Dr. Chud's X-Ward October 25 2007

  One year had passed since we had last seen Dr. Chud. And during that year, I had become addicted! I listened to the cd I had bought at the last show (Diagnosis For Death) non stop all year! Along with his cds with The Misfits and I even bought a cd of his previous band before The Misfits (Sacred Trash) and the Sardonica cd that Sal Bee had given to me. That's it! That's pretty much all I had listened to all year long. I was on such a high! And when they announced the tour for 2007, it got even worse! Especially since there were going to be 2 shows in short driving distance that we would be able to go to.
  As high as I was, I was about to hit my lowest of lows before the first show. 4 days before the show, my Grandmother passed away. I was very close with her. She had pretty much depended on me for everything the last 10 years of her life. She had been in a wheel chair for I'm not sure how long, stricken with  really bad arthritis, and needed help with most everything. Some people look at that as a burden, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. She was not a burden. She was awesome! And I love and miss her very much.
  The last time I saw Dr. Chud, we were able to sit around, have some drinks, and talk. He had told me that his song "Goodbye" was written after he lost his own grandparents. The combination of my endless plays of the album, that story, and what was happening to me right then, planted that song firmly in my brain moments after my grandmother passed.
  She passed on Sunday, the funeral was on Wednesday, and the show was on Thursday. I needed this show. Now more than ever. I needed a little escape for a few hours. So there was no doubt in my mind that I was still going.
  The Show was in South Bend IN (about a 2 hour drive from where I live) and I volunteered to be the designated driver, because drinking in my state of mind would be a disaster. So 6 of us piled into a Jeep and hit the road. As we walked into the venue, we noticed a familiar face sitting at the bar. It was Sal Bee! He wasn't in makeup yet so we all gathered around to shoot the shit before he got ready for the show. There was some commotion off to the side. It was Dr. Chud and the Promoter (?) arguing about something. There was talk that the show might get cancelled! The 2 ladies in our group went up and talked to Chud after this. Now I don't know what was said or if it had any impact on whether the show was canceled or not, but the show would go on!
  The opening bands were some local bands that I had never heard of. They were good, but to be honest, we didn't pay much attention to them. The one thing I remember was that one of the bands were using a large Rubbermaid trash can as a bass drum! I laughed a little when I saw them setting it up, but when he started playing, it sounded pretty good! He killed it! Then came the main event! The showmanship of the opening intro is really fun. Not to many bands go that far. I love it! The ladies that were with us (wives of 2 of the guys with us) were invited "up on stage" (there was no stage, only a drum riser) to be back up dancers.  The X-Ward had a new guitarist this year, I never really got to connect with him (he was more interested in the ladies!). Also, not a new drummer, but a different one from last year. Al X (as he would be called) was the drummer on the album and a member of Sardonica. 2 great musicians along with Chud and Sal Bee, put on a hell of a show! Again, I don't have the setlist for this show, but I'm pretty sure it was the same as the last years show. The difference was that I new all the songs this time. It was a little hard when they played "Goodbye", but I sang along as loud as I could, with a tear in my eye, thinking of my Grandma. Some of the songs didn't quite sit right simply due to the situation I was in. Such as "Bury You Alive". Now normally I would love this song, it was just the timing of it all. That being said, It was a great show!
  After the show, we hung out taking pictures and having stuff signed. I had brought a home made greatest hits cd compiled of Chuds works from some of his other bands as well as X-Ward. It was a hobby of mine. I was tired of buying crappy bootlegs and was trying to see if I could make my own. It definitely looked home made as it was one of the first ones I had done, but Chud loved it and signed it for me. At this time, Someone had told him what I had been going through the past week, and I told him how "Goodbye" really helped me through this. He must have been moved by that because he gave me one of the biggest hugs I had ever received. Sal Bee had to take off early to catch a flight back to NJ. This was his last show on this tour. A new bass player would be joining them for the rest of the tour. We continued to hang out as the band loaded up. This time, we knew it would not be a year before we saw them again. Next up, The Halloween Show one week later. We all piled back into the Jeep and I drove everyone home, I was the only one still awake by the time we got home!
 I brought a camera this time! The smoke machine is great for the ambiance of the show, but it sucks when it comes to photos! Anyway, I still got some great pics

SLAYER!!! May 16 2019

  This was a really fun show! Lets start at the beginning. I first became aware of this show from a facebook post by the venue. Now the original post listed about 15 different bands for the date of July 23 2019. It looked like an awesome lineup, and I shared the post with my concert going friend, but he never replied that he wanted to go. And I didn't push the issue. Then I was talking to my Son in law,  he had saw the same post and reminded me that that was his birthday. So I started thinking, what a great birthday gift. I always try to give the gift of music in one way or another. usually it's in the form of a cd or album. But this was perfect. So I went on my phone right then and there and bought 4 tickets to what I thought was a festival show on July 23. Lawn "seats" were the only thing I was able to purchase, which I don't really care for standing during an entire show (see my previous post). But, I really wanted to get these tickets so I was willing to stand. Bought the tickets, told my daughter and Son in law we were going to this on his birthday and he could bring a friend it's on me.
   After buying the tickets I started doing a little research, and noticed that Slayer were playing on May 16 . It was not a festival. It was a multi event ticket. I had never bought tickets like this before so I really didn't know about these kind of ticket sales. I ended up buying 4 tickets to 4 different shows. And the lineup of bands listed for his birthday were the bands that none of us really knew of or followed. So this was a little disappointing, but now we have 4 shows to go to. Oh well, we'll just have to go and have fun at all of them! Oh darn.For this show I decided to give my friend the fourth ticket. They had decided to purchase another ticket for a friend of there's to go with us as well. The more the merrier.
   This show was on a Thursday, which is a good thing for me since my weekends are actually Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. I work Friday through Monday. So It works out well. But this particular weekend was the same weekend I had planned on celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary. No big deal, I can do both! (side note, we had a blast! My wife is my everything, and I love her more today than I did 25 years ago!) I live in central Indiana. And this show is in central Indiana (Nobelsville) as well. But I was traveling to St. Louis MO for a few days for my anniversary. So the day of the show, I start out with a 5 hour drive. I got home and had enough time for a quick nap. Which at this point in my life is so welcome! I wake up and then we drive another hour to the show.
   We arrive at the show and some dark clouds are rolling in. We were doing a little tail gating before the show when It started raining. We decided to just hang out in the cars until the storm passed. And It's a good thing we did. It was a short storm, but a nasty one! Also, the venue had sent me an email saying they were going to delay the opening of the gates until after the worst part of the storm had past. The lightning show was pretty cool! Very Metal!!! So stay in the cars and drink em if you got em!
   The storm passed and everyone jumps out of their cars and gets into the mile long line. While in line, we are hearing that the first band on the bill, Cannibal Corpse, had been canceled due to the delay. That sucks. We get inside (finally!) And the next band, Amon Amarth is already on stage. I really wanted to see them because I had heard a lot of good things about them. But, upgrading our tickets from lawn to pavilion was a little more important. So we stood in line to do that while they were on. From what I could see and hear of Amon Amarth makes me want to check them out even more. So the process of upgrading is taking a little longer than I had hoped. Amon Amarth finish their set and the next band, Lamb of God are setting up.We are still in line when Lamb of God starts playing. Now I had seen them 10 years ago, opening for Metallica, and while the music is great, there is something about the vocals that just doesn't do it for me. I'm not saying he is bad. He is a very energetic front man. Just not my cup of tea.We finally get our upgraded tickets and head to the seats. Yes a seat!! They are just off the lawn, barely under the pavilion. but they are better than the lawn! Lamb of God are still up there doing there thing. I look at my daughters arm and she is covered in goosebumps. Not from the excitement of the band, the storm brought in a much cooler temperature. So I decide to make a run to the merch table and get her a Slayer hoodie. Unfortunately  the only Slayer hoodies they had were 3X and she's a little thing. She would be swimming in it. So she got a Lamb of God hoodie instead. And I picked up an event poster for myself. After a quick trip to the bathroom and a stop by the pretzel stand since I had not had anything to eat since lunch and the thick cloud of pot in the air was giving me the munchies! Now back to my SEAT! Lamb of God was finishing up and it was about time for the main event.
   This is the Slayer farewell tour. It's a long farewell but it's getting closer to the end. They had just played here last year and I was kicking myself that I had missed it. So glad they came back for one more round. This is not the first time I have seen them, but It is the first time I've seen them with a full headlining set. And If you have read my first post on this board, you would know that it should have been the third time seeing them, alas it is only the second. And last.
   The cries of "FUCKING SLAAAAAAAAYER" fill the air. You can't go 10 seconds without hearing someone screaming it.  As the intro tape rolls the crowd starts going nuts! They hit the stage in a earsplitting fury!! Here's the setlist with a little breakdown.

  1.Repentless : From their newest album. Still killing it!
  2.Evil Has No Boundaries: Classic
  3.World Painted Blood: Great song. One of my favs from that album
  4.War Ensemble: This is the sound of my teenage years! Love this song!
  5.Gemini: Not one I'm really familiar with,but still thrashtastic!
  6.Disciple: Another on of my favs! Great to hear thousands scream "God Hates Us All"!!
  7.Mandatory Suicide: Another song from my youth that I just love! Beautifully Evil!!
  8.Chemical Warfare: Another classic
  9.Payback: Great song
 10.Temptation: Thrash at it's finest
 11.Born Of Fire: Can't get enough of this album
 12.Seasons In The Abyss: My first and favorite Slayer album
 13.Hell Awaits: I'm going to start sounding repetitive here, but I love this song!!!
 14.South Of Heaven: See above!
 15.Raining Blood: This is it! This is the last time you will get to hear this song live! And let me say the music took over my body! "The Power of Satan Compelled Me" I am 44 years old at this point. Completely out of shape with a bad back, knees, and feet. But when this song hit the old eardrums, I started headbaning like a sixteen year old kid. No pain! Just sheer joy and adrenaline! How could it get any better than this.
 16.Black Magic: This is how! This is the one song I learned most of on guitar that I would play to death! Now I'm not a guitar player. I try, and I mostly just learn parts of or half of a song. No different here. But I absolutely love playing the parts of this song that I know! The headbanging continued during this song!
 17.Dead Skin Mask: Another one of my favorite tracks from my favorite album!
 18. Angel Of Death: Has to be one of the greatest Thrash Metal songs of all time!

   And that's it! One of the best shows I have ever seen! I loved spending the time with my daughter, son in law, and my best friend. That is the only part of this that was better than the show. And thanks to a guy that goes by the handle of Ironchef who recorded the audio of this show, I'll be able to listen to it over and over again.
  I never got the chance to see the original lineup back in the day, so missing the chance to see Jeff Hanneman really sucks. But you could not find a better replacement than Gary Holt. replacing one legend with another without skipping a beat! At the end Tom Arya said "No speech. Just thank you for coming. Thank you very very much. I'm going to miss you guys." And we will miss you too.
   Here are some pics. My camera sucks and we were pretty far back but oh well.