Yes, another concert entry, immediately after the THC one
posted last week. It’s not my practice
to blog about literally every show I go to, unless I feel something special is
worth noting, as I do here. I have no
prior blog on Fu Manchu in particular.
By the way – about the
Sword show two days before at the Baltimore Soundstage. This a band who are fairly competent and
astute on streaming/MP3/CD/vinyl/8 track whatever, but their stage presence is
borderline catatonic. Lead singer John
Cronise simply stands there and sings and plays his Firebird I, and the other
band members likewise do little but play their instruments. I would advise against seeing this band live. By now I’ve seen them several times and they
tend to put me to sleep. The highlight of
this show was running into a friend and suitemate I hadn’t seen since college
at UMCP (1886-1890).
Two days later I caught Mos Generator (opening) and Fu
Manchu (headliner). MG are from
Seattle and remarked that this is their first concert appearance in DC. They’re a three piece, Tony Reed being the
singer/guitarist. He was wearing a
Trapeze (Glenn Hughes) shirt, and had tattoos of Iron Maiden, Ace Frehley,
Black Sabbath’s first album cover, and the King Crimson Court Face. The remarkable thing about this is that I had
an MG album, The Late Great Planet Earth, which I hadn’t listened to for
some time. I listened to it again with
the show coming up and apparently had forgotten how good the band were. They have a new album, Shadowlands,
due out next week, from which they played a few songs. The latest release is Abyssinia, also
high quality. This band approaches, if
not exceeds, the quality of Fu Manchu.
The show was at the R’n’R Hotel on H Street in northeast
DC. It’s a small club with a rectangular
standing-room only floor area, though upstairs (out of line of sight of the
band) there are seats, a bar, and the concessions area. I’m getting older (aren’t we all?) and
standing for long periods of time is getting more tedious and less tolerable
than it used to be. Getting up close to
the band is more apt to make the standing a bit easier.
Normally I write off the opening act as a band easily
forgotten. Not so here. MG were high octane, heavy duty, and I
actually liked them more than Fu Manchu.
By all means Czech them out.
FU MANCHU came on and were as happy and energetic as
always. Frontman/rhythm guitarist Scott
Hill, the only constant member, thanked us all for coming out on a
weeknight. Lead guitarist Bob Balch and
bassist Brad Davis were solid – I was on Davis’ side of the stage. The drummer is Scott Reeder, NOT the
left-handed bassist Scott Reeder. Scott
Hill is the only original member, but by now Balch and Davis have been with the
band since the mid-90s, i.e. close to the beginning. They know the material and appear to enjoy playing
it.
Discography:
(full studio albums): No One Rides For Free (1994), Daredevil
(1995), In Search Of… (1996), The Action Is Go (1997), Eatin’
Dust (1999), King of the Road (2000) (my favorite), California
Crossing (2001), Start The Machine (2004), We Must Obey
(2007), Signs of Infinite Power (2009), Gigantoid (2014), and
newest release Clone of the Universe, featuring Alex Lifeson of Rush on
extended jam instrumental “Il Mostro Atomico” – the set closer though
unfortunately Mr. Lifeson is apparently not participating in live performances
of this song, notwithstanding his own band’s permanent retirement from touring. Maybe he has Trailer Park Boys engagements to
hono(u)r.
I got into the band thanks to a former friend whose name
rhymes with Ren, back around 2001. Prior
shows I had the pleasure to attend were:
DC, February & September 2002 (California Crossing tour);
Baltimore, October 2004 (Start The Machine tour); Jaxx in Virginia,
March 2007 (We Must Obey tour); DC, September 2010 (Signs of Infinite
Power tour); DC, May 2014 (Gigantoid tour), and this most recent
show.
Incidentally, very early on, 75% of Fu Manchu was Eddie
Glass, Mark Abshire, and Ruben Romano – they left to form Nebula, who sound remarkably similar to Fu Manchu. I managed to see that band in June 2001
(Mercury Lounge with Ren), in DC in March 2006, and DC again in August
2008. After a lengthy hiatus it looks
like Eddie has resurrected Nebula and is playing some shows in California. Romano currently has a band called the Freeks. Not only that, stoner god Brant Bjork was on several albums too.
I would say that FM are a bit more energetic onstage and
clearly enjoy performing, particularly for crowds as appreciative as the RNR
Hotel audience, including myself, were that night. The
other redeeming factor is that the band has a GROOVE, you know what I’m
saying? I found myself moving my head up
and down rapidly, which has been an inclination absent as I’ve grown older and
probably a bit more jaded about bands. I
was happy to regain that sensation yet again.
Setlist:
Eatin’ Dust; Clone of the Universe; California Crossing; Weird Beard; Evil Eye;
(I’ve Been) Hexed; Hell on Wheels; Mongoose; Dimension Shifter; Laserblast!;
Nowhere Left To Hide; King of the Road (!!!), Il Mostro Atomico; encore:
Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult cover). By
now I’m zone out on “Godzilla”, even when BOC play it – which they do. Consistently.
And they tour. Consistently. Anyhow.
Opening Acts. As
noted, usually they’re bands we don’t care about and don’t even bother to show
up early enough to catch them. However,
for the following shows, we considered the opening act of equal importance to
the headliner: Accept (Dokken); Triumph
(Yngwie Malmsteen); Clash of the Titans:
Anthrax, Megadeth & Slayer (Alice in Chains, back when Layne Staley
was still in the band); Van Halen (Alice in Chains) (same deal, a year later);
Kyuss Lives! (The Sword); Clutch (Orange Goblin); Corrosion of Conformity
(Brant Bjork); and last night’s show.
On rare occasions we considered the opening act MORE important than the
headliner: Def Leppard (Tesla), Billy Squier (King’s X); Audiovent (Fu Manchu); Foreigner (Don Felder). Of these, we stayed to watch Def Leppard and
Foreigner.
So it was a great night:
The Fu brought it, as they so often do, but the opening act was also top
quality, not just a waste of time before the headliner. For their sake, I hope Mos Generator reaches
the level of becoming a headliner.
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