Gorilla Biscuits, Throwdown & More

"Pretending that you care about our scene/ Just because our money's green"

That line kept reverberating through my head as I watched Gorilla Biscuits tear through "New Direction" at the Glasshouse in Pomona, California last weekend.

There were people in the room -- one in particular -- to whom that applied in spades. But I refused to let it ruin my good time. When I heard that GB was plotting a reunion tour, I was skeptical. The countless Youth Of Today comebacks never excited me. I skipped a chance to see 108, who were important to me at one time.

But, man, am I happy that I checked out the Biscuits. Not only were their musical chops even better than back in the day (or so I would imagine; while I ordered "Start Today" from Revelation Records when it came out, I missed their sole US tour in support of it) but they genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves onstage. And I know I had a great time. And so did Sean Vegan Reich, who came with me.

I resisted the urge to yell out Quicksand songtitles although it would have been oddly appropriate.

In 1995 I saw Quicksand support Helmet at City Lights in Indianapolis. I was one of the handful of hardcore kids yelling for GB songs, which pisssed Walter off to no end at the time. I ended up on his bus and interviewing him for my 'zine. I asked a bunch of silly questions about the dangers of corporate rock. He was certainly defensive ("I care more about paying my electric bill than like, South Africa") but cordial. And he showed me the video for "Can't Wait One Minute More" and told me all about Civ, who were about to unleash their debut on Atlantic Records.

A few years later I saw CIV open for No Doubt at Deer Creek Ampitheatre (now one of many "Verizon Wirelss" ampitheatres) and I wore my YOT shirt. I think Sammy noticed.

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A couple of nights before, Throwdown kicked off the "Pure Hostility" tour in San Diego, with Zao in tow. Sinai Beach opened. They were good. Zao demolished. You have to see them close with "A Last Time For Everything," it is astonishing.

Throwdown was joined on stage by Tim from As I Lay Dying for "Unite." Crushing. You'll be able to see Dave Peters doing a guest appearance of his own if you pick up "The Triptych Special Edition" on October 31. He joins Demon Hunter in the concert portion of the DVD for the song "Fire To My Soul." Also crushing.

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Tomorrow, my friend Sean (not Vegan Reich) and I are heading up to Beverly Hills to check out MySpace. Should be a blast.

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In the small world dept: my friend Samah, who I met when he attending film school in Chicago in 1998 or 1999, now works for MTV News in Santa Monica! Same office, same deptartment, many of the same people that I worked with two years ago. He recently edited a piece on the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. You can check it out on MTV's broadband channel, MTV Overdrive.

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Playlist for the last few days:

2Pac
A Life Once Lost
A Perfect Circle
a-Ha
AFI
The A.K.A.s (Are Everywhere)

Demon Hunter, Hatebreed, Iraq & Funny Videos

Demon Hunter rules.

Several hours this week have been consumed by my tireless editing of the full-length Demon Hunter DVD, which will be included with this Halloween's Special Edition re-release of "The Triptych" (which will also boast four bonus tracks!).

The live show, which my friend Brundy is working on, is killer. I have been working on the "Undying" tour documentary and a new edit of the "Making Of" documentary that was exclusively available to customers who pre-ordered the album on Tower.com last year when it was originally released.

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In other news, there is an excellent article in this week's Rolling Stone (with Christina Aguilera on the cover) about the music that the troops in Iraq are listening to in order to get them through. The top 10 songs included Linkin Park, Tupac, DMX, System Of A Down -- and Hatebreed! I reached out to Jamey Jasta right away to let him know. He was stoked and so is the team at Roadrunner behind their new record.

I have been working on setting up some shows through the USO for two of my bands -- Demon Hunter and Throwdown -- to play for the troops. Hatebreed is potentially interested in the same thing and it would be killer to link all of them up! We'll see.

Regardless of your feelings about the war (I was *personally* against it from the outset, and I covered the anti-war protests in Los Angeles the day the war started for MTV News, with a piece that included footage of my cameraman being beaten by police batons), the majority of the troops who are over there putting their lives on the line -- many of them low-income Americans and some "illegal" immigrants who have families to provide for -- deserve nothing but our utmost respect and support.

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Speaking of the war, you've got to check out this hip-hop video from a British MC lampooning the post-9/11 terror state: http://www.myspace.com/rizmc

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Darth Vader calls the Emperor to tell him a random band of teenagers blew up his Death Star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYUw1rdJWh4

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Darth Vader just generally being a jerk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tao_mvcL-vA&NR

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And finally, the gay robot: http://www.myspace.com/gayrobot

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I have been listening -- a lot -- to a band called The Gates Of Slumber. It is doom/ sludge in the vein of St. Vitus and it is highly radical. My close friend Jason McCash, who played bass in my old band Burn It Down, is in the group. Their new album, "Suffer No Guilt," is over 70 minutes of pure excellence. http://www.myspace.com/thegatesofslumber

Korn In The Backyard

Korn In The Backyard
07/22/2006

Eleven years ago when I picked up their first cassette, I certainly would have been surprised if you had told me I'd be standing in a backyard with 30 people watching Korn play an acoustic set in Orange County today.

KROQ had a contest where the prize was Korn playing in your backyard. The band's label and management decided to film it and needed an interview to coincide. So I sat with the guys and talked about Download UK, Metallica, Dead Or Alive, Duran Duran, Adam & The Ants, Riverside, Bakersfield, OC, their club days, their first stickers, being their own street team, the first time they sold out a club in Huntington Beach, the first time they sold out The Whiskey in LA, Jonathan's days doing speed...

All four of them are incredibly down to Earth and cool (when I was at MTV, I met Jonathan at his home studio once before, as well), especially Fieldy, who I spoke with for a long time after their set.

And oh yeah -- their set! Amazing. Acoustic, with an extra guitarist, extra percussionist, keyboard/ piano player and back-up singer. Stripped down, their songs are sorta even better, even "Clown" and "Blind." They originally planned to play five songs, but they had so much fun they did a lot more, including a brief "jam."

"Got The Life," "Twisted Transistor," "Coming Undone" and a few I'm forgetting...

A great day in OC.

*You can also check out my blog at www.zambooie.com