Yakuza 3 Tour Review

Yakuza 3 Angel Eyes Beat Kitchen 3/25/06 Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

“Yakuza and 3 are redefining the classifications of music one note at a time!”

On a late, mildly warmish Saturday evening, excitement filled the smoke-filled air at Beat Kitchen as tonight-marked Chicago’s very own Yakuza’s record release party, for their brand spanking new release, Samsara. When we say late night, that’s exactly what is meant. [Angel Eyes – 10:00-10:45; 3 – 11:45–12:30; and Yakuza – 12:45-2:00 AM]. Thank God, it was a Saturday! However, the very sold out crowd did not seem to mind this night owl set, then again why would they for the low, low price of $8? The audience was pretty much split down the middle; half were there to see New York’s 3 and the other half for Yakuza. The bands on tonite’s bill all gelled well together. Each band offered its own unique flavor to the pot; it was the perfect meld. With Yakuza’s eclectic fusion of jazz and metal, 3’s percussion laden rock and roll, and Angel Eye’s spin on the somber side of rock. From the sound of things, Beat Kitchen invested some money in better sound equipment. Normally no matter how good the band is, they tend to sound muffled and usually blaring…well not in this case, everyone sounded wonderful.

Speaking of Angel Eyes, there will not be a review on the band, as we arrived to the venue during the last two songs of their set. However, from what one could surmise, their music was dark, brooding, moody…hell they were almost as depressing as Cult of Luna. Nonetheless, the few songs we caught were enjoyable. One thing that really stuck out about this band was the positioning of the keyboardist; he was stuck in the corner on stage right facing the wall and the lead singer's back was to the keyboardist.

After tonight’s show, Yakuza’s will go on a two-week jaunt with 3 and Angel Eyes then will head out on another tour, this time on a two-month outing joining forces with Dysrhythmia and Behold The Arctopus. The show was a refreshing yet an exhausting journey into another side of music, the unexplored and experimental side, a side rarely delved into. This was how the show broke down:

Lineup: Joey Eppard - Vocals, Acoustic, Electric Guitars; Gartdrumm – Drums, Backing Vocals; Billy Riker - Guitars, Strange Effects; Joe Stote - Percussion, Keyboards; Daniel Grimsland – Bass

After the conclusion of Angel Eyes’ set, the venue room began to fill up quickly as the freshly turned 21 year olds began to toss 3 chatter amongst themselves like an oversized beach ball during a Cubs game in the bleachers. There were more seasoned vets, other than ourselves thank you, anxiously waiting for the band to perform, as the painstakingly long changeover seemed to take forever. In which time we noticed a plethora of straightedgers were in attendance, including the bassist, Daniel Grimsland, who proudly brandished the marker drawn X’s on both of his fists. What we saw next was truly mind-boggling and will more than likely piss off those who are true to the straightedge lifestyle! An X clad fist bearer chugged a beer from his friend and took more than one drag of his friend’s cigarette…can you say appalled? At least the offender’s girlfriend was embarrassed! Here’s a note to you silly scenesters, attach yourself to another cause, why mar and make a mockery of what the straightedge community has built up? [***Trip***] Oh, is that a soapbox? Well let’s back to the review!

For all of you who are old enough, do you remember an English band back in day called 3? It was an ELP mutation that released an album called To The Power of 3 in 1988 featuring Keith Emerson, Carl Palmer, and a variation Robert Berry (who filled in for Greg Lake). Moving right along from “dating myself” this particular 3 is a six-piece hailing from Woodstock, NY. They are a long ways away from that previously mentioned cheese ball band but they do have one thing in common; they both share the love for taking a walk on the experimental side of rock. It was refreshing to see the crowd into the band from the first strum of the first note. The band went straight into “Alien Angel” as guitarist and lead vocalist, Joey Eppard, locked eyes with his audience and strummed his gorgeous acoustic/electric guitar. The hyped audience sang along to every word, jumping up and down, swaying back and forth as if they were at a Dave Matthews concert.

By the time Eppard introed the next selection of “Monster”, temperatures began to soar. Sweat began to pour like a running faucet not just the band either. The crowd was all into this one, as one can understand why. Eppard broke out the acoustic guitar on this number. The song has a Spanish feel to it. The bass of Grimsland and rhythm section fellows, Joe Stote (percussion) and drummer, Gartdrumm, were the highlight of this song. During the conclusion, a member of the audience exclaimed several times, “That was fucking awesome!”; the band beamed. Immediately following the aforementioned song, the band broke into “Dreads” featuring an acoustic solo by Eppard injecting life into the audience; the crowd went nuts.

Finally addressing the crowd, silence befell, “This is the title track off our latest record called “Wake Pig”! The crowd erupted with exuberance. Again, Beat Kitchen’s sound system reigned supreme; you could every note clearly and succinctly. Rockin’ out, Grimsland put his all into the song. Judging from his rousing performance, it looked to be one of his favorite tracks off the album. The band then rolled into “Bram Futura”, a nice little rock n’ roll ditty! After hearing this song, it becomes clear this band defies labels; it is hard to place them into one specific genre.

For the intro to “Queen” Gartdrumm spoke, “Thank you! This next song’s for Yakuza’s singer, Bruce. This is our first show with Yakuza. They seem like great guys! We’re going to be hanging out with them for the next two weeks!” He proceeded to raise his bottle of water and toasted the band. How sweet! During the song, it was a first seeing the tambourine and percussive shakers used simultaneously; Stote is quite the showman. The next number, which just so happens to be a new song. According to Eppard, the working title of the song is “D-Ripple”, he also said that the band was unsure if the title would stick. A member of the audience screamed, “Best guitarists ever” right before Eppard was about to speak. The lively singer smiled and responded with, “Once again guys, thanks for being so cool! This goes out to Jennifer!!” The crowd erupted, not that Jennifer came forth or anything. The next song “Trust” was an improvisation as said by to Mr. Eppard. During the song, a series of solos took place, first by Stote and Gartdrumm with their percussive/drum solo, with Grimsland joining in a little later. A dual guitar solo Eppard and Billy Riker immediately followed the last solo, which mimicked what one would hear in a classic bullfight; it lasted for about four to five minutes. At the conclusion of their set, Eppard thanked the crowd immensely! The crowd screamed for a while; all definitely had fun. You could tell the crowd’s “sugar buzz” wore off. Even though it was high-spirited set, it was still thoroughly exhausting all the same.

Setlist: Alien Angel, Monster, Dreads, Wake Pig, Bram Futura, Queen, “D-Ripple”, Trust, Amaze Disgrace.

Lineup: James Staffel - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards; Matt McClelland - Guitars, Vocals; Jackson – Bass; Bruce Lamont - Saxophones, Clarinet, Vocals, Effects

Soon after the conclusion of 3’s set, a mass exodus of younger fans were quickly replaced by a slightly older crowd revved and raring to go to witness Yakuza, our local boys, perform their magic. Before we go any further, allow us to supply you with some background info on the band. Bruce Lamont, vocalist/saxophones/clarinet player and drummer/percussionist, James Staffel have always been the nucleus of Yakuza since forming the band in 1999. Bruce and James have also been in numerous local bands prior to Yakuza, some of which we had even seen back in the day, how scary is that? One of Bruce’s old bands in particular, Dyslexic Apaches, used to perform at the Avalon and the Thirsty Whale…had to throw that in there for all you local, diehard metalheads!  \m/ J \m/

Yakuza is a collective which is comprised of four very talented imaginative musicians as they have MUCH to offer and again, another band, which go beyond labeling. This inimitable ensemble fuses metal, jazz, funk, and several other genres under one umbrella. It’s like the metal version of spoken word with brass! Just the first song alone was quite a unique experience...left you wanting more. It is just such a welcomed break from the normal situation of some half-assed vocalist screaming into a microphone with mediocre talent backing him up.

The opening number was explosive; perhaps this is why the band's bassist, Jackson, decided to wear a gas mask. During the intro to the second song, Lamont addressed the crowd, “We’re doing this all in the name of metal!” his ever-faithful minion roared. What makes this band so exciting is that you just don’t see a band this heavy and diverse whip a clarinet and/or saxophone out during the middle of a song, okay! Another element that surrounds Yakuza songs is laden sensuality! The one thing that pops to mind is the movie Exotica. Perfect balance exists between these four musicians, what an unstoppable wall of sound they produce!

Did we mention we were not able to get ahold of the setlist, so if this review is a tad on the choppy side, now you know. Okay, back to the review…although still very much into the band, by the middle of the set the energy of the crowd seemed to go way down. During the outro for “20 Bucks” Bruce said, “That was our brand new song off the new album!” The crowd went wild, in the midst someone screamed, “The Bruce is Loose” as laughter filled the room. All through the seventh song, Jackson’s stare through the gas mask became much more intense as well as his playing! In this particular song, the guitars and bass mimicked the sax, talk about amazing. By this time Lamont’s body was drenched with sweat. He had removed his shirt the song prior but now, sweat pored even from his elbows. For the ninth song during the set, “Glory Hole” it throws me back to a grungy (Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains vs. Peter Murphy), trippy, soulful, and dirty.

At 1:54, Bruce mouthed, “One more?”, the crowd screamed loudly. Guitarist Matt McClelland then said, “Alright, this is your last chance to move, you white mother fuckers!” and once again, laughter filled the air. The obedient crowd obeyed their leader’s command too! For the final time of the night, the audience swayed, moved, and sang along to the song. At the conclusion of the song, Lamont thanked all in attendance, “Thanks for coming to our party! We’ll be back soon on June 24^th with some other bands!” Immediately after his speech, someone in the audience handed him a shot. The singer held the shot glass high and toasted the crowd. Those audience whom still had libations left in their glass toasted back, other raised their empty cups, and others gave horns back in appreciation. Looks that we all all had officially reached the end of the line at a staggering 2:10 in the morning; we were all officially plum tuckered out! Yakuza will be on the road for the better part of the next two months, if you have not seem them yet, make sure you do! We definitely can’t wait to see them play again, of course an earlier time slot would be optimalllllllll. Zzzzzzzz Ooops, dozing again...good night, or good morning in this case…!

Yakuza Spring 2006 Tour Dates

Supporting acts 3 and Angel Eyes

Mar. 25 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen (Record Release Party)

3/26 Covington/Cincinnati, OH – Mad Hatter

3/27 Cleveland, OH – Moe’s Bar

3/28 Columbus, OH – The Basement

3/30 Nashville, TN – The Muse

4/01 St Louis, MO – Creepy Crawl

4/02 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre

4/04 Springfield, VA – Outland Ballroom

4/05 Baton Rouge, LA – Revolution Skate Park

4/06 San Antonio, TX – The Sanctuary

4/07 Dallas, TX – Gypsy Tea Room

4/08 Bridge City, TX – Bridge City Skate Park

4/09 Houston, TX – The Studio

4/10 Tulsa, OK – The Venue

4/12 Rochester, MN – Kathy’s Pub (21 and over)

4/13 Minneapolis, MN – Loop Station

4/14 Milwaukee, WI – Vnuks

4/14 LaCrosse, WI – The Warehouse

Dysrhythmia featuring Yakuza and Behold The Arctopus

4/16 Moorhead, MN – All Star Bowl

4/17 Dubuque, IA – The Busted Lift

4/19 Terre Haute, IN – The Phoenix

4/20 Ypsilanti, MI – The Elbow Room

4/21 Clinton Township, MI - T.N.T.'s Bar

4/23 Vernon, NY – Nothing Fancy Café

4/26 Binghampton, NY – American Legion Post 80

4/27 Hamden, CT – The Hamden Elks Lodge

4/28 Worchester, MA – Palladium / New England Metal and Hardcore Fest (1:00 PM)

All photos Copyright © 2006. Pictures may not be used without the written consent/permission of FourteenG