Hey Inchoates,

The Grimp has seen quite a few shows over the last few months, including Heaven and Hell at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord on September 30.  I had also caught Ronnie James Dio and company earlier
this year with Machine Head and Megadeth, while the oRcs were in the studio cutting the "WarChiefs" EP, and I don't think I had a spare moment to review that show as studio chaos and disorder and the
warding off of vengeful gremlins and spirits occupied most of my infernal mind at the time.  But the impressions that I remember from that show waaaaayyyyy back in May are this:

Machine Head rocked BUT....because their songs are long and their time was short, I didn't quite get my fill and was left very unsatisfied and wanting more, which luckily I got at the Catalyst on September 5th(see Review HERE).  Megadeth played tight and sounded really good, but didn't energize my hellish soul.  However, the Dio-fronted Sabbath blew my mind and I loved both the stage set and the killer montage and light show that went along with it.  Tony Iommi, being the god-father of metal guitar has one of the most killer guitar tones I've yet to
hear in this mortal dimension, and I still need to remember to look up for Gronk! what effect Geezer was using on Sign of the Souther Cross, as it sounded wicked sensational!  Jed told me, but I usually don't listen to Jed since he's a prisoner in the oRc ToweR Dungeon and all.  Maybe, I should pay a little better attention to him....

I also went to see some Irish drinking bands this summer, and finally settled the question of the battle between THE two bands of that genre: Floggin Molly vs. the Pogues!  You can catch Hellion's Review of Flogging Molly HERE.  As for the Pogues.  Well, I suggest going to see them...I mean...Shane McGowen if you want to witness for yourself
how the persistant, consistant embalming of one's brain and body with alcohol and other nefarious fare can Zombify a berk more thoroughly than Hulg swinging an axe into Filth's amp and electrocuting himself.

It's quite instructional!

The second Heaven and Hell show (Sept 30) featured Queensryche, who can always
be counted on to play perfectly and sound as good as their studio recordings (and others' recordings as evidenced by their cover of Pink Floyd's "The Machine") and Alice Cooper.  Good ol' Alice really stole the show for me.  The original theatrical shock-rocker really showed the world how you put on a stage show and sucked us all into his nightmare with great visuals seemlessly integrated into an expertly played set.  The highlight of the night for
me is when the drummer did a kick ass solo and finished up a tribal beat-down drum session assisted by two berks that came from back-stage with what appeared to be some Taiko drum clubs (similar to what Oog uses in battle) in their hands to help bring it on home.  And as for the rest of the band, they seemed hand-picked from GIT & MIT judging from their technique, and had BOTH excellent Chops and charismatic stage presence.  And was that Alice Cooper's daughter doing ballet up there?  I thought that's what I heard him say, but couldn't be sure.  Finally, Heaven and Hell put on a good performance once more, but I think Ronnie James sounded
a little tired from all the touring and could have used a break.

Now, on to Ozzy and Rob Zombie at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 18.  First off, an exalted minion of ours managed to score us some sweet seets in a loge just left of the stage, which couldn't have been more than 30
feet from us.  And for a short Gremlin-Imp that gets tired of pumping his wings to hover, these seats were perfect!  Even I could see the stage and the sweat on Zack Wylde's brow, while standing in my chair.  The L.A. Band, newly-signed, In This Moment got the night started with a short set of about 25 minutes.  They sounded good, just like at Ozzfest for which I believe I nominated them a Grimpy, but nothing to get me jumping up and down about.  I expect that as they get more experience that might change.  My favorite thing that they've ever done is a cover of Slayer's "Postmortem" that they used to have on their myspace page.  I don't know if they recorded it for the new album or not as I have not felt compelled to check it out, but I keep hoping every time I see them that they'll play it, because it was pretty killer!  Alas, they did not, and I got lost in infernal musings.

Next up was Mr. Rob Zombie.  Wow!  What an entertainer, he opened with a blistering rendition of "American Witch" off the new album and went on to throw scorcher after scorcher at the crowd.  The stage props were cool,
especially the dancing girls  and the B- movie Hororor- and Science Fiction- montages.  The drummer sat up on a very high demon-head riser and there was plenty of fire, fire, fire which we could feel from our seats every time the torches went off.  So, you see, I meant scorcher quite literally and it made me think of home!  I don't know what happened between Marylin Manson and John-5, but did Rob Zombie sure score himself an excellent player and performer.

The highlight of Rob Zombie's performance for me came when he decided that he needed to see for himself if the audience came to have a good time and stepped off the stage during "More Human than Human" to join
the plebes in the audience.  The crowd was mellow and did not do anything to harm mister Zombie and I thought that might be due to the fact that Zombies tend to be a little fragile (like our Hulg whose arm keeps falling off when he tries to play guitar).  I thought, maybe, they just don't want him falling apart.  But I got to test that theory
myself when mr. Zombie actually jumped up into our loge and we stood face-to-face, less than 3 feet apart.  I reached out a claw to touch him...and to my shock and surprise--he's human!  Thoroughly human and ALIVE at that.  There's nothing Zombie about him, but then, ah well...what did I expect?--that a REAL Zombie could actually be as intelligent as the actor-musician-director Rob Zombie?  Anyway, I didn't let the fact that he's not a real zombie detract from my fun; his band's was the best performance of the night.

And then came the Ozz.  All hail Ozzy, but he was starting to get a little cold and even cancelled the San Diego show after the Oakland date.  Ah, frail humanity, maybe Ozzy should consider actually just making the transition and becoming a Lich so that he can ROCK forever.  He could use one of Zack's guitars as a phylactery and you KNOW that the warrior Zack would keep it safe from harm.  I can hook the Ozzman up with a couple ancient sorcerers that would be happy to help him make the transition.....

Overall, the Ozz, Zack Wylde, Blasko and crew turned in a good performance, but it wasn't the best I've ever seen the god-father of metal in your puny human realm deliver.  I keep hoping that he'll just do it.  Just do
it, Ozzy!  Become a lich so the multiverse can continue to Rock out to your live shows!  Or, if you did DO IT, I guess we would have to refer to your shows as Unlive!

That's all for now, inchoates.  I actually saw GWAR and 3 Inches of Blood last night, but must away and teleport the oRcs to the homeworld to celebrate oRcs-Taking Day.  Stay tuned next month for my review of the band that sang, "Destroy the oRcs." 

Until the Domination, oRc on!!!!  Yours unruly, the Grimp