Primus & Mastodon @ CMCU Amphitheater

Ahhh! An outdoor show.  You're welcome for the rain The Rest Of Charlotte!

Mastodon started so early (still daylight) that I completely missed All Them Witches and had to hear Divinations and Crystal Skull as I was walking into the venue.  I was pretty happy with my seat, though.  I bought them through the Primus pre-sale, so couldn't chose, but I was second row (with no-one in front of me) to the left as you look at the stage, right in front of guitarist Brent Hinds.  Hinds kept our side entertained while Troy Sanders took up his 2 position - in front of the mike or in front of Brann Dailor's drum kit - which was quite colorful, but you could only see this when bug yellow went down for the night.  I missed a light of the lighting that goes with each song, due to a giant speaker being in my line of sight.  Black Tongue was the highlight through the new-album-(Emperor of Sand) heavy setlist.  Still an hour an quarter / 17 song set is pretty good playing time for an opening band.

Had a pretty short turn around before Primus came on stage.  I was psyched to be in front of Larry LaLonde.  So many times have I been mesmerized by Les Claypool's bass, that you forget there are 2 other magic musicians in the band.  Show started great with Harold Of The Rocks and not long before we got to hear the fantastic Wynona's Big Brown Beaver.  After a half dozen songs the band left the stage and came back dressed like goblins (with druid/jawa techs) and proceeded to play their brand new album, The Desaturating Seven, from start to finish.  Some good songs, but not all of them may have been needed in this show.  After another break the band came back for 4 more songs, with the great My Name Is Mud and Jerry Was A Race Car Driver finishing the set.  Disappointingly there was no encore (Jerry seemed to finish just after 11) and the set felt incomplete.  Still glad I went, though I may leave a little more time between shows before seeing each of the bands again (though Primus keep having these great supports: Dinosaur Jr, Clutch and now Mastodon). 

The Crap Facts:
This is my 439th concert.

This is my 9th concert at CMCU Amphitheater.

This is my 72nd concert in Charlotte.

This is my 82nd concert in North Carolina.

This is my 245th concert in the USA.
This is my 6th Mastodon concert.
This is my 10th Primus concert.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club & Pete International Airport @ The Underground

A small venue and a (disappointingly smallish - half full) crowd made for the perfect venue for tonight's show.  I don't know why Black Rebel Motorcycle Club aren't a bigger band - or is it Charlotte is not into rock.

I got in early to catch Pete International Airport.  Not really my thing - kind of an ambient, shoegaze rock.  It was a really short set though and it seemed like a minimal setup was needed to get BRMC on stage.

A 3 song start up from the new album "Wrong Creatures" was great, but things really got started with Beat The Devil's Tattoo.  Berlin was excellent, as was Dirty Ol' Town.  The set was laden with 9 songs from the new album which I'm unfamiliar with but still the set flowed well, and the crowd reaction was great.  When an amp blew during White Palms, I thought that might be the end of the night, but out of nowhere, much to the joy of the crowd, the sound came back on.  After that, Six Barrell Shogun and Spread Your Love (still one of my all time favorite songs) finished off the 'main set".  Technically BRMC went straight into their encore, as so much time was lost with the blown amp.  The last 3 songs could not have been better Red Eyes & Tears and Awake gave the audience a chance to recover from the previous 3, then it all exploded again with Whatever Happened To My Rock n Roll.  And despite the amp blowing again, BRMC played on and allowed the audience to finish the song for them.

2 hours has been better than normal for headliners I've seen lately.  Maybe it's a thank you for those of us who had tickets for the show earlier in the year that had to be postponed due to illness.  Maybe it was the crowd's enthusiasm.  Regardless it was another great BRMC show.  Not sure why it's been 7 years since I last saw them, but won't wait that long again.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 438th concert.

This is my 2nd concert at The Underground.

This is my 71st concert in Charlotte.

This is my 81st concert in North Carolina.

This is my 244th concert in the USA.
Pete International Airport is the 505th band I've seen.
This is my 4th Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert.

Carolina Rebellion @ Rock City Campgrounds

3 years ago I said I wouldn't come back to this festival after how crowded it was, that I couldn't get near a stage.  However concerts have been so few and far between in the last 6 months, and it was a Xmas present, so I thought I'd see if this year was any better....and is was - by far.

Ideally, and in my youth, I'd have been at the opening of the festival checking out new bands and making the most of the day.  But now....I'm old.  And as much as I wanted to see The Bronx, they were on at 1.30pm and the next band I wanted to see (and what tipped me over the edge to buy the ticket) was Billy Idol at 5.50pm.  So I didn't leave the house until 5.

I arrived early enough but was parked at the back of the Drag Strip and took me nearly half an hour to get into the venue (while listening to Dancing With Myself and Flesh For Fantasy.  I walked in and right up to about 25 yards from the stage - where is everyone?  It's Billy Idol!  Maybe everyone was recovering from the last 2 days here and would be around later.  But Billy (still playing with Steve Stevens) was awesome.  He still has a great presence and energy while performing.  Rebel Yell to finish the set had the crowd in a frenzy.  For his encore he came out for an acoustic White Wedding, before the band came back of stage to drive the song home.

I went and found a shady spot to have dinner and then thought I'd head over and see Incubus.  Was never a fan, but was really surprised how familiar a song or two was.  A mid set Nice To Know You kickstarted the crowd - and me - I remember that song.  And while I didn't know Wish You Were Here I really loved the way they incorporated Pink Floyd's song of the same name into the outro.  Overall I was impressed with the set, even though I had no expectations.

A quick move over to one of the smaller stages to see Baroness.  This was a band I literally knew nothing about.  A bit heavier than the rest of the bands I saw today and a good performance, but not necessarily my thing (at my age I'm very picky about any new music I listen too).  Having said that, a hardcore group of fans were really into this set.

I left a little early to get a decent spot for Queens of the Stone Age and was surprised by how easy it was to get close to the stage (20 yards or so) and not be mobbed by a ton of people.  QOTSA came out in blistering form playing 3 songs in a row that I knew to begin with, the last of which was a rockin' No One Knows.  A solid performance that ended with the wild Song For The Dead.  A finish that just left you rocked and wanting more.  Let's hope they come back to Charlotte soon.

Maybe Muse is not for the younger kids (maybe it was too late on a school night), but again I had a relatively good spot and great sight line to see Muse.  Also ran in to some neighbors after many a text.  Matt Bellamy seemed angry tonight, not at anything in particular, but his style was aggressive, adding to the performance.  I am not someone who listens to Muse but what I like about Muse is that they are an arena band, but they have such a small amount to equipment on stage.  How do they produce that sound?  And as a 3 piece physically located close on stage, their presence fills a large area while playing.  The LED display to each song, enhanced the show.  And while I don't know many of their songs (actually only 1) the little outros they played after each song were great (Back In Black, Know Your Enemy, My Own Summer & Heartbreaker).  A 3 song encore ended with the epic Knights of Cydonia (the one I know), and a cloud of confetti the crowd of thousands left knowing they'd seen a great rock band.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 437th concert.

This is my 2nd concert at Rock City Campgrounds.

This is my 2nd concert in Concord.

This is my 80th concert in North Carolina.

This is my 243rd concert in the USA.
Billy Idol is the 503rd band I've seen.
Incubus are the 504th band I've seen.
Baroness are the 505th band I've seen.
This is my 2nd Queens of the Stone Age concert.
This is my 2nd Muse concert.