Depeche Mode at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas

Four shows in four different cities. Crazy? Probably. Worth it? Absolutely. I have no reservations saying that Depeche Mode is the biggest synthesizer based band in the world. They currently are embarking on the "Tour of the Universe" in support of their latest album Sounds Of The Universe.

Peter, Bjorn & John

Peter, Bjorn & John have a very special place here at Amateur Chemist. My very first photopass with my then brand new Nikon D200 was back in August 2007 covering them at the House of Blues San Diego. It is nice to seem them ascend the ranks going from playing Fingerprints Records to opening for Depeche Mode.

Living Thing will unfairly get buried in the vast number of albums released this year. I was puzzled during the first couple of listens but it quickly sunk in. The electronic sparseness of "It Don't Move Me" to the catchy explicit chorus of "Lay It Down" will infect your eardrums with repeated spins. In the live department, Peter's voice translates very well and has a number of dance moves to accompany their catchy songs. Bjorn switches between the bass and keyboards with John standing behind the drum kit with his snazzy Michael Jackson Thriller button.

It is no easy task opening for Depeche Mode, but Peter, Bjorn & John give it their all. Peter made a mad dash out into the crowd during "Young Folks" to get the crowd more involved in the show. While I was hoping they would repeat "Up Against The Wall" which was played in Santa Barbara, they opted for the noisy closer of "Object of My Affection" I can't wait to see them at their own show on November 21st at Club Nokia.

Peter, Bjorn & John setlist at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas (8/22/09)
"Nothing To Worry About"
"Living Thing"
"Don't Move Me"
"Lay It Down"
"Young Folks"
"Object of My Affection"

Depeche Mode



I don't think I have read a bad review about Depeche Mode throughout their whole "Tour of The Universe". The only people angry are those who had their shows canceled (San Francisco and San Diego). Having witnessed 4 shows, I would have to say Las Vegas was the best. I was originally scheduled to photograph this show and encountered a mix-up but luckily my good friend Capital M came through with the pictures.

I was bummed that I couldn't be up front with my friends but it was nice knowing I didn't have to worry about getting pictures and that I could grab a drink and enjoy the show from the floor. The Pearl theater at the Palms was absolutely dialed in for a phenomenal sounding show.

"Wrong" sounded right as Dave Gahan showed no ill effects of the vocal problems that forced the cancellation of a few shows. Martin Gore (Vocals/Guitars/Synthesizers) was switching between his Gretsch and Fender guitars to hammer out the sparkling guitar notes that matched his outfit. Andrew Fletcher (Synthesizers) was stationed behind a three keyboard setup and was playing a few bars in between with clapping along.

The visuals on this tour have Anton Corbijn's trademark stamp all over it. Unfortunately, the gigantic LCD round projector ball could not fit in the Pearl. Luckily, I was close enough that I could take in performance and watch Depeche Mode in action. If you haven't attended a live Depeche Mode show, then you haven't experienced one of the top live performing bands. The magical combination of the band, songs, and performances leave little doubt why Depeche Mode still sells out numerous shows across the world.

Having a voluminous discography, Depeche Mode must struggle to please fans with "perfect" setlist. As much as I would love for them to play "Happiest Girl" from the "World In My Eyes" single, I know it will never happen. My favorite part of their setlist is the barrage of songs starting with "It's No Good" all the way to "Fly On The Windscreen". I was in synthesizer heaven.

Martin Gore has a two song break in the middle of the show that helps illustrate why Martin could very well carry on his own band with gorgeous renditions of "Jezebel" and emotionally revealing "Question of Lust". I especially admire the fact that Dave always comes back on stage to re-introduce "MR. MARTIN GORE!" as a tip of the cap to remind the audience how vital Martin is to Depeche Mode.

It seemed like they have been only playing for a few minutes when they leave the stage after a rousing version of "Never Let Me Down Again" . I was ecstatic that they played "Strangelove" to close out their first encore as they did not play this song during the other three nights. Depeche Mode closed the evening with a rambling bluesy "Personal Jesus" that left the crowd buzzing as we emptied into the Palms Casino. This show will make it into the top 5 shows of 2009.

Depeche Mode setlist at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas (8/22/09)
"In Chains"
"Wrong"
"Hole To Feed"
"Walking In My Shoes"
"It's No Good"
"A Question Of Time"
"Precious"
"Fly On The Windscreen"
"Jezebel"
"A Question Of Lust"
"Miles Away / The Truth Is"
"Policy Of Truth"
"In Your Room"
"I Feel You"
"Enjoy The Silence"
"Never Let Me Down Again"

Encore #1
"Shake The Disease"
"Stripped"
"Strangelove"

Encore #2
"Personal Jesus"

Puscifer at the Pearl Theater

What is a Puscifer? I attempted to find out the answer to this pressing question by catching each night of an exclusive three show run at the Pearl Theater at the Palms in Las Vegas.

Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival






Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival was a side splitting raucous good time. A hybrid of Bob Log III and the Black Keys, these Ohio boys easily converted the audience with their hellfire garage rock.

One of the many hilarious moments in their set included throwing rubber snakes into the crowd, holding up pictures of Tom Cruise and Britney Spears in order to mock them, and the fact that they had a microphone set up next to a picture of Jesus.

Song titles ranged from "I Banged A Sinner", "Gimme Back My Bible, Baby". I loved the fact they used distorted vocals and a make shift drum kit for their aural assault.

Puscifer


Puscifer is the brain child of Maynard James Keenan from Tool and A Perfect Circle. It is a small peak inside in the entertaining and deviant mind of the notoriously mercurial Tool frontman. It was exciting going to a concert with absolutely no idea of what was going to happen and what may unfold.




All three nights were prefaced with a small film skit with Maynard dressed up in a uniform and identified himself as "Major Douche" in which he humorously instructed the audience to pull out their ticket stub to indicate that "NO Flash Photography was allowed" and that in his career of touring with "The Tools" and "Full Circle" that flash photography has never been allowed and is plain rude. I neglected to take a picture of the hundreds of cameras that were held by The Pearl staff at the entrance. A lot of people seemed eager to document the evening's activities.

Friday's show opened with a skit with Maynard coming out with a wig and a jumpsuit accompanied by a nun and a priest taking jabs at organized religion. They ended the skit by singing "Sour Grapes". It was the first of many odd skits that would unfold over the three nights.




The stage was set up with two television screens center stage with video cameras behind the screen filming Maynard and Juliette Commagere. They literally appeared as "talking heads" when they sang into their microphones. Jonny Polonsky did a superb job on guitar conjuring up weird alien noises via a pitch shifting pedal and sweeps with his wah pedal.




Tim Alexander (Drums/Twitter) of Primus fame was the court jester of the three nights. During the Friday show, Tim was seated on a couch in the middle of the stage twittering from his apple laptop while the band was in the midst of their performance. He would occasionally jump over to the extra drum kit and lay down some grooves during a couple of songs. Tim went for the shock factor on Sunday night when he dressed up as a nurse complete with an orange wig and makeup.

In the music department, Puscifer was extremely sharp. Maynard still has one of the more distinctive voices in recorded music and sounded flawless. Maynard dressed to impress as he wore a full suit and sunglasses when he sang behind the television screen. Juliette Commagere (Vocals) had a perfectly complimentary voice to Maynard's distinctive vocals and occasionally would add some keyboards to the songs.




Another impressive feat of the three night stand was that Gil Sheron (Drums) and Rani Sheron (Bass) from Stolen Babies were on stage for Friday night. Saturday's rhythm section was Matt Mcjunkins (Bass) and Jeff Friedl (Drums) from Ashes Divide. On Sunday, both rhythm sections traded off during the whole set.

Puscifer covered a majority of songs from their debut album on all three nights including "Trekka", "Indigo Children", "Vagina Mine", "Queen Bee", "Rev 22:20". I heard rumors of Milla Jovovich showing up, but the Pearl turned electric when she appeared near the end of Friday's set to sing "The Mission". It was a shame that she did not appear on Saturday or Sunday.

Sunday's show started out slightly different in that a metallic trailer was center stage and the video screens showed Maynard frantically calling his bandmates with his iphone to come and play the final night. On Sunday, Maynard presided over the wedding of Juliette Commagere and a lucky suitor.

All three shows appeared to have been recorded for a future DVD or Blu-Ray release. One of the camera operators was slyly decked out in a full black ninja suit. I hope they include all of the filmed skits and include some bonus material. I was glad that I made the commitment to go all three nights and given the show production, uniqueness and musical quality, the ticket price of thirty nine dollars was an absolute steal. I just need to know when can I pre-order the live DVD? I also hear rumblings that Puscifer will play Club Nokia on April 4th.

Tool at the Pearl Theatre in the Palms Night 2

One can never go wrong seeing Tool two nights in a row. After sitting a few rows back on night 1, I had pit tickets for the second night. The doors opened early and my brother and I managed to secure a spot on the rail in front of Justin Chancellor (Bass).

Justin appeared with an afro wig as he tore into "Jambi". Justin later tossed his afro out into the first row for an interesting souvenir. Danny Carey (Drums) was sporting his Kansas Basketball jersey with his name on the back. Maynard James Keenan (Vocals) returned to form on this particular night as he moved around more during "Jambi" compared to his statue performance on Thursday. Since I was on the rail, I basically enjoyed the show and didn't take too many notes.

It was interesting to watch the Tool image patrol in action. The Tool image patrol is Tool's security team that has ear pieces and mini red lasers to spot any cameras in the crowd and threaten to kick people out if they take pictures with their camera phones. The staff from the Pearl was running back and forth at the discretion of the Tool image patrol nabbing patrons taking renegade photos. I would love to see their job description when applying for the position.

Maynard did manage to let it rip for the ending scream of "Stinkfist" which gave me flashbacks to the good old days of Tool shows. "Rosetta Stoned" had Justin swinging his bass all over place for different shades of feedback. The visuals during "Rosetta Stoned" featured planets swirling around the universe. "Wings For Marie" and "10,000 Days" was astounding in that I watched Justin shred on the bass. The fingerpicking that Justin does on the song is jaw dropping. The usually problem of Maynard's vocals being too low haunted the band again. "Lateralus" had some humorous moments when the bass tech gave Justin a banana. Maynard peered over and asked Justin, "You hungry?". Justin would later get another banana and offer it to Maynard. Maynard tried to offer the banana to Adam which he reacted with a chuckle. Maynard would later toss the banana out to the crowd. Maynard closed the night saying it was the last night of the tour but it would not be their final show. I still think it will be a few years before we hear from Tool again.

Tool Setlist at the Pearl Theatre at the Palms (12/14/07)
"Jambi"
"Stinkfist"
"46&2"
"Schism"
"Rosetta Stoned"
"Flood"
"Wings For Marie"
"10,000 Days"
"Lateralus"
"Vicarious"

Tool at the Pearl Theatre in the Palms Night 1

2007 has been a busy concert year. I am amazed that I managed to see Tool six times this calendar year. Tool sounded superb when they played the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. I was hoping for a repeat performance of their concert in April when I saw them at the Pearl.

I was fortunate to have my brother roll out for both nights of Tool in Vegas. I am still jealous that he saw some earlier Tool shows back in 1992. The one specific show was when he saw Tool and Rage Against the Machine at Club Lingerie. There were no opening bands so the audience was subjected to a random batch of songs. It was funny though when they played Iron Maiden’s “Number of The Beast” and the light technician would trigger some flashing lights during Bruce Dickinson’s screams.

Tool took the stage about a quarter of an hour past nine. Danny Carey (Drums) was sporting a Kobe Bryant Lakers Jersey while Maynard James Keenan (Vocals) had a Orange Puscifer jacket. I was not surprised when the rumbling riff of “Jambi” filled the theatre as the crowd roared. Adam Jones (Guitars) knocked it out of the park with his improvised Heil Talk Box solo. The sizzling electrode sounds served as a premonition to “Stinkfist”. Adam was employing his wah pedal frequently as a filter for his guitar tone. Adam walked over to Justin near the end of the song to signal the part of where they speed up the song to really finish out the tune with a bang. “46&2” never gets old live and is one of the better groove based Tool songs. Adam seemed to be using a combination of a phaser and a flanger for parts of the song. “Schism” is a showcase for Justin’s stellar bass skills. Justin stomped his foot to lead the band into the song. “Rosetta Stoned” had Justin using his pick to scrape the strings for added noise. Maynard’s vocals for the next three songs seemed to have been turned down a pinch. It was not mixed as well as the Nokia Theatre show. “Flood” is always worth the money as Justin teased the audience with various bass notes before launching into the crushing bass line. A slew of blue lights and water visuals filled the Pearl fitting the mood of the song extremely well. The Tool stool was pulled out for Justin for the epic “Wings for Marie” and “10,000 Days” combo. “Lateralus” was simply off the charts. It was a showcase for Danny, as he didn’t have anyone to drum off against. Danny crushed his drums effortlessly and would make me quit playing drums because he made it look so easy. “Vicarious” closed out the show with Maynard pointing the microphone out to the crowd for the final verse and using he hand as guide to mimic the vocals. I was desperately hoping for an extra song but was not surprised when they turned on the house lights.

Tool Setlist at the Pearl Theatre at the Palms (12/13/07)
"Jambi"
"Stinkfist"
"46&2"
"Schism"
"Rosetta Stoned"
"Flood"
"Wings For Marie"
"10,000 Days"
"Lateralus"
"Vicarious"

Gwen Stefani at the Pearl Theatre

I figured I would rest in Las Vegas on Friday prior to Vegoose. All of this changed when I saw Gwen Stefani was playing the Pearl Theatre at the Palms. I have been a No Doubt fan for many years. I remember seeing them in a warehouse in Orange in 1995 prior to the release of "Tragic Kingdom". I also have an original copy of "The Beacon Street Collection" that they self released.






Gwen Stefani is wrapping up her "Sweet Escape" tour with a few chances left to catch this elaborate show. Sirens blared over the soundsystem as Gwen's dancers were clad in robbers outfits and police uniforms as they crept across the stage. A giant illuminated "G" lit up the stage and the crowd started to buzz. When Gwen appeared on the stage, the crowd erupted. Gwen sounded just as dynamic as I remembered and easily worked the stage as she smoothly delivered "The Sweet Escape". Gwen changed into a cape that was adorned with her trademark "G" patterned across the silky fabric. "Rich Girl" was another showcase for Gwen's sticky sweet vocals. I was impressed how much she was running across the stage and still hitting every note. "Yummy" had another costume change as Gwen worked the audience. She played a set that covered both of her solo albums extensively. It is difficult to decide whether I want Gwen to tour more or have her make a new No Doubt album.





Gwen Stefani setlist for the Pearl Theatre (10/26/07)
"The Sweet Escape"
"Rich Girl"
"Yummy"
"4 In The Morning"
"Luxurious"
"Early Winter"
"Wind It Up"
"Danger Zone"
"Hollaback Girl"
"Wonderful Life"
"Now That You Got It"
"Twisted-Breakin'Up"
"Cool"
"Orange County Girl"
"Real Thing(Acoustic)"
"What You Waiting For"