Concert review: Helmet does "Betty"

The last time I saw Helmet in concert before this past Saturday night was 20 years ago when they opened for Faith No More at the Aragon Ballroom. That night, I got bounced out of the venue while crowd surfing during the second song of Helmet’s set. I had to wait on the mean streets of Uptown while my chums enjoyed the rest of the concert, in addition to missing Mike Patton and the rest of FNM during their heyday.

I had redemption on Aug. 16, at Reggie’s (2105 S. State St., Chicago), where Helmet played “Betty” in its entirety to mark the 20th anniversary of the album’s original release: I’m sure Helmet played many of those same songs that fateful night two decades ago. “Betty” was before its time in 1994 and remains relevant today.

The opening riffage of “Wilma’s Rainbow”--quickly joined by a thudding bass line and crisp, uptempo drumming--signals the start of some of the grooviest, most contagious post-punk, alt-metal ever recorded. The 14-song album (with most songs clocking in at under 3 minutes) was a follow-up to “Meantime,” perhaps one of the most influential alternative albums of the 1990s.

“Betty,” although more polished, retains the ferocity of the other album early on, and Page Hamilton and the guys ripped through them like it was the mid-1990s. “Biscuits For Smut” and "Milquetoast” rocked the packed and sweaty crowd, with frequent outbreaks of mass swaying and headbanging. Five songs in with “Tic,” Hamilton’s voice was showing physical strain as he croaked out “The tic begins!”

Helmet rocks Reggie's

His guitar playing, however, never cracked, and it was a pleasure to see the singer-songwriter-guitarist take the spotlight on the few solos he allows himself. A big part of Helmet’s appeal has been the out-of-the-box arrangements this classically trained  jazz guitarist brings to the metal genre. Hamilton (also a producer and touring guitarist for David Bowie) remains a virtuoso on the axe.

“Betty” isn’t all killer and no filler. A couple songs probably would not make the cut on a normal set list, but the band dutifully played them anyway: “Beautiful Love” merely showcases Hamilton’s jazz guitar skills in a way that doesn’t fit the rest of the album, “The Silver Hawaiian” is a bit goofy in delivery, and “Sam Hell,” with its country-western plucking, is also out of bounds.

At the end of “Betty” Hamilton said they were going to take a break but couldn’t since there was no DJ. So, they soldiered on for set #2 without pause. The song selection favored more recent offerings from albums “Size Matters” (including “Crashing Foreign Cars”), “Monochrome" (2006) and “Seeing Eye Dog" (2010). Hamilton began taking requests, but urgings for “In The Meantime” were left unanswered. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Link to video and audio for "Wilma's Rainbow," the opening track to the album "Betty":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3a8Ow-DoAw