FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Hellbound Metal: “Some may curse and call that contention a soft option, but wasn’t the dichotomy that Iggy and The Stooges – and The Stooges before them – always straddled? Weren’t they they band who rocked like hell, even as they were shooting themselves in the foot, rolling in broken glass or setting themselves on fire? Wasn’t it all as fun, silly, stupid and lighthearted as it ws dark and dangerous? Yeah – it was. Ready To Die is too”
“While this bout of First Gen punk rockers strutting their new stuff (OFF!) or taking a skank down memory lane (Descendents) was clearly not about to grab Southern Ontario by the short and curlies, with enough bodies filling the concrete lawn to instigate agoraphobia, it was clear that Southern Californian punk rock has clearly grown in appreciated stature over its three decades.”
Keith Carman reviews the June 16th outdoor performance by Descendents and OFF! at NXNE in Toronto. Live photos by Heather Carman Ostrander.
Adam Wills previews this weekend’s Hellfest festival that is happening in France. He will be attending and covering it for Hellbound.
Since NXNE decided to do some cool free shows at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Sqaure we thought we’d go check out the most metal of the ones that happened. Actually, they weren’t very metal at all, but here are reviews of the three bands that any open-minded metal head would definitely enjoy…
Natalie Zed and Sean Palmerston offer a recap of the bands they saw for free at NXNE 2010 in Toronto, Ontario. Live photography by Albert Mansour
“We got asked a lot if it was supposed to be a tribute show or something; you couldn’t blame the writers for asking that, because it does happen that some dudes package up an old deal like a shtick. That’s not the case here; the way they play these new songs, they don’t do ’em like the old days, they don’t dress up like the old days, nothing’s like the old days – except the songs were written in the old days when they were younger men. That’s the difference; it’s not a Disneyland time warp ride”
Bill Adams talks with Stooges bassist Mike Watt about the current state of the band and their upcoming performance at Toronto’s NXNE Music Conference on Saturday, June 19th.
This reissue of Raw Power is satisfying because, unlike so many of the more “adventurous” re-workings of the material, this release stays true to the original; even leaving some of the noticeable flaws (like the clipping that might be from volume or from a little bit of tape left mangled in “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell” intact) in place to imply the rough, warts-and-all initial recording process.