NAILBOMB!!!! THE DAY OF HATE!!!

June 3, 1995 was finally here!  I wasn't gonna miss that show for anything!  True, in order to be able to get on the plane, I misinformed the airline about how close I was to Igor being born.   I am not sure about the rules now, but in the '90's, it wasn't recommended for pregnant women tp fly during the last month of the pregnancy.   I guess you could say I had a bit of a waddle.  I also had 2 year old Zyon attached to my hip, and Roxanne, and Richie.  Christina was accompanying Alex.  We were all going to Holland to see Nailbomb!

 

 

 

 

At the festival site, the press was  hot on the heals of Max and Alex.  For 2 days they had done every top mag in Europe!  This day they only had a press conference, and after it was over, they brought the 120,000+ fans carpeting the countryside .....as far as your eyes could see...to their knees!!

 

 

  

 

 

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of the Live At the Dynamo DVD of Nailbomb's performance, you will see the ruckus, the fans and yours truly, experiencing one of the sickest sets in Metal History.  This is the stuff legends are made of!!

Class dismissed....

 

NAILBOMB......PLANNING THE DAY OF HATE....PART 3

As was custom with the Dynamo Festivals, many bands were asked to play a small club the night before their festival appearance.  Nailbomb was no exception.  The Club Hollywood, in Eindhoven, was the chosen launchpad.  A tiny, dark club, that would soon be stuffed with fans who were lucky enough to even get a ticket!  There were more people outside the venue, than were inside, that night!

 

 

I really will never forget that brutal show!  When Alex hunched over and started singing Sum of Your Achievements, it was the top of Mt Everest!!  " Everyone knows God Hates," brought me back to our living room and Max recording from the TV.  Feels good to be a punk loser, spilled its rum soaked birth onto the stage.  Even Richie came out, on Cockroaches and I think he was a bit shocked. It was the first stage appearance of his life.  He wasn't on the side any more; he was out front.  When you are 8 years old, the world has a much larger perception to your sponge brain.  You soak it all up, but in a different view than adults have!  I could barely breathe; it was all so heavy.

 

 

That show will always be one of the best gigs I ever witnessed.  The vibe was dark and hateful and hilarious, all at the same time!  The fervor of the fans outside, rolled in like a high tide!  Christina, Roxanne and Richie were all with me near the stage.  We could see Dana in the center of the pit and I could feel Igor nesting in me.   We had all witnessed firsthand, the birth to adulthood of this massive force!  Nailbomb in the house!!!

Class dismissed.....

NAILBOMB... PLANNING THE DAY OF HATE... PART 2

Moving along towards the Dynamo Festival, there was much preparation to do. Choosing the musicians, rehearsals, advancing the show details, flights, gear, you name it, it had to be organized. Nailbomb had never played before so every adjustment had to be carved out. This wasn't goofing off in the nanny's bedroom any more. This was a festival with over 100,000 people! It would be the sum of our achievements!

While I was working on the flights, and preparing the rider, Max and Alex were choosing band members. I would be making laminates for the 2 shows and they were reaching out to musicians. Christina was sorting the merch and show details wth me. It was all unfolding nicely. Because the band was a hate project, we laughed a lot! Seriously! It was all about shock and awe! It was a funny kind of hate, actually. We were disturbed; hate was reality!

Max had a list of musicians compiled. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. Some of the tracks were done on drum machine, so we had to find a drummer who could imitate this precision drumming. We settled on Barry Schneider, a drummer from a South African band named Tribe After Tribe. He was very well known for his click track skills. Peligro from the Dead Kennedys and Iggor Cavalera, would both split drumming on the remaining songs. Dave Edwardson from Neurosis would slam the bass; Rhys Fulbar from Front Line Assembly; would man the keyboards, and Scoot from Doom would add some action!

Next I had to collect the info to send in the rider. For those of you who don't know what that is...it is the list of requirements a band has, to perform a show. It is usually the PA, lights and monitors, security, hotels, things like that. And don't forget the catering info! We have always been pretty simple in our catering. We don't ask for stupid things like a bowl of red M&M's, or round bread. We did have some fun with the Nailbomb catering rider, as you can see. After all, we were in Holland.....

Class dismissed......

NAILBOMB...DAY OF HATE IS BORN

22 years ago, I worked with Andre Verhuysen to bring a band I manage to the Dynamo Festival in Holland. That band was Nailbomb. We never realized or even dreamt that the record, Point Blank, would march through the ages and stay relevant....but it did. In a few months, Max will bring this classic music to the Tribe. The timing is perfect..war, hate, suffering, sorrow. It's all still here, alive and well.

Recently, I found my Nailbomb file from the time of the festival. The next couple weeks, I will show you the behind the scenes, the growth and the reality of the concept of Nailbomb. Here we start off with my schedule that I prepared for the band. It's funny to read the rider and also the rooming list with our fake names! Christina was my partner then and my partner now. Let's time travel, Students!!


Hate is reality!!!

Class dismissed......