Hello. Long-time lurker, first time poster. I hadn't realized this forum was actually hot with activity, otherwise I'd have joined earlier. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to catch the band play at this year's Rock and Shock convention in Worcester MA. For those unaware, it is an annual horror-themed convention complete with autograph signings of actors/directors from the genre as well as band performances. It has been a tradition for me for the past 7 years or so. This was only the second year I actually attended the concert portion (last year had Type O Negative headline the day I attended, which I was quite thankful to be present for to catch Pete's last run). This year was absolutely nuts, as they jammed 3 separate shows into one, with the Halloween Hootenanny tour of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, with Nevermore's as well as several other bands (Gwar was actually the headliner at this particular venue, cutting Nevermore's set to an hour). It was a bit of a confusing mess to try to see everyone that I wanted to see between the separate venues housing the stages, but I managed fairly well.
Now, this is usually my favorite day of the year, and this time around was not a disappointment. I got to the DCU Center in the mid-afternoon and spent a few hours racking up all the autographs, pics and free merch I could manage (funny thing I forgot to mention to WD: I met Amelia Kinkade from Night of the Demons and told her that at a young age I had discovered...myself while during the scene where she dances to the Bauhau's Stigmata Matyr lol...and luckily that didn't end with me getting maced in the eyes, but rather with a free autographed picture!)
7:30 rolls around, and the band has a signing, which I had anticipated like a giggly school girl all afternoon. I was one of the first up, and likely pissed off a lot of folks as I brought a lot of crap to get signed and made sure to get pics with everyone:
*note to band* Blue sharpies are ugly as sin. Please use silvers in the future
I felt kind of bad, as most of the time we discussed how terrible of a producer Kelly Gray is. I pestered as much as I could manage, and bid them farewell. I then ran over to the giant stadium portion of the venue.
I caught most of Cooper's set (excellent as always. Probably the best visual stage show in all of rock music) and about 5 songs of Zombie's set (he sounded hoarse and unfocused). I made sure to take off with enough time to catch Nevermore's entire set. I arrived at the Palladium and quickly sucked down a few beers to wash down the Jager and rum I had consumed in the parking lot earlier. I was feeling loose and excited.
Precognition came over the speakers as the lights went down, and the house erupted. The band opened with The Termination Proclamation, and it was nice to see enough people singing along to tell that the record must have sold well (or at the very least been downloaded) in the New England area. Now, everything after this point is a bit of a blur. At one point, half-naked chicks started crowd surfing, and in all my years of attending shows at the Palladium, I've never seen an artist allow people on the stage. And no introduction to this feat could be any crazier, as women continued to pile on the stage and shake whatever the good lord gave them. Tons of gropings, kissing, faces in breasts, chants of "Show your tits!", and I'm sure a few nervous promoters in the back wondering the legalities of it all and if they can be held responsible for any law-breaking. Needless to say, it was all out pandemonium. Could only manage shitty pics from the pit (not even worth posting, but they're up on my facebook).
Everyone sounded great from what I could hear (the venue is rather notorious for having shitty sound for anyone other then the headliner) and spirits seemed to be high. The mood just felt fun overall. Emptiness was on the set, but I believe it was the one bumped for the Sanctuary track. I noticed funny idiosyncrasies, like WD looks to Jeff for a lot of vocal entrance cues (there's seemed to be some trouble on Born for the heavy verses, and Jeff's grimaces when Warrel would be off a beat was rather humorous). They of course flooded the stage for Enemies. It was great seeing a lot of pals climb on stage and live the dream. I myself was terrified and later regret not hopping up, as grabbing the mic for a few lines would've made my life. Other highlights for me were Voyager, Beyond Within and 4 Walls. The shortened set hardly even registered, as they effectively rocked enough is 60 minutes that most people would have to take 2 hours to accomplish. Thanks to the crew member who heard my cries and grabbed me this bad-boy:
My only real heartache was over there being no Narcosynthesis. That's my favorite tune and having seen it played at recent gigs, I was really looking forward to it (maybe next time). So I go continue my beer brigade as Gwar takes stage. I happen to stumble to the upper bar area and find everyone hanging about and talking it up! Some truly great conversations were shared. I quickly found out Attila's fondness for his rum and ginger drinks:
And after kissing Jeff's ass by calling him the man that reinvented the 7 string, I managed to grab another pic with him:
The real highlight of the night though was talking Warrel's ear off for what must have been an hour. I'm not exactly sure of everything that transpired, but I do remember saying something about my nipples being hard from excitement, followed up with WD proceeding to check. I'm thinking to myself "holy cow, Warrel Dane is groping me!". I came in with the goofy "we're both pisces" shtick, to which he showed me his tattoo across both arms proudly proclaiming his sign. My response was that we'd get along, both being a couple of miserable bastards. I then proceeded to spill my guts about how much his work has meant to me as a singer/songwriter. He gave me sound advice about always staying unique and stick to telling my own stories. I must have whipped up some concoction, because at one point he felt flattered enough to ask "do you know how much that means to me as an artist?". It was an emotional moment that I felt truly connected to a hero of mine. There was no ego, there was no BS. Just one human being appreciating the contributions of another and having that act have profound impact. Then...he ran off and chased Danny Trejo as he walked by . It was great. Around that time, Jeff was cornered by guitar nerds, and he graciously chatted with all of them...until Van came down and told him about the open bar upstairs. He was gone faster then the Flash .
Everything was winding down around that point, so I went and chatted with the Warbringer guys for a few before heading out for some more antics at 2am on the streets of Worcester. I remember grabbing pics with various celebrities of the way to their hotels after helping them find the Hilton that they were staying at...as well as some convenience store and fast food antics. I'm surprised I made it home alive.
But all that being said, and after all was done, it truly was a magical day for myself. I'm no stranger to adventures and memorable moments, and this was by far at the top for me, and I'm proud to say a big part of that was shared with the members of Nevermore. It might have just been another stop for them, but show combined with the time they spent talking to me really sealed it as one for the books. To Warrel and the guys, thank you so much for your time and for the wonderful performance. I hope it will be sooner rather then later before we can hang again.
All these pics and more are featured on my Facebook: Myke Havoc's facebook page.
I'd love to stay in touch with more Nevermore fans, so feel free to drop me a friend request!
As for some background on me: I'm the vocalist for the band DORIAN GRAY (opening for Paul Di'Anno and Icarus Witch 12/20! So excited!).
We are based out of the MA/NH area. We also have a music Facebook page. Pop on and "Like" us if you wish:
Dorian Gray Facebook page
There are also myspace links through those, too.
For those that made it completely through this ridiculously mammoth post, thanks for sticking with it.
I'm a big fan, and it's my first post, so I wanted to make an impression. I hope that was a half-way decent one at that.
Anyways, rock & roll, and I look forward to some great conversation with you folks!
Now, this is usually my favorite day of the year, and this time around was not a disappointment. I got to the DCU Center in the mid-afternoon and spent a few hours racking up all the autographs, pics and free merch I could manage (funny thing I forgot to mention to WD: I met Amelia Kinkade from Night of the Demons and told her that at a young age I had discovered...myself while during the scene where she dances to the Bauhau's Stigmata Matyr lol...and luckily that didn't end with me getting maced in the eyes, but rather with a free autographed picture!)
7:30 rolls around, and the band has a signing, which I had anticipated like a giggly school girl all afternoon. I was one of the first up, and likely pissed off a lot of folks as I brought a lot of crap to get signed and made sure to get pics with everyone:
*note to band* Blue sharpies are ugly as sin. Please use silvers in the future
I felt kind of bad, as most of the time we discussed how terrible of a producer Kelly Gray is
. I pestered as much as I could manage, and bid them farewell. I then ran over to the giant stadium portion of the venue.I caught most of Cooper's set (excellent as always. Probably the best visual stage show in all of rock music) and about 5 songs of Zombie's set (he sounded hoarse and unfocused). I made sure to take off with enough time to catch Nevermore's entire set. I arrived at the Palladium and quickly sucked down a few beers to wash down the Jager and rum I had consumed in the parking lot earlier. I was feeling loose and excited.
Precognition came over the speakers as the lights went down, and the house erupted. The band opened with The Termination Proclamation, and it was nice to see enough people singing along to tell that the record must have sold well (or at the very least been downloaded) in the New England area. Now, everything after this point is a bit of a blur. At one point, half-naked chicks started crowd surfing, and in all my years of attending shows at the Palladium, I've never seen an artist allow people on the stage. And no introduction to this feat could be any crazier, as women continued to pile on the stage and shake whatever the good lord gave them. Tons of gropings, kissing, faces in breasts, chants of "Show your tits!", and I'm sure a few nervous promoters in the back wondering the legalities of it all and if they can be held responsible for any law-breaking. Needless to say, it was all out pandemonium. Could only manage shitty pics from the pit (not even worth posting, but they're up on my facebook).
Everyone sounded great from what I could hear (the venue is rather notorious for having shitty sound for anyone other then the headliner) and spirits seemed to be high. The mood just felt fun overall. Emptiness was on the set, but I believe it was the one bumped for the Sanctuary track. I noticed funny idiosyncrasies, like WD looks to Jeff for a lot of vocal entrance cues (there's seemed to be some trouble on Born for the heavy verses, and Jeff's grimaces when Warrel would be off a beat was rather humorous). They of course flooded the stage for Enemies. It was great seeing a lot of pals climb on stage and live the dream. I myself was terrified and later regret not hopping up, as grabbing the mic for a few lines would've made my life. Other highlights for me were Voyager, Beyond Within and 4 Walls. The shortened set hardly even registered, as they effectively rocked enough is 60 minutes that most people would have to take 2 hours to accomplish. Thanks to the crew member who heard my cries and grabbed me this bad-boy:
My only real heartache was over there being no Narcosynthesis. That's my favorite tune and having seen it played at recent gigs, I was really looking forward to it (maybe next time). So I go continue my beer brigade as Gwar takes stage. I happen to stumble to the upper bar area and find everyone hanging about and talking it up! Some truly great conversations were shared. I quickly found out Attila's fondness for his rum and ginger drinks:
And after kissing Jeff's ass by calling him the man that reinvented the 7 string, I managed to grab another pic with him:
The real highlight of the night though was talking Warrel's ear off for what must have been an hour. I'm not exactly sure of everything that transpired, but I do remember saying something about my nipples being hard from excitement, followed up with WD proceeding to check. I'm thinking to myself "holy cow, Warrel Dane is groping me!"
. I came in with the goofy "we're both pisces" shtick, to which he showed me his tattoo across both arms proudly proclaiming his sign. My response was that we'd get along, both being a couple of miserable bastards. I then proceeded to spill my guts about how much his work has meant to me as a singer/songwriter. He gave me sound advice about always staying unique and stick to telling my own stories. I must have whipped up some concoction, because at one point he felt flattered enough to ask "do you know how much that means to me as an artist?". It was an emotional moment that I felt truly connected to a hero of mine. There was no ego, there was no BS. Just one human being appreciating the contributions of another and having that act have profound impact. Then...he ran off and chased Danny Trejo as he walked by . It was great. Around that time, Jeff was cornered by guitar nerds, and he graciously chatted with all of them...until Van came down and told him about the open bar upstairs. He was gone faster then the Flash .Everything was winding down around that point, so I went and chatted with the Warbringer guys for a few before heading out for some more antics at 2am on the streets of Worcester. I remember grabbing pics with various celebrities of the way to their hotels after helping them find the Hilton that they were staying at...as well as some convenience store and fast food antics. I'm surprised I made it home alive.
But all that being said, and after all was done, it truly was a magical day for myself. I'm no stranger to adventures and memorable moments, and this was by far at the top for me, and I'm proud to say a big part of that was shared with the members of Nevermore. It might have just been another stop for them, but show combined with the time they spent talking to me really sealed it as one for the books. To Warrel and the guys, thank you so much for your time and for the wonderful performance. I hope it will be sooner rather then later before we can hang again.
All these pics and more are featured on my Facebook: Myke Havoc's facebook page.
I'd love to stay in touch with more Nevermore fans, so feel free to drop me a friend request!
As for some background on me: I'm the vocalist for the band DORIAN GRAY (opening for Paul Di'Anno and Icarus Witch 12/20! So excited!).
We are based out of the MA/NH area. We also have a music Facebook page. Pop on and "Like" us if you wish:
Dorian Gray Facebook page
There are also myspace links through those, too.
For those that made it completely through this ridiculously mammoth post, thanks for sticking with it.
I'm a big fan, and it's my first post, so I wanted to make an impression. I hope that was a half-way decent one at that.
Anyways, rock & roll, and I look forward to some great conversation with you folks!
