Halfmast played their first show in April of 1993, but was a
very different band before I joined in the fall of 1993. When I first heard
their “Nation Under God” demo, I balked at how much it sounded like a more
metal Slugfest rip off, but by the time I talked to Bill and Nick about joining
the band, it had grown on me enough to want in. I remember the first practice, learning
their set with the remaining “metal guy” who was immediately put off by my
suggestion and Nick’s support of writing “fast parts.” Next time we got
together, metal guy had quit. I suggested (insisted really) that my 15 year old
brother come aboard on second guitar and we began writing new songs/ reworking
existing songs/ riffs and playing shows. Those early shows with the band in
Lockport, NY were really good and I think we all were feeling the energy of
being in a straight edge hardcore band from an area and scene where most bands,
though having straight edge members, were not.
Halfmast Circa 1994
At the Turning Point reunion 1994
At the Turning Point reunion 1994
Nick was putting out cassette releases on Third Party and had planned to do a release for a band from PA called Disregard, but they pulled out of a booked recording session last minute, leaving the time available. I suggested we record two new songs I had written the music to (Undaunted and Influence) a song that had been reworked from an old metal guy riff (Sunrise)and two songs we had reworked from the first demo (To Rise and Fall and Deprive). Somehow an Insted cover was decided on as well and that session became the “Sunrise” demo (though only 4 songs were used). The line up on that recording was Turtle- drums, Bill Page- Bass, Nick Baran- Vocals, Chris Smith- Guitar and me (Jeremy Smith) also on guitar. I still think this demo turned out great, especially as it was transitional, mainly thanks to Turtle’s punchy drum performance and that we added some speed without sacrificing the era’s heaviness.
Broken down in PA
After we recorded Sunrise, we continued to write faster
songs with a more “80’s” vibe, maybe it was his unwillingness to play as fast
as I wanted or maybe it was just how I dealt with it, but either way, Turtle
quit, which led to Jay Jancetic joining on drums. Jay was pretty vocal about
how much he hated playing drums, as he was really a guitar player, but
thankfully, he toughed it out. It was 1994 and playing fast straight edge
hardcore inspired by Insted, No For An Answer, Chain of Strength and Youth of
Today was certainly not the flavor of the times. On top of that, we added some
PC 90’s politics and overall sloppiness that turned off what few “Rev 1-10”
torchbearers that were still left hanging around. Also, I don’t think we were
that good. We were learning as we went along and I thought writing as many
songs as I could, as fast as I could, was the best way to go about things. It
was Nick’s band, but there was a constant struggle for power between us- still,
fun times were had. We recorded and Nick released the “Influence” 7” and
started doing weekends in the Midwest and East coast. This prompted Mike Warden
from Conquer the World records to offer to release an LP for us, which was
exciting. He began advertising for it; we booked studio time and went on our
first tour, in Nick’s Mazda hatchback, borrowing most equipment along the way.
"coming releases"
The
tour was pretty dismal. When we expressed to Mike that we were having problems
filling in some dates, he offered us shows with Empathy that summer. This
helped us bridge many gaps in our itinerary, but had one fatal flaw- he never
spoke to Empathy about it. When we and Envy, who was out with us, showed up at
these shows, we were treated as extra unwanted mouths to feed and the increasing
tension with some of the members of Empathy was palpable. It came to head with
a member of Empathy writing on Envy’s homemade truck cab “It’s 1994, why don’t
you wake up and play real music.” Mike didn’t really speak up during the
ensuing arguing and yelling that followed and that seriously bummed us out.
Still, after the string of shows with Empathy, the tour trucked on, with only
people in Chicago seeming to care. This ended up as being kind of a godsend,
because it was in Chicago that we ran out of money and had to stay an extra
week hanging out, waiting for another show, so we could play and scrounge up
some cash to drive back to Buffalo. Through the benevolence of Jim Grimes, he
put us on a bigger show the following week and we have enough money to make the
drive back home. Jim always got us on
the best shows and we played Chicago often from that point on.
Halfmast in Chicago
Halfmast in Chicago
With recording for our LP looming and still seething from MikeWarden not saying ANYTHING during the confrontation with Empathy, we decided to put out our LP ourselves and I left a message telling Mike we weren’t going to work with him. In hindsight, I think we probably should have just done it, as it would have helped the band, but then again, I’d rather we screw ourselves than have someone else do it, so I guess it is what it is. We had recorded 4 songs (Regret, A Power Inside, Gaze and Ploy) and intended to expand upon that recording with new ones and a couple redone songs from the Influence 7” and demos, but then my brother quit and the band loomed on breaking up. Technically we did, technically we didn’t, maybe we were broken up for like 12 hours, but basically we broke up then got back together with Bill “Farside” Wickham on bass, but, everything aside, it was a way to throw Bill Page out without having to be the dickheads who threw him out. Looking back, it probably makes us bigger dickheads. We recorded the rest of the LP as a four piece and played some shows all over, with Farside’s first show with us being in Chicago, now truly our “home away from home.” I seem to remember that the “Together” LP had some financial issues for Nick, so we opted to make it a 9 song 7” choosing what we felt were the best songs. I think it’s a pretty flawed 7”, but in the original 16 song LP order works much, much better. The song “Narrow” is one of our best songs from the era, even if the lyrics are about me and my brother, who were in the fucking band. The lyrical topics weren’t just about keeping hardcore real or friendship, there was more range than most “youth crew” orientated records; we covered and encouraged women’s involvement in hardcore, the validity of homosexual love, animal rights, the faults of religion and the record’s opening track “Advantage” took an anti-rape stance. All great stuff to “get out there” but a poor layout, recording and thin vinyl ultimately led the record to be dismissed. Recently, the complete LP version of Together had an overhaul and remaster and I feel that if this version had come out, more people would have paid attention.
Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed offered to do a split 7” for us
on his Stillborn records label with an ever rotating band for the other side.
The bands that would commit to doing it kept breaking up and I think towards
the end it was supposed to be with a NJ band called One 4 One, but there was a
long delay with them providing a master. After a year, we asked for the DAT
back which Jamey sent band to us without any protest. That recording was the
last we did as a four piece and has not been released, as by the time we got the
master back, we had moved into writing better songs with the addition of Gerald
Thomas from Hourglass on second guitar.
First show of our 1995 tour
My grandparents were
kind enough to buy me a van in the spring of 1995 and Halfmast used this to
head out on a summer tour that took us up and down the east coast and through
the Midwest, occasionally linking up with other bigger tours and shows. The
first show of the tour was in Hamden, CT with Hatebreed, whose drummer passed
out in the middle of a song and they struggled to wake him. On Long island at a
club called Smashlight on the second night, we had a great show, until the club
owner asked the kid to count the money then drove off in his sports car with
it. After the show we met a guy from Germany named Dennis, who had written to
Nick a few times. We decided, well demanded, that if he truly wanted to see the
United States, he should come with us- and he did. We got to a show in Rhode
Island that was happening, but wasn’t confirmed that we were actually on, and
they didn’t let us play. We played in North Hampton with a band called
Grimlock, whose t-shirts had the same logo as the classic DC band Ignition had.
When I asked the singer about it, he said “Who’s Ignition?” We played a Skate
park in CT and members of 25 Ta Life tried to strong arm us into using our
guitar equipment after it was already packed away in our van and we were
getting ready to leave for a long drive before the show was over. Rick came up
to me and apologized saying “Oh man, you know, those guys are fill ins, they
don’t know how it is!” Our friend Pat, who was acting as our tour manager, got
arrested in Milwaukee after Nick said something flippantly to a cop. Jim Grimes
decided to put his life on hold and traveled with us after our show in Chicago,
which he instantly regretted once we got down south.
with Dennis from Germany, summer 1995
with Dennis from Germany, summer 1995
As this was the days before cell phones and email, and out
of ignorance, once a show was booked, we just assumed it was going to be there.
Our Southern tour leg had a few shows with Ignite and Earth Crisis, which was
great, until we showed up at a couple to the promoters saying variations of “I hadn’t
heard from you guys in 3 weeks, so I assumed you weren’t coming.” We had been
on tour for 3 weeks, what a farce. Still
we pressed on, doing what we loved and ultimately I’m not sure if I would
change anything about that tour looking back, except maybe not falling asleep
at the wheel on the interstate and rear ending another vehicle at 85 mph.
somewhere in Ohio
After that tour, our song writing improved. Gerald was a
much better musician than any of us at the time and I learned a lot just watching
him play and going over riffs. We recorded the “Status” cassette, which I self-released
and Gerald left the band, which was a smart move on his part, Hourglass were
making waves, whereas Halfmast was barely afloat. My roommate Paul joined on second guitar and
we became a weekend warrior band, and when Jay started contributing to the song
writing, I felt like we were finally getting to where we needed to be; and then
the coolest thing even happened. Ryan Hoffman from Chain of Strength called me
about the Status cassette- he wanted to release it as a record! I was really
proud of the new songs we were writing and we talked him and Steve, his label
cohort into paying for studio time so we could record a new, proper EP. “Deny Their Vision” was recorded at Border
City Studios in Niagara Falls in April of 1996, I still love the songs, but the
recording leaves a little something to be desired. Jay’s performance wasn’t the
best and he struggled the entire session. People tell me that they love that
record and I can at least listen to it without cringing like the earlier seven
inch EPs, but I am still trying to figure out why our logo looks like it does on
the cover.
the logo is like Metallica's, only blockier.
Jay quit the band shortly after the recording and Eric Ellman
took over on the drums and played on our best song, State, but couldn’t commit
to a summer tour, so a friend of ours from Chicago, Brian, who was in XeverlastX, came out
to Buffalo, crashed at my place, and handled the drum duties. Originally this
kid name Sean was going to drive us on the tour in his minivan, but he backed
out, so after playing the first couple of shows in the North East hoofing it in
our cars, I asked my roommate Mark to rent us a mini-van, which he did, only to
return it while we slept a few hours back home before heading back on the road.
Eventually, we secured another Minivan, loaded up and headed out. I think it
was about 9-10 shows into the tour before we played back at home again, with
varying results, some shows were cool, some were typically weird for us. But the
real weirdness happened the day after we played our tour home show, before we
were supposed to head to play Ithaca with I Farm, then CBGBs with Prema. The band
had all gone to their respective apartments/ homes after the gig and agreed to
be picked up around 11am, but when we went to get Nick, he wasn’t ready, so
after some arguing and pissing and moaning, we picked up everyone else, and
then returned to his place, about an hour and a half later, but he still wasn’t
ready, as he and his girlfriend were arguing or something along those lines. I
stormed out of his house saying something flippant; he jumped through the
screen door threatening to “kick my fat ass.” Looking back, the scene was high
comedy; I was nervously laughing, pointing a pen at his forehead, other people in
the van were yelling and poor Paul tried to use reason “Now Nick, everyone in
the band agreed to being picked up around 11 and now it’s almost 3” which, of
course, just escalated the situation. We ended up driving off without Nick,
with me vowing to play the shows as a 4 piece with me singing; that didn’t happen
and a few miles away, in a parking lot, Halfmast broke up.
The author in his old apartment, around the time of the last tour
Milwaukee on the last tour, lots of Chicago kids traveled
In DC on our last tour
at what end up being our last show, with me arguing with security, I still hate that club
Things were weird for a while, but eventually everyone went from publically cordial to being friends again, which I, for one, am happy about. We even played an impromptu reunion in the summer of ’97 after a short No Reason set and it was one of our best shows! Halfmast overall was a learning experience and instrumental in shaping my life, for better or for worse. Last year, we remastered some of the stuff and put it all up, for fee, on bandcamp. Enjoy.
Black Sabbath played their alleged last show over the
weekend and as of late, I have been listening to the live recording at
California Jam in 1974 (three weeks after I was born!) and A LOT of the Dio era
material. I thought it might be fun to reflect a little bit on the Black
Sabbath family tree.
I was exposed to a lot of music growing up; my father was a
weekend warrior playing sets of covers with his band every Friday and Saturday
night, well into the wee hours of the morning. But as a young preteen, the
stuff my father liked, typical “classic rock” fare, didn’t appeal to me. I had
uncles, two “cool” uncles who thought that heavy metal was the law. Through
them, around 1983, I heard Ozzy Osbourne. I mean, it wasn’t hard to seek out
Ozzy, he was beloved throughout the 80’s, but through Diary of a Madman, a door was opened that I’ve never been able to
shut.
Got a crazy feeling I don't understand
I started to branch out and explore and purchase my own
music around 1986. By 1987, Sure, I had a cursory knowledge of the Sex Pistols
and the Ramones, but trust me; I was a mulleted heavy metal maniac. I rode my
bike to the comic book store on some weekends to spend my allowance, one such
weekend, I went to Hills Department Store instead and bought We
sold our Soul For Rock and Roll in the $3 cassette bin. I had borrowed Volume
4 and Paranoid from my uncle the summer before, but it wasn’t until I
owned this cassette that I truly began to appreciate Black Sabbath.
the superior cover art for the release
The cassette was an early go to on my Walkman between
listens of Stay Hungry by Twisted Sister and the Dragnet soundtrack. In
1988, I started hanging out with this dude Joe Russell, who had two older
brothers, both of whom lived and breathed metal in the early/ mid 80's. In his basement, one of
Joe’s brothers had made a total stoner chill room in the earlier part of the
80’s; blacklight posters, couches and, more importantly, a stereo. He had also left a large portion of his
record collection down there. We would sit in that room and listen to Ozzy’s Speak
of the Devil; the lines between Ozzy and Sabbath blurred.
In June of 1989 I went to see Ozzy and as a bonus, Geezer
Butler was on bass. The show was
incredible, even if the openers, White Lion and Vixen were some of the worst
shit I’ve ever seen. I Don't Know/ Flying High Again/ Mr. Crowley/ Shot in the
Dark/ Bloodbath in Paradise/ Sweet Leaf/ Tattooed Dancer/ Miracle Man/ Suicide
Solution/ Iron Man/ Crazy Train/ Paranoid. I bought a Great T shirt that
eventually just fell apart.
The front of said t shirt
The back of said t shirt
As the 80’s fell away to the 90’s, Sabbath reemerged with
Dio on vocals, but I dismissed Dehumanizer at the time, as I was
getting into death metal and fast hardcore. I still, surprisingly, listened to Live
Evil all the time back then, so I really don’t know what my deal was. I
listen to Dehumanizer often now and celebrate everything Sabbath did
with Dio.
In the late 90’s it was announce that hell had frozen over
and that Black Sabbath was doing a tour of shows with the original Line
up. My friends and I bought tickets to
the February 1st, 1999 gig in Buffalo. It was going to be the
greatest show ever, I was sure of it… AND THEY POSTPONED THE SHOW, which after
a long wait was eventually cancelled as well. We all blamed Sharon Osbourne and
assumed it was cancelled due to low ticket sales.
I caught a great Dio show in Toronto (with Iron Maiden and
Motorhead!) in August of 2003 and it was stellar. A brief, although well
rounded set touching on highlights from his heavy metal career, I should have
bought a shirt, but I didn’t Killing the Dragon/ the Last in Line/ Stargazer/
Stand Up and Shout/ Rock and Roll/ The Mob Rules/ Dream Evil/ Rainbow in the
Dark/ Holy Diver/ Heaven and Hell
A week later I scored free tickets to an Ozzfest and watched
Ozzy limply struggle through a performance. It was also weird because Jason
Newsted, fresh out of Metallica, was playing bass, the whole thing felt wrong. Ozzy had this weird prerecorded intro tape to
pump up the crowd “I can’t hear you” and the like, but it didn’t feel organic,
at all. I longed for the gig I had seen in ‘89 War Pigs/ Mr. Crowley/ I Don't
Know/ Flying High Again/ Goodbye to Romance/ Iron Man/ Sweet Leaf/ Children of
the Grave/ Suicide Solution/ Flying High Again/ Bark at the Moon/ I Don't Want
to Change the World/ Road to Nowhere/ Crazy Train/ Mama, I'm Coming Home/
Paranoid.
Finally in 2004 I got to see the actual Black Sabbath, SORT
OF. Mike Bordin from Faith No More was on drums and although the gig was
adequate, I felt cheated by the band using classic riffs (Symptom of the
Universe, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) as filler in between songs, this seems to be
how they’ve handled those songs at all their reunion era gigs, a shame War
Pigs/ N.I.B./ Fairies Wear Boots/ Into the Void/ Black Sabbath/ Snowblind/ Iron
Man/ Children of the Grave/ Paranoid. A short set list that left me wanting
more, ultimately.
Thankfully, the following summer I got to get a little more
Sabbath and this time WITH BILL WARD. Unfortunately, Bill Ward in 2005 was not
Bill Ward in 1975 so it wasn’t the straight fire I had hoped for. This set was
better than the prior year and After Forever was a nice bonus N.I.B./ After
Forever/ War Pigs/ Dirty Women/ Fairies Wear Boots/ Sweet Leaf / Electric
Funeral/ Iron Man/ Into the Void/ Black Sabbath/ Paranoid/ Sleeping Village/
Children of the Grave. Still, it’s so obvious that Ozzy is just spent and has
been since the early 90’s, poor guy. I hope he gets the rest he deserves soon,
I feel like he’s just being propped up on stage to read teleprompters and yell
“we love you all” now and then. Listen to the California Jam, Hammersmith Speak
of the Devil recording and tell me there’s anything comparison. As the bar was
set by that insanely good Ozzy show from ’89, and although I’m happy I got to
see the actual Black Sabbath; watching haggard old men (Ward and Osbourne)
struggle through a set does not make for a great show.
In 2007 Black Sabbath: The Dio Years came out and I rushed
to buy it, thanks to hearing the song The Devil Cried. I thought it was great
and as I had become a huge fan of the Dio era, hearing three new songs that
were actually good and much better that the tired sounding studio tracks from
the 1998 Reunion release. I was even more excited that the Dio fronted Sabbath was coming to Buffalo under the moniker “Heaven & Hell.” The show
was astoundingly good. When the band went into the main riff of The Sign of the
Southern Cross it was so heavy that it hit like a ton of bricks. I think about
that moment often, the riff hitting and the place being decimated; absolute
perfection. The Mob Rules/ Children of the Sea/ I/ The Sign of the Southern
Cross/ Time Machine/ Falling Off the Edge of the World/ Die Young/ Heaven and
Hell/ Neon Knights. After the The
Devil You Know came out, I hoped to see them again, as I liked the
record, but sadly, Ronnie Jame Dio passed away and left a void in the world or
metal that will never be filled.
Iommi, Osbourne and Butler reunited sans Bill Ward and
released 13, which I hated, I’d honestly rather listen to the hack "Black Sabbath" metal
stuff with Tony Martin singing. The Devil you Know was a fine and
heavy album, 13 had shitty production (what the fuck Rick Rubin?) and some
guy from Rage Against the Machine playing on it, NO THANKS. I have friends that
like that record and that’s fine, but if they had seen coked out insane Ozzy in
1989, I’m pretty sure they’d have a different perspective. Still, I don't want to sound ungrateful, Black Sabbath does mean the world to me.
Side note, I saw Kelly Osbourne out with some "deep V neck" t shirt emo guy at a coffee shop I was at in the Lower East Side in 2006. She was in line right behind me and I said to her “Hey! You’re Kelly Osbourne!” she looked at me, super disgusted, rolled her eyes and they left. I’ll take that as a win.
Black Sabbath was laid to rest on February 4th, 2017; Black Sabbath is dead, long live Black Sabbath.
As I alluded to last time I touched on the subject, I saw a Danzig show in 2003 that literally helped change my life. Certainly, after reading this post, it may seem circumstantial to you, but I credit the Dazing show I saw in Poughkeepsie, NY in 2003 to have a direct and positive impact and put me on a career path that has been exciting, rewarding, and ever changing.
During the early afternoon of November 15th, 2003, I saw that Danzig was playing a show downstate at what I perceived as “near Albany.” Albany is roughly a four hour drive from Buffalo, where I grew up, and I have certainly made it fewer than four on some road trips. So the decision was made to go, we could purchase tickets for will call online and we’d make it there by 7pm, so all would be well; knowing the ‘Zig shows I’d been to before, he’d hit the stage by 9:30 or 10 and the whole thing would wrap up no later than 11:30. I was confident in this time frame, as I started my new Job the next morning at 7 am. I couldn’t have involved myself in a larger error of distance and time if I wanted to.
We arrived at the Chance in POUGHKEEPSIE NEW YORK at 9pm, because, well, the roads were bad, and because Poughkeepsie is an hour and a half past Albany. WHOOPS. Still, the openers were playing and I figured they’d be wrapping it up quickly and we’d get to have our summer in the winter time. But then there was another opener, and another and yet ANOTHER, all obviously pay to play bands that sold tickets to get on the gig.
11 pm came and went and I was starting to get nervous, but when Danzig hit the stage around 11:30, the world became Glenn and company. This was the best set I have ever seen by Danzig, I swear the stars must have been aligned properly because it was perfectly executed; with newer songs having a life they do not have in the studio or at any subsequent show I have witnessed since. Black Mass/ I Luciferi/ Twist of Cain/ Do You Wear the Mark/ Her Black Wings/ How the Gods Kill/ Kiss the Skull/ Unspeakable/ Lilin/ Snakes of Christ/ Angel Blake/ Until You Call on the Dark/ Bringer of Death/ Am I Demon/ Mother/ She Rides/ Dirty Black Summer/ Long Way Back From Hell. At some point, Glenn was right in front of me with his leg up on a monitor, and I made a terrible realization; I WAS LOOKING AT HIS BALL SACK. You see, Mr. Danzig was freeballing that night, going al fresca, total commando style, yet had a rip in the seam of his “stage jeans” causing one of his balls to be forced out under the pressure; much like the Alien Sigourney Weaver forced out into the vacuum of space. There was a little biker dude next to me, who witnessed the horror at the same time as I, looked at me and said “Ew man, you can see his nuts!” still, it was a great set and Glenn rewarded the crowd with his necklace as thanks for the reaction and support.
not the ballsack we saw
At 1:30 am, we started the trek back to Buffalo, where I had to start my new job at 7am. The weather was bad and I made it home with enough time to shower, throw on my uniform and make it in by the skin of my teeth. This was the first day of a new account and the former account holder literally left nothing to work with except a crinkled piece of paper with the security panel code on it. So there I was, in charge of a shipping a receiving intake office with no procedures, no direction and no sleep. I did have a coffee maker with supplies and a pad of paper, so I walked into the office next store and started asking them about procedures, what they would like to see and what they would expect from the receiving intake office. I then went to the plant manager and asked the same thing. 10 cups of coffee and 8 hours later, I had a 50 page document of procedures typed out.
The evening of the 18th and still riding the buzz of the great show from over the weekend, we decided to catch Danzig (and this time with Deicide!) at Club Laga in Pittsburgh, but sadly this show was the polar opposite of the show just a few days earlier. Plagued with equipment and prop issues (watching stage hands trying to duct tape pointed things that kept breaking was a highlight) the band just never got going and left their energy and enthusiasm at the door. It was a huge disappointment and getting home at 4 am, with work at 7 offered a repeat of the weekend, but without the payoff of a great show. Still, at work the next morning, I added another 30 pages to the document, which my operations manager looked over and praised. By November 27th, I found myself the director of security for a billion dollar a year corporation in no small part to my efforts in organizing procedures and because I had seen the greatest Danzig show ever… and Glenn’s nutsack.
One of the rare exceptions when the album is way better than the cover leads you to believe.
A little over a month ago, I got a copy of Hardwired…
To Self-Destruct by Metallica, after being drawn in by cleverly
released videos of the title track and two others that ACTUALLY SOUNDED LIKE
METALLICA. I have been overly critical of the band’s output since I graduated high
school in the early 90’s, but I have to say that over the past year, I have
become fond of most of the singles from the Black Album through Death
Magnetic; except for that LuLu and St. Anger stuff, I still can’t
hang with how they sound. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that Metallica won their way
back into my heart, and then some.
HOLY SHIT!
When Metallica’s fan club, “met club,” announced a bay area
club show at the Fox Theater to benefit the Alameda Food Bank, I felt the
strong urge to go; but did not win the raffle to purchase the $25 fan ticket,
nor was I able to procure a $100 general admission ticket through Ticket master
when they went on sale on November 18th. I was so bummed when my
Ticketmaster app timed out and even more bummed when I learned my friend Matt, who was also trying to get us
tickets, had similar luck. The following Monday, I was still down on the fact
that I would miss this prefect opportunity to see the Metallica I wanted to see,
in a setting where I am most comfortable; how could this happen? Better yet,
HOW COULD I MAKE THIS HAPPEN? I had found a guy on the Metallica forums who had
his plus one available, but that didn’t pan out and probably ended up too rich
for my blood anyway, I then decided to be a Metallican and not a Metallican’t.
I searched online for the band management’s email and thanks
to the WikiLeaks of an email forwarded from Laurie Mensch to John Podesta, I
got co-manager Peter Mensch’s email, as he was CC’d by his wife into the
exchange. I emailed him, and a few others I found and waited… The afternoon of
Friday, December 16th, the day before the gig and after I had given
up all hope, I received the following email,
“Hi
Jeremy: Peter Mensch forwarded your e-mail to us and it’s your lucky day! We
will be able to assist you - please fill out the attached form and return it as
soon as possible to this e-mail address. We’ll process your credit card and
send you a confirmation e-mail and you can pick up your tickets at will call
before the show.
Welcome to the
Bay Area and enjoy the show!!
Vickie Strate
Metallica HQ”
The aforementioned form was for a donation to the Alameda
Food Bank, which I filled out for $100 for two tickets, $50 apiece. I received
confirmation and let Matt know I had done the impossible; WE WERE GOING TO SEE
A METALLICA CLUB SHOW! The boy who fell in love with Metallica in Todd Peck’s
bedroom in 1986 was getting the opportunity few have had SINCE 1986, seeing
Metallica in a non-arena type setting. I have always been afraid to taint the “perfect”
set list I saw them play in 1989 but with how much I love the new record, I had
to go, I just HAD to. When Matt and I arrived, we found we had pretty awesome balcony seats.
When the band hit the stage with very little fanfare around 9:45, they hit us square in the jaw with Budgie’s Breadfan, which is the last song I saw them play in 89, I literally had tears in my eyes, it was like an extension of that gig from nearly 28 years ago; BREADFAN/ CREEPING DEATH/ BLACKENED/ SAD BUT TRUE/ FADE TO BLACK/ ATLAS, RISE!/ HARVESTER OF SORROW/ MOTH INTO FLAME/ ONE/ MASTER OF PUPPETS/ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS/ ENTER SANDMAN/ WHISKEY IN THE JAR/ HARDWIRED/ SEEK AND DESTROY
I didn't take many photos, I was too busy, but here's one.
What a fucking set list! I know there are friends of mine that would probably disparage some of these songs, but as far as I am concerned, it was all top shelf bangers. The Metallica album I’ve always felt the strongest connection with is …And Justice For All and having 3 songs from it blasted into my ear drums was incredible. I appreciated the minimalistic stage set up and was very happy that Lars’ playing seems to have improved over where he was 10, 15 years ago. The band looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves and the sounds was fucking impeccable. This was hands down the best set I saw in 2016.
The Author and Matthew Kadi, of Monster Squad fame
2016 sure was a roller coaster ride of a year, right? Some
universally respected musicians died, politics got literally crazy, and fake
news shared by your distant relatives and barely remembered high school
classmates became the norm on Facebook. I, myself, had a pretty swell year; I
celebrated my one year anniversary at my dream job, my one year anniversary of
living on the west coast and my 6 year wedding anniversary. But all of this stuff is really not what this
blog is about, is it? 2016 also had some really fantastic highlights for me and
my relationship with music.
the wife and the author; 6 years on
Best 2016 shows:
I got to see the Prime Evil line up of Venom (playing
as Venom Inc) rage through an
absolutely incredible set at the DNA lounge in January: Prime Evil/ Die Hard/ Don't Burn the Witch/ Live
Like an Angel (die like a devil)/ Buried Alive/ Raise the Dead/ One Thousand
Days in Sodom/ Warhead/ Schizo/ The Seven Gates of Hell/ In Nomine Satanas/
Bloodlust/ Sons of Satan/ Welcome to Hell/ Black Metal/ Countess Bathory/ Witching
Hour. It was truly a sight to hear and behold, and being a fan of the Prime
Evil record, I had hoped for a couple of songs from the records (especially
“Skeletal Dance”) but sticking to the classics really got the crowd rip-riding.
I was surprised at the lack of In League
with Satan on the list, but the set was so good, it didn’t matter. The only way
the show could have possibly been better is if it was catered to me exactly: At
War With Satan into Manitou into side b of Welcome to Hell into all of Black
Metal, oh and if Cronos was there.
Venom Inc. photo by the author
Just about a week after the Venom Inc gig, I saw Fury play
with Mindset at 924 Gilman. Mindset were good, but this was the show where I
totally fell in love with Fury. The
energy of the singer, Jeremy Stith (whose name is LITERALLY a consonant away
from mine) was astounding, and I was sold immediately! I made sure to download
their 2016 promo tape on my drive home and it got heavy rotation thereafter. I
was already aware of the demo and the Kingdom Come 7” but the promo tape, with
only two original songs, was already a huge step up performance wise and a hint
of what was to come on their full length; but more on that later.
photo by nate zoeller
In February, I got to see one of my absolute favorite
current hardcore bands: Boston Strangler and they did not disappoint. Primitive/
Outcast/ Forward to Hell/ Fire/ First Offense/ We Don’t Need/ Take Control/
Disconnect Me/ Overcrowded/ Violence Addicts/ BXS/ The Truth/ Slow Burn. I love
that they are a hardcore band from Boston that sounds, well, like a HARDCORE
BAND FROM BOSTON. I also really liked Give’s set at the show, and although
their style seemed a bit out of place, their short and energetic set made me a
fan and absolutely smoked any of their recorded output.
April brought me two shows in one night, Burn and 7 Seconds. Burn played at Gilman with Bane, and 7 seconds was headlining a show about a 45 minute drive away at Thee Parkside. The last time I saw Burn was in NY at an incredible show in 1998, nearly 20 years ago and in another century. This 21st century set was on point, they have an inherent energy to their style and groove that packs so much punch, that it’s incredible. Out of Time/ Cleanse/ We Don’t Stand A Chance/ Godhead/ You Can’t Stop Me/ The Bait/ New Morality/ Disgraces/ Last Great Sea/ Tales Of Shatou/ Drown/ Decay/ …Shall Be Judged. I grooved the whole set, in spite of myself. There are videos of the show on youtube, you’ll see me, I’m hard to miss. Right after Burn’s set and while I still had the adrenaline amped, I hopped into my car and sped over to the 7 Seconds gig. They were good, but the lower energy show was very noticeable after coming from a charged set. I’ve seen 7 seconds sets of varying levels of quality over the past 25 years, and this was good, just not as good as some other shows I’d seen, but still way better than the fucking show I saw in Syracuse in ’95.
The author looks at one of the few people at the gig in his age range
The author sings along
The last weekend in May, I made a mistake… and that mistake
was called Punk Rock Bowling, a sweltering punk rock festival in a fucking
parking lot in Las Vegas, Nevada. I was enticed to by promises of sets by my
favorite current band, Night Birds, some of my all-time favorite bands, Dag
Nasty and Excel, and bands I respect or like a record or two by: The Buzzcocks,
The Descendents, Dillinger Four, and like a zillion others. The flight I got
ended up arriving too late to see any of the Saturday shows, even a late night
Voivod gig not affiliated with the festival that I was on the guest list for,
but still did not make on time. I could write paragraph after paragraph about
the no reentry policy or the small amount of shaded seating or how bad the
Buzzcocks actually sounded, but let’s focus on why it makes my 2016 post.
poor photo the author took of Night Birds
Night Birds were absolutely stellar, a perfect setlist and
flawless execution; I just wish it was a club show. Dag Nasty Played around 7 pm the last day of
the festival. They were the band I truly went to see. But, though their setlist
was great, Values Here/ I've Heard/ Under Your Influence/ Can I Say/ Circles/
All Ages Show/ Cold Heart/ What Now/ Another Wrong/ Trying/ Safe/ Wanting
Nothing/ One to Two/ Justification/ Ghost (swiz)/ Little Friend (minor threat)/
Fall/ Thin Line/ Never Go Back, the cold start of Values Here was a little
rough and there were massive tuning issues. My favorite Dag Nasty song has
slowly become All Ages Show over the past 15 years or so and hearing the entire
song with a grossly out of tune bass was agonizing. But, it was shortly after that that
something clicked; Shawn Brown’s presence on stage is so genuine that by the
time they found their groove a song or two later, I was completely sold. I was
saying to friends after the set that I wanted to “give Shawn a hug” because I
loved the set so much. Low and behold, about 45 minutes later, Shawn and his
wife Michelle were walking by, and after a split second hesitation, I got my
hug (as did my friends) and got to have a great chat with the two of them.
Genuine on stage as well as off! Made the trip worth it, but I don’t think I’ll
ever go to another outdoor festival again. Standing in a parking lot for 8
hours, regardless of the entertainment, is still standing in a parking lot for
8 hours.
the author and his friends meet Shawn Brown, all get hugs
cool unplanned lighting effect, adding to the Fury. Photo by the author
A couple of weekends ago, I saw Praise and Fury play in
Oakland. Praise were good and dropped their Egghunt cover in the center of
their set, but I like their earlier 7” records best and wished I had seen them
in that era. Fury were fucking incredible. I can’t write enough about how much
I love that band. I’ve told friends that I feel they are the “real deal” and
seeing them after their incredible lp Paramount has been released has not
only increased their fan base, but also crowd participation. Jeremy Stith has
just enough weirdo to make him a perfect front man. They blasted through the
set in a packed 1234 Go! Records, Danse/ Thin Line/ Damage Done/ Duality of
Man/ Richochet/ Reality Check/ Death Yellows Life and Reason/ In Extremis
intro/ The Fury/ End is Nigh/ The Feeling. After their set, I was bummed to learn
they had no shirts with them (luckily I had bought a hoodie last time I saw
them) but I thought “fuck it” and bought a copy of Paramount on CD (yes, a
CD) for my car.
Lee, the author, Darren and Greg- Goofcore masters
As a teen, I was a pretty goofy dude. I loved Lawnmower Deth,
Mucky Pup and Scatterbrain and any other band that was, well, GOOFY. I even had
my own goofy “goofcore” band, Childish Intent. But the kings of ridiculous,
Gwar, really had a hold on me by 1990. I had liked the debut, Hell-o,
which I told a friend sounded like a cross between “Naked Raygun and M.O.D.” but with their second record, Scumdogs
of the Universe, I was in love. I bought their live VHS, I had a homemade
shirt and an "official" one I bought at Spencer’s Gifts at the mall. Blood, sex, dick jokes,
Hilarious.
When it was announced that Gwar would be playing Buffalo
during the summer of 1992, I was pretty psyched. Not only that, they were
playing the NEW Randall Studios, which, at the time, was my favorite place to
go: an old warehouse converted into a “practice space” but was really an
illegal venue. I had seen (and played!) so many great shows there from 91-92 that
I couldn’t believe I was going to see one of my favorite bands on home turf. I
bought a ticket the moment they went on sale; the bar was set high.
The night of the show, I piled into a car with my friend
Greg and his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer, and we made the arduous drive to
the east side of Buffalo. Her late model sedan (which had broken down a few
weeks prior on the way back from another show) sputtered, but my $5 of gas
money quenched its thirst and got us to our destination; only to find the show
has been moved to another location, the Scrapyard.
Due to the controversy surrounding Gwar and the high level
of exposure the show was getting, Randall got shut down for violating fire
code. A crude sign was placed in the alleyway that led to the side entrance let
us know we had to sally forth. We got to
the Scrapyard only to find what the other 100 or so people that were standing
outside knew; due to the fact that the scrapyard was much smaller than Randall’s,
the show was now oversold and the club was beyond capacity, leaving us, who had
tickets, out in the literal cold.
I mean really, how cool is this?
We waited for about 45 minutes with the ever diminishing
crowd hearing the bouncers repeatedly telling us that we weren’t going to get
in, but that our tickets could be refunded the following day. Hunter Jackson,
who was the Techno Destructo character with Gwar until about 15 years ago, came
around and was standing on the outskirts of the gathered crowd. I recognized
him and told him our plight. He said he would put anyone on the list for the
Toronto Show coming up the next night. This didn’t work for Greg and I, our own
goofcore band was playing that night at the very club we were now stuck outside
of. All was wrong with the world. We decided
to cut our losses and left, but our friend Evan refused, Gwar was his favorite
band, and I think he was too drunk or high to know what the hell was going on
anyway. His tenacity paid off, as right as Gwar’s intro was playing, the
bouncer let anyone left outside in, tickets or not. For his dedication, his
skin was dyed red with fake blood for the next week.
Something about that night killed Gwar’s magic for me. Maybe
it was because none of their follow up records touched the first two or maybe I
outgrew grown men in costumes or maybe I just have a hard time crawling back
from disappointment; which I think it the underlying theme to a lot of my posts.
But, enough about that; I want to wrap
this up with something that made me slowly sift through Gwar's catalog again. In Dec of
2008, Dave Brockie used the lobby of the hotel I was working at to do some
press work for the Gwar Canadian tour that was about to start, I found him and
Brad (Jizmak) to be cordial and professional. It reminded me of how helpful and friendly Hunter was that night 24 years ago. So many of my childhood and musical heroes
have passed away in the time since I’ve turned forty and with the conservative
shit show this country is about to see, I think the world could use Brockie’s
humor and the goofy middle finger that Gwar is to the world.
RIP Oderus Urungus, the 18 year old and 42 year old me misses you.
Here's a picture of me at the picnic we had right after I graduated high school in 1992. I REALLY tried to match my socks to that shirt. I made that copper "x" straight edge necklace in shop class.
this is me "dressed up"
I only saw Quicksand once, in March of 1991, they were pretty good and set to really become the darlings of progressive hardcore within a year after this photo. I still think they are a good band, even if it took years for the first LP, Slip, to grow on me ( I was BIG into the 7"). I don't know what I was thinking with that hat though, I guess I would just chalk it up to the 90's... But unlike a lot of you, I took the hat off; you're still living with that tribal tattoo.
