Orange Goblin Live at theTroubadour, West Hollywood, CA 6/06/2011

Orange Goblin instantly bring to mind a fusion of oldest era White Zombie, Black Sabbath, and Type O Negative, but also throw in a bit of Misfits era Danzig, maybe a touch of Jim Morrison and the Doors and even some of bands from that era like CCR.

That sounds pretty cool in and of itself but once you've blended that to a puree, add in some mystical and diabolical influences such as Lord of the Rings, Lovecraft, Zombie movies, astral projection, Italian horror movies (and their sound tracks!) and then blend again and you have a pretty good idea of what UK metal meisters Orange Goblin bring to the stage.

They recently put out a five disc retro-spective set of what their decade-plus of rocking have brought forth and commenced on a short US tour with The Gates of Slumber in support.

I have to say I was immediately taken by the combination of all the above elements. Songs like "Saruman's Wish", "Magic Carpet", "Aquatic Fanatic" and their theme song "Orange Goblin" hit the head of retro rock, modern metal, and cool fantastical song writing all in one go.

They offer a grooving, psychedelic sound that still offers up a good punch for modern metal heads with expert guitar, perfectly sung lyrics that have just the right hint of menace, and an inviting cornucopia of mystical worlds to journey through in their story-telling which keeps me listening to their discs over and over.

The set opened with "Suspiria" by the original Goblin piping in as the band took the stage. I am a huge Goblin fan so I found this awesome and appropriate to set the ambiance as well.

They played a long set ranging across their back catalog. I know they did "Shine", "Magic Carpet", "Blue Snow", "They Come Back" which he announced was about all of his favorite Zombie movies, "Aquatic Fanatic" which may be my personal favorite of theirs next to "Saruman's Wish", "Some You Win, Some You Lose", and a few others for the main set that I cannot remember.

They came back for an encore after the crowd chanted "Goblin! Goblin!" for a sufficient interval and finished up with "Time Traveling Blues", and what seemed to be two songs rolled into one: "Quincy the Pigboy" and "Scorpionica" but it was hard to tell the two apart if they were actually separate.

The audience was really into them and bounced around continuously even forming a mosh pit for a few intervals which got the band really excited. The lead singer bantered with the crowd now and again and said of all the places in America they played this was the best crowd and the best rock show yet.

I had a great time and thought they were really talented on stage. Their guitarist is a master of the pedals and boxes, switching back and forth and conjuring up all the sounds and feeling of the studio work on stage.

They did not bring their keyboards along so no live organ sounds and such but they did not use a backing track either and honestly with the energy and momentum from the drums and bass, they were not missed.

The drummer looked like he took a heavy dose of something before he got on stage and while keeping time perfectly, I thought he might die at the kit or at least roll off the throne backwards a few times but he made it through the set and encore safely.

All in all, a great band, great show and definitely worth seeing as well as checking out on disc or online. I am heavily into dark metal of all genres and this is a nice excursion from the death, black, and power metal genres I spend the majority of my time in while still retaining that dark doom edge lyrically that I love, and it certainly is metal even if it does find its foot in another realm's court.

The psychedelic groove adds a nice melodic touch to the darkness and makes it seem gothic somehow, that juxtaposition brings in an unusual disarming quality that at first listen, lets them sink in deeper than you had intended.



							Orange Goblin Live at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA June 6th, 2011 Review and photos by Travis Baumann Orange Goblin instantly bring to mind a fusion of oldest era White Zombie, Black Sabbath, and Type O Negative, but also throw in a bit of Misfits era Danzig, maybe a touch of Jim Morrison and the Doors and even some of bands from that era like CCR. That sounds pretty cool in and of itself but once you've blended that to a puree, add in some mystical and diabolical influences such as Lord of the Rings, Lovecraft, Zombie movies, astral projection, Italian horror movies (and their sound tracks!) and then blend again and you have a pretty good idea of what UK metal meisters Orange Goblin bring to the stage. They recently put out a five disc retro-spective set of what their decade-plus of rocking have brought forth and commenced on a short US tour with The Gates of Slumber in support. I have to say I was immediately taken by the combination of all the above elements. Songs like "Saruman's Wish", "Magic Carpet", "Aquatic Fanatic" and their theme song "Orange Goblin" hit the head of retro rock, modern metal, and cool fantastical song writing all in one go. They offer a grooving, psychedelic sound that still offers up a good punch for modern metal heads with expert guitar, perfectly sung lyrics that have just the right hint of menace, and an inviting cornucopia of mystical worlds to journey through in their story-telling which keeps me listening to their discs over and over. The set opened with "Suspiria" by the original Goblin piping in as the band took the stage. I am a huge Goblin fan so I found this awesome and appropriate to set the ambiance as well. They played a long set ranging across their back catalog. I know they did "Shine", "Magic Carpet", "Blue Snow", "They Come Back" which he announced was about all of his favorite Zombie movies, "Aquatic Fanatic" which may be my personal favorite of theirs next to "Saruman's Wish", "Some You Win, Some You Lose", and a few others for the main set that I cannot remember. They came back for an encore after the crowd chanted "Goblin! Goblin!" for a sufficient interval and finished up with "Time Traveling Blues", and what seemed to be two songs rolled into one: "Quincy the Pigboy" and "Scorpionica" but it was hard to tell the two apart if they were actually separate. The audience was really into them and bounced around continuously even forming a mosh pit for a few intervals which got the band really excited. The lead singer bantered with the crowd now and again and said of all the places in America they played this was the best crowd and the best rock show yet. I had a great time and thought they were really talented on stage. Their guitarist is a master of the pedals and boxes, switching back and forth and conjuring up all the sounds and feeling of the studio work on stage. They did not bring their keyboards along so no live organ sounds and such but they did not use a backing track either and honestly with the energy and momentum from the drums and bass, they were not missed. The drummer looked like he took a heavy dose of something before he got on stage and while keeping time perfectly, I thought he might die at the kit or at least roll off the throne backwards a few times but he made it through the set and encore safely. All in all, a great band, great show and definitely worth seeing as well as checking out on disc or online. I am heavily into dark metal of all genres and this is a nice excursion from the death, black, and power metal genres I spend the majority of my time in while still retaining that dark doom edge lyrically that I love, and it certainly is metal even if it does find its foot in another realm's court. The psychedelic groove adds a nice melodic touch to the darkness and makes it seem gothic somehow, that juxtaposition brings in an unusual disarming quality that at first listen, lets them sink in deeper than you had intended.



























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