So
last week I get a message from Ripple boss Racer asking me if I want to
go see Weed Is Weed at the Saint Vitus club here in Brooklyn on
Saturday night. But, of course! I always like to check out the other
Ripple label bands and Saint Vitus is a great venue. A couple days later
it dawns on me to find out who else is on the bill. Turns out the night
is being headlined by Manilla Road, a metal band so obscure I've known
the name for decades but had never actually heard their music. I remember Bob
Muldowney always gave them great reviews in KICK*ASS but I could never
find the albums anywhere. Rather than listen to anything that's been
uploaded to youtube I decided to trust Bob's wisdom and check 'em out
stone cold.
To
make the night even better, my buddy Jay from the UK happened to be in
town and rode shotgun with me to the gig. Jay used to write for Sounds
in the early 80's and has seen a few decent shows - Thin Lizzy, Status
Quo, UFO and Motorhead all at their peak. You know that famous show at
Castle Donnington in 1980 with Rainbow, Judas Priest, Saxon, etc? He was
there. Reading in 82 with Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister, Blackfoot,
Budgie, Gary Moore, etc as well. (Budgie was the best of that fest, he
says).
So
we listen to Deep Purple on the ride there and walk into the club just
as Polygamist is finishing up their set. The song or two I heard was
pretty cool. Very Pentagram influenced with Halford style vocals. Weed
Is Weed was up next. I had no idea they had a triple axe attack. 2 Les
Pauls and an SG! The opening song was "Weed Is Weed" and they let
everyone know that they're heavily into weed. Heavy Sabbath style
riffing with a tighter than shit rhythm section. They played a bunch of
songs from their brand new debut album like "Big Green Patch," "One Hit
Wonder" and the title track "Blunt Force Trauma." They did a great song
about stealing people's lighters that's not on the album. There was a
great tune they played towards the end of their set that had a killer
Zeppelin groove to it (didn't catch the title). They finished their set
up with a dedication to Jeff Hanneman called "Raining Bud." For years
people have criticized my dopecentric lyrics in Mighty High and it made
me smile to hear others doing something equally juvenile.
Last
up was Manilla Road. For such an obscure band out of Kansans the place
was packed for them. Bob Muldowney had always praised the guitar work of
Mark 'the Shark' Shelton and, as usual, Bob did not steer me wrong.
Mark is a serious player and the band was outstanding. I could recognize
elements of 70's Judas Priest and Scorpions but Manilla Road has a very
unique sound and style. Progressive but not too wanky and heavy as
hell. Their album Crystal Logic is highly regarded and the songs they
played from it were fantastic. The newer material they played was also
great. Best of all was watching how much fun the band was having on
stage and the rabid reaction of the crowd. Most of them were a lot
younger than Jay and me and they were doing some serious headbanging.
Always a great sight and it was a great night.
- Woody
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