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LIZZY BORDEN / BELLADONNA @ The Crazy Donkey, Farmingdale, NY - 10/30/07 |
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Posted: 11/03/07Reviewed by: Dirt Category: Heavy Metal Live Performance Date: 10/30/07 | |
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Belladonna
With respect to the band's new image, Lizzy and band all
wore face paint, which was sloppily applied (on purpose I assume). Additionally, Lizzy wore several different
masks including a Phantom of The Opera mask and a devil mask.
For much of the concert, his face was obscured. The band did rip
through classics like "Red Rum,"
The Bloody Truth: I've seen Lizzy on
three other occasions. His performance on the Master Of Disguise
tour is still one of my favorite concert experiences (one that I'd give a
perfect 5-axe rating). Unfortunately, this particular show was plagued
Lizzy Borden
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Joey Belladonna is on his own again after another
unfortunate split with Anthrax. Personally,
I believe both Anthrax and Joey are nothing without each other. There
is a magic that is lost when Joey is without the band and the band is
without Joey. During this particular performance at Long Island's The
Crazy Donkey, Joey delivered both solo material and Anthrax classics.
Interestingly, he did not mix the two. He played a bunch of solo songs
and then finished the show performing 'thrax tunes. Joey's solo
material didn't excite me, as it is very one dimensional musically with very few
guitar solos. The choruses are not on par with what he did in Anthrax.
While he knows how to fire up the crowd and clearly appreciated the
small crowd (approximately 150 people), it wasn't until he launched into the
Anthrax songs that things really got going. As a special bonus, Joey
brought out surprise guest guitarist
Nick Bowcott (ex-Grim Reaper) to play
"Medusa" and "Madhouse." This was a real shock, as Bowcott hasn't
been seen or heard from in many, many years. Old school metalheads
swarmed around him after the show was over, surely asking him if there was
ever going to be a Grim Reaper reunion. After Bowcott left the
stage, Belladonna continued with other Anthrax classics such as "Caught In A Mosh," "Efilnikufesin," "Got The Time," "Antisocial," and "Indians."
During this set, Joey pointed to fans and gave them the thumbs up and shook
hands with people close to the stage. His voice was strong, delivering
all the Anthrax songs just as they were on the studio records. So...all
in all...once he left his solo material in the dust...the show was solid.
Lizzy Borden's techs seemed to experience some troubles,
so it took more than hour after Belladonna's set for Lizzy
Borden to hit the stage. For a Tuesday night, 12:30 AM is simply too
late (the club told me that Lizzy was going on at 10 PM!) for fans of this type of music. Bands and club owners have to
realize that everybody in attendance was 35+ and we all have jobs to get to
in the morning (even if we'd rather be listening to heavy metal!). Maybe that's why only 50 people were left in the club
by the time Lizzy hit the stage. Once things got going, guitarist Ira
Black, guest guitarist Jack Frost (Seven Witches), bassist Marten Andersson, and drummer Joey
Scott appeared first, with Lizzy singing behind a screen that featured the
band's classic red, white and blue logo. When Lizzy appeared, he was wearing a
black cloak (imagine the Grim Reaper) with a full black, nylon face mask.
I was not familiar with the first few songs and honestly the mix was poor, so
it was difficult to make out the words and individual riffs, so I'll assume the material was from
his new cd, Appointment With Death (just released on the day of this performance). The main problem with the
sound was that the bass was turned up too loud in the mix and
drowned out the guitars
and in some spots the vocals. Additionally, the sound was very raw,
mainly because there weren't pre-recorded strings, keyboards, or backing
vocals (which I believe Lizzy used on the Master Of Disguise
tour). 
"Bloody Mary," "American Metal," "Visual
Lies," and the highlight of the show "Me Against The World." Oddly,
Master Of Disguise (an underground classic) was completely
ignored (but this might have been because the songs could not be recreated
without the pre-recorded parts, and Lizzy clearly was going for a heavier, stripped down
sound this time out). "There Will Be Blood Tonight" and "We Only Come Out At Night"
from 2000's Deal With The Devil were also performed.
Rainbow's "Long Live Rock N' Roll," which Lizzy covered on Love You To
Pieces, was the encore. 
by a poor mix. Andersson's bass was so up front in the mix that it
really took away from the show. If you listen to any Lizzy recordings,
the bass is not the prominent instrument, yet on this night it reverberated so much
that the floor shook and was almost painful. The guitars were drowned out and the higher
pitch guitar runs that I love on record and during the Master
and Deal With The Devil tours were buried. I may be
wrong but the new material, appeared to more bottom heavy too. The big
difference between the Master and Devil tours and this particular show was that the clean,
precise, hear-each-individual instrument gave way to a muddier, bass-driven
mix. I'm not sure if this was intended or it was the fault of the
sound man but it simply didn't work.
On the plus side, Lizzy is still a great performer that puts a lot of effort
into his image. While his big frizzy 'do is certainly missed (it has
been straightened and colored black), his stage costume and Gene Simmons-ish
boots were outrageous. Overall, the band image is darker (maybe to
compete with the modern extreme and black metal scene?) Additionally,
his vocals (during the clearer portions) sound as good as ever. I will
consider this an off night because every other time I've seen the band
they've been far superior.