Now here's a new genre: cattle core

Chic-Fil-A is great, but some of them are irritating to eat at.

Oh yeah - good ol' Chic-Fil-A! I do like their chicken sandwiches as well as the nuggets. There are like 3 of them within a stone's throw of my place here in Fredericksburg. Sometimes I'll pop in the one that is right there by my office building. I remember when that one first opened up over in the "Central Park" area. There was a line out the door and up the street! I like their food, but holy crap, it ain't THAT great!. Also, that Christian thing can get irritating as already mentioned (and this coming from a Roman Catholic. :eek:)
 
Ok, that's pretty gimmicky, but in general, Hank III is awesome. I saw him last year in the form of Assjack, and it was one of the best metal shows I'd seen in some time. My review:

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Hank III is Hank Williams the Third, son of country music (and Monday Night Football) legend Hank Williams Jr., and grandson of country legender Hank Williams.

Hank III shows are marathon affairs and perhaps the best value in concertgoing. Wearing a crumpled cowboy hat, he plays 90 minutes of classic county, takes a five minute break to switch to a crumpled baseball cap and an electric guitar, plays 30 minutes of "hellbilly", takes another five minute break to let his hair down, and closes with 60 minutes of metal with his band Assjack.

Unfortunately I showed up late, so I only was able to catch the last song of the hellbilly set and then the metal set. The hellbilly stuff fits right between the country and the metal sets. He has the same country band backing him (upright bass, fiddle, banjo, slide guitar), but it's got a lot more stomp, and there was a bit of a mosh pit going.

There were still plenty of cowboy hats in the audience during the hellbilly set, though I bet there were even more during the country set, and they really began to clear out when the metal set started. That left only the most-crumpled cowboy hats (on the heads of the heavily-tattooed and inebriated) along with some more traditional metal fans, and the curiosity-seekers like myself.

Assjack is full-on metal without a hint of country. However, it's still total redneck, Pantera-influenced groove/thrash metal, which normally isn't my thing, but somehow it was completely fucking awesome. It had just the right amount of headbangability, and they played it with such a plowing-ahead, no-time-for-bullshit attitude that it was impossible not to be drawn in. And then there were moments of unexpected class, like when in the cover medley that included Slayer and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", they played Mr. Bungle. This country dude played fucking Mr. Bungle! I couldn't even believe it until the next day when I figured out that it was "Goodbye Sober Day", which rather fits in with Hank III's lyrical oeuvre. The pit was pretty thin and spread out, but I was probably involved in it as much as I ever have been, even losing my wind on a shot to the ribs once. Beer was flying, girls were getting their hair ripped out, it was good times all around.

Next time he comes through I'm definitely going to make sure that I see it from the beginning.

Video:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b71JaDgZcTI]Country Set[/ame] (ok, I guess there was moshing in this one too!)
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oDH_zbgCz0]Hellbilly Set[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30:rofl:xBN4C2Q]Metal Set[/ame] (the medley, cut off just before the Bungle, dammit! But if you've got a good eye, you can see me bouncing around the pit area in this one)
 
I'm not the right person to ask, A.S.
I boycott Chik-Fil-A because they discriminate on the basis of religion when hiring...or at least they did a few years ago.
Not only did their job application have a question about the applicant's religion (!), but when some friends of mine submitted identical job applications -- with the only difference being the "religion" answer -- the ones listing "Christian" got callbacks while the ones that left the question unanswered, or answered something else (like "none") did not.

I'm not particularly gung-ho on religion either way -- I'm a recovering Roman Catholic -- but that struck me as Wrong.


That said, they make a great -- if somewhat pricey -- chicken sandwich, they are an active charitable organization, and their ad campaigns have been humorous and well-received.


As for Hank III.....maybe he should tour with Cattle Decapitation. :heh:
 
Saw Hank 3 at the House of Blues Chicago last night. He played, in order:

100 minutes of classic country (with occasional bits of punk/metal intensity)
15 minutes of hellbilly
5 minute break (where he essentially told people "I won't hold it against you if you leave now")
50 minutes of stoner doom metal (aka Attention Deficit Domination)
45 minutes of cattle-core (aka 3 Bar Ranch, during which he wore a cowboy hat, bandana/mask covering his face, and road-warrior leather armor with shoulder pads)

That adds up to 3 hours and 35 minutes. Damn.

Before the final song, he popped some pills, removed the armor, and replaced it with a Bathory hoodie.

During the cattle-core set he name-checked three bands as inspirations: Slayer, Pantera, and...Strapping Young Lad. I can see it now, a Hank 3 + Devin Townsend tour! Prog metal nerds actually seem to *like* Devin now, so it's about time he does something to piss them off again! :lol:

Neil