The Metal Files

A great weekend was had in Cleveland.  I booked my trip last minute (Nov 30!) on Allegiant Air, flew up on Dec 1 and came home on Dec 4.  Allegiant only flies to/from Cleveland on Mondays and Fridays, so I went by the subtle urging of my buddy Steve.  I wanted to go anyway because a lot of bands I liked were playing, notably Night Demon who were to record a live album.

The relatively quick and painless flight landed in Cleveland and Steve and I got our respective rental cars and parted ways for a bit.  I went straight out to start record shopping and found some cool stuff pretty quickly.  After a few hours of shopping I headed to our hotel and got settled in.  We grabbed some dinner then headed over to a club called Maple Grove to watch an Iron Maiden tribute band.  This was the pre-party to the Saturday concert.  Now, Maiden is my favorite band of all time and I am hyper-critical about their cover/tribute bands.  Maiden isn’t that easy to cover, especially vocally, bass-ically and drum-ically(?).  This band, who I have forgotten their name, pretty much nailed it on guitars and bass.  The singer was OK.  The drummer is what killed them for me.  Nicko isn’t that easy to cover, Clive neither for that matter, but there are certain licks that have to be there and many weren’t.  The worst part is that HE USED DOUBLE BASS.  Just NO.  NOPE.  NO!  Fake it until you make it, but don’t use double bass when playing Maiden.  I ended up in the downstairs bar just hanging with Night Demon and some other new pals more most of the set.  Had a great time over all.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed around the outskirts of Cleveland to do some record shopping.  Cuyahoga Falls, Akron, Kent and a few other little towns.  Found some great stuff deals and LPs.  Then back to the hotel.  Was hoping to grab a quick nap before the evening’s festivities but it didn’t happen.  Quick dinner with Steve then off to the famed Beachland Ballroom for this food drive benefit show.  I donated cash and went on it.  Had some other friends there who traveled in for the show as well.  The show was split between two stages in two different rooms.  I didn’t really catch any of the bands in the smaller room except when visiting the bar for a drink.  That was such a slow pain in the ass that I just didn’t really drink hardly at all, which was fine.

In the main room I ran into Athenar from Midnight and hung with him for a bit.  Pittsburgh’s Lady Beast took the stage and delivered a quality set, much better than when I saw them in Chicago a few years ago.  I think I was in a different mindframe at the Chicago show because I was about to play with my ex-band that day.  No matter, they rocked it and I bought their new album.

Shok Paris was up next.  I had never seen them but like stuff from all 3 albums, especially Steel and Starlight.  The singer was having a little trouble in the first 2 songs then his voice kicked in.  They were damn good, too.  Glad to finally see them.

I was tipped off that Jeff Hatrix from Purgatory (my favorite Auburn Records band) was there.  I spotted him between bands and made a quick introduction.  Super nice guy.  He said the unreleased second album was in the works to come out.  Sweet!  He ended up in Mushroomhead, which I can’t care about. :)

Breaker was next and it was their original lineup, which was a big deal.  By this point, the venue was at capacity, stuffy and uncomfortable.  I ended up behind Night Demon’s merch table for the set just to have some space.  Breaker was great!  Hometown heroes.  Everyone in the band nailed it.  Singer sounded great.

After Breaker, a small portion of the crowd left, which made the room just a tad more comfortable.  Night Demon was up and they have a really big Cleveland following thanks to the legendary Bill Peters (Auburn Records) playing them on his 30+ year long radio metal show.  ND’s merch guy had to go run lights so I handled merch during their set.  Night Demon is a well-oiled machine and this show proved it even more.  They moved through their set, which as mentioned before was being recorded for an upcoming live album.  They rolled through 24 songs!  It was killer and I got to hear a few songs that rarely get to see them do live.  This was also my 14th time seeing them.  Love those guys, as a band and as people.

Sunday was a little more record shopping, then off to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Night Demon.  Bill Peters graciously had some VIP passes waiting for us and we had a few drinks and milled around the Hall.  Pretty cool place as far as being a music museum.  After that, Steve and Night Demon went to dinner and I headed to Chagrin Falls to see an old dear friend that I’ve known since 1991 and hadn’t seen since 2000ish.  I met her and hew new husband for dinner and spent a couple of hours with them.  It was quite refreshing and so good to see her.  Afterwards I went to Athenar’s den of evil and listened to Detente demos and just hung out for a few hours.  That was fun.  Back to the hotel.

Monday morning meant a couple more record stops then back to the airport for the flight home.  I slept half the way.  We were back here early enough in the day that I was able to run some errands and such.

The benefit show brought in record amounts of food and cash donation for the food bank.  That was great news.  This was a great trip overall.  Met lots of great people, found some great records, and spent quality time with some great friends.

Setlists here.