_edited.png)
3/12/25, Chicago.
Cobra Lounge was almost too tight a venue for the hammering of alternative metal band Helmet. Frontman Page Hamilton, joined by drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case, who have been part of the band since 2010, attacked their instruments to the utmost performing the band's 1994 album Betty, to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Since coming across the album on CD at an estate sale for sixty cents, I became obsessed with the wild screeching saturated guitars, the filtered vocals alternating from gruff verses to cathartic hooks, the thumping, groovy bass lines and the direct drums. And so when I traveled to Cobra Lounge, I brought the CD with me in a side bag, if not to get signed, then at least to soak it in the authentic sounds of Helmet.
Supporting acts War on Women (Baltimore) and Slomosa (Norway) performed on their own equipment in front of the sleeping Helmet gear. And a few times musicians complained about the cramped stage. War on Women's frontwoman had stage presence, acting out lyrics with her arms, while all of Slomosa’s members but the vocalist were into hair-whipping.
On stage was a wall of Fryette and Gaillien-Krueger amps (the Gaillien pasted over with green tape that read “Freddy”) and several guitars. There were two mics, one a peculiar greenish half dome, which gave Hamilton those filtered vocals on songs including “Biscuits for Smut," “Rollo," and “Sam Hell." The tightness of the stage required plastic discs placed strategically around the drum set to reduce feedback, the bass drum adorned with the album art: the smiling blond sitting in the grass with a basket of flowers: Betty.
On most songs Hamilton played a shiny pink guitar with chipped edges and what looked like two missing dials that he occasionally switched for a black guitar. Case swung a green bass and Beeman aggressively strummed a black guitar. Dressed casual, Hamilton, Case, and Beeman wore blank black or grey shirts, while drummer Stevenson wore a yellow tee with red script.
Helmet's standout performances in their Betty set were “Biscuits For Smut," “Tic," “Street Crabs," “Overrated," and “Sam Hell." The aggressive pauses and rhythms encouraged enthusiastic headbanging. The sliding bass lines of “Biscuits For Smut," and the bouncy rhythm and vocals were so fun to dance to. The aggressive beat and growling vocals on “Tic" were phenomenal. Hamilton created an interlude of guitar feedback during an extended solo. If there's one thing I love at a concert it's a dedicated segment of guitar feedback. The cathartic chorus of “Street Crabs," and the emotive delivery of “Overrated," were all I could ever want. For album closer, “Sam Hell," a bluesy number and one of three funniest tracks on the album, (besides “Blue Hawaiian" and “Beautiful Love") Helmet extended the 2 minute tune with some improvisation. I had awaited it the whole set, and was pleased to hear even thirty seconds added on to it.
It's hard to describe how good something is when every facet of the performance fit together through odd time signatures and catchy riffs, but these videos provide a slight example of Helmet's epic song articulation live.
Attuned to Betty's patterns, I noticed a few vocal mistakes, but Hamilton worked any pauses or late lyrics into the song, making smooth recoveries, and changed up the delivery to work well with the beat. Some artists change the melodies and deliveries of fan favorites live and it's annoying; all the change ups Hamilton did kept within the structure of the songs, and I liked the variations. This of course pales to the flawless heavy instrumentation that delivered
At first I wondered why Hamilton didn't scream more, in keeping with the studio vocals on Betty, but it may have been my earplugs were filtering the sounds strangely, because while at first “Vaccination" needed more shouting, the growling sounded killer on video.
Helmet took a break to drink some liquids before slamming into a second set, which jumped across their discography. Helmet's second set was tight, each band member's energy playing off each other, and had more shouting. I really needed the shouting.
For their first tune, Hamilton explained when the band started out in 1989, Chicago was one of the cities they frequented playing, and performed "Distracted" from their first album, Strap It On.
Introducing “Dislocated" and its time signature being in 5/4, Hamilton told the crowd, “Feel free to start dancing.” He recalled a similar statement made by avant-garde jazz musician Ornette Coleman, who he saw perform in New York in the 80s. Helmet's jazz influence is present in the unique riffs, chord change ups, and pauses iconic in their sound. There was jazz playing in-house before Helmet took the stage. No other metal artist I've seen has had any prominent jazz influence, and it was cool to see that referenced as an important influence.
Helmet also played newer tracks “Dislocated" and “NYC Tough Guy," after which Hamilton said, "There were probably a few f--k you's in there for the orange guy."
Every time I thought I might be getting lightheaded, another heavy headbanging track shocked me back to attention. Helmet rounded off the second set with three heavy tracks off In the Meantime: “Give It," “Turned Out," and the famous “Unsung."
After the second set, the audience demanded an encore, to my relief, and Helmet delivered fan favorites “Ironhead," “Just Another Victim," and “In the Meantime" as a final closer. These iconic bangers were each satisfying strong performances that left the crowd in a good mood.
When Helmet started packing up, I lingered, inching closer to the stage as Hamilton threw on a hoodie and gathered up equipment. As Cobra Lounge is a small venue, there was nothing to separate the band and crowd but the height of the stage. I was suddenly standing against the stage, and then slipping Betty and a silver sharpie out of my side bag, very close to the legendary guitarist. When this lady next to me waved the set list she had acquired at the end of the set and asked for a signature, I took the opening to ask “Would you mind signing my CD?" From watching the show performance I could tell he was a nice guy and wouldn't turn down giving his signature in a rude way. As I struggled to get the CD case open, because the front cover is simply too pretty to mar, he responded to our requests with, “Alright, but I've got to make this quick," signed the woman's setlist with a black sharpie and then hesitated over my open jewel case over the CD itself before instead signing the inner booklet with his initials: “Ph."
Thrown off by his use of the black sharpie instead of the silver one I was holding, which would have been easier to read, and my internal debate whether I should ask him to also sign the disc itself, I may have forgotten to say thank you (thought I don't see why I wouldn't have, but I cannot remember if I did) before either I walked away or he got back to packing his stuff or unplugging cords or whatever. A few minutes later he was talking to somebody off stage so I guess he wasn't in that much of a rush, but anyway I figured it'd be rude to come back and ask for an extra signature. Betty's CD is a closeup of the plastic flowers the blonde is holding on the cover, so it would have marred the beauty of that art anyway.
When I drifted away from the stage I realized I was shaking slightly. With my mission accomplished, I used the bathroom and heard some drunk women talking about the show. When I left the stall this woman with dark hair and an olive green shirt started talking to me at the sink, telling me it was "good to see younger people listening to their music." And, "When I was younger we had In the Meantime," referencing Helmet's highest selling album from 1992, as if Betty wasn't also over 30 years old, and if her generation had In the Meantime, what album do the younger fans supposedly have? She added, "I've known Page for twenty years, so I was on the guest list."
I had no idea how to respond, if she was lying or telling the truth, so I nodded, and told her “Thanks for talking" before slipping out. Earlier this man had offered my friend and I earplugs, as we “were young and needed to protect our hearing." It's kind of funny going to shows with generally older fans who are either surprised or honored that incredible bands like Helmet have newer/younger fans, but I liked the crowd. The age range was mostly 40s-60s. One man had a white card in his wallet that read “NO MOSHING” in bold, but he didn’t need to use it. I was so sweaty from dancing and headbanging that any mosh pit may have ended me. It was nice being able to absorb the songs without having to fear imminent collision. Everyone was sociable and I could tell the fans around me enjoyed themselves, even if I had to make up for the lack of stomping, headbanging, and whatever else I was doing.
Thank you Helmet for playing a cool local Chicago venue and giving an epic performance of my favorite album in its entirety. Thank you Helmet for being so damn good on your instruments, and to Helmet's PR and Managerial team for allowing me to experience and cover the show. Most importantly, thank you Page Hamilton for creating the alternative metal masterpiece Betty, and then signing my little copy of it.
Comments