Weekend of Metal

This weekend was a good one, as I kicked off my 2012 concert schedule with a Weekend of Metal.  Flanked both nights by a trusty Venezuelan crooner named Daniel, I enjoyed the hell out of some live music. 

Friday night, I saw Megadeth and Motörhead at The Aragon.  Both were excellent.  Lemmy is awesome.  I hope I'm playing sold out metal shows when I'm 66.  Here's a link to a video of "Ace ofSpades" that I took through a doorway.  I realize now, I should have turned my phone sideways.  Megadeth was good too, although not as good as the Megadeth-lyric/ejaculation-based text message conversation I had with a Dane who was not at the concert.  Among my favorites were "Countdown to Ejaculation," "Jizz sells but who's buying?," and my personal favorite, "Jizzing is my business…and business is GOOD."  If this was the only show I saw this weekend, I might say more about it, but I can't.  

Saturday night, Whitney Houston wasn't the only one who saw The Darkness.  Along with openers Crown Jewel Defense and Foxy Shazam, my favorite neo-glam band took the stage at The Metro to a sold-out crowd.

As you may know, I love The Darkness.  They are one of my favorite bands to emerge in the 2000s, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" is my favorite song from the last decade (as well as my favorite karaoke song, for better or worse), and both of their albums were among my favorite 50 from last decade.  They play the kind of rock and roll that I need in the world to remain sane.

Last time I saw them was in 2004 at an outdoor venue in Columbus, before their second album had been released.  They put on a great show, but it took them forever to come on.  Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous album -- which is a double album, mind you -- played twice all the way through between the opener and The Darkness.  Then again, from what I understand, the band had certain distractions then that aren't an issue know, namely what the kids call yayo.

In 2006, the band broke up, largely because of drug problems.  Tears streamed down my face as I balled up my purple spandex unitards, threw them into a metal trash can, and, with a single match, watched them burn into oblivion within seconds.  The rock world had lost its rawk.

Then, last year, there were rumors of a reunited band.  A few club dates were played.  A few videos of those shows made their way to the internet.  Then it was official.  They announced tour dates and that an album would be released at some point in 2012.  They were coming back to save rock and roll once again.  I wept openly, freaking the shit out of my coworkers.

But I digress.  Back to Saturday.  Crown Jewel Defense was good.  Foxy Shazam was really good.  Both set the stage for what I already consider a legendary show.  After Foxy Shazam ended their set, the anticipation was palpable.  The entire crowd had been waiting six or seven years for this show, and you could tell.  When the PA system turned up the volume and started to play "The Boys are Back in Town," everyone knew what time it was.

A good concert engulfs you, so that all you care about is the song you're listening to, and you forget about work, school, what you're going to do after the show, or anything else in the outside world. All you care about is the moment you're in, and it's glorious because it's pure.  I've seen hundreds of concerts, and every now and then, you have that perfect combination of a great performance, familiarity with the band, beer, energy, showmanship, type of music, and fellow concertgoers.  Paul McCartney in Munich in 2003.  Def Leppard in Tinley Park in 2006.  Weezer at The Aragon in 2011.  The Darkness Saturday night. 

From the opening riff of "Black Shuck" to the band's bow after their encore of "Love On the Rocks With No Ice," The Darkness brought their A-game.  They sounded great.  They were entertaining and energetic.  Lead singer Justin Hawkins had great rapport with the crowd.  Even when things went wrong, it was right.  Hawkins stopped a song ("Is It Just Me?") after about fifteen seconds, explained that something was sounding off, and he didn't want the song to sound bad for the audience's sake, so he stopped it and would be starting it over again.  Then he apologized to the crowd in his endearing British accent and said "I recognize now that that was unprofessional, and I apologize to all of you."  Then he kicked it back into gear, and it was awesome.

It was one of those rare concerts where the band and the crowd were in a symbiotic relationship.  The band was playing off the crowd's energy.  The crowd was playing off the band's energy.  Everyone in The Metro was having a good time.  The Darkness's music lends itself to singing along, especially after a couple beers, and I've never been at a show where more people were signing along to every song (thankfully drowned out by the actual song).  Chicks, dudes, hipsters, metal heads, yuppies, trixies, sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads, and uncategorizable people were all joined as one, participating in a shared experience without pretension.  After all, The Darkness destroys pretension with bombast, spandex, white hot guitars, and soaring falsettos.  Hawkins even climbed to the top of a stack of amps that had to be 15 feet high, and then dove like a golden god into the crowd, which caught him with ease and without injury.  It was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect rock and roll concert.  At one point, I texted Jester and told her, "Bring the kids.  I want to stay here forever."

Everyone walking out after the show was saying how good of a show it was or "I thought it was going to be good, but that was amazing."  Normally, you might here a few comments like that after a show, but there was almost universal exuberance.  It's only February and that was only my second concert of the year, but it's going to be pretty damn tough for another show this year to top that.

Here's my video of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love":