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Live Review: Las Cruces and Iron Man in Philadelphia, 08.27.10

Much as I love the city of Philadelphia — and I do; it’s the Wesley Snipes to NYC‘s Stephen Dorff — it’s a long way away. Nonetheless, for a lineup like Las Cruces and Iron Man, the trip is well worth it. And hey, I didn’t drive as far as Las Cruces, who are from San Antonio, and thus know what salsa should taste like. So it could be worse.

I was in no hurry to get to the Millcreek Tavern, since it was just the two bands on the bill and I knew the show would be running late. Las Cruces went on first, playing tracks off of their latest, Dusk, as well as older material and a new song called “Egypt” that I shouted from the crowd was a keeper. And it was. There wasn’t much of an audience — apparently some fest was happening down the street — but the loyal few enjoyed what the four-piece had to offer, myself included, and when they played “Wizard” and “Cocaine Wizard Woman” back-to-back, I felt like life was doing me a personal favor. Two songs with “wizard” in the title — in a row! Doesn’t get more doomed than that, folks.

In general I consider myself a fan of a singing drummer, and Paul DeLeon of Las Cruces didn’t disappoint. While guitarists George Trevino and Mando Tovar (Pillcrusher) poured out killer riffs and solos and bassist Jimmy Bell windmilled a breeze enough to feel it from in front of the stage, DeLeon held down the rhythm and the melody of material both old and new. Dusk is the band’s first full-length in 12 years, but the band and the songs sounded fresh and they put on a righteous show despite the fact that there weren’t too many people in the crowd to see it.

A chicken cheese steak was enjoyed in between sets — no onions — and I had plenty of time to eat, as Iron Man took their time getting going. Vocalist Joe Donnelly must have been running late, or else waiting outside to make his grand entrance, since he came in just before the set started. Bassist Louis Strachan and new drummer Mike Rix (who has about four more toms in his rack-mounted kit than he needs for doom) make for a killer rhythm section, and Donnelly‘s Ozzy-style antics are well documented and always good for a laugh, but the essential component in Iron Man is Al Morris III, whose sheer presence while he plays guitar makes the whole set. I managed to get video of the opener, “I Have Returned,” which you can see below. Watch his solo and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Amazing.

Iron Man played a new song as well. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it’s good to know they’re working on material for a follow-up to I Have Returned. They were selling the recent Shadow Kingdom reissues of Generation Void, Black Night and The Passage as well, though I don’t know how many people were there who didn’t already have them. They played an 11-song set, which seemed like a bit much, but although it’s three days later and my sleep pattern is still thrown off, I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth the time or effort to get to the show. It was all the more special because of the sparse attendance, and with Las Cruces having come so far, and Iron Man having made the trip from Maryland, it seemed the least I could do to show up. I guarantee whatever else was going on in town that night wasn’t as doomed out as this show was.

Adding to the argument in favor of attendance was not knowing when Las Cruces would be back this way. Iron Man is killer, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve already seen them this year and worse comes to worst, Maryland is only three hours away. San Antonio is a little farther out from Jersey, and since I enjoyed Dusk so much (even the tracks not about wizards of any shape or form), I wanted to be there to support the band. I don’t know if it did them any good in terms of getting gas money to get to the next show, but there you go. Should have been a couple local acts on the bill to round it out and fill up the place, should have been more people there, but it was a killer gig and easily justified the ride down. No complaints out of me.

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6 Responses to “Live Review: Las Cruces and Iron Man in Philadelphia, 08.27.10”

  1. Doomed for life says:

    the reason why their was no crowd, was becauz real doom fans want to see the original line-up, not a bunch of bandwagon jumpers(only one original member left, and he is only on one of the first two albums, I have all three). The drummer is totally ripping off the vocal style of the original singer(Mark.Z) no true front-man, plus it took long enough to make their third album( A week long tour, thats funny how do you expect to get anywhere, only playing a handful of shows with limited crowd, what a waste of money and time, maybe better management can help). Dont get me wrong I love doom metal and LC, maybe a better producer and new management will get them over the hump next time. Good Luck fellas

  2. John Brenner says:

    Great Iron Man video! Sounds like 1990 and not 2010. Did Joe really pull his pants down at the end of Al’s solo? Yes I believe he did!

    J

  3. George T. says:

    I do agree that 10 yrs is a long time but just to clarify I am last original member left in Las Cruces but not by my choice. Others left because they didn’t believe in Doom or metal like I do, as for jumping on bandwagon well other ex members seem to be using our name to get there name into scene, that is jumping on MY bandwagon. Also I wrote S.O.L. but I chose not to record it for personal reasons. New members are on board because I ASKED them too, not the other way around. Again to justify LC’s decision to tour now is because we believe in Doom and I believe in Metal. All others can stay home and listen to their 45’s and look at picture discs and cry why can’t I see a good metal band with all original members..well ask the band and their ex-members that question, don’t question the band that is still f*in trying to keep doom metal alive! Cheers.

  4. John Brenner says:

    George, you guys were great in Frederick, MD. It was a pleasure to play with you once again!

  5. Jimmy B. says:

    As for doomed for lifes comment its kind hard to self support a tour even though as small as it might b to you but from san antonio all the way to new york and back is quite a trip and not a cheap one plus were not a bunch of teenagers with no responsibilities we all have jobs and families that we have to go back to so unless you’re willing to lay down the cash to to support our next trek of our tour i suggest you stop complaining about the band not being the original band and give us alittle respect for keeping the Las Cruces movement in motion regardless of who’s in the band right now theres always a reason why theres line up changes and they’re usually made for the better of the band……!!!DOOM ON!!!……

  6. Thanks for the review and video.
    As Manager for the Band Iron Man and good friend for years with the Band Las Cruces i can vouch for the fact that they, the band Las Cruces and its fans or lack of, had nothing to do with the attendence of the show. It was booked with very little time to promote it the way myself and the Philly promoter would have liked.

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