Rolling Metal Thread 2010

John, have you ever walked away from a show night-of because of treatment from a venue?

No, I haven't. Have really wanted to once or twice, but I feel a pretty intense sense of obligation to people who show up to see me do my thing. But in re: checking the website - this lies with the venue/promoter imo. Whatever he's putting up should be sent, prior to advertising, to the manager/TM/label for OK. That makes a lot more sense than "artists should be sure to look up the website of the club they're playing to make sure they're not being misrepresented," doesn't it?

that said, I don't do meet & greet & am v. sympathetic to WASP here, I need near-total isolation for several hours before I do my thing & anybody who can't understand that is my damn enemy

john, i'm totally in agreement with you that the artist/rep/manager shouldn't HAVE to do advance screening of the way the show is represented by the venue, but considering how minor a task it is and the number of problems it avoids I don't see why you wouldn't. The realpolitik of it is just sensible.

and incidentally, considering how long you've been doing your thing, i really respect the fact that you've never walked on a show. short of somebody flat out not paying you, it hardly ever seems professional to screw your fans. there's always a way to compromise and then you can take the matter to court/avoid the venue/badmouth them on the internet/whatever, but at 8.30 when there's people lining up to see you, why you wanna walk?

why just walk when you can incite a riot imo

xpost thanks man I take a lot of pride in working hard for the people who like what I do & the places that're kind enuf to have me!

nobody checks websites though, the contract is binding - it'd be like calling into your day job every morning to make sure the dress code hadn't changed! sure, a crazy boss might do that, but you enter into a contract assuming that chaos & unpredictability isn't on the menu

"you enter into a contract assuming chaos and unpredictability isn't on the menu"
you must play at different places than i'm familiar with

yeah but honestly it's really pretty easy to not say "what if the band did a meet n greet? I know, we'll advertise one and when they get here we'll tell 'em, they won't mind, right?'

whole subject is making me irritable because the people who work with me have better items on their agenda than "check the website of every venue on this month-long tour at least once a day because you never do know whether people will decide there's going to also be a puppet show & a lecture after the show & advertise accordingly"

yeah, i hear you. ounce of prevention is all i'm saying.
in any case, with the WASP show it sounds like everybody behaved badly or somebody was misinformed.

WASP are kind of notorious for being jerks, though.

I just can't believe anyone would pay $25 to see W.A.S.P.

I would! Really.

That cancellation was a dick move. I think Blackie pulls this shit a lot, I'm always reading about sudden cancellations, either cos he's in a pissy mood or some dumb reason like the stage can't support his elaborate 12-ton mike stand.

Bruce from Yakuza just emailed me their new album...checking it out now. Reviewed their second album for The Wire and have been a fan ever since. This one definitely ups the energy level more than the last two, and the mix is clearer too. Liking it a lot so far.

Their best to date, for sure.

Where'd you get it? And do you have a track listing? I got it straight from Bruce Lamont and the files weren't labeled.

I got it from Bruni last week. I'll email you the track listing, I don't believe it's ben announced yet.

oi, saw deicide tonight, sick show! opening acts were shite, one of em was fookin' power metal over chuggy sepultura guitars...think they were called uh, fuck if i care, they sucked...i was almost sleep by the time the 'Cide came out but man they played just about every classic crowd went nuts over 'once upon the cross'...

really gittin' tired of idiot blokes at the shows tho...these morons kept beggin for deicide to play 'dead by dawn', ten minutes after they fookin' played it!

that's pretty much their "freebird" tho

xpost - new Rose Kemp? I must write her and inquire!

xpost - oi, I know, but it's like stupid fuckin' fans didn't even realize it was the third song they played, i shouted back at em 'THEY ALREADY FOOKIN' PLAYED IT' and the dude next to me nodded and said 'yea theyre dumb drunk douchebags'....mighta been a clue when the entire crowd was screaming dead by dawn during teh song that they played it...damn kids and their ecstacy and silly satanic family activities

Yeah, it's a point, I don't know how fucked you have to be to miss that song. Shit, I just listened to their first one for the first time in ten years and I remembered the lyrics to most of the songs.

The new attempt from Raven to cash in on Anvil's recent success, Walking through Fire, is really, really stupid, but really, really fun. Just total throwback poppy NWOBHM with big hooks and dumb lyrics. The vocalist has seen better days, and the production kind of sucks (which is to be expected), but there's a scrappy charm to it all. Not as good as the new Armored Saint, but Raven were never better than the Saint, even in their salad days. I am, however, looking forward to the next Armored Saint record in 2020, if their current rate of recording continues.

I'm really looking forward to hearing that Raven album, even if they haven't made a good one since 1983. Well, Life's a Bitch did have its moments. I was such a big Raven fan in the mid-80s before they lost the plot...their early discography right up to Live at the Inferno is classic.

Ha ha, yeah -- I meant to mention that you would probably love it, Adrien. I don't know if it's "good," per se, but I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

I do agree with Phil that La Raza feels very hard rock, but man, there's so much going on. I love the production -- nice and crisp, big drum hits, clear guitar lines. It's always a pleasure to hear John Bush sing, especially when he's delivering big catchy vocal hooks. Just an incredibly solid band.

La Raza is such a cool surprise. Nobody was expecting such a lazy, sunny, funky/stoner version of Armored Saint, but it works so well. Not the most innovative, but it's one of my current 2010 faves for sure.

I also want to give some props to the new Icarus Witch record, and not just because they thank me in the liner notes. Definitely one of the best of the New Wave of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands out there. Drawing down the Moon is their creepiest record, going more for the atmospheric side of the sound. They even close with a spot on cover of "The Ripper."

Speaking of covers, I just reached the "Space Station #5" cover on the Raven record... pretty goofy stuff.

http://www.metalfairytales.com/

Told in the style of a Grimms fairytale and originally written as a heavy metal musical, ‘The Windowmaker, the Codpiece and the Sex Gods from Planet Metal', tells the story of Nestor, windowmaker to the King who’s enchanted codpiece is stolen by an evil wizard. After befriending some brave knights, the Sex Gods from Planet Metal, Nestor then embarks on a fantastic adventure to retrieve it, battling monstrous vegetables along the way and saving the Kings daughter from peril in the process.

http://www.metalfairytales.com/images/charcters_banner.jpg

Ryan Adams has made a "metal" album. You can hear a song at http://ryanada.ms/ , there's a poll that you all might find amusing to vote on.

Oh come on I want to see the progress of the vote!

haha

Yeah, I was very disappointed that you couldn't see how many people had voted, and/or how they'd voted. You can always get a vote tally from my MSN polls just by hitting "Comment" on the poll widget.

It's almost as if Ryan Adams was worried that the link might be posted on some boards and people then voted for a laugh.

Thats just a lousy song, metal or no. Yeesh.

I like ryan adams (well, Whiskeytown(own all cds), his 1st couple of solo albums and love is hell) so im not a hater, but i dont care for that song at all.

Icarus Witch are great. Do they have a new record coming out?

They do! It's called Draw down the Moon -- sorry if I didn't make that clear in my post.

Right, cheers. It only seems like five minutes since they had another album out so I was just checking. Maybe they're like The Fall of NWONWOBHM.

Their last record was in 2007. Are we thinking of the same act?

Well since pfunkboy already stepped out on that thin ice, I'll join him and admit to liking some Ryan Adams myself, but definitely not his "metal" turns. He should stick to that 70s era Dead sound he nailed with Cold Roses.

Suggest Ban Permalink

:(

Indie rock dudes doing metal never works out. Dead Child? Goblin Cock? Witch? May be good for a chuckle or two, but they all seem to miss the point.

Oh I like Witch, a lot. But mostly the second album which sorta branched more into psych-rock than metal imo.

I have the first album, vocals drove me insane. And I have a pretty high tolerance for crap vocals.

hey Goblin Cock are awesome. Witch are pretty fine too.
Ryan Adams "punk" stuff was crap too. Wish he would go back to his heartbreaker era. Gold,whilst having some really good songs on it was the start of his downfall, love is hell excepted. Maybe i need to hear that one jon mentions.

xps

i suppose you dont like jex thoth either?

it could be worse, some people on here could've liked real crap like Blind Melon

Never heard them. I don't know, indie rock guys are good at their day jobs, but even if they like metal, they never seem to capture the spirit of the genre. Dead Child, in particular, feels really soulless.

I dig Dead Child!