disappointed. Maybe it was just me, but it didn't seem like nearly as good of a show as the X-fest show. I was really disappointed that they didn't close it with scissors like they did at X-fest. I was out of there by a quarter to 10, so I'm guessing they didn't play more than 45 minutes. But I must admit, they had all the energy that they had at the X-fest show. They were all over the stage, but had a little less crowd interaction. Which was kinda disappointing. They did manage to get everyone to sit down (I wasn't one of them cause I couldn't fucking move) and then had them all jump up on command. It was really kinda cool to see, but I'd seen it before (and in a huge muddy mess last time) so it wasn't quite as special. Had I not blown my load during the Sepultura show, I might have gotten a little bit more into the show. But I was exhausted, which may have lessened my pleasure. That and the affect of 1,000 sweating drunk people surging forward onto my ribs was starting to wear on me. But hey, it was still a great show by the premiere live band on the planet. And I was within 10 feet of their sickly masks. And one of em even crowd surfed over me. And he did a hand stand on the crowd. No lie. It was fucking cool. As were the fire pops that scared the shit out of me(even though I knew it was coming since the stage hands had warned the security in front of me to stay back and be aware of the fire pop).

And then it was done. And two hours later I was home. What a great show. I'm still on a high from having such a killer view of some exceptional bands. It was really great. Will rank right up there as one of the better shows I've seen. And if anyone has any of the video footage that was taken from those shows, let me know, cause I'd love to see it. So my advice is to check out the Tattoo the Earth show if it hasn't come to your town. In my opinion it has a heavier and much better lineup than Ozzfest this year by far.