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NOVEMBER 28th, 2005:


Yes'm , I do realize it took over a week to post the Vader photos. I do apologize, but I have been ill since November 6th and very, very ill since November 10th. I actually had to miss the Dragonlord, Arch Enemy/Mnemic and GWAR shows at the beginning of the month. :( I was able to fight most of the sickness off on the 17th (except for my residual cough from having bronchitis too many times in my life). So I attended the very cool Swampsong Benefit that Miss Dominique put together after our friends in bands got affected by Hurricane Katrina. So many props go to her!!! The benefit was very, very cool. I have not seen such a diverse yet killer lineup of bands in a very long time. I am glad it went off without much of a hitch. I was only able to catch the first night of Swampsong, in which I photographed Dominique in her own group, Dedicated To Ravens And Crows (might I add, she is a FANTASTIC vocalist!. Then came Hightower and also Walken, both of which had a very infective bunch of energy, very fun to watch and listen to. Next came the Hazard County Girls, who are actually from New Orleans. These girls kick the ass out of half the dudes in bands I know out there! I was really impressed with their set. Next I shot some pics of the Bay Area's own, Amber Asylum. I have seen them a few times before and REALLY enjoy their music. A very talented bunch of ladies!!! And the highlight of the night was Jesse being able to sing for another New Orleans band, Eyehategod. THAT was something to see! She's a very no-holds-barred singer and I think the band really fed off of her INSANE ball of energy. It was great to see them play the Bay Area again.

The next night I got to photograph the Vader, Decapitated, Dew Scented, Down Factor gig at the Pound. Shit, I was looking forwards to this!!! I am an old Dew Scented fan and was VERY happy to see the live finally and get to know them. Great bunch of guys. Down Factor also put on one of their best recent performances, even though I got back to the club (had to drop off the tour bus driver) right after they started and Ramon had to set his drumset up all the way to the left side of the stage, lol. Decapitated also sounded quite brutal, new singer and all. Vader - man, need I even explain how awesome Vader is live??? You will see a SHITLOAD of very funny off-stage photos of the Vader boys with myself and with my buddy Frenchy, as well as some with Dew Scented and Decapitated. Novy and I got a funny goofy streak suddenly, so decided to do a bunch of goofy poses so Frenchy could take photos. hahaha Fun shit. I will take the time now to REALLY thank Frenchy for bringing me to the show this time and being so willing to help take the goofy photos and drive around with Mauser, Vogg and myself, especially getting home at 7am!!! A million thanks.

Alas, I got re-sick on Tuesday the 22nd and was ill enough at 5am Thanksgiving morning that I thought I was going to have to call 911. So needless to say, I didn't do anything for Turkey Day and I missed Amon Amarth, Trivium and Children of Bodom here. But, I was able to get my webmaster into the show instead of myself for Saturday's show in Santa Ana and he was able to get the phone to all the Amon Amarth guys for me. I was also successful in doing my interview with Johan Hegg over the cellphone instead. Please check www.swedishmetal.net in the next few days for the interview, was fun to do. Also check here for the photos Archie was able to get of the gig.

And something completely different for my site... I have redone my CD collection section!!! Instead of trying to take years to input and post all the info in the site I was using (which is still very cool), I made the most of my time when I was sick. I sat here and input at least 3,100 of my cds!!! Every single title I hand typed out. Granted, I still have a bunch more I need to put in there, but this is the majority of my collection. I have only included some of my soundrtracks and compilations as a lot of them are packed in a box i my back room, along with a bunch of other CDs I can't find right now. Archie also used a lot of my favourite album covers to decorate the page. Go here to check it out, hope you like it! I will soon have my picture LP collection and other stuff added under there as well.

I hope to have pictures of Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad, Soilwork and Darkane and possibly some pics from Trans-Siberian Orchestra later this week, providing I get over my illness. CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR ME!!!
vk * AMBER ASYLUM
* DECAPITATED
* DEDICATED TO RAVENS AND CROWS
* DEW SCENTED
* DOWN FACTOR (San Francisco November 2005)
* EYEHATEGOD
* HAZARD COUNTY GIRLS
* HIGHTOWER
* VADER (San Francisco November 2005)
* WALKEN
* YNGWIE MALMSTEEN (meet and greet shots only)
NOVEMBER 9th, 2005:


Hey what do you know, time for an update already! Better this way than too much time in between. Plus, I have a gangload of new galleries to share. Been busy, I'd say! hehe I got to see a great show of Imagika, Down Factor (their cd release party!) and Taunted on the 22nd of October. I had hardly begun healing from the Cryptopsy/Suffocation gig when I decided heyyyyyyyyy let's go get squished at Mnemic, The Haunted, God Forbid and Meshuggah!!! Hmph that might have been stupid to do as I really got more injured, but DAMNED that was a great show. Love Tony, the new singer of Mnemic - he really fits the band well. Then after being re-battered at that gig, what do I do? I turn around and go to a gig down the street from my house to support my friends in Necrite and Down Factor. WTF am I thinking?! LOL Foolishly I thought I would have about 5 days of downtime until the next gig but nooooooo, I just HAD to go see Joe Lynn Turner, Whiskey Dust and Moreality! I am very thankful to Rich for helping me out so I could go to this gig - I really, really, really appreciate it. Considering Joe has sung on everything from Rainbow to Deep Purple to Yngwie Malmsteen and of course his solo albums, I just couldn't bare to miss this one. And he hasn't been in this area in 13 years!!! That was a SUPER awesome gig, all three bands were really damned good. And even though Joe is 54, he can still belt every one of those high notes. Props to him! Still on the road to recovery, a mere three days later I am at Exodus, 3 Inches of Blood, Crisis, Wath Them Die and The Hated. There is NO FRIGGIN' WAY I was missing this one! And what do I do THIS time? Get myself squashed front and center for the ENTIRE gig. Sometimes I wonder if I have a few screws loose. haha But this entire gig was one of the highlights for my entire year of shows - each band was phenomenal and Rob is great with Exodus. Also, thanks goes out to my three buddies who helped me while I was in front - I owe you guys! Now I am off to Yngwie Malmsteen tonight - thanks to Dave Beck for giving me a link to a contest they were having. Lo and behold, I win two VIP passes, tickets and meet and greets for Yngwie! Now THAT'S cool, because otherwise I would not be able to go. Keep an eye out for upcoming galleries from Vader, Decapitated, Dew Scented, Down Factor, Arch Enemy, Mnemic, All That Remains, A Perfect Murder, Children of Bodom, Trivium and Amon Amarth - that is if everything turns out okay in my life. Cross your fingers for your battered and bruised photographer! \m/

Karyn Crisis * 3 INCHES OF BLOOD
* CRISIS
* Down Factor (San Francisco October 2005, Campbell October 2005)
* EXODUS(Santa Clara November 2005)
* GOD FORBID
* THE HATED
* THE HAUNTED (San Francisco October 2005)
* IMAGIKA (San Francisco October 2005)
* JOE LYNN TURNER
* MESHUGGAH
* MNEMIC
* NECRITE
* TAUNTED (San Francisco October 2005)
* WATCH THEM DIE (Santa Clara November 2005)
* WHISKEY DUST


OCTOBER 21st, 2005:


Hope you guys are up for another massive update!!! I have a total of 22 new galleries today... Been a bit busy with gigs and life in general, otherwise I would've had these up in two separate updates. :) First gig was the Blackest of the Black tour - I must say I had an EXTREME amount of fun at this gig, excluding getting someone's head plowing right into my stomach full force and bruising my ribs badly. I was glad to finally see Mortiis and Behemoth obviously ruled the night for me. Everyone was good, actually. Didn't get too many perfect pics of Danzig and Doyle since there was not good lighting for us, but some are posted anyway. Next up, I was able to go to THREE gigs for Stratovarius and Into Eternity which were AWESOME- many thanks to Kyle for helping this happen and letting me come along for the ride, so to speak. Got to shoot Deception at the Key Club gig as well. Next, I was lucky to see Opeth and Pelican in SF as they had to reschedule the gig. This was by far one of my favourite Opeth gigs. Let me not forget the entertaining time I had at the Suffocation/Cryptopsy/Aborted/Despised Icon gig - you can also read about it here. I did not get a lot of Despised Icon or Aborted because of not being able to get in front at that point though. :( I even got to check out the very legendary band Nazareth a couple days ago - damn, they put on a great show. The opening bands Freight Train and Black Sun were also very, very good and fun to watch. Keep an eye out for new galleries of some of my upcoming gigs - Meshuggah/God Forbid/The Haunted/Mnemic, Exodus/3 Inches of Blood/Crisis/Watch Them Die, possibly Yngwie Malmsteen, possibly Dragonlord/Torture, Arch Enemy/All That Remains/Mnemic/A Perfect Murder, Vader/Dekapitated/Dew Scented, possibly Black Label Society and finally, Amon Amarth/Children of Bodom/Trivium!!! Onwards and upwards!!! Leave me a comment on the guestbook if you like as well. :)

Behemoth * THE AGONY SCENE
* ABORTED
* BEHEMOTH (San Francisco October 2005)
* BLACK SUN
* CHIMAIRA (San Francisco October 2005)
* CRYPTOPSY(San Francisco October 2005)
* DANZIG/DOYLE
* DECEPTION
* DESPISED ICON
* FREIGHT TRAIN
* HIMSA
* INTO ETERNITY (San Francisco October 2005, Hollywood October 2005, Santa Ana October 2005)
* MORTIIS
* NAZARETH
* OPETH (San Francisco October 2005)
* PELICAN
* STRATOVARIUS(San Francisco, Hollywood, Santa Ana)
* SUFFOCATION



SEPTEMER 28th, 2005:


Sorry about the wait between updates... Been quite a bit crazy around here!!! I'm just glad that my friends in Texas and Louisiana are okay. Soooooo... I have a few bands in store for you this time. :) I FINALLY got to see Overkill for the first time... something like 15 years waiting for that one! Sheesh. And I was QUITE impressed. A very energetic show, for sure. I also got pictures of Mudface (with Ted from Death Angel on guitar), Taunted and Torture as well from the same night. And last night I got to see one of my FAVOURITE bands, Therion!!! Jeez I've been waiting a looooooong time for that one. 13 years to be exact. That has to be tied for my second favourite show I have EVER been to and you guys know that's a lot. lol AWESOME band live. And of course I got to see my ever-growing-popular friends in Imagika, who kicked it into high gear with some new songs. Great time had by all. In my next update, I should have pictures from the Blackest of the Black tour with Danzig, Behemoth, Himsa, Chimaira, Mortiis and the Agony Scene. I shall also have pictures from Stratovarius and Into Eternity and upcoming will be some from Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Despised Icon, Aborted and Light This City, so keep your eyes peeled. Hope you guys like these ones!!!
Overkill * IMAGIKA (San Francisco September 2005)
* MUDFACE (San Francisco September 2005)
* OVERKILL
* TAUNTED (San Francisco September 2005)
* TORTURE
* THERION

SEPTEMER 4th, 2005:


Red Cross

No one can possibly say they haven't been affected by the tragedies created by Hurricane Katrina. Such a sad, sad occurance. I still know of quite a few band members and their families that are missing or otherwise haven't been able to get ahold of... I can only keep them in my thoughts and cross my fingers they are okay somewhere. My thoughts also go out to all those who are suffering or are in need. The need will be great in the coming months, so I wanted to put a link to the Red Cross above where anyone can donate whatever they can... even a dollar would help them. Can you imagine if everyone in the US donated one dollar? And can you imagine if this happened to you or your family? I'm betting you'd be grateful if someone reached out to help you. Pretty sad that a lot of the misery is due to being poor instead of rich... I just hope that everyone will be able to overcome such tragedies.

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Another loss was felt in the last week. VOIVOD guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour passed away Friday night (August 26) at approximately 11:45 p.m. due to complications from advanced colon cancer . so advanced that the disease had spread to his liver. D'Amour slipped into a coma Thursday night and died less than 24 hours later in the palliative care unit of a Montreal hospital, surrounded by family and friends. He was 45 years old. He had such an impact on so many musicians... impossible to replace a guy with such talent. He will forever make an impact on the metal scene. Rest in peace.

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On to my actual updates for the site... I was able to get to another Night Ranger gig this month, this time at the Art and Wine Festival up in Sacramento. Although it was hotter than hell (103 outside with the sun directly on the back), I managed to get some pretty cool shots. I also got to see the three California gigs for Hammerfall, Edguy and Into Eternity and was able to capture a lot of photos from those gigs. I had a great time running around with everyone and cracking jokes and of course, lots of fun was to be had with Into Eternity as usual. But it was great fun to hang out with Edguy as well as Hammerfall. Hell - Tim and Rob from Into Eternity and John and Dave (the merch guys) and I even met Ron Jeremy outside of Hustlers in Hollywood! LOL Yes, I got a photo of that moment. Also had an entertaining time hanging out with Neil Turbin, Steve Gaines and William. Love those guys. I also had a chance to see a very energetic set by Exhumed and Abcess. Exhumed even decided to grace us with a VERY hyper-speed version of Trapped Under Ice (Metallica). The new band members fit very well. \m/ I decided to also stay in L.A. a little bit longer so I could see the Metal Church boys perform at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana. THAT was a REALLY upbeat, fun show! Got to check out a local band called Scarred at that show as well as the Santa Ana Hammerfall show. Great band... their singer reminds me of an early Geoff Tate. Stayed tuned for the next update which should have pictures from the 3 Inches of Blood, Overkill, Therion and Stratovarius/Into Eternity shows, plus I'm sure a few others!!! HEADBANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Abcess
*Edguy (Hollywood, San Francisco, Santa Ana)
*Exhumed
*Hammerfall (Hollywood, San Francisco August 2005, Santa Ana)
*Into Eternity (Hollywood August 2005, San Francisco August 2005, Santa Ana August 2005)
*Metal Church (Santa Ana August 2005)
*Night Ranger (Sacramento August 2005)

One more night to believe and then
Where's the lights, turn them on again
Another note for my requiem
A memory to carry on
The story's over when the crowds are gone

When the crowds are gone and I'm all alone
Playing a final song now that the lights are gone
Turn them on again, one more time for me my friend
Turn them on again

I never wanted to know, never wanted to see
I wasted my time till time wasted me
Never wanted to go, always wanted to stay
Cause the person I am are the parts that I play
So I play and I plan, and hope and I scheme
To the lure of a night filled with unfinished dreams
And I'm holding on tight to a world gone astray
As they charge me for years I can no longer pay

And the lights, turn them off my friend
And the ghosts, well just let them in
Cause in the dark it's easier to see

~Excerpts from "When The Crowds Are Gone" by Savatage

It is with great sadness that I have learned Krzysztof "Doc" Raczkowski, founding drummer of Vader (also of Dies Irae, Slashing Death, Moon), has passed away this weekend. He was a phenomenal drummer, a funny guy who had a little-kid-in-the-candy-store kind of grin and a genuinely awesome guy. I will miss his stories, his wisecracks about my pronunciation of some Polish words I was trying to learn, his silly nickname for me (where the hell DID Ally come from anyway? lol), his funny emails and his openess to talking to me even though his English wasn't perfect. We've lost a great soul in the metal scene... rest in peace, my friend.

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As far as updates go right now... I haven't gone missing in action, I was just on the metal battlefront for a while. I've actually been sunburnt, gotten bruises galore, kicked in the head numerous times, have knots on the muscles in my quadracepts, swollen feet, sore muscles that I didn't even know EXISTED... and I am STILL here! This is a HUUUUUUUUUUGE update, I think the biggest one ever on here. I got to see a GREAT show by Soilent Green, who haven't been here in about three years and Watch Them Die, a local band that's on the tour that just FLOORED me with their set. I had a really good time at the Thunders In The North 2, hosted by www.ncmu.com and had great fun hanging out with Avenger of Blood and Postmortom the next day as well. I also managed to SOMEHOW survive Ozzfest in Mountain View, albeit with quite a few technical glitches on the press part and the body part. I was even able to grab photos at the signings for In Flames and Shadows Fall. And after a LOT of BS, I was able to get some semi-decent shots of Night Ranger the next night and some cool shots at the Sentenced To Burn gig as well. Heathen, Embers of Euphoria and Kaos proceeded to kick my ass thoroughly a couple of nights ago and have added them here. Stay tuned... I will have another update very shortly with photos from Hammerfall, Edguy and Into Eternity and maybe even Metal Church, 3 Inches of Blood and Diecast as well. Quite busy, I can assure you!!! METALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

AUGUST 23rd, 2005:


*Apocrophos
*Cursed Elysium
*Embers of Euphoria
*Heathen
*Kaos
*Night Ranger
*Ozzfest 2005 - A Dozen Furies
*Ozzfest 2005 - Arch Enemy
*Ozzfest 2005 - As I Lay Dying
*Ozzfest 2005 - The Black Dahlia Murder
*Ozzfest 2005 - Black Label Society
*Ozzfest 2005 - Bury Your Dead
*Ozzfest 2005 - Gizmachi
*Ozzfest 2005 - The Haunted
*Ozzfest 2005 - In Flames
*Ozzfest 2005 - It Dies Today
*Ozzfest 2005 - Killswitch Engage
*Ozzfest 2005 - Mastadon
*Ozzfest 2005 - Mudvayne
*Ozzfest 2005 - Rob Zombie
*Ozzfest 2005 - Shadows Fall
*Ozzfest 2005 - Soilwork
*Ozzfest 2005 - Trivium
*Ozzfest 2005 - Wicked Wisdom
*Sentenced To Burn
*Soilent Green
*Thunder In The North 2 - Artillery Hell
*Thunder In The North 2 - Avenger of Blood
*Thunder In The North 2 - Postmortom
*Thunder In The North 2 - Silent Sinner
*Watch Them Die
JULY 30th, 2005:

A million apologies to those of you who tried to access the site since Wednesday morning. Our server had issues and we had an interesting time trying to get everything resolved. There are still a couple of issues here and there, but you should not have any problems viewing anything on the site now. If you do, please let us know! After all that was said on done, on to my updates... Gigantour was by far THE HOTTEST gig I have EVER had to cover outside!!! 106 degrees is INSANE, regardless if you are sort-of covered for the second stage or not. The main stage, for us photographers, security people and the people within the first 30 feet of the stage, were NOT covered AT ALL. The sun was beating down beyond belief. I thought I was going to pass out. So, some of the photos I uploaded are sun-ridden. BUT, I didn't fare too bad considering the conditions. I won't even MENTION here how I got injured. Wait for the review later. :)

Here are the newest galleries:
* Gigantour - Dream Theater
* Gigantour - Fear Factory
* Gigantour - Life of Agony
* Gigantour - Megadeth
* Gigantour - Nevermore
* Gigantour - Symphony X
* Shell Falls and Bighorn Park


And on another note, I have surpassed 11,000 images on my site now! WOOHOO! Too much is never enough, I always say. Enjoy!

JULY 25th, 2005:

So.... I sort-of survived the Sounds of the Underground tour on Saturday. It was DAMNED hot to be lugging camera gear around all day, but it was definitely a lot of fun. I was able to interview Jed from Strapping Young Lad as well as taking photos. I will upload that soon onto swedishmetal.net. Opeth was awesome as always and it was great to see Gene Holgan from SYL helping them out on drums. All but Chimaira also include photos from the meet and greets as well. Lots of other things to tell, but that will be left for my review later. :) You can check out the photos from the tour by clicking the links below.

I had a chance to see Necrophagia, Sumeria, Engorge and Ilvestrgrol on Sunday as well. Almost wasn't able to see it since the bands had problems leaving L.A. and got there at 830pm!!! I am so happy it was able to happen though. We had a lot of fun at Denny's with Engorge and Necrophagia... check out the hilarious photos that are listed in the Necrophagia gallery.

Stay tuned for scenes from Gigantour, coming your way later this week!

The following galleries have been added:
* Ilvestrgrol
* Necrophagia
* Sounds of the Underground - All That Remains
* Sounds of the Underground - Chimaira
* Sounds of the Underground - Devil Driver
* Sounds of the Underground - GWAR
* Sounds of the Underground - Opeth
* Sounds of the Underground - Strapping Young Lad
* Sounds of the Underground - Unearth
* Sumeria
JULY 20th, 2005:

I have added the following galleries for the launching of the new site:
* George Lynch Band (Concord June 2005)
* Hate Eternal (San Francisco, Orangevale, Hollywood, Santa Ana)
* Hot For Teacher (Felton July 2005)
* Incantation (San Francisco, Orangevale, Hollywood)
* Into Eternity (San Francisco, Orangevale, Hollywood, Santa Ana)
* Krisiun (San Francisco, Orangevale, Hollywood, Santa Ana)
* Thrash Against Cancer (Agent Steel, Anger As Art, Brocas Helm, Dekapitator, Dreams of Damnation, Hangar 18, Hirax, Imagika, Laaz Rockit, Mudface, Neil Turbin`s Deathriders, Offstage Shots, Mystic Rage, Righteous Sire and Testament)
In the next couple weeks, I should be hopefully having photos from Sounds of the Underground (with Opeth, Strapping Young Lad, Unearth, Lamb of God, GWAR, etc), the Necrophagia tour, Gigantour (with Megadeth, Dream Theater, Nevermore, Symphony X, etc) and possibly Stevie Nicks. In August, I will be loading a whole lot more show pics… we’ll get to that in the next update. Take a look around, hope you like what you see! \m/ \m/

JUNE 24th, 2005:

I have added the following five galleries:

* Black Diamond Mines Cemetary
* Cursed Elysium
* King’s X
* San Francisco 2004
* Sentenced To Burn (June 20th, 2005)

JUNE 19th, 2005:

I have added the following three galleries:

* Deicide (San Francisco 2005)
* Immolation
* Skinless


JUNE 12th, 2005:

I have added the following two galleries:

* Eric Martin Band
* Hot For Teacher (June 2005)


JUNE 11th, 2005:


I have added the following three older galleries – keep in mind that the L.A. Guns and Vain ones are old scans from my old computer that are not totally great, but I will add better scans later:

* Great White
* L.A. Guns (San Francisco, San Jose)
* Vain


JUNE 8th, 2005:


I have added the following five older galleries – keep in mind that the L.A. Guns and Vain ones are old scans from my old computer that are not totally great, but I will add better scans later:

* Armored Saint
* Bulletboys
* Impaled
* Lacuna Coil
* Mr. Big


JUNE 7th 2005:


I have added the following twenty galleries:


* Agent Steel (San Francisco 2000, San Francisco 2004)
* Artificium Sanguis
* Behemoth (Palo Alto 2003)
* Deicide (November 2003)
* Dimmu Borgir
* Heathen (Yaz photos)
* Helloween
* Hypocrisy (San Francisco 2003)
* Little Bighorn and Mammoth Sites
* Moonspell (Anaheim 2003, San Diego 2003, San Francisco 2003)
* Primal Fear
* South Dakota Trip
* Strapping Young Lad (San Francisco 2003)
* Sturgis Motor Classic 2004 (Motorcycle Rally)
* Styx (August 2004)
* Wind Cave
* Yellowstone National Park Trip


Print film photos also added to:


* Various Pics album


MAY 31th 2005:


I have added the following three galleries:

* Children of Umlaut
* Sentenced To Burn (May 2005)
* Vicious Rumors


Print film photos added to:

* Chicago Powerfest Warmachine


MAY 21th, 2005:


Print film photos have been added to the following four galleries:

* Behemoth (May 2005)
* Dark Haven photo shoot
* Chicago Powerfest Morgana Lefay
* Chicago Powerfest Tad Morose







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