That was the shortest weekend of my life! I can't believe what I just saw unfold in two days... amazing! One minute I'm getting on a plane to see the festival and it was too soon I was on a plane returning home.
There is way to much that happend over that short time period to even explain in detail. I could easily turn this into the longest thread ont he UM... I'll try not to... as I am sure I will be leaving out a lot of content either by forgeting or due to space and time
Bands that stood out on top for me were Force of Evil, Jag Panzer, Wolf, Trouble and Beyond the Embrace. Excellent live sets!!!
It was great to see all the bands playing the festival including Candlemass after 13 years of being a fan.
We ran into many friends at the festival and made many new ones as well. Hugh (graphics designer for BW&BK) was a nice chap to hang out with and a hell of a nice guy, I certainly hope we cross paths again in the future! Also Shawn from Beyond the Embrace... kick ass lead man with excellent taste in music! He is a very invetive person (him and the other guys stole a garbage can next to a vending machine in the lobby and turned it into a"beer despenser"... hilarious!), and a fun dude to hang with at 3 am! Also running into the guys in Jag Panzer, Mark, John and Harry "The Pointdexter" at the Pharmacy down the street from the hotel, our buddies Scott and John, Mark Gugs, Alicia & Jamie, Krusty (Antithesis), Ralf Walters, Tomer from the End Records, Cris form Reading Zero and others were on hand whom we hung out with from time to time and made the stay in Cleveland even better!
I had run into Chris and Russ from Ion Vein and was lucky enough to pick up their new album from them while they were their... excellent recording all around! I've only had a chance to spin it twice but "Faith and Majesty" got stuck in my head quite easily! Awsome guys to talk to... and this one is for Chris "Get away from the fuckin' car man!" (he'd get the joke )
There was the usual drinking and hanging out a the hotel, and saturday night being the biggest night! The singer from Falconer is definatly an entertaining person on AND off stage. best part was this incident between me and him:
Me: "Hey, are you a fast beer drinker?"
Kristoffer: "huh? yeah, sure!"
Me: "Are you suuuureee???"
Kristoffer: "Yes, of course!"
Me: *clink!* (taps top of Kristoffer's beer bottle with own causing his to foam up uncontrolably)
Kristoffer: (shoves beer bottle into mouth for a few seconds, then spits it all over a nearby garbage can)
Me: (laughing) "you said you were fast dude!"
Kristoffer: (laughs) "ahhh, nice trick... I will have to remember that one!"
A little later I hear the *clink* and someone saying "oh shit... you bastard!" and a round of laughter. I was sure it was Kristoffer, but have no Idea who the victim(s) was (I was later told it was one of the the guys in Wolf and then Force of Evil) ...I have a feeling I taught my swedish friend a bad party habit... hilarious!
I got a chance to talk to Jeff Loomis a bit and heckle Ben Sheperd's (Nevermore) pool playing that night, while taking on Michael Denner (Force of Evil, Mercyful Fate) in a match myself... he won.
Harry "the Tyrant" Conklin form Jag Panzer had been giving people "back stage beer" in the audiance after their set by way of going back stage, filling up water bottles with the beer for the bands bakcstage and then taking them out into the crowd... now THAT'S metal!!! He was a real treat to talk to at the hotel party after the night was over. I had to jabber about him being a colorado springs kid and told him If I ever get out that way again we have to cruise Acadamy Blvd. and pick up on girls then go to Jerry McNasty's (which no longer exists now) to have some beers and see boobies He loved that one! I wish I had another chance to talk to Mark from JP, hopefully I'll catch up with him if/when he comes out to Salt Lake late this summer. Contact me Mark!
I know I really didn't say to much about the live shows, but maybe I will in another thread if anyoe wants me too... with that many bands and all putting on a great show, this thread would go on forever... I couldn't possibly sum up each band in under two sentances! Take my word... each band was excellent in there own individual way!
I'm sure I've left something/someone out (including the pictures I took)... if I did, feel free to chime in as my memory is pretty bad sometimes when posting on the fly!
Up next on the metal list... Classic Metal Festival, then ProgPower 4!
\m/
Dustin
There is way to much that happend over that short time period to even explain in detail. I could easily turn this into the longest thread ont he UM... I'll try not to... as I am sure I will be leaving out a lot of content either by forgeting or due to space and time
Bands that stood out on top for me were Force of Evil, Jag Panzer, Wolf, Trouble and Beyond the Embrace. Excellent live sets!!!
It was great to see all the bands playing the festival including Candlemass after 13 years of being a fan.
We ran into many friends at the festival and made many new ones as well. Hugh (graphics designer for BW&BK) was a nice chap to hang out with and a hell of a nice guy, I certainly hope we cross paths again in the future! Also Shawn from Beyond the Embrace... kick ass lead man with excellent taste in music! He is a very invetive person (him and the other guys stole a garbage can next to a vending machine in the lobby and turned it into a"beer despenser"... hilarious!), and a fun dude to hang with at 3 am! Also running into the guys in Jag Panzer, Mark, John and Harry "The Pointdexter" at the Pharmacy down the street from the hotel, our buddies Scott and John, Mark Gugs, Alicia & Jamie, Krusty (Antithesis), Ralf Walters, Tomer from the End Records, Cris form Reading Zero and others were on hand whom we hung out with from time to time and made the stay in Cleveland even better!
I had run into Chris and Russ from Ion Vein and was lucky enough to pick up their new album from them while they were their... excellent recording all around! I've only had a chance to spin it twice but "Faith and Majesty" got stuck in my head quite easily! Awsome guys to talk to... and this one is for Chris "Get away from the fuckin' car man!" (he'd get the joke
)There was the usual drinking and hanging out a the hotel, and saturday night being the biggest night! The singer from Falconer is definatly an entertaining person on AND off stage. best part was this incident between me and him:
Me: "Hey, are you a fast beer drinker?"
Kristoffer: "huh? yeah, sure!"
Me: "Are you suuuureee???"
Kristoffer: "Yes, of course!"
Me: *clink!* (taps top of Kristoffer's beer bottle with own causing his to foam up uncontrolably)
Kristoffer: (shoves beer bottle into mouth for a few seconds, then spits it all over a nearby garbage can)
Me: (laughing) "you said you were fast dude!"
Kristoffer: (laughs) "ahhh, nice trick... I will have to remember that one!"
A little later I hear the *clink* and someone saying "oh shit... you bastard!" and a round of laughter. I was sure it was Kristoffer, but have no Idea who the victim(s) was (I was later told it was one of the the guys in Wolf and then Force of Evil) ...I have a feeling I taught my swedish friend a bad party habit... hilarious!
I got a chance to talk to Jeff Loomis a bit and heckle Ben Sheperd's (Nevermore) pool playing that night, while taking on Michael Denner (Force of Evil, Mercyful Fate) in a match myself... he won.
Harry "the Tyrant" Conklin form Jag Panzer had been giving people "back stage beer" in the audiance after their set by way of going back stage, filling up water bottles with the beer for the bands bakcstage and then taking them out into the crowd... now THAT'S metal!!! He was a real treat to talk to at the hotel party after the night was over. I had to jabber about him being a colorado springs kid and told him If I ever get out that way again we have to cruise Acadamy Blvd. and pick up on girls then go to Jerry McNasty's (which no longer exists now) to have some beers and see boobies
He loved that one! I wish I had another chance to talk to Mark from JP, hopefully I'll catch up with him if/when he comes out to Salt Lake late this summer. Contact me Mark! I know I really didn't say to much about the live shows, but maybe I will in another thread if anyoe wants me too... with that many bands and all putting on a great show, this thread would go on forever... I couldn't possibly sum up each band in under two sentances! Take my word... each band was excellent in there own individual way!
I'm sure I've left something/someone out (including the pictures I took)... if I did, feel free to chime in as my memory is pretty bad sometimes when posting on the fly!
Up next on the metal list... Classic Metal Festival, then ProgPower 4!
\m/
Dustin
