(Unfortunately I can't embed the video because Universal music have disabled that function, but here's a link to the clip on YouTube - Space Lord Mother, Mother!)
Here's the Review:
It’s been a few years since I last saw Cockfight Shootout and if memory serves me correctly there’s been a few hair-cuts since then. They also seem to have focused their efforts. Thankfully there are still a lot of big riffs, but I wouldn’t have expected harmonised twin guitar lines from the stoner rock band I saw in 2005.
Regular John share their name with a Queens of the Stone Age track, and for their first song they seem dangerously close to having borrowed the QOTSA sound too. But fortunately there’s a lot more on offer in the coming songs. As well as the notable stoner rock influence, there’s some early grunge fuzziness and psychedelic overtones – a nice mix of sounds complementing each other and held together with some driving bass work. The use of multiple vocalists also keeps things interesting; with clear singing giving way to shouts and screams reminiscent of early Nirvana work.
Before I discuss Monster Magnet’s set properly, there’s two things I have to get off my chest. As the band walks out on stage, I’m surprisingly disappointed by their appearance. I know this is rock ‘n’ roll and the true test of any band is how well they play, but for a band who have put so much into cultivating their image it feels like something is missing. I got my first taste of Monster Magnet while watching Rage ten years ago; fireworks shot into the air as they played in front of one of Las Vegas’ massive casinos. Their own team of cheerleaders danced behind the band, or hung off front-man Dave Wyndorf who wore a shiny blue suit in one scene, and a suit covered in light bulbs in another. Sure I wasn’t expecting all this to fit inside Billboard, but I did think the recent publicity photos of a leather clad band showed them to still be dangerous rock-super-stars. The kind of rock-super-stars you need to be to create an album like Powertrip, a title which so perfectly describes the combination of psychedelia, blues and straight out hard rock that is the Monster Magnet signature sound.
The closest we get to this is a solitary leather vest worn over a t-shirt by guitarist Phil Caivano, which is removed after a few songs anyway. Wyndorf is wearing an oversized grey zip-up hoodie and with his hair half its old length looks more like a guy coming home from the gym than a Space Lord.
The sound mix at Billboard isn’t great tonight either with Caivano’s guitar barely audible. Both he and bassist Jim Baglino do their part to rock out on one side of the stage, but lead guitarist Ed Mundell mostly stands still on his side. Those down the front are clearly enjoying the vibe and interacting with the band, but the mix and atmosphere of the venue seem to stop this from extending beyond the lowered dance floor.
So now that all that’s out of the way, let’s get into the good aspects of the show. Monster Magnet are a TIGHT band. Drummer Bob Pantella has a huge sound and drives the music hard all night. The set list is very fan friendly drawing heavily from classic albums such as Powertrip, Dopes to Infinity and going all the way back to 1992’s Spine of God, although it’s surprisingly lacking in tracks from the most recent album 4-Way Diablo. For all his stillness, Mundell is a fantastic guitar player and his wah heavy solo’s cut through the mix nicely. Also surprisingly clear are Wyndorf’s vocals, highlighting how good a singer he is and how strong his voice remains even after all these years. This is particularly evident in songs like Third Alternative (“It’s the blues baby, for the 21st century”) and Zodiac Lung which is performed by just Wyndorf and Mundell.
After a few tracks from 2004’s Monolithic Baby, the main set ends with the double shot of Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Space Lord, both crowd favourites (but again there are sound problems as a humming mid-song becomes so loud even the band get distracted). Wyndorf has a guitar around his neck most of the night, and while rarely played when he is singing, the triple guitar attack brings a killer fullness to the instrumental breaks. Especially in Melt which opens the encore and is one of the highlights of the night.
Unfortunately Wyndorf spends most of these times facing Pantella at the back of the stage, further diminishing interaction between the band and crowd. Monster Magnet have far too many good songs and are far too competent as musicians to ever put on a bad show, but there was just too much tonight holding this back from being the spectacular show it could, and should, have been.
