This Week In Music Geek

In recent weeks Umlaut has been on one of his 7" single binges... Music Geeks know what I'm talkin' about. Anywho, here are the results:

Black Sabbath - Turn Up The Night (Phonogram 1981)
Picture disc

Grinderman - Get It On (Mute 2007)
Numbered #236 / 1000

Grinderman - No Pussy Blues (Mute 2007)
Numbered #128 / 2500 with poster

Krokus - American Woman (Arista 1982)
B-side = Long Stick Goes Boom

Lords Of The New Church - When The Blood Runs Cold (I.R.S. 1985)
European Tour single

UFO - Doctor Doctor (Crysalis 1979)
Clear vinyl + live shot with Schenker

Besides all that vinyl geekdom, a new song by Heaven And Hell titled 'The Devil Cried' has been posted 21st Century style HERE. I guarantee you this will be the only song released on a major label this year that begins with the line "One fine day in Hell..." DIO!

On a final note, this pic of horrible MTV mallrat favorites Fall Out Boy is in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly wherein the guitarist is wearing..... a Carcass - Heartwork shirt???


For the newbies, Heartwork has just about the most perfect guitar tone of any Metal album in the history of mankind... Was that a bit too fanboy? Anyway, how this influences a crap emo band like Fall Out Boy is something my tiny mind can't comprehend.

"Vocabulary of muted diction, precise thought to miscomprehend..."

Support The Scene

If you're in Japan next month, be sure and catch Umlaut's old buddy Erik as he returns to Gamera's homeland.

As Blabbermouth so eloquently announced:

PROUDFLESH Featuring Ex-MORDRED Drummer: Japanese Dates Announced - Feb. 24, 2007

San Francisco punk 'n' roll stalwarts PROUDFLESH will embark on their first ever Japanese tour in March in support of their eponymous album, released in 2006 through Wired Gnome Records. Their first release in nearly a decade, PROUDFLESH marks the debut of a new line-up featuring Sothira (ex-CRUCIFIX) on bass and vocals, Jimmy Crucifix (FANG, ex-CRUCIFIX) on guitar and Erik Lannon (AMERICAN HEARTBREAK, ex-MORDRED) on drums, and has received wide acclaim in the international metal and punk press. On what has been dubbed the "Sex Sells & War Is Hell Tour", the band will visit three cities for four shows.

PROUDFLESH "Sex Sells & War Is Hell" Japanese tour 2007:

March 15 - Osaka, Japan @ Pipe 69 - Shinsaibashi
March 16 - Nagoya, Japan @ Huckfinn - Imaike
March 17 - Tokyo, Japan @ Earthdom - Shin Okubo
March 18 - Tokyo, Japan @ Earthdom - Shin Okubo

For more information, visit the band's MySpace page.

Haunting The Liner Notes

Although life is good for Umlaut here in the 21st Century, 1984 was a really great year as well. Good times. Below are the "Special Thanks" from the liner notes of Slayer's Haunting The Chapel record. For fun, click on it and count how many regular readers of this space are acknowledged (including Umlaut).


There will be a quiz.

I Ain't Going There

Rolling Stone has posted the 1st photo of the "reunited" Van Halen... with their 15-year old bass player and sans Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth's golden locks.


I was WAY into Van Halen when I was 16-years old, but a Van Halen reunion without Michael Anthony's vocal harmonies is total bullshit, man... Plus, VH '07 is going out with a 15-year old on bass who's only been playing for a year?? "Classic" VH was all about the bullshit, larger than life Rock Star swagger... and they're passing the Jack Daniels bass to a pimply-faced teenager who's gonna be on Summer vacation? WTF..

Anywho, I'm happy to remember VH the way they were the last time I saw 'em and leave it at that:

Oakland Coliseum Arena - June 1981

$8.50 and $10.00
(From the Umlaut Archives)

$10 in 1981 = A golden ticket to Arena Rock.
$10 in 2007 = One Arena beer.

I ain't going there, dyaknowwhatimean?

1980 Tour Program
(From the Umlaut Archives)

"Somebody give me a shot..."

Matching Gear

These pics are courtesy of our good friend John.. Long story short, John helped a certain Rock Star build a custom guitar amp to match the Rock Star's custom car. The car and amp were displayed at the San Francisco Rod, Custom, and Motorcycle Show in January and the car won a prize. Yayy for The Rock Star!




Thanks John!

The Rock Star? Let's just say that if I told people who it was I'd have to kill 'em all.

Da-Do-Do-Do-Da Raining Blood

Marvel at how a random conversation on the Information Superhighway goes from a snide remark about The Police reunion tour to Slayer and a Camaro... just... like... that!

Umlaut: The Police reunion tour = Stones prices... "Tickets will be scaled primarily at $225, $90 and $50."

Tour Manager Doug ("TMD"): And this surprises you?

Umlaut: No... but I am surprised people would pay those prices to see 'em.

TMD: That remains to be seen. I'm thinking they'll do pretty good as far as ticket sales go.

Umlaut: They're the Stones of the 80's Gen.... It'll be huge and boring ... In order to get access to the ticket pre-sale via The Police tour site you have to join their fan club for $100... 4 ticket limit. Nicely done.

TMD: It's all about sucking as much money out of your fans as possible.

Umlaut: Just like Venom.... only alot more money.

TMD: They were both 3 pieces. You never see them in the same place. Maybe...

Umlaut: Both have shite bass players....

TMD: I think maybe they are one and the same.

Umlaut: Both are from Newcastle! (Sting and Venom)

TMD: Hey, do me a favor. Send the link to that Slayer Grammy Umlaut posting to my buddy Rich. He's copied here. He was around way back when in the Slayer World. And he will probably get a kick out of this "The Police are Venom" thread.

Rich Laminate: Yes I must confess, I am aware of the parallels between The Police and Venom. I must also confess Cronos/Conrad is a longtime friend although I have not seen him in a number of years. I must also confess to working for Sting briefly in 1986 as well as Venom. Actually the more I think about it the more bizarre it all is. I am sure I would not pay the $225 to see The Police. I might pay to see the original Venom again. "Buried Alive" and "Bloodlust" were always epic.

Umlaut: I saw Sting in 1986 as I was getting out of the Metal Days... and I saw Venom in 1985 and 2006 and was sorely disappointed both times.

Rich Laminate: Where did you see Venom? I think we played the Kabuki Theater if I remember correctly, Venom, Slayer & Exodus; real Exodus with Baloff. I was with Venom and Slayer at the time, I think we also played a theater in Sacramento, perhaps the State Theater... Yeah Venom probably lacked cool due to the very gay guitar players, as I recall Mantas did not feel like touring. As for Sting he was a pretty cool guy, very nice but definitely insanely talented and on his own page, like an Einstein type dude. I had a conversation with Branford Marsalis who was playing with him at the time. The funny part was that Sting would actually play the horn the way he wanted Branford to play the instrument which is kind of bizarre as the guy is ridiculously talented and I am sure does not need Sting to school him. Funny nonetheless.

Umlaut: I saw the Venom / Slayer tour at The Kabuki.. and I spent alot of time around 'Loff and Exodus back then. Venom didn't impress because they were so sloppy... especially coming after Slayer. The legendary story from The Kabuki is Cronos threatening to drop the lighting rig on the crowd if people didn't stop spitting on him (HAHA).

Rich Laminate: Were you at Day On The Green when Metallica played, I remember Harold O. with an "I Am An AIDS Victim" logo courtesy of James and Kirk.. Fun times. Whatever happened to local personalities Andy Anderson and Toby, the two immortal crowd walkers? Are they still alive?

Umlaut: I was at that DOTG... Yeah, Harold's legendary moment of degradation. I haven't seen or talked to Andy in 10 years. I haven't seen Toby since 1985 but a friend of mine ran into him several years back at... The Renaissance Fair. I have a vivid memory of Toby walking on heads during Slayer at that Kabuki - Venom show.

Rich Laminate: Those guys were amazing. We (Slayer) did a show in Sacramento with Exodus and DRI; another momentous show and they were diving off the PA. Personally I was busy trying to remove the endless stream of revelers from the stage. Rumor was we had like 5 or 6 people with broken limbs. The crowd was so violent, you had to love it. Ah nostalgia, the 80's.. They "weren't no tuna fish and they ain't no trout"; words to live by.

Umlaut: I have another vivid memory of Andy diving off the speaker stacks at The Warfield during the Motorhead / Mercyful Fate / Exciter show in '84... The last Metal show at that venue for, like, 5 years due to the damage done to the place.. Epic.


Rich Laminate: Slayer started the Reign In Blood Tour in Seattle and the crowd at the Moore Theater ripped the stone facings from the walls and began throwing it, along with various pieces of seats and what not, at each other. By the time the show was over the gig looked like Beirut. Speaking of Mercyful Fate and Exciter, when I met the guys in Slayer in 1984, Tom and I went to see Mercyful Fate and Exciter in Baltimore, MD and ended up with myself beating up like 4 or 5 bouncers at this club after way too many Red Deaths. When the promoter found out who Tom was he made the guy who started the ruckus apologize, who coincidentally had a broken nose courtesy of me. We went back into the gig to rage some more and of course crashed the car on the way home to New Jersey. Fun times......

Umlaut: The first time I met Tom was pre-Slayer and he was visiting S.F. with a mutual friend.. He was wearing a tweed blazer and cranked Santana in his Camaro. Funny.

Rich Laminate: Dude, the car we crashed was the Camaro. It was the first tour bus. I had an opportunity to segue over to KJ's recollection of the infamous Cronos / Tom Araya encounter, which I was present for.

[Umlaut Note: For the newbies, this incident has been Metal Legend around the world for over 20 years..]

If my memory serves me, we did not have enough money for hotel rooms and I believe we were in Buffalo or upstate New York somewhere and out of the kindness of their hearts, Venom allowed us to stay in their tour bus. Obviously boys will be boys and a certain kinship was developing over much alcohol.

I remember Cronos either passing out in the front lounge or maybe taking a breather and somehow Tom's dick came out in the general direction of Cronos, which was met by a very significant head butt to the face. In a split second the room went from drunken fun to, holy shit, we may get thrown off the tour, not to mention we are about to have nowhere to sleep. Even more amazing was Tom's nearly unfazed response and his limited laughter at the whole thing. A special moment in Metal history. I am glad to have been there. We took "no money" to a whole new level.

Umlaut: To quote Baloff: "METAL!!!!!" It's amazing how the story of Tom "marking" Cronos traveled all the way to S.F. back then in those pre-Internet / pre-cell phone days. The stuff of legend!

Rich Laminate: As for the story I was telling you last night, it is even more involved. It starts like this: Tom and I venture 2 1/2 hours south to see Mercyful Fate and Exciter at the Coast to Coast Club in Baltimore, Maryland. I had arranged us some passes through Doc Bevins the promoter, a very good guy. The first thing that happens is Doc provides Tom and I with an open bar tab, which lead to many, many, many Red Deaths; I can't even remember what is in them but they will hurt you.

Anyway, Mercyful Fate is on and Tom and I are in the crowd and there is a blind guy (complete with cane) standing in front of me banging his head; a little unusual, but whatever. This guy turns around and claims I am pushing him, which I am not. The bouncers got involved, a fight started, I whacked a couple of them before they dog piled me; all the while Tom is still watching the show. So they drag me out with Tom in pursuit. Now he is drunk and hostile and the promoter comes outside to see what's going on and finds his 2 guests fighting his hooligans.

Cooler heads prevailed and he made the guy who obviously got the worst of the beating apologize for starting it. I could not believe it: broken nose and bleeding, this poor dude has to apologize. Cool, now back to the show and more drinking. Somewhere along the line I ask Tom if he can drive because I am completely retarded and he assures me he can. After the show we head to the infamous Camaro for our drive home.

Along the walk through the parking lot we find original Old Bridge Metal Militia member Bob Ojo sitting on a parking stop with no shoes on and a t-shirt. This is important because it is November 1984 (pre-global warming), like 25 degrees, snowing and ice on the ground.. Remember no shoes and a t-shirt and obviously intoxicated. When questioned what the hell he was doing there and how did he get there, he seemed oblivious. Anyway times a-wasting and we need to take our comrade in arms in and take him home with us. He piles into the Camaro and off we go.

After a few miles I again ask Tom if he is OK to drive and he reassures me he is good. I fall asleep and awake to the sound of grinding metal and sparks showering the car, to which I react by grabbing the wheel and steering the car off of the barrier wall on I-95 and over the curb. Tom wakes up, hits the brake, the car stops and we are like "What the fuck just happened". Of course, our comrade in the backseat never even woke up after hitting the barrier and the curb and skidding to a stop.

After about a 3 second discussion we decided perhaps we should just stay there and sleep (in the grass on the side of the interstate). We slept for a few hours and then restarted our trip.

Everything was fine, and we made it back to Jersey and nearly home. 5 miles from our destination, we are entering an onramp on the Garden State Parkway and at the top of the ramp the car spins loose and does 2 complete 360 degree spins on the ice. Normally this would not be significant except for the 5 state police cars behind us, who immediately pull us over and inspect the entire car. How we did not get a DUI remains to be seen. We sat on the guide rail for like an hour; poor Bob, still no shoes and a t-shirt.

Tom was issued a ticket for careless driving and so we finally made our way home... Ah 1984, a much less complicated time........... What a metal night, drinking, fighting, car crashes and the police. I am feeling a little bit nostalgic, even weepy. Those were the days my friend. Ironically, Tom is still one of the nicest people I am privileged to be friends with and 23 years later we are still here laughing about the same stupid bullshit.......

Old Metal has the best stories.. Kidz these days don't even know.

Thanks Rich!

"Blasting our way through the boundaries of Hell, no one can stop us tonight.."

===
Several longtime readers commented to me privately that I should have called this post the sequel to last year's infamous Old Men Talking "conversation"; I agree.. My favorite thing about this space is how it can jar other peoples' memories... so I don't feel like I'm the only freak who finds this crap entertaining.

Old Metal Erik: I have been enjoying your blog and the resulting Earth Dog thread over my morning joe, and I gotta pipe in. I remember the Kabuki bill as Venom, Slayer, Possessed. Exodus did the tour but wanted to do their own hometown show for the Bonded By Blood release. I might be wrong, but we joked about the bill being Venom, Venom Jr. and Baby Venom.

As far as that Motorhead / Mercyful Fate /Exciter show: Awesome! And it marked the end of those seats at The Warfield. I did my share of destruction that night, flinging pieces of seats everywhere. It was truly chaotic.

Note for The Newbies: For almost 40 years The Warfield was a movie theater (Gone With The Wind had its West Coast premiere there in 1939). In the 70's the theater became a concert venue and the original main floor theater seating remained intact... until Motorhead and Mercyful Fate literally destroyed them in 1984. In the years following that mayhem the old theater seats were removed and The Warfield's main floor is now an open floor for General Admission standing.

Umlaut: [Posted on the Earth-Dog Forum] That Motorhead / Mercyful Fate / Exciter show at The Warfield was so epic... The theater style seats bolted to the floor.. Everyone rushing the stage when Fate came on.. I got knocked sideways out of the aisle and was laying across several chairs for a bit and I was afraid someone was going to land on top of me from above.. The debris from the busted chairs being thrown onstage during MH.. Then walking around down front after the show and seeing all of the wreckage.. the remains of the chairs still bolted to the floor but no more chairs... Epic!

The Warfield with its original main floor theater seating (1930's)

Old Metal Erik: Now, the irony. I spent the years 1988-1995 working at The Warfield and Fillmore, both on the stage crew for events, and on the maintenance staff when shows were slim. One of the main tasks for maintenance was repairing the damaged seats in the balcony - the exact same seats that used to be on the main floor. Talk about karma!

Nonetheless, I used to love working in the balcony, and finding all the lost concert goer loot. I found wristwatches, jewelry, money, and after Jerry Garcia shows there would be literally ounces of high grade pot to be had.

I was once reattaching a severed seat cushion, when a ticket stub fell out of the inner stuffing. It read "Loew's Warfield" and was dated 1932. I still have it in plastic somewhere. Crazy!

The Warfield as Movie Theater
Circa 1964 showing Boris Karloff's Black Sabbath (!)

These relics are courtesy of Chris J. (Thanks brutha!):

Count all of the umlauts!! However, wrong 1984 Motorhead band photo...

Revised ad with correct 1984 Motorhead photo

Have A Ink On Me

Many years ago, Umlaut took photos of bands. Fast forward to the 21st Century and now somebody has tattooed one of my photos onto their body.

James Hetfield - March 1983
(Photo by Umlaut)

From International Tattoo Art Magazine
Nov. 2007 issue

Bizarre... I admit that the ink looks alright, although I don't understand why anyone would want that on their body.. but kudos to the artist Tim Harris for pulling it off for his client. However, the person could have at least had "Photo by Umlaut" inked next to the image!! Credit where credit is due, mofo!

Thanks to Midwest Metal Tom for the 411 on this tidbit of WTF. Thanks, brutha!

TMD with TD on JKL

Umlaut's favorite roadie Tour Manager Doug (TMD) made a special appearance with Tenacious D. on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last Friday.


He appeared during the highly suspenseful "Touch The Head" competition segment:


Exciting stuff... and is it any wonder why Umlaut still lives vicariously through TMD's Rock N' Roll Lifestyle?

Explosivo.

Hell Freezes Over

Slayer wins their first Grammy for a song inspired by the true story of a U.S. soldier who committed suicide shortly before he was due to return home from Iraq.

Maybe there is hope after all.... Maybe.

SLAYER Wins GRAMMY In 'Best Metal Performance' Category - Feb. 11, 2007

SLAYER was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, which are being held tonight (Sunday, February 11) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The nominees in the "Metal" category were as follows:

LAMB OF GOD - "Redneck"
MASTODON - "Colony Of Birchmen"
MINISTRY - "Lies, Lies, Lies"
SLAYER - "Eyes Of The Insane"
STONE SOUR - "30/30-150"

This was SLAYER's second Grammy nomination, the first being in 2002 for the track "Disciple" (from "God Hates Us All"), also in the "Best Metal Performance" category.

SLAYER, currently headlining a North American tour, did not attend the Grammys presentation, but vocalist/bassist Tom Araya had this to say about the win from his hotel room in Columbus, OH: "Jeff [Hanneman] and I put a lot into 'Eyes of the Insane' so we're thrilled that the Grammy voters took the time to listen to it, and then vote for it. We're out here on the road and we're all really, really happy."


"Eyes Of The Insane" video

A Few Things

Umlaut isn't a "gamer", but I was told about this character from the new Guitar Hero II game:


Some of you know why this is so hilarious...

Nick Cave's new side project Grinderman is, like, a 21st Century version of The Birthday Party!!

'No Pussy Blues' - Grinderman

Music Geek Note: You better grab Grinderman's debut 7" single ('Get It On') ASAP! Dude, it's a one-sided limited edition of 1,000 (numbered!) featuring cover art by Cave and a unique vinyl etching by him on the B-Side. It was released on January 8th and it's already going for up to $40 on the secondary market.

Finally, does anybody remember laughter:


412 Broadway, San Francisco

Note: I did NOT take this photo, but I wish I had.. I stole it off the Information Superhighway.

The Claw

The Hidden Hand / Kylesa / Ludicra
12 Galaxies, San Francisco
February 3, 2007

The year is less than 40 days old and I'm already hard pressed to imagine a show blowing me away like this one did anytime soon. Last year Celtic Frost stood out as the show that left me completely gobsmacked.. I'm not exaggerating when I say I left this show with that same feeling of elation. While walking the bar time streets of The Mission after the gig I was happy to be alive.

Ludicra delivered a headline-quality set that left me stunned. I've seen them several times in the past and loved 'em, but tonight they seemed to have a fire lit under them. Their dark powers were hypnotic.

Ludicra are the type of band I would have been fanatical about back in 1984 during the height of my Old Metal Days.. Not because of the type of Metal they play, but because of the type of band they are: Focused on musicianship, songwriting that is epic, napalm smooth dual guitars, thunder on the tundra rhythm section, fire 'n ice vocals. A dark wall of sound that washes over you. Inspiring.

Ludicra is charismatic in that classic Black Metal way, but they don't do the Black Metal scowl thing 24/7 (yayy!)... After delivering a Lungs of Hell vocal performance, Laurie jokingly asked if anyone knew of a good local mechanic in between songs; I laughed. Maybe you had to have been there, but I bet you would have laughed too. I love having a local Metal band that I can support as if I was 19-years old again. I give Ludicra "The Claw" with much respect!!

Hmmm... Kylesa or hang out in front of the club talking with friends... Kylesa and their, uh, TWO drummers or hang out in front of the club talking with friends... Hmm. Bands with two drummers usually cause me to hear Spinal Tap dialogue in my head:

"Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?"

[pause]

"These go to eleven.."

If you don't know Wino, Saint Vitus, or The Obsessed get off the computer right now and visit your local indie record store. RIGHT NOW!

OzzFest cabin boy Zakk Wylde is a Hot Topic mall version of Wino. More heavy underground music has been inspired by Wino's fingers than can be calculated... but he'll never get the props he deserves. He's one of those musicians who'll always be in the shadows as the bands that he influenced get the glory. However, seeing Wino's pair of road-weary Les Pauls sitting onstage was symbolic that glory is fleeting. Wino's in it for the war, not the battles.

The look on Wino's face when he's onstage says it all; it's not often that you see a musician with that intense of a game face... and when he shoves his Les Paul into overdrive for a solo it's like watching something solid slamming into something fragile; the roar of something breaking. Inspiring. Combine that with Wino's distinctive vocals and it's impossible for me to take most other bands seriously. Heart. Soul. Volume.

The other 2/3 of The Hidden Hand are solid and they forge a mighty power trio with Wino; the brand new CD (The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote) is probably the best Heavy Stomp N' Roll release I'll hear all year. I give The Hidden Hand "The Claw" with much respect!!

I didn't do a merch tally 'cause I was yakkin' with folks in between bands, but I dropped $25. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. This gig was a mere $10, which wouldn't even cover the Ticketbastard service charge on one OzzFest ticket to see Cabin Boy Zakk.

Random Rock Star Moment #13: Dave Lombardo

The exciting sequel to Random Rock Star Moment #13: Kerry King. Not only that, but it's a Slayer twofer!

THANKS to my Old Metal brothers Tom and Micki for sharing their war stories!

From Midwest Metal Tom:

On February 2, 2002 I got to see Dave Lombardo back in Slayer. At first it was only a few weeks thing with Dave and they (Slayer) were having drummer tryouts in several cities. This show was in Peoria, IL. I watched the drummer tryouts during the day and saw a few hacks as well as Joe (Soul-Fly) Nunez. Joe actually played Dave's kit on stage for his tryout. The others brought their own kits and had to set up in front of the stage on the floor.

Right after the drummer tryouts I got to interview Dave in the front seat of my truck...memorable as all hell. After we were done talking he told me to come watch the show from "his angle" and that's where this picture comes from.


The show was fucking great! I actually got freaked out during the show as it was beyond packed and the barrier between the stage and the crowd was not doing the job..it was like the people were in constant motion working the barrier. The security guards up front actually had to put their backs to the stage and use their legs to hold the barrier up and it was pretty intense.

A year and a half later while they were playing the whole Reign In Blood album, Dave saw me and I gave him a copy of the mag with our interview..He then remembered me and asked if I'd like watch the show from his point of view again. So I did and got to watch the master perform Reign In Blood...unfucking real.

From Brazilian Metal Micki:

When I was living in England in 1990, I got to interview Slayer in a hotel. I had my girlfriend at the time with me (she was also a Metalhead).

The guy who the band's manager gave me to interview was Dave Lombardo, and during the interview he was very simple and very, very nice and friendly. I took one of my Slayer bootlegs for him to autograph, which he did, but then he screamed to Kerry (who was being interviewed by another Brazilian journalist): "Hey Kerry, you got this one?". Kerry finished the interview quickly and jumped on the couch with Dave. I had a Slayer bootleg that he'd never seen before! The title of the bootleg was Flood of Blood, which had an iron cross with Slayer written in the middle.

They both stayed talking and soon Kerry said I could go after the other two (Tom and Jeff) to look for autographs (which I wasn't allowed without the manager - or him saying so). We also weren't allowed to take pictures, but Dave and Kerry said: "Bullshit!" and asked the other Brazilian journalist to take our picture (me, girl, Dave, Kerry).

Soon, Kerry left and Dave's wife Theresa arrived. The four of us talked awhile, and then they said my girlfriend and I could have passes for ALL the UK concerts!

Well, months passed and we took our word and went looking for them backstage. They not only remembered us but they also gave us the passes (every concert we went to), allowed us to see all the soundchecks (it was the 1990 Clash Of The Titans tour), and gave us all the different Slayer picks and a pair of drumsticks.

After one of the concerts, I saw Kerry alone sitting on an amp (later he declared that during that time he was having problems with the band) and I went to talk to him. He remembered the bootleg thing (it was months after that!) and I thought it was very cool that he was wearing an AC/DC cap!

Oh, by the way, thanks to Dave, I am in the 'War Ensemble' video clip!

SLAYER... FOR LIFE!

'War Ensemble' video - 1990

===
Umlaut's Addendum:

I had forgotten that I "interviewed" Slayer once too; it was done in late-1983 prior to the release of their debut album. Back in those pre-Internet / expensive long distance phone call days my "interview" was done via the U.S. Postal Service; the questions were sent and returned by Mr. Postman. Quaint, innit?

According to the short band bio that was attached to my "interview" when it was returned, the album "will be released December 21, 1983" (just in time for Christmas!) and that "Metal Blade Records will be sending out copies of the 'Show No Mercy' LP to all fanzines. I have submitted your name to the list so you should be receiving a copy in the near future."

I had already received an advance cassette of 'Show No Mercy' from Brian Slagel, which was why I wanted to "interview" Slayer. Unfortunately my questions were very lame, but I was only 19-years old so cut me some slack! If anything it's an interesting time capsule.

Kerry: "The L.A. scene is fucked."

Jeff: "Kerry and I don't get inspired."

Bio: "Clubs have started banning Slayer because of their excessive use of fire and smoke."

The "Interview":

The Bio:

Despite the lameness of my "interview" Slayer did thank me on the 'Haunting The Chapel' record as a result.

The bio mentions their tour starting in San Francisco in January 1984. Click HERE to see what that gig looked like.

To find out what happened to Steven Craig / Platinum Mangement click HERE.

God's Record Collection

If you're like Umlaut you want to know "What bands do Christian groups not want me listening to?" We'll now you can find out thanks to the web site Love God's Way.

To quote the site: "One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music."

Who knew?! On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag because of my record collection. Of course, I can think of other reasons for not listening to Metallica and I don't need the God Squad telling me... but Motorhead, Frank Sinatra, and Ted Nugent are gay too?! Shocking...

Of course, part of me wants to believe the site is merely using the Lord's name in vain for a laugh.. but if The Dresden Dolls really are a "safe" band for Christians maybe there's hope for my soul after all (and Big Wayne's too!).