Static-X

House of Blues, Anaheim

What can I say? Wayne Static kicks ass. Tripp's no exception either. By far one of the most entertaining metal bands I've ever seen, Static-X played to a sold out group of revelers both young and old. Loud, fast, hard-driving. All of those describe Static-X. Wayne is a good showman, and played to the crowd really well. Tripp was more subdued, but still worked a close second to Wayne. The sound was good, the playing was good, not really much else to say than that. Mr. Static had the striped shirt, the shorts and that killer hairstyle. Tripp was in all black with dreads. The drum kit was on a riser of what appeared to be enormous Marshall cabinets behind a chain link fence. They couldn't have all been live in that little place, lol. The bass player and one other guy rounded out the band. Being familiar with Static-X's music helped ... I wouldn't recommend going to one of their show's unless you really like them. Moshing was almost non-existent, oddly enough, but there were a lot of devil horns and Static-X's preferred fists in their air to make up for it all. These guys are well worth the price of admission if you can get to see them at a small venue. The only low-light of the evening was when they brought out one of the guys from Assissino to sit in for a number. You can see what I think about them on their own page. All in all, their performance was the topper to a pretty damn kewl evening, and well worth the wait.

Latest as of 8/03
Static-X still kicks ass. Wayne and Tripp are the consummate freak show by anybody's standards. You also get the feeling they really are enjoying themselves up on stage. And Tripp ... oh Tripp ... if there was ever going to be a guitarist I'd want to be (short of Stevie Ray) he might just be the one. You can't really tell how good his chops are from the music, but the look, the crowd, on stage .... it's everything a wanna-be guitar freak like me wants to be when he grows up. In all seriousness though, they're still a great act ... tight, loud and all business ... and if you can stand the fighting, crying and throwing up in the audience (no kidding here at all) it's worth the effort to catch them. Thankfully this time there were no dumbass guests up on stage. The only lowlight? They don't seem to want to play anything but trance and dance music over the p.a between bands and before the show. It did make it seem like an extraordinarily long night....

Latest as of December, 03
Still the same fucking good show. Went into the pit for the first time at one of their shows in search of a pick. Like a little schoolgirl I squealed when I got to touch Tripp's boots. Pushing a good deal of new music from Shadowzone along with the rest of their hit list, they put on probably the best show I've seen by them to date. And ... I got my pick, and a bruised rib in the effort! Gotta love it.

Latest as of Tripp's departure
Well sad to say they're not the same band without Tripp. He did add so much more to the show. This last show was somewhat of a disappointment in comparison to what Static-X used to offer. The old songs are still there and still kick ass, but the new stuff is not all that great or original anymore. Maybe next time they'll get their act together, but the music ain't as great, and the theatrics sadly are long-gone.

You can find Static-X's homepage here.