Helmet
22nd April 2017
Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
A thick cloud of anticipation hovers in the air. Tonight is the night that we all get to take a trip back in time to the mid 90’s as we hear Helmet play their third album entitled ‘Betty’ in its entirety. The show has seen a venue change, originally scheduled to be at The King’s Arms, due to recent issues over noise complaints the promoters decided to rather be safe than sorry and have moved the show to Galatos.
Unfortunately this has resulted in the venue feeling like a can of sardines, with stage lighting that was less than satisfying for either the crowd or the band. But it’s the music that brings us here, and with no support band and promises of a two hour show, the predominantly male crowd are ready for it; roaring their approval as the four band members, led by Page Hamilton himself walk out and take up position.
Helmet originally began in 1989 in New York City; formed by the only original member left [Page Hamilton] the band hit the big time in 1992 with their second album ‘Meantime’. Two more releases would follow (including the album we are about to hear tonight) before the band would part ways in 1998. 2004 saw the band reform and release another four albums, a few line-up changes have occurred along the way and 13 years later here they are in Auckland, New Zealand promising a night of what is sure to be glorious alternative music.
Straight into the first track ‘Wilma’s Rainbow’ and the crowd explodes. People are jostling for better positions desperate to get a few inches closer to the sound emanating from the stage; a number of fans clinging to the staircase leading to the upstairs bar which proved to be one of the better vantage points of the night. Helmet faithfully follows Betty’s track listing; Milquetoast bringing back memories of stomping around in grunge era style clothing for many of us, Hamilton proving that he has lost nothing in the vocal range. The sound is guttural and has an underlying rhythmic bass that feels like an engine; driving the beast that is the audience, heads and bodies moving in unison with the music.
Betty was the album that saw a definitive style emerge from Helmet. With Hamilton’s formal education in both jazz and classical guitar he introduced his fellow members to new methods which had an impact on the album and can be heard on tracks such as ‘Rollo’ and the popular ‘The Silver Hawaiian’. There are a few new touches to the album’s songs such as some embellishment on solos or more feedback in the tail ends; otherwise this is a faithful reproduction of all nearly 42 minutes of Betty, and it was magnificent.
Up until this point Hamilton had not spoken. But with the Betty completed he was ready to address us all. “Thanks! That was the album Betty from 1994.” Lead vocalist Hamilton has never been one to mince words and he was in fine form tonight deciding that now was the time to vent on a number of subjects. “You know I was in Europe and here in this art gallery were 75 people standing in front of the Mona Lisa, not looking at the painting, but taking selfies of themselves with the painting behind them. How fucked are we? I mean cock shots are cool and all but selfies suck” Hamilton giving a wry smile to the crowd. “I can see that as per usual there are about four ladies at a Helmet show’ Hamilton joked, prompting several women around the venue to cheer. “Oh more than four! Show of hands”. Numerous arms shot up from within the mass of people “Oh sweet “Hamilton retorted.
We had now come to that portion of the night where Helmet were about to play a selection of tracks from numerous albums and with seven to choose from (not including Betty) it promised to be one hell of a list, everyone holding out hope to hear their favourites. ‘Role Model’ the last track off the infamous 1992 album Meantime’ kicked us off, the band sounding even heavier. Luckily the venue had hired a sizeable PA system for the night, obviously realising that the house one just wouldn’t cut it with a band of this calibre playing. It was a pity however that they didn’t also hire a decent lighting rig for the night, as instead there were abysmal and cheap looking LED lights that were mainly pointed directly into your eyes and flashed red and green at pointless times. Hamilton himself even remarking snidely on them later in the set.
After several songs which included ‘Repetition’ and ‘Drunk’ Hamilton introduced the band. “It’s great to be back in Australia” he quips, laughing as the audience boos. “Sorry, sorry, this scotch is really kicking in now”. Hamilton then goes on to begin to introduce the next track explaining that the title is actually ‘I heart my Guru’ not ‘love’. This then sends Hamilton down the path of discussing how meditation will only occur if “I can do another line of coke off your tits first” and how America now has a “dipshit for a President” but that he had been warning the world of this all along as he “grew up in the 60’s and 70’s – yes I’m older than most of you” and saw it coming. Hamilton has a bite and a young woman near the front got a taste of it when Hamilton noticed her on her phone. “It’s ok, we’ll wait til you’re finished – no, no you bought a ticket, you do what you want. Is it your sister? Why isn’t she here? Is she hot?” Hamilton’s tongue firmly in cheek humour catching many off guard.
‘On your way down’ was blistering, many of the crowd absolutely losing themselves in total abandonment, allowing the music to pulsate through their veins. ‘Crisis King’ finished the set, the band exiting without a word leaving us to wallow in the feedback for a number of minutes. An encore was required as there was that one track that we all needed to hear, Hamilton upon his return joking with us that since Deftones covered it they didn’t see the need as a band to play it anymore… But following an epic rendition of both ‘Birth Defect’ and ‘Give It’ we were gifted with ‘In the Meantime’ the crowd giving it everything they had left to show their appreciation.
The house lights went up and the majority of the crowd made a swift exit towards the doors, desperate for the cool night air after two hours of tight containment. Looking back towards the front a familiar figure had appeared and was leaning on the barrier. There crouched Page Hamilton himself, a gaggle of fans surrounding him. For all his biting banter and nonchalant persona on stage, here was one of the true gentlemen of music proving that he really did give a damn about his fans as he stayed and chatted, signed and shook hands with each and every person who stayed behind to see him.
They just don’t make them like that anymore.
Were you there at Galatos for this intense packed out gig? Or have you seen Helmet live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Wilma’s Rainbow
- I Know
- Biscuits For Smut
- Milquetoast
- Tic
- Rollo
- Street Crab
- Clean
- Vaccination
- Beautiful Love
- Speechless
- The Silver Hawaiian
- Overrated
- Sam Hell
- Role Model
- Life Or Death
- Repetition
- Ironhead
- Bad News
- Drunk
- I Heart My Guru
- Red Scare
- On Your Way Down
- Crisis King
- Birth Defect [encore]
- Give It [encore]
- In The Meantime [encore]
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