There is nothing quite like a thirtieth* anniversary tour of an album that came out when you were a teenager to make you feel old (*closer to thirty-first if we’re being fiscal, but who’s counting?). I was a grumpy teenager listening to Helmet’s Betty on the way to school when it came out in 1994, and three decades later I have my own teenager to get to school in the mornings.
But I still love Betty, and clearly so does the crowd (mainly greying and bearded middle-aged men, some of whom have brought their kids along!) who showed up to this sold-out celebration of what arguably remains Helmet’s most creative hour.
But first, War On Women and Slomosa, who both do a brilliant job of getting the audience pumped. Baltimore punk band War On Women bring the heavy metallic punk, with thick, almost sludgy grooves, and lots of low end, taking punk back to its roots: ugly, loud, and pissed off at the world.
“Our world is kinda shit so we have fun at the shows,” says singer Shawna Potter, who leads the quintet through half an hour of danceable and headbang-able punk-metal bursts of energy, shouting out, “Trans rights for ever!” before set closer, Second Wave Goodbye.
Slomosa, meanwhile, begin their set with a Tool-ish sounding eastern intro, before lurching into a sea of post-metal grooves. “C’est notre première fois à Montréal,” says vocalist Ben Bergous in French – always a good way to gain a Montreal crowd’s favour, even though Slomosa’s music certainly does that all on its own, with its epic yet catchy riff-fests.
The quartet sound like they could be from the Mojave Desert, with a sound that owes a lot to the warm desert rock tones of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, but actually they are from the colder climes of Bergen, Norway. Bergous calls out Israel’s continuing massacre of thousands of children before the song Battling Guns.
It’s no surprise that Helmet has brought out two left-wing bands on tour: their latest album is called Left (2023), after all.
Introduced by Andy Williams’ 1959 ballad You Don’t Know What Love Is, the signature opening strains of Wilma’s Rainbow kickstart the main event: a track-by-track performance of Helmet’s third album, Betty.
Released in 1994, Betty saw the quartet deviating somewhat from the “New York Tough Guy” hardcore style that had characterized their first two albums, Strap It On (1990) and Meantime (1992), with a more experimental, looser sound—but without sacrificing any of the heaviness, as evidenced from this evening’s revisitation of the record.
The sound in this venue tonight is fantastic, and the nice and chunky performance really makes Betty come alive in new ways, revealing its hidden depths.
It’s not the Betty line-up of the band (second guitarist Rob Echeverria departed in 1995, while drummer Jon Stanier and bassist Henry Bogdan left in 1998, never to return), but Page Hamilton and young(er) guns Dan Beeman, Dave Case, and Kyle Stevenson definitely bring the fire.
The album has aged well. Surely influenced by unpredictable art-grunge heroes Melvins, with its abstract lyrics and experimentalism, Betty is a real journey: an endlessly captivating mix of sentiment and brute force.
You never know where you stand, whether it’s precise math rock, funky earworms (Biscuits For Smut), cool jams (like the second half of Milquetoast), jazz noise (their cover of jazz standard Beautiful Love), or depressive grunge anthems like Speechless.
Betty has funny bits too, like The Silver Hawaiian, which tonight makes me think must have inspired Korn’s baritone version of War’s Lowrider on Life Is Peachy (1996).
Even the “heavy” songs like Tic and I Know are still better than anything Biohazard came up with, and album closer Sam Hell brings to mind the blues-industrial stylings of fellow New Yorker Foetus.
The second part of the show, plus the encore, is a mix of newer songs and old faves, and it kind of feels like the band becomes more alive for this part of the set—or at least gets their second wind.
Swallowing Everything, Blacktop, Like I Care, Dislocated, and a blistering cover of Black Sabbath’s Supernaut, among others, give a rapid overview of Helmet’s storied career: they have lots of bangers!
Page Hamilton introduces Strap It On’s Sinatra, by mentioning that it was covered by the Deftones: “But I haven’t heard it,” he says mischievously. “We’re friends,” he quickly adds, so you don’t think he’s starting beef—just keeping that blasé 90s spirit alive.
Just Another Victim (from the Judgment Night soundtrack) is a short, sharp shock, and of course no Helmet set would be complete without Unsung, which is kind of like their Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck.
In The Meantime ends the night, and somehow you can’t shake the feeling that even at a thirtieth anniversary Betty show, it’s Meantime which still defines the Helmet sound in the mind of band and fans alike.
In any case, a great trip down memory lane. Bring on 2027 and the Aftertaste 30th anniversary tour—let’s keep it going!
Review – Daniel Lukes
Photos – Steve Gerrard
