In the first of a new series of interview segments on Metal Army America, we bring you Conversations From the Crypt! We’ll be doing a series of interviews that are more in-depth and longer than our typical pieces usually are. Last fall we caught up with hardcore punk and metal legend CYKO MIKE MUIR. As the front man of the ground breaking SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, the funky and fun INFECTIOUS GROOVES and other projects like CYKO; he has influenced several generations of the most important bands. All of his projects have new releases in the works for 2012 and beyond, including extensive touring in Europe and their recent appearance at the Orion Music and More Festival in June. We interviewed Mike about the excellent collection he released last fall- CYKO MYKO: The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour Part I, but we covered a host of other topics too. He gave a lot of perspectives on his career in this wide-ranging chat.
So thanks to a crazy amount of traffic and hotel getting to most of Saturday was missed. When got there in time for most of CAGE THE ELEPHANT on the Fuel stage. Then it was time to head to the Damage Inc. stage for SUICIDAL TENDENCIES! I’ve NEVER seen them before and holy hell, were they good! Everyone in that band is a beast! Especially the rhythm section of drummer Eric Moore (T.R.A.M.) and bassist Tim Williams. Kicking it off with “You Can’t Bring Me Down”, they set off a steam rolling crushing set, playing hit after hit up until it was time for an INFECTIOUS GROOVES mini-set with Robert Trujillo on bass. It made the hassle of getting there well worth it!
Over thirty years in the game and Mike Muir of S.T. and INFECTIOUS GROOVES still rules.
I got to check out KIRKS CRYPT. A little museum of Kirk Hamments’ horror memorabilia collection. From vintage posters to painting and full sized costumes and masks. It made me very jealous! It To top it off, Linda Blair was there as well! I look forward to October for the release of his book, TOO MUCH HORROR BUSINESS about this collection. I caught most of ARCTIC MONKEYS headlining set on the “Fuel” stage, and boy are they very British! Granted they are, but still, they reminded me of BLUR and OASIS mainly. A good chunk of the crowd dug them a lot.
Then it was time for METALLICA on the “Orion” stage….
Whaddya mean no “Orion” at Orion Fest?
Starting with “Hit the Lights” they ran through four more songs as the warm up to playing the entire Ride the Lighting album. After a brief and kick ass intro video, they came out ass backwards! No, really! They started with“The Call of Ktulu” all the way to “Fight Fire with Fire”. I Enjoyed “Fade to Black” and “Escape” the most. They came back with a nice three song encore of “Battery”, “One” and “Seek and Destroy”. To much grief from a lot of people about no “Orion” The song, famously attached to the late CLIFF BURTON, for which this fest is named for. I guessed they’d save it for tomorrow.
Kirk shared his horror collection and then some guitar solos.
Set List:
Hit the Lights
Master of Puppets
The Four Horsemen
Sad But True
Hell and Back
The Call of Ktulu
Creeping Death
Escape
Trapped Under Ice
Fade to Black
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ride the Lightning
Fight Fire With Fire
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Encore:
Battery
One
Seek and Destroy
DAY TWO:
THY WILL BE DONE tore it up early on day two.
Now due to a lil health issue, I had a short visit to the ER that morning. As a result I missed GHOST, Oh well, would’ve been weird to see them in the daytime anyway. Some bands just work better at night. I was really bummed to miss LANDMINE MARATHON. I’ve wanted to see them for awhile.
Bummed I missed this band. I heard they were awesome.
So when I finally arrived I caught BEST COAST, like with ARCTIC MONKEY’S it was nice to hear something a little different and mellow. I got to see this cool new band called THE TRUJILLO TRIO, on the “Vans Skate Ramp”. Robert Trujillo & Family put on a dirty, crusty, grindy, punk rock show. I hope something gets released soon!
Robert Trujillo was a triple threat this weekend.
It was good intro to the insanity for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER! I ended up pitting my ass off throwing crowd surfers left and right. Haven’t really done that a in awhile, holy cardio workout Batman! It felt great!
Ripper Owens and CHARRED WALLS OF TH DAMNED were amazing!
I had to sprint across to the “Frantic” stage to catch the first show of the year for CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED! Ripper Owens’ and Richard Christy’s unstoppable juggernaut! They were awe-inspiring to watch. Then back to “Damage Inc.” for the headlining set from SEPULTURA! They are in the midst of a tour over in Spain, but flew in just for this. The pit felt like a UFC match and some douche was decked out in gloves and a mouth guard. It was a rough pit. Now musically, this band is amazing! DERRICK GREEN has been in this band long enough that I forgot someone else used to sing for them. New drummer Eloy Casagrande, that kids a monster! He even broke a bass pedal. after that I checked out the sick car show there while AVENGED SEVENFOLD closed the “Fuel” stage. They like fireworks and pyro just at much as METALLICA does.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD likes to blow shit up!
After a cool video intro, METALLICA started of the set with “Hit the Lights” and “Master of Puppets”, like last night, then went to “Fuel”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Shortest Straw” before starting “The Black Album” (Metallica) in reverse. I don’t know what it was, but “The Black Album” just sounded better then Ride. Mind you I haven’t heard this about in over ten years. They just sounded tighter on this material. The encore this time consisted of “Blackend” and “One” and then a James spoke about the festival and dedicated the last song to Cliff, “Seek and Destroy” wait what!? Not “Orion”!? What the hell!? This is bullshit! That’s some of the comments I heard around me. My best guess as to why no “Orion”: maybe it’s kind of a bummer to play it and they didn’t want to end the festival on a downer.
Set List: Hit the Lights Master of Puppets Fuel
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Shortest Straw The Struggle Within My Friend of Misery The God That Failed Of Wolf and Man Nothing Else Matters Through the Never Don’t Tread On Me Wherever I May Roam The Unforgiven Holier Than Thou Sad But True Enter Sandman Encore: Blackened One Seek and Destroy
Day two was more enjoyable than Day One, overall.
All in all, it was a great family festival. It was really good seeing kids there. I’ll most likely bring mine next year. There was enough different musical styles to keep everyone happy and it was worth the long trip to Atlantic City. I want to go back again so lets hope for an Orion fest in 2013!
The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour Part 1 (Suicidal Records)
Cykos of the world rejoice! For thirty years Mike Muir has been an institution (bad pun intended) in hardcore punk and metal circles. Through his ground breaking work in SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, his funky party jams with INFECTIOUS GROOVES or his own screaming stream of consciousness punk rock in CYKO MIKO he has influenced several generations of bands. In the time between relentless touring and recording new albums with each of his projects, he has opened up the vaults for a new release to tide fans over. Self-released on his own imprint, Suicidal Records, The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour Part 1 is a compilation of unreleased material from all of his bands from over the many years. Normally odds-n-sods type releases like this aren’t representative of the actual body of work, but even in this context the songs are fairly high quality and what you expect from Muir.
Kicking off with the fun instrumental “MMM”, it is a good warm-up for the rest of the album. Funk, punk and soul is what the doctor ordered and you get a heap of it here and on every track. The mellow funkiness of “Happiness” calls to mind the band WAR and is really chill except for the punk rock rave up at the end. As usual you get the deft lyrical intellect that Muir always provides and when he states “happiness if for people that can’t stand being miserable” and you can’t help but smile. “All The Way” is old-school ST, hardcore track just the way I like it. Just enough crunch for the metal heads and also really groovy too. “Got Feelings?” has a frenetic INFECTIOUS GROOVES flavor to it and the is another fun track. There is even an A Capella vocal break down where Mike really shines. He always insists that he is not a fine singer, but that was pretty awesome to hear. The next track is one of the records finest moments, a mellow unplugged take on “Alone”. Formerly a crushing metal power ballad on Lights, Camera, Revolution the song has been recast with haunting Spanish guitars, jazz inflections and impassioned vocals. “Slightly” is a rocking jam that blurs the line between metal, industrial and funk. “Done Gone Stupid” is another laid back thumping IG type of song while “Full of it” matches the intensity of the depths of the ST self-titled album. Other stand out tracks are “Hang On (The Fight Song)”, “Slo Death” and another instrumental, “Soulvation”. The collection also has appearances by former ST alumni Brooks Wackerman, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA/BLS) and Fletcher Dragge from PENNYWISE. A solid bunch of songs that is not strictly limited to the interest of the crazy legion of Cykos.
Expectations. We all have them in life. Living up or down to them creates divides in people and brings on a world of hurt to the hearts of many. What in the world does this have to do with a concert? Everything if you are a die-hard fan of a band and they let you down. I grew up on a lot of old-school punk and metal and S.T. is one of my favorite bands of all time, in any genre. They informed my art and my personal life in a way that is too deep to describe here in these (web) pages. My first band played “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” as the encore to our first show ever. Needless to say when I saw them for the first time back in 1998 they were less than stellar and I was crushed. I was as let down as any show I have ever been to out of thousands. Maybe the crux of this was that it was the pre-interwebs days and I was expecting to see Rocky George shred his Pirates cap off and not hear a set list mostly of INFECTIOUS GROOVES songs (love the band, but they are not as great as ST). Plus they were on a ST greatest hits tour at the time (Prime Cuts album). Nonetheless, after years of licking my wounds I wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to give them another try, especially when paired with two other titans of punk-metal crossover like THE CRO-MAGS AND D.R.I. As a result of this top notch bill which included six other bands the Palladium was about as packed as I had seen it since HANK III played here earlier in the fall.
UNDERDOG was the opener and and they were a lot of fun. They were a second or third wave NYHC punk band in the mid 80′s and I used to see them skating around the Lower East Side and Astor Place when I was growing up. If he wasn’t singing about skating, revolution or being a disenfranchised kid in Noo Yawk City singer Richie Birkenhead (YOUTH OF TODAY) wasn’t fully alive. Well known in the underground from their classic 1st demo and their record The Vanishing Point, they played a set of their best known songs. I was happy everybody was slamming and stage diving like in the old club days. With the quasi- original lineup of the band Richie on vox, Russ Iglay on bass, Dean Joseph back on drums and guitarist Mark they proved their material stands the test of time. The band is older, but still had the goods in performance, especially Richie. The best songs of their set were Russ Iglay on bass, Dean Joseph back on drums and guitarist Mark they p and of course “Underdog”. Great to these guys back at it!
Added to the list of bands I thought I’d never see again ever is DIRTY ROTTEN IMBECILES or D.R.I. In case you are in a rush. Arguably the originators of crossover punk and metal, D.R.I. Had the deep soul of punks coupled with the anger and speed of early thrash metal and it was beautiful. I wore out my copies of Crossover and Thrash Zone on cassette tape way back when, but I never thought I would ever get to be in the same room as these guys. They are an influence on the grit and attitude of metal that few others have had so make sure the next time you listen to records by MUNICIPLE WASTE, WARBRINGER, GAMMA BOMB or when you break out your PANTERA cd’s- you better thank these guys.
Any case after setting up their own gear and sound checking vocalist Kurt Brecht announced that they “in case you didn’t know we’re DRI and they were here to rock!”. And with that they started off the set with “Snap” and the mania ensued. Everyone was slamming, crowd surfing and basically going apeshit! They reeled off a bunch of fast, killer songs in a row like “I’d Rather Be Sleeping”, “Problem Addict” and “Acid Rain” all in a row. Before playing “Thrashard” Kurt said something to the effect of I “bet you guys know all the words to this one” which was hilarious. D.R.I. were biting listeners in the ass with sarcasm before any of today’s post irony crap was fashionable. Too smart and funny for words. “Who Am I” was played and is another great song. Many people claim to be fans of the band, but some of the crowd was noticeably quiet on some of the deeper album cuts. Spike Cassidy (guitars), Harold Oimoden (bass) and Rob Rampy (drums) just beat the crap out of their instruments and kicked ass on every song. I was especially happy and thankful to see Spike who has beaten his colon cancer scare of a few years ago. Harry was also awesome as a legend of the thrash/hardcore scene and he hung out in the crowd and slammed in the pit the rest of the night. Originally they were supposed to headline their own night at The Palladium, but got added to the ST date which makes sense since they have the same fan base. They played so many songs you might have thought they were the final act. Musical gems like “Beneath The Wheel”, “Wages of Sin”, “All For Nothing” and the highlight of their set “Violent Pacification” were great to hear live . It was over way too fast when they closed with “Five Year Plan”, but I was really happy they went out with such a bang.
Set List:
Snap
I’d Rather Be Sleeping
Problem Addict
Acid Rain
Thrashard
Who Am I
Slumlord
Dead in a Ditch
Suit and Tie Guy
Beneath The Wheel
Couch Slouch
Wages of Sin
Dry Heaves
All For Nothing
Violent Pacification
Five Year Plan
In my pantheon of hardcore bands that have greatly influenced metal THE CRO-MAGS are right behind THE MISFITS and S.T. and just ahead of THE BAD BRAINS. Without a seminal record like The Age of Quarrel you wouldn’t have aspects of Thrash, Punk, Deathmetal and Metalcore that you have today. In addition to being a force of nature live and helping to define the scene of New York Hardcore for what it’s worth every time you nod your head to a half-time feel part of a breakdown- that comes directly from the Cro-Mags and their influence of the early hip-hop acts in the 80’s.
Hitting the stage and starting with occasional closer “We Gotta Know” they just destroyed! WGK is certainly one of the best songs ever the floor went nuts with everybody moshing, leaping up to the stage and singing. The CRO-MAGS are one of those bands that most everybody knows all of the words when you go see them, and tonight was no exception. Rapid like machine gun fire the band churned out a quick succession of hits like “World Peace”, “Show No Mercy”, and “Malfunction”. Frontman John Joseph is still in ass-kicking shape from his vegan life-style and has never sounded better vocally either. He isn’t just up there for no reason- he feels every word his sings and makes you believe it too. His manic stage persona was/is the template for punk and metal frontmen. Since the current lineup has been together for a few years the band has been generous with its set lists tossing in nuggets like “Crush the Demoniac” and switching things up from tour to tour. Although we are unlikely to ever see a complete “classic” reunion line up; between drummer Mackie Jayson , guitarist AJ Novello (LEEWAY) and bassist Craig Setari (SICK OF IT ALL) they certainly have the set down cold. More great anthems like “Street Justice” and “Seekers of The Truth” came next and also went over big time with the adoring crowd. Then they thew us a curve ball when John announced they were gonna do a song by the most important punk band ever in his opinion, BAD BRAINS’ “Attitude”. It was a welcome surprise and the rendition, complete with reggae breakdown was top notch. Then another surprise came after a short jam of LEEWAY’s “Rise and Fall” the went right in to “Jim’s Last Goodbye”, yet another killer song. They finished their tight set with awesome versions of “Life of My Own” and “Hard Times”. John thanked all the bands, everybody for supporting the band and the tour and said their would be a new album from this line-up of the band in 2011 to look forward to. I got to talk to John after the show and as usual he was all class, humble and nice. A tribute to this legendary person in the scene, his home city and his legacy.
Set List:
We Gotta Know
World Peace
Show No Mercy
Malfunction
Crush The Demoniac
Street Justice
Seekers of the Truth
Attitude (Bad Brains Cover)
Rise and Fall/Jim’s Last Goodbye
Life of My own
Hard Times
I tried to catch my breath a little between bands. Again the venue was really packed in with very little room to move except for the pit during bands. As the ginormous banner in the style of a bandana was unveiled with the SUICIDAL crest and logos it was all most go time. I have to admit I had some butterflies as I hoped tonight would erase the bast memories of the show so long ago. Well no sooner had I thought that then the lights went down and the famous intro to “You Can’t Bring Me Down” came over the speakers. People were already moshing and crowd surfing before the band even hit the stage. Each member of ST came out to a cheer, not unlike a roll call at a baseball game. Of course the last one out was Cyco Mike Muir who announced “What the hell is going on around here?” as they peeled the roof of the building with the power of thrash! In typical fashion the band was explosive in their playing with Mike running all over the stage delivering his lines. The whole building seemed to shake as everyone screamed the chorus out. Dean Pleasants (INFECTIOUS GROOVES/GEORGE CLINTON/UGLY KID JOE) has a different lead guitar style than Rocky George, but nonetheless delivered an excellent take on the memorable solo. Following up the monster opener was the bands’ best known song in “Institutionalized” and the craziness got even bigger with an huge circle pit the entire floor wide. Those two songs are a given at any ST show, but after that I was sure that all bets were off. As Mike addressed the crowd in his usual poet/prophet/teacher mode he talked about the three bands on this tour going strong for almost 30 years. And with that Eric Moore kicked of the military drum intro of “Join The Army” and the pit was off and running again. Moore who is absolutely ridiculous and devastating on the kit is really the secret weapon of the band. His deft playing ability either create the pocket or push the tempos of the songs really make this the best the band has sounded in ages. He also had an amazing five minute drum solo later in the show that would have given Tommy Lee a run for his money shot.
In celebrating the bands’ lengthy history this tour they are also promoting their new record of some rerecorded classics. Much to my delight old-school jams like “The Prisoner”, “War Inside My Head” and “Subliminal” were played to perfection. As always ST mainstay Mike Clark (INFECTIOUS GROOVES/NO MERCY/CREEPER) also holds down the rhythms and riffs of most songs and allows Dean to freelance a little more guitar-wise. This kind of brings back a little of the middle-era vibe of the band back to the live show. They mixed the great funky punk/metal songs like “Suicidal Maniac” and “Come Alive” with the hardcore tunes like “Widespread Bloodshed” and recent remake “No Mercy”. Mike also talked about the early days of the Venice Beach scene and how ST was never about a gang, but about peaceful Dogtown skaters, and not trendy guys like Tony Hawk. Ouch! Just then Steve “Thundercat” Brunner played the killer slap-bass intro to “Possessed to Skate” and once again the energy in the building went nuclear. Brunner is brilliantly talented on the bass and more than ably fills the big shoes of Rob Trujillo (METALLICA/OZZY OSBOURNE/INFECITIOUS GROOVES/JERRY CANTRELL, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY). As a bassist myself I was enthralled the entire set by his grooving lines and showmanship.
Of course it always comes back down to Muir who goes full-tilt insane the entire gig. He spent a lot of time between songs pontification on all things Cyko and explaining the meanings of the songs which was cool. Bringing the night towards its conclusion saw the band cut through fine versions of “I Saw Your Mommy”, “I Want More” and “I Shot Reagan” that really took me back to being a kid again. The went off stage for a few minutes as the fans screamed “Suicidal” over and over. They returned and finished with their theme song “Pledge Your Allegiance”. The band invited everyone in the crowd to come on stage to mosh, headbang and sing the epic chorus chant. There must have been 100 or more people on stage with the band and you could barely see them behind a wall of fans. It was a pretty damn cool sight to see. While the die-hard fan in me was still yearning for a “Waking The Dead” or just more song off of Lights… Camera…. Revolution! or How Will I Laugh Tomorrow….. but I really can’t quibble too much. The band was amazing, the song selection was righteous and the fans were some of the best I’ve ever been around.
Robert Trujillo (METALLICA) was in a funk metal group, fact. It had members of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES in it, fact. It was awesome, debatable fact. However, INFECTIOUS GROOVES are back (if for just one night) and have announced a KROQ-sponsored show at the House of Blues in West Hollywood in November. You’re welcome, HED PE.
Speaking of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, the band just released an album of re-recordings and are set to embark on a gigantic fall tour! Dates below.
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES U.S. Tour 2010
Join The Army/ Deja Vu Tour 10/15/2010 Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
10/16/2010 Roseland – Portland, OR
10/17/2010 Showbox – Seattle, WA 10/19/2010 Phoenix Theatre- Petaluma, CA
10/20/2010 Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
10/22/2010 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
10/24/2010 Pima County Fairground – Tucson, AZ
10/26/2010 Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO
10/28/2010 Al Rosa – Columbus, OH
10/29/2010 Harpo’s – Detroit, MI
10/30/2010 Eagles – Milwaukee, WI
10/31/2010 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
11/02/2010 Pops – St. Louis, MO
11/04/2010 Meridioen – Houston, TX
11/06/2010 Palladium Showroom – Dallas, TX
11/07/2010 Fun Fun Fun Fest – Austin, TX
11/09/2010 State Theatre – Tampa, FL
11/10/2010 Firestone – Orlando, FL
11/12/2010 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
11/13/2010 Palladium – Worcester, MA
11/14/2010 Terminal 5 – New York, NY
11/15/2010 Altar Bar – Pittsburgh, PA
11/17/2010 Metro – Chicago, IL
11/18/2010 Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN
11/20/2010 Summit – Denver, CO
11/21/2010 Sunshine Theatre – Albuquerque, NM
