Great piece. It reminded me of this hilarious Bill Hicks bit about how nonsensical it is to believe any band wants their audience dead.
"I'm fucking sick of it Nigel. The free money and free drugs, groupies blowing us 24/7, stadiums full of fans. I'm sick of it! There's GOT to be a way out of this. Unless..."
Still there's a lot of overlap between these two guys and the guy who committed the shooting at the Damageplan show. It's unfortunate enough that these guys always seem to find cracks to slip through and even moreso that they find ways to take people with them.
There was no shortage of those guys at the shows. Most concert goers never knew what security shut down either on the “pat downs” going in or during the show. There was the show within the show that was never seen.
Something about metal attracts these type of guys I guess. It's unfortunate because such a large portion of the metal community in my experience is just mellow folks who happen to like extreme music.
Sparks ain’t so bad. I once won $250 on the nickel slots there passing through to Lake Tahoe. I remember even years prior that there was a bunch of commotion about backwards masking and subliminal messages on analog masters. As we can see now it’s a case of severe mental illness equal to psychotic disorder.
Another blast from my past. You did great research. I didn’t even remember the facts of the two kids. What I remember was how boring the trial was. I still have a picture of me sitting in the courtroom asleep. I can’t even remember who took it. I have it up in my office as a reminder that the rock and roll lifestyle isn’t always what people think. The trial days were from 10 to 3. Then we went back to the hotel and the party commenced. Actually that’s not true. I went with Glenn and KK to play golf or tennis. Nothing says “leather gods” like riding around in a golf cart reading the WSJ, checking out financial news. You were only half right about the fans surrounding the proceedings. Half were rock fans, the other half thought we were all “devil worshippers “. I know that prompted an outpouring against “devil music”. Unfortunately in that group was my Mom. “ Beyond the Realms of Death” is still one of my favorite JP songs. The guitars and Rob’s voice screaming still give me the chills. Great piece buddy, and horns up.
You never cease to amaze me, Daniel. And I’ve got to say, as boring as the trial may have been, you were nevertheless present during a pivotal moment in music history, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me.
I’ve laughed several times thinking about the picture that hangs in your office. What a magnificent reminder of the mundane (and human) side of rock. I read about how the band rented some properties for the duration of the trial and basically hung around as a family might: killing time and cooking dinner, hanging tough together against the crazy charges brought against them.
Thank you very much for once again providing such valuable and engrossing first-hand accounts of these historic events. 🤘
Well-written, especially in the empathy shown for the kids early on in the piece.
Where it turns is with the easy access to firearms in the US, and I'll say that without knowing whether the weapon involved was registered or not. Without the shotgun, it's just a couple kids blowing off steam.
There's a thread that runs between this and Pizzagate, of course.
Love this. One of my favorite-ever music quotes is from Angus Young, when confronted about the potential insertion of secret satanic messages in AC/DC's music. His response was:
"Look, the record's called 'Highway to Hell.' We're not trying to HIDE anything!!!"
Great piece. It reminded me of this hilarious Bill Hicks bit about how nonsensical it is to believe any band wants their audience dead.
"I'm fucking sick of it Nigel. The free money and free drugs, groupies blowing us 24/7, stadiums full of fans. I'm sick of it! There's GOT to be a way out of this. Unless..."
Still there's a lot of overlap between these two guys and the guy who committed the shooting at the Damageplan show. It's unfortunate enough that these guys always seem to find cracks to slip through and even moreso that they find ways to take people with them.
There was no shortage of those guys at the shows. Most concert goers never knew what security shut down either on the “pat downs” going in or during the show. There was the show within the show that was never seen.
Something about metal attracts these type of guys I guess. It's unfortunate because such a large portion of the metal community in my experience is just mellow folks who happen to like extreme music.
Sparks ain’t so bad. I once won $250 on the nickel slots there passing through to Lake Tahoe. I remember even years prior that there was a bunch of commotion about backwards masking and subliminal messages on analog masters. As we can see now it’s a case of severe mental illness equal to psychotic disorder.
Another blast from my past. You did great research. I didn’t even remember the facts of the two kids. What I remember was how boring the trial was. I still have a picture of me sitting in the courtroom asleep. I can’t even remember who took it. I have it up in my office as a reminder that the rock and roll lifestyle isn’t always what people think. The trial days were from 10 to 3. Then we went back to the hotel and the party commenced. Actually that’s not true. I went with Glenn and KK to play golf or tennis. Nothing says “leather gods” like riding around in a golf cart reading the WSJ, checking out financial news. You were only half right about the fans surrounding the proceedings. Half were rock fans, the other half thought we were all “devil worshippers “. I know that prompted an outpouring against “devil music”. Unfortunately in that group was my Mom. “ Beyond the Realms of Death” is still one of my favorite JP songs. The guitars and Rob’s voice screaming still give me the chills. Great piece buddy, and horns up.
You never cease to amaze me, Daniel. And I’ve got to say, as boring as the trial may have been, you were nevertheless present during a pivotal moment in music history, which is pretty damn cool if you ask me.
I’ve laughed several times thinking about the picture that hangs in your office. What a magnificent reminder of the mundane (and human) side of rock. I read about how the band rented some properties for the duration of the trial and basically hung around as a family might: killing time and cooking dinner, hanging tough together against the crazy charges brought against them.
Thank you very much for once again providing such valuable and engrossing first-hand accounts of these historic events. 🤘
Well-written, especially in the empathy shown for the kids early on in the piece.
Where it turns is with the easy access to firearms in the US, and I'll say that without knowing whether the weapon involved was registered or not. Without the shotgun, it's just a couple kids blowing off steam.
There's a thread that runs between this and Pizzagate, of course.
Love this. One of my favorite-ever music quotes is from Angus Young, when confronted about the potential insertion of secret satanic messages in AC/DC's music. His response was:
"Look, the record's called 'Highway to Hell.' We're not trying to HIDE anything!!!"
I LOVE Judas Priest, and remember when this was in the news, along with other “Satanic Panic” stuff.
Excellent article, Sonny, you’re kicking it lately!
Thank you, Sheila! I’m doing what I can to make this a fun and interesting place. Glad to hear it’s resonating!