Had a great time on Saturday night. Local Metaller's 'Hero's Last Rite' invited me up to perform a cover song with them. It was quite an honor has the guys in the band are no novices. Tim Gorman in particular, who was an inspiration and local idol in my early forays into the local music scene. Despite being a "metalhead", Tim joined local Hard Core punk rock hero's Neighborhood Watch. I used to sit on the stairs at their jam house and watch them practice, picking up tips and ideas for promoting and having a successful band.
Years later when I was playing in Dreamkick, at one show a young lad named Steve MacDonald asked me for some advice on having a band. Though I don't recall this particular encounter with Steve, I apparently was very nice, very open about my advice to him. Talking a few months ago, Steve offered up the idea of coming up and doing a song with them. I was totally gungho for the idea from the start.
I started reallly practicing the SLAYER song from Season's in the Abyss, right after coming back from my 'staycation' at my Bro's place in Saint John. I've known the song for years, I listened to it from the year the album came out and it's one of those songs that's in your head, you know the words (or at least you think you do) like your second hand.
Back in Dreamkick days, we used to play some 30 songs a night, memorizing a lot of them took a lot of time and practice. I tried to combine some old methods with some new methods of practicing the song to get it into my head. I didn't want to make myslef look like a total ass and novice on stage with these guys, for their sake and mine. I went online to see if i could find a copy of the track minus the vocals. I didn't quite find what I wanted, but came across this young guitar players "version" of War Ensemble". It's not the best quality, but I wasn't looking for quality here. I wanted to practice singing the song without falling back on Tom Araya's vocals. This guys video did just the trick! I had written the lyrics out 3 times over a couple days. Listened to the song back to back pretty much when i was out with Alita.
Steve and I had talked about me rehearsing the song at the bands last practice for the show. That didn't pan out, so we left it to their sound check to run through it.
The band didn't have their sound check until about 9:30 at the bar, "The cellar". By that time, quite a few people were in the bar (not necessarily for the bands) and we didn't really announce what was going down when I did the practice run through. So needless to say, the rehearsal was pretty much a train crash, monitors not working, causing people to not hear where they were made the song anything but smooth.
I had to laugh at 10:30 when the HLR took to the stage and Steve was singing for them. People who had been around for my "run through" were probably thinking, "Jeeez, good thing they got rid of that other guy!!" But after HLR's song 'I Am Atomic', I was back on stage and we ripped through the song which went A LOT smoother than the practice... My mic cord was snagged under other cables and around the corner of the monitor, so I ended up, kinda hunched over for most of the song. I didn't want to derail my thoughts with freeing up the mic cord in my thought's over the song's lyrics. But we did it! You can see the clips my friend Jen took here. So far no photo's have surfaced. I didn't bring my cam, as my friends that were going would much rather be boppin around, head banging instead of the duty of capturing the performance and protecting my camera. The only crappy thing about the vid is the sound quality.
Finally and I'll say it, Spring has sprung. I believe we've left the temperatures of -10 and below behind. Temps have still been cool, but it's been because of the North wind trying to maintain it's strangle hold on warm weather. we've had some nice Sunny days, but the temps of +5 have been pushed to below freezing because of that damned wind! Sunnier warmer days are ahead.
There's been no headway in the Type II collagen search yet. Kinda back burnered it until I got back from my Bro's and had also hoped to have my Y gym pass, but some stupid fuckery of course has thrust a blade into that hip. So in the next few days here, I'm going to try and nail down the pass, I've got to go see my Doc and it's that time of month to pay bills (I've got bill phobia), I'm scared to open my power bill, but it should be less than the last months. I'm pretty sure that if I could get a portable furnace like my Bro has, I could really reduce costs here and actually not have to move out. We'll see what the Spring brings. University's almost out, so some places around should free up soon. I have to say, I love my neighbors, you couldn't ask for better ones, this place is convenient and really not too shabby.
In April here, my good friend and former bandmate Doug Gibbon and his band Alter Ego are going to be having an "anniversary" gig at the Oromocto legion. Doug had a benefit last year as he battled (and won) a fight against cancer. It was the one that Chris G hooked me up through Skype and I actually "attended" the benefit.
So this show is an anniversary gig. Should be a blast, the Oromocto, Burton, Geary folk know how to have a great time!
Stay cool!
Years later when I was playing in Dreamkick, at one show a young lad named Steve MacDonald asked me for some advice on having a band. Though I don't recall this particular encounter with Steve, I apparently was very nice, very open about my advice to him. Talking a few months ago, Steve offered up the idea of coming up and doing a song with them. I was totally gungho for the idea from the start.
I started reallly practicing the SLAYER song from Season's in the Abyss, right after coming back from my 'staycation' at my Bro's place in Saint John. I've known the song for years, I listened to it from the year the album came out and it's one of those songs that's in your head, you know the words (or at least you think you do) like your second hand.
Back in Dreamkick days, we used to play some 30 songs a night, memorizing a lot of them took a lot of time and practice. I tried to combine some old methods with some new methods of practicing the song to get it into my head. I didn't want to make myslef look like a total ass and novice on stage with these guys, for their sake and mine. I went online to see if i could find a copy of the track minus the vocals. I didn't quite find what I wanted, but came across this young guitar players "version" of War Ensemble". It's not the best quality, but I wasn't looking for quality here. I wanted to practice singing the song without falling back on Tom Araya's vocals. This guys video did just the trick! I had written the lyrics out 3 times over a couple days. Listened to the song back to back pretty much when i was out with Alita.
Steve and I had talked about me rehearsing the song at the bands last practice for the show. That didn't pan out, so we left it to their sound check to run through it.
The band didn't have their sound check until about 9:30 at the bar, "The cellar". By that time, quite a few people were in the bar (not necessarily for the bands) and we didn't really announce what was going down when I did the practice run through. So needless to say, the rehearsal was pretty much a train crash, monitors not working, causing people to not hear where they were made the song anything but smooth.
I had to laugh at 10:30 when the HLR took to the stage and Steve was singing for them. People who had been around for my "run through" were probably thinking, "Jeeez, good thing they got rid of that other guy!!" But after HLR's song 'I Am Atomic', I was back on stage and we ripped through the song which went A LOT smoother than the practice... My mic cord was snagged under other cables and around the corner of the monitor, so I ended up, kinda hunched over for most of the song. I didn't want to derail my thoughts with freeing up the mic cord in my thought's over the song's lyrics. But we did it! You can see the clips my friend Jen took here. So far no photo's have surfaced. I didn't bring my cam, as my friends that were going would much rather be boppin around, head banging instead of the duty of capturing the performance and protecting my camera. The only crappy thing about the vid is the sound quality.
Finally and I'll say it, Spring has sprung. I believe we've left the temperatures of -10 and below behind. Temps have still been cool, but it's been because of the North wind trying to maintain it's strangle hold on warm weather. we've had some nice Sunny days, but the temps of +5 have been pushed to below freezing because of that damned wind! Sunnier warmer days are ahead.
There's been no headway in the Type II collagen search yet. Kinda back burnered it until I got back from my Bro's and had also hoped to have my Y gym pass, but some stupid fuckery of course has thrust a blade into that hip. So in the next few days here, I'm going to try and nail down the pass, I've got to go see my Doc and it's that time of month to pay bills (I've got bill phobia), I'm scared to open my power bill, but it should be less than the last months. I'm pretty sure that if I could get a portable furnace like my Bro has, I could really reduce costs here and actually not have to move out. We'll see what the Spring brings. University's almost out, so some places around should free up soon. I have to say, I love my neighbors, you couldn't ask for better ones, this place is convenient and really not too shabby.
In April here, my good friend and former bandmate Doug Gibbon and his band Alter Ego are going to be having an "anniversary" gig at the Oromocto legion. Doug had a benefit last year as he battled (and won) a fight against cancer. It was the one that Chris G hooked me up through Skype and I actually "attended" the benefit.
So this show is an anniversary gig. Should be a blast, the Oromocto, Burton, Geary folk know how to have a great time!
