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Disturbed, Drowning Pool, Adema, Steromud
and Systematic |
Friday Oct 5, 2001 / Hollywood
Palladium / Hollywierd, Ca
Live Review by antiGUY
What a week, it started with Linkin Park,
Staind and the Deftones continued with Lit and their young protégés
Handsome Devil and could only be topped by this bill, Disturbed, Drowning
Pool, Adema, Stereomud and Systematic. They don�t call it Rocktober for
nothing!
When I first heard about The Music as a
Weapon tour I was stoked. I caught Disturbed�s intense set at Ozzfest and
was blown away. Unfortunately, two of the bands I really wanted to
see, Systematic and Drowning Pool, had to pullout of the Southern California
Ozzfest appearance at the last minute. I had a chance to talk with Steve
and C.J. from Drowning Pool backstage but what I really wanted was to see
them in action. Their debut album �Sinner� was one of only a handful of
releases that saved 2001 from being a total bummer. It�s old school meets
nu-metal sounds have been a major
part of the antiMUSIC soundtrack this summer (Dr. Fever may disagree but
I�m working on him). They became an overnight sensation with their single
�Bodies�. If that song didn�t grab you don�t worry it�s the other tracks
like �Sinner�, �Tear Away�, �Reminded� and �Sermon� that makes their debut
album one of the best releases of the year. I had one friend, Jack, who
hated �Bodies�, so I lent him my copy of �Sinner� so he could hear ALL
the songs before writing these guys off. Long story short, after hearing
the entire CD Jack refused to relinquish it and I was forced to buy another
copy. I didn�t mind because I hate seeing people write-off a band that
I�m enthused about based only on their impression of one song. One of the
guys from Wind-Up told me at Ozzfest that the success
of �Bodies� come as a surprise, they didn�t expect the single to catch
on like it did. They thought that the second single �Tear Away� would be
the hit song, thus proving you never really know what�s gonna happen in
rock-n-roll!
I am utterly dismayed that Systematic hasn�t
become big stars in their own right. Their debut �Somewhere in Between�
is easily one of the best metal debuts in recent years. These guys have
superstar potential written
all over them, if only their record label could put a little more muscle
behind promoting them. Granted they are signed to a vanity label (The Music
Company owned by Metallica�s Lars Ulrich) but Elektra who distributes the
label also handles promotion for their artists. Elektra might be wise to
steal a page from the Wind-Up playbook. The overnight success of Drowning
Pool can be partially attributed to the intense grassroots level promotion
Wind-Up put behind the band with a concerted effort to gain early coverage
for them in both large and small magazines and webzines. The results speak
for themselves.
Ok back to the show� Disturbed didn�t screw
around when putting this tour together, when they say music as a weapon
they mean it. They packed their army with some of the hottest up and coming
metal and nu-metal bands on the scene. The end result is a mind blowing
night of in your face music that started strong and never wavered as it
propelled you from song to song, band to band, banging your head like there
was no tomorrow surround by a sea of humanity caught up in the moment and
the outpouring of raw emotion that was coming from the stage.
Systematic
Those who were smart enough to get to the
Palladium early and wade through the multi-point security check (They
went as far as not letting people in with lighters and packs of cigarettes!
Yours truly among them. ) witnessed an incredible set by Systematic. The
band played an intense set of songs from their debut album to the half
filled auditorium. The crowd loved every minute of it. Vocalist Tim
Narducci makes his reputation with raw talent and a voice that matches
the range and dynamics of Chris Cornell; few modern metal signers can touch
him. Adam Ruppel doesn�t subscribe to the recent overblown use of drop
tuning. He focuses his guitar chops on straight ahead metal
musicianship, proving he knows what it means to be a lead guitar player
instead of a three power-chord junkie. Together they form one of
the most compelling music duos since Perry and Tyler.
Systematic caught the crowd off guard when
they closed their set by invited Drowning Pool�s Dave Williams onstage
to help sing the band�s current single �Beginning of the End�. Systematic
set the pace for the night and let those in attendance know that they were
in for a few hours of unadulterated heavy rock.
Systematic
Photo Gallery
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Stereomud
This was my first exposure to Stereomud
and I like the crowd was duly impressed. Vocalist Erik Rogers held sway
over the audience with his rambunctious stage
presence as guitarist John Fattoruso and the rest of the band crunched
out songs like their current single �Steppin Away� and �Pain�.
Stereomud was formed by former Stuck Mojo
bassist Corey Lowery (Brother of Sevendust's Clint Lowery) and drummer
Dan Richardson of Life of Agony and Pro-Pain
fame, so you know these guys can rock. It�s plainly obvious after seeing
them play together that with this group they�ve found a perfect chemistry
between the members as they create a viable new interpretation of metal,
breaking some of the unspoken rules of the game and getting away with it.
Stereomud
Photo Gallery
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Adema
After witnessing Adema live, I have an
entirely new perspective of the group. They take their album tracks to
a whole new level with a store of limitless energy and a world class stage
presence. This is not to say I didn�t like Adema�s debut album from
Arista, it�s just that the CD failed to distinguish itself from other recent
�nu-metal� releases in my opinion. But the band�s high energy, letter-perfect
performance of those songs live has caused me to take a second look at
the group and reevaluate my initial lackluster opinion of them.
Frontman Marky Chavez established an easy
rapport with the audience as he worked the entire stage. Some may write
him off as a copycat of his half-brother Jonathon David of Korn, but Chavez
clearly holds his own
on stage. A large moshpit formed in the middle of the auditorium before
the band finished their first song, so you could tell the fans were into
it. The duel guitar team of Mike Ransom and Tim Fluckey provided thundering
powerchords. While bassist Dave DeRoo and drummer Kris Kohls pounded out
the bottom end of songs like "Giving In" and "Blow It Away".
By the time the band left the stage, the temperature in the auditorium
reached a fevered level as sweat drenched fans literally packed the hall
to the rafters.
Adema
Photo Gallery
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Click here for
Part II including Drowning Pool, Disturbed, Contest info, related links
and Fan Speak
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