Show in Review: Metal Allegiance. Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty
Pre-Show Shenanigans
It was a normal Friday at the day job. Despite my shoulder and neck injuries flaring up a bit from some work related travel. I made my way home from the office to pick out an outfit that i deemed worthy of wearing for the evening. Per usual picking a band t shirt was a struggle. I ended up going with a cut up Whitechaple T before meeting up with the homies Adam & Bobby for pre-game conversations and carpooling with slayer live albums blasting in my truck.
Going through security I got my wanding and was complimented on my tattoos by the gentleman making sure i wasnt bringing in contraband. I briefly said hi to various friends from around the scene to include Bill and Claustrofobia‘s bassist Rafael. My party somehow had evaporated into thin air so i decided to descend into the venue without them. Accompanied by the lovely Courtney Ware (she makes some great arm candy and
is an amazing photographer) before she went off in search of her place in the photo pit directly in front of the stage.
House of Blues is one of my personal favorites for local venues. The sound is great, the crowds are never too small or too big. The Bathrooms have more than 2 stalls so there isn’t a long line in-between sets to pee if you need to. While I have heard some stories about some of the staff not being the nicest to other patrons, I have yet to personally have any issues. Even when breaking up fights or demolishing people in the mosh pit (depending on the show and status of my non-show related injuries) I don’t get much grief. The closest a staff
member has done to wrong me is ghosting me on a personal level (that’s dating in this day an age for you).
Drinks are pricey. Even if the tickets are fairly low in price. A double sailor and coke will run you $20 bucks easy if you are a non-tipping douche and $24 if you are a decent human being. Gods forbid anyone bumps into you and spills it. The good thing is if you aren’t looking for Satan’s Brew to wet your palette, ice water is free and bottomless.
The floor was surprisingly empty for such a big show. There were conversations about receiving free tickets from a good amount of patrons I encountered. It surprises me that this show did not sell well considering the amount of marketing that went into it, but it is what it is.
I walked in to Weapons Of Anew playing their last few songs of their set. There energy was great considering the thin crowd.
After making another round about to say my hellos Superfix took the stage. Vocalist
Kalen Chase, no longer sporting the long locks of platinum blonde hair, riled up the crowd. He was joined on stage by Once Human, Machine Head and Soulfly veteran guitarist, (and all around bad ass) Logan Mader and Once Human guitarist and Anthropia Drummer Damien Rainaud.
*Best Hyped up Sports Announcer Voice* AND NOW FOR THE MAINNNNNNN EVENT METALLLLLLLLLL ALLEGIANCE!!!!!!
You had Mark Menghi on bass being the life of the party running around stage to sing in peoples mics. Walking around with his cell phone periodically to take video of this glorious occasion, all while make silly faces and being extremely engaged with the crowd.
Joining Mark on stage was Alex Skolnick, Mike Portnoy and David Ellefson not to mention a slew of guests. You had Troy Sanders the Bassist and Vocals from
Mastodon , John Bush from Armored Saint and Anthrax , Chuck Billy -front ,man and life of the party from Testament . Logan Mader and Lauren Hart made their way back on stage as part of the start studded and ever so epic performance.
Towards the end I successfully fell on my ass while completely sober in the mosh pit. I’m a heavy bitch and shouldn’t have gone in flats but some dude caught me off guard on the rim and I fell into the crowd. So of course, me being me, I decided to go in to bull rush the dude. But someone else got in the way so it backfired. I fell on my back and my sunglasses fell over my eyes making being able to see a challenge while trying to get up. Luckily people followed the proper etiquette and helped pick my ass up.
A lot of people laugh when people fall in the pit but sometimes you kind of get
stunned by the fall and aren’t thinking straight to get right back up. In the end falling in the mosh pit comes with the territory. it can be embarrassing. you feel like slightly less of a bad ass by doing so but then quickly get over it when you remember its half the fun.
When Testament’s “Into The Pit” came on Big Mike from Las Vegas Deathfest joined in the mosh-pit games. They played everything from Sepultura‘s Roots Bloody Roots to Metallica’s Metal Militia and many more originals in-between such as Pledge Of Allegiance , Can’t Kill The Devil and Gift of Pain. At the end everyone who played got back on stage together for one big musical send off to the crowd. (with multiple Bass guitars because one could never have too much Bass right?)
The Headbang-Over
I paid my pocket gouging $15.00 for parking after saying my good-byes. half of my party disappeared into the ether during the show. I drove my buddy Adam home and dropped by Taco Hell before the adrenaline spike from the mosh pit completely disappeared and ate my cheesy beefy deliciousness before crawling in bed to pass out.
Next show up …. After The Burial gets down at Triple B on Fremont Street.
