August 2010----------Concert Review of : Kittie on the Thrash and Burn festival.
Greetings brothers and sisters,the Thrash and Burn festival came to my hometown of Pittsburgh,Pa.(U.S.) at the Chesarena (an old roller rink that I got kicked out of when I was a kid for not wanting to skate and something about drinking too much too,but that's another story) and truthfully I could have cared less about most of the bands on the tour with the exception of Kittie.
This festival which for some reason was billed as the "Thrash and Burn" tour,really had NO thrash bands at all,in fact the closest band to thrash on the bill would be Kittie and I would not really classify them as that.
Prior to the show I had checked out some of the bands who would be playing that I was not all that familiar with and to my surprise not one thrash band.There were bands like Asking Alexandria ( the headliners,yeah explain that one to me someone),Through the eyes of the Dead,Born of Osiris and Stick to your Guns were just a few of the 20 or so bands that played that day.These four bands were pretty much the cream of the crop for the day (with the exception of Kittie of course),some decent tunes,not too much makeup and loud as Hell but thrash metal........sorry not on their best day could they even mop up the sweat from the stage of a band of Testament's caliber.
Yes I did say 20, it seems the original lineup called for ten bands but either the venue manager or the promoter I assume added ten more bands to that day's lineup.Now dont get me wrong,any time you have metal bands together out there playing live for the fans and playing heavy music it is a good thing but there were some things about this show that pissed me off.
First of all,do not market a show as a thrash festival when most of the bands are "pretty boy bands" know what I mean,they are all more interested in hair and makeup than playing actual music.Now some of these bands are somewhat heavy but they are all cookie cutter images of each other and all have the sensitive front man with the sensitive voice with a few growls mixed in just to sound metal enough to the casual fan. I know who the target audience is for these bands and it sure as Hell isn't me or any serious thrash metal fan,So,since I am not now or have I ever been a 13 year old girl,I am afraid their music is lost on me.
Another thorn in my side was that by adding all these extra bands this had to create havoc for the bands and their roadies and not allow them proper setup and tear down time.A festival of this size needs to be organized much better and bands need some notice as to when they are to play and how long their set will be.Also this shows a complete lack of respect to the fans who paid good money to get to watch their favorite band start on time.
I was under the impression that Kittie was to be playing at 7:00
pm,when in fact they did not go on until after 9:30pm and their set was cut
drastically short to about 25 minutes which was an absolute joke for a band of
kittie's stature to be treated like that.Some of the no- name bands earlier in
the day had longer sets than that,or at least it seemed a lot longer since it
was pretty much one continual bad band after another.Another Bitch I had was with the crowd itself. Yes most of them were young but I had never in my life been to a show where people were just lying down on the floor with t-shirts rolled up under their heads for pillows and they were sleeping.No,not just during the intermission between bands but during some of the performances as well.....WTF, are you kidding me? You dont stretch out on the floor and sleep during a metal show, at least not at any show I have ever been at.You sweat,you bleed,you get tired but you keep fighting because this is why you are here and why you love this music,this is what we do. A metal show is a privilege to witness and to be a part of and should be treated as so.
I guess I should have expected nothing less,I mean these poor kids were torn away from their computers and dragged away from Facebook kicking and screaming by their parents who probably would have taken them to visit Charles Manson in if it meant getting them out of the basement for a few hours. How horrible it must that have been for them all?They actually had to put down their bags of Doritos and get off their fat asses and go and do something,oh the horror of it all.
Now,even with all of that being said,the chance to see Kittie play live made all of the other bullshit seem tolerable.........
ANYWAY.............the ONLY reason I wanted to see this show was for one reason and one reason only.........for the band Kittie and despite all the confusion of the event, the incredible humidity and the fact that my old ass had to get up at 3:30 am the next morning,none of that really mattered because I was here to see one of my favorite bands and that my friends is saying quite a lot.
The band finally took to the stage
at about 9:30 pm with the intro "Kingdom Come" from their cd "In the Black" in
the background, then they blasted right into "My Plague" and "Cutthroat" from
the new cd as well.It was about this time that a funny thing happened......the
crowd woke up finally! Yes my friends Kittie had actually won over the
"Guyliner" crowd and it appeared they were actually into their music which in
turn fired up the band even more,which in turn fired me up as well ( who am I
kidding I had been fired up for this show for weeks but I guess you could say I
did take it to the next level). Their set continued with "Now or Never" and a
couple tunes from some of Kitties' other cds and that was pretty much all the
time they were allowed.However,in that very brief 25 minute set I can say I lost myself for a few moments and that my friends is what Metal is all about to me.Make no mistake,Kittie "IS" a Goddamn Heavy Metal band and they are proud of it and make no apologies about it either.It was so cool to see this band gel together on stage...............
One of the things that really impresses me about this band is that they are not all fluff and bullshit.....they are musicians who can actually play their instruments. Imagine that, women who can actually play Metal,well when did this all happen?
Morgan Lander is one of the best frontperson's out there today,no question about it.She switches between extreme and clean vocals and makes it look effortless.Also,that voice you hear on their cds is the same voice you hear live,no magical mixing effects here,the lady "is" that good.
Mercedes Lander is the goddess of thunder back behind the drum kit and I would stack her up against any other drummer in Metal today,she is just brutal on the skins.
Ivy Vujic is just a complete badass on the bass and if she is not the re-incarnation of Cliff Burton I don't know who else could be.(On a side note I was close enough to the stage to get hit with "Ivy Sweat" and I may never wash my glasses again,haha)
Tara Mcleod does not get enough credit for her guitar playing but she can wail with the best of them and her chemistry on stage with Morgan is something very special to see.
The Metal Gods must have brought these four women together because this is the most
talented and charismatic lineup the band has ever had and they are carving out
their little piece of Heavy Metal history by writing great songs and by constant
touring.The fact that the band Kittie are women should have no relevance at all in the Metal world but unfortunately as we all know it does.Some asshole is always going to judge them on how they look and say that they "play ok for girls".To be honest I really did not hear any of that at this show,I think the crowd was completely blown away by what they saw on stage and those fans that did not know much about Kittie before the show,became instant fans during their performance that night.
In fact after the band's last song of the night,the crowd began to cheer "one more song" over and over again which I am sure made Kittie feel p
retty good,I know I was pretty psyched hearing
those chants.I mean does it really have to matter what gender a band is or what they look like,especially in Metal? This music celebrates the misfit and outcast in all of us,so why the Hell should we care who is playing up on stage,where they come from or what they look like?True,I am not naive and I know how the corporate machine works for the record companies. Market your cd cover with four beautiful women and the casual potential fan just passing by might just pick up the cd from what they see on the outside,you know it happens all the time.
But I still believe a true Metal fan cannot be fooled into thinking something all wrapped up in a pretty bow can be marketed as Heavy Metal.True fans usually see through all the smoke and mirrors and know how to recognize talent and Kittie is a talented group of female musicians,no doubt about it.
I would have no problem at all seeing this band on stage with Slayer or Metallica and I know for a fact Kittie would hold their own and not take a backseat to any other band.
In closing for those fans that have never had the chance to see Kittie play live,get off your asses and go to a show.I mean,they freakin tour everywhere and just about every day of their lives so go to a damn show and check them out for yourselves........no way in Hell will you be disappointed.
In the meantime do your ears a favor and pick up some of their cds so you don't look like a moron trying to sing along with songs you dont know at the show
like some of my poor little guyliner fans did.
Thanks for the show ladies,you won over a crowd that really wasn't a "Kittie crowd" and that my friends is something only a true and talented Metal band like Kittie could accomplish.
Horns up brothers and sisters.......
Nick Rohm
