Showing posts with label Concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Concert. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Concert that Changed Me
Well as it usually happens, it’s 2 in the morning and thanks to YouTube I’m no where near going to bed like I planned to 3 hours ago. What has me enraptured is discovering most of the concert Guns n’ Roses did at The Ritz for Mtv back in 1988. As a kid in the very beginning stages of learning guitar and dreaming about rock stardom I saw this concert and it was THE experience that made me want to play rock and roll in whatever capacity. I was a huge Guns n’ Roses fan, as my folks can attest to, I had the albums, the posters, and I think I personally wore out two copies of Appetite for Destruction from constant playing. I know that album almost as good as I know my own recordings.
Watching this concert as a kid, I remember being mesmerized by what I saw. My concept of how a band performed was based on careful study of this show. A few years and a few shows changed my perception a bit on this fact but I still remember the dazzling awe I felt watching it. Every moment rang true with me. The manic delivery of Axl Rose, the full arm swinging drum style of Steven Adler, the punk flavor lent by Duff McKagan, the solid but quiet rhythem guitar of Izzy Stradlin, and of course the half man, half beast reason I took an interest in Les Paul guitars Slash.
Now, a couple of decades and a few hundred shows of my own later I watch this concert with a different set of eyes. I a guitar play who is clearly very drunk, a singer near losing his voice, additional vocals added only in the vicinity of being harmonious, the madness at the end of “Paradise City” and the foreshadowing of Axl’s well know “Temper Tantrums” as he throws the Mic at the end of “Rocket Queen”. Still, though, I can remember that kid sitting inches from the TV set in the living room late at night soaking in this experience. The last song (out of synch with the flow of the concert) is the live cover of Dylan’s “Knocking on Heavens Door” heard on the radio which inspired many of my friends to add this song to the various sets we’ve played over the years.
I’m not sure how this show will be perceived by some of you but for me and a few friends, the course of our lives might have taken very different paths were it not for these five guys playing this gig that night.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
10 Special Concerts
I am a music fan. I have been surrounded by music my whole life. I remember my Mom singing harmonies to Aerosmith tunes and Dad playing his accordion at various family events. I love listening to music, playing music, discussing music and sharing music. I also like going to concerts to see performers I really like. I must admit that my concert going days have declined recently but it is primarily a financial issue and not a lack of interest. Today I will be telling you about 10 really great shows I’ve been to. These concerts were remarkable to me for one reason or another. I don’t rank things as “best show ever” or “my favorite concert” so these shows are ones that have moved me. I have been to a lot of shows and most were very good but these 10 came to mind right away. I have listed them as close to chronologically as I can.
Boxcar Willie – Mid 1980’s
Boxcar Willie is a country music singer famous for train songs and the ability to mimic the sound of a train whistle vocally. He performed at the Shiawassee County Fair when we still lived in Michigan. I was very young but I remember there was a comedian/Ventriloquist who had a Crow Puppet that opened the show. I also remember getting Willies autograph along with the Comedian autograph. I still have that photo.
Megadeth- 1990
I wrote about this show in a previous entry “My First Time”. It was my first time going to a concert on my own and experiencing a Heavy Metal concert. It was galvanizing. Such a display of power and energy would influence and teenager but it was exactly what I didn’t know I needed!
Rush Limbaugh – Early 90’s
I can envision some of you with a head cocked curiously to one side pondering the inclusion of political spoken word show by one of the most famous and controversial talk show hosts listed among some of the other bands here. I had the opportunity to see Rush Limbaugh perform in Milwaukee in 1990 or 91. My Dad had listened to him on the radio for years and when he heard about the show asked if I wanted to go. I did and so we went. I remember seeing people there with leather jacket and confused faces wondering why the trio from Canada was attracting such an odd audience! Mr. Limbaugh made some very compelling statement regarding several popular hot topics at the time. He is a commanding presence and to this day I use him as a reference when it comes to public speaking ability.
B.B. King – Mid 1990’s
I remember when I first started playing guitar and realized that I really like blues music, my Dad came home from a business trip and gave me a B.B. King tape. He said” If you like blues, this is the real deal.” I took Guns ‘n Roses out of my tape deck and put in the cassette and pushed play. I have never regretted it. From the first notes of “Sweet Sixteen” I knew I would learn a lot from this man.
So you can imagine what an enormous surprise it was for me when my dear friend Denise surprised me with ticket to see him at the Riverside Theater. Our seats were near the very top row if I remember correctly but the show was spectacular. I remember feeling my eyes water while listening to some of the songs and realizing I’m in the same room with a legend. I had a grin from ear to ear after that show. There is no way I could ever repay her for allowing me the opportunity to witness one of the masters at work. For that and numerous other reasons I will be eternally grateful for her friendship.
Ozzfest – 1999
I have been to Ozzfest several times and have seen many famous bands and witnessed some of the early shows of bands that went on to become huge. . There were several bands playing this show that I checked out. Drain STH is an extremely underrated band that I got the chance to check out. It is an all female band out of Sweden, a country known for its eclectic metal scene. They put on a very solid show and put to rest the myth that metal is a men’s only club. Next I checked out Fear Factory and Slipknot. Fear Factory is an example of great heavy metal with a dash (he! he!) of speed. Slipknot, on the other hand, is a band difficult to label. With 9 members all in red jumpsuits and custom made horror masks playing ferocious metal music interspersed with elements of hip hop and rap, this band is an experience to be had, not to be described. Static X is one of my favorite bands. Their sound is a solid groove based metal with electronic overtones. Their performance at this Ozzfest has been my only chance to see them. I will, however, see them again. Switching gears sharply, Primus was on this bill to provide a sharp contrast to the metal scene at this show. I have been a fan of Primus since my buddy Scott introduced me to them back in high school. Les Claypool, the band’s lead… everything, is a bass player that defies description. Much like, yet completely opposite from, Slipknot, Primus should be experienced in order to form an opinion.
Anytime you get the opportunity to watch a performance from one of “The Big Four of Heavy Metal” you should take it. “The Big Four of Heavy Metal” consists of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. I took the opportunity to watch Slayer show the rest of the bands a thing or two about thrash. I got chills. Rob Zombie took the stage right before the headliner and got the audience, which had been moshing all day, charged up with a stage show full of fire, robots, monsters and go-go dancers.
All of these bands were great, but, with the headlining band I scored another massive achievement on the “Concert Bucket List”. I saw Black Sabbath with the original four members; Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. These pioneers of Heavy Metal had recently reunited and toured. I am thrilled to have experienced the band that influenced some of my favorite music. I remember feeling dizzy with excitement as the first chords of their song “Black Sabbath” literally shook the cloths you were wearing. I got to see the guys who wrote the songs I’ve been listening to and jamming with for years, perform them. It was spiritual.
Alice Cooper – 2003
The master of shock rock exploded onto the stage at the Waukesha County Fair and I was there right in front. I found out Alice Cooper was playing the day of the show so I grabbed a couple of friends and we headed over there. As we were wandering around the fair, killing time, we ran into a good friend who told us his brother had been staking out a spot up front since early afternoon and that we should go let him know we were there. So we did. As a musician and a person who likes watching the performance as well as hearing the music, I don’t sing along at concerts. However… the pure theatricality of Alice’s show swept me up and I sang along with every song I know as well did most of the audience. It was magic, dark magic ;) but magic none the less.
Ozzfest – 2005
Ozzfest makes another appearance on this list due primarily to the sheer abundance of memorable bands I saw. I went to this concert courtesy of my good friend Scott Pagac. He gave the guys who stood up in his wedding ticket to this show. WOW. One of the first bands I saw that day was a group called Wicked Wisdom fronted by a young lady named Jada Pinkett Smith. Yup, this petite little actress tore on stage and proceeded to tear that place apart. It was like seeing a pissed off little female Iggy Pop tear-assing across the stage. Awesome! A couple of bands later a group of guys comes on stage dressed to the nines in “metal gear” and starts grinding on a decent speed metal groove when all of a sudden the lead singer/guitarist guy runs out. My first thought was, “who does this pretty boy think he is?’. It was followed buy my second thought, “Holy shit! That looks just like my friend Joe!” The “pretty boy” proceeds to unleash lyrics in a metal yell the likes of which I had never heard before. The band was called Trivium, and I bought their CD the next day. Surprise number three was seeing a band called Arch Enemy which mixed the yelling, speeding fury of Trivium with the Wicked Wisdom surprise of yet another female lead singer and adds a dash of intimidation in the fact this lead singer might very well be of Viking ancestry and the burning blue eyes and flying blond hair made even the machoest of men in the mosh pit pause and reconsider their position of dominance. All of these bands were, by the way, on the second stage which featured Rob Zombie as the headliner for this stage. Rob’s show was as full of energy as it usually is and the audience was well entertained.
This alone would have been a great show, however, over on the main stage, Ozzfest concert goers were treated to an enormous treat as the two bands that finished up the evening were none other than Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. The gods of Metal were smiling upon the earth when this line up was put together. I don’t have the word to express the immensity of seeing these two bands on the same night. Iron Maiden, with front man/pilot Bruce Dickinson, fulfilled every expectation I have of the monumental bands performance. Of course no Maiden show would be complete without a visit from the bands mascot “Eddie” a 12 foot puppet operated by a man inside the costume. It was great. Black Sabbath finished the day off and played a great show considering each member was over 65 years of age at this show. All in all, it was a show to remember.
Rush – 2005
My good friend and band mate, Scott had been pestering me since we met to see Rush (the three chaps from Canada, not the talk show host mentioned earlier) perform live. Rush is one of Scott's primary influences on bass and in his song writing. I agreed to see their show at The Marcus Amphitheater because it was billed as “An Evening of Rush.” They were to play a two set show. Cool. Scott, his wife Kristi, and I got some great tickets somewhere in the 3rd or 4th row off to the right. The show happened to be the same night “Festa Italiana” was happening at The Summerfest grounds so we walked around that for a while. We decided it was time we head toward our seats and as we were making our way there, Kristi’s cell phone rang. She answered it and soon began jumping and shrieking with delight. While we were roaming the grounds, Kristi stopped to enter a contest to win tickets front row center. Yup..She won. Being the awesome people Scott and Kristi are they found a couple of people sitting in the grass seats and gave them their tickets up front. We all headed down to our seats and we worked out that Scott and Kristi would watch the first half of the show front row and the second half I would go up front row with Scott. The show was great. The band played a bunch of the hits and a bunch of the newer stuff. The drum solo cemented Neil Peart in the top three drumming slots in my mind. And, again, seeing a band with a career spanning 36 years (With The Same Line Up) that influenced many of today’s artist is something I am proud to talk about.
Les Paul – June 21 2008
I told the story of this concert in a previous entry “A Moment of Sound.” It was an extremely important show. There isn’t much I can say about this show that I didn’t mention in the previous entry. Watching the man play is spell binding. A person can see a pattern though. Women have played an essential part in allowing me to experience some landmark concerts and I don’t know what I did to deserve these opportunities but I can never repay the favor.
Henry Rollins – April 8 2010
I have seen Henry Rollins several times over the last decade. For those of you who are unaware, Henry Rollins is a multi-faceted Entertainer/artist. He got his start as the lead singer for a punk band called Black Flag. He has since, formed and toured with his own group (Rollins Band), written several books, started a publishing company, acted in a variety of movies and TV shows (Sons of Anarchy season 2, Heat, Wrong Turn 2), and tours as a spoken word artist among other things. His spoken word shows are more of a monologue than performance art where he speaks about current events as well as sharing stories of recording with William Shatner and trying to out perform Iggy Pop. I always leave his shows with a head full of things to think about and this latest show was a particularly good one. His material spanned many topic of conversation that had the audience cheering wildly in agreement and a few minutes later roaring with laughter. It was a great show. It was also a testimony to this mans drive, focus, and ability because he spoke nonstop for three hours without a single sip of water or pause for breath.
In conclusion I would invite all of you to look into the artists I have listed. In each entry I have included links to help you search them out and give you examples that help illustrate my points. There is foul language, controversial subject matter, and a wide swatch of performance. Please feel free to share your stories in the comment section below.
Boxcar Willie – Mid 1980’s
Boxcar Willie is a country music singer famous for train songs and the ability to mimic the sound of a train whistle vocally. He performed at the Shiawassee County Fair when we still lived in Michigan. I was very young but I remember there was a comedian/Ventriloquist who had a Crow Puppet that opened the show. I also remember getting Willies autograph along with the Comedian autograph. I still have that photo.
Megadeth- 1990
I wrote about this show in a previous entry “My First Time”. It was my first time going to a concert on my own and experiencing a Heavy Metal concert. It was galvanizing. Such a display of power and energy would influence and teenager but it was exactly what I didn’t know I needed!
Rush Limbaugh – Early 90’s
I can envision some of you with a head cocked curiously to one side pondering the inclusion of political spoken word show by one of the most famous and controversial talk show hosts listed among some of the other bands here. I had the opportunity to see Rush Limbaugh perform in Milwaukee in 1990 or 91. My Dad had listened to him on the radio for years and when he heard about the show asked if I wanted to go. I did and so we went. I remember seeing people there with leather jacket and confused faces wondering why the trio from Canada was attracting such an odd audience! Mr. Limbaugh made some very compelling statement regarding several popular hot topics at the time. He is a commanding presence and to this day I use him as a reference when it comes to public speaking ability.
B.B. King – Mid 1990’s
I remember when I first started playing guitar and realized that I really like blues music, my Dad came home from a business trip and gave me a B.B. King tape. He said” If you like blues, this is the real deal.” I took Guns ‘n Roses out of my tape deck and put in the cassette and pushed play. I have never regretted it. From the first notes of “Sweet Sixteen” I knew I would learn a lot from this man.
So you can imagine what an enormous surprise it was for me when my dear friend Denise surprised me with ticket to see him at the Riverside Theater. Our seats were near the very top row if I remember correctly but the show was spectacular. I remember feeling my eyes water while listening to some of the songs and realizing I’m in the same room with a legend. I had a grin from ear to ear after that show. There is no way I could ever repay her for allowing me the opportunity to witness one of the masters at work. For that and numerous other reasons I will be eternally grateful for her friendship.
Ozzfest – 1999
I have been to Ozzfest several times and have seen many famous bands and witnessed some of the early shows of bands that went on to become huge. . There were several bands playing this show that I checked out. Drain STH is an extremely underrated band that I got the chance to check out. It is an all female band out of Sweden, a country known for its eclectic metal scene. They put on a very solid show and put to rest the myth that metal is a men’s only club. Next I checked out Fear Factory and Slipknot. Fear Factory is an example of great heavy metal with a dash (he! he!) of speed. Slipknot, on the other hand, is a band difficult to label. With 9 members all in red jumpsuits and custom made horror masks playing ferocious metal music interspersed with elements of hip hop and rap, this band is an experience to be had, not to be described. Static X is one of my favorite bands. Their sound is a solid groove based metal with electronic overtones. Their performance at this Ozzfest has been my only chance to see them. I will, however, see them again. Switching gears sharply, Primus was on this bill to provide a sharp contrast to the metal scene at this show. I have been a fan of Primus since my buddy Scott introduced me to them back in high school. Les Claypool, the band’s lead… everything, is a bass player that defies description. Much like, yet completely opposite from, Slipknot, Primus should be experienced in order to form an opinion.
Anytime you get the opportunity to watch a performance from one of “The Big Four of Heavy Metal” you should take it. “The Big Four of Heavy Metal” consists of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. I took the opportunity to watch Slayer show the rest of the bands a thing or two about thrash. I got chills. Rob Zombie took the stage right before the headliner and got the audience, which had been moshing all day, charged up with a stage show full of fire, robots, monsters and go-go dancers.
All of these bands were great, but, with the headlining band I scored another massive achievement on the “Concert Bucket List”. I saw Black Sabbath with the original four members; Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler. These pioneers of Heavy Metal had recently reunited and toured. I am thrilled to have experienced the band that influenced some of my favorite music. I remember feeling dizzy with excitement as the first chords of their song “Black Sabbath” literally shook the cloths you were wearing. I got to see the guys who wrote the songs I’ve been listening to and jamming with for years, perform them. It was spiritual.
Alice Cooper – 2003
The master of shock rock exploded onto the stage at the Waukesha County Fair and I was there right in front. I found out Alice Cooper was playing the day of the show so I grabbed a couple of friends and we headed over there. As we were wandering around the fair, killing time, we ran into a good friend who told us his brother had been staking out a spot up front since early afternoon and that we should go let him know we were there. So we did. As a musician and a person who likes watching the performance as well as hearing the music, I don’t sing along at concerts. However… the pure theatricality of Alice’s show swept me up and I sang along with every song I know as well did most of the audience. It was magic, dark magic ;) but magic none the less.
Ozzfest – 2005
Ozzfest makes another appearance on this list due primarily to the sheer abundance of memorable bands I saw. I went to this concert courtesy of my good friend Scott Pagac. He gave the guys who stood up in his wedding ticket to this show. WOW. One of the first bands I saw that day was a group called Wicked Wisdom fronted by a young lady named Jada Pinkett Smith. Yup, this petite little actress tore on stage and proceeded to tear that place apart. It was like seeing a pissed off little female Iggy Pop tear-assing across the stage. Awesome! A couple of bands later a group of guys comes on stage dressed to the nines in “metal gear” and starts grinding on a decent speed metal groove when all of a sudden the lead singer/guitarist guy runs out. My first thought was, “who does this pretty boy think he is?’. It was followed buy my second thought, “Holy shit! That looks just like my friend Joe!” The “pretty boy” proceeds to unleash lyrics in a metal yell the likes of which I had never heard before. The band was called Trivium, and I bought their CD the next day. Surprise number three was seeing a band called Arch Enemy which mixed the yelling, speeding fury of Trivium with the Wicked Wisdom surprise of yet another female lead singer and adds a dash of intimidation in the fact this lead singer might very well be of Viking ancestry and the burning blue eyes and flying blond hair made even the machoest of men in the mosh pit pause and reconsider their position of dominance. All of these bands were, by the way, on the second stage which featured Rob Zombie as the headliner for this stage. Rob’s show was as full of energy as it usually is and the audience was well entertained.
This alone would have been a great show, however, over on the main stage, Ozzfest concert goers were treated to an enormous treat as the two bands that finished up the evening were none other than Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. The gods of Metal were smiling upon the earth when this line up was put together. I don’t have the word to express the immensity of seeing these two bands on the same night. Iron Maiden, with front man/pilot Bruce Dickinson, fulfilled every expectation I have of the monumental bands performance. Of course no Maiden show would be complete without a visit from the bands mascot “Eddie” a 12 foot puppet operated by a man inside the costume. It was great. Black Sabbath finished the day off and played a great show considering each member was over 65 years of age at this show. All in all, it was a show to remember.
Rush – 2005
My good friend and band mate, Scott had been pestering me since we met to see Rush (the three chaps from Canada, not the talk show host mentioned earlier) perform live. Rush is one of Scott's primary influences on bass and in his song writing. I agreed to see their show at The Marcus Amphitheater because it was billed as “An Evening of Rush.” They were to play a two set show. Cool. Scott, his wife Kristi, and I got some great tickets somewhere in the 3rd or 4th row off to the right. The show happened to be the same night “Festa Italiana” was happening at The Summerfest grounds so we walked around that for a while. We decided it was time we head toward our seats and as we were making our way there, Kristi’s cell phone rang. She answered it and soon began jumping and shrieking with delight. While we were roaming the grounds, Kristi stopped to enter a contest to win tickets front row center. Yup..She won. Being the awesome people Scott and Kristi are they found a couple of people sitting in the grass seats and gave them their tickets up front. We all headed down to our seats and we worked out that Scott and Kristi would watch the first half of the show front row and the second half I would go up front row with Scott. The show was great. The band played a bunch of the hits and a bunch of the newer stuff. The drum solo cemented Neil Peart in the top three drumming slots in my mind. And, again, seeing a band with a career spanning 36 years (With The Same Line Up) that influenced many of today’s artist is something I am proud to talk about.
Les Paul – June 21 2008
I told the story of this concert in a previous entry “A Moment of Sound.” It was an extremely important show. There isn’t much I can say about this show that I didn’t mention in the previous entry. Watching the man play is spell binding. A person can see a pattern though. Women have played an essential part in allowing me to experience some landmark concerts and I don’t know what I did to deserve these opportunities but I can never repay the favor.
Henry Rollins – April 8 2010
I have seen Henry Rollins several times over the last decade. For those of you who are unaware, Henry Rollins is a multi-faceted Entertainer/artist. He got his start as the lead singer for a punk band called Black Flag. He has since, formed and toured with his own group (Rollins Band), written several books, started a publishing company, acted in a variety of movies and TV shows (Sons of Anarchy season 2, Heat, Wrong Turn 2), and tours as a spoken word artist among other things. His spoken word shows are more of a monologue than performance art where he speaks about current events as well as sharing stories of recording with William Shatner and trying to out perform Iggy Pop. I always leave his shows with a head full of things to think about and this latest show was a particularly good one. His material spanned many topic of conversation that had the audience cheering wildly in agreement and a few minutes later roaring with laughter. It was a great show. It was also a testimony to this mans drive, focus, and ability because he spoke nonstop for three hours without a single sip of water or pause for breath.
In conclusion I would invite all of you to look into the artists I have listed. In each entry I have included links to help you search them out and give you examples that help illustrate my points. There is foul language, controversial subject matter, and a wide swatch of performance. Please feel free to share your stories in the comment section below.
Monday, May 18, 2009
My First Time
The first rock concert I ever went to was a Megadeth concert. It was for the “Rust in Peace” album released in 1990. I was 15 years old. I had been introduced to Megadeth by my good friend Jesse who was the first person I was ever in a band with. We got our tickets and got dropped off at The Central Park Ballroom, now The Eagles Ballroom, in Milwaukee and we went inside. We were directed follow some other people up stairs in a somewhat harsh tone by a guy who looked almost exactly like the type of person my parents swore would kill me the second they could. With relief we headed away from that guy toward a staircase which would lead us to this life altering event. At the top of the stairs we rounded a corner and came into a room like I had never seen before.
A Gigantic oval room with a blue sky painted on the ceiling. There were pillars like you’d expect in an Opera house, a balcony with fancy moldings and railings and in front of me a virtual sea of people, all of whom looked like the guy that growled at us to go up stairs. Everywhere I looked I saw black clothes, leather, ripped jeans tee shirts, chains, long hair, tattoos, girls wearing (sort of) scraps of fabric in what seemed like an futile attempt at decency. I heard words and phrases, I smelled alcohol and tobacco and some other scent that was kind of like a burning pine tree. Infused with all this sensory input and constant noise of stage setting and sound checking, was the sound of a living body of people all talking, laughing, swearing, coughing, and commingling at once. All of this blended together to fill the air with a buzz I felt deep in my core. It was then that I discovered the grin on my face and I looked at Jesse and he nodded his head toward the crowd and we walked in allowing ourselves to be swallowed whole in an ocean of human.
Human contact is an interesting thing. Polite society demands we give each other space, try not to touch people without permission and apologize for accidental breeches in this conduct. I realized within seconds that if I hoped to get anywhere in this event, the manners that were programmed into me needed serious reconsideration. Luckily I had been gifted with a sense of observation and some common sense and I soon developed what appeared to be a tolerable presence in this new society in which I found myself. We made our way to a spot on the floor where we sort of just stopped and stood while we waited for something to happen.
Something happened.
The lights went down and everyone as a whole, started to yell and whistle and turn toward the stage. Green lights illuminated the stage and the opening band started to play. The band name is Testament and it is not a catholic High School Garage Band. I feel a rumbling in my chest and the world is crashing in on my brain. I have utterly no idea what to do with the sound my ears are trying to process. It doesn’t hurt really but it is unintelligible. The people around me, however, do know what to do. They jump up and down, they shake their heads and fists, they appear to fighting with one another, and some seem to be skipping in a circle at a lunatic pace. I stood and looked around me at the reaction to the music and knew at that moment. I was among friends. I was with people who felt the way I did when I heard this music. I was with people who didn’t care if I was overweight or didn’t wear the cloths the kids at school thought were cool, or acted in a certain way. I was just another guy who liked heavy metal.
After a while I realized I actually new what I was hearing. It was a song off the only album I’d heard from them. My ears had apparently given up and gotten used to the sound. A big guy come barreling out of the crowd and said “what are you waiting for man, MOSH! .He proceeded to grab about 3 of us standing there and pull us into this human mixing bowl I had been watching out of the corner of my eye while taking everything in. I was thrust into a gyratory group of people and pushing each other. I was push sideways and then shoved in the back into someone who pushed me backward onto someone who grabbed my arm and spun me around into a wall of people surrounding this little psychotic square dance who in turn shoved me back in. I saw a guy coming toward me and this time I grabbed his arm a pulled him around sending him spiraling off into the crowd and turned in time to catch a guy wheeling back at me. I pushed him at a guy to my left. After what seemed like half an hour of hand to hand combat the circle just sort of dissolved and I was left standing there wild eyed with fists clenched and at shoulder height. Jesse appeared to my left and said something like “Didn’t take you long to get in a pit did it?” I had evidently been initiated with my first Mosh Pit.
Testament played a couple of more tunes and finished their set. The lights came up and people headed for the bar. I stood there, soaked through with sweat and what I hope was beer that had been thrown on the audience from the balcony. My ears were ringing and my head pounded but I felt amazing. I felt powerful to the point of jittery at what I had just experienced. Jesse and I talked about the band that just played and moshing and what some of the girls were wearing, again, sort of.
And the lights went down a second time. This time the audience roared with the ferocity of a rabid grizzly bear. An air raid siren began to wail and the sound of a mans voice over a bull horn demanded; “Go in side!”,” The neighborhood curfew is in effect!”, “Any person discovered in unauthorized areas will be shot!”, “Complete compliance is mandatory”, “Any person violating the stated conduct code will be shot!”. The whistle of a bomb falling grows louder and Megadeth explodes on stage. A similar effect occurred with the crowd. Almost at the same moment the audience erupts into one giant supernova moshpit. Lights were flashing like a lightning storm had formed in the blue sky painted on the ceiling of the Ballroom; the band was blasting away at around 220 BPM on a stage set with ominous looking government crates, a drum set whose double bass drum heads were nuclear warning signs and a giant backdrop of Vic Rattlehead, the bands tormented skeletal mascot festooned with caps welded over his ears, a steel mask riveted over his eyes and his jaws clamped shut. People were not only moshing but actually riding on top of the crowd like they’re white water rafting without a boat. It was chaos incarnate.
The band finished the third song and the bands leader, Dave Mustaine, talked to the audience for a couple of minutes, thanked us for being there, complimented us on the intensity of our introductory moshpit display, and challenged us to be rowdier than the last time Megadeth had been there. The crowd bellowed acceptance of this challenge with the gusto of Vikings preparing to set sail. Forty five minutes later Megadeth left the stage. The crowd chants Megadeth!, Megadeth!, Megadeth!, until Dave walks out to thunderous cheers and asks the crowd, “Can you put a price on peace?” The band encores with the title track from their second studio album; Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying. They finish up, take a bow and go off stage. The lights went up and the show was over. The grin I had felt on my face earlier took at least two full days to fade from my face, but the effect that concert had on my life has never left me.
A Gigantic oval room with a blue sky painted on the ceiling. There were pillars like you’d expect in an Opera house, a balcony with fancy moldings and railings and in front of me a virtual sea of people, all of whom looked like the guy that growled at us to go up stairs. Everywhere I looked I saw black clothes, leather, ripped jeans tee shirts, chains, long hair, tattoos, girls wearing (sort of) scraps of fabric in what seemed like an futile attempt at decency. I heard words and phrases, I smelled alcohol and tobacco and some other scent that was kind of like a burning pine tree. Infused with all this sensory input and constant noise of stage setting and sound checking, was the sound of a living body of people all talking, laughing, swearing, coughing, and commingling at once. All of this blended together to fill the air with a buzz I felt deep in my core. It was then that I discovered the grin on my face and I looked at Jesse and he nodded his head toward the crowd and we walked in allowing ourselves to be swallowed whole in an ocean of human.
Human contact is an interesting thing. Polite society demands we give each other space, try not to touch people without permission and apologize for accidental breeches in this conduct. I realized within seconds that if I hoped to get anywhere in this event, the manners that were programmed into me needed serious reconsideration. Luckily I had been gifted with a sense of observation and some common sense and I soon developed what appeared to be a tolerable presence in this new society in which I found myself. We made our way to a spot on the floor where we sort of just stopped and stood while we waited for something to happen.
Something happened.
The lights went down and everyone as a whole, started to yell and whistle and turn toward the stage. Green lights illuminated the stage and the opening band started to play. The band name is Testament and it is not a catholic High School Garage Band. I feel a rumbling in my chest and the world is crashing in on my brain. I have utterly no idea what to do with the sound my ears are trying to process. It doesn’t hurt really but it is unintelligible. The people around me, however, do know what to do. They jump up and down, they shake their heads and fists, they appear to fighting with one another, and some seem to be skipping in a circle at a lunatic pace. I stood and looked around me at the reaction to the music and knew at that moment. I was among friends. I was with people who felt the way I did when I heard this music. I was with people who didn’t care if I was overweight or didn’t wear the cloths the kids at school thought were cool, or acted in a certain way. I was just another guy who liked heavy metal.
After a while I realized I actually new what I was hearing. It was a song off the only album I’d heard from them. My ears had apparently given up and gotten used to the sound. A big guy come barreling out of the crowd and said “what are you waiting for man, MOSH! .He proceeded to grab about 3 of us standing there and pull us into this human mixing bowl I had been watching out of the corner of my eye while taking everything in. I was thrust into a gyratory group of people and pushing each other. I was push sideways and then shoved in the back into someone who pushed me backward onto someone who grabbed my arm and spun me around into a wall of people surrounding this little psychotic square dance who in turn shoved me back in. I saw a guy coming toward me and this time I grabbed his arm a pulled him around sending him spiraling off into the crowd and turned in time to catch a guy wheeling back at me. I pushed him at a guy to my left. After what seemed like half an hour of hand to hand combat the circle just sort of dissolved and I was left standing there wild eyed with fists clenched and at shoulder height. Jesse appeared to my left and said something like “Didn’t take you long to get in a pit did it?” I had evidently been initiated with my first Mosh Pit.
Testament played a couple of more tunes and finished their set. The lights came up and people headed for the bar. I stood there, soaked through with sweat and what I hope was beer that had been thrown on the audience from the balcony. My ears were ringing and my head pounded but I felt amazing. I felt powerful to the point of jittery at what I had just experienced. Jesse and I talked about the band that just played and moshing and what some of the girls were wearing, again, sort of.
And the lights went down a second time. This time the audience roared with the ferocity of a rabid grizzly bear. An air raid siren began to wail and the sound of a mans voice over a bull horn demanded; “Go in side!”,” The neighborhood curfew is in effect!”, “Any person discovered in unauthorized areas will be shot!”, “Complete compliance is mandatory”, “Any person violating the stated conduct code will be shot!”. The whistle of a bomb falling grows louder and Megadeth explodes on stage. A similar effect occurred with the crowd. Almost at the same moment the audience erupts into one giant supernova moshpit. Lights were flashing like a lightning storm had formed in the blue sky painted on the ceiling of the Ballroom; the band was blasting away at around 220 BPM on a stage set with ominous looking government crates, a drum set whose double bass drum heads were nuclear warning signs and a giant backdrop of Vic Rattlehead, the bands tormented skeletal mascot festooned with caps welded over his ears, a steel mask riveted over his eyes and his jaws clamped shut. People were not only moshing but actually riding on top of the crowd like they’re white water rafting without a boat. It was chaos incarnate.
The band finished the third song and the bands leader, Dave Mustaine, talked to the audience for a couple of minutes, thanked us for being there, complimented us on the intensity of our introductory moshpit display, and challenged us to be rowdier than the last time Megadeth had been there. The crowd bellowed acceptance of this challenge with the gusto of Vikings preparing to set sail. Forty five minutes later Megadeth left the stage. The crowd chants Megadeth!, Megadeth!, Megadeth!, until Dave walks out to thunderous cheers and asks the crowd, “Can you put a price on peace?” The band encores with the title track from their second studio album; Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying. They finish up, take a bow and go off stage. The lights went up and the show was over. The grin I had felt on my face earlier took at least two full days to fade from my face, but the effect that concert had on my life has never left me.
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