Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Setlists and Reviews: Non GD Related Reviews: Archive: Zero 2/2/07 - Fillmore.

well, i posted this in Music Talk Only section, but figured i'd post it over here too, since this is probably the proper place. enjoy!

**********************************************
well, let's just say that i wish i hadn't gone.
i liked the feeling both bands left me with in december of 1999 when they initially split up, and wish to remember it like that. but oh well. a new perspective...

with that being said.
kimock was on. really sounded good. although pretty low in the mix at points. but his solos were lightning and he was on fire. didn't even notice him sitting down. and no pedal steel either. just straight electric, i think he was playing two different guitars. maybe three?

his kid John is pretty damn good, and the double drummer (him and agreg) action really gave it a nice sound.
melvin was great. although inconsistently great, in my opinion. when he was tearin' up the keys, look out!, but sometimes he was also low in the mix.
martin is martin. you know what you are getting. and it was pretty solid last night, really adds that jazz element to the "zero" sound. although, he was really occupied about having this little girl (his daughter? granddaughter?) up on stage at points, and that maybe took away from the focus of the music.
towards the end he was kinda bashing the crowd about being "sleepy" and "tired and old" and not with it. but they were playing a lot more spacey/ballady stuff that wasn't very "raging" therefore, sleepy music = stoney sleepy crowd. but it definitely raged at points, everybody getting down.
Chance in a Million and Hangers were probably the crowd favorites. the opener (don't remember the name) was a beauty with a really nice, eyes rolled back in your head jam throughout, kimock's guitar shredding over the top (maybe even segued into a 2nd song at some point, no setlist, sorry).
liam was awesome on bass. i really like that kid and most groups i've seen him play in. he has a funky sound and holds down the rhythm nicely. not bobby vega, but a good substitution. he didn't take too many solos but had nice solo fills.
now, my draw back, ARNIE, the guitar player. meh. in my opinion, he wasn't necessary, and should've stayed home. for some of the two guitar jams he was tight and helped fill out the guitar sound while kimock soloed, but when he sang, i felt it was unnecessary. i didn't like his songs, i didn't like where the grooves went. i thought he did a pretty terrible job of singing boogie on reggae woman (although the band itself didn't play the tune very tightly).
and the 2nd set opener of Slipping into Darkness had the groove of WAR From the bass/rhythm/keys standpoint, but the singing was just miss for me.
some gal (sorry i don't know her name) was also singing with arnie. meh. where was donna?!?! whose this 20 something stripper singing background vocals? what the ****?
Judge was on point singing Chance in a Million, everything else he sang was lacking.
some cat was playing a talking drum through a lot of the jams, and added more depth to the rhythm element of the show, as well as a percussion player (from new monsoon?!) on a handful of the jams.
for me, this band was tight as hell, psychedelic groovin' when it was only Kimock, Kimock, Anton, Martin, Melvin and Liam on stage. That is the only points when they truly "locked in" and threw down some serious mind melting music.
unfortunately for me, there wasn't enough of that.
oh well. i had fun, love the fillmore, all the smiling faces and old friends. great poster too!
i just won't be going tonight. although i wasn't planning on it anyhow. i'll be at the palace of fine arts watching another master of his craft, Mr. Bruce Hornsby. tonight hopefully my expectations will be met, because last night they weren't.

"ARNIE, the guitar player. meh. in my opinion, he wasn't necessary, and should've stayed home. for some of the two guitar jams he was tight and helped fill out the guitar sound while kimock soloed, but when he sang, i felt it was unnecessary. i didn't like his songs, i didn't like where the grooves went."

Funny...I don't ever remember a guitar player by the name of Arnie ever in Zero. It sounds like more of a reunion of Steve Kimock's "Friends" than a reunion of a SF band named ZERO.

BTW..that young girl is Martin Fierro's daughter. He always insists on bringing her up to stand with him. Some find it cute, others like myself, find it annoying as hell.

Glad you did have a good time. I remember seeing Zero at the Maritime Hall many times. Those were always fantastic shows. I'll be going tonight. I hope Martin finds a babysitter.

Matt - nice review and I also responded to your comments in the Music Folder.

Pete - I agree with you 100%. . . Have fun tonight!

Those Maritime shows in the late 90's were almost always great.

Here's the setlist, per Charlie Miller:

Charlie Miller <charlie@kimock.com> wrote:

baby baby
tangled hangers
chance in a million
horses
anorexia
boogie on reggae women
-----------------------------------------
slippin into darkness >
sun sun sun >
drums/percussion >
highway 61
big love
ermaline
hey jude
happy birthday arnie

Fun night! decent show...it all seemed very short... I really like Judge and there were some stellar jam moments but when it ended I said thats it?..huh...off into the San Francisco night.

Thanks for the reviews, folks.

Looks like a kinda short setlist. About how long did they play?

Looking forward to another review(s) of tonight's show.

I get to see Melvin, Martin, Greg and Liam a week from now in the latest incarnation of the Avalon All-Stars (also with Stu Allen, at the Red Fox Tavern in Eureka, CA, 2-9 and 2-10). Woo-hoo!!

Not a bad way to spend $25 on a Friday night. I don't recall the show being short--or long. Everyone sounded great, there were lots of special guests and lots of smiles all around. I typically prefer Martin in small doses, didn't get sick of him though. He was well placed and not overbearing. Kinda the same with Kimock--little bit goes a long way--I almost felt like more Kimock would have been okay, with so many other people on stage, he was definitely not the center of attention.

The end of the set got to be a little slow--not sure why they expect the crowd to perk up when they're playing slow songs? The show did end quickly, band left the stage and the lights were on right away, it did leave a feeling of it's over already? But I don't think it was a short show.

I tried to go back on saturday but it was fortunately sold out. Not sure I really wanted a second night, although, some friends who missed friday wanted to check it out, I ended up at the Indy for the North Miss. All Stars which was really the show to be at this weekend! They were great!