What a way to end my sixteen years in LaLaland!
My good friend Keller and I hit the Palladium for Anthrax's 40th-anniversary tour. It was a fantastic night with a fantastic friend - the man who is driving with me in a 20-Foot Uhaul starting Sunday night at 7:00 PM, LA to Clarksville.
The Modello tall cans were flowing. The Palladium was hot as Hades, and with my lungs, after a mile-and-a-half walk from Keller's to the venue, it didn't take me longer than five minutes to realize that, despite my best intentions, wearing a mask in that fucking place would be impossible.
Black Label Society opened - great at what they do, but not really my thing. The five-plus minute behind-the-back guitar battle Zakk Wylde and his guitarist Dario Lorina tore the stage up with during the penultimate number of their set was pretty mindblowing, but really, I was just antsy for Anthrax. They did not disappoint, despite the fact that they only played twelve songs. But oh, what a great twelve songs. Here's the setlist:
1) Among the Living
2) Caught in a Mosh
3) Madhouse
4) The Devil You Know
5) Keep it in the Family
6) Metal Thrashing Mad
7) Anti Social
8) I Am the Law
9) In the End
10) Only
11) Bring the Noise - with Chuck D!!!
12) Indians
When they brought out Chuck D, I seriously teared up. I stepped away from Anthrax for most of my twenties and early thirties, but I always held the reverence for Persistence and Among. Persistence was the first record I bought by them - from a fucking Phar-Mor no less, and it made them my band back in the day. Sure, I loved Metalica, Slayer and Megadeth, but Anthrax always spoke to me the most, and it was great to see them again, this time the first for me with Joey, as the only previous show of theirs I attended was during High School, when Mr. Brown and I caught the John Bush-era 'Thrax at Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom - complete with Quicksand and White Zombie opening. That was another amazing night with another amazing friend, and I still remember the ride home in Brown's car, when he popped in Sugar's Copper Blue, we rolled with windows down and hit Lake Shore Drive on a crisp night that was twenty-nine years ago to today. Talk about crazy synchronicities here, on the even of my urban exodus.
Video from Matt Bower's youtube channel, which is pretty cool, so head on over and give him some love HERE.
Read:
Inspired by an episode of the Weird Studies podcast and a slowly rekindled desire to dip my toes back into the Occult, I pulled Aleister Crowley's Magick in Theory and Practice off the shelf the other day and began reacquainting myself with it.
I bought this 17 or 18 years ago from The Atlantis Bookshop in London, and while I've read parts of it, Crowley's writing has always been so opaque to me, that frustration has always ultimately thwarted any serious attempts to read this in its entirety. Eventual failure or not, I'm feeling like it might be time to give it another go.
Playlist:
I've been so busy finishing out my last week in-person at the week at work, I've not had a chance to post in some time, so of course, if I actually recorded everything I've listened to it would be quite the egregious scroll for you, dear reader. Instead, here are some highlights up to and including today, July 30th, 2022:
Trail of the Dead - XI: Bleed Here Now...
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST
High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings
High on Fire - Surrounded By Thieves
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Milk Cult - Love God
Various - Daptone Gold
Greg Puciato - Mirrorcell
Anthrax - pretty much all their albums, all day. Fuel for the endless day of packing
Bria - Cuntry Covers Vol. 1
John Cale - Fear
Infectious Grooves - The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move
Ozzy - Ultimate Sin
Card:
My intention was to do a big, involved spread for my departure, but I have neither the time or the strength for that. Here then, is a three:
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Collaboration, honed through conflict/change, leads to a new status quo. Or something like that. Again, exhausted. This is a pretty pivotal moment in my life, so I should try to revisit this when I'm not falling asleep while I type.
You can pick up Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot deck HERE.
