Welcome back to Thrak Attack! It's been a big week for us with a new website, new pages on facebook, twitter, and instagram. We also got started on our recording for podcasts and videos. This week was a big one with lot's of news and releases. An album release by Coheed and Cambria, a Foo Fighters concert, a Hobo Johnson concert, and Big Mouth Season 2. So with introductions out of the way, let's get rocking!
NEWS!
-a new 3DSXL SNES edition coming later this month.
-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame released it's nominations for inductees including: The cure, Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, Todd Rundgren, and the Zombies.
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey will be released on Nintendo Switch via the cloud only in Japan.
-ASUS Gaming Phone releasing October 18th.
-Nintendo Labo releasing a Mario Kart update. The update allows you to use the motorcycle toy-con with Mario Kart.
Coheed and Cambria "Vaxis- Act 1: The Unheavenly Creatures"
Coheed and Cambria's newest album is a true return to form the band. This album promises to kick off a prequel story to their amazing Amory Wars project. The story is a prequel to their previous albums that takes place in between the Afterman albums and their original albums. The story is more a love story and shows in the songs that are apart of the album. I really enjoy this album much more than "The Color Before the Sun" and "The Black Rainbow". My initial thoughts of the album was I like half of the album. I liked half of each song on the album meaning I liked half of the album. But after a few more listens, I really turned around on it. There are still some songs that fall short but when I enjoy a song, I enjoy it all the way through. There is a new motive that pops up all throughout the album similar to "Keeping the Blade" from their first few albums. Here's each track and my thoughts on that track.
Prologue- Great way to set the stage and the tone of the album.
Dark Sentencer- The biggest song on the album and one of it's best, not top 3 but really close. I also love the use of the Amory Wars theme at the end.
Unheavenly Creatures- The second song released for the album and also my favorite. It's a little poppier than the others but I really enjoy it.
Toys- My number 3 on the album. From the break to the end is phenomenal. That solo is amazing!
Black Sunday- Has a really catchy motif that goes through the entire song that I really enjoy, but aside from that it's really generic.
Queen of the Dark- I really like the phrasing of this song and some of the effects used on the guitars at the end of the song.
True Ugly- still is half a good song and half a boring mess.
Love Protocol- Has an amazing chorus that really shows Claudio's vocal abilities.
The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)- There is nothing that stands out to me on this song.
Night Time Walkers- Sometimes I enjoy this song, sometimes I don't. I have to be in the right place to enjoy it.
The Gutter- This song should be a good one because it was used as one of the promotional songs for the album but I really don't care for it.
All on Fire- The second half of the album really drags for me. Including this song
It Walks Among Us- Same old same old nothing exciting.
Old Flames- is one of the singles and it should be. This song is catchy, fun, and upbeat and sets up the story for the next album. Although I wish this was the last song on the album, this one feels like a closer and showcases the theme of The Unheavenly Creatures.
Lucky Stars- Is one of my favorite on the album and takes my #2 spot. Although it should be switched with Old Flames, the song is really well done. It's one of the few slow songs on the album and also have a bluesy feel to it that somehow works within the album.
With all of that being said, I really enjoy this album. Would I get it on vinyl? I plan on it!
Big Mouth: Season 2
Big Mouth is a crude, sexual, and offensive show with so much mature content and shock value... So why do I love it so much? Possibly due to the amazing cast and voice acting, or the personification of hormones (and later shame), or maybe because the show is self aware and knows how to make fun of itself. I really enjoyed Season 2 just as much as I enjoyed season 1. It expanded on the characters we knew already and gave some interesting character development to new characters or the supporting characters. I especially enjoyed seeing Coach Steve develop as a person, Greg taking responsibility for his actions, and the interplay between the hormone monsters and the shame wizard. One thing I realized while watching this show is why we enjoy it so much. It's because we all had an awkward experience growing up, embarrassing stories, finding ourselves, and dealing with those primal urges. But I also realized that on some level we still go through the same things. Even as an adult, I have those fears and urges and go through somewhat of the same situations that the kids do in the show. I do feel that some of the jokes go way to far and are only there for shock value which takes away from the actual comedic parts of the show. I also don't like how the school and the people who work there are portrayed in the show. As a school teacher I feel like it's that poor reputation we have on shows that make teachers feel and seem unprofessional. My question to you, however, is what do you think the purple creature at the end with Jessi is? I was thinking something to do with her period but she's already been through that. It shows up right after she kicks the hormone monster out so maybe it's an adolescence thing? Or an attitude creature? Those are my thoughts and ideas on the show, make sure you tell me what you thought and who you think the new character will be next season! Will this show make it onto my ultimate shelf/streaming service... no, but I do enjoy it.
Foo Fighters: Concrete and Gold Tour
I have been a fan of the Foo Fighters ever since "Learn to Fly" in 1999. From then on I was hooked. I bought every album, watched every music video, watched countless live footage of the band. I believe "Times Like These" is one of the best rock songs of all time! But we're here to talk about the live performance. So let's talk about the big 5 aspects of a concert. Venue, Performance, Set List, Lighting, and Sound.
Venue- The concert was at the Talking Stick Arena which is a great place to see a basketball game and a horrible place to see a concert. We were very far away and there weren't enough screens to show what they were doing on stage. This has nothing to do with the Foo's themselves, I just wished they performed in the center of the court and not on the end.
Performance- They know how to get the crowd going. They had great stage presence, every member of the band had a chance to shine. and they took time out of their FULL set list to talk with the audience and interact with them. Dave Grohl is a phenomenal performer and knows how to pause a song to get a reaction from a crowd and draw them into the next part of the song.
Set List- Even though it was the Concrete and Gold Tour, they only played about 4 songs from that album and then went back in time in their career. So here are my favorites from each album they played. "Run" from Concrete and Gold is a ROCKING song. "Something From Nothing" was the only song from Sonic Highways though I wished they played "Congregation". "Arlandria" had an awesome break and build up. "The Pretender" is another heavy hitting rock song from Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace with a good break to get us ready for the final chorus. "Best of You" should have been their final song with an extended solo and outro, they also broke their time traveling trend with this song. "Times Like These" of course was fantastic, one of my favorites. "Learn to Fly" is just a fun song to sing to. "Everlong" was their last song of the night but should have been switched with "Best of You". Finally from their first album was "This is a Call". They also played an AMAZING mash up of John Lennon's "Imagine" and Van Halen's "Jump" which was a nice treat.
Lighting- Even though the venue was not great, the lighting was able to reach all the way to the back of the venue giving those people a connection to the stage which was a nice touch.
Sound- The sound wasn't great on the louder songs. It's hard to get speakers that loud that sound good. In order to reach everyone in the stadium, it has to be loud and when the sound is that loud the quality dips a bit.
All in all I think that the Foo Fighters had nothing to do with the downsides of the concert, This would have been much more suited for Comerica theatre which has a better sound system but not as many seats. Now I only have one more concert to review, and one more on my concert bucket list!
Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers @ the Van Buren
Spotify sent me an email and told me that 3 of my artists that I follow were coming to town. Courtney Barnett, Foo Fighters, and Hobo Johnson. I thought, sure! Let's go see all three! This was my first rap concert so I was interested to see what the vibe was like and let me tell you, this was the weirdest concert I've ever been to. So let's do the Big 5 of the performance!
Venue- The Van Buren is the best place to see a concert in the Valley of the Sun. It's a great location, standing room but never too crowded, has some bleachers on the side for better visuals, and just looks like a great place to see a concert.
Performance- How was the concert weird? You might ask. How about the genre of music. It's hip hop mixed with rock and R&B and a little bit a jam band thrown in. Some songs were acoustic on the piano, some were full band productions, there was even some songs that were just poetry. Frank would stop in the middle of songs to tell stories, he would pronounce words weird, they would play songs completely differently than the album, someone passed out during the concert and the whole room stopped. It was just a weird vibe but in a good way.
Set List- Hobo Johnson only have 1 full album and a single. Their best songs, in my opinion, were all played including "Sex and the City", "Mario and Link", "Romeo and Juliet", and of course "Peach Scone". They also played a lot of new songs which I am very excited to hear. Their first album was mainly Frank but when he started performing he got the band involved and then "Peach Scone" exploded on everyone's Facebook feed. So I am very interested to hear the new recordings of their 2nd album.
Lighting- The Van Buren does a lot with the lighting at such a small venue. They really change the mood and have such vivid colors to make each song stand out as unique. This is partially why I love this venue so much!
Sound- Unlike at the Arena, the sound was perfect at the Van Buren. When every instrument needed to stand out, it did. When the mic was only being used the volume came down creating a more intimate and appropriate feel to those pieces. It's another reason why the Van Buren is the best venue in the Valley.
All in all, this concert was fun. Some good stories, songs, and Frank is an amazing performer even though I could tell this was an off night for him. I could tell that if I saw them in a year, it would be a completely different performance. I am so excited to see where this group will go in the future! I'm hoping for big things for them!
Well, that was a lot of stuff. If you want to see videos and photos from the concert, please check out Thrak Attack's Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages and be sure to like and subscribe! There's gonna be a lot more content coming in the future and you don't want to miss out!
All the Best, Ross
NEWS!
-a new 3DSXL SNES edition coming later this month.
-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame released it's nominations for inductees including: The cure, Def Leppard, Devo, Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, Todd Rundgren, and the Zombies.
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey will be released on Nintendo Switch via the cloud only in Japan.
-ASUS Gaming Phone releasing October 18th.
-Nintendo Labo releasing a Mario Kart update. The update allows you to use the motorcycle toy-con with Mario Kart.
Coheed and Cambria "Vaxis- Act 1: The Unheavenly Creatures"
Coheed and Cambria's newest album is a true return to form the band. This album promises to kick off a prequel story to their amazing Amory Wars project. The story is a prequel to their previous albums that takes place in between the Afterman albums and their original albums. The story is more a love story and shows in the songs that are apart of the album. I really enjoy this album much more than "The Color Before the Sun" and "The Black Rainbow". My initial thoughts of the album was I like half of the album. I liked half of each song on the album meaning I liked half of the album. But after a few more listens, I really turned around on it. There are still some songs that fall short but when I enjoy a song, I enjoy it all the way through. There is a new motive that pops up all throughout the album similar to "Keeping the Blade" from their first few albums. Here's each track and my thoughts on that track.
Prologue- Great way to set the stage and the tone of the album.
Dark Sentencer- The biggest song on the album and one of it's best, not top 3 but really close. I also love the use of the Amory Wars theme at the end.
Unheavenly Creatures- The second song released for the album and also my favorite. It's a little poppier than the others but I really enjoy it.
Toys- My number 3 on the album. From the break to the end is phenomenal. That solo is amazing!
Black Sunday- Has a really catchy motif that goes through the entire song that I really enjoy, but aside from that it's really generic.
Queen of the Dark- I really like the phrasing of this song and some of the effects used on the guitars at the end of the song.
True Ugly- still is half a good song and half a boring mess.
Love Protocol- Has an amazing chorus that really shows Claudio's vocal abilities.
The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)- There is nothing that stands out to me on this song.
Night Time Walkers- Sometimes I enjoy this song, sometimes I don't. I have to be in the right place to enjoy it.
The Gutter- This song should be a good one because it was used as one of the promotional songs for the album but I really don't care for it.
All on Fire- The second half of the album really drags for me. Including this song
It Walks Among Us- Same old same old nothing exciting.
Old Flames- is one of the singles and it should be. This song is catchy, fun, and upbeat and sets up the story for the next album. Although I wish this was the last song on the album, this one feels like a closer and showcases the theme of The Unheavenly Creatures.
Lucky Stars- Is one of my favorite on the album and takes my #2 spot. Although it should be switched with Old Flames, the song is really well done. It's one of the few slow songs on the album and also have a bluesy feel to it that somehow works within the album.
With all of that being said, I really enjoy this album. Would I get it on vinyl? I plan on it!
Big Mouth: Season 2
Big Mouth is a crude, sexual, and offensive show with so much mature content and shock value... So why do I love it so much? Possibly due to the amazing cast and voice acting, or the personification of hormones (and later shame), or maybe because the show is self aware and knows how to make fun of itself. I really enjoyed Season 2 just as much as I enjoyed season 1. It expanded on the characters we knew already and gave some interesting character development to new characters or the supporting characters. I especially enjoyed seeing Coach Steve develop as a person, Greg taking responsibility for his actions, and the interplay between the hormone monsters and the shame wizard. One thing I realized while watching this show is why we enjoy it so much. It's because we all had an awkward experience growing up, embarrassing stories, finding ourselves, and dealing with those primal urges. But I also realized that on some level we still go through the same things. Even as an adult, I have those fears and urges and go through somewhat of the same situations that the kids do in the show. I do feel that some of the jokes go way to far and are only there for shock value which takes away from the actual comedic parts of the show. I also don't like how the school and the people who work there are portrayed in the show. As a school teacher I feel like it's that poor reputation we have on shows that make teachers feel and seem unprofessional. My question to you, however, is what do you think the purple creature at the end with Jessi is? I was thinking something to do with her period but she's already been through that. It shows up right after she kicks the hormone monster out so maybe it's an adolescence thing? Or an attitude creature? Those are my thoughts and ideas on the show, make sure you tell me what you thought and who you think the new character will be next season! Will this show make it onto my ultimate shelf/streaming service... no, but I do enjoy it.
Foo Fighters: Concrete and Gold Tour
I have been a fan of the Foo Fighters ever since "Learn to Fly" in 1999. From then on I was hooked. I bought every album, watched every music video, watched countless live footage of the band. I believe "Times Like These" is one of the best rock songs of all time! But we're here to talk about the live performance. So let's talk about the big 5 aspects of a concert. Venue, Performance, Set List, Lighting, and Sound.
Venue- The concert was at the Talking Stick Arena which is a great place to see a basketball game and a horrible place to see a concert. We were very far away and there weren't enough screens to show what they were doing on stage. This has nothing to do with the Foo's themselves, I just wished they performed in the center of the court and not on the end.
Performance- They know how to get the crowd going. They had great stage presence, every member of the band had a chance to shine. and they took time out of their FULL set list to talk with the audience and interact with them. Dave Grohl is a phenomenal performer and knows how to pause a song to get a reaction from a crowd and draw them into the next part of the song.
Set List- Even though it was the Concrete and Gold Tour, they only played about 4 songs from that album and then went back in time in their career. So here are my favorites from each album they played. "Run" from Concrete and Gold is a ROCKING song. "Something From Nothing" was the only song from Sonic Highways though I wished they played "Congregation". "Arlandria" had an awesome break and build up. "The Pretender" is another heavy hitting rock song from Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace with a good break to get us ready for the final chorus. "Best of You" should have been their final song with an extended solo and outro, they also broke their time traveling trend with this song. "Times Like These" of course was fantastic, one of my favorites. "Learn to Fly" is just a fun song to sing to. "Everlong" was their last song of the night but should have been switched with "Best of You". Finally from their first album was "This is a Call". They also played an AMAZING mash up of John Lennon's "Imagine" and Van Halen's "Jump" which was a nice treat.
Lighting- Even though the venue was not great, the lighting was able to reach all the way to the back of the venue giving those people a connection to the stage which was a nice touch.
Sound- The sound wasn't great on the louder songs. It's hard to get speakers that loud that sound good. In order to reach everyone in the stadium, it has to be loud and when the sound is that loud the quality dips a bit.
All in all I think that the Foo Fighters had nothing to do with the downsides of the concert, This would have been much more suited for Comerica theatre which has a better sound system but not as many seats. Now I only have one more concert to review, and one more on my concert bucket list!
Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers @ the Van Buren
Spotify sent me an email and told me that 3 of my artists that I follow were coming to town. Courtney Barnett, Foo Fighters, and Hobo Johnson. I thought, sure! Let's go see all three! This was my first rap concert so I was interested to see what the vibe was like and let me tell you, this was the weirdest concert I've ever been to. So let's do the Big 5 of the performance!
Venue- The Van Buren is the best place to see a concert in the Valley of the Sun. It's a great location, standing room but never too crowded, has some bleachers on the side for better visuals, and just looks like a great place to see a concert.
Performance- How was the concert weird? You might ask. How about the genre of music. It's hip hop mixed with rock and R&B and a little bit a jam band thrown in. Some songs were acoustic on the piano, some were full band productions, there was even some songs that were just poetry. Frank would stop in the middle of songs to tell stories, he would pronounce words weird, they would play songs completely differently than the album, someone passed out during the concert and the whole room stopped. It was just a weird vibe but in a good way.
Set List- Hobo Johnson only have 1 full album and a single. Their best songs, in my opinion, were all played including "Sex and the City", "Mario and Link", "Romeo and Juliet", and of course "Peach Scone". They also played a lot of new songs which I am very excited to hear. Their first album was mainly Frank but when he started performing he got the band involved and then "Peach Scone" exploded on everyone's Facebook feed. So I am very interested to hear the new recordings of their 2nd album.
Lighting- The Van Buren does a lot with the lighting at such a small venue. They really change the mood and have such vivid colors to make each song stand out as unique. This is partially why I love this venue so much!
Sound- Unlike at the Arena, the sound was perfect at the Van Buren. When every instrument needed to stand out, it did. When the mic was only being used the volume came down creating a more intimate and appropriate feel to those pieces. It's another reason why the Van Buren is the best venue in the Valley.
All in all, this concert was fun. Some good stories, songs, and Frank is an amazing performer even though I could tell this was an off night for him. I could tell that if I saw them in a year, it would be a completely different performance. I am so excited to see where this group will go in the future! I'm hoping for big things for them!
Well, that was a lot of stuff. If you want to see videos and photos from the concert, please check out Thrak Attack's Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages and be sure to like and subscribe! There's gonna be a lot more content coming in the future and you don't want to miss out!
All the Best, Ross
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