Music

Phil Anselmo speaks

/ hsoi

Phil Anselmo spoke at Loyola University. I don’t know what the context of it is, but it seems to be in front of a bunch of music majors. Probably a regular thing where they get music industry folk to come in and talk to the students about the realities of and their experiences in the music business. Loyola is in New Orleans, Phil’s a Louisiana boy, so there’s that connection too.

Regardless, listening to Phil is always a riveting experience. These days it’s especially interesting to listen to him because he’s clean and sober (well, at least not like how he used to be). He’s very into boxing too.

It’s 7 videos, an hour long. It’s a lot to watch, but if you have the time and are a Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual, and/or Phil fan, it’s worthwhile to watch. Even if you’re not, it’s still worth watching because there’s some sobering messages.

Watch it here.

Much of the video has Phil taking about his past heroin addiction. The take home message? Heroin is destructive. It will control you, it will consume you, it will destroy your life, it will kill you. I’ve had people describe heroin as the most amazing feeling in the world — imagine the best feeling in the world, it’s 100 times better. Since living things seek pleasure and heroin seems to be an amazing overload of pleasure, I can see why people seek it out and crave it so. But then how it consumes your life… how you can overdose but can’t stop taking it (e.g. Nikki Sixx, Phil himself)… how your heroin-using friends can be dying around you, yet that too isn’t enough to stop you (Phil recounts one such story, which did lead him to stop). Honestly, that’s scary. That something can have such power over you, such control over you, that you crave it so much that even death doesn’t deter you… that should give you pause. Heroin. Bad stuff.

Other things:

It’s amusing watching Phil talking to the audience like an old man.

Phil likes to talk… perhaps calling it rambling. But there’s somehow always a point and eloquence to it.

Phil refers to his mother as “Mommy”. 🙂

Found a Flickr photostream from the event.

Sunday Metal – Bad Brains

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We got that PMA (Postive Mental Attitude)!

Bad Brains, born in Washington D.C. then subsequently banned in D.C. What made them stand out? Not just the fact it was four black guys playing punk music (later with a more metal edge, e.g. “Quickness”), not just the fact they mixed in Rastafarian belief and reggae music with their aggressive punk style, not just their high-engergy live shows that did things like convert Henry Rollins. It was the sum of all these parts that made Bad Brains and their place in music history.

Sunday Metal – Great White

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I got to see Great White live one year during undergrad (benefits of working college radio). Scorpions were headlining, followed by Great White, and Trixter was the opening act. I didn’t get to see all of Great White’s set as I was backstage doing meet & greets with both Trixter and Great White (my friend Tori was big fans of both). But I did get to wander out near the end of Great White’s set… down on the floor, from backstage. Great location. I recall watching singer Jack Russell and how well he worked the crowd. Of course, there was guitarist Mark Kendall wearing his signature hat. I was never the biggest fan of Great White, but I always dug their bluesy, stripped-down, “good old rock and roll” sound.

I also loved their Led Zeppelin covers. I recall the first time I heard them doing “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” I was struck by how well they covered it.

Of course, Great White’s bread and butter was there own original rockers, like “Rock Me”

Sunday Metal – Van Halen

/ hsoi

If we didn’t have Van Halen, we wouldn’t have metal and hard rock as we know it. Everything about the band, from the music, composition, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing, David Lee Roth’s stage presence, off-stage partying, you name it. If Van Halen hadn’t been around, rock & metal wouldn’t have been what it was.

Here’s one of my favorite Van Halen tracks, “Unchained”.

Rikki Rockett, BJJ black belt

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Rikki Rockett is the drummer for the hair/glam band Poison. Yup, I like Poison.

In addition to being a drummer, having his own custom drum shop (which puts out some gorgeous drum kits), being a vegan, and an animal rights activist, Rikki is also a black belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu.

I’ve always known he was into BJJ, but this is the first time I’ve been able to see him on the mat.  (h/t to BW&BK)

Sunday Metal – Hatebreed

/ hsoi

I’ve only been a fan of Hatebreed for about 5 years, but I do remember the first time I heard them. Over at my buddy W’s house, music blaring, and something was coming out of the speakers with a thrashy metal sound, a groove, but yet this hardcore aggression and attitude. It was powerful and brutal. It was Hatebreed.

Am I getting old?

/ hsoi

Twisted Sister, celebrating 25 years since the release of Stay Hungry, appearing on Regis & Kelly.

Twisted Sister. Remember? The band on the PMRC’s shitlist. Dee Snider, testifying in front of Congress, leading the rebels in the fight.

Now, on a daytime television show, where the audience is primarily middle-aged to elderly women. (Well, they looked like a bunch of ancient ugly drag queens, so maybe it was to be a fashion segment?)

Fucking Regis & Kelly. They have no clue who or what they’re shilling, but they know how to read cue cards (Dee Smith?) and fill time.

Geez. Is Slayer booked for next week?

When did all of this become socially acceptable?

Oh that’s right, because we all got older. 🙂

Get off my lawn.

So what do you do?

/ hsoi

Caleb recounts how he just went to a concert and had to disarm himself. I’ve run into this same situation.

This is why we cannot be one-trick ponies, relying upon guns alone. To carry other weaponry such as a knife, collapsable baton, pepper spray (women will likely be able to get away with this more than men can) — a layered approach. But of course, even those may not be permissible given the venue. Thus all you are left with are your wits and your hands.

This is why it’s good to know how to use your empty hands.

But this is why it’s even better to know how to use your brain, keep your wits about you, be aware, and follow that first rule of self-defense: ABC — Always Be Cool. That seems to hold even moreso in a context like a concert, where cool is so much what it’s about.

Sunday Metal – Forced Entry

/ hsoi

Forced Entry was a Seattle band that didn’t fit what the world came to know of “The Seattle Scene”. Thrashy, technical, and a healthy sense of humor. Brad Hull did all sorts of guitar tricks with whammy bars and pinched harmonics that gave the band a unique sound. The band didn’t last very long, but for those that knew them there was nothing like them.

But that’s just how I spent my summer vacation. 😉