Review- Soundgarden @ The Fillmore Detroit on January 27, 2013 in Detroit, MI

 Soundgarden @ The Fillmore Detroit on January 27, 2013 in Detroit, MI

The snowstorm caused our drive to the venue to take twice as long, but when they announced that they were coming to our godforsaken city in the month of January I expected as much. I went with my friend who saw them with me the last time Soundgarden rolled through town. I love ye olde State Theatre. I love the ornate wall carvings and it has great acoustics. Live Nation bought the venue in 2007 and renamed it The Fillmore Detroit. Whatever, it will always be the State to me. Or Clubland, which is what it was called the first time I saw a concert there.

We arrived around 8, and the line for the sold out show had dissipated. We walked in, got a drink and the band came on around 8:15 with no opening act. Spoonman was the song that they kicked off with the last time that they rolled through town. The band sounds great and looked little worse for the wear all these years later.

Jesus Christ Pose was the final song that they played at that 1996 show. Chris Cornell's voice still sounds great and he can still hit the high notes. Gun sounded great, ditto Let Me Drown. 

By Crooked Steps is my favorite song off of the new album after dozens of spins, and it sounds incredible live. The stage set consisted of a rear viewscreen which had different video displays throughout the show. I guess the days of bands having a tarp for a backdrop are long gone.

Before Rhinosaur Chris Cornell told a story about the last time they were here and how he stepped out onto the crowd and they held him over their heads as he walked out, holding him solid. He said he thought that would be “his new thing” and tried it the next night in a city he wouldn't name and they couldn't hold him up. He praised Detroit for our iron strength. Rhinosaur is a jam live. 

Hands All Over is another oldie that I never got to see them do live. For whatever reason I always missed these guys live and only caught them the one time in 1996, and they didn't do anything earlier than Badmotorfinger on that tour. You know a band's new album measures up when they go from an old fan favorite to a brand new song like Taree and the crowd is equally enthusiastic afterward. Matt Cameron pounded the Hell out of his skins throughout the night and seemed to be having a blast during My Wave. He is a part of two of the most successful Rock bands of the '90s, having joined Pearl Jam after Soundgarden broke up. 

The Day I Tried To Live sounded good, and I was paying close attention to Cornell's vocals and pleased to hear him hit the highs. It is forgivable when musicians get older for them to not live up to their past, but Soundgarden was ever bit as vital tonight as they were in their prime. Been Away Too Long was the third new song of the night. I wouldn't have minded if they did the whole new album live. Instead we got Hunted Down off of the Screaming Life EP. I found the mix between old deep cuts, new songs, and singles to be perfect. 

The thing that first drew me to this band on Badmotorfinger was how they sounded like a freight train that could go off of the rails at any moment. Drawing Flies is one of those songs, and it was sped up a notch, adding to that effect. The fourth new song of the night was Non-State Actor. During Blow Up The Outside World my friend made a crack how the last time we saw them there was a sea of lighters in the crowd. Now we have a sea of cellphone lights. This got me thinking about a lot of things that have happened between then and now. I was 23 the last time I saw the band. I'm now 39. The biggest problem that this country faced the last time the band rolled through town was a President who smoked pot and got blowjobs. Now...heh. Fell On Black Days indeed. 

Ugly Truth was another oldie. The band played a song tonight that they stated they had never performed live before, and that we were going to get to see them butcher it. Tighter & Tighter was a treat. These guys change their setlist up every night, which makes watching their setlists online a lot of fun. Zero Chance is another great song off of that same album. Born without a friend and bound to die to alone. 1996 was a point in time where I felt that way. Flower was another obscure one from Ultramega OK. 

I chuckled during Outshined. Not because of the performance, but because of the crowd. Gen X-ers were a fairly pretentious lot, eschewing live concert traditions back in the day. The backwards baseball hat, flannel and shorts wearing crowd would have never sang along to the chorus like they did last night. The crowd was mostly us oldsters, still cynical after all of these years. 

 Bones of Birds- The backdrop screen had images of snow and wrecked building, and it could have very well been shot in Detroit.

The band did a lot of songs off of Down On The Upside tonight, such as Burden In My Hand and Pretty Noose. Five total by my count. Mailman is a personal favorite of mine. Rowing sounded a bit different live and rounded out the set proper. 

At some point during these songs some idiot climbed up onto the ledge where there are suits of knight armor on each side of the stage. These are old, ornamental touches that go back to the mid 1920s when the venue was built. This asshat almost fell and broke the axe off of the knight. Cornell got a hold of it and proceeded to use it as a stage prop. I laughed and thought of that ridiculous Robert Plant segment in The Song Remains The Same where he's riding a horse with a sword. 

The encore was the unstoppable Rusty Cage and Incessant Mace off of Ultramega OK. 28 songs, two and a half hours. I initially thought that the $75 main floor ticket price (including service rape fee) was a bit steep, but after the quality and length of the performance felt it was worth every penny. I hope that Soundgarden comes back to Detroit before 2029.

After the show the snow had turned into rain, resulting in a slushy mess. Sesame Street Live was at the Fox Theatre, which is right next to the State, just one block over on Woodward. In a moment of idiocy, I thought that it would be tits to have my picture taken with Big Bird. 

Reviews: Vampire Tales Vol. 1; Marvel Masterworks- The Human Torch Vol. 1; Soundgarden- Live On I5

One could argue that we are currently living in the Golden Age of comic books. No, I am not saying that sales are anywhere near where they were in the halcyon days of the 1930s and 1940s, but in terms of the sheer depth and breadth of titles from all eras being readily available to all readers. Collections range from bargain priced crash courses into character history (i.e Essentials, Showcase Presents, Chronicles TPBs) to comprehensive high end collections (i.e. Masterworks, Archives, Omnibus editions, etc.) and all price points in between. Flip through a copy of Diamond Previews and see for yourself. On any given month, there are collections available from every decade (the 1930s- present day collections) in all shapes and sizes. Some are very affordable and go to the level of being...not as affordable. As a fan and reader foremost, I feel like I can stand at the crossroads and cherry pick comics from every decade and every genre, and bask in the warmth of the promise of future treasures from all eras being unearthed. When I was a collector starting out in the 1980s, it was current comic books and cheap-o '70s or lesser condition '60s comics. That was it. I couldn't even dream of affording, let alone reading, comic books from the '30s-50s. A fan starting out today could literally become an expert on the medium with far less investment.

VAMPIRE TALES VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2010; softcover)

Collects Vampire Tales Nos. 1-3 (cover dates 1973- February, 1974)

File this one under "dreams come true". I have long wanted to see this series collected in ANY format. It was released in Marvel's new "Graphic Novel" format, which is a bit smaller and narrower than a standard comic book. It's not my preferred format, but it's better than nothing. The cover image is a poor choice, especially when you consider how impressive each issue's painted cover is. Any one of them would have helped to make this a more attractive package.

All of the original text pieces are included, and the covers are presented in full color. The original issues were black and white. There are some reprints of Atlas Era Horror material as back up features, and they are included here as they were in the original issues of Vampire Tales.

I had Issue 3 back in the '80s. Morbius the Living Vampire has been a favorite of mine since I first encountered him in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #38 back in 1978. My Mom bought me that one evening when we went grocery shopping at Farmer Jack. Morbius was originally the star feature of this title until Issue 3, when all of the focus seemed to shift to Satana, the Devil's Daughter. I love '70s Horror comics, with their faux-Satanic, Hollywood-tinged evil. It's so much more interesting than "real" evil or Satanic stuff, which is just stupid.

One of the things that I enjoy about these '70s Marvel Horror magazines are the way that they push the envelope. Freed of the Comics Code Authority, they can do pretty much whatever they want to. Drug references, violence, bloodshed...they're all here. I have a double standard: I love this stuff in comics, but not in mainstream Marvel Comics. When it comes to Spider-Man, Captain America, etc., I want things to be age appropriate. When it's Horror or non-Marvel stuff, then the sky's the limit as far as I am concerned. Again, it's a total double standard and I freely admit it, but I think that it boils down to the fact that Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, etc., are all marketed to children, whereas Morbius the Living Vampire is not.

I am still keeping my fingers crossed for a comprehensive Morbius Hardcover series down the road. I'd love to see a Masterwork or an Omnibus. Hey, a guy can dream, right? Just like I used to dream about seeing this series reprinted...

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2006; Hardcover)

Collects selections from Strange Tales Nos. 101-117 and Strange Tales Annual No. 2 (cover dates October, 1962- February, 1964)

I picked this up at the Motor City Comic Con last May for $15 in mint condition, still sealed in the original factory shrinkwrap. I mean, the cover states that it's by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's got to be gold, right? Wrong! Stan Lee only plots and edits the bulk of these issues and turns over the scripting duties to brother Larry Lieber and other third stringers. Jack Kirby only does the occasional pencil layouts or inking, and Dick Ayers does most of the artwork. Ayers is my least favorite artist from this era of Marvel. His artwork leaves me cold. I forgot just how unlikable the Human Torch was back then. Come to think of it, I always considered him to the weak link of the Fantastic Four, being too hot headed and rash for my tastes.

The later issues in the book step up in quality when Stan and Jack handle the book themselves. Lots of fun stuff occurs, like the Torch fighting the Sandman, the Puppet Master, and  the Acrobat, who poses as Captain America in a story that came out before Marvel reintroduced Cap. After enjoying the last few issues in the book, I am on the fence about Volume 2.

This book was something of a shock to the system. I have become quite spoiled by the quality of Masterworks over the last few years, and forgot about some of the speed bumps that the line had along the way. This book is from the era where they got the coloring, linework, and paper down pat, but suffers from glued binding. Not just glued binding, but super tight mousetrap style binding. I'm serious, this is a two-fisted read. If you let go for one second, SNAP!, the book closes just like a mousetrap. Glued binding on hardcovers is the devil, and this was a trip back to the bad old days.

Soundgarden/ Live On I5 (A&M, 2011)

I have fond memories of the Soundgarden concert I attended in November of 1996, and I jumped at the chance to buy a live album recorded a month after that show. The setlist is a bit different than the one that I saw, and the CD doesn't sound anywhere near as powerful as the concert did. That's the drawback of live albums. While they are important documents of a specific era of any given band, it can't replicate the sensory experience that is a live concert.

The sound quality and performances are both excellent, and I wish that they would have released this years ago. Oh well, better late than never.