After a great day of seeing Spiderman 2 (which was F’n awesome!) and hanging out with Bob and Thor (and a trip to In and Out Burger), I went with Bob and Staci to the final Skinny Puppy show in Anaheim at The Grove. We made great time getting there, there was very little traffic which was a rare thing indeed!
We arrive at the club a bit early, pick up the tix at will call and get in line. When they let everyone in, we were subject to the most thorough search in concert history. The security guards, to their credit, were very professional and they were civil to everyone and didn’t cop that bully attitude that you usually see at most venues. Still, I felt like I needed a shower after the search though.
What was disappointing about The Grove is it’s lack of balcony, and therefore lack of any places to sit. What they did though that was wise when they designed the place was break the big floor into tiers. Each tier higher than the previous, and having a little divider wall that goes about waist high and has a railing. This enables you to see from farther away. We staked our claim in Tier 2, which was right behind the main floor, right against the wall. This was the best spot in the place, right in the center, with perfect sight, and a wall to protect us from the people jumping all over each other like monkeys on the main floor.
The show itself I think was better than the last two here. There were no fuckups on Ogre’s part and everything was tight and smooth. Cevin did less transition stuff between songs which was kind of a let down but he did add some cool effects to some songs that I hadn’t heard at previous shows. The sound was excellent at this venue as well. They played through the main set then came back for the encore which consisted of “Convulsion” (in tron dog suit), “Testure”, and then they came back out again for “Smothered Hope”. During “Testure” some of the crew came out and put goofy party hats and glasses on all the band members and sprayed them will silly string because this was the final show of their North American tour. One thing I heard people commenting on after the show was that the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage and I agree with that. It really does look like they are into what they are doing, not just going through the motions for a big payday. I’ll say that this was the best of the three shows I saw out here, but the best one to me was the 2nd nite in Chicago.
The full set lists for the shows I saw are as follows:
Intro (w/parts of Epilogue)
Downsizer
Immortal
Pro-test
Empte
Curcible
God’s Gift (Maggot)
VX Gas Attack
Worlock
Neuwerld
Glass Houses
Tin Omen
Inquisition
Hardset Head
Human Disease (S.K.U.M.M.)
Harsh Stone White
Reclamation
Encores:
Chicago nite 1: Convulsion, Testure
Chicago nite 2: The Choke, Smothered Hope
Los Angeles 1: Convulsion, Testure, Deep Down Trauma Hounds, Smothered Hope
Los Angeles 2: Convulsionl, Testure, The Choke
Anaheim: Convulsion, Testure, Smothered Hope
Now the run has ended and there is no more shows. While they aren’t the same they used to me, Skinny Puppy have still cemented their legacy with me as THE WORLD’S GREATEST BAND, EVER! And let me just say, for the record, that if any of the members of SP are reading this, I REALLY appreciate the fact you guys played “Human Disease” and especially “God’s Gift”, two of my most favorite songs of theirs!
And now, the work portion of this trip will begin tonite.
