Shutdown.exe Tour
July 23rd, 2017
The Waiting Room
Omaha, Ne
3Teeth, Plack Blague, Fifi Nono
Omaha’s music scene can be very fickle. July was a hot month for the Omaha metro and surrounding areas, with several massive touring passing through. Hellyeah recently sold out their show at The Waiting Room. Iron Maiden and Ghost’s stop at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, while stellar in performance, didn’t see a packed house. Stir Concert cove picked up the slack though last week with four concerts in four nights; Garbage and Blondie, Kesha and the Creepies, Phillip Phillips and Goo Goo Dolls, and closed out the week with All American Rejects and Dashboard Confessional. Nickleback also returned to the Century Link Center the same night that Goo Goo Dolls played Stir, drawing similar attendance for each concert. While July brought plenty of rock, metal and pop music, sadly Omaha isn’t known for its thriving heavy metal and industrial scenes. We’re usually a passing thought for bands who need a show booked en route to Chicago, Denver, or Minneapolis.
After waiting for almost 3 years, 3Teeth would finally be making their Nebraska debut. The band has been touring almost nonstop since the release of their sophomore album, <shutdown.exe>, with numerous festival gigs, headlining shows, and opening for Rammstein’s most recent U.S. tour. While I’ve missed several opportunities to catch the band as they toured as close as Kansas City, nothing was going to keep me from tonight’s show.
Did I forget to mention that Plack Blague, Lincoln’s Leather Daddy, would be opening the show? I’ve heard the stories about Plack Blague’s live sets, but nothing prepared me for the debauchery that would ensue. Add Omaha newcomers Fifi Nono to the line-up, and tonight would prove to be the show I’ll be talking about for years to come.
For those of you who’ve not been to a show at The Waiting Room, you’re missing out. I’ve had the honor of seeing dozens of bands grace The Waiting Room’s stage over the past decade. It’s easily one of my favorite venues, especially when one of my favorite bands is playing. A mid-sized venue, there’s a feeling of intimacy with every band’s performance, even with a sold-out crowd.
Fifi Nono, opening tonight’s show, were also making their Waiting Room debut. Normally I wouldn’t have taken such interest in a local band, especially one so new to the Omaha scene. That being said, I was beyond impressed by these 5 guys. Their music had just enough static metal sound to keep me interested. Vocals were distorted to a decent level, but not so much that they sounded over produced or under talented. Hopefully this will not be my last time seeing them live.
I doubt anyone new to Plack Blague’s stage show was ready for what was to come. Tonight, Plack Blague’s mastermind, Lincoln, Nebraska native Ross “Raws” Schlesinger, was in control of The Waiting Room. Thundering industrial beats coupled with Raws’ roar echoed the cries of countless other predators throughout the eons, predators who have no need for silence. Plack Blague were stalking us and ready to pounce. Raws vocal’s mixed perfectly with his industrial dance rock music. It didn’t take too long before the initial shock of his studded leather codpiece and chaps to wear off and the crowd started bouncing along.
Having finally seen Plack Blague, I envy the East and West Coasts for their opportunity to see the live stage show more than we do in the Midwest. Tonight may have been my initial experience with the Lincoln Leather Daddy, but it will not be the last.
I’ve listen to 3Teeth’s music nearly every day since first discovering the band in late 2015. I’ve devoured their social media accounts and watched as many fan filmed live performances as I could get my hands on. Like every other person inside The Waiting Room, I was ready to cross the chasm and embrace the anarchomancy.
For over an hour, 3Teeth hammered hard into the crowd with their 15 song set. The thundering beats pummeled into the crowd as the stage was bathed soft blue and furnace hot red lights. Divine Weapon melted into X-Day, which in turn morphed in Final Product before shifting into Shutdown.
Mincolla then asked us what we were all drinking tonight, and asked a bottle of vodka be brought to the stage. The band took our challenge of having the bottle finished before they could leave the stage. “There’s five of us up here,” Mincolla reminded the crowd as he took swig. “That’s hardly a challenge.”
While 3Teeth’s studio sound is monolithic, their live shows are gargantuan. The band’s personable stage presence for our intimate show ensured that we were living in the moment of the live concert experience. Vocalist and founder Alexis Mincolla commented on the crowd’s size early into their set, saying he didn’t mind playing to an intimate audience. “Should we have a Q&A,” he asked us. We got quick stories about the band touring with TOOL and then Rammstein, Mincolla making it a point to say how great both bands are to tour with and how amazing they are as individuals.
Dust brought the music back and twisted into Tower of Disease before hammering hard into Slavegod. We then crossed the Chasm and overcame our Atrophy.
Numerous times throughout the night, the band commented on the intimate feel of the crowd. It didn’t matter that the show didn’t sell out, and that it was possibly one of the smallest crowds the band had played to since forming in 2013, the Los Angeles based industrial metal band was there to impress.
For many of us, this was our first time experiencing 3Teeth live, and it was perfect. When vocalist Alexis Mincolla wasn’t menacingly positioning himself behind his mic stand, he was leaning into the crowd, gazing into the coils of Apep and enticing us all to move as close as possible and become part of the experience. Tonight Mincolla’s majesty was fully unfurled and on display.
One of the highlights of the band’s set was their performance of Insubstantia, off of their sophomore release <shutdown.exe>. Co-founder and guitarist Chase Brawner joked with the crowd that the track was their only ballad.
Dissolve lead us straight into Pit of Fire, before Catalyst heralded the end of the band’s set was near. The ultra heavy beats of Master of Decay gave us the opportunity to thrash again before the band left the stage.
3Teeth finished their set by encoring with Nihil. It didn’t take long for the crowd to start screaming the lyrics back at the stage. The band left us with the same thunderous applauds and cheers that they entered with. No one present would forget tonight’s show, and those who couldn’t be bothered to attend will be kicking themselves for years to come.
I appreciate 3Teeth’s efficiency. Why bother being smart when society so conveniently conspires to keep our idiocy alive? We are children of a civilized and gelded age, and 3Teeth are here to warm of us the potential dangers laid out before us. We’ve live charmed lives, but before our luck runs out, before fate darkens, 3Teeth will pull us back to reality.
