Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Concert date: 24.10.2014
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €18.00
Last Friday, New York riff minimalists Helmet stopped by Kino Šiška. The show was part of a tour marking the twentieth anniversary of the album Betty. The record came out in 1994 and is the third in a row in Helmet’s discography, which currently stands at 7 albums.
The band’s beginnings go back to 1989, and they put out their first album in 1990, but real success only came with »Meantime«, the predecessor to Betty. The original lineup was Page Hamilton on guitar and vocals, guitarist Peter Mergede, bassist Herry Bogdan and drummer John Stanier. Helmet have since swapped out a lot of members, so today Page Hamilton is the only one left from the original lineup.
The show kicked off with the band hitting the stage around 9:30 PM. There was no opening act, so from the very first crunch of guitars we got the full Helmet vibe, which already left a bitter aftertaste with the first song, He feels bad, from the record »Meantime«. And it wasn’t just the sound doing them a disservice. It felt like a worn-out engine with ¾ of its vital parts swapped out, and the base is already so run-down that it would be best to put it in a museum. The rather small crowd didn’t seem picky, though. Here and there a head bobbed, and you could hear the occasional shout of excitement when a classic started.
The first part of the setlist was a mix of songs from Betty and Meantime, the middle section was dedicated to the album Aftertaste, and the finale was a mix of tracks from the first record, Strap it on. After a pretty weak start the mood went up a notch or two, but Page Hamilton’s fatigue kept reminding us the whole way through that we weren’t going to get any more energy than this. The vocals were handled so that certain vocal lines were sung through a lo-fi mic, but despite the good intentions they still sounded pretty unconvincing. Every now and then another band member chimed in with backing vocals, but together they only made a kind of rainbow of off-key singing.
The rhythm section, made up of Kyle Stevenson on drums and Dave Case on bass, kind of floated off on its own the whole show. The drums, which on the original recordings were played a little »behind the beat« to give the groove a different feel, came across under Kyle’s hands like an elephant strolling through a kitchen compared to the originals.
The show delivered a bittersweet performance of a once-quality subgenre that’s being kept alive by its aging icons. As always, the organizer pulled everything off at a very high level, but with a band like this it might be a good idea to have an opening act next time.
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