I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 10, 2017] Dead Cross

I had heard that Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and a million other projects) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer and other things) had formed a band and were touring.  I have wanted to see Slayer forever but never have.  I almost saw them last year but it sold out.  So, I kind of lost interest in seeing them.

And of course, Mike Patton is legendary and I’ve liked so much of what he’s done, but I’ve never seen him either.

I was curious what the album would be like and wasn’t entirely surprised to hear that it was basically a hardcore/speed metal album (10 songs in like 25 minutes).  Despite the two of them, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go to a show like that (I don’t really relish getting in a full-sized mosh pit).  But the more I thought about it (and after reading about the opening band) I decided it would be worth going to.

I checked out their setlists online and saw that they basically played the whole album and a couple extra songs.  Which, by my calculation, would be about 40 minutes.

I was really close to the stage for the opener, but had to leave between sets (I was sure I’d forgotten to lock my car (!)).  When I came back there were a couple more people in front of me, but the show was really quite empty–so empty in fact that there wasn’t even much of a mosh pit. I wound up being right in front of bassist Justin Pearson (who I gather is pretty legendary in himself, although I’d never heard of him–his Wikipedia page lists about a dozen bands, notably the Locust, Head Wound City and Retox).  It took me a while to really appreciate how good he was (and what a great singer he is).

On the other side of the stage was guitarist Mike Crain, who I’d also never heard of.  He was also in Retox (which is a great band name).  I could barely see him for the whole show.

Way in the back was Dave Lombardo.  I could sort of see him behind the gear, but every once in a while, his face peeked out.  But more importantly was the sound–unmistakably Lombardo (although he was somewhat restrained on the double bass).  During one particularly great drum section, Mike Patton looked at us and said “who is this fucking guy?”

It may not have been Slayer, but getting to see Lombardo was just as good (possibly better, because I got to see him from ten feet away instead of 1,000).

They came out roaring.  I’d listened to the whole album once–it is loud with a lot of screaming.  And that’s what the band did.  Between songs, Patton squatted down in front of the drums until he seemed to warm up a bit (or he was just enjoyed being at eye level with the front row).

After a few songs he said “Philadelphia?  What more can I say?”  “Filthadelphia?”

During one of the songs he dove into the crowd on the other side and they pushed him back up.  And then he looked over at us and hurled himself full force right at us.  If I had been in my original spot he would have landed right on me.  Instead, I was there to support the guy who was pushing him up–I was really worried Patton was going to crash down on his head as there were some tiny girls up there.  But we got him back up safely.

They “slowed things down” with a stomping version of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.”  And then the pummeling continued.

Patton’s vocal prowess is really amazing.  He can growl, he can scream, he can croon. He can wail for a very long time at the top of his lungs and hit incredibly high notes as he screams.  It’s stunning.  He also had a small CB radio microphone type thing that he often screamed into making an even more distorted sound.  But then he can also smile and joke with us.

A guy in the front was holding up the Dead Cross vinyl and Pattion looked at the guy and said, “Hey that’s our album. Thanks for showing it to me.  I’d never seen it before.”  It was kind of snarky, but then he turned back to the guy, winked at him and blew him a kiss.

Towards the end of the set, Patton joked that Pearson ate a Vegan Cheese steak.  The crowd booed and Pearson said he doesn’t preach the lifestyle but he likes being in good shape and that he can suck himself off because of it.  That may be why he can also play like that –>

Patton said he liked a real cheese steak but he loves living in a world where a vegan cheese steak exists,

Crain spoke up and said You never asked what Dave and I had for lunch. Patton: “What?”  Crain: “L.S fucking D!”

They ended the set in 30 minutes.

Then they came back for a quick encore.  Dave started the drum intro for Slayer’s “Raining Blood” (I’m glad I knew they weren’t really going to play the song).  in the clip I saw earlier, they barely played anything after the first note, but for us they played a whole verse before ending.  Then they did a chorus of Faith No More’s “Epic,” (Patton sounded great) and before anyone could even react, it was over.

Then came the final encore–a blistering version of Dead Kennedy’s “Nazi Punks Fuck Off.”  They did not wear their “Nazi Trumps Fuck Off” shirt which is too bad, but the song sounded great.

And 35 minutes after they started, the show was over.

If I didn’t know the show was going to be short I’d have been really pissed.  But I was aware, and that was cool.  I have certainly never been to a show where the opening act played longer than the headliners.  But the openers were great. And Dead Cross easily put 90 minutes worth of sweat and power into those 30, so it’s all fine.

Plus, getting to head home at 10:30 was a special treat.

Lombardo walked past and threw two sticks into the crowd (I got neither, obviously).  A guy in front of me got the setlist which I took a picture of:

Setlist

• Seizure and Desist
• Idiopathic
• Obedience School
• New Song [#2]
• Shillelagh
• Bela Lugosi’s Dead
• Divine Filth
• Grave Slave
• The Future Has Been Cancelled
• Prisoner [New #1]
• Gag Reflex
• Church of the Motherfuckers
• encore
• Raining Blood (tease)
• Epic (tease)
• Nazi Punks Fuck Off