It's hard to say if Death Grips were completely bad or not, and maybe this makes me sound old, but I think they are simply not for anyone over 30. I've seen this band twice, knew what to expect, but much like the growing number of over-30's that were lingering in the lobby, I just did not get Death Grips.

This tour was an odd match to begin with. I happened to see the bass player of Ministry walking around the lobby during Death Grips' set, and he told me about it. If I remember this part correctly, he said that they share the same management, who put this pairing together. He said that 50% of the crowd comes for Ministry, 50% for Death Grips. Of the 50% there for Death Grips, half of them leave after their set and after they buy merch (more on that later). So if the other half of Death Grips' fans stay for any or all of Ministry, that was considered a win, because then they are playing to new, and presumably younger, people who may like what they hear and see.

Ministry themselves sounded awful too, so I doubt those Death Grips fans stayed for too long. I don't recall any specifics as I wrote this weeks after the show, because this is all my brain will allow me to remember about their performance!

The one thing I do absolutely remember is the merch lines. Ministry was in the main merch booth and had no line the entire night. Death Grips was in the little secondary merch booth and their line snaked to the back door, up the staircase, into the balcony lobby, and then up the next staircase. I imagine that nearly every Death Grips fan purchased something. Their prices were very respectable for tour merch. They had a $25 hoodie and a $15 t-shirt. Of course they sold out of everything too! Ministry... not so much...

Please don't stop reading my Top Ten because Poison is the first band on it! When was the last time you went to a show and knew 100% of the songs? I'm not saying that I'm necessarily proud that I knew all of the words to all of the songs, but I did grow up in the mid-late '80s, at a time when I started to learn to play guitar, when these were the songs in my Guitar For the Practicing Musician magazines, when these were the bands on MTV Headbanger's Ball, and when these were the bands in the pages of Metal Edge, RIP, Circus, Hit Parader, etc. At the time, I did listen to some hair metal like Dokken, Skid Row, Tesla, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Ratt, and Guns 'N Roses, but also listened to Iron Maiden and began to gravitate to Metallica, Exodus, Anthrax, Death Angel, Slayer, Megadeth, Overkill, and Pantera.

Anyway, back to this Poison show... why they did it at the Oracle Arena I'll never understand. Poison and Tesla were on tour opening for Def Leppard this summer, and this was an off-tour show. Although the Arena was kinda empty, the band didn't seem to be fazed and did the best show that I could expect them to give. On top of it all, I was given amazing seats, got stubbed down to the floor, and when security wasn't looking, I easily walked up to the small catwalk that was front/center and stayed up there for the rest of the show. It was well worth the price of admission. I missed almost all of Tesla due to working in SF and hurrying on BART to get over to Oakland.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB) is a huge free event that happens every October. I don't listen to 99% of the musicians who perform, but every year, there is always that one band booked which makes up the hardly aspect of HSB, and it is usually this band that I go to see, such as Dropkick Murphys (2016), Flogging Molly (2015), Social Distortion (2014), Deltron 3030 (2014), Gogol Bordello (2013), Les Claypool (2012), Buckethead (2011), and Mondo Cane (Mike Patton) (2010). For 2017, it was none other than Cheap Trick!

If Rick Nielsen didn't throw out 200 guitar picks at every show, I am not sure if I would always try to watch from close-up, but since he does, as soon as the previous band finished, I ran to the now nearly empty barricade and grabbed a front and center spot!

Cheap Trick played 2 songs from their new album, accompanied by a few covers and the usual array of hit songs that they are known for. Rick also did not disappoint, flinging guitar picks in every direction seemingly every 30 seconds. Of course, hardly a single one went in my general direction until Dream Police, near the end of the show, when he always grabs and throws 3 large handfuls. Unfortunately, his tosses barely cleared the barricade, and the credentialed photographers standing in front of the barricade scooped up most of them... but I still got a few!

I wrote this same thing 2 years ago, and it's still valid... John 5 is one of the most underrated guitar players around. The stuff he plays in Rob Zombie's band is child's play compared to his awesome solo work, which covered everything expected from a heavy metal guitarist, to things not expected, such as acoustic finger-picking bluegrass-style and an amazing cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It". This is always 70 minutes well spent, and to top it off, this was in the little upstairs room at DNA Lounge, so John 5 was literally right in front of everyone, and not 5 feet above on DNA's normal stage. I'm looking forward to his upcoming Creatures tour in April 2018, hope that it is again in DNA's little room upstairs, and fully expect to write about it 365 days from now for my 2018 Top Ten!

After spending nearly 2 weeks on tour with Anthrax in 2016, I couldn't wait to see them again, this time at home. It was actually then, somewhere in Canada, in October 2016, that I overheard Scott Ian talking about a Spring 2017 US tour. I of course had to ask if it included San Francisco, which led him to ask about where they would eventually play here. As soon as he told me that the tour was being put together by Live Nation, I had no doubt that it would be at The Fillmore. He even told me who the co-headliner band and one of the two opening acts was going to be, even though it was not yet announced.

Code Orange ended up being the other opening band, and they were intense! Definitely a hard act to follow, which is why I don't know why Anthrax brought The Devil Wears Prada along. I don't completely remember, but I'm almost certain that the crowd felt the same. I also actually still don't know why they needed a co-headliner. It was great to see Killswitch Engage again, but Anthrax could have sold this out on their own, which would have given them more time as sole headliner.

Since I was working at the venue, I arrived a little bit earlier than normal. I was able to see all of Anthrax's crew, all-but-one who were the same from 2016, but I never saw any of the band, until they were onstage. This was when an awesome thing happened. My spot for the whole show was the stage left side in the barricade and halfway through Anthrax's set, singer Joey Belladonna saw me there, had a surprised reaction on his face, walked over to shake my hand, and although I could not hear what he was saying (and cannot read lips), I am certain it was something along the lines of 'I didn't know you worked here!'

Click this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLbiwuP9ANY and fast-forward to 4:25. You will not actually see me in this clip, but I assure you that was me!

Just like their show at Slim's last year (June 2016, #2 of my 2016 Top Ten), this was one show I was not going to miss. They are incredibly funny and awesome, have McDonald's related props, two Ronald McDonald heads that shoot lasers from the eyes, a grill with mustard and ketchup bottles, all sorts of fake food items, and a 9 foot long straw that singer Ronald Osbourne pulls out of his costume and uses as a beer bong. They never once break character, and perform their food-themed Black Sabbath songs as well as (or better than) any Black Sabbath cover band would play the actual songs. It would not be nearly as funny if Mac Sabbath was not a great band. With songs like Pair-a-Buns, Frying Pan, Sweet Beef, and Zipping Up the Uniform, how can this not be awesome?!

The opening act was called Arnocorps, whose songs are exclusively based on the films of Arnold Schwarzenegger, dress in combat fatigues and camouflage paint (inspired by 'Predator' and 'Commando'), and speak with an Austrian accent in between songs. They also never break character and was a fun opening act for Mac Sabbath. 2018 will bring Mac Sabbath back to Slim's, this time with Galactic Empire, a Star Wars inspired band. I wonder where this show will end up in my 2018 Top Ten.... ?

Winner for the smallest headliner merchandise area goes to The Chapel. The opening bands didn't have it much better. If Exodus does this again, I may have to suggest setting up in the more-spacious bar area that makes up the front half of The Chapel. I'm glad Exodus didn't have too much stuff to sell for these special shows. An event poster, an event shirt, a few trinkets... no problem... until I got stuck trying to sell leftover stuff from past shows! It all eventually fit, but I have to say that this might be my least favorite place to sell.

It is, however, an interesting place to be a concert venue. The Chapel occupies a historic building that was built in 1914 as the Gantner-Maison-Domergue Funeral Home (until the 1970's). The venue part was the actual mortuary chapel, and the bar and The Vestry restaurant was the crematorium, 'slumber rooms' (intended for wakes and viewings of the deceased), embalming room... basically the rest of the mortuary. Apparently, the elevator that used to transport bodies was where the restrooms now are. They would also store bodies in the basement below the embalming room, and used a body crank (that is still visible in the restaurant) to raise and lower bodies from one room to the other. Now the basement is used as a freezer space and wine cellar, where employees say bottles sometimes explode. What better place for a metal show?!

These shows were billed as 'Crushing the Chapel', where they played 'Bonded By Blood' in its entirety one night, and the next night, invited their former singer to tackle a bunch of songs from his time with the band. Most of past and present Exodus was there, such as Paul Bostaph and Rick Hunolt, and maybe the only Exodus alumni that was missing was Kirk Hammett, but Metallica was on tour at the time. Although I was at the merch table most of the night, I did get a couple of chances to go inside the venue and check out the show! Of course, every time the door was opened, I would see the craziness that was happening inside, and I was at least able to hear both shows!

I'm sure I've written more than enough over time about this band, and I really have nothing more to add that most of you haven't already read or already know... but if I did have to write a few more words about Slayer, I would have to say that the addition of fire to the set is something that they have not had in a few years... and there was lots of it! Flames above the backline, and flames constantly shooting out behind the drum riser in the form of the swords in the logo. That one extra element made this particular show a bit different from those two weeks of shows that I saw on their Fall 2016 tour. Was it better or worse? No way... it's just Slayer... and it's always good!

Five years ago, when I last saw Iron Maiden, they were at Shoreline Amphitheatre and I was working on the local crew. I was of course ecstatic to be part of the local crew for a band that I've been listening to since the mid-80's. In fact, midway through 8th grade, on January 8, 1987, my first concert would be Iron Maiden on the Somewhere in Time tour.

I'm convinced that Iron Maiden does not really like America. Why else would it take them five years to get back here! They did a quick US tour in early 2016, but the closest that came was Los Angeles. So close, yet so far... they are so huge everywhere else in the world, and tour those spots more often, so I am glad that they decided to give America another full proper tour.

Back in 1987, I obviously had not yet mastered the art of sneaking down to the good seats, so I watched from my actual seat on the 2nd level way up on stage left. This time, I was lucky enough to be offered a +1 ticket that was so good, I didn't even need to think about sneaking around. Stage right side, a couple of seat sections back, but in the front row of the section... if I had wanted to sneak down to the floor, I almost literally could have just hopped over the rail that was right in front of my seat.

For this tour, they did play a shocking 49 minutes of new material (6 songs), compared to only 46 minutes of older material and classics (9 songs). Despite that, the energy, lights, pyrotechnics, backdrop changes, and their mascot Eddie were all there, and any Iron Maiden is going to be great!

How did an indie rock music festival crack my Top Five? For starters, it was incredible to get to work on (literally) the Lands End main stage all weekend as a cable page for onstage cameraman. I watched every band on the Lands End schedule, did not see anything else that was not on this stage, and was kind of surprised by some of the bands not named Metallica...

1. Cage the Elephant. They must have downed a case of Red Bull before their set because they ran around and jumped on and off the stage and catwalk like no one else the entire weekend.

2. The Who. First time ever seeing them, and what better way and most interesting vantage point than from behind the drum riser! The drum tech lives back there and was extremely accommodating to myself and the cameraman, who spent the entire set taking laps around the back of the riser to get great shots for the screens.

During The Rock, a 6 minute instrumental, Roger Daltrey himself sat back there draped under a robe, with his assistant helping him clean his glasses, clean his in-ears, etc., and I also had a front row seat to this (that was actually weird being back there then).

I was later told by 3 different people that I appeared in the background on the big screen, so I found a copy of the official livestream -- https://www.facebook.com/Fuki81/videos/10209704734595043 -- fast-forward to 53:45 and watch for 10 seconds! I wore all black like stagehands are supposed to, I guess next year, I will have to bring a black beanie to cover the rest of me so I don't stand out so much!

3. Metallica. Fire. Lasers. Fireworks. Metallica. Enough said. They had their own video crew, so I had their entire set off, and watched it from the crowd in the 'Snake Pit', the VIP area within their catwalk.

4. Gorillaz. Wikipedia says there are 8 members, but there was 17 people on stage, not including special guests. They were very energetic too, making more than several runs into the crowd using a staircase that was built into the front of the stage. This was my first time seeing them, and I didn't even know they were still a band. Last I had heard of them like 15 years ago, they were known to perform their songs from behind a screen showing them as cartoon characters. Sometime during those years I guess they decided to come out in front of the screen...

5. Royal Blood. How is it that two guys can make so much noise from just drums and a bass (which sounded like a guitar half the time)?! Lars Ulrich was even intrigued, he was standing behind me for a while on stage right, snapping a bunch of pictures with his phone.

I usually don't like the majority of the Outside Lands Music Festival lineups, this one being no different. Some of the Lands End bands were not that great, and I probably would have been more bored if I had been working on a different stage. Overall though I had a great time on the Lands End stage, and I saw some good sets from bands that I would have never otherwise taken the time to see.

By the time Death Angel played these 4th Annual Another Xmas Shows, they had just returned from a 4-week European tour and had mere days to acclimate back to the West Coast time zone. Having the 4-weeks of shows under their belt, they were such a well-oiled machine and firing on all cylinders that they were more than prepared to lay waste to the two sold out night crowds at Slim's!

I have to give Death Angel a lot of credit for having such a variety of openers. In my mind, there is less interest in seeing a bunch of the same thrash bands open the show. The Old Firm Casuals are an American street punk / Oi! band featuring Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, Hellbender is a local metal / hardcore band, and Autumn's End is a death metal band from Phoenix.

After all of this variety of music warmed up the crowd, they were more than ready for what Death Angel had for them. Night #1 seemed to go effortlessly and without delay. I think they actually finished on time. Night #2... not so much... they may have even started the set a little earlier, but they went way past curfew!

These Death Angel Another Xmas Shows are always either #1 or near the top of my list, not so much because they bring me along for the ride (merchandise), but because they just are such a great live band and bring it every single time I see them on a stage!