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George reviews the "Secret" Guitar Hero Gig Stubb's @ Austin, TX - 3/20/09 I though Newark was my last gig until the fall. That is, until I was lucky enough to get to go to the Guitar Hero shindig in Austin. Without much warning, I received one of those magical emails saying "You won" from the MetClub, so Big Jeff and I were off to Austin. The first thing I noticed about Austin is that half the guys there look like they are members of The Sword, and the other half are emo-looking androgynous types. Austin isn't really the type of city you would think of finding emos.
 typical Austin resident?
 6th Street in Austin Sixth street during SXSW was a lot like Bourbon Street (only without the trannies). It seemed like there was a band playing in every building you walked by. Of course, I couldn't care less about any of the other bands. We're here to see Metallica, but once again it's all about waiting. We ended up getting to Stubb's around 1pm and grabbed some lunch. There were already Metallica fans milling around outside of Stubb's. So much for keeping a lid on things (the show had been leaked by at least one Austin reporter days before). After grabbing lunch and wandering around we got in line and staked out our first-in-line spots. I went and hid in the shade to avoid a repeat of my Boner-ooh sunburn. As the line started to grow, a reporter showed up and interviewed Big Jeff and Super Ron about the show, and about Metallica. After waiting around pretty much all afternoon, we were finally allowed into the "backyard" of Stubb's and down to the stage area. Once again, it's time to wait.
 Stubb's
 The first opening act was some DJ, who I never even turned around to look at. When I heard it was DJ I went old school and turned my back to the stage for the entire "performance." I'm still not sure what the point of that opening act was, but I'm glad I don't have fillings in my teeth, because the bass he was pumping out probably would have rattled them loose. The next act was some band called the Sunshine Pickups (or something like that). They weren't all that impressive, but the frontman was cool enough to realize that the people from were there for Metallica, and he even said something to that effect. After they finished performing he came down and shook hands with just about everybody on the rail.
 Next up was the winners of the Guitar Hero: Metallica contest. Three winners earned a spot to play "Fuel" up on stage in front of the crowd just before Metallica hit the stage. I thought this was a really cool prize for the contest, and it was pretty awesome to see these guys jamming to Fuel with the crowd singing along and getting into it. Unfortunately, the local radio DJ who was doing the intros for the bands and the Guitar Hero winners felt the need to belittle the winners and try to put them down as being losers for having won a video game contest. Newsflash, Mr. Austin Radio DJ, those guys earned a spot up there and that was probably a huge moment for them. Trying to put them down just so you can look "cool" in front of a crowd was a total low-budget move. Plus, you're at a release party PROMOTING a video game, and you're going to imply that guys who are good at the game are losers. This guy didn't even deserve to be on the stage. (Alright, I'll get off my soap box, now). Metallica hit the stage after the Guitar Hero winners, and deliver a hard-hitting, never-let-up performance for about an hour and a half. It was awesome to see them on a small stage. The crowd up front was great with the exception of a couple of guys trying to weasel their way onto the rail. I think Super Ron pulled a guy's arm out of his socket toward the end of the show. All-in-all this was an awesome experience and another great opportunity from MetClub to be a part of something special.
 Picture from Tom Breihan (Pitchfork)
The Good: Being part of an awesome club gig and not passing out! (AND
it wasn't cold!) |
