Tag Archives: nyc concerts

Soundgarden in Concert with “Live On Letterman” (11/12/2012)

I know I have used this line before for another band but what the hell I am using it once again, “this is a hell of a week to be into the band Soundgarden”. Not only does the group have a new album called “King Animal” dropping tomorrow (or actually today since I am compiling thoughts about an event that happened only yesterday) but they are also doing a sold out show at Irving Plaza on Tuesday. Whew. If you are behind the times on this now legendary group, you best get those dollars out and start ordering up some music. Tonight I had the chance to enjoy a set of tunes by the band in the venerated Ed Sullivan Theatre where they would be doing a “Live On Letterman” concert. I’ve attended one of these webcasts for KISS and its amazing. Only a few hundred people get to be inside the live theater while the entire Internet gets to watch the webcast stream as it happens from their own home. Readers can click on the bands logo below to be taken to my full on concert report and the photo gallery but then come back here to leave us your thoughts on it if you watched and to enjoy some side images.

Artist: Soundgarden
Venue: Ed Sullivan Theatre (New York, NY)
Opener: n/a
Date: 11/12/2012
Label: Universal Republic

Written By: Ken Pierce (copyright 2012) for PiercingMetal.com

The first time that I experienced a “Live On Letterman” show was when the mighty KISS had come down to celebrate the 50th program of the series at the legendary Ed Sullivan Theatre and wow what a show that was. If you don’t yet know what “Live On Letterman” actually is, well, it’s a live webcast that takes the musical talent of today and lets a small audience of fan club winners enjoy the show while the rest of the world can watch along on their computer or mobile devices. It’s really a fantastic idea and I think that it makes great use of the Ed Sullivan Theatre based on the fashion that history really knew it for with those legendary shows from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors and many, many more.

With this awesome premise now heading straight to its next milestone it made sense to feature some true leaders of the “Seattle Sound” with Soundgarden. The band made a great impact with their “Badmotorfinger” album in 1991, but that was their third release and they had been around for a few years already by that time. Tonight the guys would be celebrating the upcoming release of “King Animal” which would hit the streets tomorrow and thanks to the powers of the Internet, millions of people would get to hear a sneak peak of the albums offerings. If you have never watched the “David Letterman Show” before, let me explain how its setup only holds about 600 people for shows like this so it was going to be very cool for those of us in the venue tonight. The stage setup is right in front of Dave’s desk and the band entered from the rear of the theatre to resounding applause. The interesting thing to observe was just how many cell phone displays went up as the band came in as opposed to the old days of just being hands or lighters. As Chris Cornell approached the microphone he said quick hellos and announced that “this first one is called Twist and Shout” in homage to The Beatles but of course the band would instead do their own song “Worse Dreams” from the new album. “By Crooked Steps” would follow and you could tell that Cornell didn’t lose an ounce of his vocal quality by the range and register that he was delivering tonight. Truly he has remained one of the best singers in the Hard Rock realm. My seat was over to his left so I had a great view of bassist Ben Sheperd and drummer Matt Cameron, but sadly Kim Thayil was way over to the opposite side. It made me feel good that I was not an attending guitar player who was looking to study any riffs this evening.

The bands third tune was “Incessant Mace” from their 1988 debut “Ultramega OK” and they would follow it with “Beyond The Wheel” making these two songs the oldest of the repertoire being delivered this evening. The tunes sounded great and have withstood the tests of time. Speaking personally, I got into the band during their “Louder Than Love” times and had hoped to hear just a little from that. Alas I would not, and nothing would come from their seminal “Badmotorfinger” either which was a bit of a shame. There was not a whole lot of talking going on during the show and I didn’t miss that since I would prefer the band kept on playing instead of jibber jabber and after these legacy classics had been done it was back to a delivery of four more tunes from the new release. Cornell made a quick joke about having new management and that David Letterman was now in charge of their activities. Onto the Garden next or something along those lines was chimed in by drummer Cameron. When the songs continued along I noticed how some of the folks around me were singing so I imagine that there had been some streams available to enjoy or maybe they were able to download the recording digitally when they purchased it.

Chris mentioned that he would be playing a little later on downtown for a benefit and how much the band loves NYC which was met with many applause and then it was on to “Fell On Black Daze” from their “Superunknown” album. This one surprised me when you consider how both “Spoonman” and “Black Hole Sun” come from this very same recording and are the obvious choices in terms of audience impact. Oh well. I am not going to argue. They would close out with another new tune in “Rowing” which is actually also the closing number on the new “King Animal” album. Sadly there would be no encore from the band and when it was done at the 55 minute mark it was done. As I just mentioned, from here, Cornell heads down to The Bowery Ballroom to do an acoustic set as a part of a Hurricane Sandy benefit and while the dude sitting next to me was convinced that it would be an acoustic Soundgarden set I had to disagree since I had not heard anything about it. I guess I will need to check Bravewords.com and Twitter at some point today to see if he was right and I was wrong. Clearly the show was geared at showcasing the new album and that is why we got seven songs from it out of the ten performed. The new stuff seems to continue along with the band’s sound and maybe there is a slight hint of Audioslave to it, but that makes sense since Chris had been working with that band until reuniting with Soundgarden. I think it is safe to say that the bands longtime fans and those new ones will be able to enjoy it equally. Tomorrow evening they play a full on set at Irving Plaza. That should be great and if I end up there to do my thing you can count on photos and a story right here. Let’s see what happens.

Set list:
1. Worse Dreams
2. By Crooked Steps
3. Incessant Mace
4. Beyond The Wheel
5. Taree
6. A Thousand Days Before
7. Eyelid’s Mouth
8. Non-State Actor
9. Fell On Black Days
10. Rowing

Official Website:

Amazon.com Code:

Here is the cool ticket that you get for this kind of event. At the end of the day it becomes something special to keep in your collection. I love having my ticket stubs and other things like this and think that its time to get that scrap book in order.

I couldn’t help but snap a shot of the screen above me as it showed an image of the theater from very long ago. Sadly I missed when it showed “Soundgarden” for a quick second. My readers know how much I love those marquee shots.

Here are some of the fan shots from around the theater.

Two of my illustrious supporters in The Metal Republic with Mr. Chris and Mr. Daniel. Thank you for the always positive interest in this site gentlemen. They were sitting right behind me which was pretty cool. There was also a girl with an awesome spiked up leather jacket but she vanished before I could snap a photo of that. Drats.

Be sure to check out the bands new album, the stuff sounds good and Cornell really puts it over the top. Sorry there are no other shots to share with you here but this is not your typical concert experience and doesn’t have those merchandise booth shots and other silly stuff we put here. Next time for sure as we hit a lot of shows for the site. Of course you know that already.

Official Websites:
Soundgarden – www.soundgardenworld.com
CBS Live On Letterman – www.cbs.comliveonletterman

Deicide In Concert (11/5/2012)

Historically speaking, Deicide is perhaps one of the most brutal and blasphemous entities that the Metal scene has ever given us and for over twenty five years have been bringing their dark message to the masses with insidious resolve. Tonight the band would return to the B.B. King Blues Club along with two opening acts and remind their fans about their fearful musical prophecies and you can learn more in the full review by clicking the logo below. Then keep on scrolling in the blog post to see some of the images that are only presented here for your indulgence.

Artist: Deicide
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club
Opener: Eyes Of The Dead, Mahavatar
Date: 11/5/2012
Label: Century Media Records

Written By: Ken Pierce (copyright 2012) for PiercingMetal.com

The devastating effects of the recent Hurricane Sandy had left their mark upon the residents of NYC and its surrounding regions but now it was time to rebuild, recover and heal as best as was possible. There were a number of shows cancelled or rescheduled last week thanks to the storm and that left the Metal legions a little stir crazy and aching for a live show and now it was time to release all that frustration with the one and only Deicide. The show this evening would be at the venerated B.B. King Blues Club and feature two support acts. Here is how the evening went for those who did not manage to attend.

Opening the show tonight were New York City’s own Mahavatar which is a kind of Experimental Groove Metal band fronted by Lizza Hasson. I’ve enjoyed their work for a few years now but was unable to catch their set based on the overall timing of my night. When I did get to the venue I chanced upon Lizza who had told me that there was a completely new lineup in the band outside of one of their guitarists and that they were going for a more straight ahead Metal vibe now than any experimentation. I look forward to hearing it whenever they get to some recordings and send over a copy for deeper examination. Also on the bill were Eyes Of The Dead were also appearing as the direct support for this show and I guess along the span of touring dates that Deicide was doing. They are a Thrash Metal/Death Metal band from Connecticut and are not to be confused with the very similarly titled Through The Eyes Of The Dead who originates from Florida. I caught about three of their fast moving numbers and felt that they were commendable on the stage and managed to stir up the fans that made it out tonight just enough for the mighty Deicide who unless I was mistaken by the time were going to be onstage within minutes.

Deicide: The last time that Deicide played NYC was only maybe six months ago and it was definitely an interesting show because for some reason Glenn was unable to sing. To my recollection he had cited being ill and not well enough to sing but had preferred not to cancel the performance. That found the entire set being delivered as a quasi-instrumental and karaoke show with the audience singing back the tunes to the band with occasional growling assistance from guitarist Kevin Quirion. It was different to say the least. Tonight the band hit the stage with their typical intensity and it would be a no-nonsense delivery of their destructive sounds. They would open with “Homage To Satan” from their critically acclaimed “Stench Of Redemption” album and of course were still on the touring warpath in support of their Century Media Records debut “To Hell With God”. Glen started off the Metal festivities by informing us all that he once again had a voice and it was good that he did that because it was very likely that most of this crowd tonight had been at that previously referenced show. The set list seemed to mirror the one that was delivered back in March with the only difference being the fact that this time the vocals from Benton were there along with his acerbic and sometimes scatological commentary between numbers. At one point a fan must have been annoying him from the front and Benton informed him the dude that he “was making his asshole bleed”. He continued along by dedicating the next song to this same fans mother’s reproductive organ. He said it slightly different from how I phrased it of course. You cannot make this shit up if you tried my friends.

Musically this was a no-holds barred assault with the powerful and insane drumming of Steve Asheim driving every notorious melody forward with precision and bone rattling speed. The twin guitar work from Kevin Quirion (now a full time member of the band) and Jack Owen really impressing the axe slingers in the crowd. Benton himself was uhm, Benton. The main man monster on the stage whose vitriol and anger manifested itself again and again as each song was delivered for the set. As I mentioned just before this set seemed to be a line for line redelivery of that March 2012 performance. That meant that nothing would come from the bands previous release “Till Death Do Us Part” which surprised me because it generally received favorable reviews from the media but four in total would hail from their most recent “To Hell With God” recording. The rest of the set was peppered with the bands most classic material and the songs that make their fans the most ravenous when delivered on the stage. There were nineteen songs in all but it went by like a fast moving train. Sadly I would miss a couple of numbers as I had to get over to the Best Buy Theater and photograph Blue Oyster Cult but I still got the complete vibe of what the appearance was about. This will have been my fourth time reviewing a Deicide show in my city and while I stress some caution based on your belief structure, they are a band to see at least once if you support the Extreme Death Metal scene.

The only downside for this particular event was that it did not bring out the biggest crowd that I had seen for this band in the past. Perhaps it was the strength of the overall package or the fact that many who might have wanted to come in and get some Metal music relief were still unable to do so safely and easily thanks to the after effects from the hurricane. Those who did make it in all seemed to have a Hell of a time. Pardon the very obvious and bad pun. Until next time.

Deicide Set list:
1. Homage for Satan
2. Dead by Dawn
3. Once Upon the Cross
4. Scars of the Crucifix
5. When Satan Rules His World
6. Serpents of the Light
7. Save Your
8. Hang in Agony Until You’re Dead
9. Conviction
10. Blame It on God
11. They Are the Children of the Underworld
12. Death to Jesus (Omitted)
13. Witness of Death
14. Desecration
15. Into the Darkness You Go
16. How Can You Call Yourself a God
17. Kill the Christian
18. Sacrificial Suicide
19. Lunatic of God’s Creation
20. Oblivious to Evil

Official Website:

Amazon.com Code:

It wouldn’t be a presentation of a B.B. King Blues Club show if I didn’t snare a visual of the bands name across the venue marquee. It’s been a little over three years since Deicide last played this particular venue. Yes they have been over at the Gramercy Theatre a couple of times since that gig but this place feels a whole lot different when a band like this one comes a calling.

The merchandise for the band was pretty cool. Here are some of the shirts that I glimpsed. The opening band Eyes Of The Dead had some CD’s on sale but I did not photograph them.

The poster for the evening’s event looked pretty ominous as well. Fans have started collecting these when the venue makes them available for early entry tickets or from the ones that are hanging on the walls of the club. I think I mentioned liking the smaller cards if they make them. They are cool to snag some autographs on if you do that kind of thing.

No real time for any candid shots of the band this time around because they were ready to hit the stage when I arrived. I did however snap the dressing room signs and mostly because they had a little fun with the support acts sign.

Periodically I try to snare some of the tech that is involved in the bands performance and this time around the word “snare” totally applies as I grabbed us a quick visual of Steve Asheim’s drumset. This was pre-pummelling of course. Nice kit.

I also got a shot of Mahavatar’s singer Lizza with Glen Benton shortly before they hit the stage.

Renaissance in Concert (10/20/2012)

If you have never read one of my concert reports about the great Renaissance, then you don’t yet know how this music holds a very special place in my heart based on having grown up with it and it being stuff that my parents listened to again and again. That being said, I was very excited to get to see the band performing in concert once again and after a nice dinner my friend and I headed over to the Concert Hall at the NY Society for Ethical Culture where we had seen them twice before. To enjoy the full on concert report, please click the bands logo below to be taken to the article on the main PiercingMetal site and then come back here to enjoy some of the side images that were captured during the night.


Continue reading Renaissance in Concert (10/20/2012)

Otherwise in Concert (8/9/2012)

I was very new to the band Otherwise and was supposed to catch them as an opener for Lacuna Coil but due to an unfortunate circumstance the day of the show this was not meant to be.  Despite this hiccup I would instead be the only member of press in attendance at a private preview of their material when the guys dropped by the EMI Music Publishing offices.   For those who might not know this little fact, all the Century Media Records and Nuclear Blast Records are distributed by EMI.  This was cool for sure but I needed to see the band live and in the electrified sense because that is what they are all about.  Lucky for me they had set up a show over at The Studio at Webster Hall and brought along Red Line Chemistry and Janus as support.  There were a couple of other bands on the bill but I was not able to enjoy them based on the timing of the night.  Studio gigs tend to start as early as 6pm, and there was no way that I could get to that.  Clicking the logo below will take you over to the full concert review and photo galleries but then do come back to the blog posting as I have some side moments and visuals that are only being presented in this space.


Continue reading Otherwise in Concert (8/9/2012)

Steel Panther @ Irving Plaza (7/18/2012)

Logo - Steel Panther

Artist: Steel Panther
Venue: Irving Plaza (New York, NY)
Opener: Dirty Pearls
Date: 7/18/2012
Label: Universal Republic

Even though math was never one of my strongest subjects without a calculator I’m pretty sure that tonight’s show will mark the fourth time that Steel Panther has been in NYC this year. It’s also my fourth time covering their live show and since I had caught them in January, I opted to pass the following two in order to give some other groups a chance. Needless to say here we were and it was back to the craziness as usual at Irving Plaza. Clearly this room has started to feel like home to these lads after doing so many gigs at the place. That’s a good thing since they know how to work the venue even better for their fans enjoyment. The show was opened up by NYC’s own The Dirty Pearls and they always manage to deliver a solid set of traditional Rock and Roll. Fronted by singer Tommy London the band does their best at keeping you engaged and geared up for the main event.

steel panther, steel panther concert photos
Steel Panther by Ken Pierce (2012)

Continue reading Steel Panther @ Irving Plaza (7/18/2012)