LucSulla

I was lucky enough to catch Pantera back in the day and saw Damage Plan a few months before Dime got shot. A local band named Lambotomy opened for them, and Dime and crew brought them all back out for the encore and played a bunch of Pantera songs with them. I kinda knew Lambotomy, and they were just floored to have the chance. I won't pretend to like everything Vinnie did after Dime passed, but those guys truly did love rock 'n' roll. And Far Beyond Driven was a balls-out metal album at a time when everyone was going radio friendly or grunge. I guess somewhat ironically, given the fact that extreme metal was thought dead by 94, it's probably the heaviest album to ever hit No. 1 on Billboard, a rare example of a band getting heavier in that decade and actually doing better business. I never knew those guys personally, but I had lots of friends over the years who had run ins with them via their father, Jerry Abbott. By all accounts, they were just like the rest of us who grew up on rock and loved it. Tragedy that such a light-hearted bunch of dudes that got off on Kiss and practical jokes finished their story like this.

"Eric looks so sad. What can we do?" "Here, put this necklace on him. It will make him seem more festive."

I'm here until June 27 teaching and wrangling American college students.

I've got several that clearly have a crush on me already. I have to be careful they don't know which bar that I'm at. One found me last night, and it was ...uncomfortable.

Nice story, with one exception. You totally missed the opportunity for a thread called, "Coping in Koping." 😄

Beat me to it! Haha... Just saw this pop up on my feed.

I'm going to throw Clutch on this list despite their being a good argument that they are perhaps too big for this thread. Here is my counter argument: If you're into hard rock, you probably know them, but otherwise, you probably don't. The reason why I nominate them to the thread is that in the mid-00s, they basically got dropped off the indie label they were on at the time, had the opportunity to reclaim their masters, and have gone it alone ever since. They have their own label, produce their own albums, handle their merch, and handle their touring. Financially, they were never really that successful they've said in interviews until they did this. If you look at their wiki, their albums have steadily done better since they've been on their own. Like I say, if you are into hard rock, you are probably familiar, but I find most people have no idea who they are. For instance, in Oxford, Lettuce is waaaaay more well known than Clutch. Placing them with the bands mentioned on YouTube, they do about twice the business of Lettuce, about the same business that Reckless Kelly does, and about 1/3 the business of Flogging Molly's more popular vids. I have a Clutch shirt I wear often, and I know two things due to it: 1. Most people have no idea it's a band. 2. A surprising number of people are really interested in owning a shirt that has an automobile part labeled on the front.

Thought I would make one of these for when it is late and I (or anyone else who has mental diarrhea) decide to post passing thoughts that I am sure everyone is just DYING to see posted. I walked in tonight after having a few drinks out on the town, looked at my hamers quietly resting in their stand, and was totally stoked that I own such instruments. I think I may play myself to sleep on the couch on one of them.

My Charvel CS is working its way up to #1 status.

I dig that, a lot. @Steve Haynie - Love Scorpion Child. I regret not crossing paths with them and Dixie Witch in Austin back when we were doing a lot of the same thing. It never seemed like there were any good hard rock bands around in 2005-2010, then I move and find out that two new favs were in my backyard.

It's always been funny to me that people think they have a right to tell someone how they should have died, especially with a disease like HIV. HIV took someone from my family about 25 years ago, and just dying with a shred of dignity was a full time job back before treatment regimes improved. I don't think people who weren't alive before the AIDS cocktail made it a treatable illness really have the first clue how truly horrible it was. I don't know why Freddie didn't go public, but I don't feel like it was his job the de-stigmatize a disease that was handled with a complete lack of empathy for years by the powers that be. The guy was a musician and wanted to make music until the very end I think, and being the life he was losing was his, that was his right. It was going to take a Magic Johnson to really make any impact on the public's perception of the disease I think. While many would have been sad and it would have "raised awareness," I don't know to what end. Freddie was a larger than life personality whose public persona seemed to revel in hedonism even if that didn't quite line up with who he was away from Queen. As such, I can't imagine your average suburbanite in the States back in the late 80s saying, "Oh my! Anyone can get this! Even Freddie Mercury has it!" However, since that trailer came out, I've been shocked by how many people from how many walks of life truly love that band. I had friends share that trailer on Facebook who I never would have expected to love Queen. Hell, I didn't even know some of them liked music! Damned near everyone I know doesn't have just a favorite Queen song, they have a Queen song that is one of their favorite songs! Even today, when I tell students the story behind the vocal tracking for "The Show Must Go On" and play it for them, it always moves some of them to tears. I guess where I come down on it is that Freddie spending his final days as a martyr may have had some limited impact, but his spending them continuing to make music left something far more lasting as it all shakes out.

Billy Duffy is accidentally more cool before 8 a.m. than most nation's entire Cool GDP.

I was just there a week ago. Not the worst place, but not the best place. Someone local said that's pretty much what they shoot for, haha. RTA is pretty good for getting around, and I mostly ate my way through town in my down time. Balaton over at Shaker Square has killer Hungarian/German fare. Etna in Little Italy was a really good meal. That area is pretty cool actually. I ended up buying a cigar the Mayfield Smokeshop and wandering around up there on a pleasant evening. Otani on Euclid near Tower Center is good if you dig Ramen, and that 4th street black that runs between Euclid and Prospect has lots of out door dining and pubs. I actually did quite enjoy the RRHoF, and I willing to bet the science museum next to it is pretty cool as well.

I've been to see him twice and was damned glad the second time was with the whole horn line and everything. Sturgill is a well known quantity by a lot of us here, believe it or not. I can't find them, but he's come up on a few threads. I know I've posted a few of his vids up before.

You should watch the vid. The 7-string is definitely the most useful part, haha.

If you haven't seen it already.

I never realized how much "Crazy Train" sounds like the theme from Halloween until now.

Thanks! We're still not as rehearsed as I would like, but I think the band has a lot of potential.

😂

If you listen carefully, you can here Henry J.'s acoustic voice from wherever you are.

Here's a really out-there version of Cheap Sunglasses. I've been mixing and throwing stuff under a crappy phone vid all day. I think this is pretty interesting.

OK, now you can see it.

Hear a Shishkov in action.