| OCTOBER 31st, 2006: |
Friggin’ HELL this has been a crazy few weeks over here! So many concerts
in such a short time – you’d almost think it was the summer festival time,
but it’s not. This Photo Mistress is a very tired Photo Mistress. Am I
crazy? Sure. Was it worth it? You damned well bet it was!!! Would I do it
again? Ohhhhhhhhhhh yah. Wait until you see what’s in store for THIS
update - 50, yes 50, new galleries... the biggest update ever! Albeit it's
because it's over an almost-two month period, but due to injuries received
at work AND at Krisiun/Decapitated, I was prevented from doing much
with my right hand (see below "review" and you'll understand why). So I do
apologize. So, on with the update.
JBD did a headlining show at Bourbon Street on August 20th and as always,
kicked some major butt. We also did an impromptu photo shoot after the show,
some of which did not turn bad at all with the setting sun and all. Then I got
to see the almighty Venom headline at the Fillmore, along with support
bands High On Fire and Goatwhore. Now THAT was a show. I had never
seen Venom and I always love a good show with Goatwhore and
High On Fire, so I knew I was in for a kick-ass show… no one disappointed me
either. I just wish we could’ve gotten more people over there. Still, the crowd
wasn’t that bad considering the confusion about the show.
Now I know I promised a bunch of you that I’d have some pictures of the 142nd
annual Scottish Highland Games in Pleasanton over Labor Day weekend, but I ended
up WORKING in my friend’s leather shop at the festival, so I didn’t get any
pictures of anything other than my clan (clan Hall). Check out Reginald’s killer
leather at
www.ravenswoodleather.com. You’ll understand why I decided to help them out.
All of my custom leather “corsets” are made by him.
Then it was on to my insane-week-from-hell… aka doing 5 shows in 5 days on TOP
of working full time the whole week! Pure insanity, but I HAD to do it! First up
was Dragonlord, Hollow Point Syndicate and Decreation. I
didn’t realize they were playing that night because most people including myself
had seen the date as the 8th, not the 6th. So when a friend of mine told me
about the show, I just went straight to the gig from work in my work clothes –
and I work at a law firm! HA! There was quite the rambunctious crowd there and
the bands gave it their all. It was great to see Dragonlord once again
and I was pleasantly surprised by the kids in Decreation.
Getting 2 ˝ hours of sleep and going straight to work the next morning, I geared
up to see Genitorturers, Mortiis and Push. Also going there
straight from work, I was quite excited to see Mortiis again as they
kicked my butt at Blackest of the Black last year. I was looking forward to
being able to hear a 45 minute set instead of the short 20 minutes they got last
time. Boy, did they ever deliver! Lights, sound, everything was perfect – except
it’s hard to take photos with so much “fog” on stage. It was my first time
seeing Genitorturers and my what an interesting show that was. I was
quite strangely entertained, as I have always liked the music and had my mind
open to what I would experience that night. GREAT stage presence and stage show!
Wow. I took a major detour to Nation’s Hamburgers so that the Mortiis
guys and I could eat something, then lead them through “the maze” freeway. We
all split up in Dublin and I got home at 4:35am.
Up again after getting 1 ˝ hours of sleep, I went to work for a partial day and
then headed straight to the Oakland Coliseum to check out one of the first dates
on the Gigantour 2006 fest. After MUCH ado about nothing concerning confusion
with our passes, I got to witness some KILLER sets by Into Eternity,
Sanctity, Arch Enemy, Overkill, Opeth,
Lamb of God
and Megadeth. Not a single one disappointed! Another major highlight of
the show for me was to see the new tour program, of which I had 8 photos
published in! How cool is that?!
Yet another 2 hours of sleep, I proceeded to go to a pretty much sold-out show
for Dragonforce, All That Remains and Horse the Band at the
Warfield. With every bit of energy given out by the crowd, the bands returned it
ten-fold and kept going. The very next day, yes without more than a couple hours
of sleep, I headed up to Sacramento to see one of my favourite soon-to-be-known
bands, Dark Haven. I made it up there early enough that we got to do a
very impromptu photo shoot by the Russian River and also quite a few outside of
the club. The club was tiny, but the band gave it their all on stage. Definitely
a band for you all to check out! Not but a few days later, I got to witness
Unearth, Bleeding Through and Terror. I was a bit mad as I
missed the FIRST three bands because the show started SO early and there was
traffic, but at least I managed this much. It was definitely a bit of a
different crowd for me, but it was nonetheless entertaining to see their
interaction with the bands. The next night was the first-ever show for Madras,
which has Dominique from Dedicated to Ravens and Crows and Brian from
Eyehategod and Soilent Green in the band. Very good mood music and
will be perfect once they get a few things tweaked out a bit.
Finally with a little bit of rest, I was quite excited to see Six Feet Under,
Krisiun, Decapitated and Abysmal Dawn. Unfortunately, I was
not able to witness or photograph Six Feet Under because I had an elbow
purposely smashed down onto my head during Abysmal Dawn by an asshole, I
got my right hand bruised so badly during Decapitated that I had it
wrapped for a month and they still think it's fractured, and then I got kicked
in the face by an asshole crowdsurfer (no crowdsurfing is allowed there) during
Krisiun and ended up with a bruised face and a bloody nose. Needless to say,
I was in pain, but the sets were AWESOME. So I do again apologize for not
getting Six Feet Under photos or the update done faster, but you can see why.
Even so, I managed to go see my friend Rob's new tribute band to Motley Crüe,
Generation Swine, and to the Rennaisance Pleasure Faire a week later with my
friend Justin and again two weeks later with my friend Tony. I took a TON of
photos of the glass blowers, the Queen's Court doing a skit, the Knights of
Avalon during their jousting and challenges and Moonie and Broon, two of the
funniest comedians I have ever seen. For even MORE pleasure, I checked out sets
from Celtic Frost (first time I have ever seen them), Sunno))),
Goatwhore and the almighty black metallers in 1349. Man, what a show
that was! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself during that gig. Also,
nothing like seeing one of the 1349 guys singing a POiSON song
backstage!!! :) The very next day, tired as all hell, my friend Kyle graciously
offered to bring me with him on a drive to Los Angeles to see Stratovarius
play with Point Zero since they were only doing three American dates
before going to Mexico. I am very, very appreciative for having that chance as
the Strato set was full of an incredible amount of energy and House of Blues on
Sunset is always nice to see a show at, even if the parking fee is exhorbant.
Four days later, I got to finally see Kamelot on my coast (instead of
always at ProgPower) and I was even more happy to finally see Epica live
for the first time. The place was PACKED and hot as hell to see these two bands.
I had a great time hanging out with Epica that night and also the next
night since they had the day off and were hunkered down at the Pound by
themselves and Andrea, our lovely bartender at the Pound. Little did I know that
the next show I was there for, the Soilwork, Darkest Hour,
Mnemic and Threat Signal gig, would be the very last
Insipid Productions show at the Pound as three days later, the Pound had to
close it's doors for good. All four bands proceeded to send it out with a bang,
though. You can blame the Port Authority of San Francisco for that travesty.
I checked out Flipsyde on Friday the 13th, as a very old friend from my
high school days is in that band. Man and I thought the crowd for the Unearth
show was different for me! hahaha Needless to say, they put on a great show,
despite the many sound issues.
Now, most people thought that because the Pound SF had to close it's doors, that
there would be very little metal to come around and that the previously booked
shows would just disappear. Not so!!! The Fear Factory, Hypocrisy,
Decapitated shows were moved... one to the Boardwalk in Orangevale for the
Thursday gig and then to the Oakland Metro on Friday. Sad to say, Suffocation
was not able to perform these dates. If you want to read a detailed review of
these two shows (I did not get to see Fear Factory either night), you can
go here. You can also
go here to read a bit about the major problems with the Suffocation
tour bus and also about the Pound SF and Insipid Productions shows.
My very last set of galleries, which brings me RIGHT up to date, is from my
buddy Tony's halloween party this last Saturday night. His band, Necrite,
made the garage into a "club" by putting black garbage bags over the entire
walls and then had a strobe light and candles to set the mood for the gathering.
What a great way to spend the weekend... listening to a really good black metal
band, in the dark basically, and hanging out with a few friends. That's the way
it SHOULD be.
So, coming up soon will hopefully be photos from Moonspell,
Katatonia,
Daylight Dies, Blind Guardian, Leaves Eyes,
Death Angel,
JBD, Entombed, Deicide, Enslaved,
Grave,
Dismember, Cannibal Corpse (as well as their interview!), and many
more that I can't even think of right now! So hope you all will return once
again. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
