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| Helmet |
New York alt-metal veterans Helmet visited Kansas City again in mid-May, and despite their contributions to nineties rock as a whole, failed to impress for roughly two-thirds of their set. The crunching guitar and rhythm section grooves from the band made up for it at moments, but experiencing one uninteresting Page Hamilton guitar solo after the next was like being slowly clobbered by an unmotivated mugger. Some of the only entertainment came when Hamilton would pause between songs to recommend his band members' side projects and describe the plot line to an episode of "Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule," just as a bothersome coworker would. Fans did get, however, a genuinely interesting story about Hamilton's past visit to the American Jazz Museum during which he was briefly trusted to hold Charlie Parker's horn during a round of maintenance. Helmet returned for a lengthy encore that didn't seem all that warranted as far as crowd response went.
Much like the night's headlining act, Prong is from New York, took about a five year break around the turn of the century, and only features its original frontperson. Though the groove metal trio may well have electrified a larger audience, the meager assemblage that stood before them mostly just sat back and watched. Looking on was still plenty entertaining though, as the guys seemed as though they were having the time of their lives. Their drop-tuned machismo and thrash stylings echoed through most of the warehouse, but real fans found their way to the front to rock out together.
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