ApochWeiss
11-20-2009, 10:12 AM
(Note I used ***** to not offend anyone with the topic title, as I know some people here are overly sensitive, but it's the ONLY way to convey how I feel about tonight)
Months of anxiously waiting, and weeks of hammering over the details with Earsplit PR came to a screaching halt tonight. Tonight was a small black metal festival in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On tab were a number of killer bands, but most notedly was the Swedish satanic black metal act Marduk, who I am a fan of and had an interview with founding band member "Evil", a.k.a.: Morgan.
It all started yesterday with my friend, who's band Neldoreth was an openning act for the show, announcing his was doing the show by himself since the hired live members didn't learn the material. Aca pella (spelling?) Black Metal? All I pictured was Beavis screaming like Cornholio. Fortunately (kinda) he had the music on a CD and just screamed over it.
So, we get to the venue and my name is on the guest list with a press pass. Sadly, DMF087's is not. She had a pretty rough week, and not being on the guest list (when she was to be listed as a plus 1) made her not feel important and set her off the edge, and us into an argument. Finally, she calmed down when she accepted that it's a small venue and they probably couldn't afford to honor a +1 on a guest list, it happens.
The REAL first act never showed, so Neldoreth was forced to go on early. No complaints from him, but then there was an hour long gap of silence. Then Merrimack played, and put on one hell of a set, and THEN the first band showed as soon as they started. Then, they left, as they couldn't fit their gear on the side-stage. Understandable.
More silence, followed by a crappy as hell local act. Did a quick time killing interview with my friend in Neldoreth and then wait outside for it to be 8:15 to interview Morgan, drenched in water from the rain. It hits, I see Cartel (their manager) approaching and he informs me Morgan went and took a nap instead. FUCKER! I promoted this interview pretty hard, too!
Cold and pissed I head to my car to think things over. It was day 1 of the tour, they're from Sweden, probably jet lag so I let it all slide. THEN I go in and come to find out one of the openners slugged the guy who arranged the concert. EVERYONE is pissed that a) it happened and b) that just pushed the stereotype that all people into metal (especially Black Metal) are violent and/or evil. That, and none of the openner bands want to play the side stage, just want to be on the main stage, and refuse to even play period.
Black Anvil plays, and I come to find out another band is throwing a shit fit next door, saying they paid good money to be the last openning act for Marduk (meaning the band right before Marduk plays). Due to the way the bands refused to play and how far behind it became, they had that band set to play the side stage. Now because of this horseshit and the rest of what happened, Marduk is set to go on at 12:15AM instead of 11PM (EST). SON OF A BITCH I'M TIRED WET COLD PISSED I WANNA GO HOME AND IT'S DARK WITH STEPHEN KING-LIKE MIST EVERYWHERE!!!
So, everyone is pissed, violence occured, stereotypes enforced, temper tantrums and tears required man diapers, and when I realized they had two bands playing both stages at the same time, and I didn't even know who the fuck they were, I said my farewells and fuck its. No interview is worth this kind of aggrivation. Seeing Marduk was ruined, and a LOT of respect lost for a number of bands, but more gained for Merrimack and Black Anvil who put on a hell of a show. I wound up laughing as I left knowing that the only band to not cause a problem was a roughly 300 lb foreigner who screamed over pre-recorded music to not let down his 10 member fan base. If it weren't for him and Cartel, their manager being a stand up guy about all of this, I'd probably never go to another live show again.
I couldn't have agreed more with the guy who got slugged when he said: "I'm usually all about the music, but tonight the music hates me. Fuck the music tonight!"
Jesus tapdancing *****, what a fucking night...
Months of anxiously waiting, and weeks of hammering over the details with Earsplit PR came to a screaching halt tonight. Tonight was a small black metal festival in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On tab were a number of killer bands, but most notedly was the Swedish satanic black metal act Marduk, who I am a fan of and had an interview with founding band member "Evil", a.k.a.: Morgan.
It all started yesterday with my friend, who's band Neldoreth was an openning act for the show, announcing his was doing the show by himself since the hired live members didn't learn the material. Aca pella (spelling?) Black Metal? All I pictured was Beavis screaming like Cornholio. Fortunately (kinda) he had the music on a CD and just screamed over it.
So, we get to the venue and my name is on the guest list with a press pass. Sadly, DMF087's is not. She had a pretty rough week, and not being on the guest list (when she was to be listed as a plus 1) made her not feel important and set her off the edge, and us into an argument. Finally, she calmed down when she accepted that it's a small venue and they probably couldn't afford to honor a +1 on a guest list, it happens.
The REAL first act never showed, so Neldoreth was forced to go on early. No complaints from him, but then there was an hour long gap of silence. Then Merrimack played, and put on one hell of a set, and THEN the first band showed as soon as they started. Then, they left, as they couldn't fit their gear on the side-stage. Understandable.
More silence, followed by a crappy as hell local act. Did a quick time killing interview with my friend in Neldoreth and then wait outside for it to be 8:15 to interview Morgan, drenched in water from the rain. It hits, I see Cartel (their manager) approaching and he informs me Morgan went and took a nap instead. FUCKER! I promoted this interview pretty hard, too!
Cold and pissed I head to my car to think things over. It was day 1 of the tour, they're from Sweden, probably jet lag so I let it all slide. THEN I go in and come to find out one of the openners slugged the guy who arranged the concert. EVERYONE is pissed that a) it happened and b) that just pushed the stereotype that all people into metal (especially Black Metal) are violent and/or evil. That, and none of the openner bands want to play the side stage, just want to be on the main stage, and refuse to even play period.
Black Anvil plays, and I come to find out another band is throwing a shit fit next door, saying they paid good money to be the last openning act for Marduk (meaning the band right before Marduk plays). Due to the way the bands refused to play and how far behind it became, they had that band set to play the side stage. Now because of this horseshit and the rest of what happened, Marduk is set to go on at 12:15AM instead of 11PM (EST). SON OF A BITCH I'M TIRED WET COLD PISSED I WANNA GO HOME AND IT'S DARK WITH STEPHEN KING-LIKE MIST EVERYWHERE!!!
So, everyone is pissed, violence occured, stereotypes enforced, temper tantrums and tears required man diapers, and when I realized they had two bands playing both stages at the same time, and I didn't even know who the fuck they were, I said my farewells and fuck its. No interview is worth this kind of aggrivation. Seeing Marduk was ruined, and a LOT of respect lost for a number of bands, but more gained for Merrimack and Black Anvil who put on a hell of a show. I wound up laughing as I left knowing that the only band to not cause a problem was a roughly 300 lb foreigner who screamed over pre-recorded music to not let down his 10 member fan base. If it weren't for him and Cartel, their manager being a stand up guy about all of this, I'd probably never go to another live show again.
I couldn't have agreed more with the guy who got slugged when he said: "I'm usually all about the music, but tonight the music hates me. Fuck the music tonight!"
Jesus tapdancing *****, what a fucking night...