Live

Metal Movement Tour

Aunt Flow paid a brief but fiery visit to Tucson Monday night at The Rock.

The 2004 edition of the Metal Movement Tour, fronted by the all-female Canadian quartet, Kittie, came with the perfect marketing ploy: a tour featuring a woman in every band on the bill. A sure draw, indeed, but no one could anticipate the power of such a concept.

Supporting their latest release, Like Sheep Led to Slaughter, Crisis began the fury. Definitely the underground underdogs of the night, the near capacity crowd stared blankly as the band kicked off its set. The blank faces remained when Crisis encountered sound problems during their opening song. Once resolved, the remainder of the set grabbed the attention of the audience. Frontwoman Karyn Crisis moved to the heavy riffs of her band like a tribal dancer, flailing around her 4-foot-long dreadlocks before literally screaming in the faces of those in the front of her.

"Greetings and salutations," said Otep, walking onto the stage for her band's performance. "Tonight, we're going to begin with a story ..." she continued, before ripping into the opening song "Blood Pigs." The line in the first verse, "It's fucked up, I'm different, words remain my only escape, art saves ..." served as the theme for the next 45 minutes, as the night belonged to Otep. In between songs, she shared her personal prophecies of pain and rage, punching herself in the head, pulling her hair out and choking herself with her microphone cord.

Headliners Kittie could not match the devastating performance put on by Otep during their hour-long set. Opening with "Look So Pretty" from their latest release, Until the End, the crowd assisted the band in singing the song's chorus (which sounds like a war-cry for child molesters). Sisters and founding members, guitarist and vocalist Morgan Lander and drummer Mercedes, held the band's performance back by seeming bored and just going through the motions all night. Bassist Jennifer Arroyo was the sole highlight of Kittie, trying her best to win the crowd over, although it was too little, too late. Before the song "Career Suicide," Arroyo performed a quite memorable solo, reminiscent of Cliff Burton's playing style.

And to whatever dumb-ass who had enough sack to yell, "Show your tits!" at any of the women that night ... I hope your medical insurance plan is top-notch.