[ Music Index | Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]

Beat Street
By Todd S. Inoue

Metal Detector Sans-serif Metallica plays San Jose YEAH, I WAS there as 9,000 sun-baked Metallica fans greeted the return of the Great White Noise last week at Tower Records at Blossom Hill and Santa Teresa. From the new sans-serif logo to the alternarock-influenced new single, Metallica is trying to break out of the metal cage, but many fans haven't gotten the message yet. The quartet showed off its musical growth and new-shorn locks while the crowd saved its energy for old flames, which Metallica indulged, sticking mostly to tried winners--"So What," "Whiplash," "Creeping Death" and "Sad But True." The hit single--"Until It Sleeps"--couldn't satisfy a crowd revving for the high-octane energy of "Seek and Destroy." Remnants of metal's vainglorious past kept popping up--"Show us yer tits," the metal "horn" salute, bad tattoos (I saw a Ratt tattoo) and more feathered haircuts than a Charlie's Angels convention. All were displayed with a re-energized sense of nostalgia and without a scratch of self-consciousness. With Metallica headlining, and the Cocteau Twins rumored to be the special guest, Lollapalooza should be a dilly this year. Hello Goodbye Those who caught Metro's Rumble in the Ballroom show with Skankin' Pickle have bragging rights, but not particularly good ones. They saw the last show with Mike Park singing lead. According to Park, the constant touring and conflicting business ideas regarding the band's label, Dill Records, drained the excitement out of him. Park is an enigmatic performer and one of the few Asian Americans fronting a popular band. Park feels that, over time, his presence won't be missed. "When [bassist] Mike Mattingly left, after a year, nobody remembered," Park said. "A year later, nobody will remember I left." Meanwhile, Park has started his own label, Asian Man Records, which will release Less Than Jake, Slapstick and the Bruce Lee Band (Park w/Less Than Jake). He will also release Skankin' Pickle--The Mike Park Collection, with 74 minutes of self-penned tracks. Skankin' Pickle will play, minus Park, on the Live 105 BFD indie stage on Friday (June 14), along with the Mr. T. Experience, Crumb, Bracket and Imperial Teen. Sax player Mike Liu of Janitors Against Apartheid will pinch-hit and the band will perform its non-Park repertoire. Upper Edge Bracket Edge booker Jimmy Arceneaux celebrates his own bad self with a huge show. He's putting on the Rubbergroove Birthday Bash on June 20 with Diatribe, Clubberlang, Cottonhead, Lithium, Milkshake, Willies Conception, Spitkiss, Wonder, Monkey, Smashmouth, the Kindred, Tribal Disco Noise, Floodland, 4 Banger and, of course, his own band, New Idol Sun. ... Agenda has added an 8pm Dada show on Wednesday (June 19). It will be broadcast live on KFOG, so don't do anything to embarrass the city, tough guy. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]