Newsted at the Highline Ballroom

Three decades since launching a career playing bass behind the front men in Metallica, Voivod, Flotsam and Jetsam and other bands, 50-year-old Jason Newsted now is leading a band to which he has given his surname, Newsted. After a 10-year hiatus recovering from a shoulder injury, he is back to basics with the new band, touring in a van and trying to gain a following by playing small clubs. He is more than simply the band’s front man, however. He wrote the songs in early 2012, formed the band in December 2012, underwrote the finances, sang the songs, occasionally switched to lead guitar, established a website, produced the recorded work and even launched his own record label, Chophouse Records, in order to retain artistic and managerial control of the project. Newsted is joined by guitarists Mike Mushok (of Staind) and Jessie Farnsworth and drummer Jesus Mendez, Jr. The group released an EP entitled Metal in January, and has recorded an album of 13 songs to be released in the fall. The group also will perform in Megadeth’s Gigantour this summer.

At the Highline Ballroom tonight, promoted the band’s EP in part by wearing a black t-shirt that read “Listen to Metal.” That was more than a promotion, however. That was a commitment of life. The band played straight-out unhyphenated metal music. No unrecognizable experimentation, no mysterious adventures into uncharted territory; the concert perhaps was simply a valiant attempt by Newsted to save raw metal as we have known it. The vocalist’s scowls and grimaces, the music’s Motorhead-type speed, the soaring guitar licks and the headbanging crunch of the rhythm section were all executed well. The same aspect that made it attractive, however, is also what prevented the concert from being very memorable. It sounded like we had heard it all before. There was no signature song to take home. Newsted has poured his dedication to the mission of this band, but even after waiting ten years to get it started, perhaps he is now moving too fast.