The Metalocalypse Has Begun

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls...Dying Time is Here."

The concert didn't start with that but I think all good heavy metal concerts should (as I think everyone should be required to do a Megadeth or a John Denver cover song). In spite of this the Dethklok show was awesome. I was really looking forward to it since I was unable to attend Prong on Monday due to illness...and I completely forgot about Gwar last week (although I still am not sure if I would have wanted to pay for them).

I arrived a little later than I would have normally liked due to working late and then having to head home to take care of my dogs (stupid dogs...always wanting food and water, some things are just so demanding!). I show up a little before 7:30pm...the parking lot is full. I was not sure how many people would actually be coming to the show. I know I loved the cartoon, but how many others watch metal music cartoons? A lot. The show was supposed to start at 6:30 but the people I talked to said that I only missed two songs of the opening band, High on Fire (there was also supposed to be a band named Converge also but none of the 4 or 5 people I talked to saw them...so I am not sure if they didn't play or everyone showed up late). HoF was OK but nothing really outstanding. They played for a long time...almost a full hour which is rare for an opening band. The singer surprised me at the 40 minute mark by saying something like "Thanks everyone for coming and seeing us before Dethklok and Mastodon...we only have four short songs left!" Four? That is the kind of thing that is usually said before the last song...and they weren't really short (although I guess by death metal standards it is true that they were not dragging 12 minute sagas).

Mastodon started off really good. I liked their first three or four songs...and they had pretty interesting and trippy graphics and videos on the big screen behind them. However, their songs all started sounding the same and the graphics started repeating somewhat and I started getting a little antsy around the halfway point. I had only heard a couple of their songs before and once those were over I found it hard to get into the rest of their show...and to me it seemed like their songs started becoming more disjointed (heavy to soft melodies with poor transition) and longer and more stereotypical 12 minute sagas. Decent but not something I would check out again unless I was more familiar with their music.

Dethklok comes on...err, at least they started showing a few animated shorts to begin the show. The first was with Jack Black's Brutal Legend character being a roadie for Dethklok. Then a clip of the Council talking about the dangers of Dethklok and their new plan to stop them. Finally, the band appears. I am not sure what to expect from a live concert from a band based on a cartoon metal band. I know from the show that I have probably a better than 50% chance of being killed while at the show and I made sure I had my Pain Waiver signed. Hooray, they actually started of with the Metalocalypse theme song. After their first album didn't start with this, I was wondering about the concert. I thought it was a dumb move not beginning the album with it because every night we (as we the Dethklok fans) watch the show so we are used to this song pumping us up and getting us in the mood. It was a great start. So the show consisted of the live band playing in front of a huge video screen that showed the animated band playing or their videos. It was a very good effect. And the band sounded excellent, so good that for a second I thought the singer was lip syncing to the CD. Not the case, it was actually Brendan Small who co-created Metalocalypse and voices the band (actually Toki and Murderface are voiced by co-creator Tommy Blacha but Brendan does a very good impression live. Very good). It is pretty weird hearing him slip from voice to voice with ease...even while singing. This is in part while Hatredcopter has become one of my new favorite songs by DK, I was very impressed with it live. Between songs were animated shorts bringing in the humor and many elements of the TV show.

I went in not knowing what to expect but was thrilled with what I was shown. It was a heavy, brutal show by a group of talented guys with a lot of humor mixed in. I would recommend to anyone who loves heavy metal, it is worth your time and your money. I was so impressed that I bought a concert t-shirt...I haven't bought at concert t-shirt (except as gifts) for over 12 years. I enjoyed the concert that much. I wasn't the only one...they ran out of Large size shirts very early in the night and after the show almost as many people headed to the merch booth as out the doors.

Here are Dethklok's official music videos for those not familiar (also check them out every weeknight at 11:45 central on Cartoon Network).

Hatredcopter

Thunderhorse

Murmaider

Picture By Ariy_Chan

Knowing is Half the Battle

Every boy I knew growing up liked GI Joe (and many of the girls). We would run home from the bus stop everyday to catch the GI Joe cartoon. Everyone collected as many of the figures and machines as possible...because Oh My God their arms and legs were jointed! How cool was that?

I was always confused by a couple things:

• Why was Cobra Commander such a whiny bitch in the cartoons? He was the head of a terrorist organization and yet he was always being a cry baby. He didn't seem tough...and he should have been tough. He should have been a total badass. I am sure they were trying to make him uncool so kids didn't want to emulate him, but that always caused it to ring false in my mind.

Cobra Commander art by Tim Seeley.

• Why was the Joe team's weapon systems so ordinary and Cobra's so inventive? Did the GIs spend all their creativity and individuality on their outfits while Cobra's standard uniforms allowed them to have the budget for cutting edge weaponry? GI Joe's equipment looked like standard issue US Military hardware. Their Skystryker jet was an F-14, their Mobat tank was an Abrams...cool in their one right but crap compared to the Rattler and the Hiss. Cobra had style.

The Rattler was an A-10 with wing mounted engines and the wings pivoted for vertical landing and an extra turbine on the tail for stability. A bubble cockpit and a machine gun turret? It was just cool.

Rattler Photo Stolen from http://forums.yojoe.com/showthread.php?p=371279

The HISS was probably not very functional as a tank, I don't think it would have been nearly stable enough. Plus it had two smaller barrels instead of one large one, but it looked fast and the driver had a cool uniform (I always liked the thigh high boots). I thought it was cool that two guys could stand on the back bumper area and shoot while the tank was moving.

GI Joe Mobat Tank Photo Stolen from http://oldgijoes.com/gijoe82.htm

Hiss Photo Stolen from http://www.amazon.com/G-I-Cobra-H-I-S-S-Tank-Commander/dp/B0017PU1I8

But we all grow up, the cartoon plots became tired, the toys silly and we all drifted to new things. Then a few years ago, they tried to reboot the franchise with new toys and new cartoons, GI Joe Sigma Six. I watched a couple episodes and it was OK but I was disturbed at the animation. The characters looked like they were teenagers...young teenagers, not the cool barely legal kind. Yes, I know that in real life that many soldiers are under 21. The new Joe look however seemed wrong. First, it seemed like it was selling war to children. It was hard to believe that these fresh faced kids were battle hardened ass kickers who were experts in their respective fields. The tech was also too futuristic, too unrealistic. The whole show just didn't mesh. It was too cartoony. GI Joe fell off the radar screen again (well at least mine).

A few months ago, I heard that a new GI Joe mini-series was going to be shown on Adult Swim. The new series was called GI Joe Resolute. It was written by Warren Ellis whose previous comic work and web comic Freak Angels I highly enjoy. Warren Ellis doesn't do "kiddy" stuff, his stuff is bleak and tough and raw. I still had some reservations but was determined to watch. Resolute was great. Cobra was an evil team of terrorists, the Joe team was special forces/secret forces type team. Cobra Commander shot his own troops in the face when they failed (Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face!). Actual Joe and Cobra characters were killed. Characters had depth and emotions. It was what GI Joe should be. Not necessarily a realistic view of warfare but enough realism and fantasy to make it a good show. I highly enjoyed it.

This brings me to the new GI Joe live action movie: GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. I was not looking forward to this, figuring that they would just make it completely horrible. From the trailer, I think this is probably right too. But yet, now that I got a taste of good GI Joe action, I am hoping that this is not the case. I am not dying to see this movie, but I am not dismissing it off-hand like I had earlier either. I am trying to be cautiously optimistic that they just haven't completely ruined GI Joe. We will see.

Favorite Things

Stop Motion Animation

I love stop motion animation. I know, I know most people who like stop motion animation say that it all started with King Kong (1933) or some Ray Harryhausen film like Jason and the Argonauts. But not me, I got hooked as a child watching the Rudolph Christmas specials every year (who wanted to watch a black and white movie as a child or even some gladiator type movie from the 60s? God Forbid! What can I say, I am a child of the modern times and was only fascinated with bright, shiny objects that played on my feelings that I would soon be getting gifts.) However, my interest grew more and more each movie or show I saw containing stop motion animation from Clash of the Titans to Gumby. For me, the epitome of stop motion animation was Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas...because it was a musical (which I have previously mentioned as being a guilty pleasure) but it was also creepy and alternative cool enough that I could like it out in the open without someone mocking me for liking a "cartoon."

A couple years later and James and the Giant Peach was released. I went to see it opening day and thought it was decent...but it had a touch of sadness to it too, because there had been several articles in newspapers and magazines leading up to it's release stating that it would probably be the last stop motion animation movie made because computer animation was cheaper and faster (and supposedly all the kids liked it more). Well since the death knell was sounded over a decade ago, I am pleased to see that stop motion animation is still going strong if not thriving. Let's see: a couple Wallace and Gromit movies and shorts, Chicken Run, The Corpse Bride, Robot Chicken, The PJs, Moral Orel, and of course the upcoming Coraline (I am excitedly reading the book now). Plus all the Lego shorts on Youtube:

Stop Motion Animation has such a richer feel than computer animation. I don't necessarily mean more life-like than some computer animation...but have a deeper, more mass feel. It just resonates more deeply with me. I am amazed at what these people spend years creating 1/24th of a second at a time. I suggest everyone check out Coraline in the theater, plus it's 3D. I think they call that Two Birds with One Stone. I am very excited about it and want to take GF-Unit for Valentine's day (it is not traditional but the traditional Valentine's stuff is so generic and turns out badly)...but that is all IF I can wait that long to see it, that is a big IF. And in case you haven't figured it out...yes I am a total geek.