Post by Dr Demented on Jul 13, 2008 16:24:32 GMT -5
The third edition of the annual Fatal Force Fest lived up to it's curse, but came back with a vengeance at Casey's Irish Pub in seedy Sheridan, Indiana last night.
I worked on last minute stuff the night before the show and didn't get to bed until 2:30a.m., then lightning struck my treeline early at 6a.m. with the thunder rocking the hell out of my house. I got up at around 8:30 to get more last minute gear together and do last minute promos...and STILL ran late getting to the club. To add insult to injury, as I pulled in front of the club and put it in park, a cop pulled in right behind me and flipped on his lights. FUCK. He said I was doing 33 in a 20. I tried my best to contain myself, but my attitude was plain. To make a long story short, I almost got arrested...but the cop gave me a chance to explain myself and let me off with a warning. Extremely lucky since I have a horrible record with small town cops.
We got the P.A. gear and lights inside...and my board decided to crap out on me. So, we got another board and finally had everything up and running by almost 7.
Violent storms delayed the arrival of several bands. Forthcoming, MG-42 and Devils of Belgrade were the first to arrive. Exempt didn't make it at all, and as of the date of this review, I still haven't heard what happened to them...although Dr. Satan showed up at 9:30 and told me that he barely made it with the storms severely impeding his progress.
LEVIATHAN RISING got there right at 7 and didn't get started until 7:30, so we were already 30 minutes late out of the gate. These guys were quite green. The vocalist would hardly face the crowd, but you can tell they have talent just waiting to bust out. Given enough time and the right encouragement, these guys will be a force to reckon with.
Since Exempt and Dr. Satan hadn't arrived yet, MG-42 took the stage for an extended set (40 minutes). You might remember these guys as Distobia from the last FFF, except this incarnation is a lot more thrash-based. From their website, the music sounds decent but you can't get the real flavor until you see them live. To put it bluntly, they kicked ass and did their best to get the small crowd excited, throwing free swag into the audience. It was only fitting that during their load-out, I played Sacred Reich's "Surf Nicaragua".
FORTHCOMING then took the stage for an extended performance (45 minutes) and all I can is WOW have these guys come a long way! The legendary Joe Ward gave his usual hyperkinetic performance, making speed freaks look slow in comparison and the band was spot-on with a blend of old and new tunes that continues to move the band forward towards what I hope and expect will be their eventual signing with a respectable label.
Slowing things down a bit, SOUL BLEED then took the stage with their blend of classic and alternative metal reminiscent of Tool, Judas Priest and maybe even a bit of White Zombie. I found these guys very refreshing in their approach and, again, with enough time and focus will see them achieve great things.
The next band to take the stage was the inimitable DEVILS OF BELGRADE. Nothing can prepare you for the onslaught of musical mastery that these guys bring to the stage. I was truly blown away. To say their set was fucking excellent is to diminish the true amazing quality that they brought...which was a 50+ minute jam that showed off their prowess as a team. They went over their set time, but who would dare stop them while they were clearly on a roll? If I had just let them go, they might have jammed the rest of the night...and I think the crowd would have been just fine with that.
DR. SATAN closed out the night with his blend of dark humor and banter with the crowd. I was quite past the "drunk" mark by that time...and I was probably enjoying the show more than anyone else because I "get it"...and eventually the remaining crowd did as well when he would do 2 second songs...and graced us with his version of Freebird when some poor fool had the audacity to yell "Play Freebird!"
"FREEEEEEFUCKINGGGGGGGGBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD!"
which became the crowd favorite of the night falling only second to the singalong: "I die...he dies...she dies...we all die". Remember the 4-count.
I can't say enough how even through the dumb shit, even through twists of fate that cause wierd things to happen...I love doing these shows. It's almost becoming like a family reunion, getting to see friends from bands that I haven't been able to see in a year or more...and making new friends. I go through an emotional rollercoaster from the point of planning, to booking, up to the day of the show....and I have to admit that it's probably the next best drug to sex or LSD because you kick and fight and claw your way through...and at the end is this sweet, brutal music that makes the fight worth it. I hope over the years, more and more people will join me in this excursion that is the Fatal Force Fest.
I worked on last minute stuff the night before the show and didn't get to bed until 2:30a.m., then lightning struck my treeline early at 6a.m. with the thunder rocking the hell out of my house. I got up at around 8:30 to get more last minute gear together and do last minute promos...and STILL ran late getting to the club. To add insult to injury, as I pulled in front of the club and put it in park, a cop pulled in right behind me and flipped on his lights. FUCK. He said I was doing 33 in a 20. I tried my best to contain myself, but my attitude was plain. To make a long story short, I almost got arrested...but the cop gave me a chance to explain myself and let me off with a warning. Extremely lucky since I have a horrible record with small town cops.
We got the P.A. gear and lights inside...and my board decided to crap out on me. So, we got another board and finally had everything up and running by almost 7.
Violent storms delayed the arrival of several bands. Forthcoming, MG-42 and Devils of Belgrade were the first to arrive. Exempt didn't make it at all, and as of the date of this review, I still haven't heard what happened to them...although Dr. Satan showed up at 9:30 and told me that he barely made it with the storms severely impeding his progress.
LEVIATHAN RISING got there right at 7 and didn't get started until 7:30, so we were already 30 minutes late out of the gate. These guys were quite green. The vocalist would hardly face the crowd, but you can tell they have talent just waiting to bust out. Given enough time and the right encouragement, these guys will be a force to reckon with.
Since Exempt and Dr. Satan hadn't arrived yet, MG-42 took the stage for an extended set (40 minutes). You might remember these guys as Distobia from the last FFF, except this incarnation is a lot more thrash-based. From their website, the music sounds decent but you can't get the real flavor until you see them live. To put it bluntly, they kicked ass and did their best to get the small crowd excited, throwing free swag into the audience. It was only fitting that during their load-out, I played Sacred Reich's "Surf Nicaragua".
FORTHCOMING then took the stage for an extended performance (45 minutes) and all I can is WOW have these guys come a long way! The legendary Joe Ward gave his usual hyperkinetic performance, making speed freaks look slow in comparison and the band was spot-on with a blend of old and new tunes that continues to move the band forward towards what I hope and expect will be their eventual signing with a respectable label.
Slowing things down a bit, SOUL BLEED then took the stage with their blend of classic and alternative metal reminiscent of Tool, Judas Priest and maybe even a bit of White Zombie. I found these guys very refreshing in their approach and, again, with enough time and focus will see them achieve great things.
The next band to take the stage was the inimitable DEVILS OF BELGRADE. Nothing can prepare you for the onslaught of musical mastery that these guys bring to the stage. I was truly blown away. To say their set was fucking excellent is to diminish the true amazing quality that they brought...which was a 50+ minute jam that showed off their prowess as a team. They went over their set time, but who would dare stop them while they were clearly on a roll? If I had just let them go, they might have jammed the rest of the night...and I think the crowd would have been just fine with that.
DR. SATAN closed out the night with his blend of dark humor and banter with the crowd. I was quite past the "drunk" mark by that time...and I was probably enjoying the show more than anyone else because I "get it"...and eventually the remaining crowd did as well when he would do 2 second songs...and graced us with his version of Freebird when some poor fool had the audacity to yell "Play Freebird!"
"FREEEEEEFUCKINGGGGGGGGBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD!"
which became the crowd favorite of the night falling only second to the singalong: "I die...he dies...she dies...we all die". Remember the 4-count.
I can't say enough how even through the dumb shit, even through twists of fate that cause wierd things to happen...I love doing these shows. It's almost becoming like a family reunion, getting to see friends from bands that I haven't been able to see in a year or more...and making new friends. I go through an emotional rollercoaster from the point of planning, to booking, up to the day of the show....and I have to admit that it's probably the next best drug to sex or LSD because you kick and fight and claw your way through...and at the end is this sweet, brutal music that makes the fight worth it. I hope over the years, more and more people will join me in this excursion that is the Fatal Force Fest.