Monday, January 17, 2011

Old Review

(found this really really old review I did)


4/12/04 Mushroom/Soil/Dope/Twisted Method
Sponsored by 94.1 WJJO
4-12-04  The Annex - Madison, WI

Reviewed By Stacy D.

Mushroomhead, Soil, Dope & Twisted Method


The show started roughly around 7:30 p.m. Three JJO announcers tried to come onstage and announce the opening band, but the microphones weren’t turned on for them. They just stood there, waiting for acknowledgement. After a minute, with no success, they gave up and walked of stage. Honestly, they could have just shouted, The Annex really isn’t a very big place.
Ten minutes later Twisted Method went on stage. I didn’t quite know what to expect with the band. It was the first time I have ever heard of them. However, the rest of the crowd was apparently one step ahead of me. There were quite a number of people singing and shouting along with the music. Overall, I was unimpressed with the mixing of the set.  The guitar was set so low I could barely hear it. This also made it tougher for me to get into the music. In addition, their set they played reminded me of being on a roller coaster, one minute fast and one minute slow. There were no smooth transitions throughout the set.
Derrick Tribbett (Tripp), the lead singer, did quite well with the crowd though. During the second song, titled "Panic", he got a majority of the crowd to put their fists in the air. The crowd interaction continued during "Fled", when Tripp got the crowd to chant along with him. He screamed,  "Whenever I say ‘Where the F**k ya all at’ you answer ‘right here right now!’" The masses seemed happy to oblige.
The most disappointing thing for me was what Tripp said when he tried to announce their last song, "This is our last song. It goes out especially for the ladies. Why? Cause I hate your f*cking guts!" The comment struck me as incredibly rude and I'm sure it served to alienate some of the other women in the audience as well.


Next on stage was Dope. The lights turned off, there was a quite background music playing on the speakers and you could feel the anticipation in the air. Racci Shay got behind the drums and the rest of the Dope guys proceeded to follow. Armed with their instruments, Dope didn’t hesitate to start the show. They broke out into ‘Die MF Die’, a song from their second CD entitled “Life”. The energy of entire room was impressive. People started to mosh and sing along to the song. It was a great start. As the first song ended, Edsel Dope (lead singer) said, "Thanks for coming out on a Monday night everyone," then waves at the crowd as the band walks off stage. The fans looked around at each other kind of confused and then started to scream for Dope to come back on stage. Edsel Dope then came walking back on stage laughing, "You know, I just wanted to see what ya all would do." After laughing it off, Dope cranked out their next
song "motivation".
This was the second time I've seen Dope on tour promoting their latest CD 'Group Therapy'. Each time I see them, it is different, but the one constant is the amount of energy they put into the set. I love Dope’s presence on stage, especially Sloane Jentry (aka Mosey). Mosey is just all over the place playing on his bass, usually spinning in circles.
They played an interesting set, including songs from all their albums, which impressed me. I always enjoy hearing the older material. Dope did play a few songs off their new album a well. The moment the crowd heard 'Bitch' people were singing along and moshing. Heads were banging and fists were in the air.


WJJO DJ Susan Masino gave Soil a very warm welcome. She explained how WJJO was one of the first stations who played Soil, featuring them on  their “local stage hour.” This has been the second time Soil has been on the Annex's stage within a month. The band was greeted by a few people shouting "soil rocks" as they took the stage. This of course pleased the Soil guys. Ryan McComb responded to the shouts by referring to the crowd as a family. From the last time Soil was in town McComb's voice has had a chance to become back up to speed. Last show he was slowly trying to recover from the flu.
By the fifth song... the band took a bit of a breather. Ryan McCombs stood on stage and addressed the crowd, "How many of women out there ever been lied to?" There was a slight scream from a few of the women in the crowd. "How many men out there have been lied to?" The guys in the audience just cheered. "Either way this song is for you. This is Love/Hate/Game."  They cranked out the song and had the entire room’s attention as many sang along. They played the latest radio single 'Redefine' and the crowd was moshing and a little pit was going.
Even though I personally thought Soil was a bit out of place on this bill, they still put on a fantastic show. The other bands have a more industrial feel to their music, while Soil is more of a straight up rock band. At one point in the night, someone from the crowd was shouted for one of Soil's slower songs. McComb's replied back that there just wasn't room for slow songs tonight, it just didn't feel like a slow night.

Mushroom head went on stage at 10:30 p.m. The anticipation in the entire room was remarkable. I had no idea what to expect from them. The smoke machines started belch out huge clouds of smoke the completely obscured the stage. All of a sudden, the stage lights went on and Mushroomhead started jamming into the first song 'Kill Tomorrow'. I was amazed on how much all of the guys tried to interact with the crowd. The keyboardist was generous with his waves the guitarists didn’t hold back with the high fives, handshakes and waves.  It looked like the Annex had extended the stage about four feet to try and accommodate the 8 musicians, but they still seemed pretty cramped. Jeffery Nothing had a platform he stood on pretty much all night. Reminded me of a centerpiece on a table. He had a spooky feeling on stage, and it suited him well. J. Mann moved around the stage freely, moving right to the edge and singing up close to people. He took every spare chance to high-five and shake hands. Bronson, one of the guitarists moved around the stage every so often. Gravy stayed to the left side of the stage, moving around in the little area that was designated for him. He seemed very friendly with people. He continued jamming out, even with people’s hands right in front of him, almost touching his guitar. He never moved back, he just stayed right there and fed off the crowd. When he had a chance to stop playing he would quickly shake hands or give people a nod. 
Six of the eight members had custom made masks that were white with red lines on them around the eyes. Most of the masks were black light sensitive also. J. Mann's face was painted white with his eyes black... like 2 little black circles. Jeffery Nothing had his face painted like the masks, all white with red around the eyes and when the lights went out you could see the outlines of his red because of the glow in the dark makeup. They allwore white jumpsuits with black vests. Each vest was complete with the Mushroomhead smiley face and the band member’s name. Part way through the show, lead singer J. Mann, started to pick on Dope's drummer, Racci Shay, trying to get him to come on stage. Shay did make a brief appearance to throw something in the back of Mann's jumpsuit, before running off the stage. Mann replied by calling Shay a hermaphrodite.
What a great way to start off a week, four exciting hours with four unbelievable bands.  These are four high-energy acts that you do not want to miss when they come crashing into your town!

Twisted Method
Set List
1.     The End
2.     Panic
3.     Reach
4.     Rot
5.     To Late
6.     Fled
7. Mannequin

Dope
Set List
1.     Die MF Die
2.    Motivation
3.     Bring It On
4.     Burn
5.     Bitch
6.     Fuck The Police
7. (?)

Soil
Set List
1. Breaking Me Down
2. Pride
3. Cross My Heart
4. My Own
5. Love/Hate/Game
6. Unreal
7. The One
8. Two Skins
9. Redefine
10. Halo

Mushroomhead
Set List
1. Kill Tomorrow
2. Km
3. Bwomp
4. Sun Doesn't Rise
5. Becoming Cold
6. Before I Die
7. Doves/Xeroxed
8. These Filthy Hands
9. Twinkle
10. Eternal
11. Pre-Mach/Born of Desire


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