Archive for the ‘visigoth’ Category
Night Demon & Visigoth Concert Review, Austin, TX, April 12, 2016
Round 2 of the Night Demon and Visigoth tour takes us to Austin’s Beerland. At the request of Beerland’s booking manager, I was asked to find some opening acts for this show. That proved to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated but my friends in Think Lizzy, a local Thin Lizzy tribute, stepped up and were the only local presence for the show. Both Night Demon and Visigoth are huge Lizzy fans and were excited to have the tribute as an opener.
Think Lizzy hit the stage and played their good mix of Lizzy classics. The band is really good and the singer is from Dublin and does a great job vocally and on bass. Armand John Lizzy from Night Demon plays in a Lizzy tribute back in Ventura and got up and played Emerald with the band. It was pretty sweet. Somewhere mid-set, Steve asked me to join them for Motorhead’s Ace of Spades. He asked me if I’d do it a few days before the show and I said it’s not Thin Lizzy but apparently they’ve had it in their set for a while. Since I occasionally do a Motorhead tribute in Austin, he wanted me up there so it happened. I strapped on his Ibanez bass on and we went into a pretty loose but good version. The crowd seemed to like it.
Visigoth was up next and everyone was looking a lot healthier. The energy in their show was a lot better than the San Antonio show from the night before. I think it helped that they had a good opening act and that there was a better crowd. The played the same set as the night before with Demon’s The Spell added in. For the folks there who weren’t familiar with Visigoth I think they gained some new fans.
Night Demon’s set was also the same from the night before and like Visigoth, the energy was up. The crowd was into it and the majority of the folks in the venue stayed near the front and rocked out. Night Demon has gained a many fans in Austin since they first came here with Raven. The band was so solid and as I’ve stated before, the addition of Armand adds a new vibe to the band’s live show.
There were a lot more folks in attendance and I think both bands have a lot of new fans.
By the end of the show I was pretty wiped out. This was my third show in a row this week and I flying out at 6AM to Denver to see Iron Maiden. I decided to just stay up the whole night with the bands back at my house before heading to the airport.
It was great having both bands stay with me and I’m glad I was able to help them out. They’re always welcome. Also, they stayed at my place until Thursday while I was away and took great care of the house and my cat, Taco. In the group show below, right as Andrew was taking the picture, Taco had jumped into a paper bag. It was a perfect candid moment where instead of trying to be super tough metalheads, we were just cracking up over my silly cat.
Night Demon & Visigoth Concert Review,San Antonio, TX, April 11, 2016
This is a busy week for shows and I’m a little further behind in my reviews, so trying to catch them all up today.
Night Demon and Visigoth have teamed up for a North American tour and booked some Texas dates. Per usual when Night Demon is in town, I put them up at my place and Visigoth got shared space as well. I didn’t originally plan on hitting the San Antonio show but last minute decided to drive down to Korova for the show. On the way there I was notified that it would be an early show since the venue neglected to find an opening band. Typically in San Antonio, these shows would have a handful of openers.
Rodney, Leanne and I enjoyed a great dinner at The Palm before heading over to Korova. When we walked in, the place was practically dead. The show was in the basement and I don’t think more than 25 total people were there. Didn’t help that it was a Monday night, but still, that’s pretty week. At least if there were some local openers, it would have likely provided some additional promotion.
The singer and bassist for Visigoth have been pretty sick with some sort of flu-ish type bug but once hitting the stage, Jake put on a powerful vocal performance to the tiny crowd. This was only the second date with the touring lineup as the main drummer and lead players for Visigoth were unable to make the tour. While not perfect, they put on a great show all things considered and the few of us that were there were into it. The sound in the basement was pretty awful, too, but they made do. Of their short set, Iron Brotherhood is my favorite.
Night Demon came on and played like there was a packed crowd. They’re already touring veterans and didn’t let up just because no one was there. They opened with Ritual and their version of Riot’s Road Racin’. Want to make friends in San Antonio? Play a Riot song. The band was tight and played all of their 2015 release Curse of the Damned and 4 tracks from their debut EP. Solid set.
After the show I needed to get back home and try to get some sleep as I was going to do this all over again at the Austin show.
Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse 2014 in Review
Holy crap! What an incredible weekend I just had in Chicago April 3-6 at the Ragnarokkr Metal Apocalypse 2014 fest. I was planning to attend the show this year but then my band, Eternal Champion, got added to the bill, so that made it a double bonus. Having Riot V, Grim Reaper and Picture on the bill was enough to get me out of town. My best friend of 30+ years, Kelz, got the OK from his wife and we started making plans to meet up there.
I got there Thursday afternoon and was greeted at the hotel by Bob B, one of the festival organizers, and David B who had just traveled from Australia for the fest. They were waiting on some other folks who were on their way in before we headed off to go get some food. I checked in, freshened up a little, met the rest of the group and off we went in a few different vehicles to grub. I took Jeremy and Jamie from Heaven and Hell Records with me and also my buddy Dustin who’s drumming for Night Demon now. I’ve known him for about 3 or 4 years from when his former band, New Liberty, would come through Austin. I was pretty excited to see him and to share the bill with his band. Good kid, good drummer.
We went to a place called Marcello’s Father and Son Pizza. I ordered calamari and a small pizza with Italian beef and green peppers on it…and no, not Chicago style. I’m a thin crust guy. I did try a piece of Dustin’s Chicago style and it was good, just not my thing. Mine was great as was the squid. Plus they had Peroni on tap. mmmmmmmmm…Peroni. We left dinner and went to a cool little bar called The Mutiny. There were a few venders set up there selling shirts, patches, records, books and CDs. I kind of went overboard on patches. I need a new vest to put them on. My night there was great. I got introduced to one of Bob’s friends, Mike and his girl Dahlia. Such awesome folks. Mike’s got ties to the San Antonio area and it was great getting to know the two of them a bit. Classic metal was being played the whole night and it was quite incredible having 30+ people singing Running Wild and Warlock songs in unison. The bar itself was great. Just an old dive bar that loves metal and punk. The guys from Riot V showed up later and we all partied down. Don Van Stavern and I talked for quite a while as we have a lot of Texans in common. Mike Flynt was hanging with us for a bit, such a super nice guy. It was getting late and the long day was wearing on me, so I gathered my group and we headed back to the hotel. Everyone was a bit wiped out plus we needed our strength for the opening of the fest.
One of my favorite things about The Mutiny was meeting the group of guys from Mexico. Many of them didn’t speak English and it felt good to be able to speak Spanish with those guys. I think they appreciated as well.
Friday morning came too early and I needed to pick up Kelz at the airport. Mitchfest! We went to the hotel, got him situated then went into downtown to get some food. We ended up at Portillo’s and got the Italian beef sandwich. I’m pretty sure they put crack in that thing. It was tasty. We went back to the hotel after that and chilled out for a little bit. Now remember, we’ve known each other for over 30 years, so there’s always a ton of smack talk between us. Tons of abuse. Mama jokes galore. At the hotel, we got our gear together for the night. Him with CD covers galore and me with The Book. I had purchased a canvas shoulder bag to carry that in and to house whatever swag I bought.
This fest has 2 stages and I’ll run through the main stage bands first.
MetalUSAfer was the “secret opener” at on the main stage at 5:30. They weren’t my thing. I think one or some of the guys from this band are in High Spirits who I haven’t checked out yet.
Chicago’s legendary Amulance came on next and just rocked the place. While I felt that they should have been on later, the fest apparently has a “policy” of putting locals on early, no matter how big they were. They were awesome and just super nice guys. Singer Rick Baez made it a point to sign stuff for everyone after the show and wanted pics with the fans for himself. Super cool. Guitarist Bob and bassist Chuck were all super cool.
Night Demon is a SoCal 3 piece that now features my buddy Dustin on drums. Awesome guys and they played a great set. I recommend them!
Diamond Rexx was up next and I’ve always loved their album Land of the Damned, even if it was a bit cheesy. They came on with their original lineup and played a mix of old and newer stuff. They did alright. I got to meet the guitarist and bassist who both signed The Book. The singer didn’t stick around after their set unfortunately. Oh well.
Canada’s Axxion came on next and their mulleted singer delivered soaring vocals over top of great riffs and drumming. While they were trying a little too hard to be an 80s retro metal band, they did a good job at it and I’d like to see them again.
The Skull features original Trouble members Eric Wagner, Ron Holzner, Jeff Olson along with Lothar Kellar and Matt Goldsborough who was recently in Pentagram. They were there to play their new new demos which sounded fine. I had walked out for a minute to get some air when all of a Sudden I hear Trouble’s The Tempter being played live. I think I may have knocked over a few people trying to get back in there. The also played Assassin and End of my Daze. They sounded great and seeing Matt on guitar was a nice bonus. I had met him when Pentagram last came to town and he’s a cool guy. Catching up after their set was great.
Picture came up next and played a damn solid set. I’m not a huge fan but it was great to see some Euro legends on the stage and for their 2 original members to sign The Book.
Finally came Riot V, the version of the band touring after Mark Reale’s death (RIP). I’ll just say this. They ruled. While having Bobby Jarzombek on drums would have been cooler, the touring drummer did a fine job and Mike Flynt did a wonderful job on guitar. The new singer is no slouch either. They were the perfect ending to an awesome night on the main stage.
As far as the second stage bands on the first night, none of them really stood out but I did stop in briefly to see NC’s Dogbane and Dark Design. I can’t say I’m much of a fan but they were both solid. To be honest I didn’t see any of the other bands on the second stage as the main stage that night was so ass kickingly good.
After Riot V, we went back to the hotel to pass out and to get some energy stored up for the next days sightseeing and festivities. We bounced around Chicago a little bit but I didn’t want to get too crazy that day as my band, Eternal Champion, was slated to play at 8PM on the second stage.
I started on the main stage again with Salt Lake City’s Visigoth who just got up there and slayed the crowd. The singer had trouble talking but was able to power through vocally. The whole band was killer. Can’t wait to see them again.
Austin-based Witches Mark came on next and played a solid set. They’re goods pals of my band and it was cool to have another Texas band representing at the festival.
Because we had to play, I didn’t see Axemaster or Crowhaven but did pop in to see Black Death Resurrected, which was just OK. I was never a fan. I did meet Sickie Spacek after the show but didn’t have the book with me that night.
I also missed Argus as I was getting my gear situated after we played. However, I did catch Mexico’s Voltax and those kids are kick ass! High energy power metal and a singer with pipes of gold. Amazing seeing him hit those insane high notes.
Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper closed out the night on the main stage and feature Nick Bowcott on guitar for the first time in about 25 years. They played an incredible set and I’m so glad that I got to see them live finally and to meet Steve and Nick. Steve’s voice sound great.
Now on to the second stage. To be honest, I didn’t much pay attention to anything going on as I was getting mentally and physically psyched up for our slot. One of the show promoters kept telling me about the hype surrounding us and that a lot of folks were excited to see us. That being said, Midnight Hellion came on right before us and played an enjoyable set.
Next up was Eternal Champion. Us. This was only our third show since our inception in December 2012. My local pal loaned us a sword. During Midnight Hellion’s set, I could see a lot of people filing in presumably to get a spot in there to see us. We get on stage, set up, tune up, get introduced and blasted through our 30 minute set like a hot knife through butter. I think because of the adrenaline rush and the reactions from the crowd, I don’t really remember much about the set we played other than it was too fast. Not surprising really, as we don’t rehearse as much as I’d like since some of us don’t live nearby. But we make it work. The crowd went nuts between every song and at the end. It was sheer madness and some of the most fun I’ve had playing live.
I didn’t really catch anyone else on the second stage.
I just want to say that this little festival is the perfect size as far as the venue and crowd size go. The promoters treated us like gold and I hope we’re able to come back next year and play the main stage. I met some awesome people in Chicago and look forward to going back to just hang out. Also, Leather Leone of Chastain fame was an MC for the show and I got to speak with her several times over those 2 days. She was awesome. Very sweet and funny.
Great times!
The Metal Files 
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