I figured it's time to shed some post-show perspective on not only this show, but also the behind-the-scenes goings on in The Underworld leading up to it.
It would be untruthful of me to say that the preparation for this show was the typical walk in the park. It's a whole different ball game when it's you yourself booking and setting up a show. Not that's it's an impossible feat by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly requires a lot more than simply showing up and playing. Being that I was turning thirty this year (and Alfred twenty-one), I wanted to do something special to commemorate our milestone birthdays. If I recall correctly, the thought to even book such a show didn't even cross my mind until right after an Azazel practice a couple months prior; and knowing how I am, once I get an idea in my head, I absolutely HAVE to do it somehow.
So fast forward past getting the venue and date secured as well as the lineup, and we're now going through our routine of practicing and composing new material. Another factor on our minds was what to do about our bass situation, as Travis had informed us prior to that that due to his current work situation and schedule, he may or may not be able to participate. About a month away from the big day, we still hadn't seen nor heard from him about what's going on, so we decided to start taking matters into our own hands.
When I attended a Memorial Day BBQ with a few friends and band colleagues, one of them in attendance (Junior from Cousin Fister/Thrawtle) told me about a buddy of his that plays bass and loves metal. He got us in contact, and we hit it off right away over our mutual love for Decapitated. He dropped by to meet Pete and I during one of our one on one practices and was sold on the music and everything we're doing. He later told us about his past band My Sorrow, at which point I became starstruck, as both Rich and Tricky from Azazel have told me many great things about that band, and that he was the bassist and vocalist. At that point, I knew we had a seasoned veteran on our hands and he would definitely be the perfect fit for the band. We immediately began putting him to work and getting him up to speed with the songs. He picked it all up quick and is now rockin' them like a beast!
Come the day of the show, Alfred and I do our last run through of the songs with Dave to iron out any last minute questions before we hit the stage that night. Anyone that knows me knows that my mind is always racing a million miles an hour when I'm in show mode, trying to maintain that perfect balance of saying hi to everybody and also ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
We minus Buddah report to the venue first to load in and soundcheck, and after hearing everything come through the monitors and front of house, we knew it was going to sound massive and couldn't wait to take the stage!
With our soundcheck and load-in complete, Hymns To The Stone gets their stuff underway, and I meet up with the guys in Azazel for a last supper of sorts just a stone's throw away at Fajita Fiesta. All the grubbing and laughs out of the way, we head back to the venue, wherein Incisus are arriving to load in and get situated as well.
The show kicks off with Hymns To The Stone bringing the hammer of doom upon us, getting things nice and heavy and setting the tone for the night. Azazel takes the stage in full thrashin' fashion, lots of circle putting going on and keeping the crowd pumped. Incisus follows, delivering a lethal dose of melodic brutality (I'm really happy I got these guys on the show, as I explained to their bassist and main man Hector that they're the ones who inspired us to update our logo and all that, so this was our way of returning the favor... Not to mention they're hella cool dudes! We're looking forward to tearing it up with them again next month at The Workshop)!
Finally, it was our turn to take the stage. We decided to do an epic boxer's intro sort of thing with music going over the P.A., I mean for an occasion like this, why not? The intro we chose is "Oden's Ride Over Nordland", which is the intro piece that's on Bathory's Blood Fire Death album. I've always had a huge fascination for not just that piece, but also for when bands do those kind of intros, just as Metallica does with Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold". Even Pete's mom had a lot of great things to say about our use of the intro, that it was a really great entrance and really built up the anticipation for something big.
With the Quorthonian intro of epic proportions concluding, we take the stage and begin our militaristic war drums and blackened doomy riffing with The Summoning before launching full speed into our set with Icon. We'd rest in between songs for a minute with Buddah's random comedy outbursts, contrasting it with our brand of brutality, and we had an awesome night!
I think it's safe to say that all parties involved had an awesome time, and we continued the afterparty at Zamore mobile pizzeria in front of Strummer's.
An incredible bookend to my twenties, no doubt about it. There's no other group of people I'd rather be doing this with! As an added bonus, we even got the soundboard recording of the whole show, so you might be getting to hear a live track in the future... Keep your eyes and ears peeled, my beloved Amentheans!
July 13th, we're playing at Strummer's 1-year anniversary party, so don't forget to come out and get your Sunday Funday on with us!
