RIP Robert, my dear sweet brother
On January 20th one of my older brothers died in his sleep. He was 47. It was unexpected and quite a shock to the family.
Robert was 6 years older than me and really is the person responsible for my love of heavy music. In the mid 70s I can remember him bringing home KISS’ Dressed to Kill and that is what started it off for me. From there it was Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, RUSH, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash and a slew of other bands in those years. It wasn’t all hard stuff though. He got me into the Rolling Stones, early Neil Young and Elton John as well. The Stones are my 2nd favorite band of all time behind Iron Maiden.
As we got older and he had moved out, I was able to get him into bands like King Diamond, Metal Church and some others.
Music was always our bond and even in these last few weeks, there are certain songs that I’ll hear that just remind me of him. I’m glad that I have that lifelong connection to him and his spirit.
I’ll always miss and love you, Robert. Even more than I have in recent years of not being able to see you.
I can’t thank you enough for helping me be who and what I am today.
Hello Killdozer, goodbye Emos
Simple review. Killdozer was how I remembered them. Not great, but not shitty. Last time was 1994 in Newport News, VA.
The main story tonight was the closing of the downtown location of Emo’s. Not my favorite venue but I saw some good shows over the years…valkyrie, Pentagram, hammerfall, Celtic frost/tryptikon, buzzov*en, and lots more. It’s really the beginning of the end of our beloved Red River District.
I Love Iron Maiden
It’s no secret. My love for this band runs deep and Powerslave is my favorite album of all time. We just finished this tattoo on the back of my right calf.
tattoo by http://www.marcohyder.com
UP THE IRONS!
Riot – Immortal Soul Review
I’ve talked about Riot more than once on this site and about how I really love the Thundersteel era over the Fire Down Under era. 
Don’t get me wrong, FDU is a great album and extremely influential, but I prefer the more metal/powermetal version of Riot, partially because of Bobby Jarzombek.
I was fortunate enough to see the Riot reunion show in June of 2009 in San Antonio. It was quite special. They mentioned at that show that a new album would be forthcoming, then I believe Tony Moore left…then came back. Great news!
Once the album buzz started getting posted around the web, it got me excited. I love this band with Moore on vocals. He sounded really good live in 09. I finally got the album via iTunes a while back after hearing a few songs that had been posted around the YouTube and such and liked what I heard.
Upon getting the full version, I gave it several listens, at least 15 now. This is a strong album and well worth owning if you’re a fan of that era of the band’s music. Bobby Jarzombek shows off his amazing skills as expected. That guy is awesome, period. The guitar work is really good, some of the best I’ve ever heard from Reale. I assume that Flyntz is doing some of the solos too, but not 100% sure.
Lyrically it’s what you would expect. They obviously made an effort to make this sound like the followup to Thundersteel and not necessarily the followup to Privilege of Power. The songs are strong and some have their fair amount of lyrical cheese, but it works well. It’s a fun album.
If I had to make a complaint, it would be on the vocals. To my ears there sounds like a lot of fixes to Tony’s vocals. Lots of harmonizer. It does get annoying in spots but generally doesn’t detract from the album as a whole.
Highlight tracks for me would be Still Your Man (which is basically Johnny’s Back pt 2), Riot, Sins of the Father, Fall Before Me, Wings are for angels.
If you don’t have this album yet, get it. 8/10
Goodbye to The Boathouse – RIP
These hallowed walls scream…and the walls of The Boathouse at Bessie’s Place in Norfolk, VA were certainly hallowed. Like just about anyone from that area will tell you, The Boathouse was THE place to see shows. I’ve lamented more than once on the website about how much I loved that place and some of the great shows I saw there. The national/international 80s metal scene flourished there for us kids. Megadeth, Overkill, Yngwie, Lita, Testament, Anthrax, Obsession, Sanctuary, Warlock, Metal Church, At War, Dianno’s Battlezone, Winger, Black Sabbath, King Diamond, Don Dokken, etc. Even into the 90s and 2000s I saw some great shows there like Sepultura and Motorhead. Pretty much any band that wasn’t big enough at the time to play the Hampton Coliseum or Norfolk Scope ended up at the Boathouse.
The Boathouse was finally torn down this week. Hurricane Isabel ruined it in 2003 and it never reopened. It was pretty obvious when Harbor Park was built next to it, nothing would happen there again. Pity.
Back in 2005 (or maybe 2006…whenever Gigantour played Portsmouth), I got the chance to meet Dave Mustaine at a charity softball
The Boathouse. It used to be red. Photo by L. Todd Spencer
game. I saw Megadeth there twice: Peace Sells and So Far, So Good. Great shows. We were standing on the ball field at Harbor Park and I asked Dave if he remembered playing the Boathouse in the 80s. “That fucking dump! I hated that place!” I told him to look over the left field wall and he’d see the roof. “Good riddance!” Funny.
And really one important thing about The Boathouse for me…I saw my very first metal show there in 1985. Stryper. I was 15, my first time there and it was great. Definitely my favorite place to see shows back in those days. I think the last show I saw there was Motorhead/Supersuckers/Nashville Pussy in 2000.
RIP…and thanks for the memories, all of them were awesome.
The Metal Files 
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