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Friday, December 28, 2012

New Years Evil


New Years Eve means parties, good food, and champagne.  In 1998, in Phoenix, it meant Ozzy was going to usher in 1999 for us all!

The baseball stadium, Bank One Ballpark (currently Chase Field), home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, was just completed and opened early in 1998.  Max and I had once snuck on the grounds with Glen LaFerman and did a photo shoot for ESP Guitars, and also for the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood, CA.   We were thrilled when our booking agent contacted us and said Soulfly had been invited to open the show.  It was a huge honor for us to play to our hometown crowd with the great and powerful Ozzy and Black Sabbath.  This was to be the first concert in the ballpark and the media coverage in Phoenix was huge!!!

The days ticked by and soon it was December 31st and we were loading our gear in to the ballpark.  We were stunned by the enormous size once we were inside the stadium.  At the time, the stadium was one of the largest open-air stadiums in the world because of its retractable roof. 

Soulfly was actually going to be the first band to play at Bank One Ballpark.  Our nerves got rattled when one of the band members didn’t show up for soundcheck, and arrived 15 minutes before the set was to begin.  We thought we were going to be forced to cancel the sold out show.  Our nerves were electric.

The wind blew in the missing member, and the show was savage!  The Phoenix crowd welcomed their boys with a roar of affection.  Next up was Slayer, Megadeth, Pantera, and Black Sabbath, so you can imagine how much fun the backstage was that night. 

New Years approached and Ozzy was reeling em’ in, spraying water and mooning with that never ending smile of true love for his people.  Sharon was there, and everyone was like family that night.  We all waited for the countdown, but Ozzy was having so much fun that he blew right past it.  It didn’t matter….we were all too busy swaying with him. 

Get your swagger on……Happy New Years!

Class dismissed.  See you next semester.





Friday, December 21, 2012

Holiday 1990

1990 - It was the day after Thanksgiving.  I had structured a tour for Sepultura, Obituary and Sadus....the SOS TOUR. It took some persuasion to get the tour booked.  Sepultura's previous tour with Faith or Fear had a miserable turnout, and many of the US clubs did not want them back.  I had just done a very successful Sacred Reich tour, so I got on the phone and called the clubs and assured them I would book a proper tour for the Seps and it would pack the venues, that's how I was able to book the dates.  

Sepultura was recording Arise.  They finished in the wee hours of early morning of the first show.  We were jammin for time, and headed to the first gig.

At the venue, I met Obituary and Sadus.  Roadrunner had hired me to tour manage them, since both bands had no one to look after them.  It was a killer tour, and the venues were packed, like I promised.  By the time we got to Phoenix, it was a couple days before Christmas, when the bands arrived at my house, Christina had surprised us and put over 30 stockings on our living room wall!!  One for each band member, each roadie, and our family.  We laughed our butts off when we saw them because it covered the entire wall.  

December 23rd we played in Oakland.  It was the last show of the tour.  It was also Sadus' home town.  Back in the day, we all raged daily and this was going to be the ultimate bash!

I can truly say it was the craziest Sepultura show in all the 7 years I was with them.  Sadus set up scores of mudslide shots in the dressing room.  When we got to the stage, all the amps were covered in shots.  

Chaos broke out during the show, a fight brewed on the side of the stage and it ended up with Max's stack (speaker and amp) getting knocked over, and a visiting member of another band getting thrown down a ramp to the stage. When Max played Black Sabbath twice, it was too much for Andreas and he walked off the stage.  I coaxed him back on just as Max fell over.

We made it to the end, and I was speaking to the promoter arranging to collect the fee.  Max came over and saw me, grabbed Iggor and said "Come on, this dude is fucking with Gloria."  They approached us, but Max suddenly pulled an Exorcist.  He puked on the floor and then belly flopped in it!  I used this as an opportunity to steer Mr. Cash into another corner.  

It wasn't over yet.  The bus driver dropped us all at the Oakland airport, but our tickets were from San Francisco!  By the time we got on the plane to Phoenix, we were dead tired and collapsed in our seats.

On Christmas Day, in Phoenix, Iggor answered a phone call while I was cooking.  We were both in the kitchen.  It was another manager, you all know, calling my house to steal the band!! Iggor laughed and said "no" shaking his head.  We all had a good laugh.  

Merry Christmas!  Class dismissed.......







Friday, December 14, 2012

Max Leaves Sepultura

As you can imagine, December holds many memories for us, some good, some bad.  This week is the 16th anniversary of the last Sepultura show Max performed, and I managed.  

We played Brixton Academy in London on that evening, December 16th.  I knew what was coming for Max and me, but no one else did.  I spent most of the day derailing pranks that people were organizing, to interfere with Max's show.  Thank God I had a confidant on the road who informed me of the shenanigans, and I was able to stop the pranks before they happened.  

We had flown all the kids into the UK, and they were running wild, having a blast.  I was thin, and heart sick because it was only 4 months after Dana had been killed in a car chase.  My mind was on many things that day.  

The highlight of the show was the drum jam.  All our UK friends and our children stormed the stage.  They were all wearing tribal paint that Christina and I had doused them with.  Igor was barely over one year old, so Roxanne held him at the drums.  

Many surprises came later, but the biggest surprise was for Sepultura......not only did I leave, but Max did too.  

Check out the photos courtesy of Mindy Reinstein!!





Friday, December 7, 2012

Paul Stottler


Class today will be about a famous Metal artist who began his career in the 80's. Most of you have heard about Pushead, Metallica's arist. The Bootlegers spawned Paul Stottler, who became Sacred Reich's artist. Who can forget the cover of Surf Nicaraugua?? I still have my shirt!!
I met Paul when he was a teenager, doing a bit of artwork for Sacred Reich--fliers and such. In no time, he was accosted by every local club, concert, or band to design the madness of his fliers. His art was razor sharp!
Paul graduated to tattoo artist and relocated to LA. Before he moved, I got my first tattoo, a demon on a Death Angel flier Paul had drawn. Check it out below! Paul also did some work on Dave Grohl I heard thru the grapevine.
Respect for old school fliers and Mad Hatter artists!!