Days 2-4 of Mitchfest with Kelz consisted of 3 straight shows with Satan in San Antonio and Austin and it’s just easier to 
combine the reviews all in one post.
We mess around Austin for a little bit before heading back to the house to rest up for Tuesday night’s show with Satan in San Antonio at The Korova. We got there a little before Satan showed up and helped them load their personals from the van to Korova’s green room. They looked pretty good after playing Houston the night before. They recognized us from the Richmond show earlier in the year. Satan was being backlined on this tour by the venue and/or the opening acts. Seemed that there were a few compatibility issues with guitar heads to the effects that Ramsey/Tippins used but those quickly got fixed with the arrival of a couple of Marshall amps.
Austin based Firestarter ’82 opened the show and I stuck around for their set as their bassist is a good pal of mine. She did a fine job as always. Local thrashers, Aggravator, played next but we missed them as we were having a couple of drinks next door.
We get back right before Satan hits the stage and as expected, they delivered an awesome set to about 40-45 people. The crowd size was quite unfortunate, especially for a city that often touts itself as the metal capital of the USA. Things change I guess. And it was a Tuesday night…but still. How often are you going to get the chance to see Satan? Satan played flawlessly as expected. They were great when we saw them in Richmond this year and I expected no less this time. They did not disappoint. It really can’t be stated enough how great of a guitar duo Russ Tippins and Steve Ramsey are. Ross’ vocals are stellar, especially for a 61 yr old man who can still belt out the falsetto with no problem. Sean and Graeme held the bottom down as Satan rolled through a mostly similar set to earlier this year with only a few changes. They were awesome and have become one of my favorite live bands. Brian’s not a big talker between songs beyond introducing the next song and I’m fine with that.
It was also great seeing some old pals that I hadn’t seen in a while, namely Rob Doom, Jaime, Mando and of course Rodney who was the show promoter. A new friend, Henri, came in from Holland just to see these shows with Satan and Militia. Pretty cool!
Kelz and I left promptly after the show for the 75 minute drive back to Austin. Of course it was full of conversation about the show and old times.
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Graeme English
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Brian Ross
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Steve Ramsey
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Russ Tippins
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Sean Taylor
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Steve and Russ putting on a clinic
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Firestarter ’82
Day 3 of this Mitchfest didn’t consist of much other than foraging around town for food and resting. This night’s show consisted of Satan, local speed/thrash metal legends Militia and my band, Eternal Champion, opening up. What a perfect bill of classic styled metal! We had to be at the venue by 730 to load in and we were backlining all bands that night. We did a quick rehearsal and then headed over to Beerland to load in. We got everything set up and then grabbed a quick slice of pizza and a beer across the street to wash it down. There was a good crowd rolling in after the doors opened at 9. Lots of friends who work for one of my company’s clients came. It was awesome seeing a bunch of non-metalhead friends show some support like that.
We hit the stage a little after 10PM and breezed steadily through our set. Minus my bass being out of tune for the first verse of the first song (wtf?), the set seemed tight and was extremely fun. The crowd was right up front with us and it was a blast.
Up next came one of my favorite bands, Militia, who have been here since the mid-80s and reemerged about 5 years ago. Original drummer Phil Achee came to town from Alabama to play this show and it was great seeing/hearing him on the skins again. It just felt right. Mike Soliz’ vocals were on point and I’m still amazed every time I see and hear him on stage. He’s a beast of a singer and one awesome guy. I think they gained a lot of new fans that night.
And then Satan. The crowd had thinned out a little but not that much and Satan rolled through the same set as the night before. I enjoyed seeing and hearing Graeme playing through my bass rig. He made it sound a lot better. haha. After finishing their main set and destroying everyone who was left for their set, the house lights came on and the music from the soundboard started playing. The band was a little disappointed that they didn’t get to play their encore. So was I. But it was a great show. I’ve not had that much fun playing a show in ages and getting to do that with 2 of my favorite bands made it even more special.
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the backline
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Eternal Champion
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Day 4. We’re tired. Lack of sleep, not eating properly etc was catching up to my old ass. haha. We went out and got some tacos and bounced around to a few places before getting the nod from Satan’s tour manager that they were ready to eat. I had offered to take them to my favorite BBQ joint in town and we chowed down. Two of them are vegetarians so their options were limited but they seemed satisfied. The others loved the ribs, sausage and pork tenderloin. I think they were happy to just get something that wasn’t pizza or from a fast food restaurant. I have to admit that it was a bit surreal having a meal with those guys. Yeah, they’re just people, I know that. But they’re also people that I’ve been listening to since the early 80s. It was fun.
This night’s show featured a totally different lineup consisting of Sweat Lodge, Ditch Witch and Natur, all bands that I’m not into in the least. Not at all. 0%. Although I think Natur could be a little more workable to me if their riffs went somewhere. These bands also draw the “we dress like we’re 1975 hippies”. I’m pretty sure most of them were born in the mid to late 80s. Not my thing but whatever.
I stayed outside for the two openers and watched about half of Natur’s set. I was strictly there for Satan. As they were setting up, Kelz and I staked our spots right up front. I wondered how many people there would be familiar with them but it seemed like a decent amount of people were. A pit lasted throughout most of the set and Kelz and I were flung to the stage a few times each, but I didn’t mind. It wasn’t a violent pit at all and reminded me of the 80s a bit. Satan played through their set and were great again. Two nights in a row they didn’t get to do their encore. They also didn’t do their instrument as there was no where for Brian to stand during that song. He had trouble getting to to the stage during the opening song as the crowd was packed up there. Again, Satan destroyed another show. After finally getting kicked out after closing, we were exhausted. Completely. Totally worth it.
This show marked the last night of MitchFest. It was great seeing Kelz come to my city and hang out. We had a blast and always look forward to the next gathering of Mitches.
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3/5 of Satan loves meat! Stiles Switch BBQ rules all.
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Satan and Monkey Boy.
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Kelz impatiently waiting for Satan
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Kelz and Russ
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combine the reviews all in one post.
The Metal Files 
This synopsis makes me realize how special the preceding night in Houston was. First rate production at Numbers, and an early start allowed Satan to do 2 encores, really as a “double” encore, clocking in at 100 minutes and wrapping up by 12:25 am. Thanks to Jose Grinder for letting them know they could keep playing…I didn’t think that would work, but they were willing, as a rabidly appreciative audience of 70 spurred them on for six extra songs. The Texans were on Monday Night Football, but we who witnessed this won the night.
Bill Bates
October 30, 2014 at 4:39 am