Ty Watches Tenacious D Live

Last night I saw Tenacious D at The Factory here in Saint Louis. I'll do a proper review of the venue tomorrow. Today I want to talk about the show last night.

I have not seen The D live since 2002. Back then I saw them open for Weezer and it was pretty awesome. Last night they were the headliner and I am also older and more mature. This was a different experience. The opener was Steel Beans. This was an interesting and decent opener. Steel Beans is one dude who plays guitar, drums and sings. It was fascinating to see him do all this. But I felt like he had to be exhausted after his set. He played for 45 minutes, and it was solid. But some of his songs were a bit long. And he used a ton of distortion, which is smart on his part because it masks mistakes. But the use of distortion made it hard to hear him sing at times. All in all though he was a solid opener. I was never bored during his set. He did a good enough job.

Tenacious D came on stage after about a 30 minute intermission. Again, my expectations were high and different from 21 years before. They absolutely delivered. The set was fast and furious. They must have played something close to 20 songs. Jack Black is a true showman and he controlled the crowd and the stage for their entire 90 minute set. I am endlessly floored by Black. I was saying to my buddy after the show that he is a legit movie star who does music for fun, and he is extremely talented at it. His voice and playing is very good. He can hit some very high octaves. At one point he sang the beginning of "War Pigs" and it was amazing. He showed off his range on "Master Exploder". From song to song, all night long, he was on point. It was so enjoyable. Kyle Gass is the perfect sidekick to Black, and his guitar playing is exceptional. He is so proficient and technical, but he can also have fun with it. When he plays some of his wild solos on his acoustic guitar I am blown away. He is so good at his craft. He is also the perfect foil for all the bits The D do during their live shows. He plays off of Black so well. He performs like a true professional. I loved every second of their time together on stage. The backing band is truly wonderful. The lead guitar player shreds and has some pipes. He played the Devil during "Beelzeboss" and he hit a grand slam, both with his playing and singing. He is no Dave Grohl, but he is a damn good compliment. The bassist kept the rhythm going all night and when he got his chance to solo for the crowd, he was amazing. He was sliding up and down that bass and having the time of his life. It was dope. The drummer was pretty rad as well. He kept the tempo up and the band going strong. He also exploded during his solo. It reminded me of the playing in "Whiplash", except he was having fun playing. His solo was the best of the night in my opinion. He was pounding away on his kit. I was pleasantly surprised at all the love given to the crew throughout the night too.

This was a fun show through and through. It was also fantastic to hear all these songs again. It brought me back to my 20's when I really got into them. But I felt I appreciated it more last night. I got it all right away. I knew the words and was humming along. I was laughing at the jokes within the songs. To hear a song like "Double Team" as a 40 year old, it is so much more funny because I get every single joke within the song. It was great. The fact that The D is famous enough to headline a tour makes me very happy as an adult. I think it is rad that Jack Black and Kyle Gass still like doing this and are willing and able to tour. Neither of them have to do this, they want to do this. That much was apparent watching them perform last night.

I loved this show, the venue was cool, the band was great and I got to see an actual movie star in person. I had a blast. It was more than worth the price of admission and the exhaustion I have today. Good times. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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