Static-X celebrates 20 Years Of Wisconsin Death Trip At Reverb!! – Reading, PA 7/7/19

There are so many things I want to say about STATIC-X and their Wisconsin Death Trip 20th Anniversary Tour that I don’t even know where to begin, but I’ll try. On the night in question the band was playing my favorite venue Reverb, Jimmy the Beer Man was along for the ride, and as an added bonus, Mini-Amps was doing his second club show at the same venue he did his first. Plus, I was getting to see my favorite staff on the planet with Mark Kohl and his awesome wife Brandi, Kenny at the food bar, and last but not least the lovely Shannon who handles the door (love the hair, Shannon!). She even came inside during the show to check and see if he was okay, and every single one of them gave him high-fives. They truly are amazing people.



Chris Minor from RockView Live was handling photo duties this evening, and A&GS team member Tonia S. was there to hang out and enjoy the show, too. I love nights like this when we can get a group together and take in a killer metal show. And that is EXACTLY what this was. Band members Ken Jay, Tony Campos, Koichi Fukuda (all originals), and mysterious masked guitarist/vocalist Xer0 joined forces to pay tribute to our fallen comrade Wayne Static with an electrifying set of 17 songs that he would surely be proud of. Opener “Bled For Days” had bodies moving and crowd surfers springing into action immediately. I immediately looked over at Mini-Amps and he started the “Corey Dance” maybe 30 seconds in, despite the heat.



It was a sold out show, and a sauna in there, two things that concerned me as to whether he would be okay. But I needn’t have worried. This kid is a fucking PRO now. His enthusiasm never wavered, not for a second, and he even jumped up and down a few times! “Wisconsin Death Trip” was up next and I have to say the band was en fuego. Xer0 was handling his duties to what can only be described as perfection, and he along with the other guys were totally feeding off this crowd’s voracious appetite for these songs. “Fix” whipped everyone into a frenzy, then “Sweat of the Bud” ripped through Reverb like a fucking freight train. This is one of my favorites and live it surely did NOT disappoint!



And speaking of favorites, let’s talk about the double shot of them with “Love Dump” (I..I can’t believe I’m letting you do this to me) and “I Am,” tracks that I still play blare regularly both at home and at work. I was screaming like a lunatic during the hooks of both tunes, having an awesome time, and Mini-Amps was rocking out HARD! Jimmy was having a good time watching both the show and my son, and we were enjoying some ice cold beers. “Get to the Gone” from Machine is one of the heaviest songs in the STATIC-X arsenal, and on Sunday it hit us with the subtlety of a Mack truck, okay? Meanwhile “Black and White” showcases a melodic groove both in the studio and live that you can’t help but get down with, ya know?



“This Is Not” was another firecracker on this hot July night, while Shadow Zone made its lone appearance with “Destroy All.” But let’s get down to the nitty gritty and talk about the last two songs of the night, alright? “I’m With Stupid” is a fucking amazing tune, and live the boys hit it out of the park like Pete Alonso from my New York Mets did in this year’s Home Run Derby. Same thing with closer “Push It.” Everyone hit their nitrous switches and took off on this one! It’s like the band knew it was time to blow our goddamn doors off, and that’s EXACTLY what they did! Man oh man, was this a fantastic show. I knew I was gonna have a good time, but I didn’t know I’d have THAT great of a time. Mini-Amps loved it, too, and he rocked his face off. 



The whole night was just perfect, and I also got to introduce him to the beautiful unicorn that is Rachel Cruz who was cool enough to snap a photo with him. She’s such a great girl and it’s always a pleasure to see her at shows. I’m gonna tell you all something right now: You lissenin’? If you are wavering and wishy-washy over whether you should catch this STATIC-X tour do yourself a favor and GO. It was awesome and you’ll be glad you did! The guys are all playing their asses off, and Xer0 does a fantastic job fronting this unit. You can find dates HERE. Thank you Natalie at Adrenaline PR for making this happen. And once again, BIG THANK YOU to the peeps at Reverb for being so nice and accommodating. We’ll be back soon! R.I.P. Wayne. You will live in our hearts forever.







LIVE IMAGES: ROCKVIEW LIVE

LIVE WORDS: THE MAESTRO