My Chemical Romance
May 9, 2008
Madison Square Garden. New York, N.Y.

Imagine standing on the floor of Madison Square Garden in the photo pit at the foot of the stage, waiting for the show to start. The venue is buzzing with high-school age females, hair dyed matte black and sporting eyeliner as thick as Cleopatra. The volume bumps a notch whenever a popular song comes over the PA, and in a moment straight out of a romantic comedy, twenty-something-thousand kids are lustily singing along to the immortal chorus of the Turtles’ Happy Together. It couldn’t have been scripted any better unless My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way had been onstage conducting the scene with a baton. The band was still rolling out the Black Parade show 18 months after the album’s release, sparing no expense on bold lighting, plenty of smoke and a deafening decibel level. Its also hadn’t relinquished bulletproof vests as a fashion statement.—Christa Titus

(Music that is referenced in this article is hyperlinked to Amazon.com for your purchasing convenience. If a product is not hyperlinked, Amazon.com did not offer it at the time of publication.)

Despite wearing a black flak vest, Frank Iero’s taste goes the subtle route. Not so for Mikey Fuckin Way.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Ray Toro, accompanied by two bottles of Heineken. We didn’t see his face once in the 15 minutes we had to shoot.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Gerard Way, foreground, and Bob Bryar listen up.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Gerard Way, commanding the masses.
(Behind are Mikey Way, left, and Bob Bryar.)

Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Mikey Way’s head blurs with the velocity of his playing.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Mikey Way
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Mikey Way, left, and Ray Toro.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Gerard Way
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Gerard Way unwittingly presents a target for testing the durability of his bulletproof vest. Drummer Bob Bryar wisely stays low.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Staking his spot on the stage.
(Gerard Way)
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Tantric, Candlebox
April 4, 2008
Snitch. New York, N.Y.

Snitch is a rock bar with a performance area that’s so miniscule you have to be careful the band doesn’t knock your drink out of your hand while it’s flailing about. That didn’t stifle Hugo Ferreira and the rest of Tantric when they performed April 4 to promote The End Begins. Having dropped off the radar for several years, Ferreira was charged up for lead single Down and Out; lyrics like “And when you think that we played it out/We come from the bottom and knock it out” especially resonated when he sang since the song has turned into a radio hit. Upping the enjoyment ante was Tantric violinist Marcus Ratzenboeck, who can jam on his instrument like a Stratocaster. The crowd was disappointed Candlebox only did two songs—word had it that singer Kevin Martin was feeling poorly—but at least he and guitarist Peter Klett made it count with favorites Far Behind and Cover Me.—Christa Titus

(Music that is referenced in this article is hyperlinked to Amazon.com for your purchasing convenience. If a product is not hyperlinked, Amazon.com did not offer it at the time of publication.)

Tantric vocalist Hugo Ferreira opens up the set.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Hugo Ferreira, left, and bassist Erik Leonhardt, who just makes the cutoff.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

From left, Hugo Ferreira, Joe Pessia and Erik Leonhardt.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

From left, Hugo Ferreira, Joe Pessia and Erik Leonhardt.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

From left, Hugo Ferreira, Joe Pessia and Erik Leonhardt.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Marcus Ratzenboeck melds the traditions of fiddling and violin playing in Tantric, alternating between performing rhythm parts and solos.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

We’ll refrain from jokes about Marcus Ratzenboeck sporting a long bow.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Candlebox kept it intimate with just two singer Kevin Martin and guitarist Peter Klett.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Kevin Martin, left, and Peter Klett.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Kevin Martin, left, and Peter Klett.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Kevin Martin, left, and Peter Klett.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Doro
March 23, 2008
Highline Ballroom. New York, N.Y.

Although the Easter holiday resulted in a light turnout, Germany’s Doro and her band threw themselves into their set at New York’s Highline Ballroom that Sunday evening as if it were crammed with 20,000 people. We haven’t seen a veteran band physically rock nonstop through its entire show in ages—the whole lot threw themselves into the set like touring rookies gunning for press. The practically aerobic workout included such Doro classics as All We Are and Love Me in Black. By the time the set was over, everyone in the crowd was probably a few pounds lighter.—Christa Titus

(Music that is referenced in this article is hyperlinked to Amazon.com for your purchasing convenience. If a product is not hyperlinked, Amazon.com did not offer it at the time of publication.)

Between the crowd of industry folks and the tight space, it was cramped quarters in the upstairs lounge of the Highline Ballroom. Doro and her band squeezed onto the couch for a pic prior to performing.
(From left: Joe Taylor, Nick Douglas, Doro, Johnny Dee and Luca Princiotta.)    
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Much more comfortable standing up.
(From left: Joe Taylor, Nick Douglas, Doro, Johnny Dee and Luca Princiotta.)
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Joe Taylor
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Nick Douglas, left, and Doro throw themselves into it.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

The ethereal look suits Nick Douglas, left, and Doro.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Bassist Nick Douglas also doubles as an occasional keyboard player.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Luca Princiotta, left, and Doro.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Pumping up the crowd.
(From left, Nick Douglas, Doro, Luca Princiotta and Johnny Dee.)
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Doro, left, and Joe Taylor.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Hailing the queen.
(From left: Unidentified staffer, Nick Douglas, Doro and Luca Princiotta.)
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus.

Doro returns the love.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Nick Douglas, left, and Doro.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Luca Princiotta, left, and Doro.
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

Doro
Photo © 2008/Christa Titus

News about The Killing Words:

Yes, an actual update! Slowly (much much much more slowly than I’d ever intended) The Killing Words is getting back up to speed. Work, work and more work has kept my hands tied, although that’s a story for the next blog entry. For now, there are two new items posted. Guest contributor/Testament afficianado Sian Flinders gives you the lowdown on Testament’s visit to Starland Ballroom (we severely regret the publishing delay, but better late than never), and Chris Peary corresponds with fellow guitarist Joe Satriani about his latest intergallactic endeavor, Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock. Turns out Satch’s musical noodlings have made a lateral move from aliens to robots. Go figure.

Christa

Testament
Show date: April 5, 2008
Starland Ballroom
Sayreville, N.J.

By: Sian Flinders

(Music that is referenced in this review is hyperlinked to Amazon.com for your purchasing convenience. If a product is not hyperlinked, Amazon.com did not offer that product at the time of publication.)

Testament still practices what it preaches, 21 years later and counting. Who could have known that the title of its 1987 debut album, The Legacy, would be the best description of the band today? Every damn fan at the Starland Ballroom, that’s who.

On April 5, the Sayreville, N.J., venue welcomed back Testament in decadent glory. It was practically the band’s original lineup, save for drummer Paul Bostaph. (However, he’s no stranger to thrash, having played with Slayer in the mid-’80s and, more recently, with Exodus and Systematic.) Guitarist Alex Skolnick delivered his characteristic solo spectaculars and served as the highlight of the night. What made them even more amazing is that he wrote many of them in his late teens (such as Apocalyptic City from The Legacy)—and in 2008, they still define the thrash genre. Fellow guitarist Eric Peterson and bassist Greg Christian sealed the deal, making the sound tighter than the jeans that Testament fans wore in 1987. Last but not least, Chuck Billy was a whole lot of man up on the Starland stage—and doing great after battling a rare form of cancer in recent years.

The set ran for close to two hours, pushing sound ordinances to the limit and covering multiple tracks from nearly every album in the band’s catalog. At first one would think that the list would only include songs from records on which Skolnick appeared, but D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate), Three Days in Darkness and Low proved those assumptions wrong. Alone in the Dark, Into the Pit and Practice What You Preach were a visit to the old school that gave fans of all ages a trip back to the earlier days of Testament.

Photo courtesy of Adrenaline PR

What makes a Testament show unforgettable is how natural these heavy metal vets look every time they set foot onstage. Few frontmen can appear as comfortable as Billy; fewer seem as happy to be there as they were two decades ago. Even a tough guy like him has a soft spot when it comes to thanking fans and crediting them for the band’s success through the years.

Starland welcomed the badass boys of trash onstage with bright lights, bringing attention to Skolnick on the far left and Billy at the very front. The venue’s sound system was perfectly clear and crisp with not one note gone amiss, and its preservation of Testament’s sound will likely yield yet another return performance by the band.

Again, Testament succeeded in nearly selling out the room. The only empty spot in the house was probably the bathroom since nobody wanted to miss a minute of the set. A huge crowd packed the floor. Among the normal black sea of T-shirts were tattered, faded gray ones, signifying the presence of longtime fans rocking first-generation Testament merchandise. But what stood out the most about the gray-shirt-wearing fans was the fact that some were accompanied by their own kids.

The fiery pit of a mosh early in the set was due to none other than “Into the Pit,” where half of the floor was engulfed in sweat and swinging fists. Skolnick, Peterson and Christian were feeling the crowd, headbanging along with the song’s crunchy riffs. As for Billy, he just stood at center stage with an approving grin, overlooking the chaotic circle below.

Treacherous pits followed later on in the night, especially when Testament unleashed “More Than Meets the Eye,” a track from new album The Formation of Damnation (which has been long awaited since 1999 set The Gathering). No one could resist rocking out to the song, then ravaging the merch booth afterwards and cleaning out the band’s swag promoting Damnation. The sophisticated, polished performance of “More Than Meets the Eye” reminded fans that Testament is in it for the long haul. Times change and years pass, but the sound remains the same without going stale. Even though nearly a decade passed between its last two albums, any fan at Starland on April 5 will tell you it was well worth the wait. What lies in Testament’s future now? More decadence, more glory and a trail of tears from any poor imitation. Two things will survive the apocalypse—cockroaches and Testament. And our money’s on the band to outlast the bugs.

testamentlegions.com

Sian Flinders has been dyeing her hair blonde for so long, it has overtaken her natural color. The fact that she is a third-degree black belt is Tae Kwon Do had absolutely no influence on the editing of this review, save for how our fingers trembled over the keyboard.

By: Chris Peary

(Music that is referenced in this review is hyperlinked to Amazon.com for your purchasing convenience. If a product is not hyperlinked, Amazon.com did not offer it at the time of publication.)

I’ve had the opportunity on several occasions to see Joe Satriani perform live, and it’s always an unforgettable event. But nothing can top the brutally hot summer night I saw him, Steve Vai and Kenny Wayne Sheppard perform at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on the 1998 G3 tour.

As a fellow musician, I’ve also observed him grow and mature as an artist through the years. His new album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, his 12th solo record, is emotionally charged with interesting melodies and furious technique. I briefly checked in with Satriani via e-mail during the European leg of his current tour, which treks through South America and Mexico in July and August, then returns to North America in October. It seems that the guitarist known for surfing with the alien is starting to turn his eye to another sci-fi character: robots.

I’ve enjoyed the mix of influences you’ve culminated over the years, from your techno sounds on Engines of Creation to your straight-forward rocking on Strange Beautiful Music. It sounds like you’re reaching into the funkadelic sounds of the ’70s with this album. Will you elaborate why you decided to go for such a sound?

Joe Satriani: I wanted to have a fatter, in-the-pocket feel to the record. I wanted a warm and dynamic sound that would get bigger as you turned it up. And, I wanted it to swing and not be stiff. These elements make up an important part of what makes me happy when I’m playing music, and it’s the bedrock of modern music.

TKW: You envisioned this album only being a recording of 10 songs. Was it hard to stick to this format?

Satriani: Not really, because it allowed each of the 10 songs to be more uniquely developed and different from each other. That made the process more exciting for me.

TKW: The song Revelation is very inspiring, and I understand that it originally started as a composition in honor of a friend’s father [guitarist Steve Morrison], but then you realized it was turning into a dedication to your own father. Would you describe how that transition occurred?

Satriani: It just happened as I worked on the song, and it hit me in the form of a revelation, that I was writing about my experience and not entirely my friend’s.

TKW: Which song on the new album is really being well received by critics and fans alike?

Satriani: It appears the new song Andalusia, with the acoustic intro, is currently a fan favorite, both live and on the CD.

TKW: On your song I Just Wanna Rock you invited over three dozen friends and family members to record the chorus. What was the atmosphere like in the studio?

Satriani: As you can see from the bonus DVD that came with the special release of the new album, we had fun with the whole idea of the song itself. I dressed up as a robot, with aluminum foil, and kept it all loose. [The song is about a robot hitting a rock concert.—Ed.]

TKW: On your official Web site you stated that there was a scheduling difficulty with your longtime bass player, Matt Bissonette, being on the tour. Though you’ve collaborated with Stu Hamm in the past, were there any challenges bringing him up to speed on the new material?

Satriani: Stu is a pro, he can play anything, and he brings a tremendous amount of energy to the group.

TKW: Will Matt be joining you any time during the tour?

Satriani: Matt is no longer interested in extensive tours that leave the U.S.A. and we tour the world. So, there you go.

TKW: I know you’re a big fan of conceptual music, and you’ve explored ideas ranging from aliens to robots. With the advent of downloading only select songs from an artist via the Internet to iPods and MP3 players, is the art form of a concept album dying?

Satriani: The art form hasn’t died, just the appreciation of it.

TKW: The modern composer John Adams once stated, “We are in a post-stylistic era, where we find a combination of styles,” such as hip-hop violin or punk/jazz. What are your thoughts on today’s music related to this topic?

Satriani: I think much could be said about any era.

TKW: Violinist Jean-Luc Ponty has recorded Frank Zappa material, and Al DiMeola has recorded the music of the great tango composer Astor Piazzola. Are there any artists that you might want to collaborate with in the future to create a new sound?

Satriani: Ron Wood.

TKW: While in England, you toured with Paul Gilbert. What is it like to have him on this part of the tour?

Satriani: Paul and his band are great fun onstage and off. They play great individually and together. Not many people can match Paul’s expertise on the guitar.

TKW: As a student in the ’70s, what instrumental songs influenced your initial style?

Satriani: It was actually Jimi Hendrix’s Third Stone From the Sun in ’67 that influenced me the most. It’s an amazing instrumental song and performance.

TKW: What was your first instrument? And how did you acquire it?

Satriani: A small Ludwig drum set, purchased one piece at a time over a period of two years when I was 9 years old.

TKW: What was your initial learning experience with written music notation?

Satriani: Drum lessons at 9, music instruction at Carle Place Public High School, in N.Y., and, starting in 11th grade, music theory. My theory teacher, Bill Westcott, was a genius.

TKW: You’ve written in various music publications about your concept of modal cycling in a song structure. Is there any particular piece of music that really hits the mark for being a descriptive example of this technique?

Satriani: Not of This Earth and With Jupiter in Mind rely on the pitch axis theory most heavily, as do the songs A Piece of Liquid and Lords of Karma.

TKW: Have you been teaching your son ZZ these ideas? Or are you waiting to see what he’ll develop on his own?

Satriani: He’s pretty busy teaching himself at the moment . . . and doing quite well.

TKW: And last but not least, the new Vox Satchurator distortion pedal is poised to be a best seller once it reaches the market. What’s the next frontier in manufacturing you’ll take on?

Satriani: I’m interested in robotics.

http://www.satriani.com

Chris Peary is a longtime music instructor/independent artist who works in New Jersey.