Date: Friday, July 13, 2012
Venue: Ten Eleven, San Antonio
Bill: Cannibal Bitch, Aggravator, Hexlust, Age of Fire, Machinage
In June of 2012, Hexlust held two full-band practices, something we hadn't done in... I don't even remember how long. Since JT moved to San Antonio in late summer of 2010, and Tarzan followed a year later, I really don't think all four of us had got together to stretch our muscles in the proverbial woodshed even once. A shame, really, not only because it combined with our late-2011 setbacks to bring about our fuckeryfest of a show this past March, but also because Hexlust is a band practically founded on the concept of a group of friends getting together just to play fast music and tell dick jokes for shits and giggles. With these two practices, we were determined to get the magic back and have a hellaciously hexcellent show to put on when we played with our Brazilian friends Machinage.
That first session, we plowed through literally every song we've ever played together: all eight original songs and all the covers, even numbers like "Open Casket" and "Chainsaw Gutsfuck" that we haven't played live in years. Most of it was great, some of it was shaky (especially toward the end of that hour and a half thrash fest), but all of it was fun. We were smiling and laughing and cracking joke riffs, throwing out the first few bars of "Photograph" (by Def Leppard) and "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution," just like we used to. The second practice was just a little more serious-face, with the focus being more on crafting and rehearsing a set list for our upcoming show. We decided on our five "major" songs plus an old favorite, "Hellhammer," our stylistic tribute to the early works of Tom G Warrior.
Warming up on my snare-mounted practice pad outside the Ten Eleven the night of the show, listening to the surprisingly catchy Cannibal Bitch and the familiar, energetic Aggravator, I went through every tricky beat and complicated fill in our songs, traded hahaha-hope-we-don't-suck cracks with the guys, and checked out every fail-potential piece of my kit, from the arms of my cymbal stands to the nuts holding my double-kick pedal together. We may have had the Hexmagic back and were perfectly happy just hanging out and jamming together again, but getting up onstage in front of these folks tonight and not sucking would really, ya know, be totally awesome.
HEXLUST
Our set was fantastic. Worries be gone! All six songs we played went off without any major hitches, nobody dropped a pick or accidentally unplugged their guitar by stepping on a cable, and I didn't drop any sticks or have my floor tom fall over on me. The crowd was responsive and supportive, though very small, maybe 25 people tops. Friday the 13th is a very choice night for metal shows, so audiences are almost always split. In fact, there was at least one show going on in San Antonio and another in Austin featuring bands we associate with, so we knew we would be without the support of many of our musician friends and usual fans.
We had only two gripes concerning our performance, and even they are pretty small: Tony was having himself a slippery-hand kind of evening, I don't know if it was the moisturizer he used or the soap in the bathroom or if he was just a sweaty-palmed dude that night, but his solos were a little sloppy and he couldn't hit a harmonic to save his hair. This took a lot of oomph out of his whammy dives, of which there are plenty in Hexlust songs. The second complaint was my own, that no matter how much I warmed up before going onstage, I wasn't able to achieve my effortless speed, where my super-fast hi-hat and ride patterns are as simple as flexing my wrists, allowing me to relax more. It normally takes about one or two full songs for me to "break through the wall," so to speak, so it was rather frustrating to find that we were into the second half of our set and I was still having to actually "push" for my speed. As a result, I thought my individual performance was sluggish and forced, but of course no one noticed, not even my bandmates. Everyone was just all, "Those fills were really smooth Dart!" and "Hey Dart, you didn't drop a stick this time!" As long as everyone's happy, I can sleep at night.
Speaking of sticks, a quick little side note. About an hour and a half into the drive to San Antonio, I realized I had left my stick bag at home, so I texted JT and asked if he could pick me up a couple pairs of sticks, any brand as long as they were size 5B. When I arrived, I was met with "Dart, these sticks were like $13 a pair! Why are they so expensive!" I explained that they're usually not, and then saw that he had bought two pairs of Pro-Mark Shira Kashi Oak, said to be the highest-quality, most unbreakable sticks offered. It was immediately obvious that he had simply told a clerk at Guitar Center to get him two pairs of any 5B sticks, giving the guy license to do what any competent sales clerk would do: go for the high-ticket items. My fault for not being more specific. Oh and let me tell you, those high-dollar "unbreakable" sticks didn't last three Hexlust songs without one of them breaking at the tip! Yeesh.
Set list:
FBF
Conjure
Baphomet
Hellhammer
Meganecropolis
Tombs
AGE OF FIRE
(To the tune of "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies)
Once, there was this band who
Back-lined for Machinage, they went on after Hexlust
And when, their time to play came,
That, band, had disappeared from the venue
We couldn't quite explain it, they'd only just
Beeeeeeeen theeeeeeeeeere
MACHINAGE
With Age of Fire oddly absent, we happily volunteered our own gear for Machinage's use. In fact, my drum kit wasn't even broken down yet, so getting things set up for them was a simple matter of putting stuff back onstage and rearranging it in a playable fashion. Folks, if you ever get a chance to be in the audience while pro-grade musicians play music on your equipment, by all means take it. It's an oddly gratifying experience hearing quality metal being blasted at you on gear that, a few hours earlier, had been taking up space in your parents' spare room. It's almost as if their professionalism is injected into your gear and actually makes it sound better than it really is! We experienced this before, back in 2009 when we played with the mighty Midnight, though thankfully this evening's performance didn't end with Tony nearly on the brink of tears over his blown-out amp.
Machinage really brought the fury to that small audience in that tiny club, plowing into the attendees with their groove-heavy take on modern thrash, dazzling those close to the stage with their top-notch musicianship. Both guitarists possessed an enviable tone that was equally thick and sharp, and the solos, while not as shred-heavy as I prefer, were strategically placed and expertly played. The lead vocalist, Fábio, even sang while soling on occasion. Drummer Ricardo is of that rare breed of skinsman who is both capable beatsmith and consumate showman. Between his crushing rhythms and smooth, linear fills, he was always finding an opportunity to throw a thumbs-up or the metal horns at the audience, or to make a face for the camera, all without once breaking cadence. Even when my snare stand fell backward over the double pedal and popped his snare drum out onto the floor, he simply moved his snare hits to the toms, not upsetting the song at all as I wormed my way onstage to fix the issue.
A cover and a half were present in Machinage's set list: A full rendition of Sepultura's "Territory," one of the highlights off a very hit-and-miss album, for which we were all on board; and a teasing bit of Pantera's "Walk," which pleased many in the audience but left me a little ambivalent. Hexlust's opinion of Texas' go-to metal act isn't necessarily well-documented, but if you've talked to us about music for any length of time you've likely heard our apathetic-at-best take on Dime and the gang. I was happy it was just a tiny bit of "Walk" played, and didn't let it color my opinion of these guys in the slightest.
POST-SHOW
I think I had three instances of Ricardo walking up and giving me a big hug and a heavily-accented "Thank you, man!" after the set. In fact, all of Machinage were very liberal with expressing their gratitude to us for the use of our gear. All we could do was thank them right back for showing us how good our bargain-price contraptions sound in the hands of the well-practiced. We spent a short while engaging in that wheel-greasing and fat-chewing, then decided to hit the road.
By the way, Age of Fire did show up, when Machinage were already onstage. Apparently they had gone to get a bite to eat and had taken a little longer at Pizza Hut than they had anticipated. Sorry guys, gotta call a technical foul here. If you haven't even gone onstage yet, a "bite to eat" should consist of a hot dog and chips at a gas station ideally no more than five minutes away from the venue. Any place that involves sitting down and ordering is out of the question, and if the band right before you is already playing, forget it, no matter where you plan on going. It's just too big a risk.
Anyway, AoF went on after Machinage. I have no idea how many people stuck around for them because we took off. Our obligation was fulfilled, and the headlining band had already played, so for us the show was over. I hope they had a decent set and have learned from this evening's judgement lapse. We'll see what the future holds, maybe we'll even get another opportunity to play with them if we ever make it back out to the Dallas/Ft Worth area.
