Harptallica

Harptallica
in-store appearance
Vintage Vinyl
University City (St. Louis), MO
Sunday, February 1, 2009
free

I don't listen to much metal these days, but I used to really like it, back in my teens. Metallica is one of the few bands from back then that I'm not embarrassed about liking. Seeing them on the tours for ... And Justice For All and the black album are among the only times I can think of when I got to see the tours of truly classic albums - so many of the bands I like hit their prime years earlier. I bought Metallica's ... And Justice For All the day it came out. I truly think that listening to that album's lengthy songs and changes in tempo and meter primed me for progressive rock. It was certainly my frame of reference the first time I heard Yes' Heart of the Sunrise - it reminded me of Metallica.

I haven't followed their career in a while, but Roy found out about a unique tribute band. Harptallica bills itself as "the all harp tribute to Metallica". It's two women harp players, playing Metallica songs. Roy doesn't have a background as a Metallica fan, but he was intrigued and went to their show here a couple years ago. (I had class that night, or I would have joined him.) He liked it, and we were glad to hear they were coming back to St. Louis.

Harptallica was actually doing two shows in town, both down the street from us. One was a club show at Cicero's and the other was a free in-store appearance at Vintage Vinyl. It's ironic that I'm such a big music fan and live in an area where there are always live music performances going on in bars and clubs, but I rarely attend. But I hate putting up with cigarette smoke - I'll only go to a club show if it's a band I really want to see, where it's worth the headaches, stink, and all-around discomfort level. Ah, some day I will be able to breathe in places and take advantage of all this music. For now, there's just one bar/restaurant nearby that offers live music and is non-smoking. That's why the in-store appearance was so nice - non-smoking record store, not keeping me up later than usual, free.

Roy and I walked down to Delmar a little before 3:00pm. I think we got there ten minutes early, in case there was a crowd. I could see a few people who looked like they were there for the show. The harps were set up in back, in the jazz section. I spent some time looking at the Yes LP selection and then we found a spot to watch the performance. By the time they started, there were about 15 people there.

Harptallica played three songs: The Unforgiven, Fade to Black, and The Call of Ktulu. The first two pieces were more pretty and sedate, the melodies were recognizable, but it was a totally different style than the originals. For The Call of Ktulu, they played the harps more percussively, and it had a more frantic feel to it. To be honest, this sounds more like music I'd listen to now than Metallica itself. A group of teenage boys were standing in the aisle next to ours. They had been there since we entered the store. A few minutes into the first song, I noticed they had left. The rest of the audience gave them a good reception.

One of the women introduced each song and mentioned their live show tonight at Cicero's at each break. I felt bad, not just because I wasn't planning on going, but also because tonight is the Super Bowl, and I couldn't imagine what their turn out would be. I'm glad I got a taste of it. I just need a more pleasant concert experience than the smoky basement of Cicero's to get me to their real show.