Last Shot: Helmet Doesn't Let My Dedication Go Unsung

Check out my fifth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Christopher Owens at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre

Check out my photos of Christopher Owens at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre over at Stereogum.

Last Shot: Time is Running Out

Check out my fourth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Muse at the Mandalay Bay Events Center

I've always had good luck seeing Muse in Las Vegas. My first Las Vegas Muse show was during the Absolution tour at the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel. The show was phenomenal as I lucked into a choice spot in the balcony dead center watching them destroy. My second encounter was during the sorely missed Vegoose Festival in 2007 that featured Dominic Howard dressed up in a Spiderman suit. More recently was their towering showing at the Mandalay Bay Events center in 2010. I couldn't let my Muse Las Vegas streak die as the coincidental booking of Muse on St. Patrick's day seemed like fate.



I was extremely lucky to photograph Muse at the beginning of the tour documenting the first night at Staples Center as well as the third night. Las Vegas happened to be the final stop of this leg of the tour and the first indication that this would be a special night were the multiple fliers posting that the show was being filmed. Immediately, I was thrown for a loop when "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" started to play and the gigantic pyramid of LCD screens encapsulated Howard's drum kit. The previous shows that I shot had Muse start with "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable".



Wielding his custom Manson seven string guitar, Matt Bellamy tore into the metal tinged riff of "Supremacy". Instantly, I could tell Bellamy was on fire as his playing was razor sharp and his rock star poses made it difficult to not to stop photographing him shredding. One could sense the electricity in the air when they started "Map of the Problematique" as Howard's drum kit started to rotate enabling everyone in the arena to get a good perspective at his hard-driving style.



My suspicions of Bellamy's heightened excitement were confirmed during "Supermassive Black Hole" as he ran across the stage for a huge power slide before ripping into a guitar solo.  Muse have always put on amazing shows back when they didn't have massive screens and production. Seeing them now is  an all out assault on your senses with lasers, LCD screens that form a pyramid and pyrotechnics. "Panic Station" shook the arena driven by Christopher Wolstenholme's deeply grooved bass lines.



Bellamy headed down to the catwalk during "Follow Me" to lead the crowd in a clapping along before returning to the piano for "United States of Eurasia". Wolstenholme took over the spotlight and vocal duties for a ripping version of "Liquid State". Muse kept upping the collective ante all night as "Madness" had Wolstenholme playing a his hybrid of a bass, keytar and a Korg chaos pad for the buttery bass notes while Bellamy enchanted the crowd with his electronic sunglasses that concurrently flashed the lyrics to song in his lenses.



"Time Is Running Out" sounded as powerful as ever and served as a smooth transition to Howard commanding a stand up drum kit for "Undisclosed Desires". It was fitting to see a roulette wheel spin showing the song titles of "New Born" and "Stockholm Syndrome". The scorching riff of "Stockholm Syndrome" blows me away every time and when combined with Wolstenholme's gigantic rumbling bass your head just rattles with sound. Bellamy gave a nod of approval to Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine by summoning up the riff of "Freedom" to close out the song.



Closing out the main set was the nuclear blast of "Uprising" that escalated with Bellamy smashing his custom Manson guitar and tossing it into the crowd for possibly the most expensive souvenir I've ever witnessed to be dispensed at a concert. The chants for encore subsided as "Starlight" made sure everyone in the arena was on their feet. "Survival" put the punctuation mark on the evening as jets of fire were synched with the closing drum beats. One can actually hope that this show will be released in the future as it definitely was one of their more memorable performances.



Muse setlist at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas (3/17/13)
01 "Supremacy"
02 "Map of the Problematique"
03 "Supermassive Black Hole"
04 "Resistance"
05 "Panic Station"
06 "Knights of Cydonia"
07 "Monty Jam"
08 "Explorers"
09 "Follow Me"
10 "United States of Eurasia"
11 "Liquid State"
12 "Madness"
13 "Time Is Running Out"
14 "Undisclosed Desires"
15 "Stockholm Syndrome"
16 "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable"
17 "Uprising"
18 "Starlight"
19 "Survival"

Frightened Rabbit at the Fonda Theater

Check out my photos of Frightened Rabbit at the Fonda Theater over at Stereogum.

Last Shot: Chemical Warfare

Check out my third Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

KMFDM at the Observatory

Check out my photos of KMFDM at the Observatory over at OC Weekly.

Musink at the OC Fairgrounds

Check out my photos from Musink at OC Fairgrounds over at Pure Volume.

Meshuggah at the House of Blues Las Vegas

It still seemed like a dream when I woke up the next morning after seeing Meshuggah at the Wiltern.
I was still sore from shooting a ton of pictures and being knocked around by an errant crowd surfer. In didn't take long to remember that I had hastily booked a flight and hotel for another dose of Meshuggah at the House of Blues Vegas, since it was their tour finale. The one thing my cancer has reaffirmed is that you need to enjoy life as much as possible.

Intronaut


Seeing Intronaut again solidified my appreciation for their technical madness. While they had home court advantage when they played the Wiltern, Intronaut had plenty of heavy artillery in their sonic assault to blast the audience to pieces. It is always interesting to see bands win over audiences and Intronaut successfully pulled it off. Intronaut's album Habitual Levitations comes out March 16 and I will be picking up a copy.

Animals As Leaders


The chants of Meshuggah immediately subsided when eight-string guitar wizards Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes started to chug on their custom Ibanez guitars. Animals As Leaders soon stirred up the mosh pit as they ripped through selections from their album, Weightless. While I've detailed in prior reviews how impressive it is to see Abasi and Reyes shred in tandem, it would be a mistake not to mention how drummer Matt Garstka is the bridge that unites them. Garstka's drumming is nothing short of phenomenal as he pounds out complex polyrhythms with ease. In retrospect, this tour could go down in the history books just like the Tool/Meshuggah shows back in 2001.

Meshuggah


Shooting Meshuggah at the Wiltern was challenging to say the least. Another bonus aspect of flying to Las Vegas to see Meshuggah is that I knew I could shoot in the photo pit and potentially could get much better shots. The stage at House of Blues Las Vegas is super high which turned out to be advantageous with the extreme back lighting. If I positioned myself properly and set my camera appropriately, I could get some decent shots.

While the energy from the crowd did not match Los Angeles, those in attendance were still amped up upon hearing the ear drum dusting trio of "Swarm", "Combustion" and "Transfixion". Understanding the technical precision of each Meshuggah song, I wasn't expecting a different setlist.

Luckily, my brother and I managed to procure a spot behind the soundboard and take in their visual and auditory bombast. Tosin from Animals As Leaders was a few spots from us playing air guitar throughout their set. "Do Not Look Down" and "I Am Colossus" rumbled with unbridled ferocity. I still feel their latest album Koloss didn't get the proper acknowledgment it deserved and hearing those songs live reconfirmed their power and my sentiment.

My neck would hurt after "Bleed" as you can't help but attempt to head bang along to the insane beat. While they omitted "New Millennium Cyanide Christ", "Straws Pulled At Random" and "Dancers To A Discordant System" still brought down the house. I can only hope Meshuggah come back sooner than their usual three year intervals. Also, check out Premiere Guitar's rig rundown with their awesome guitar technician Kent here!


Setlist:
01 Swarm
02 Combustion
03 Transfixion
04 obZen
05 Behind the Sun
06 Do Not Look Down
07 The Hurt That Finds You First
08 I Am Colossus
09 Mind's Mirrors
10 In Death - Is Life
11 In Death - Is Death
12 Shed
13 Bleed
14 Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
15 Straws Pulled At Random
16 Dancers To A Discordant System

Last Shot: Helplessness Blues at a Fleet Foxes Concert

Check out my second Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Meshuggah at the Wiltern

Brutal. Punishing. Unrelenting. Powerful. These are just some adjectives that come to mind when describing a Meshuggah show. I can remember listening to the first couple of notes of their 1998 masterpiece, Chaosphere, at a Tower Records listening station and immediately taking it to the counter for purchase. My next move was to call my brother and tell him I found the heaviest band on the planet. Because they are based in Sweden, I find it is always imperative to catch Meshuggah when they come to town.

Intronaut


Intronaut and Meshuggah can both boast that they have opened for Tool. Intronaut fall into a more sludgy doom instrumental type of metal, and their compositions went over well with the guitar-nerd audience. Intronaut are preparing to release their new album Habitual Levitations. Pick scrapes, squealing guitar harmonics, earth rumbling bass and an intense laser light show easily won over the crowd. Their set seemed to go by in minutes. I will definitely take a closer look at their new album.

Animals As Leaders


Animals As Leaders boggled my mind when I was fortunate enough to see them open for Thrice at the House of Blues Anaheim and the Observatory. When I talked to frontman Tosin Abasi at NAMM, I sensed his excitement about touring with Meshuggah as they are direct influences. It is no coincidence that they also play eight-string Ibanez guitars. While Meshuggah fans are known for their staunch loyalty, it only took a few ear ripping notes from Abasi and fellow guitarist Javier Reyes to win over the audience. The reaction by the crowd was borderline voracious as fists shot in the air and the mosh pit swelled. Animals As Leaders put on an exceptional show which had the members of the band all smiling, knowing they had amassed a large swath of fans.

Meshuggah


Meshuggah was easily the most difficult show I've ever had to photograph. Their lighting guy deserves an award for creating a blitzkrieg of a light show timed perfectly with the band's methodical, complex beats. The plethora of red lighting and backlit silhouettes were a nightmare to shoot, but helped create the perfect visual complement to their auditory ambush.

Immediately, I was jealous seeing that Frederik Thordendal had a brand new, custom hybrid of a Gibson Thunderbird and Explorer Ibanez eight-string guitar. Mårten Hagström was shredding on his custom Ibanez M8M guitar as the band pummeled the audience by opening with "Swarm." The crowd immediately went nuts. I was kicked from behind by a falling crowd surfer who jumped from the second tier onto the walkway ramp down to the pit where I was shooting.

The overall sound at the Wiltern was phenomenal. It was astounding to hear each instrument clearly in the mix. The agonizing thing about watching Meshuggah is that every member is a technical marvel on his instrument. My eyes would rapidly switch between Thordendal and Hagström to see where one would be playing on the neck of the guitar. Tomas Haake was a beast on the drums. It is no wonder that Danny Carey from Tool has been spotted at every Meshuggah show that I've attended.

After a brutalizing version of "obZen," "Do Not Look Down" and "I Am Colossus," Meshuggah gave the audience a slight reprieve with "In Death - Is Life" and "In Death - Is Death." "Bleed" is one of my favorite Meshuggah songs and ironically I listen to the song every time the nurse starts an IV for my chemotherapy to help take my mind off the pain.

The crush of "Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" and "Straws Pulled At Random" had me plotting how I would probably go home and book a flight to see them in Las Vegas. "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" was an unexpected bonus with its skull-pulverizing riff. There is more to this evening that I will eventually detail in a future column in OC Weekly. But this was a special night that I will never forget.

Setlist:
01 Swarm
02 Combustion
03 Transfixion
04 obZen
05 Behind the Sun
06 Do Not Look Down
07 The Hurt That Finds You First
08 I Am Colossus
09 Mind's Mirrors
10 In Death - Is Life
11 In Death - Is Death
12 Shed
13 Bleed
14 Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion
15 Straws Pulled At Random
16 New Millennium Cyanide Christ
17 Dancers To A Discordant System

Morrissey at Staples Center

Check out my photos of Morrissey at the Staples Center over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.