Show must go on, dudes!
Ready to weight anchor and hoist the sail... this time heading home.
Leaving tomorrow...
Also today the Captain's got an unforgettable time in L.A.: blue sky, hot sun, cooling shadow of palm trees, the most beautiful girl in L.A. showing him around to Venice Beach and West Holliwood; the best people of this town eating with him in one of the finest Italian restaurant in the city...
By the way, if you are in L.A. or you ever plan to get there and want to eat Italian, please, try out OSTERIA LATINI (Brentwood, CA 90049): you won't regret it (fuck the negative review you may come across on the net - idiot people who's got the head and mouth full of shit)!
Had you not understood it yet: I really got an unforgettable time here!
An awesome series of coincidences (perfect weather, job openings, event's calendar, etc.) offered me a lifetime experience over here: I got the chance to experience a fantastic city; I attended incredible gigs; met unique people... words are enough to describe it anyway. And all this thanks to J13 and our fucking (no censorship this time...) amazing PORT ROYAL! Ah, last but not least, the trophy of the day (from J13) - the most incredible so far: an awesome Harley Davidson leather jacket!!
Fucking HEAVY METAL... to the bone!
Cpt. Roger
PS: By the way... Who's the governor here? Yeah, him! "I'll be back!"
Sorry, guys I really had to do this one!
It's since I was 7 years old that I have been watching wrestling on TV... Hulk Hogan, Rick Flair, The Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker... It's crazy, fake, what you want, but I wanted do get shot to it too sooner or later... and this was the right time and place.
Well, it's not a METAL gig and it didn't gear me up... at least not as I would expected. But it was a funny experience! I certainly had a chance to see an interesting selection of mankind! I guess you have to leave at home part of your brain to really enjoy this stuff... to take out the sleeping ape that is buried somewhere inside yourself since before civilization, and you will probably be able to enjoy it! Certainly kids do! It was packed with kids...
In any case we got to see ECW and SMACK DOWN one after the other (I didn't know they film them the same day). It was a strange feeling to have in front of you the people you see only on TV, but it was really interesting to get a grip of the giant organization behind the event... cameramen, announcers, etc. We got to see CM Punk, Finley, The Great Khali, the "big red machine" Kane, Edge, Batista...
It a was a bit of a delusion the fact that there is no comment during the show! Yep, the the one you get during TV broadcast... I guess it is to sell the event twice...! Anyway, the matches moved on quite quickly... perhaps too quickly (many dead times filled with screen footage). But highlight events, such as Kane or Batista matches did grab our attention for a while! After all a Batista bomb is always a Batista bomb!
It's once in a life time, though!
Good hot-dogs...!
Here we go, dudes!
What to say about yesterday Jagermeister Tour at Avalon (Hollywood)?
Rewarding venue... were it not for the highlight of the gig, Hatebreed!
Yeah, folks, we managed to take only a couple of their songs (and calling them songs is already quite a leap of fantasy!), but then we decided we were better off and headed to Frolic Room, where we concluded the night in a far better and stylish way: Jack&Cokes, whiskey, beer... chit-chat with peps and chicks, whatever...
Well, not to diminish Hatebreed skill in any way. After all, judging from the response of the monkeys... ooops! ... of the fans they have, what they do, they do very well! Yet, to old school metal bad-asses their stuff sounds all the same: same screaming, same sequences of chords, same rhythm. Anyway... we got to experience a bit of everything and we did it. A part from this, the rest was very enjoyable!
3 Inches of Blood, dudes!! We were there only for them and we got them! Inside and outside the house (check the pics). Their music rocks as well as their live performance! That's something you can really bang your head on, getting some healthy fun! Regrettably they appeared only as show-opener (most undeservingly), so with a short set-list and with a still not fully reactive crowd.
Type O Negative? A pleasant surprise! Rather psychedelic music and performance. You will hardly catch the Cpt listening to them, but I can do nothing but recomend to check them out live! Once they get you in the mood, you go with them. Mr. Steele (bassist/singer) has got a quite unique voice, one of the best I've heard so far.
On the way to Frolic House we happened to notice a van with a Canada sticker on it... and a Running Wild t-shirt hanging on the trailer! Maybe you can't get it from the pics, but that was the t-shirt of the bassist of 3 Inches of Blood, that... how to say it... somehow got stuck among the Cpt fingers (damn, that rag stinked)! After one hour stalking from Frolic, we got the players too! See pics and trophies...
PS: Now, the Cpt understands that if somebody would ever put his hands on his own RUNNING WILD t-shirt, he would get rightfully pissed off! So, if Mr. CATES happens to run into this blog or to want it back, the Cpt would be very happy to send it back to him (washed, of course)! Just message the Cpt, pal!
Holy crap!
J13 really got me this time! It's years I don't get so much drunk and busted... But I'll tell you, it's so much fun drinking at Frolic Room in Hollywood with J13, after a 3 Inches of Blood gig...
Oh, gosh.... Please, be patient! We are really broken!
See you tomorrow!! We'll tell you everything!
Just one pic for tonight....
THIS is really something! Look here!
As I told you! J13 magic! Two tickets and two backstage passes!
That's not all! Look carefully! Can you see any price on them? Nope, right?
You know why? Because they came with that RC yellow laminate thing... Rod Crew... Rod Smallwood! It's that name you read only on the back of Maiden's CD covers... Yeah, it's him, that in the pic! The manager of MAIDEN, folks! 500 beers in its personal fridge...!
Anyway...
Should we talk about ANTHRAX? Or should we start with Lauren Harris, Steve's daughter?
OK, why not! We have a couple of shots of her too... You know we didn't yet got used to backstage feeling at that time and since artists were still gearing up in their vans, we went listening a bit...
After we got the hang of it, we went backstage again and who do we run into? Yeah... ANTHRAX!
OK, let's cut the crap.
We started ANTHRAX show with not few reservations, since we didn't hear very much about them lately and... well... because of the new singer. However they did not disappoint at all!
The set list was more or less the following: Indians, Caught in a Mosh, Got the Time, Antisocial, Madhouse, Only, Sound of White Noise, I am the Law.
We thought it was '86 again. Yes people, it was that good! The new singer kick asses for real, both on new as well old material and Charlie and Scot were as youthful and banging as ever!
Following Anthrax...
Oh, guys, this is really difficult. There are no words good enough to describe it!
25000 heavy metal maniacs... Irvine arena sold out for the second night in a row... weather 77 F (25 C), clear sky, Ocean air, California sensi... and no inhibitions (check out the pics... the last one in particular).
To start, let's say that Somewhere Back in Time set list didn't surprise us at all. Several bootlegs have been going around so we already knew what to expect, more or less. However Bruce Dickinson said this was the best night of the tour... and we couldn't agree more! Both The Captain and J13 attended several Maiden gigs (Italy, Japan, USA), but no one has ever delivered such a perfection in sound, power and performance so far!!! Yes, you got it! WE WANT IMMEDIATELY A BOOTLEG... BOTH SOUND & VIDEO!! We had 376 pictures to chose from, but now we want audio too (actually we have a couple of crummy camera clips... but let's forget about them).
Bruce was at his top! Athleticism and vocals astounded us. Talkative (cracking jokes and interacting with the public) and roaring as never before, it really gave the impression of offering a performance getting better and better song after song. Highlight of the chit-chat happened to be the sneeze by Dave Murray that stopped the start of "Can I play with Madness"... The band couldn't stop laughing! By the way, a Dave Murray that never played with such a convictions and energy. The band leader Steve Harris, he was out in the front the whole night, playing incredibly and driving the crowd mad continuously. A big surprise was also Nicko McBrain: a drum machine! You couldn't see him, but - oh, baby! - how you could hear him!
[Ah, this is crazy... an awesome wannabe-trophy about to land right on the Captain's head, finished in the hands of an IDIOT kid that, thinking it was thrash, threw it back in the air to somebody else... Can you believe it?! IT WAS A SIGNED NICKO MCBRAIN DRUM HEAD!!!!!! We really wanted to beat the hell out of him! That bastard!! He'll get old... he's gonna regret it!]
Oh, yeah... Janick Gers, freaked out as usual, we enjoyed his using the guitar as any possible toy that a human being could ever think to play with! I've never seen before anybody playing the guitar whipping it with the electric cable!!!
Last but not least fireworks, sky-high flames, explosions and theatrical mechanics as on the original Live After Death gig... if not even better. Yes my dears, on Iron Maiden track, once more the pyramid shaped background cracked releasing from the depth of the stage a mummy-like Eddie spitting fire from the eyes. And then a Somewhere-in-Time giant Eddie dueled with Murray and the other members, during "Hallowed Be Thy Name".
The set list was as follows:
01. Aces High
02. 2 Minutes to Midnight
03. Revelations
04. The Trooper
05. Wasted Years
06. The Number of the Beast
07. Can I Play With Madness
08. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
09. Powerslave
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Run to the Hills
12. Fear of the Dark
13. Iron Maiden
Encore
14. Moonchild
15. The Clairvoyant
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Well, we got something we'll never forget! You know also why? See pics... and die!!!
And now, off to bed!
Oh... right, tomorrow! Jagermeister Tour... Type O Negative, Hatebreed, 3 Inches of Blood...
Happy metal dreaming from California!
