Patrick McGrath, WHRW News
Let me start off by saying that I am not a loud rock aficionado. I do not listen to loud rock, mosh pits intimidate me, and I have not made any significant attempts to embrace metal. Until this semester. I agreed to brave the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena this past Friday, October 9th, tried to keep an open mind, and braced myself for Rob Zombie and Godsmack, my first metal concert. And to my relief, I enjoyed the show thanks to the knowledge of WHRW Loud Rock Director Mike Martinez and the dynamic performances of both groups.
We made our way down to the stage, standing on tiles placed atop the ice surface, eagerly waiting for the show to start. Suddenly the house lights went out and the stage lights put a red glow throughout the arena as DJ Ginger Fish took the stage. With each new song, Mike would tell me the title, artist, genre, and a brief background on the selection, proving to be a helpful “heavy metal tour guide.” After the masked DJ had sufficiently pumped up the crowd and a brief intermission, Rob Zombie took the stage by storm. He started off his set with “More Human Than Human,” one of several White Zombie songs that he performed throughout the night. He also worked covers of James Brown, Grand Funk Railroad, and the Ramones into the band’s performance. We were able to get a close up view of the band at the beginning of the set and a wide view of the whole stage for the end of the show. Rob Zombie concluded his show by climbing off the stage and running through the crowd. One of the first high fives was given to our Loud Rock Director, who I’m sure has still not washed his hand. When Zombie brought his performance to a close and the house lights came up, I found myself pleasantly surprised with my first taste of a metal show. There were no mosh pits, no growling or screaming into the microphone, just good music with an exciting theatrical performance.
After the intermission, I was excited to see Godsmack, since Rob Zombie pleasantly surprised me and the two bands play a similar style of metal. After a brief video introduction, the Boston-based band took the stage to the Dropkick Murphy’s hit “I’m Shipping Up To Boston,” and the show was under way. Godsmack started their set off with the song “Whatever,” which then blended into the title track of their new album, “1000hp.” Although Godsmack was significantly heavier than Rob Zombie, I still found that as a newcomer to metal I was easily able to get lost in the music and enjoy the show. The band mixed in older songs with other tracks from “1000hp,” and even played “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC, the latter of which was a special treat for those in attendance on October 9th. The night concluded with a three-song encore, the last of which was their most popular song, “I Stand Alone,” ending the night on a positive note.
Overall, this was an excellent concert. Despite my lack of knowledge in the metal genre, I found it very enjoyable to listen to and experience. I left the Maines Arena eager to download some of the songs and to research what other artists and bands were comparable to both Rob Zombie and Godsmack. I’m not going to only listen to metal from now on, but that doesn’t mean I can’t add some Godsmack songs to my iTunes and some Rob Zombie for a workout playlist. Although I was hesitant to go to this concert, I am very thankful that I decided to keep an open mind to the world of metal because I emerged from the concert with a new appreciation and understanding of metal, as well as Rob Zombie and Godsmack.
