[118] Naam, Gates of Slumber, Orange Goblin (2011)

I didn't get a whole hell of a lot of sleep due to a frustrating number of distractions and interruptions. I thought I might need to opt out of the show. But these stoner metal nights are my kind of thing, and I have been getting a bit of cabin fever lately. Plus, when the hell would I see Orange Goblin again? They're from the UK and haven't been here in years.

Well, Dante's didn't lie for once and say they were going to start at 9 and really start at 10. Naam got started at 9:15 according to the front board, and I walked in about 9:35. Already there was a decent crowd.

Oh well to the lost minutes; I don't really care for Naam. The 2-3 full songs I got were more than enough for my palette. Thing is, I kind of missed them after they left the stage. I find them a bit too slow and drugged out for my overall needs, but they were a hell of a lot more interesting (and better sounding) than Gates of Slumber. If nothing else, Naam's drummer was pretty cool, kind of reminding me of Witch Mountain for a brief "that doesn't make any fucking sense" second.

Gates' drummer looked drunk and/or stoned from where I was and had a very slow playing style to match it. The rest of the band did not make up for the lack of interesting happening there. Instead of sounding like a Saint Vitus rip-off like they do with their latest album, which might have worked in the right setting, they just sounded like mediocre hash-doom. I have more than enough tolerance for boring doom bands live, but yeah. Maybe it was Dante's fault. Still, I should have left, taken a walk down crackhead alley and cooled off or something. Anyway, they were spot-on with their name.

It was the usual disgusting temperature in the venue that it is this time of year and apparently I found the warmest spot in the room when Orange Goblin started. Further, it was more confirmation that I hate Dante's sound. The first song sounded empty and wrong - you'd think "The Ballad of Solomon Eagle" carried more power than it actually did. Things improved but that place still has limits. After a couple of songs I moved and that helped with both issues. Still, I was feeling worn out from the heat, and I think it affected my perspective of their part of the show a bit.

I gotta say it's really surreal to see a band live for the first time after years of knowing them. I looked: I heard Orange Goblin for the first time in 2006. I thought that they were that band I had been recommended because I liked Monster Magnet (which actually turned out to be Electric Wizard, not OG). I checked out their discography to that date and gave them a proper listen because a friend of Monster Magnet is a friend of mine - unless they try to get into an argument with me about my awareness of "Nod Scene" when I ask why that's their favorite song of all amazing Monster Magnet songs - in which case, go fuck yourself, hippie.

Anyway, it's been a while. Maybe too long. Maybe I would have appreciated this experience more a few years ago when I was listening to them more and liking stoner metal with a lot more blatant enthusiasm. But given that, it's so nice to know a decent band like they can make an overseas tour possible. I didn't imagine I'd see them live at any point, and I'm glad I got the opportunity.

I went in with no real expectations and was surprised at a rare interesting "noodler" guitarist happening in their band, how fucking tall Ben is over his bandmates as well as his magnetic stage presence (how does it work?), and that I didn't tune out on the songs that I didn't know/love so well.

I kind of thought the crowd would be dickish or aggressive, but they weren't too bad either. It was one of those shows where I only recognized a few folks, which is nice to see from a business standpoint, but apparel choices told me that I was right at home. High on Fire a-plenty, Venom, Slayer, Red Fang, Hawkwind, Weedeater... I had earlier read an interview of David D'Andrea, and the HOF shirt design he discusses in the interview was someone's jean jacket backpatch at the show. If I believed in fatalistic things, I would have gotten the feeling that I was "supposed" to be there.

So, like, I got a setlist because my boss is the most awesomest boss ever. This is what it says. I crossed out where I know it lies.

Ballad of Solomon Eagle
Vagrant Stomp
Shine
Cities of Frost
Magic Carpet
Cozmo Bozo
Hard Luck
Round Up The Horses
They Come Back
Blue Snow
Aquatic Fanatic
Some You Win, Some You Lose
-----
Time Travelling Blues
Quincy The Pigboy
Scorpionica

They also did "Your World Will Hate This" somewhere in the middle. (None of you jerks requested this for me, right?) I also heard little pieces of classic songs, shit I recognized but couldn't title offhand and they were too short to recount by lyrics so I forget what where. For the few mini-covers, though, some guy finally yelled about how "Some You Win" had a riff in it that was ripped off from some other band I couldn't hear him say. It did?

For me, the highlight was "Blue Snow". That's been a favorite of mine since I first heard the band, so I'm glad they played it after all. The whole set was better than I could have expected. The only song missing that I would have wanted to hear was "Solarisphere". But hey, next time. I very much hope there will be a next time.

Good show! Thanks for coming to Amtrakia, O.G.