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LIVE
IN CONCERT! |
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"Family
Values Tour"
Featuring
KORN
RAMMSTEIN
ICE
CUBE |
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Reviewed By
"Bushman"
Great Western Forum
Los Angeles, CA
10/9/98 |
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(Note: Through circumstances set in motion
by the gods of bad karma - my personal chosen deity - I was not
able to arrive in L. A. in time to see the first two bands, "Orgy"
and "Limp Bizkit." "Orgy" is the first band
to be signed to "Korn's" newly founded Elementree label
(although feedback on these guys has been mixed so far). "Limp
Bizkit" is metal hip-hop/funked out rap-core and usually
all out live, so my guess is they were cool. My gods were in
full form tonight and they apparently needed my press pass more
than I did so I didn't get any pictures either. Let's pretend
the first two bands were cool and we join our regularly scheduled
review already in progress. . .) |
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Ice
Cube |
"Ice Cube" was representing his
roots tonight (the LA Forum is in Inglewood, which for you LA
challenged, borders Compton and Watts areas in the infamous South
Central LA). But for all the rap/metal hybrids that have bred
over the past decade, a pure rap artist seems out of place in
front of a bunch of metal-kids. The crowd was respectful, and
even responded heartily to the "rallying" (put your
hands in there air, y'all!!!) that all live rap songs start with,
but one had the feeling everyone was anticipating something else.The
sound was good, bass was boomin' and "Ice Cube" was
delivering the flow with all the attitude and props to the Westsiiiiiide
that would be expected by this graduate of the gangsta rap school.
I just don't think a lot of the crowd cared.
Then there was the "episode" where Ice Cube apparently
stormed off the stage, and the crowd was coaxed into a "Fuck
You Ice Cube" rant by one of his posse (I believe rapper
Mack10 was Cube's right hand man on this tour). Spontaneous this
was not. There were sporadic pockets of enthusiasm, but it started
to wear thin towards the end of the set. After a ten minute "Let's
see which side is the loudest" contest (yawn), Cube broke
into "one y'all might 'member" and laid-out the first
half of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton."
They broke it down and kicked into that "Fuck the Police"
song. Nothing rallies a crowd better than a unison chant of "Fuck
the Police." "Ice Cube" paid some kind words to
the fellows in "Korn," having everyone shout out to
them backstage, and then jammed on "Wicked" (which
"Korn" covered on their second album "Life is
Peachy"). Rap is best enjoyed when the recognition factor
is high (since it's such a lyrically based medium), and the whole
crowd pretty much knew "Wicked," so "Ice Cube"
left the stage on a positive vibe. |
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Rammstein |
After a quick set change, Germany's "Rammstein"
were next. The spotlight found the keyboardist, which was soon
followed by the repeated guttural groan of "Rammstein."
The singer appeared midstage, with arms outstretched in a large
silver trenchcoat, which soon had flames dancing from the back
and his arms. He continued to burn like that for well into a
couple of minutes all while chanting "Rammstein," then
broke into the movement of the song. Visually, "Rammstein"
are the German version of "Kiss" minus the makeup.
The set featured, among other pyrotechnic shenanigans, boots
that shot a 20 ft. stream of sparks, drum sticks that did the
same, flamethrowers, a bow and arrow scenario that launched 3
red flaming "arrows" over the crowd, and the bow itself
spewed sparks along the shape of the bow, various flame pots,
flash explosions and flaming musical equipment. Most every song
had some sort of theatrics, and y'know...fire is cool. It's been
done, it's cliché and it will still illicit wild screams
of approval at any concert (it even works at Garth Brooks concerts).
"Rammstein's" music is very dramatic so the theatrics
blended nicely. The vocalist for "Rammstein" sings
in German, so lyrics are not so much an impact as much as his
pronunciation of them. He has a militant bark and baritone falsetto
that gives the impression that these are old German anthems of
war and government, of dissension and pride, tragedy and sorrow
(they could in reality be about Frosted Flakes for all I know,
but that's the impression I get). The sounds were very dynamic,
structured intelligently and performed with bitter accuracy.
There was a scenario in which the singer simulated sex with the
girl(?) keyboardist on all fours, center stage (to my knowledge,
the keyboardist is named Flake - pronounced Flak-eh, and is a
skinny guy - but from where I was sitting, moved and looked like
a girl - whatever). I saw him whip out what looked like his penis
which he was "stroking" with some vigor to the tempo
of the song before it spewed a 20 ft. continuous stream of "semen"
all over the girl/guy, various members of the band and emptied
for few minutes onto the audience. Funny. But I prefer some big
explosions thank you. (Bring back that bow and arrow thing!)
Not being real familiar with "Rammstein's" music (I've
heard that "Du Hast" song on the radio - one word for
you folks: KMFDM), I was impressed by the amount of energy and
theater they displayed. Plus their music was very audible and
accessible for a first time listener. I think I would see them
again (even just too see that bow and arrow thing one more time). |
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Korn |
Headliners and masterminds behind this tour,
"Korn," made the audience wait almost a half-hour,
and teased the crowd by walking up to the curtain so you could
see their silhouettes with their instruments (at least one assumed
it was them by how the crowd screamed - it was probably a smart-ass
sound guy). No intro, and BOOM they hit the stage in mid-air.
"Korn" has a way of releasing, both musically and physically
in the live environment, with small explosions of sound and attitude
that define them as artists and performers. The "Korn"
crowd fed well off this energy and followed the bands lead all
night. If the song was slower and moody, the crowd rocked and
swayed likewise until the heavy intense break that almost every
"Korn" song has a couple of. I was expecting a swirling,
out of control pit, but things were upbeat and friendly.
Singer Jonathan Davis was not too talkative tonight. "Korn"
mostly just leapt form one song to the other, sampling evenly
from all three of their releases. Behind the band was a two story
high "jail" that took up the whole stage, filled with
dozens of people ("Korn" friends?) that gave a very
kinetic backdrop to the show. They even tackled "Twist"
for their second song (y'know, the one where singer Jonathan
Davis' lyrics consist primarily of him jabbering gibberish over
a sludgy metal riff until he sweetly whispers the chorus of "Twist").
The crowd went nutz for favs like "Ball-Tongue" and
the MTV'd "Blind," and the new single "Got the
Life" sounded fresh. Davis even brought out the bagpipes
for the intro to "Shoots and Ladders."
The encore was marked by the stage slowly rotating around to
reveal a motley collection of various "Family Values Tour"
band members, with "Limp Bizkit" frontman Fred Durst
sharing vocal leads with "Korn's" Davis on "All
in the Family" from "Korn's" newest release. Sociable.
"Korn" held their crown as the first of the "new
metal" bands to elevate the genre back into respectability.
There was a time not too long ago where "metal" was
a bad word. Thanks to bands like "Korn," and sets like
these, they can wear that tag on their sleeves and wipe their
collective noses proudly. |
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