LAMB OF GOD
In 2000 I flew to Worcester, MA with a couple friends (Tyson (RIP) and God’s Iron Phil) to see THE 3RD ANNUAL NEW ENGLAND HARDCORE AND METAL FESTIVAL.
I was working in Sales for this software company and the job had me flying all over the country so I snuck in a little fun on what was to be a business trip. Business, yeah, monkey business.
I specifically went there to see and hear this band LAMB OF GOD who would shortly take the Metal world by storm. The show was just after the band signed to a major label, changing the name from BURN THE PRIEST to LAMB OF GOD. I figured the sooner I saw them the better, they might call it quits and break-up before making it anywhere near CA. It happens, you never know. (This photo is from several years after the Metalfest when they played THE GLASSHOUSE in Pomona, CA.)
The trip to Worcester was a chance for Tyson and I to get live footage of LAMB OF GOD along with a few other’s to use in the a movie we wanted to put out. Right around this time I released a CD from the band GOD’S IRON TOOTH as we had the vision of having an audio and video side for the business we were starting. The movie, ONE TON WALTZ features unsung skateboarding and surfing shredders with an underground/extreme metal soundtrack that includes live footage of each band. For all intents and purposes the movie is/was finished but sadly no one was able to get the songs cleared. At this point Ty and I were far too deep into our substance use to draw a sober breath and handle things from a business aspect. We did have a release party for the film at THE BOAR’S NEST down in Carlsbad, CA. A few copies circulated here and there but no official final version was ever completed. I organized the whole release party while an inpatient at a treatment center using the payphone in the place’s garage on breaks to get the thing to actually happen. I had to get permission to leave the facility the night of, stretched the truth a bit and said I was going to a treatment related event with a trusted friend. LAMB OF GOD and another favorite, BLESSING THE HOGS both played amazing sets. The bands got paid and the night went off without a hitch. Pretty killer to see them both on a stage as tall as my knee at a sport’s bar in Carlsbad with about 100 people. LOG at the time were rolling in one of Willie Nelson’s old tour buses, light yellow with a cowboy riding the range painted on the side.
I saw them play many times, taking trips to Las Vegas along with New Jersey and Philadelphia to see a live show. One time I was able to take some photos of the guitar rack backstage for a Photo Collage, one I completed a few years ago with photos from a show at the Cox Arena in 2006. There is also another Collage, one I did of Cindy, Randall, the front-man’s wife at the time that was shot backstage at the Hyundai Pavillion in 2006.
I was drinking and drugging it a bit hard during these times and I would turn up at the shows in various states of loaded and sometimes act a fool. Sometimes too loaded to leave my house and make it to a show. Other times I was sober and on good behavior but I always wound up getting too fucked up when the situation needed me to be on my game.
I was treated really well by their entire team and was always hooked up with passes for the shows. There are a few high-point stand-outs with a few low-points… one of the high points was when I went to see them at a show in San Diego. They were scheduled to play OZZFEST the next night at GLEN HELEN REGIONAL PARK in San Bernadino, CA and had just recorded a new record. Will, the guitar player invited me to roll up in style on the bus with the band and kick it. We listened to the new album several times as we made our way to the venue. I was lucky enough to be able to stand on the stage at OZZFEST as I watched the band kill it in front of 50K people, it was an amazing weekend and just one of many great memories LOG had a hand in making happen.
LOG set a new standard for Metal and they set the bar high. I’ve been to a lot of shows, seen a lot of bands and what these guys had was incredibly special, each of their superpowers when used together created a musical force that was unlike any other. They rivaled the musical weight and live performances of NIRVANA, MINISTRY and HELMET, three of my favorite live shows, with LOG right there fixed in the top five.
I posted a bunch of my favorite photos from my times with the band here: XXX
