The Metal Files

Sepultura was on the Chaos AD tour with Fear Factory, Clutch and Fudge Tunnel in 1993/94.  I get a call on the day of the show from my friend Steve who owns Skinnies Records in Norfolk, VA and he says he’s guestlisted +1 and offers it to me.  Hell yeah!  I didn’t really care for the Chaos AD album that much but not having seen Sepultura before, I was definitely interested.  The other bands on the bill were not even mildly interesting to me.

I pick Steve up and it’s a cold rainy night in early March 1994.  We get to the Boathouse (I miss that place!) and go to the will-call window.  The girl hands Steve and envelope and tells one of the employees to see us inside.  I don’t recall getting a ticket for this one as it’s not in my ticket stub collection anywhere.  Steve put the envelope in his jacket and we go in.

The 3 opening bands were pretty dull.  I think Fear Factory was on right before Sepultura and Steve pulls the envelope out and opens it.  Two Sepultura after show backstage passes!  Score!  We were both excited and I remember Steve saying, “Damn, glad I decided to look in the envelope!”  Me too!

Sepultura comes on and they were great.  They mostly played stuff from Chaos AD and Arise but threw in Mass Hypnosis, Policia, My Inner Self and Beneath The Remains.  Score!  They were tight and entertaining.

After the show, we just hang out as people were leaving.  Several of our friends stopped to say hello and we both kept the passes under wraps until most everyone had left.  We then went to the backstage door with our passes displayed and got ushered in.  Saw some folks we knew back there and talked it up a bit.

My favorite memory was hearing someone in a thick yet higher-pitched Brazilian accent ask, “Does anybody want a beer?”  I turn around and right behind me is Max Cavalera holding 3 or 4 bottles of Beck’s beer.  I jokingly said, “Hey man, you sound like a girl!”  He laughed, handed me a beer and said, “Drink up!”

We chatted with him and the rest of the guys for a few minutes and I got them to sign the envelope that the passes came in.  They were very amiable and joked around with everyone a lot.  Steve and I were pretty worn out and left.

I’ve been pretty lucky meeting bands over the years.  And this was definitely another great experience.  Sepultura was very gracious and seemed to love playing in the States.

So, thanks to Steve and Sepultura for a great night of metal comradeship!

Sepultura backstage pass, Beck's bottle cap and autographs (click to enlarge)