The Babcock Report: Thanks For Kicking My Ass

Sunday night LaRocque and I had the pleasure of attending the Genghis Tron/Baroness show at the Worcester Palladium. As I sit here typing away my ears are still ringing...a constant reminder of how pitiful I am compared to the awesome display of Metal that I witnessed approximately 48 hours ago.

I have not been to many concerts over the past couple of years. There was a time in my life when I frequented them on a regular basis but for one reason or another they have become less of a staple in my life as of late. It felt good to hand security my ticket and make my way inside to mill about pre-show with the rest of the crowd. LaRocque was immediately exposed as a potential "outsider" to the scene as he was sporting a Boston Celtics vest and sandals. However, when one of the guards commented on the badassedness of his vest he revealed the patchwork duct-taping that was holding it together, immediately sending the message to those around us that we were not fucking around. I liken this moment to an ass kicking delivered by a new guy in prison just to let the other inmates know that he is not going to be just a piece of ass candy for the duration of his stay. Needless, to say, the night was going well.

I will admit that I am not the hugest of Hard Core/Metal/Progressive Sludge (a term that has been used by other seemingly more knowledgeable folks to describe Baroness, a pretty awesome and accurate description in my opinion). The first time that I heard Baroness was a momentous Saturday morning following a trip to the Celtics game (also with LaRocque, and come to think of it he may have been wearing that same vest) that left me partially crippled due to alcohol consumption and all around debauchery. I spent twelve hours that day working, and let me tell you, the best part of that day was when I popped in Baroness' Red Album (outstanding) and let the sweet sounds of Metal bring me back to consciousness in order to become a (somewhat) contributing member of society. Since that day I have longed to experience this music in person and again, I couldn't have been more fulfilled.

As a random side note...I used to go to a lot of Metal/Hard Rock concerts where I have seen the likes of Godsmack, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Pantera, and the strangest thing was that at every Rock concert I went to for a 2 year period in the Boston area I saw a dude who looked and dressed EXACTLY like the WWE wrestler The Undertaker. He was usually prowling around on the fringes of a mosh pit, looking destitute and forlorn, albeit filled with rage, as if someone had perpetrated some unthinkable crime against him or his family and his only chance for redemption and revenge was to rock out really fucking hard, occasionally sending an elbow or shoulder into an unsuspecting mosher sending him crumpling to the ground. It was a sight to behold. I really kind of expected him to be there, I may even have had the balls to shake his hand.

So anyway, I didn't feel like I stood out to much, and not like I cared, I just don't like to be made out to be some tool who wants to feel badass and therefor goes to a certain kind of concert. I noticed that there were many red sox hats in the crowd, which was pleasing, and while I had no visible tattoos or piercings, when the Baroness' set began Larocque and I made our way up to what would become the edge of the Mosh pit and there we proceeded to be dominated by a symphony of shred, as it were.

One of the best things about Baroness' set (we only stayed for them and Genghis Tron-- the opener--who I will speak briefly of in a moment) was that there was no talking before or in between songs. The sound check seemed to take an awkwardly long time to complete and seemed to really be pissing the guys off. By the time the first notes were set loose there seemed to be a palpable amount of frustration and excitement built up in the musicians and the crowd alike. I cannot accurately describe the awesomeness of the set that followed; a CD will give you a taste but you owe yourself the feast that is the live experience. Just as the second song was beginning to pick up pace I directed LaRocque's attention to a guy a few rows ahead of us who was reaching up to the ceiling with both hands and shaking; he seemed to be imagining that he was holding two still-beating hearts in his hands as his fingers were opened just so as to conjure up the image. I said, "Dude, that guy is fucking intense" and then he proceeded to toss about 10 people almost nearly onto the stage as the roar of the first chorus was released. It was awesome.

Following Baroness' set I made my way upstairs to purchase a Baroness Tshirt, which is extremely badass...although, in terms of sick Tshirt designs I give the edge to Genghis Tron. I was a little overwhelmed by Genghis Tron, but it was my first experience with them and both LaRocque and I agreed, the intensity of such a band can be off putting at first blush. I have since acquired their CD and will continue my exposure to them. We capped our evening off by skipping out on the rest of the show (two other bands were set to play: The Red Chord and Converge) and ordering some wings and sodas (we seem to be maturing in some strange way) and discussing the Celtics and the NFL draft. LaRocque took great pleasure of answering my incredibly stupid question: "what pick do the Giants have?"..."Last (Insert Big Shit Eating Grin Here)". Touche old friend, touche.

That's all for now, I have recently touched down in Gaithersburg, MD where I will be residing for the next 6 weeks, so stay tuned for a "Greetings from..," post as well as more Babcock Reports and various other rants and postings of Gary Wright videos.

Thanks for stopping by.