Sno-Core Features a Dying Breed: Rock N' Roll

Sno-Core Tour

Agora Theater

Feb. 9, 2000

On a chilly Tuesday evening in the Rock N' Roll Capital of the World, the Sno-Core Tour descended upon the Agora Theater, bringing with it an eclectic mix of heavy metal, electronica and watered-down rap. Featuring four of America's loudest bands - Mr. Bungle, Boy Hits Car, Incubus and System of a Down - Sno-Core was nothing less than a poor man's Lollapalooza, complete with excessively long set breaks, free condom booths and raffles. To be sure, the concert provided the typical sights, sounds and smells of the average metal show, and the bands were nothing if not punctual. (Those lengthy set breaks were apparently part of the scheduled program.) But the first annual Sno-Core Tour remained a hollow experience, a sobering reminder that popular rock in the new millennium is dying a slow and painful death.

Imagine an unholy hybrid of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Primus, Pantera and the Talking Heads and you may have a semi-accurate conception of Mr. Bungle. Led by former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton, Bungle took the stage first on this evening, assaulting the audience with material primarily drawn from its most recent effort, the wonderfully inventive California. Clad in carnival gear that would have made Elvis proud, the band delivered a regrettably short but scintillating set of jazz, progressive rock and death metal, treating those in attendance to nearly 30 minutes of its diverse, idiosyncratic musical styles. Certainly, Bungle impressed the crowd with numbers like "Ars Moriendi," a frantic blend of polka, surf-rock and bludgeoning speed metal, and its electrifying closer, "None of Them Knew They Were Robots;" meanwhile, Patton performed with the same energy and intensity that he brought to the stage for over a decade with his former band. But while Bungle distinguished itself as the strongest act in an otherwise mediocre lineup, it left the audience wanting more. Indeed, it was no small wonder that shouts of "Bungle!" could be heard reverberating throughout the theater as the evening wore on.

Unfortunately, Boy Hits Car could not deliver the same dynamic punch, suffering by comparison with the road-tested veterans of Mr. Bungle. Perhaps their problems stemmed from their cliched, well-rehearsed angst, their Dylan-esque lyrical imagery ("Motherfucker tried to fuck me/He tried to fuck me from behind!") or their cleverly-worded song titles ("As I Watch the Sun Fuck the Ocean"). Perhaps it was the fault of their lead singer who, despite his unbridled passion and acrobatic stage presence, could not hold a tune to save his Scott Weiland-worshipping ass. Or perhaps it was their generic sound, a soulless fusion of Stone Temple Pilots riffs and Rage Against the Machine rhythms. Whatever the case, Boy Hits Car quickly squashed all the momentum that Bungle generated during their woefully brief set. (They did, however, provide the biggest laughs of the evening, launching into their opener with the help of a cheap, out-of-tune pennywhistle. It was just their first misstep of the evening, one that any fan could appreciate for its similarities to the Stonehenge scene from Spinal Tap.)

For their part, the boys from Incubus faired a little better. Armed with talented turntablist D.J. Kilmore, the aggressive but melodious riffs of guitarist Mike Einziger and the infectious energy of lead vocalist Brandon Boyd, Incubus roused the fans from their brief naps and whipped them into a violent frenzy. Despite its stylistic similarities to undeniably lame acts like Limp Bizkit and Korn, the band delivered a robust performance, temporarily rescuing the Sno-Core Tour with its surprisingly tolerable brand of techno-metal. Sadly, the same cannot be said for System of a Down, which took the stage after an unbearably long break only to barrage the crowd with a creatively bankrupt set inspired by (you guessed it!) Korn and the Deftones. For the insolent jocks and Trenchcoat Mafia members in attendance, their performance must have been transcendent; for anyone lucky enough to have escaped the agony adolescence, it was more tedious than an evening of MTV.

To be fair, the Sno-Core Tour had its share of genuine highlights, most of which were delivered by Incubus and Mr. Bungle, a band that has always performed above and beyond the call of duty on the live circuit. But even those acts, as impressive as they were, could not disguise the fact that contemporary rock is slowly being transformed into little more than headbanging bullshit by mainstream hacks like Korn, Bizkit and Kid Rock. And so on Tuesday night, when the next generation of metal "pioneers" took to the stage at the Agora, it was hardly a surprise that the results left quite a bit to be desired.