Queen of the Dancefloor

Salt Lake City Upcoming Concerts: L.A. Guns, Queensryche, Panic at the Disco

By Brian Staker, 11-27-06

	Staker Pick of the Week: Dirty on Purpose

L.A. Guns featuring Steve Riley and Phil Lewis

On this Thanksgiving week, what do local concertgoers have to be thankful for? In this seemingly unlikely heavy metal haven, many are grateful for the RAWK. This ‘Guns,’ guitarist Tracii to be exact, is the same one from which the outfit you might’ve heard of, Guns’n’Roses, got part of its name. It’s not everyone who has bequeathed their surname to not one but two hard rock ensembles.

But the fact also resigned them to living in the shadow of TG’s much more celebrated former employer, sophomore release Cocked & Loaded (1989, Polydor) nonetheless. L.A. Guns also didn’t have the starpower of enfant terrible Axl Rose to help them rise against the tide of late 80's/early 90's grunge music that abducted the eardrums of those who like their music measured in gross tonnage. At the same time, hardcore metal fans tend to look at L.A. Guns and similar outfits lacking an unarguable masterpiece like G’N’R as ‘hair metal,’ too fashion-obsessed and not heavy enough. Hey, it’s a constant arms race in the metal world, for who can be heavier, louder, faster, depending on your taste. Chart success however, believe it or not, still depends a little bit on having a discernable, if not sugary-sweet melody.

This tour features original singer Lewis and drummer Riley, with Stacey Blades on guitar. It’s a good five years since their last release, the perhaps ironically-titled Waking the Dead, but like Neil Young sang, ‘rust never sleeps,’ and decent metal ages fairly well. If you type ‘dot com’ instead of ‘net’ on their website, you get a Beverly Hills gun dealer. One wonders about the customer crossover.

November 24, Club Vegas

The Next Step Up Tour

People who pack into the long-time South Salt Lake bowling alley/goth hangout will doubtless be thankful for some metal they can sink their teeth into a little more than the comparatively poorly-munitioned ‘Guns. Hardcore metal has survived the stylistic lapse in taste and–even for this Mensa-challenged genre–mentality that was ‘nu metal’ to emerge as a force still to be reckoned with, still evolving yet cognizant of its roots.

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA combo Stick to Your Guns couldn’t resist the temptation to include some kind weaponry in their title, as is the wont among metalists of all stripes; that or some kind of medieval or morticular references. As if their name wasn’t enough, they say ‘stay positive’ on their myspace page. Uh, I’m not so sure how well ‘up with people’ talk melds with metal. You might expect a band named Solidarity to have a political bent, but it also makes them hard to find online until you weed through volumes on Lech Walesa, brainiacs. Their somewhat mindless punk metal does have a little influence from their ‘blue state’ born-ons. (When did the colors change, btw? Red used to be the color for the Democrats because they were on the slippery slope to evil communism. When did the colors flip? When Kerry did on Iraq? I’m confused) Cincinnati quartet The Burning Season brings the crunk, and African-American
shredders Too Pure to Die show that racial barriers doesn’t exist in metal anymore.

November 27, The Ritz

Also appearing:
November 26: Boise, ID (The Point)
November 28: Aurora, CO (Hubba’s)

The Acacia Strain, From a Second Story Window

The operative word in The Acacia Strain is ‘strain,’ whether it’s vocal chords or strings to the point of near breaking. Not to mention eardrums, with the Springfield, MA combo’s three-guitar attack. Not to band: one of the few things that holds equally true online and in print: black on black is a bitch to read. This year’s entry in dismembering the corpse of metal music is The Dead Walk on (what else) Prosthetic Records.

The thing about falling ‘from a second story window,’ in case you haven’t tried it, is you mess yourself up pretty bad, but you’re still alive. Try higher up for suicide attempts, preferably into a vat of boiling oil for maximum dramatic effect. The band hails from that armpit of middle America they call ‘Ohio-vania,’ still littered with reminders of Civil War battles and farmland in which there are seemingly more cows than people. Give thanks for deranged lyrics and twisted instrumental sounds, if that is your ‘bent.’

November 28, Club Boomva (Ogden)

Also appearing:
November 27: Denver, CO (Bluebird Theater)
November 29: Boise, ID (The Venue)

Dirty On Purpose

If you are like me, you are thankful for musicians that still don’t take themselves too seriously. The Brooklyn band Dirty On Purpose plays songs with all the Anglo-centric melodicism of Belle and the fuzz tunnel of sound of a band like Ride. The comparison has me salivating as much as the choice of dark or white meat from the bird that Ben Franklin elected to be national flying species, much better tasting than the bald eagle. Or so I’ve heard. Dirty On Purpose’s Hallelujah Sirens (North Street Records) conveys the wistfulness for the carefree days of childhood when making a mess was part of playing the game, amidist all the turgid troublesomeness, emerge as my Pick of the Week.

November 28, Kilby Court **Staker’s Pick of the Week!**

Also appearing:
November 29: Denver, CO (Larimer Lounge)

Queensryche

Is it possible for a band to tour too much? This is the musical question the lords of the proggy realm Queensryche perpetually pose. But it gives cause for thanks to fans who missed out on tickets to their last sold out offing. The ‘also appearings’ should perhaps include another date here in a month or two, since they’ve been here what, three times in ‘06?‘ Too many concerts’ is like too many notes in a guitar solo for these guys.

Seriously, though, the ‘II’ update to their hallmark Operation Mindcrime smash is as pertinent today as in the 80's, with its commentary on media addiction and commercialism and political control. I include the Vegas date because, although Newwest.net doesn’t have a Vegas affiliate there (yet), people around this town are looking for any excuse to get out of Zion for a while, and ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ to us means you don’t have to confess it to your Bishop when you come back. Is that such a crime?

November 28, The Depot

Also appearing:
November 30: Las Vegas, NV (House of Blues)

Panic! At the Disco

Some people are still thankful for dancing, gettin’ down with the boogie, on the good foot and matters far too hip for me to get the lingo correct. Actually Las Vegas band Panic! At the Disco, similarly to the Killers who also hail from Sin City, fuses elements of new wave, emo, electronica and indie rock to create a danceable mix that is as current, but hopefully not as disposable, as today’s fashions. Unlike the Killers, however, their BPMs (beats per minute) are more in service of sheer fun than snide asides in lyrics bent at bitterness-inducing exes. Their debut release, last year’s The Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, still manages to include commentary on adultery, prostitution, drug addiction and religion (all the things that Las Vegas is known for–the latter being the Church of Elvis), and thus the title’s meaning is at least double.

November 30, E Center

Also appearing:
November 28: Denver, CO (Magness Arena)

Death By Decibels

This holiday season, we can forgive certain musical enterprises if they exercise a little hyperbole, like cooks predicting ‘this gravy is to die for,’ or inducing ‘death by chocolate’ by just desserts. In case you still have any hearing left from most of the shows earlier this week. This may be the year I break down and ask for the Bel-Tones (not the name of a musical group, as far as I know) for Christmas.

As far as death metal, tour headliner Napalm Death is one of the old school by far, two decades into existence, and the godfathers of ‘grindcore,’ a subgenre of hardcore metal that is more grinding, industrial-sounding and deliberate than plain vanilla hardcore. Imagine instead of being fed into a wood chipper, you are being ground up slowly in some metal-toothed machinery. Their latest, Smear Campaign, is a bit of political commentary in a midterm election year, as well as a more literal figure of speech, I’m sure.

November 30, Club Boomva (Ogden)

Also appearing:
November 29: Denver, CO (Bluebird Theater)
December 1: Boise, ID (The Venue)

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