Helmet at the Glass House

After getting back from the Stephen Malkmus show at 1:30, I proceeded to sleep for a few hours and then wake up in time to do the OC half marathon. I always run with my ipod shuffle and It was only fitting that it contains a ton of Helmet songs. I first saw Helmet way back in the day on the stellar Ministry, Helmet, and Sepultura tour in 1992 at the Universal Amphitheatre. I have always been a huge fan and I don't think Page Hamilton can do anything wrong in my book. Totimoshi hailing from Oakland, California opened up the show with their groove heavy rock in the vein of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Melvins. Meg Castellanos was sporting a Rickenbacker Bass to keep the low end extremely low and rumbly. Page Hamilton produced their lastest offering and has picked them to open on prior tours. They had a good sound and I will see them many more times as they open for all the upcoming Helmet shows. Page stormed the stage and the rocking commenced. The setlist was fantastic and some songs were switched out due to fan requests. "Give It" and "FBLA" were played instead of "Enemies" and "Exactly What You Wanted" which was fine by me. Page was still using his trusty old ESP that you can see in the classic "Unsung" video. His amp setup consisted of two VHT pitbulls. It was interesting that when Page was singing and not playing guitar the venue volume lowered a few hundred decibels. Show highlights included "Ironhead", "In the Meantime", "Milquetoast","Tic", and pretty much every song he played!! He has a completely new band and had just finished a stint on the Warped tour as well as a mini opening stint for GNR. I managed to talk to Page prior to the show and he is a very cool guy. I forgot to ask him how many times he has played Guitar Hero as "Unsung" is featured on the video game though. I highly recommend you check out one of the upcoming Troubadour shows as you will not be let down.