Last night, Baal Zebubstein, Slick Dick Nick and myself traveled down to Bar XIII in Wilmington Delaware to catch the classic US Power Metal band Vicious Rumors touring on the 30th anniversary of the seminal
Digital Dictator album. We got there in time to catch some food at the Mexican restaurant, El Tapatio, next door. Waiter was very nice, food was acceptable. I liked that I got served two burritos for the price of one. I thought the food could have had a more flavor, however for the purpose of a quick bite, it sufficed. I also noticed that my beer counter on Untapped was sitting at nine-hundred and ninety seven beers so I intended to hit the one-thousand mark tonight. One Modelo Negra later, and I was at Nine-hundred and ninety eight.
We returned to catch the last three bands of the night. I apologize to all those that played earlier for not being there to catch your sets. We first spent some time talking with Geoff Thorpe at the Vicious Rumors merch booth. He had original old stock of the
Digitial Dictator album, which all three of us took advantage of as well as some acceptable shirts and other oddities.
Digital Dictator was a missing piece in my collection and to have an original press still in the wrapping is pretty much unmatchable. We asked about the reason for no NY date. He said that after they travel to Europe for the second leg of the tour, they intend to fly back to the US, land on the East Coast and tour the cities they didn't play on this current US tour leg. He said expect that around April. You heard it here first! At this point, I managed to grab beer Nine-hundred and Ninety Nine, a Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale.
Infernal Opera we caught the tail end of their set. No real opinion formed but from what I saw, they could potentially be an interesting band on album. I was friends with drummer Michael Alberque on Facebook but had never caught them live before. They sounded tight and, with the exception of some more modern breakdowns and chugging sections, a potentially rewarding listen. The band afterwards was called Eyes of the Living. I described them to Slick Dick Nick as Soilwork with James Hetfield singing. They were very tight, good musicians, just not my style. I grabbed beer One Thousand, I spent the time during Eyes of the Living's set to talk to other friends that had shown up by this point. Bar XIII (previously Mojo 13) is set up with a central bar area and separate room with stage making it easy to talk even if a band is playing.
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| Infernal Opera |
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| Eyes of the Living |
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Vicious Rumors were absolutely awesome. Their set was the entirety of
Digital Dictator, with an extended instrumental section during "Lady Took A Chance" allowing for the entire band to showcase. Geoff Thorpe and Gunnar DüGrey are a formidable guitar duo. Not only are they both capable of shredding with the best guitarists out there, but they both also were fun to watch on stage; Thorpe still seems as excited to perform on stage as he must've been back in 1988 and '89 when these songs were new. Nick Courtney handled Carl Alber's vocals without a mote of issue or strain, powerfully conveying every memorable chorus. Bassist Tilen Hudrap also got a chance to show he can move around the frets on a bass like a spider moves on it's web. Larry Howe crushed on drums. The band overall, even only having been together in this incarnation for approximately two weeks according to Geoff, sounded like they had been playing this material for ages. After
Digital Dictator they pulled out some additional songs from their self titles album including "Down To The Temple", "Hellraiser", and "Don't Wait For Me."
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| Geoff Thorpe |
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| Gunnar DüGrey |
Overall, highlights included what were my favorites from the album: "Digital Dictator", "R.L.H.", "Out Of The Shadows", and "Minute To Kill". "Towns on Fire" absolutely ruled live, even though it's never stood out to me when spinning the album. It was also awesome to hear "Don't Wait For Me." I would have loved to have heard "Medusa" or "Ship of Fools" also but I'm really not complaining. Maybe they'll pull those out when they return in April / May.
After the Vicious Rumors set, Larry Howe spent some time talking with my friends and I and recanted some wild stories from concerts in Germany and elsewhere including the US. Without going into too much detail, I will leave off with the warning to potential clubs, venues, and promoters from Larry Howe himself: "Don't skimp out on paying Vicious Rumors!"
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| Nick Courtney |
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