kevinbower1959

Forgot to mention that the expected audience for Hyde Park will top 50,000 ..... Edited to add - and being a Limey, I totally forgot that it's INDEPENDENCE DAY for Chrissakes ..

I'm in. How about London Hyde Park on July 4th playing alongside Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Faith No More and Motorhead? Or ship it to Alicante for August 16 where we have a show with Michael Schenker, Behemoth and Arch Enemy. Or another 6-week European tour starting November 2? Or a bunch of stuff in between times depending on availabilty. Either way, I'll add to the case candy ....

I know I posted this before, but for anyone who hasn't seen it - the 'Weapons Of Choice' used for tracking our second album; Left to right; My 4-digit #0204 - 95% of everything you'll hear was tracked on this. It sings. Andy's 2012 ESP LTD Nergal Signature 7-string - used to add grunt in a few places Andy's 2013 DBZ Cavallo ST-FR Andy's 2012 ESP Edwards Custom Shop V Andy's 2013 ESP Custom Shop Andy Sneap Signature V, with a flame top Hamer would have been proud of, plus a titanium Floyd My '08 Standard Custom.

Wow. I feel like I just spent two years writing a killer original album for nothing. Without the brave pioneers who stake their claim to be different and innovative, we'd have nothing to inspire us, excite us and have our jaws on the floor. Guys in my fortunate position would also be swallowing up the dozens of free guitars I get offered, instead of sticking to my guns and wearing a minority instrument from a dead manufacturer.

Any modern metal band who advertise the fact that they belong to a specific 'genre' are by definition unoriginal, lame copyists with no creativity or musical direction/ideas of their own. Just by reading the ad copy I can tell you EXACTLY what these guys will look like and EXACTLY what they will sound like. They'll have the right tattoos, the right T-shirts, the right cutoffs, the right sneakers and the right sideways haircuts. They'll play exactly the same done-to-death blastbeats and growled vocals, along with the same swept arpeggios - exactly the same as hundreds of other no-hopers - and collectively represent a microcosm of everything which is wrong with metal in 2013. Line 6 won't be acceptable because it isn't kewl enough. Just sayin'

So sorry about the live stream screwup guys. The whole thing was a technical nightmare virtually from start to finish - which was a disappointment especially for our crew guys who had somehow managed to rig that entire stage set and pyros in 18 minutes flat - a miraculous achievement even by their standards. The live sound at the event was utterly flawless, and it's disappointing for us hearing the godawful temporary stream mix which is the inevitable result of some poor guy sat in an outside broadcast truck who suddenly gets 48 channels of unmixed audio thrown at him - in the knowledge that it's going out real-time live as he scrambles to fix it.. Stuff like this is pretty typical of the mega-pressure of a festival environment where 15 or 20-minute changeovers between bands are the norm. We (our crew, monitors and FOH guy) deal with it on a weekly basis and we're pretty good at hitting the ground running. But you then factor in two extra set of feeds and patches which are going out live......... The only saving grace is that the second set of feeds were for Scuzz TV, who had the foresight to actually record the feeds on ProTools, so at some point there will be a version of this with decent audio on it. Anyways - here's the disaster timeline as I know it; 1330 We get the 5-minute call from stage management 1333 Our intro runs, just as Scott (our guitar tech) tidies up the backstage prop area. He picks up my 4-digit spare to check the tuning, and somehow manages to turn on the radio transmitter which is plugged into it as he walks around carrying the guitar. That's the strange grunting guitar sound you can hear at the beginning over the intro. 1334 Our FOH guy realises exactly what's happened and mutes my guitar through the PA, but it's still being fed to the outside broadcast truck which is why you can hear it on the video stream. I also realise what's happened and go running backstage desparately trying to find Scott. By this time, our 'acolyte monks' already have the stage fires burning. With seconds to spare, the transmitter's turned off, Scott radios FOH and they unmute my guitar with around 4 seconds to spare as we walk out onstage in front of 12,000 people. Shit happens.... 1335 The show starts. The audio's horrible (mostly bass and vox) but the guy in OB starts to fix it. 1343 A mosh pit starts up near the sound tower. Someone falls over a security barrier and the barrier's steel leg digs into the ground, rupturing the sleeving on the broadcast multicore which is buried 6 inches deep in the soil, and breaking the master earth return line. The buzz starts. The broadcast guys frantically try to figure what's gone wrong. 1350 They give up and pull the plug. Here it is in all its horrific glory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNxkz_YC5bg The good news is that everyone at the show was totally unaware of all of the above. The got 60kW's worth of monster audio and the Hell show they'd come to see. We're already runaway leaders in the 'performance of the festival' polls and we broke all records in merch sales - a sure sign of a good time being had. Apologies again that my HFC buddies couldn't share in this. Best wishes Kev

Hey guys, Since a US tour still hasn't happened yet.... We're playing Bloodstock Open Air tomorrow (Saturday 10th) - along with King Diamond, Accept, Exodus, Slayer, Anthrax, Lamb Of God and dozens of others. It's the UK's biggest metal festival and we hit the mainstage at around 13.35 UK time. The event is being live streamed - so grab a few beers and tune in; http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12kc97_live-steam-bloodstock-festival-2013_music Best wishes

A thing of beauty and wonder indeed. Happy for you, bud

This. TOTALLY THIS. Great job Zen. A coupla Super V orders coming SD's way from the UK

Looking through the websites posted as suggestions by stratacus and many other of you guys, I can well believe it. They all look fantastic - what a selection, and a real eye-opener for us Brits who always assumed that American beer started and ended in MIlwaukee. Just in case anyone was wondering how come the band has its own beer - here's my kid brother's microbrewery..... http://www.northstarbeers.co.uk/

OK - I know it's not American, but I had to add this. It's the band's own beer. At our last show, we sold 9 UK kegs at the venue bar (about 630 pints) We're bottling this from August onwards - so PM me your address and I'll throw some samples in the mail. Same goes for any other HFC member who fancies a super-strong traditional black English ale made with 6 different malts. Note to belgian - you'd like this. Think of a micro-brewed, slightly sweeter Leffe bruin or one of the darker triple Trappist beers from your great country, and you'll be on the right track..... http://s433.photobucket.com/user/kevinbower1959/media/6d25c633-b062-47f6-bb66-b51e05d27cb9_zps3082cb9d.jpg.html'>

Based on this I'd avoid him. Every deal I've entered with so much back story has turned into a problem, whether it being shipping delays, overstated condition to flat out never shipping the item. His life is in turmoil and you are low on his list of issues to get to. I was thinking the same thing as I read it. Agreed. I would avoid it. Me too, I'd run a mile from that. It reads like the text from a Nigerian email scam. WHY would anyone tell that deeply personal stuff to a total stranger?

That's great!!

I saw a reddish V-shaped guitar and immediately did this......... I then realised exactly what it was and did this........ Only you, buddy - only you. It's REALLY cool.

Beautiful - congrats to you and kudos to Greg for helping it happen. When you get bored with it, just remember who offered you $350 first. This is now committed in writing......