THE SUMMER MELTDOWN

By Star

At the height of New York City's obsession with skinny-boy-in-tight-shirt with tie and shaggy-hair garage rock, I have concluded that the heat has definitely gotten to your heads and I have come to save you all. We didn't need Nelly to tell us it's getting hot in here. The summer is winding down and although it couldn't be any steamier, I still find myself abandoning the free air conditioning in my office to sweat it out at summer concert after summer concert. Maybe the heat has gone to my head.

So what were the best concerts of the summer and who is left on the line-up? I asked myself and I asked a few of you, and this is the sweaty report:

As soon as the temperature rose in June, I did what most New Yorkers do in the summer- leave the city. I took a short ride up to the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center to see my favorite band Cold perform at a local radio festival. This would be their last big show before flying out to Los Angeles for the summer to record their third album. The Jacksonville, Florida crepuscular rock quintet surprised fans with a few of their new songs and otherwise parted the rain clouds that day with their heaviest and most loved tracks from 13 Ways To Bleed On Stage (2000 Geffen Records). If given the chance I would have stood there in the rain for another eight hours to hear the complete catalog of Cold, but alas, we all had to return home.

I had the most fun seeing Nonpoint twice this summer. Once at the Birch Hill in New Jersey, and most recently when they opened for Filter at Irving Plaza. Nonpoint has been touring nonstop this summer in support of their second album, Development (MCA). After rocking Europe with Ozzfest and then joining Locobazooka, opening for Filter, and now the Sprite Liquid Mix tour, it's a wonder those boys have any energy left. But they do, and how! I will take it to my grave that seeing Nonpoint live has been the most exciting concert experience of my life. Make haste to www.nonpoint.com to find out when and where they are rocking your socks off next.

Speaking of socks, the best show of the summer is another story. What does best mean anyway? Two hours of Tool at Radio City Music Hall apparently. For thousands, just to behold a Tool ticket is orgasmic, if not a miracle. After cursing and defaming the name of Tool for weeks, sure that I would never see them again, an Angel of the Lord appeared three hours before this show with two tickets! I guess I've been good, very good. Amazing lights, enormous floating parabolas, two video screens, unbelievable back drops and even simulated electrical charges supported a day-glow Maynard James Keenen, who I swear had to have a sock in his shorts. Tool pounded out two hours of brilliance from Sober to The Patient, and a reverent Ramones cover dedicated to Joey. If you were at this show, you were more than likely seated next to a freakishly dedicated fan screaming "Maynard is God!" but the real deity that night was Danny Carey on drums. Tool would not be Tool as we know it without that genius, and now you can play on his virtual drum set at www.dannycarey.org.

Moving right along, the hottest show of the summer was Warped Tour on Randall's Island, although Ozzfest at PNC comes in at a close second. The Used and New Jersey natives Thursday opened and owned the Warped Tour while another 50 or so bands destroyed their larynxes all in one hellishly hot Saturday on New York City's grimiest island. What's cool about Warped Tour is that local bands can jump on and off as the tour runs through their city. And for New York this meant several bands including From Autumn to Ashes and The World Inferno Friendship Society.

Ozzfest was Ozzfest (with the addition of a small hurricane), but my favorites were Chevelle and Down. Following great performances by urban metal outfits Flaw and Ill Nino, Hatebreed took no prisoners on the second stage, and the main stage award goes to System of A Down. Sadly, it was also our last chance to see Drowning Pool with front man (rest in peace) Dave Williams.

I was so enamored with Chevelle that Ozzfest was my third time seeing them. I also caught them earlier this summer opening for Lost Prophets in July at the Bowery Ballroom and later that week with Adema at The Birch Hill. Now if they would just release their album already! Wonder What's Next (Epic- October 8 release) originally slated for a mid-summer drop, could very well be THE album of the fall. But if you are like me and you just can't wait, you can hear a new track every few weeks at www.chevelleinc.com until the album is released, as well as the song Family System on The Osbourne's Soundtrack.

Okay, enough with the big rock and roll tours that you can see anywhere, what was really going down in New York City this summer?

Brooklyn's own force of nature, Candiria, tore up North Six, not once but twice this summer. "All my bass are belong to drummer Ken Schalk-" who is flat out sick. Be sure to check out Candiria's summer double cd release The Coma Imprint, which defies all laws of music and cannot be stifled into any one genre. Candiria gears up for yet another tour next month with New Jersey's 40 Below Summer. Don't miss them September 7th at the Birch Hill, or else.

Strong Island's Glassjaw killed a few this summer including the sweatiest CBGB show ever. It was so hot in fact, the boys stripped down to their boxers- as if the heat wasn't enough for the fans! Fresh off the Snocore Tour, Glassjaw has now left the building to join the second leg of Ozzfest in support of their recent Warner Bros. release, Worship and Tribute. This album is a must-have for subway commuting or when your annoying neighbors need a good shaking up. I also highly recommend checking out www.glassjaw.com where you can find some of the most amazing videos (just when you thought that art was dead). Otherwise, just instant message Glassjaw robot Transmission11.

On a lighter note, Texas transplant Blu Sanders serenaded a few very lucky people at CB's 313 Gallery August 10th. His new EP Five To Care About (available at www.blu.net) is just a taste as to what is yet to come from my favorite singer/songwriter. New York is lucky to claim him now, and my guess is given a year and he will be bigger than John Mayer. Blu opened for The Mercury Star's own Wes McWhorter, who also left the bluebonnet-trimmed highways of Texas to croon in the big city. Wes is not only the nicest, most passionate person you will ever meet, he also has an octave-defying and unbelievably powerful voice. And he can play the trumpet without a trumpet! Look for Wes with The Mercury Stars (www.mercurystars.com) or with his other amazing project Colorhouse (www.colorhouse.org).

Finally, an all too short mention of your favorite summer shows: Christa Joy at The C Note, Skywriter at Luna Lounge, Mushroomhead at Krome, Desaparecidos at North Six and Roseland, Rival Schools at Bowery Ballroom, Morcheeba at Irving Plaza and...

"David Bowie at Roseland. Why? Because the man is intelligent, creative, experimental and talented. None of that pop kiddie shit. He knows what he's doing. And the show was stripped raw; just music, just about music. No Madonna side shows and dancing steps. No Kid Rock babes with inflatables. No Back Street Boys with fireworks. This was the real deal. Real music, what music should be. And beyond music, excellent lyrics as well. No Britney Spears diary bullshit." -New York City artist David Greg Harth

And that, my friends, sums up the sweaty summer madness. Hundreds of great shows and not a single white tie, white stripe, hive or vine. Check back with us next month for summer cd reviews and what to look forward to in the fall. Until then, here are my picks for end of summer concerts to cool off at...

8.20 The Sprite Liquid Mix Tour at Jones Beach
8.21 and 22 Gypsy Kings at Hammerstein Ballroom
8.27 Deadsy, Dredge and Taproot at The Village Underground
9.03 Interpol at Bowery Ballroom
9.04 From Autumn to Ashes at The Knitting Factory
9.05 And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead with
Queens of The Stone Age at Roseland
9.07 Candiria with 40 Below Summer and Diecast at
The Birch Hill Concert Hall, Old Bridge, NJ
9.14 The Used at The Birch Hill Concert Hall, Old Bridge, NJ
9.15 The (International) Noise Conspiracy with Coheed & Cambria at Irving Plaza
9.20 Incubus with 30 Seconds To Mars at PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
9.26 The World Inferno Friendship Society at Knitting Factory

-Star