My week in rock: Fu Manchu and The Darkness

Interviewing Scott Hill from Fu Manchu

This has been a most crazy week. Sunday night I went to see Fu Manchu and that was the only plans I actually had. I got to the show, spoke to the promoter and in a passing comment just said “Shame we didn’t organise an interview for the mag this tour” and he said “you could do it tomorrow if you want?” and BAM! Sorted. This also got me a review pass for the show as well.

I got to the venue and was able to interview Scott from Fu Manchu before the band did their soundcheck. Scott appeared a little exhausted and do you blame him? They had flown all over the country and done shows pretty much every day they were in the country. Props to them! They sure didn’t show any signs of slowing down once they took to the stage. Both shows were simply fantastic and hearing the album, In Search Of, played in its entirety the second night, that was like a dream come true.

From out of nowhere the magazine asks me to interview The Darkness and it will be a face to face interview at their hotel room. I was also told I will be reviewing the show last night. So I went to the show, it was amazing, and wrote my review. Today I headed to the city to do the interview at their hotel and when I arrived I was told I would be speaking with both Dan and Justin. Okey dokies, works for me. We went to the room and I was greeted by Justin and walked in and took in the view that overlooked the city of Melbourne. Pretty swish!

Post interview photo with Justin and Dan Hawkins

Moments later, in walks Dan. We then joke about on how we would do this interview; sitting or standing. My back was hurting so I chose to stand and then Justin and Dan started joking about doing a standing interview and the 3 of us stood there laughing about it all. The interview got under way and both of them were totally honest and open about everything I put to them. I was really stoked that they opened up about personal stuff and didn’t mind talking about it all. It really was something special. The interview lasted a good 30 minutes and the guys signed my Permission To Land LP and had a photo taken with me. I walked away most pleased with the outcome.

On the way home, I received a phone call from the publicist who offered me a free ticket to the show tonight. I was super happy. The show last night was great so seeing it again was going to be complete radness. I got to the venue and was advised I have a after show pass to hang with the band and that I also have an extra ticket for someone else. I hadn’t invited anyone to go with me. I called everyone and no one picked up their phones. I was like “WTF?!?!?! Why does this always happen?” Seriously, you guys have no idea how impossible it is to get rid of free rickets when I get them. Everyone is always too busy yet some of them still complain that they can’t afford to see any shows. Anyway, my friend Julianne came along as she just happened to be in the city. She came and enjoyed the show but couldn’t hang around for the after show. I gave the pass to this girl, Jill and after the show, she seemed quite pleased meeting the band. I’m glad I can do these things for people who normally wouldn’t get these opportunities. I just had a few words with the band, we bid our farewells, and I headed home. I’m exhausted.

Next interview is Friday where I will be interviewing Mille from Kreator. I don’t have to leave my house for this one though so that’s good. Yay! I think I am going to stay indoors for a while and just rest. This week was 4 gigs in a row and they were mostly long days with all the running around and interviews n stuff.

Still, life’s good. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Fuck ‘em. Just do it.

GWAR and Las Vegas…

On Sunday we headed to Joliet to see the band GWAR and I was given a media press pass to interview the band regarding their stage show and what not. We headed to Joliet around 2pm as I had to interview the band at 3. Got to the venue on time and the stage was being set-up. A GWAR show will guarantee a few things: an over the top stage show, lots of blood, and a lot of fun. We met the tour manager who set it up and we went to the band’s tour bus out back to sit and chat to Dave Brockie (aka Oderus Urungas, GWAR vocalist). We sat in the buses lounge and chatted to him about all random things GWAR, then we spoke to Mike Davis (aka Balsac The Jaws Of Death, guitarist), then Matt (aka Cyborg Destructo, GWAR slave, creative set design, comic book fanatic, prop maker, etc). We got a lot out of them and it will make for a great read. A lot goes into a GWAR show and you will be amazed at how it’s all put together. It’s a huge show.

After the interview was completed, we watched them do a soundcheck without costumes which was most interesting. Time for food and then we headed to the old Joliet correctional facility so I could get a photo at the gate where Joliet Jake Blues is released at the start of the Blues Brothers. Yeah, I get excited over that shit.

After that we met up with friends and waited in line for the doors to open so we could start rockin’ and enjoying a night of awesome metal.

The doors open and we headed inside. First band on was Legacy Of Disorder. They’re from New Zealand. I had never heard them before but they rocked. Spoke to the guitarist after the show and told him to contact me about the magazine. We should feature them cos they’re so close to home.

Ghoul took to the stage next and mate… These guys were wild! Technical death metal ala Cannibal Corpse playing with some punk style thrown in. Very fuckin’ cool. They had some crew that brought out props that shot out blood. Was awesome and they impressed me so much that I bought a t-shirt. Great band. Check them out if you like the bands I mentioned.

Party thrashers, Municipal Waste, hit the stage next. What a band! You know what you’re getting with these guys. Just straight up old school 80′s thrash metal with songs about partying and slam dancing. The crowd went nuts with circle pits and the wall of death. That was brutal.

I then went backstage and got some quick random candid snaps of GWAR in their stage get-up. I was then advised I could photograph for the first 3 songs. The blood started spraying from the first chord and the whole area around me became slippery. The crowd was covered in fake blood and the band were rockin’ it, bigtime. I was trying to take photos AND keep my balance from the slippery floors. Not an easy task but I succeeded and got some rad photos in the process. After my 3 songs were up, I got out of there and headed to the back and still managed to get covered in blood.

The venue, MoJoe’s, is not exactly a big place so there really wasn’t anywhere to stand where you didn’t get covered in blood… except maybe the merch desks.

All up, it was an awesome night. Rhea got completely drenched in blood and I was only half drenched. Either way, we both had to change our clothes for the drive home. Good times!

Woke up early the next day and headed to the airport for a flight to Vegas. Rhea wanted to see the desert, the mountains and the grand canyon. We landed at 9am and headed to the strip for some breakfast. We then checked in and slept because we had 2 hours sleep due to GWAR and getting ready to head to the airport. Woke up later and walked down the strip before realising the time was 1am and time for sleep as my friend, Corinna, offered to take us to the mountains the next day.

Woke up and Corinna and her daughter, Kyler, picked us up and took us to Mount Charleston and the elevation there was 7000+ feet. Was pretty awesome. The views were incredible and it was good to see Corinna again. I miss my friends in other countries and I am so stoked to see them again. Just wish time wasn’t so short. Around 5:30 pm, we returned to the hotel, ate Asian food for dinner and slept due to exhaustion.

Woke up on the Wednesday and I headed to Record City. Not a bad store, a bit overpriced on some things but I did find some cool records. The thing I find with some record stores is that these records will stay there, on the shelves or in the racks for years because no one is going to pay ridiculous prices for records when there is eBay and online stores that are cheaper. Just my thoughts.

We then got ready to head out to play KISS mini golf. Yeah, we did that. We arrived and got our clubs and played. This place, I must say, was a bunch of fun. How could you not have fun playing KISS themed mini golf? They play non-stop KISS tunes and you play mini golf that glows in the dark while you try to putt the ball, winding your way around boots, drums, guitars and even hitting the ball up Gene’s tongue (of course you do). It was pretty cool. We then finished our time there with about 10 games of air hockey, all of which I lost (although I kicked Rhea’s ass at mini golf). We then visited the KISS merchandise shop and I wanted pretty much everything in there. I walked away with a coffee mug and an Ace Frehley golf ball… And why not?T

We then ate food at the Hard Rock Cafe across the road and had the best meals. So awesome! At this time, I spoke with Corinna’s friend, Blas (the drummer from Slaughter), as he had the hook-up for half price tickets to see the Blue Man Group for the 10pm show that night. Awesome! It was on.

We headed to the Venetian, got our tickets and enjoyed the show. I still think they use plants in the audience though for the late arrivals joke and the person they get on stage. That’s just my theory anyway. Inside goss is that all the shows use planted audience members, anyway. From there we returned to our hotel to sleep as we had an early start. 

Woke up, checked out of our hotel, got the bus to the airport, rented a car, and hit the open road for the Grand Canyon. Took around 5 hours to get there but was well worth the visit. This site is incredible and well worth your time. It’s a beautiful place to see and the views are breathtaking. We were there for about 2 hours before we had to start heading back. We decided we need to go back here and stay a night or 2 and hike through the Canyon. I hope we can make this happen. 

On the way back, we stopped off at the Flintstones hotel for photos (it is exactly what you would think: Bedrock). Arriving back into Vegas we hit up the old Vegas area, took in some sites and returned the car and checked in to head back to Chicago.

Didn’t sleep at all on the flight back as per usual, I was terrified of the stormy weather and the fact that when we were descending, I was looking out the window only to see lightning flashes amongst the clouds. Yeah, I was freaking out. Still, we landed safely and here I am writing to you now. Have pretty much slept since getting home yesterday. We did have plans to see M-Pire Of Evil which is a metal band with 3 dudes who were once in Venom but i didn’t hear back regarding my interview request so we didn’t go and instead we ordered pizza, I watched BMX BANDITS on Netflix, and then we fell asleep.

More soon…

Andrew WK in Milwaukee plus more…

 

Yesterday, Rhea and I headed to Milwaukee to see Andrew WK perform his I Get Wet album in its entirety. We Got to Milwaukee about 5pm and checked in to our hotel; the Ambassador Hotel, which turned out just perfect as it was no more than a minutes walk to the AWK show at The Rave. The hotel was nice even though some of the reviews online weren’t so favourable. We had no complaints. Everything was just fine. We relaxed for a while before getting some Taco Bell for dinner. Good stuff! Cheap tacos for dinner… What could possibly go wrong? Thankfully for us, nothing. We chowed down on our food and headed to the gig. We walked in and the gig was downstairs in some crazy underground lookin’ bar. It was kinda cool. Decent sound and stage size and upon walking in, we were given free tickets to see Janes Addiction the following night. Um, let’s put this into perspective… Did the tickets sell that badly for this show that they have to give away 2 tickets to every person who walks through the door or were we just lucky? Not that I care cos Janes Addiction aren’t my thing at all but still, you’d think these guys would be pretty popular.

The first act on was some rap rock electronica one man show called Alestair X… or something. Not my thing at all.

Next was Math The Band. Another band mixing electronica and rock. The difference being that they are a 2 piece band and have a minimal drum kit (one drum and one cymbal). They were ok; again, not my thing but the kids dug ‘em!

Next up was Andrew WK. They were celebrating the 10 year anniversary of his I Get Wet album and for this special occasion, they were playing it in its entirety. From the moment they started, the crowd went nuts. It was insane! As he tore through the album by song after song, I was getting so exhausted. I mean, I was just standing there but watching AWK is enough to tire you out. He played an additional 8 songs to the album, finishing with We Want Fun, of course. By the time this song was coming to an end, it seemed like a third of the audience was on stage with him. Now, I don’t mind people stage diving at shows but I really don’t understand those who jump on stage with the whole “hey, look at me!” thing going on. I mean, dude, really, if you wanna be on stage, start a fuckin’ band! Still, I was not going to let these jerks ruin my  night. After the show we returned to our hotel and crashed.

Waking up the next day (today), we were greeted with some dreary weather. The fog was thick and intense… At almost 11am. Crazy! We headed off to a diner called Katie’s diner as apparently it was inspired by Happy Days. It looked nothing like Arnold’s but their pancakes are awesome breakfast. Was a good feed.

From their we headed to Value Village which is a giant thrift store; then Vortex comics so Rhea could get some more study materials (ie. comics). I picked up some Halloween comics (yeah, like the horror movies) so I can use the art for a Michael Myers tattoo. Yep.

We also hit up Collectors Edge comics and some record stores. We went to Rushmore records which was all new stock which was a shame. I did grab the self titled album by The Goodnight Album though but that was it. Headed to Rushmore Records after that which was filled with second hand records as well as new stuff. Bought a good amount of stuff on the cheap there so that was exciting. Got some Journey records that I didn’t have, a rare Radio Birdman limited release, a Dubrovniks album, and a couple 12″ singles by the Ramones and the Nomads. Not a bad day at all.

To finish off our time in Milwaukee, we went and did the obligatory photos at the Fonz statue. Yes, Milwaukee has a bronze statue of Arthur Fonzarelli from the show, Happy Days. Got the photos, smiles all round, we left. Got on to the highway and headed back to Chicago.

On the way home we stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. It’s a castle shaped building that houses… Yep, you guessed it… Cheese! I grabbed some chocolates from there cos I’m random like that. Oh, and cos I love chocolate. These were über tasty too!

Once back in Chicago, we had dinner at a place called Gino’s. It’s a deep dish pizza place and we had a cheese pizza. The waitress thought I was from England and when I told her that I was Australian, she told me that was even cooler. I guess not many Aussies visit Rolling Meadows. Regardless, I did and the food was delish! Yumbo!

We returned home from that and Rhea fell asleep pretty quickly. I am now sitting up awake writing this at 2:02am and technically I should be sleeping cos I never get a decent sleep. I mean, I should be able to sleep but this cold I caught keeps fucking with me. Coughing and spluttering. So annoying.

ANYWAY… Tomorrow I am off to interview Oderus Urungus from the band GWAR before their show tomorrow night. Good times! Let’s rock!

Time to sleep. Thanks for reading.

Reckless records and deep dish pizza = awesome day

Today was awesome. Rhea and I headed to Chicago to have a meal at Chinatown and then head to the other side of Chicago to go record shopping at Reckless Records on North Milwaukee Avenue. We headed down that way and parked and walked towards Quimbys which is an awesome zine and alternative bookstore, kinda like what Polyester is only this one is a lot bigger. I bought myself some issues of Cometbus to read which is still one of my favourite zines and a huge inspiration of Long Gone Loser; mainly for its passion. Heaps happy. Then we headed around the  corner to Reckless Records where I found so many amazing records at cheap prices. It’s awesome! A vinyl junkie’s heaven. Picked up stuff as cheap as $1. Lots of 7″ vinyl as well as LPs. Heaps good! I really dig shopping at Reckless Records. They always have a great selection of stuff and they always have 80′s metal albums going out for $1 or $2. Rhea bought a Mercyful Fate album and I picked up 28 different items. Yowzers! Not a bad effort at all. Stoked!

For dinner we went to a place called Uno’s which had nothing to do with the card game. Nope, not at all. But it did serve deep dish pizza and that is what we wanted. We ordered a pepperoni pizza and it was awesome. Yay!

Tomorrow we are off to Milwaukee to see Andrew WK live for his I Get Wet 10th Anniversary show. Heaps good! Then we are record shopping there before coming home.

Good times!

The Volo Auto Museum, Illinois

Today was a good day. Woke up and headed to the mall and went through the records at a Hot Topic. It was quite a horrible experience. Not the best shop to go shopping for records in but I was killing time while Rhea was busy at University. From Hot Topic I went to a Lego store and bust this; they now have ninja Lego! It’s the coolest shit ever! I would consider buying ninja Lego if I was ever going to get back into it. Which I’m not so no ninja Lego for me.

ANYWAY, after Rhea was done we headed to the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois. This place was a must see for many reasons. Price was $11.90 per person and it gets you admission to the four car showrooms (freakin’ awesome) and the military showroom (big deal). We headed in and were greeted by some rad cars including the Dragula from The Munsters, the Mach 5 from Speed Racer, The car from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the car from the Dr Seuss movie, just to name a few.

The next showroom was full of awesome American muscle cars and they were all for sale. I was so excited and if I had a lazy $25,000 – $50,000 lying around, I would definitely have bought a new ride. This shit was wild! GTO’s, bitchin’ Camaros, Trans Am’s, Chevys, etc. you get the idea, it was amazing.

The next 2 showrooms had more cars for sale but also cars from Hollywood productions of tv and film including: KITT from Knight Rider, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, the Delorean from Back To The Future, the Ghostbusters car, and the original Barris custom Batmobile which, mind you, looks fuckin’ amazing up close… I want one! There was also the General Lee from The Dukes Of Hazzard, Elton John’s piano hotrod, a Decepticon cop car from the Transformers movies, and probably the most epic car of them all; the blues mobile from the Blues Brothers. I was wrapped! My fave movie! I wanted that car.

After seeing all the amazing cars, the Volo museum also houses an antique mall. This shit has to be seen to be believed. Thousands of rare toys, comics, ornaments, furniture, statues, household items, electrical appliances, etc. all for sale! I didn’t buy anything, even though I really wanted to. It was amazing. There was just sooooo much stuff spread out through the 4 malls. By the end of it all, we were knackered and needed food.

Fratellos was the place chosen for lunch. It’s a hotdog place that makes traditional USA styled hotdogs and mate, they were tasty as! I was must fulfilled.

Spent the evening relaxing and watching Futurama. Dunno what the plans are for tomorrow but let’s see what happens.

So far so good…

I still hate flying!!!!

So on Sunday night we headed to this great place called the Slidebar as my friend, Sal, was playing a show with his band, Electric Frankenstein. I hadn’t seen him or his band in 10 years (the last time was at Nottingham Rock City; funnily enough, it was the same day that the Wildhearts recorded their Vanilla Radio music video at the Distortion Festival which I also attended and just to be ‘that guy’, I also ended up IN the video. My stupid face goes bouncing past the screen). ANYWAY, I have visited the Slidebar once before just briefly in 2009 but never got to see a show there. For those not in the know, it’s this cool rock n roll bar owned by the guys from the band Lit. If you don’t know them, don’t stress as I don’t think they were a big deal in Australia even though I do like them. ANYWAY, it’s in Fullerton, Orange County and has a really cool and relaxed vibe. So many great bands have played there and there’s some great photos and memorabilia hung up on the walls from the likes of Green Day, Butch Walker, Lit, and Social Distortion (of course, it’s Orange County after all, right?), just to name a few.

First band up was the band Blank Expressions. They were a female fronted punk rock band. Kinda like 70′s New York punk and they finished their set with a faithful cover of Motörhead’s R.A.M.O.N.E.S. Not bad at all; Motörhead songs always sit well with me.

The Cornfed Project were up next and these guys kicked some serious ass. Southern styled blues rock n roll with hot guitar licks, riffs and beards. I bet they drive pick-up trucks. Seriously, a top rate band. I wanted to buy some merch but all they have so far is an ep on iTunes. If you’re digitally converted, I would recommend checking them out. They also rocked their set with a cover of the KISS classic, Deuce. Nice!!!

The Bourbon Saints took the stage next and they had this kinda rockabilly meets bar dude look about them but when they played, they filled out their songs with these amazing Iron Maiden styled dual guitar harmonies. Was pretty awesome. I need their vinyl. Sadly, they did not have such things for sale.

Electric Frankenstein took the stage next and rocked it. Playing all their ‘hits’ and a few covers including AC/DC’s High Voltage and The Ramones’ / Heartbreakers debatable tune, Chinese Rocks. They were pretty awesome. All the EF tunes you know and love; Electrify Me, Action High, Get Off My Back, Speed Girl, etc. were totally rocked as hard as they could which wasn’t a bad effort considering they had a new bass player learning the ropes and Sal is still recovering from a pretty hardcore surgery. Top notch, soldier!

They finished with a stripped back solo version of You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory. Was good to see them again and they even dedicated a song to me because I was wearing my Aerosmith hat. See, everyone loves Aerosmith.

Yesterday I just relaxed a lot and watched the tv station that has hard rock and metal on it all day. Caught a Rush documentary and the Evolution Of Metal on glam rock. Yeah, of course I did. Side note: when I worked for Foxtel, I worked in disconnections and one of the main reasons people disconnected was the amount of repeats. Well I can tell you now, my friends, the USA is no different. They repeat everything just as much, if not more, AND they have shitloads of annoying adverts about suing people or getting cash advances. Seriously, you Foxtel customers don’t realise how lucky you have it… for the moment. I’m sure it will change in time too.

ANYWAY, when my friend Aurora finished work, we headed to Black Hole records. It’s a vintage shop in Fullerton that has tons of old clothes and a heap of rare records that sadly were just as overpriced as their new stock. I was totally bummed out over the $40 price tag for Social Distortion albums. I mean, I get that they are Orange County’s pride and joy but really, the records should be cheaper because of this. Still though, I found a heap of good stuff in the bargain bin and snapped them up. I think I have found my next review for HEAVY magazine’s Unveiling The Wicked column that I write each issue (that’s a plug, my friends). I also picked up a Dwarves picture disc of How To Make Friends and Influence People for $20 so was heaps stoked. Now all I need is Sugarfix on vinyl and I have the set! Love the Dwarves.

For dinner, Aurora, Nick and myself headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Fullerton. They had chicken paramagiana on the menu so of course I had to try that and compare it to the way us Aussies do it. Well, my friends, the USA is not as skilled as the Aussies in the parma department. This was tasty, don’t get me wrong, but this was so small (about the size of a chicken kiev or something) and they served it with spaghetti. Yeah, spaghetti. Spaghetti and a chicken parma. What an odd mix. No chips either. So bizarre. Still, was good tasty food nonetheless.

Woke up at 5am this morning to get to the airport as I had to get to Chicago. It was only 4 hours and I forgot my sleeping tabs so guess who suffered anxiety or 4 hours straight? Yeah, this guy. My situation wasn’t helped by the fct that next to me, this douchebag kept his phone on, checking his Facebook and commenting on photos of girls in bikinis, right up til the plane actually took off from the tarmac. What a dick! Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE flying more than anything else, techno dance doof doof included, and on this flight we hit some really rough bumpy patches. I just kept saying to myself over and over: “turbulence has never brought a plane down”. I am sure the people around me knew I was terrified. I fuckin’ was! Seriously, I felt my heart racing at speeds I was unaware my heart could race at. I should have driven to Chicago. Believe me, that sounds like it would be a lot more fun than it sounds. I’ll do anything to not deal with the feeling of experiencing turbulence on a plane. Besides, I like road trips. I had Venom playing on my iPod to keep me company while the plane was rocked and rolled. Venom always seem to help calm me down, if only just a little bit. Thanks Cronos!

Well at least I don’t have to fly again for a week. Still though, that will come all too quickly.

Chicago is as cool as usual. Rhea got me from the airport and all is good and well. We headed to her house and lazed it up for a while before heading out to a place that was lazily named Half Priced Books and Records. Well at least you know what you’re getting. Snagged a ZZ TOP album I didn’t have for $3 and a book by Joe R Lansdale that I haven’t read yet. Awesome!

It is now the middle of the night. I cannot sleep because Rhea’s gorgeous and adorable bunny rabbit is moving around in it’s cage and keeping me awake. I can’t be mad at it cos she’s so cute.

Ok, she’s settled down a bit now, will try sleep. Goodnight friends.

City Walk, Wondercon and FEAR….

 

Yesterday we went to the City Walk at Universal Studios. The weather was pretty shit so we didn’t do the studios tour. Still, the walk was cool as and I snapped up some goodies. We got home and just relaxed for the night.

 

Today we headed to Wondercon. For those not in the know, Wondercon is a comic / sci-fi / action figure / cult movie lovers dream. It’s also known as the smaller sister of the San Diego Comic Con which is like the biggest deal in the comic world. I had an awesome time. It was pretty wild.  I got to meet Cassandra Petersen (aka Elvira), Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Movies fame, and the now infamous Adrienne Curry. She is a babe! I was filmed by some film crew when I met her so I dunno where that will end up but yay me! I bought some shirts and stuff and left a happy dude. This place was so much fun. Seeing everyone dressed in Cosplay was pretty wild. I took photos of random people dressed up and got my photos with someone dressed up as Wonder Woman and some other Japanese anime characters. If you have never been to such an event, I recommend checking it out. When I booked this trip, I didn’t have Wondercon on my schedule but my friends asked me to go. Once I saw Elvira was gonna be there, I figured it’s a must do. Yep. Good times!

 

After Wondercon we headed to the Observatory to see FEAR play their album, The Record, in its entirety. It’s pretty much Lee Ving and a whole different backing band but it was most enjoyable.

 

Today was awesome. Can’t wait to do it all again at San Diego Comicon someday.