Broken bones, Randy Blythe and Britney Fox, freestyle rap battle and a nine year old upstaging As I lay Dying…

This year’s No Fear Energy tour had something for everyone. Starting off was retro-thrash outfit Municipal Waste who gave fans exactly what they would expect: an all out thrash-tastic pummeling.

God Forbid takes the stage, and after the first few moments all questions of the band having ’stage-rust’ completely melt away as Byron Davis and company level the playing field with a truly energetic, fist-pumping performance.

Children of Bodom are gearing up backstage. Alexi and I start to catch up, and he begins to explain to me how he broke his collar bone along with a good portion of ribs. “I was in my top bunk as usual, and when I went to get out the bus took a sharp turn, and I fell hard from the top bunk on to my side.” Noticing that it was his fret side that was affected, I mentioned that it must be hell to move up and down the fret board with this injury. “Actually, that’s not the tough part, what really fucking hurts is when I have to scream, and internal bleeding doesn’t help matters! Every breath brings pain…fucking unbearable bro!” Alexi continued with “I’ll do my best, I hope it’s good enough”. After wishing him well, I headed side stage to watch Children of Bodom. 

One thing I have to say, is that I have a new found respect for Alexi after witnessing him playing and performing through the pain. It was truly inspiring, especially from my view point , I could see him turn and wince in agony after every vocal. If that isn’t fucking metal, then I don’t what is. It goes without saying, Children of Bodom delivered a crushingly stellar performance, in spite of the formidable obstacle. A few days later the band was forced to drop off the tour due to Doctor’s orders.

I headed backstage, and bumped into my friend Willie Gee, for those of you who don’t know of him he has been Dave Mustaine’s guitar tech, and has worked with too many artists to mention here but we will get into more detail in his upcoming interview for ‘Chaos-Backstage’. On this tour he was commissioned to be Willie Adler and Mark Morton’s personal guitar techs. As I lay Dying was set to hit the stage, so I quickly headed to my spot to keep an eye on my nephew Kane. Kane is my nine year old nephew and hass been thrashing, air guitaring, throwing purposeful horns about, and singing all the lyrics at the top of his little lungs throughout the night. All of the bands took special notice of this, but As I lay Dying couldn’t help themselves and had to ask me to put him on the stage with them. He continued his metalhead onstage antics much to the fan’s and band’s adoration. This kid incited the crowd like something I’ve never seen before, he is the real deal as you can see for yourself.

I took Kane backstage, he met all of the bands, and received gifts from all, Randy Blythe personally gave him a Lamb of God tour shirt. This kid is having one of the greatest childhoods EVER! Lamb of God came out and delivered a crushingly brutal assault. This is one band that you can bet your paycheck, are NEVER going to disappoint! I never get tired of Randy’s unexpected leap into the pit, and of course his return to the stage unscathed. The one thing missing was the presence of ‘El Fucko’. I was looking forward with anticipation to his antics, so was mildly bummed of his absence. If you don’t know who ‘El Fucko’ is, it’s time to do your homework…

In the mix backstage, Randy Blythe and I were shooting the shit, when he began telling me of his experience the night before. “Yeah man, I went and watched [80s hair metal band] Britney Fox last night!”. I chuckled a bit and asked if they did ‘Girlschool’, he smiled and said “of course, but check it out, I was one of about 20 people there!” I gave a shocked look, and he replied “But that’s not the worst part, half of the crowd was their crew!” He gleefully stated “I fucking partied with Britney Fox and twenty other people… fuck that’s brilliant!” To show what type of guy Randy is, check out what he’s wearing on his head, all the while aware of the level of influence he possesses, now that’s support.

As I was shuffling about, I came upon Willie Adler engaged in a free-style rap battle with a member of security. Yes you read correctly! I stood there in awe of the spectacle. I’m no authority on anything rap/hip-hop/crunk/whatever, but I know talent when I see it. The security guy had some chops, and it was obvious that he was seasoned in the genre, but what was shocking was Willie’s razor sharp wit and ability to compete. I tried to convince Willie to let me record the event, but I was met with resistance and he said “never on tape”, and we had a laugh. The battle continued, Willie Gee entered the room and I persuaded him to show these guys how it was done. He looked at all of us and proceeded to recite Shakespeare, purely to fuck with everyone. We all laughed emphatically, then Willie Gee took a left turn, laid out a hand full of perfect verses and as a result shut down the competition and ended the battle, ya I know, If I wasn’t there I wouldn’t believe it either!