Posts Tagged ‘concert reviews’
Scorpions/Ratt – Concert Review – San Antonio, Tx – July 23, 2010
SCORPIONS – RATT
San Antonio, TX July 23, 2010
Amazing. In a word that’s the best way to describe this show. But as always, I will go into more detail.
The day starts out with me picking up Christine and Charlotte, piling their pretty selves in my car and heading 75 miles south to San Antonio to the AT&T Center. Since it’s a Friday we allowed some extra time to
Christine, Charlotte, Yours Truly
get through Austin and SA’s traffic. Good idea. The doors opened at 6:30 and we arrived at about 5:45. Hung out in the parking lot, had a beer, talked music and talked a lot of BS. Good times.
We hop in line and 15 minutes later we were in the door. Of course we head to the merch booth to check out the shirts. Both Ratt’s and the Scorpion’s shirts were pretty fugly so I didn’t pick one up. That’s a rarity, me no picking up a concert shirt. We’re inside, grab a beer and go find out seats. I of course looked at the seating chart as I was buying the tickets but didn’t really realize how good they were. My photographer friend, Jinger, was behind us when she wasn’t in the photo pit shooting both bands.
The place was filling in pretty well and I believe it was sold out by the end of the night. San Antonio is a legendary town for metal. So many bands from around the world got their first US break there. Scorpions and Ratt were 2 of those bands. Sure Ratt was popular in the LA scene on the early 80s, but SA radio really pumped them and got them out of California. The SA crowds are great too. They love metal there. It’s pretty awesome.
Warren, Carlos and Robbie
The lights go down and on comes Ratt. Thanks to the interwebz I had seen the setlist that they have been running for this tour and was pretty stoked for it. Morning After! Alright! Stephen Pearcy was never known for being a great singer and he’s still not, but he did a pretty good job last night. The band consisted of Pearcy, Warren DeMartini, Bobby Blotzer, Robbie Crane and Carlos Cavazo(!). Carlos! I’ve always been a huge fan of the first 3 Quiet Riot albums that Carlos was on. Was fortunate enough to meet and hang out with him in 98. Nice guy, fine guitarist. Ratt sounded great overall. Warren is definitely a hotshot player. Robbie’s been in the band for a long time now and did a fine job. He’s got strong backing vocal skills too. Seeing Ratt was a bit special for me as I had never seen them before. “Back in the day” they came to town with Poison and Bon Jovi and I refused to pay to see either of those bands. Blech! So this was a perfect bill for me to see them on, even if it was 20+ years after their heyday. The only song I didn’t care for in their setlist was Way Cool Jr. That song sucked then and it still sucks now.
Here’s the setlist as I recall it:
- You’re In Love
- Lay It Down
- Lack Of Communication
- Loving You’s A Dirty Job
- I Want A Woman
- Best Of Me
- Slip Of The Lip
- Nobody Rides For Free
- Back For More
- Way Cool Jr.
- Wanted Man
- The Morning After
- Round And Round
Damn fine setlist.
RATT says goodbye
After the Ratt set, the girls and I go out and grab a drink and they run into some friends of theirs who ended up joining us for the Scorpions set.
The music on the PA at rock concerts has always been an interesting subject of discussion. Before the Scorps came on, they were paying all Nickelback. It was pretty annoying. Then Back In Black comes on (very
Klaus and Rudy...Sting of the Tail!
loudly) and of course people start cheering. I never cared for that song but it’s fun seeing how amped people get anytime it gets played in an arena. 20 seconds into it, the lights go down, the songs ends and here comes Rudy Schenker walking on the stage to open the show. The crowd goes apeshit…including me. Rudy! RUDY! The rest of the band quickly follows and they open up with Sting In The Tail from the new album.
The band sounded great all night. Klaus’ voice was clean and powerful even though you can tell that they were playing everything tuned down. But for a dude that’s 62, he did a fine job. They all did. They have some Polish bass player named Pawel Maciwoda and James Kottak on drums. Kottak is a maniac. One of those showy type drummers, but solid as a rock and did a great job. He did a drum solo and had a rather humorous synchronized video of him in a bunch of different live recreations of Scorpions albums. For me the video was more interesting than the solo, but the guy obviously has a great sense of humor.
I’ve seen the Scorpions twice before. Once in 1991 on the Crazy World Tour and the other in 2002 with DIO and Deep Purple. This show was probably better than the 98 show but hard to top the 91 show. I was a little
Matthias
letdown that they played nothing from the Uli Roth era as in recent years. They had been doing either In Trance or We’ll Burn the Sky, but nothing on this tour…their final tour. In general it didn’t matter. They were great. They did Send Me An Angel and dedicated it ti Ronnie James Dio. For Angel and Holiday, Rudy and Matthias had a Flying V and Explorer electric/acoustics! It made me giggle a bit but it was pretty cool.
One great surprise was at the beginning of their encore. Klaus talked about how special San Antonio was to helping the Scorpions then they went right into Still Loving You. This is the only show on the tour, as I can tell, that this song was played. We freaked out. They dropped Winds of Change (thank God). That song always annoyed me. The finished up with No One Like You and Rock You Like A Hurricane. I would have stayed for another 2 hours of music had then been able to do it. The energy from the crowd and from the band were pretty amazing. In recent years the only show that rivaled this one was Iron Maiden in 2008.
The setlist:
- Sting Of The Tail
- Make It Real
- Bad Boys Running Wild
- The Zoo
- Coast To Coast
- Loving You Sunday Morning
- The Best Is Yet To Come
- Send Me An Angel
- Holiday
- Raised On Rock
- Tease Me Please Me
- Dynamite
- Kottack Attack (Drum Solo)
- Blackout
- Six String Sting (Matthias rocks out)
- Big City Nights
- Still Loving You (encore)
- No One Like You (encore)
- Rock You Like A Hurricane (encore)
The drive home was long and both of the girls fell asleep. It was an incredible night for a lot of reasons.
Upon returning home to downtown Austin, I walked across the street and caught the last 2 songs from Jason McMaster’s Killa Maul Metallica tribute. Awesome as always. Slipped across the street from there and ate a slice of pizza, drank half a beer, came home and went to bed.
Wonderful night with wonderful people.
Long live the Scorpions!
Scorpions
The Zoo
Holiday
Iron Maiden – Concert Review – 06/12/2010
The last time I saw Maiden was in 2008 on the Somewhere In Time Tour in San Antonio, Texas. It was probably the best performance I had ever seen by the band and was my 3rd show since the Seventh Son Tour. Anyone who knows me knows that Maiden is my number one band of all time. Sure they have some albums that I despise, but I love them. Always have, always will.
When I found out that they were coming to San Antonio’s AT&T Center this year, I was stoke. Even more so because this time it was an inside arena show. There’s something special about seeing big bands in an arena as compared to an amphitheater. I wasn’t too excited to learn that Dream Theater was opening up. Sure, they’re a talented band but I haven’t cared for anything they have put out since Images and Words.
As usual for just about any show, I bought 2 tickets. Someone always wants to go who may have forgotten to get a ticket or couldn’t afford one at the time or whatever. My spare ticket was originally purchased for my guitar player but he decided a few weeks ago that he didn’t want to go. No biggie. So I asked my beautiful friend Christine to go with me as my guest and thankfully she obliged. Her knees may have even buckled a little when I asked. :)
The only unfortunate thing was that I bought my tickets late in the day when they went on sale as I forgot all about it. I got decent seats, but not great seats. No biggie. Just being there is all that matters.
A few weeks ago my friend Michael asked if he and our mutual friend, Sean, could go with us and of course I said yes. He’s a huge Maiden fan as well, no matter that he’s the bass player for a well known country band in Texas. A few days before the show we were chatting he said that he may be able to get us better seats or a box suite for the show. He knows a dude who knows a dude or something like that. I got even more excited about the show, but even without a hookup, the trip with good friends to see the greatest band in the world was going to be wonderful…and it was.
I saw the setlists from the previous 2 shows in Dallas and Houston and was originally a little disappointed that it contained stuff primarily from the last 3 albums with 3 or 4 old songs thrown in at the end. After a day or 2 of rationalizing, I figured hey, they did the hits tour 2 years ago, why not play stuff that is fresh to them, eh? Sure, having to endure songs from the painful Dance of Death wasn’t making me excited but they were playing some stuff from Brave New World and the awesome A Matter of Life and Death. So, we’re all good here.
So here we are on Saturday, show day. I played taxi and picked everyone up separately and we headed south to San Antonio. We get to the venue around 6:30PM and the crowd is rolling in. It’s a hot and beautiful day.
There was a merch booth outside and we grabbed a load of shirts and then get in line as the doors were open to the venue. Michael and Sean had to go to the will call booth to get theirs so we met them inside. Christine and I hit another merch booth and I buy some more shirts. Iron Maiden always makes shirts especially for their Texas shows and this one was no exception. In 2008 I only bought one shirt for me and the next day they were selling on eBay for $100 or more. You see, I am a capitalist. If I can turn a profit on my investment, I’m going to do it. So I bought a small load of the Texas only shirts. We’ll see how my venture turns out. :)
Michael calls us as we are finishing up at the booth and we meet him near the main entrance. We get introduced to his “guy” and we’re ushered up the step to the box suites. He says, “I’ll bring some beer in a little bit but this is the best I can do for the moment.” The best you can do? Dude! You just put us in a beautifully decorated box with a great view of the stage! None of us were complaining and we were all a little freaked out by the whole thing. It was very special treatment and I certainly owe my friend something huge in return for this.
After getting my head back down to earth, the lights go down and Dream Theater takes the stage. I’m not really a fan even thought I like their first 2 albums. I don’t know any of the material beyond Images and
Dream Theater
Words and suspected that they wouldn’t play anything except Pull Me Under. I was right. Their performance was solid but I was a little bored. The rest of crowd seemed to enjoy them pretty well.
Here’s their list:
- As I am
- A Rite of Passage
- Home
- Constant Motion
- Panic Attack
- Constant Motion
- Pull Me Under
Dream Theater taking their final bows
Between sets, Michael and Sean go down to see where their seats are and they’re close to the front on Gers’ side and they stay there for Maiden’s set. Christine and I stay in the box. It was literally about 10 rows straight up from where our seats were, so why leave?
Maiden hits the stage and starts the rock with Wicker Man. The sound was good and the band was energetic. In true Maiden style, they changed back drops quite a bit and Bruce was all over the stage. The band was
Bruce Bruce. Photo used by permission by Jay West
great. They always are. As most who know me already know, I despise the fact that Gers is still in the band. It always pains me to see him prancing around the stage and playing sloppy solos. Last night was a little different though. It seems as if they have maybe reigned him in a little bit. Sure he did a little of his prancing and guitar twirling, but he mostly stayed to his side of the stage. I think also that since they were primarily playing songs from “his” era, he was involved in the music a little more. His solos were pretty good. It does still pain me to see him doing some of Adrian’s solos in the old stuff while Adrian is standing there on stage. I would assume that Adrian isn’t bothered by it.
Christine and I rocked it in the suite. It was a blast and was a very special night. Any night seeing Iron Maiden is special for me. Bruce stated that the show was sold out but I saw lots of empty seats. Maybe some people got mad about the setlist and didn’t show. Who cares. We were there. Dallas got to see them do Brighter Than a 1000 Suns but for Houston and and San Antonio we got Wrathchild. I would have preferred 1000 Suns. I love that song. I think they threw it in the list as a replacement to keep the crowd involved. Bruce said several years ago that US fans only wanted to hear the hits and that it was annoying. He was right. We got the hits 2 years ago so I can totally see why they wanted to do a set of stuff that was more fresh to them. They played a new song from the upcoming album…El Dorado. It sounded much better live than on the studio recording that was released last week.
One awesome thing that I saw was that there were 2 people on the floor behind the soundboard doing sign language to every song for both bands and all of the between song banter. Obviously there were some deaf people in that section. That was pretty cool to see.
Here’s Iron Maiden’s setlist:
- The Wicker Man
- Ghost of the Navigator
- Wrathchild
- El Dorado
- Pachendale
- The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
- These Colours Don’t Run(!!!)
- Blood Brothers
- Wildest Dreams
- No More Lies
- Brave New World
- Fear of the Dark (I hate this song…and album)
- Iron Maiden
- Number of the Beast (encore – they have a new devil!)
- Hallowed Be Thy Name (encore)
- Running Free (encore)
Let me just add in here that I am so friggin’ glad I didn’t have to sit through the Trooper. That almost made the show worth it right there.
Overall it was a great night with great friends seeing the greatest band in the world. I am utterly humbled and thankful for the special treatment that we got. The drive home was great and went by quickly. All of us talking about the show. This was Shawn and Christine’s first Maiden show and they were blown away. It’s funny, Michael and I have only known each other for about 2 years. He’s originally from Virginia as well. He was wearing his original Seventh Son tour shirt and we both saw that show at the Hampton Coliseum in 1988. Small world. Thanks Michael, Christine and Sean. Always nice to share experiences like this with good people.
I’ll have videos uploaded soon. For now, enjoy the pictures.
Iron Maiden
Sean and Christine in our sweet suite
The view from up there...where eagles dare.
Me, Michael, Sean...Eddie's boys
La mas bonita del mundo disfrutando el show.
Texas only shirt...front
Texas only shirt...back
Iron Maiden
Always look on the bright side of life...
See more of Jay West’s awesome photos here!
UP THE IRONS!
Lizzy Borden Concert Review – 041710
As stated before, I am a pretty big fan of Lizzy Borden. so I was pretty excited when I heard that they were coming to
Give 'em the Axe!
San Antonio to do a show…a FREE show! I saw them in 2001 opening for Malmsteen at the NORVA in Norfolk, VA and they were great even though they didn’t play Give ’em The Axe. My problem, not theirs, eh?
So McMaster and I head down to San Antonio (75 miles) around 6PM and go to the legendary Hogwild Records before heading to the venue. I’ve been there one other time and it’s a great store, lots of San Antonio metal history there. I ended up buying 6 shirts while I was there: 2 S.A. Slayer, Sepultura – Beneath The Remains, 2 Dark Angels designs and Mercyful Fate – Nuns Have No Fun. They had tons of other great shirts, but sold out on my size (tent-makers must be running behind! haha!) I really wanted the Sin After Sin shirt. *sigh*
So after doing our damage there, we head to the venue just to see where it is. It’s an old warehouse, huge place. After we spotted it we went to Denny’s and grabbed a quick meal. I hadn’t eaten since that morning so I was feeling pretty weak.
We get to the venue around 9:30PMish and catch up with McMaster’s girlfriend and 2 of her friends who flew in from Oklahoma City…April and Angie. good looking rock chicks. Super funny and very cool. Had a blast with them.
The venue is called Backstage Live and they are bringing in a lot of shows, mostly 80s rock and metal. The place is friggin’ huge. I imagine it can hold 1000 comfortably, maybe twice that. They did a nice job doing the rehab work in there. It was a very nice place. Some cool swag on the walls as well like this German KISS poster from the Unmasked 
Tour with Iron Maiden opening up. Damn!
It took almost an hour for Lizzy to hit the stage after the opening band, One Of Six. WTH? It was ridiculous. The club owner spoke from the stage saying they were delayed in getting there, but I don’t know. There was a point where they all walked out from backstage to come on then went back in…seemed like it was another 20 minutes until they finally came on.
Jason and I moved practically 5′ from the stage with ease and room to spare around us. There may have been 100-120 people there, but the place is so big that the crowd looked tiny.
Lizzy finally hit the stage dressed in a hooded robe and a black screen covering his face. Honestly, the sound quality
Lizzy Borden, one of many masks
was so bad that I have no idea what song they opened with. I think it may have been from their last album of which I am totally unfamiliar with. Give ’em The Axe was next but I had no idea what it was. Jason elbowed me and said, “They’re playing your song.” Really? Couldn’t tell. I could tell that Lizzy’s voice was good, though. Really he sounded great. He has such a unique voice and it can cut through just about anything. His band was really good too. Marten Andersson is a fantastic bassplayer. Lizzy’s brother, Joey Scott Harges is still on drums and he had 2 hot shot guitarists with him. Both of those dudes could play.
Lizzy changed masks and costumes between just about every song. I have to say that I think I would have preferred a stripped down Lizzy show without having all of the “show”. Their music can hold it’s own. But then I guess it just wouldn’t be a Lizzy show without all the props and such.
nice mullet, hero.
They only did 14 songs and it really seemed like fewer because of the sound there. I really left the show very disappointed…one, in the sound quality and 2, in the setlist. I thought it was pretty weak and very short. This is one of 4 USA shows, play a longer set!
I’m not so sure that I’ll ever go see them again.
Setlist:
? (inaudible)
Give ’em The Axe
Voyeur
? (inaudible)
Tomorrow Never Comes
Under Your Skin
Master of Disguise
There Will Be Blood Tonight
Me Against the World
American Metal
Hollywood? (inaudible)
We’ve Got The Power
Notorious (encore)
Redrum (encore)
If anyone can fill in the blanks on the setlist, it would be greatly appreciated.
I’m really hesitant to see other shows at this venue even though they have a lot of good stuff coming there…Y&T, Dangerous Toys, Pat Travers, etc.
Oh well. I had fun with Jason, his girl and the OKC girls…and I got to meet the legendary Don Van Stavern Riot, SA Slayer).
We all bleed American metal!
****UPDATE****
Someone sent me the setlist. Three songs were not played although they were listed: Crawlin’, Deal With the Devil and Come Out At Night.
setlist
photo courtesy of Rockerazzi Photography
Hammerfall/Havok/Ignitor/Versperian Sorrow Concert Review 040810
Was it really 25 years ago when Yngwie Malmsteen’s Marching Out album came out? It doesn’t seem that long ago nor do I feel old enough for it to have been 25 years since. But whatever. It did and I am. I remember hearing it for the first time and I think we were at Kelz’ house. Simply blown away by the whole album and everything about it…the guitars, the vocals and especially the drums. See, I was a relatively new drummer at the time and after hearing this guy, this Anders Johansson fella, I wanted to play like that…and like Nicko McBrain…and like Kirk Arrington…etc.
Anders Johansson
I followed Anders through most of his career, especially with Yngwie. I saw the Trilogy and Odyssey tours and got to witness his badassedness live. It was pretty special for me getting to see him play back then, especially with Yngwie of whom I am still a big fan of.
Through the years I picked up Anders’ non-Yngwie stuff as well like Silver Mountain, Johansson Brothers with Jens, Jonas Helborg, Shining Path, Shawn Lane etc. He always amazed me with his style. I am a fanboy, I admit it.
When I found out that Hammerfall was coming to town, I bought my ticket immediately as he has been playing with them over the last several years. I saw Hammerfall’s very first USA show at Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield, VA when they were opening for Death (RIP Chuck). I love Hammerfall’s debut album, Glory To the Brave but never really got into anything after that one. Sure they were consistent and I was pretty excited when I found out that Anders had joined them…but it still didn’t get me too excited to buy the stuff.
So anyway, I bought the meet and greet ticket which was $55. Much cheaper than the Testament one plus this one would be a little more special because I’d finally get to meet one of my musical idols. Sure I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of them, but some are a little more special than others. Last night ranked up there with meeting Nicko McBrain in 1988.
So the M&G was to begin at 8pm and I got there around 7:30ish. There are a few folks hanging out but none were part of the M&G. I didn’t expect there to be many and ultimately there weren’t.
The tour bus was parked in front of us and Anders and Pontus Norgren come off the boss. After a few minutes I walked over to them and asked Anders to sign my CD covers and the book. I had a big stack and just in case there were a lot of people there for the M&G, I wouldn’t hold them up…of course I guess I was holding him up by asking him to sign my shit. He graciously accepted and signed it all. We stood in the street in front of the bus and talked for a while and Joacim Cans comes out…”We have 35 minutes to eat before the meeting.” I told them of a few places up the street with
Seriously? Nerd!
some good food and they asked me to come along…Sweet! I had Cans sign my Warlord CD. I sort of felt bad for not having any Hammerfall to sign but oh well. He didn’t seem to bothered by it.
So we went to Jackalope but the music was loud and Cans didn’t want to strain his voice trying to have a conversation so we went next door to Chupacabra. We sat and ordered quickly. Unfortunately it didn’t come too quickly but they didn’t seem to mind being late to the M&G. Pontus, Can and I all had the steak tacos and Anders had a 1lb burger. I’m sure he could have eaten 2. He’s a big dude.
Dinner with Hammerfall.
Conversation was cool. Anders spoke about how he spent some months here in Austin while Yngwie was recording the Odyssey album. He told me some pretty funny and crazy stories that I am not comfortable sharing here. He also gave me some cool insight on Yngwie and Joe Lynn Turner. We talked drums for a while and the other 2 guys asked about Austin and the area. I told Cans about seeing their first US show. “Wow! You were there?!” Yep. Rocked. I need to find my photos from that night.
Service was pretty slow and we were all done eating and waited on the check. I offered to buy their meals but they instead bought mine. I told them to go ahead and I’d settle up the bill. Boom. Done.
Get back to Emo’s and the handful of people went to the back for the M&G. I ran into Jason McMaster who is a close friend and plays guitar in my Motorhead tribute and he was getting his gear together for his performance with Ignitor. During and before dinner, Anders reminisced about hanging out with Jason and Dangerous Toys back in 1987 and the
McMaster and Anders.
fun times they had. So I grabbed Jason and told him that Anders was in back. It was cool seeing them hanging out and talking about the old times.
All of Hammerfall were there for the M&G except for Oscar Dronjak, who apparently was having a bad case of Montezuma’s Revenge. Poor dude. They weren’t sure if he would even be alright for the show.
After the M&G I walked back to my apartment to dump off my swag. As I got back to the club, local band Vesperian Sorrow was playing. They’re a death black metal band. I’m not so into them but they played a fine show. Their drummer is a badass.
Ignitor came on next and rocked it. I still say McMaster is the best front man around, no matter what band he is fronting. Ignitor only had a 30 minute set so they were on and done in the blink of an eye. Always good to see Batlord and Co. do their thing.
Next up was Havok from Denver, CO. Nice kids. They were a mix of Slayer, Metallica, Death Angel, Megadeth, Exodus etc. Nothing new in their sound but they had fun and the crowd really dug them. But please, guys…change your name. There have been too many bands called Havoc/Havok over the years. They closed with a medley of songs from Reign In Blood. Not too bad but the drummer totally cheesed the drums in Raining Blood. If you can’t play the song properly, just don’t play the song. Usually an unknown band will throw covers in to get the crowd into it. These guys already had the crowd into them so I thought closing with the covers was a bit daft, but hey, not my band, eh? The bassplayer was really good. Both guitarists had good riffs but weren’t very tight in the solo department.
Next up came Hammerfall. As stated earlier I haven’t been into Hammerfall in a long time but was excited to see
Pontus Norgren
Anders play. Not too much stuff from the first 2 albums unfortunately for me. It was a very lightly attended show. Maybe 120? Weak. I thought the San Antonio crowd would come up for this since there were no dates down there. I thought wrong.
Oscar did play although he left the stage a few times mid-song. Damned Montezuma! The whole band was tight and
Joacim Cans
everyone there was into it. It was good to see some of their real fans there to support. Pontus Norgren played most of the leads and that dude is a really good guitarist. I was quite impressed. Anders was great on drums. Duh. He played with headphone to a click track. As expected he did some really great stuff when it was necessary. That’s one thing I always liked about his style. He never seems to play cool licks just to do them.
Faster Than The Speed Of Light! get it? Major points if you do.
Everything seems very calculated, but proper and with feel. Impressive.
I spoke to a few dudes before the show who had never heard of Anders or Yngwie (WHAT THE HELL?). I told them that if you like the drum work you hear tonight, go buy those early Yngwie albums. Do it!
It was a great time and the experience with Anders, Pontus and Joacim was priceless. I’ll never forget it it. I’m a lucky guy, really. And a music nerd. And a doofus.
Look! Anders thinks I'm cool. Not.
Setlist
Megadeth/Testament/Exodus Concert Review 032610
Wow. Where to begin.
I love Testament. While I haven’t liked all of their albums, they are one of the best live bands I have ever seen. Friday’s
Exodus
show was I think the 7th or 8th time I have seen them since 1987 when they opened for Anthrax on the original Legacy Tour.
Let’s go back a little further with Megadeth. I first saw them in 1986 on the Peace Sells tour with Overkill opening up on their Taking Over Tour(!!!). What a night that was! Friday’s show was my 5th(?) time seeing them and I’ve never been disappointed.
So a few months back when this tour was announced, I was pretty excited. Two bands that I love to see live and one that I have never seen, albeit not a major fan of either. While I like Fabulous Disaster and Pleasures of the Flesh a lot, Bonded By Blood and all of their other albums never did a thing for me. But, I was going to get to see them. They are legends, even with only 2 original members left.
When I purchased tickets, there was a meet and greet package available and I figured what the hell, I’ll drop the cash on it. Why not? Either I misread the original advertisement or it was misrepresented when I bought my ticket, but I thought it was for all 3 bands, not just Testament. Don’t get me wrong, Testament are badass dudes and Chuck Billy is nice as hell. I met him in 2000 on The Gathering Tour at Jaxx in Springfield, VA. So yeah, I paid the bucks to meet Testament. Whatever. Early birthday present to myself.
I had to be in line for the meeting before 5pm on Friday and there were a few others ahead of me. I really expected it to be a small crowd of people who bought the special pass but it ended up being about 35 or so. Good for Testament.
random fat guy with Testament...ok, it's me.
Dudes can’t make money on albums anymore, so make it through these kinds of deals and through merch. Good on ’em!
Met this cool dude from Oklahoma City who saw them the night before in Houston. We hung out most of the show and I lost him during Megadeth.
We get to the backyard part of Stubbs and get herded like cattle through the line to get our shit signed. We were given a poster that the band could sign and most everyone brought other personal stuff. of course I had “the book” with me. As we’re going through the line, Glen Drover signed the poster and I spoke with him briefly about seeing him with King Diamond several years ago and how much I liked the first Eidolon CD. I also saw him with Megadeth 2 years ago. Eric Peterson and Greg Christian were next and I had them both sign their photo in the book. I got the usual reaction, “What the hell is this and where do I find a copy?” Got to Paul Bostaph and had him sign on the Forbidden Evil section. Seems to be a relatively quiet dude. When I got to Chuck, he saw that he had signed it and asked when and where. I told him it was at Jaxx in 2000 and the other guys in the band all said, “Jaxx! Fuckin Jaxx!” It was pretty funny. I told Chuck that my first Testament show was the Legacy Tour at the Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. “We played that place a lot over the years.” Yes, I know. I was there for almost every one of them if not all of them.
Anyhoo, we get herded again to do photos with the band and then a couple of shots with the band and the whole meet and greet group. One cool thing was that we got to get to the merch booth before they let the crowd in. We were able to buy one t-shirt for $10 and one hoodie for $20, as opposed to the $35 and $60 they were priced. I bought one of each.
As we were sitting in the venue waiting for them to let the crowd in, I saw my friend Jay West who is an incredible rock photographer. His brother is the guitar tech for Exodus. Jay worked some magic and got the Exodus page signed by Tom and Gary. Jay grew up in the Bay area and knew those guys when they were still just a local band. Pretty cool.
I live next door to the venue and took my swag and the book back to my place. Didn’t want to lug it around all night. Luckily I know one of the security guys and he let us get right back in the venue without having to wait in the long ass line.
So the crowd gets let in and it’s a sold out show. Austin’s been getting a lot of good metal shows lately. Kreator was last night! I didn’t go.
Exodus hit the stage while the sun was still up and in general they sounded great. I only recognized a handful of songs but their performance was great. As the new singer was introducing the band, he noted that Lee Altus was one of the guitarists. HEATHEN?!?!?! Shit! I should have had him sign the book as well. Dammit. Oh well.
When Testament was getting their drums soundchecked, you could tell that they were having some difficulties. Unfortunately their sound was shitty for the whole show. All you could hear was mostly drums and some semblance of guitars. I could, however, hear Drover’s solos and he sucked. Learn Skolnick’s solos. You’re playing the whole Legacy album…LEARN IT! Overall, They were good, from the best that I could tell.
Mustaine as shot by Jay West
They never disappoint live.
I ran home to change shoes between bands. Stuffs has an unevenly sloped gravel floor and it was killing my feet, knees
Megadeth
and legs.
Megadeth hits the stage and were great. Mustaine is a guitar god. Love him or hate him he’s a badass when it comes to guitar riffs. I’m in the minority, though, in that I never cared for Rust In Peace or anything else from the Friedman era. He bored me with Megadeth and Nick Menza’s drumming was the most boring. Shawn Drover did a good job imitating it but sounded great on the other Megadeth stuff. Dave Ellefson just returned to the band and was great. I’m such a fanboy. Chris Broderick’s solos were spot on as well. Of course I would like to have heard more from Peace Sells, Killing is My Business and So Far So Good So What, but there just wasn’t time. Megadeth delivered again, though. Love em! They also played a song from the new album that Dave stated had not been played live before that night. Sweet! The new album is great. Go buy it!
Apparently after the show the Testament and Exodus guys were hanging out at Headhunters with my pal Billy Milano. Had I know they were there I would have grabbed the book and got Altus’ signature in it. I LOVE Heathen’s first 2 albums. Oh well, hopefully they’ll come back again.
It was a great show and a fun night altogether. Shows like this bring everyone out. Ran into Rodney from Devastation which is always cool. I was really glad that testament was able to do more than 25 minutes like the last time I saw them.
Megadeth
gift picks. why does Chuck Billy have his own pick? haha
Megadeath setlist:
She-Wolf
In My Darkest Hour
Skin O’ My Teeth
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Hangar 18
Take No Prisoners
Five Magics
Poison Was the Cure
Lucretia
Tornado of Souls
Dawn Patrol
Rust in Peace… Polaris
Headcrusher
The Right to Go Insane
Trust
Symphony Of Destruction
Encore:
Peace Sells
Testament setlist:
Over the Wall
The Haunting
Burnt Offerings
Raging Waters
C.O.T.L.O.D.
First Strike Is Deadly
Do or Die
Into the Pit
Souls of Black
Alone In The Dark
Apocalyptic City
Exodus setlist:
Bonded By Blood
Iconoclasm
Children of a Worthless God
Piranha
Braindead
Deathamphetamine
Blacklist
War Is My Shepherd
Strike Of The Beast
The Toxic Waltz
I think I got the setlists correct. Someone please let me know if I missed something.
The Metal Files 
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