Reply #81: A few . . .

[HughBeaumont]

Mr. Bungle opening for System of a Down, Incubus and Boy Hits Car. System was only OK that evening but the bands that went on directly before them sucked furious amounts of ASS. Why Incubus got immensely popular besides the lead vocalist being a jeans-creamer is beyond me completely. That was the WORST ersatz-Def-Leppard-covering-the-Chili-Peppers crap I've ever seen in my life. Their hour seemed like days. And Boy Hits Car was a forgettable half-drunk embarrassment. Bungle is such a great collection of talent and composition and the audience knew it. They were chanting their name throughout other band's sets.

Nine Inch Nails as the middle act on Lollapalooza I. NIN in a Cleveland return. Terrible Lie started and turned the entire Blossom music center into a riot and the pavillion area into a giant mosh pit (which included several hundred people from the lawn). Not even Jane's Addiction, whom I love to death, could top that performance.

The Melvins opening for Tomahawk. I like most Mike Patton bands, but Tomahawk makes merely average music considering who's in it. And the Melvins shouldn't play second banana to ANYone. Period. Wasn't even a contest.

Every band that preceded the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lollapalooza 1992. My first and last Chili Peppers show. Weak sound, indifferent and obviously high Anthony Keidis, non-energetic show, total disappointment. Among the acts that blew them away that day: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ice Cube, Ministry (and they didn't even bust out "Jesus Built My Hot Rod") . . . I even thought LUSH was better than them.

Mastodon opening for Killswitch Engage. No small wonder why Mastodon is going to be the next huge metal act, as their riffing, sound, songs and stage presence made KE's metalbore sound plain in comparison.

High on Fire opening for Mushroomhead. WHY they went on this tour I DO not know. Possibly one of the loudest and most metal bands in existence opening for a band of 499 costumed clowns that play 10th-rate FNM throwaways mixed with Peabody's-core (Clevelanders will get that joke). An insult. Lots of mallgoths covering their ears. It made me laugh. Having to sit through Mushroomhead's non-educated 'Crombie-core fanbase cover their ears while HOF blew them off the stage was truly amazing.

Helmet opening for Faith No More. To FNM's credit, it's really REALLY hard to upstage them live, but Helmet had such perfect sound and vibe that night that they did. Plus FNM's classic line-up (Bottom, Patton, Bordin, Martin and Gould) was on their last legs, as there was lots of in-fighting and you could tell.

Primus opening for Fishbone. Fishbone is a way better live act than they are a studio one, but Primus was coming up through the ranks with Sailing the Seas of Cheese, one of the 1990's best albums. They owned that sold-out night.

Neurosis opening for Integrity. This was in 1996. That isn't a typo. Some brain surgeon actually scheduled Neurosis, one of the best live bands like, EVER, to job for Cleveland-core heroes Integrity. To the uninitiated, 1996 Through Silver and Blood-era Neurosis is as close as you're going to come to hearing a nuclear war accompanied by tribal juggernaut beats. It took all heavy music that was coming out back then and squashed it like a mere grape. And this was the first time I'd ever heard anything by Integrity. It was like following the DC firework display with backyard bottle rockets.

Forced Entry opening for Atrophy. FE were miles ahead of their time in 1989, but things simply didn't pan out for them. Their off-time heavy thrash served as a blueprint for many bands of this day and age. Anyway, Atrophy were nothing spectacular and they should have been placed lower on this bill.

Obituary opening for Sacred Reich. First Cleveland Obituary show. They turned the whole Agora ballroom into a giant pit and upstaged Sacred Reich and their pissy-pants frontman Phil Rind.

Napalm Death opening for Sacred Reich and Sepultura. This tour featured a Max-fronted Sepultura and Napalm Death was still the best act on that show. WAY more memorable than SR and just as good as Sepultura. That was a very riotous evening, as fans and the jock security butted heads quite often.

DBC and Forbidden opening for Sacred Reich. One of the best metal shows I've ever been to. Both openers scorched SR. Sacred Reich was the pushed underground metal act of it's day, but they didn't really endear themselves to crowds much (not Cleveland's anyway), so they didn't pan out. The frontman always yelled at the audience and was completely condescending for no reason.

Battles opening for Lightning Bolt. I'll go see Lightning Bolt again because they just piss energy, but Battles sonically outshone them.