Twiztid and KMK fire up the ATL

Friday, May 4th, 2012
Twiztid, Kottonmouth Kings, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Big B
The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
$28

Ever since I made it to my first (and only, besides the Gathering) Twiztid show back in November of 2010, I've been longing to make it to another one of their shows. They were fantastic in a small venue, and while I really loved their Gathering performance as well, I was eager to see them in a more intimate setting again.

For a brief moment at the beginning of the year, I thought that Twiztid was going to be playing at a venue just outside of Nashville due to a cryptic Facebook status by the venue, but that apparently fell through. But later, when an Atlanta date was announced, I knew that it was time to make another trip to the ATL! And what's even better is that they were touring with the KOTTONMOUTH KINGS!!! During the Gathering, my pathological liar of an ex-boyfriend caused me to miss almost their entire set, despite them being one of the main acts that I wanted to see. So I was extra, super excited to get to see them as well!

On the day, I slept in and was on my way to Atlanta by about 10:30am. After checking into my hotel (the same one as last time, but wow, had it gone downhill), I got showered, got dressed and did my hair and makeup. I grabbed some McDonald's for dinner on the way out, and didn't get stopped by traffic until I was within about 3 blocks of the venue. On the way in, a guy merged in front of me, then someone in the back seat hung out the window and flashed a wicked clown sign at me...haha awesome!


TwiztEd

Once I made my way inside, the first thing I noticed was how the venue was already really full of people. And the second thing I noticed was that it was FREAKING HOT inside. Since there were so many people there, I staked out a spot on the left side of the stage, and was about 5 people back from the stage at that point. Before the lights even went out, everyone around me was complaining about how badly they were sweating!

Once the lights went out, the first performer was Big B. Oh my...



...why did no one ever tell me that Big B was exactly "my type"??



I'd heard some of his music but somehow had never seen a photo or video of him. Note to self - seek this out, cuz he's very nice to look at. Aside from all that, I thought his performance was great, and everyone showed him a lot of love.

I find it so very unfortunate that, amid all the excitement about seeing Twiztid and KMK, the fact that Blaze was performing tonight as well didn't get as much attention as it deserved! I LOVE Blaze, and I think his live performances are great!



When he came out, he did almost all of my favorites, including Riding the Whip, Escape Artist, Dub Sack and Damn Bitch (which got shortened to only one verse...MAN I wish the guys from KMK would have surprised us and came out to sing their verses!!).


Blaze up!






Once again, hundreds of sweaty Juggalos throw their arms in the air for Escape Artist

As always, his performance was awesome. Blaze is exceptional at making eye contact with people all throughout the crowd, and eventhough I was at least three people back from the stage, he still managed to pinpoint me and look me in the eyes a couple of times.

After Blaze, the crowd started to push forward and compact, and I ended up sandwiched behind a large, soft guy, and a girl about my size. And it was SO HOT...my hair was soaked, I was sweating through my clothes, and this girl in front of me in a tank top actually had sweat rolling all down her back and arms. Ewww haha. But at least no one had BO. Thank heavens for small blessings, huh? :-)



When it was finally time for KMK to perform, their entrance was grand and amazing! They came out full force and immediately the crowd was going insane with excitement. After a minute or so of being onstage, D-Loc took a face-first dive into the crowd right on top of me! So I ended up being one of the people to help push him back onstage! Their performance was non-stop energy and action, and the crowd never seemed to lose their excitement.



The KMK performance was truly amazing! They always stayed right up at the edge of the stage, and were constantly moving around so everyone got a good view of everything.





















The performance actually went on for so long that it seemed like its own headlining performance, and not one of someone opening for another act. At one point, the girl in front of me got kicked in the head VERY hard by a crowd surfer. So hard in fact that she looked like she was going to pass out, though she refused to leave her spot so she could sit down. And at a couple of points, the crowd was so rowdy that the entire floor of the venue was bouncing! That's just a little bit concerning seeing as how we were on the second floor!

After KMK had been on stage for over an hour, I was really starting to get wiped out from the heat, the excitement and the standing. At one point, one of the guys told the crowd to move to the right, then back to the left, and that was when it really started to hit me. I was feeling just a little too faint to continue standing there sandwiched between so many people in the sweltering heat. So I ended up retreating back to the bar area and getting a bottle of water.


I know that there's a little corner of heaven that looks just like this

KMK continued on for another three or four songs, which really amazed me. Those guys are beasts! They were going at full throttle for well over an hour and didn't even look winded! haha Their performance was fantastic, and it alone made the entire trip worth it. Once they were done, it was surprising to see how many people cleared out of the venue and didn't even stay for Twiztid. I watched maybe 150-200 people just stream out the door. At this point, I caught up with some homies from Nashville who I hadn't been able to spot before the show started. But we couldn't linger long because Twiztid was on their way to the stage.

My friends stayed back a little bit, but I wanted to head back toward the front and get as close as I could. I ended up to the left again, but was a good 20 or 25 feet back from the stage. I had a good view, but I didn't get the quality of pictures I would have liked since I was so far back (and because so many people continuously held their cameras in the air to record the show). Twiztid are such amazingly talented guys, so it was awesome to be seeing them again!



Much like last time, they seemed to concentrate on their older Mostasteless/Freek Show stuff, as well as stuff from W.I.C.K.E.D. I really wished that I had been able to stick it out with my close spot, but the benefit of being back further was that I had more room to move around and get into the music. Since I was more comfortable, at some point I just got lost in the music and the time seemed to fly by. When they were done, it seemed like the set had been really short, but I don't think it was. It was clearly shorter than the really long KMK set, but it was easily an average set length.









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Blaze came back out onstage during Triple Threat


OMG look at his face! I wish I remembered what Monoxide was doing to cause this reaction!

At the end of the set, just like last time, they hung around the stage and talked to the audience, which of course turned into improv comedy after a few moments! Madrox is freaking hilarious, and it was funny to watch Monoxide just sort of stand there and laugh at Madrox at times. He told some joke about a woman being so gross that her face smelled like a fish patty, and used the phrase "a bitch with tartar sauce in her mustache" which made the whole crowd laugh hysterically. I LOVE these guys. It just made me that much more excited to catch their seminar again at the Gathering this year!

Once the show was over and the venue started to clear out, I caught up with my Nashville homies again and we all walked out together. My hotel was just a quick drive away, though I did stop for a fruit punch on the way back since I still felt so dehydrated!

This show was a fantastic experience, and worth every penny I spent to get there. It was really like two shows in one...you had an amazing, full KMK show with Blaze as an opener...then almost as a bonus, you had an awesome Twiztid show afterward! Even with as much as I love Twiztid, I must say that KMK really owned this show. So eventhough I was upset when I missed their set at the Gathering, it was pretty awesome to have my first experience with them be in a smaller venue where I was so close.

Overall, the show was really amazing, and an experience that I hope to have again, sooner than later.

Meaningless violence, courtesy of GWAR!

Monday, April 23rd, 2012
GWAR, Kylesa, Ghoul, Legacy of Disorder
Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN
$24

It's been a LOOOOONG 2012 so far. Aside from one small show at the Rutledge in February (where I didn't take any photos), I hadn't made it to any major concerts or shows since Boondox last December. Needless to say, I was more than ready get back out there and head to a show that I've been anticipating for a while now...GWAR! I remember having friends in high school who went to a GWAR show and came back raving about how much fun they'd had. So when I noticed that there was a GWAR show booked for the new Marathon Music Works, I was super excited to go to the show and see the spectacle for myself! As well, I was interested in checking out this new-to-me venue.


Duly noted. Thank you.



I arrived shortly after the doors opened, and was just in time to see the first act, Legacy of Disorder, take the stage. I had moved up about three people away from the barricade on the far left side, but I quickly realized that even that far over was too close not to get tangled in the mosh pit. The crowd was instantly moshing, and I had to throw quite a few guys back into the pit when they came my way. I normally don't mind moshing, and I expect it at the majority of shows that I go to, but a couple of the guys really were taking it too far. One guy (who later ended up getting kicked out) was clotheslining people, putting people in choke holds and basically just being way too rough. Then later another guy went along the edge of the pit, in the first row of people who were NOT moshing, and started shoving each person violently. I'd just really never seen anything like that at a show. Normally the moshers keep to themselves and only bump into the non-moshers by accident, but this was certainly not the case with this crowd!



With my lesson learned, I retreated to about halfway back in the venue from the stage.

After Legacy of Disorder was done, Ghoul took the stage.





They used synthesized vocals throughout the performance, and performed with what looked like linen wrappings on their heads. They were very entertaining, even at one point growling that they'd only come to Nashville for the BK tender strips haha (this was said by the guitarist who was wearing a Burger King crown through the whole first song!).



Later in the set, they had a large robot looking character come out, followed by another type of character with a large spikey ball. The crowd continued with the high energy moshing throughout their entire set, and seemed very into the performance.

After another break, it was time for Kylesa.





From the get go, the crowd didn't seem as interested in Kylesa as they had been for Ghoul and Legacy of Disorder. There was almost no moshing, despite the music being similarly intense. They didn't wear any costumes, and didn't move around the stage or do much besides just stand there and play. I guess they served as the break that the moshers needed so they could be rested up for GWAR haha

Finally it was time for the main event, and the crowd was writhing with excitement. One by one, the members of GWAR took the stage, and I couldn't help but feel that the long years of waiting for this show had been worth it. I really couldn't understand a word that was being said (and the fact that I'm not familiar with most of their music didn't help), but it didn't matter. I was too consumed with the performance itself to worry about what was being said!



Through the show, they had numerous characters come out onstage, each of which met its demise and spewed blood, puke, diarrhea and other such body fluids all over the crowd.



At one point, a big pregnant Snooki monster came out on stage, and was promptly eviscerated, with blood spraying all over the crowd and the fetus dangling from its umbilical cord.



There was a skeleton deer/goat looking character that had its head cut off and sprayed blood.



Then there was some other kind of thing with a big mouth and sharp teeth...and man, it really made me wish that I was more well versed in GWAR and what each of the characters meant!


Crazy moshing as the band performs









The performance went on for well more than an hour including the encore, and never let up in the amount of entertainment they were providing. As the finale, Oderus Urungus (the lead singer/monster guy) had something in his hand that was spraying a forceful stream of "blood" into the crowd. Everyone within about 20 feet of the stage was getting completely soaked, and eventhough I was further back, I ended up with a couple of good splashes of blood myself!



At one point, he aimed the stream of blood directly at one of the overhead lights, which made it rain down in a sparkly shower of red liquid.

At the end of the show, as the crowd started to slowly disperse, it seemed like everyone was completely soaked in the red blood the band had sprayed. It was only then that I realized why everyone was wearing white. I had noticed during the openers that an abnormally large percent of the crowd was wearing solid white shirts. But once the show was done, all of those people looked like they'd been massacred and were covered in blood! Awesome! As the venue emptied out, everyone looked like they'd had a blast, and there were plenty of smiles all around.

In general, very heavy metal isn't the genre I'm naturally drawn to. But over the years, I've grown to really appreciate the kind of music and performances that bands like GWAR produce. It's exceptionally obvious that they put their hearts and souls into everything they do, and are as fiercely loyal to their fans as their fans are to them. Granted, I did find quite a few similarities that I can draw between GWAR and ICP...both have over the top, theatrical live performances, both spray their audiences with various fluids, and both have devoted fan bases. The vibe was very similar, and I feel much closer to understanding GWAR's appeal now than ever before.

As for the venue itself, I was very impressed. It's just one big room with a relatively high ceiling, totally flat floors and convenient bars and bathrooms. Nashville really needed a venue this size, so we can accommodate acts that are too popular for a place like the Exit/In, but are not popular enough to fill the entire Bridgestone arena (acts like Twiztid or Tech N9ne, for example, would fit perfectly into this venue). It will be very fun to watch this venue in the future to see what kind of acts will play there.

So yeah...overall I had a fantastic time at this show! At the end of the day, all I can really ask out of a live performance is that I be entertained. And GWAR was definitely entertaining. I can't wait to see them again, but trust, next time I will be wearing white :-)