According to Ill Ni§o frontman Christian Machado, certain benefits could be gained from his band's participation in the Jagermeister Music Tour, which rolls into town Saturday and also features Coal Chamber and Drowning Pool.
First, it's a move or two up the ladder from being the first band performing to a later slot.
"It's a little bit better," Machado said in a phone interview from the tour's Portland, Ore., stop. "We're the third band on and even though some kids are rolling up late, they're still getting a chance to see the band."
There's also the fact that Ill Ni§o is sharing the stage with a couple of its favorite bands.
"The guys in Drowning Pool and Coal Chamber have been awesome to us on this tour," Machado said. "Those guys get up there and rock it every night, so it's a privilege to be able to share the stage with them."
And lest we forget, the tour's sponsor has been very generous to all of the bands.
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"We actually get a lot of free Jagermeister, so it's a beautiful thing," Machado said. "The Jager consumption has been tremendous on this tour so far."
The partying part of rock stardom has been easy enough for the members of New Jersey-based Ill Ni§o.
The harder part has been convincing young Americans that their Latin-inflected style of nu-metal is as relevant as the other angst-ridden metal acts that have proliferated as of late. In fact, the band has traversed the United States more than a few times since the release of its debut, Revolution . Revoluci¢n in October of 2001, but Machado said the band has not lost its fervor for performing.
"There still isn't any negative feelings about getting up on stage," Machado said. "It's more like, 'Let's go, let's kick ass, let's rock.'"
Meanwhile, fans of Coal Chamber might feel as though the band seems to have some lost ground to make up for.
The band's new release, Dark Days, is its first since 1999's Chamber Music.
The album is indeed dark and actually grinds somewhat differently than a lot of bands these days.
Comparisons to Korn are inevitable, but Coal Chamber's sound is more in line with down-tuned doom and gloom than with rap-happy, DJ-scratching, hip-hop metal. The band is renowned for its live show, and its simple "spookycore" should translate well for impressionable headbangers.
Drowning Pool probably has the highest profile of any band on the tour.
Its WWF-style sing-along "Bodies" hides in obscurity for a while then explodes to help pave the way for the band's second single, "Tear Away," which has hit heavy rotation on MTV2 and alternative radio.
Drowning Pool is another band not really breaking new ground musically, but when the Jager starts to flow and the bodies hit the floor at the Sunshine Theater Saturday, who really cares?
Tickets for the show are $21 and are available through Ticketmaster by calling 883-7800, at ticketmaster.com or at the door on the day of the show.
