"The Bands That Saved Christmas"
(The edited version )
What began as a true nightmare of epic proportions turned into a full-fledged fantasy!
I got a call from our friend Bear Thursday night while at the studio, and he mentioned that the Blind Guardian/Symphony X show was cancelled. WHAT!?!? It seemed that BG's tour bus took a big shit on them 90 miles outside Seattle and were stuck there.
Needless to say Sheri & me were very disappointed, as we had already paid for the trip and couldn't back out now. The good news at this point was that we were going to see our boys in the Bay area hood (Bear, Mark & Henry)!
This trip was a sort of "Christmas present" for Sheri & me to each other and knowing we weren't going to see this concert made things a bit of a bummer. We got up the next morning and caught our flight out. It was only slightly delayed, but we were told that it was going to rain the whole weekend in the bay, and sure enough it did.
While we were at the hotel on Friday, I had talked to bear 2 or 3 times, both of us were trying to figure out what we all could do now that the concert was cancelled. About 3:30 he called back with some really exciting news Symphony X was going on anyway!!!! The only way they could perform was to play a free show, and they were determined to deliver! But that wasn't the end of it a band that I had meet online under the name "Man Called Machine" was set to open the show! These guys told me they would be handing out flyers to an upcoming gig and to look out for them but we got to see them live instead!
And to put the icing on the cake Zero Hour was also going to play the gig! YYEESSSSS!!!! This was already turning out than the original plan! After getting a few beers and grub at a brewpub in the city with the whole S.F. crew in tow, we headed out to the Pound.
It was a night I'll never forget Man called Machine tore things up; they got the stone-faced crowd going by the end of their set. I am defiantly looking forward to hearing these guys's recorded material soon! Zero Hour climbed on stage and tweaked out a few mind blowing warm-up licks and then pummeled the pound crowd with their tech metal assault and threw in two new tunes, I was in total heaven now! Then Symphony X made the stage . And yes my friends, they stomped my hairy ass into the ground! They punched out a few classics and some of the new goodies as well; they're an absolutely amazing live band!
And to top off the night of great beer, good friends & killer metal Bear introduced me to one of his ol' buddies and one of my all time bass guitar hero's, Steve "yes I am a bass god" DiGiorgio!!!! Hell YEAH!!! It was a total high to chum up and have a beer to a guy I have idolized for years! A totally down-to-earth dude Okay I'll stop being a fanboy Thanks Bear!
At the end of the night, I had stuffed a good wad of cash into Symphony X's pockets in way of merchandise (they needed it!) and was able yak it up with Lepond and Russ (and got a few candid snap shots on the side!) Sheri & me also had a blast chatting with Troy & Jasun from Zero Hour! I want to add that me & Sheri was so damn excited that these guys played the show (they are her FAVORITE band!) we couldn't contain our excitement once we heard the news. It was good to meet these guys outside the Internet finally and talk shop I wish I could have had a chance to have an on going B.S. session through out the night with these guys but the club decided to boot us all out. I defiantly plan on keeping in contact with these kats (as they would say!); they are helluva good guys and an incredible band! Maybe a possible gig together one day? hhhmmm??? LOL!!!
We returned to the hotel via Bear & his lady Liz, puked a few times and were out like a candle. We woke up the next morning and I swear to god the whole night seemed like a dream, in fact as I am home now typing this I still can't believe it.
These bands saved Christmas!!!
RAWK!!!!!
\m/
Dustin
I wanna thank Bear & his woman Liz, Mark (imajikafan), Henry (Imajika), Ramone (ex-Total Eclipse), the Tipton brothers (you kats rawk my hairy arse!), Steve DiGiorgio, Symphony X and Man Called Machine For making it totally worth the flight out to Frisco!
I know I meet a schlode of other people out there... sorry if I have forgoten anyone!
(The edited version )
What began as a true nightmare of epic proportions turned into a full-fledged fantasy!
I got a call from our friend Bear Thursday night while at the studio, and he mentioned that the Blind Guardian/Symphony X show was cancelled. WHAT!?!? It seemed that BG's tour bus took a big shit on them 90 miles outside Seattle and were stuck there.
Needless to say Sheri & me were very disappointed, as we had already paid for the trip and couldn't back out now. The good news at this point was that we were going to see our boys in the Bay area hood (Bear, Mark & Henry)!
This trip was a sort of "Christmas present" for Sheri & me to each other and knowing we weren't going to see this concert made things a bit of a bummer. We got up the next morning and caught our flight out. It was only slightly delayed, but we were told that it was going to rain the whole weekend in the bay, and sure enough it did.
While we were at the hotel on Friday, I had talked to bear 2 or 3 times, both of us were trying to figure out what we all could do now that the concert was cancelled. About 3:30 he called back with some really exciting news Symphony X was going on anyway!!!! The only way they could perform was to play a free show, and they were determined to deliver! But that wasn't the end of it a band that I had meet online under the name "Man Called Machine" was set to open the show! These guys told me they would be handing out flyers to an upcoming gig and to look out for them but we got to see them live instead!
And to put the icing on the cake Zero Hour was also going to play the gig! YYEESSSSS!!!! This was already turning out than the original plan! After getting a few beers and grub at a brewpub in the city with the whole S.F. crew in tow, we headed out to the Pound.
It was a night I'll never forget Man called Machine tore things up; they got the stone-faced crowd going by the end of their set. I am defiantly looking forward to hearing these guys's recorded material soon! Zero Hour climbed on stage and tweaked out a few mind blowing warm-up licks and then pummeled the pound crowd with their tech metal assault and threw in two new tunes, I was in total heaven now! Then Symphony X made the stage . And yes my friends, they stomped my hairy ass into the ground! They punched out a few classics and some of the new goodies as well; they're an absolutely amazing live band!
And to top off the night of great beer, good friends & killer metal Bear introduced me to one of his ol' buddies and one of my all time bass guitar hero's, Steve "yes I am a bass god" DiGiorgio!!!! Hell YEAH!!! It was a total high to chum up and have a beer to a guy I have idolized for years! A totally down-to-earth dude Okay I'll stop being a fanboy Thanks Bear!
At the end of the night, I had stuffed a good wad of cash into Symphony X's pockets in way of merchandise (they needed it!) and was able yak it up with Lepond and Russ (and got a few candid snap shots on the side!) Sheri & me also had a blast chatting with Troy & Jasun from Zero Hour! I want to add that me & Sheri was so damn excited that these guys played the show (they are her FAVORITE band!) we couldn't contain our excitement once we heard the news. It was good to meet these guys outside the Internet finally and talk shop I wish I could have had a chance to have an on going B.S. session through out the night with these guys but the club decided to boot us all out. I defiantly plan on keeping in contact with these kats (as they would say!); they are helluva good guys and an incredible band! Maybe a possible gig together one day? hhhmmm??? LOL!!!
We returned to the hotel via Bear & his lady Liz, puked a few times and were out like a candle. We woke up the next morning and I swear to god the whole night seemed like a dream, in fact as I am home now typing this I still can't believe it.
These bands saved Christmas!!!
RAWK!!!!!
\m/
Dustin
I wanna thank Bear & his woman Liz, Mark (imajikafan), Henry (Imajika), Ramone (ex-Total Eclipse), the Tipton brothers (you kats rawk my hairy arse!), Steve DiGiorgio, Symphony X and Man Called Machine For making it totally worth the flight out to Frisco!
I know I meet a schlode of other people out there... sorry if I have forgoten anyone!
that was metal LOL
We appreciate you helping us feel at home in San Fran!
