I arrived a little late, and after a short hold up out front, managed to talk to PTH's (extremely polite and Canadian)
tour manager. He said he'd ask them about an interview, and come find me a little later. As soon as I stepped in to Slim's, though,
I realized he'd never find me in there, the place was packed. I actually did get the interview, at the end of the night... sort of.
Note to self: don't try to interview a band 4 minutes after they've come off stage, when you're hyper, they're hyper, and there is a
giant bottle of Jack Daniel's in the dressing room. Our "interview" quickly devolved into drinking, laughing, and chatting.
Ten minutes into a conversation with the bass player about Israel, I realized I should shut down the recorder on my Blackberry,
which later, in a drunken stupor, got soaked and destroyed anyway. So you don't get an interview, however, what I remember will
be interpsersed throughout the review.
I popped in just as the first band's singer was climbing a half stack, stage left, with a bullhorn in his hand.
I was sold in a second, and quickly surveying the merch booth, and the poster's for the night's show, I deduced that this
was The Number 12 Looks like You,
from New Jersey. Already being a fan of PTH, TNTLLY was the new find of the evening for me, and they made a permanent fan.
Musically, they're all over the map, from snapped, broken circus melodies, to light jazz on methamphetamines, but constantly returning
to hyperactive, mathy metal, with a delightful sense of SMASH! They easily dominated the stage, and only as a four piece, with only
one guitarist (according their MySpace bio, there is a second vocalist, but he was nowhere to be seen at the time). Their singer,
the quintessential front man, a bit like a punk rock Freddie Mercury, bounced between rallying the troops with his bullhorn,
assaulting the microphone with a flawless rooster scream, and ending the set waving a tye dyed psychedelic peace symbol flag,
while thanking San Francisco for being the acid rock capitol of the world.
Don't miss this band the next time they come around...
I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face until the second act,
Misery Signals,
did it for me. Was that a tad negative? Alright, maybe that's a tiny bit unfair. Misery Signals is great at what they do,
they even had a real positive attitude. Unfortunately, I'm really bored of what it is that they do. Maybe the skinny little punk rocker
in me will just never be able to hang with the metrosexual, well-groomed, short hair and tanned 24-Hour fitness looks of these kinds
of metalcore bands. They're a bit like a simpler Meshuggah, or Shai Halud, but the sound is a little too pedestrian, Deftones/MTV Buzz,
slightly-depressing-with-no-real-substance for me. It all reminds me of how the captain of the football team must feel about never
being able to please his Father, and their name only seems like something someone would scrawl on a three ring binder out of boredom...
They're tight, they play well, but following the wacky, psychedelic, music/noise blended protein drink with a tiny umbrella in it
that TNTLLY treated us to, I was a bit let down.
That's fine, it gave me a bit of time to drink, rest, and drink some more before Protest the Hero ended the night.
Recorded, Protest the Hero makes me feel like I'm 15 again, in the best way possible, and live, they delivered by the truckload.
PTH was a sonic force within seconds.
They're a hard band to describe. After their set, as I was talking to guitarist Tim Millar (who looks exactly like an extremely
polite, and well-mannered Thor), I said "Don't take this the wrong way, but the best way I've ever come up with to describe you
is 'They're fast, proggy, mathy metal, with angry Pagan lyrics, with a singer that is inspired by Ronnie James Dio, by guys that
listened to way too much Rush, and make me want to bang my head with my fist in the air while playing D&D until the sun comes up.'"
He pounded fists with me and proclaimed "Awesome!"
They really are amazing to see live. They contain just as much power as they do recorded, the blazingly triumphant guitar leads,
simultaneously belting out of both guitars with a speed, complexity, and sheer ferocity that will make you cackle madly while your
ears bleed, are punctuated with a thundering bass sound that wakes the Gods of Asgard. They stop, start and turn on a dime, with
precision and intracracy, like Lucifer's personal hot-rod.
I was amazed once I saw them, that Rody Walker, the lead vocalist, is the only vocalist. He switches from Dio-style singing,
to Death-metal growls, all the way up to a high pitched rooster scream, and back, in a matter of seconds.
I pounded my fists in the air, brandishing the Almighty Horns of Metal with both hands, screaming along with
the choruses... "Our Goddess gave birth to your God!", from start to finish. Just like a pimply faced kid in a ratty jean jacket
with "Metallica" scrawled across the back in magic marker.
I think above I used the adjective "triumphant", that's the most appropriate term for PTH. Here is the definition from Merriam-Webster.
TRIUMPHANT:
adjective
1. Feeling or expressing an uplifting joy over a success or victory: exultant, jubilant.
2. Relating to, having the nature of, or experiencing triumph: conquering, triumphal, victorious, winning.
That's exactly what they are. Chock full of fucking WIN.
Protest the Hero "Heads Will Roll" tour continues, with The Number 12 Looks Like You and Misery Signals, north, through the rest of
America, on into Canada, as well as a few final dates in Alaska. Make sure to catch it.
Eric Cash
