Metal Jam 2003 review...

[Ray From Texas]

This one is gonna be a long one folks so sit back and read...first pass me the Tylenol with Codine! Man my neck freakin' HURTS!!! Okay, first off, some thanks go out. One - to Jenny and Jeff, who got this whole thing rollin' along and all. You two rock!!! Second - to all the musicians and support crew who got the show along - you rock!!! Third - to KNAC.COM Junkman - the perfect guy to MC this event - you rock!!! And finally to the staff and management at the Marlin - the waitstaff was courteous (and beautiful!) and thanks for allowing a bunch of crazed metal maniacs come in and have a great time!!! And Melanie was the videographer for the evening...and Potroast was the soundguy for the night!Okay, for those that were not in attendance Sunday evening on the 19th of October....you missed a freakin' awesome show!!! What the hell were you doing??? Yer laundry??? First up was Armondo Vega (v), Frank Casciato (g), Nav Moondi (g), Richard Toney (b) and The Gare (d) doing Accept's "Balls To The Wall". Frank, you were having WAY too much fun at the git-go! Oh, and the mantra for the night was "Please have yer guitar tuned and ready to go BEFORE you have to hit the stage people!" Next up was Frank (v), Mark Kirby (g), Mike Johnson (g), Kevin Pittsey (b) and The Gare (d) doing an awesome "Killers" from Maiden. Then came Jeff Fahnestock (v), Jesse Hudgins (g), Lance Harrison (g), Victor Thunderbass (b), and Mike Joseph (d) doing a fookin' awesome version of Priest's "Victim Of Changes"...Jeff, dude you hit the notes dead on! Almost vibrated my teeth outta my head with those screams! After that, Jonathan Roeback (v) hit the stage with Nav (g), Victor (b), and Mike (d) for a little bit of Sabbath's "Paranoid"...and it rocked! After that Junkman got a little nuts and silly...but it's all good! Then out came William "Fro" Rustrum (v), the lovely JoJo Draven (g), Jeff Milne (g) - a Maidens/Maiden fanatic -, Victor (b) and Mike (d) for a little "Wrathchild" by Maiden with an awesome solo by JoJo! After they departed the playing area, which was not all that big for such a pool of revolving musicians, up came Raven Tremblay (v) with a heavy cool chainmail-covered leather jacket, Juan Carlos (g), Chris Little (g) - dude I didn't even know you played! -, Victor (b) and Mike (d) for some old KISS "Rock And Roll All Night"...which is what we did! After that Jonathan (v) came back, along with our very own Sara Marsh (g), the delightful Melanie Sisneros (b) - who handed off her videographer duties - and Eric Leiderman (d) for an ass kickin' version of Ozzy's "Crazy Train". Melanie stuck around to handle bass duties again and was joined by Chris L. (this time on vocals - who knew he was so freakin' talented! - he seems so quiet and reserved at Maidens gigs!), Kevin (g), Jeff (g), and Eric (d) for a knock-yer-eyes-outta-yer-skull rendition of Maiden's "The Trooper", one of my all-time faves! After things got changed around, Jeff came back to handle vocals, with Jesse (g), Bill Warren (b), Andy Casiato (k) and Eric (d) for a great Ozzy "No More Tears", complete with hair twirling! Next up was Armando (v), Brian Olsen (g), Kevin (g), JoJo this time on bass, and the supremely talented Linda McDonald on skins...er drums to do a superb take on Queensryche's "Take Hold Of The Flame" complete with primal screams by Armondo! (Dude you nailed it!) Next up was another QR song, this time with vocals shared by Frank & Andy Casciato, Jonathan (g), Jeff (g), Richard (b), and Dave Scott Chedrick (d) to perform a great "Queen Of The Ryche"...talk about primal screams! We had DOUBLE this time! I thought the windows were gonna blow out! Next up came the very lovely Leo (v), Jonathan (g), Gary Thornburgh (g), Eric Brian Goldy (b) and David (d) to do Dio's "Last In Line". About now I am getting a little tired of sitting on the sidelines so I decide maybe now would be a good time to hit the mosh pit up front ('specially since you-know-who is playing bass next)...just in time to witness Jeff step up to vocals, along with William Rustrum (g), Ron Vander Dussen (g), the ever-so-stylish Jenny Warren (b), and David (d) to do Slayer's "Angel Of Death". So there I am with Jeff F. and John R. banging my head like a freak!!! Man, I need some hair!!! Was a lotta fun though guys! After that, Bill came up to do vocals, with Jeff (g), James Moore (g), Melanie (b), and David (d) for some old school metal with Metallica's "Ride The Lightning". Bill, you freakin' rock dude! After that ass-kicking, up stepped Jenny to take vocals, with Kevin (g), JoJo (g), Bill (b) and David (d) for a newly learned cover of King Diamond's "Sleepless Nights" which went over excellent guys! Next up Sara came back onstage to sing for us (she can growl!), JoJo (g), James (g), Bill (b), and Chris Silva (d) to do Testament's "Souls Of Black". Man, do I miss that band! Gotta get my old CDs out now! Sara even had her own groupies at her feet! Next up was Armondo (v), Juan (g), Chris L. (b), and Chris S. (d) to knock my balls into my chest with a heavy cover of Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell". After the changeover, Jeff (v), Eddie Headlesseyes (g), Gary (g), Melanie (b) and Chris S. (d) played a fuckin' awesome version of Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" with the crowd joining in on "master...master". Another Metallica song followed, this time with Greg Larson (v), James (g), Ron (g), Jenny (b), Chris S. (d) doing a heavy "For Whom The Bell Tolls". Then out came a foxy Miss President, Allie....dressed to the nines! This time on vocals was Leo, with Eddie (g), William (g), Chris L. (b), and Chris S. (d), doing Megadeth's "Peace Sells" all the while tossing out money to the crowd! Back to the old school again, Chris L. (v), Sara (g), Eric (b) and Chris S. (d) to do a little bit of Sabbath's "Iron Man". Up next was RJ Blaze (what's with the freaky eyes dude! They scared me!) handling vocals with his band Jugulur doing an original called "Mirror". Cool stuff guys! RJ stayed onstage, joined by James (g), Chad Phillips (g), Victor (b), Thomas Dinkle (d) for some vintage KISS "Deuce". Keeping in the KISS vein, Chris L. (v,b), Jeff (g), Sid Slack (g), Thomas (d) did a booming "God Of Thunder". Next up the lovely Jenny came onstage to give away some t-shirts and stuff to lucky entrants. I got a cool skateboarder t-shirt (to add to my stack of t's!). For the final listed selecton we had David (v), James (g), Eddie (g), Chris L. (b), and Thomas (d) for more Slayer, this time "Raining Blood". Well, the night wasn't over yet folks. The original band Tariff came onstage and did a song (sorry guys I didn't get yer names). Then out came Creepshow, with Victor (b), Al Varos (g), and John Atfield (d) doing an original called "I Am". Then they closed the show, joined onstage for vocal help by Jeff and Bill and the crowd for a moshing cover of Metallica's "Seek And Destroy". After that night of ass kicking and ball smashing heavy rock, it was time to pack it up. It was cool to be able to see everyone having fun on and off stage. It wasn't perfect, but that wasn't the reason to be there. We all came to 1) show support for unlockingautsim.org (hope we helped out in some small way!), and 2) to have fun listening to some excellent tunes. With corporate radio the way it is these days (thanks to Queer Channel and the like) no one plays this stuff anymore! We may have to go back underground (I am old enough to remember FM radio as underground music) to have this stuff on the airwaves again! So next time you see this gig listed on Maiden's site (or any others) get off yer ass and go!!! Forget the laundry, hire a sitter for the kids, don't worry about work the next day. Come celebrate and support this excellent cause. I got to meet so many cool folks that night. Hell, I coulda stayed home and watched TV all night, but how fun could THAT be??? Thanks again Jenny and Jeff...looking forward to the next one! Until then, this is Ray From Texas signing off.

 

[Ray From Texas]

...if I forgot anythin or mispelled sumthing or fergot yer names, pls don't sweat it....it's 1:30 in da morning and I am tired! But I had fun...thanx Jen and Jeff! Night all...............

 

[smylex]

Keeping in the KISS vein, Chris L. (v,b), Jeff (g), Sid Slack (g), Thomas (d) did a booming "God Of Thunder".

Actually, Sid Slack didn't show up. We're thinking about going to his house to teach his "slacker" ass a lesson.

 

[MiniMurray]

thanks for the kewl review ray fun night!
-smylex, you RULE! MVP, MVP! that acrylic red b.c. was a treat to see and hear. do you plays drums too? can i be the wendy in your prince-esque musical dominion?

 

[smylex]

thanks for the kewl review ray fun night!
-smylex, you RULE! MVP, MVP! that acrylic red b.c. was a treat to see and hear. do you plays drums too? can i be the wendy in your prince-esque musical dominion?

Well, I was beating the floor tom during Iron Man on the end part. Probably really should have been playing Children of the Grave to be doing that though.

The red acrylic beast was fun to play, though heavy as hell... Les Pauls don't weigh that much. Neither do any of my basses!

Who's Wendy?

 

[MiniMurray]

Well, I was beating the floor tom during Iron Man on the end part. Probably really should have been playing Children of the Grave to be doing that though.

The red acrylic beast was fun to play, though heavy as hell... Les Pauls don't weigh that much. Neither do any of my basses!

Who's Wendy?

the guitarist in prince's old band- remember wendy and lisa?

 

[smylex]

the guitarist in prince's old band- remember wendy and lisa?

There are days I can barely remember my own name...like today! (Who am I again? Oh yeah, my user name says I'm this "smylex" guy. What kind of name is that, anyway?)

And, I wouldn't go so far as to say M.V.P. You'll give me a swelled head! If I had known that I would be singing most of Rock and Roll All Nite, I would have worked harder on singing while playing "Beast." (I officially dub my Warlock, "Beast"!)

 

[bassbitch]

Ray,

It was great to finally meet you! What a great jam that was. I thought the turn-out was great, and the whole show was very well-run. Everyone had time to jam their tunes and after the official jam, a few original bands got on afterwards and jammed some original toonz. It was a great opportunity to meet and see SoCali's metal musicians.

Thanks to Jenny and Jeff for such a great shindig. Count me in for Metaljam 2004!

 

[Snausages]

Hella xtra fucken yahooz cheer skol tak arg to alla krazy metalheadz who showed up for a great cause and had way too much fun in the process!

 

[Georgemcfly4]

First of all hanging around all these cool tribute bands again and again continue to top off my life. I mean I made it to 2 rehearsals and the show and yet my neck is not broken yet. I thought for sure all that moshing and falling on the floor during ride the ligtning would kill me.

Thanks to Andy Casicato and whoever was on his right while we were headbanging reviewing what video I did get The extra backup from Andy anbd Bill Warren on Crazy train made it sound awesome. Thanks for making it my best of the 4 songs I did for the night. And a big Haya bou yow to Melanie sisneros and Sara Baracuda Marsh for doing a terrific Job and making this song a dream come true for me. I mean my most favorite bassist and guitarist all in one song with me. Thanks alot. PEACE OUT

 

[SciKikMobster]

Hey last night was a blast!

Tejas Ray... great review... you were paying attention!

Jen, Jeff, Bill... your work is commendable! A big thanks for letting me take part in something so positive.

The Empyre Boys... thanks for letting us abuse your gear.

Sara... thank you for being you & for opening your home us deviantes.

Let's all do it again sometime!

 

[Jeff Milne]

the guitarist in prince's old band- remember wendy and lisa?

I'm certainly no Prince fan, but as I recall, Wendy and Lisa played keyboards, sort of.

 

[smylex]

Count me in for Metaljam 2004!

I've got an idea about that one...

 

[Georgemcfly4]

idea ?

 

[MiniMurray]

I'm certainly no Prince fan, but as I recall, Wendy and Lisa played keyboards, sort of.

uh, hehe-nope!
in the late eighties, her, lita ford and jennifer batten were some of the only female guitarist i saw playing in videos.

a blurb taken from guitar player mag i got from wendyandlisa.com -kewl site

WENDY MELVOIN Playing Out a Personal Tragedy
4/99 * By Kyle Swenson
The Stones-like, seductively loose opening riff of Sheryl Crow's single 'My Favorite Mistake' (from The Globe Sessions) is courtesy of Wendy Melvoin.
'When people hire me to do studio work,' says Wendy Melvoin, 'they're usually getting a full package.' As a session guitarist and bassist, songwriter, film scorer, producer, and engineer, Melvoin definitely has all bases covered and her formidable studio chops have been sought by artists such as Prince, Sheryl Crow, Seal, k.d. lang, Tricky, and Me'Shell NdegeOcello. But when she and her partner, keyboardist Lisa Coleman...

 

[drumslut]

All who participated kicked fuckin ass! You rule! Thanks to everyone! I had a blast! Thanks for supplying the drums, Gary! Can't wait for the DVD party! Lots of talented musicians out there. It was great to meet and jam with some new folks! I do wonder, however, why many of our other tribute band colleagues didn't sign up for this event (and you know who you are)!

 

[Doodoobubbachuck]

A great cause, great people, great time....what more can you ask for? Wow!

 

[The Gare]

Yup, it was a blast! The DVD party will be fun also so we are all looking forward to that! I am so in for Metal Jam 2004!

 

[Snausages]

A great cause, great people, great time....what more can you ask for? Wow!

A larger venue? Orgy? Free grubbage for the participants? Less starch in my jockey shorts?

 

[Georgemcfly4]

ewwwwww