Kick Out the Jams: Chevelle and Helmet at the Joint, Jan. 24

Having alt-metal pioneers Helmet open for current crunch-rock favorites Chevelle for the 2005 incarnation of the Winterfresh SnoCore Tour is a little weird. It'd be like having AC/DC open for Jet, or Duran Duran playing a warm-up set for the Killers. Just because some kids are doing it now doesn't mean it hasn't been done before, and done better.

Helmet took the stage at the Joint right on time Monday night. Lead screamer/guitarist Page Hamilton sauntered out, looking like the calm Oregonian he might be offstage, before suddenly unleashing a suffocating stream of feedback and guitar squall upon the extreme sports folk banging their heads in the crowd.

Hamilton noted his band, reunited to record last year's Size Matters, hadn't played Vegas in over 10 years. But there was no rust evident; Helmet's sonic assault only became more brutal as the 40-minute set went on. The band closed it out with especially raging versions of a couple of songs from 1992, "In the Meantime" and "Unsung," demonstrating that you don't have to be out of control to be heavy. Helmet was always about precision and focused intensity, and that focus is just as tight after 14 years.

The headlining performance by Chevelle, a trio of Chicago siblings that may be the logical torchbearer of this type of rock, sounded a little hollow after Helmet's set. From the Joint's batcave balcony, the drums and bass all but drowned out frontman Pete Loeffler's guitar on most songs, with the exception of current radio hit "The Clincher." Loeffler's manic, Gollum-like tics and animated strums provided an odd contrast to his younger brother, Joe, who barely moved while plucking pounding rhythms on his bass.

The sold-out audience--impressive for a Monday night rock show--reacted much more favorably to the younger band, even though the stage presence of Hamilton and his rowdy crew was more active and aggressive. An early appearance by Chevelle's strongest tune, "Send the Pain Below" prompted moshes to morph into sing-alongs. The players in Chevelle seem proud to carry on the chunky-chord tradition of their rock heroes, but on this particular night, the innovators showed the imitators there was still a lot to be learned.--Brock Radke