70,000 Tons of Metal 2014, feat. Overkill, Terrorizer, Obituary, The Haunted, Carcass
70,0000 Tons of Metal 2014, from Dijkpop to Schiphol and half of the east coast of the United States in between, spanning over three quarters of a year and one midweek on a boat. A friggin’cruiseship.
Funny how time works. If you have a hard time, it takes way too long. If you have a good time (in my case, filled with metal) time runs. Periods of these speeds can vary. Typing this, being February, I know it was end of March, beginning of April 2013 I started warming Tom up if he’d join me. I had been scanning through Stach’s pictures and stories as I knew he’d already had booked a cabin for him and his wife Sue. Just after the Vanderbuyst gig at Dijkpop, I hit jack pot. Tom said he’d join me. Intoxicated I asked him ‘are you sure? ‘Cause then I will book a cabin tomorrow!’ Cheapest cabins were long sold out, we’d pay in four terms and book flights even later. With a bakkie bier
Summer came, PartySan discussions, soon we’d go by the four, no five of us! Maybe even seven, as the Biancas might join us from their own booking. We’d meet up at my place to book in October, some rough times for my Visa card
and in November we arranged the hotel in Miami. I had already seen Amon Amarth would do a North American tour in January, decided to pick that one too. This had some advantages, as:
- We’d never miss the boat, as we were there 36 hours before boarding
- We’d meet Resevil
- Get the chance to buy a shirt (or two) which will be rare, at least in Europe. Finally a show abroad without Dutchies, we thought
- We’d see Enslaved and Skeletonwitch
- We’d see more of the state Florida than ‘just Miami’.
So.. we go! Have a beer with Stach, see Overkill with Stach, eat steaks whenever Bill Steer was around, color the Majesty of the Seas with rainbow vomit during it’s final mission, see Raven for the first time.. I was so thrilled I never bothered about nagging colleagues ‘you’re nuts, it’s expensive, you’ll drown’ etc. Go get yourself kicked, I just thought. I go to a cruise ship vacation, with friends, bands and bakkies bier! Pity I didn’t hear anything from the Biancas anymore.
Over the last couple of weeks the last bands were announced, the line up didn’t really improve much until I would get aboard. That’s of later worry, as the trip (finally) took flight. Tom and me agreed we’d never make it to drive at 4 AM, 5 AM it would be. At first we’d pack my VW Golf Mk II to the limit, but Hugo asked his father if he’d be able to drive the boys to Schiphol, I’d just take Tom and leave my car at Schiphol. Coming to Schiphol I texted Kees ‘we drive, are you already there?’ *insider joke* But Kees, Jelle (rib-basher) and Hugo thought they’d board at 7:50, instead of flying 7:50! Tom and me already were at the gate, but no sign of other Westfriesians, we boarded. Inside the plane worried stewardesses walked around ‘is there a Vandenberg?’ and I reacted. If I hadn’t, the luggage would have been taken off the plane! The flight itself was quite smooth. I soon found there’s AC/DC, Black Sabbath and a whole bunch of cool movies aboard (both long flight held at least Frankenweenie, Cars 2, Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters, Ratatouille and hundreds of different action movies, horror, Disney, name it. At first I thought we had about an hour and a half at Detroit, but it turned out we’d have to repack our luggage to the Miami flight. I’d rent a car big enough for all five and all luggage, but had not expected to drive a full blown Chevrolet Tahoe (…). Eat in Miami first, so thanks to our first cab driver Paul we had excellent Five Guy Burgers, even leaving a thank you message ‘5 Dutch guys, 5 great burgers, we needed that!’. From first coffee at my place to checkin’in at the Mariott Biscayne (not the Mariott Stach was in
) it was 19 hours straight… We also decided to get us some beers, but had to drink those from plastic foam cups and returned to the hotel. Mistake. There was a party going on, OK they played some rock music, but these people had been to the Shiprocked cruise. Loudest band 5FDP, so to speak, and the bar personnel completely ignored us (thrashers, death heads, Westfriesian pit crew, whatever). I freaked out and together we drank one six pack of HJ I had brought for Resevil and Stach (I still had one left). We tucked in. First day in America was over (Kees hadn’t flown before, Jelle’s first trip over the Atlantic, the rest of us had been there before).
Breakfast is excellent at the Mariotts, but we didn’t know it was charged to our room.. so we’d eat somewhere else the next day. We took a cab to Miami Beach, swim in the ocean, walked on Ocean drive, between parading cars of cash. I don’t think I even saw one single AMC Pacer
but the Lambo’s and Ferrs were abundant. The boys could have a drink, I ‘d drive to Fort Lauderdale as Hugo has a twisted shoulder. We rented a satnav as well, but it (or me) turned into a StomStom; we’d took three detours to get to the Revolution. We ate there, took my first plunge into a box office and lined up for tonight’s show. Only minutes after entering Skeletonwitch already begun and already found the first Dutchmen! Shared a beer with Lange Robert and Chris, I like the band too, but Tom said ‘Kindergarten Thrash’. Once in while I went outside to see if Res would be there yet, he showed up just before the end of the Skeletonwitch show. Meeting Jason was cool, we saw Enslaved together. The band has turned much more to an Opeth / Alcest route, hardly any black metal anymore. I liked the music a lot, but the lights made me sour. Funny, the lights weren’t that much different during the Amon Amarth show, but this time I hardly had problems with the spinning or flashing lights. This is what I wrote
- recent song
- Deceiver of the Gods
- Death in Fire (the venue was oversold, couldn’t reach the pit AGAIN, glad Res did
)
- Free Will Sacrifice
- As Loke Falls
- new one
- Runes to my Memory (I thought, leave it to setlist.fm; first song was Father of the Wolf, second newbie We Shall Destroy)
- Varyags of Miklagard
- Last Stand of Frej (texting Daniel
)
- Guardians of Asgard (shouting my eusophagus lame)
- Shape Shifter (Jelle bashing himself to sweat / blood and Hugo is near collapse)
- Warriors of the North
- Destroyer of the Universe (my voice: peep squeak peep)
- Cry of the Black Birds
- War of the Gods
- Twilight of the Thunder God (first encore, but I need water .Paid $10?? This way tipping is a crime to me!)
- Pursuit of Viking (entire venue shaking)
This was GOOODDDDD!!! The Revolution can hold some 2,000 visitors, but I later heard they sold at least 200 tickets more than that. It was PACKED, it sometimes took ages to get to the bar. Anyway, this was cool. The sound was pretty good too. After the show Res and me met another time, handing him the Enslaved patch we spoke for nearly an hour. But we were getting tired, Floridans and Westfriesians alike. I decided to get some beers from a 24-hour-market and off to bed. We need to board freshly!
At the airport it was said we could leave the car at the pier, but we never found out where. So.. deliver the car at the airport, eat at Subway’s (every day a burger? I think not) and take a cab to the ship. I already spotted Stach in the first line and exchanged some gifts (Vanderbuyst LP vs. Wisconsin cow
). There’s Heineken to be shed! During the fire drill we already met some USOSDM heads (e-mail addresses of Todd, John and Nigel spread later). With Stach we wanted to see the first band of the festival and in the Spectrum Lounge played Swashbuckle! Fierce thrash, nice show going on, loads of groove and Stach already got his first painting signed. The ship already left the harbor and the Westfriesians ate. Second band was Soilwork in The Chorus Line Theatre; the band clearly had the fire and the wits, sound is excellent but I wasn’t in for it. I’m in for OVERKILL!!! I had brought Stach’ collection of Neckwreckers patches (another thank you!!) and this would be the first time anyone near a stage saw it! Overkill went full throttle. All I wrote down was This is It, Wrecking Crew, Electric Rattlesnake. Let’s just say ‘I quit writing’ after that, as the pit was fierce, the band in top shape, sound was amazing, band going nuts, audience freaking out. Of course Fuck You was played last. What. A. Killer. Show!!! I thought I needed to lie down for about half an hour as Raven was up next, but Tom awoke me way after midnight.. he had seen Raven, he liked the audience but couldn’t do much with the vocals. Obituary rocked the boat, he said. No Atrocity, Cynic, Finntroll, Xandria or Twilight of the Gods for me, but even before breakfast I’d get baffled: TERRORIZER was added to the bill. Because of my long night’s sleep I was totally awake around 5:30 AM and started wandering a bit. Saw the karaoke, was kinda fun, but the male was too drunk and the female wanted a proposal sober… I even made a picture of a deserted Chorus Line Theatre.
Anyway, breakfast was amazing. Fresh fruit, all kinds of bread and bagels, eggs in all forms, meat, cheeses, anything. Not to forget: good coffee! Strange idea, isn’t it, hearing Bathory on a cruise ship and Derek Taylor is only 10 m away... with his wife. I waited until their plates were empty and thanked him for a great show, he said ‘yeah, you kinda look familiar’ *hug* :blush: (of only two fierce pit in two years or the fact he’d seen me with Stach near stage? In the middle, something, I was happy). I was quite overwhelmed even before 8 AM and decided to pick up my MP3 player and the fresh Pratchett in the Schooner Bar. Hail of Bullets also went with me
. Merchandising would be sold for the first time, but that was Chaos with capital CCCC-DAMNED!! I waited 2,5 hours until Ultimate Music Cruises Inc decided the 70K shirts would be sold from the shop deck! Even endangering themselves more as they had no XL Mayan shirts, no longsleeves, bye bye Shipwrecked With Obituary shirt and no XXXL shirt for Jelle! I refused to get back in line, manager nearby, trying hard to calm me, ughhh!!! Time for a beer and a band. Swallow The Sun played doom with both keys and acceleration and even some technical stuff! This was pretty OK, but not the entire set, as Terrorizer was about to blow my eardrums away. Pete Sandoval seems to be reborn Christian AND out of Morbid Angel now, but the animal inside surely isn’t tamed. Lee Harrison of Monstrosity is in too, there’s another animal on stage! Together with my Amsterdam Noord gappie Amy we watched The. Entire. World Downfall. Album. Being. Played, ending with Dead Shall Rise, Infernal Death and World Downfall. Not a single stroke from the Hordes of Zombies album heard. Even Dino Cazares gave the thumbs up. What a big difference lies ahead: Leave’s Eyes on Pool Deck. It’s both dreamy and … sobering. Strange, to add the word sobering to a stroll with Lange Robert, he’s the one with the beer glasses shrinking to finger caps in his big hands, but as there’s ABSOLUTELY nobody in the Chorus Line when Septicflesh is playing we head to the Spectrum Lounge together. And sweat everything bad out. Why? Dirty Fucking Slaying Pitting Rotten Imbeciles!!!! This is the KILLER list:
- Application
- How To Act
- Commuter Man
- Thrashard
- Who Am I
- Slumlord
- Dead in a Ditch
- Suit’n’Tie Guy
- Probation
- Wages of Sin
- Snap/Sleepin;
- Syringes in the Sandbox
- Madman
- Couch Slouch
- Acid Rain
- Soup Kitchen
- A Coffin
- I Don’t Need Society
- All for Nuthin’
- Manifestinity
- Beneath the Wheel
- Abduction
- Violent Pasteurization
Actually, I got both setlists from bass player Harald Oimien, but that was on the last day. Jelle has one, copied, I have two, originals. Even stating: ‘This set © 2014 DRI Inc. Do not steal this before end of show’
also: ‘70 million Tons of Crossover’
Here’s Jelle:
http://youtu.be/6B0DEEe76N4 all of us involved:
http://youtu.be/mX044c887hA (3:47 who’s going against the circle pit once more?
). Even Todd showed up, entirely at the last seconds of this YT.
We might even have encountered the first Mexican MRU members Alejandro and Ruben… D.R.I. was amazing. Madness. Massacre. Crossover or death. Haha, another big sweep in feel coming up: The Church of Pungent Stench. It sounded like metalcore to me, within two songs I had enough, soon found Roman Hödl and Pete Sandoval. Nice chats, dudes!
I wandered once more. I knew The Haunted was scheduled on Pool Deck in minutes, but decided to say on the balcony. From behind the drum kit I saw Chris, Kees, Hugo and Tom freak out on the set I will describe (it was wrapped in a bottle and thrown to me on request :mrgreen: by singer Marco Aro :mrgreen: ) now:
- Hate Song
- 99
- The Flood
- The Medication (on the list these two last songs appeared the other way round)
- D.O.A.
- Trespass
- All Against All
- My Enemy
- Hollow Ground
- Infiltrator
- No Compromise
- Shadow World
- Eye of the Storm
- Dark Intentions
- Bury Your Dead
- The Guilt Trip
Very cool. Kees told me to put in the review: ‘Marco Aro HAS The GRIN’ Indeed. Meeting half of D.R.I. later on the cruise, I must say he wasn’t the only one. D.R.I. HAS The GRIN. Kees HAS The GRIN. I HAVE The GRIN. To be seen on so many pictures
I was getting hungry and ended up in the Starlight Dinner club. I had excellent dining guests (Germans that have moved to the States) but the Aberdeen Angus beef was way too small to be sure it actually was Aberdeen. Tasted great though
. I couldn’t linger as Cripper was up next and meeting Monika before that show was one of the warmest encounters I had all week. Simone soon showed up and with Kees we enjoyed a fierce thrash/death set, Angela Gossow long forgotten. Not only does singer Britta Görtz look better, she has more power, more variation, more stage attitude. Even some new material showed up.
http://youtu.be/ZkWhPNoDRpM Pity the Spectrum lounge was only filled for about a third, this was very good! [I missed their second show, but the lounge was a lot fuller then, I heard]
Boozily and nourishingly refreshed, we headed outside for Fear Factory. The band would do an integral show of the Demanufacture album, but before that Dino already recognized me
and started talking about the 1993 tour with Brutal Truth, surprising me even more
. The band goes full speed ahead, but I must admit Burton C. Bell has lost some of his vocal reach, it’s not that big-a-deal. During the Carcass show that followed I ran into Burton. Burton also remembered touring Europe (’20 something shows in Holland alone’ haha, there were only 4 in The Netherlands, the rest was Belgium and Germany) quite a nice conversation going
. Carcass in Chorus Line Theatre was musically perfect as usual, but soundwise there was room for improvement. The sound was a bit shrill sometimes, later on even a bit muffled and the images of executed people didn’t improve my mood. That’s why I went away during This Mortal Coil. I was over the top drunk, needed to sit alone for a while, pick up my Grand Supreme Blood Court MP3s and lay down. No Orphaned Land, no Izegrim, no Death DTA, certainly no Haggard and shamefully, no Massacre for me today. Bands would be playing until 4:30, but I slept at midnight. Tom soon followed.
I awoke before 6 AM, my brain twisted. I felt as if I had hung there in that Carcass vid. After a stroll from Pool Deck (deck 12), walking up to Guest Interaction (deck 4) I decided to hit the sack for a second. I slept about another hour before I had an excellent breakfast. Mexico it would be today, but the ship would enter Mexican grounds at noon? This late? How long do we have for exploring the Mayan temple? Or should we just hang around? Tom and me found Lange Robert and decided not to enter the line for departing. We sat at Pool Deck, with a beer in hand, sun tan lotion nearby, and had a great chat with Job Bos, the Dutch replacement keyboarder for Satyricon. Hadn’t seen any Satyricon all week lol. On Kees’advice we entered beyond Windjammer deck for a really, really great burger and fries at Johnny Rocket’s, even though it wasn’t included (?). About Mexico I can be short: with the three boozers from Holland we didn’t get beyond the first bar. I got asked three times about the Passiondale shirt I wore ‘We died in hell, they called it Passiondale’, bar personnel and animation girls alike so I bought a Señor Frog shirt ‘I’m not drunk, I’m experimenting with C2H5OH (a.k.a beer)’ for me and Tom. I had some venomous-green-and-black wrist bands made, which even surprised Bobby Blitz and his wife Annet. Now I know how he ‘ik spreek een beetje Nederlands’. We weren’t even late re-entering the ship, as Obituary was opening on Pool Deck. Lange Robert is a long time friend of the Tardy Brothers and Trevor Perez, here’s what happened:
- Redneck Stomp
- Intoxicated
- Immortal Visions (just described as ‘one off Slow’) haha
- Bodybag
- John shouts: ‘Do you want to hear the new number four’? BIGGG Cheers
- Donald screams: ‘Another new song?’ People looking happily at each other as the band plays uptempo for their own likings, it’s sharp as a razor as well
- Chopped in Half/Turned Inside Out as medley
- Trevor asks: ‘how’bout a newie?’ Very blunt, very Cause of Death like song!
- Back to One
- The End Complete
- Slowly We Rot (just missed the plectrum by less than a millimeter, so I do decide to get a Florida Death Metal shirt; the Shipwrecked ones are long gone. There were only 200 to begin with, some already sold at Obituary’s last show before the cruise :/ )
Walking to the Moonlight lounge for the Classic-Three-Obituary-albums shirt I get a 3 minute glimpse of Cynic. I ran the last part to Moonlight Lounge :S as I hated this so much. So strange, two death metal bands (at least, in the beginning) , two so absolute different views of bands and me… weird. Returning from the cabin I got to see Hatesphere for about two songs. I liked it a lot, but wanted to brush my teeth and started walking again. I ran into Stach and Donald Tardy and had a great time beering with them. But it wasn’t only about beering. Soon I gathered up the Westfriesians, and anyone else I could find to join me to the Massacre show. More than half the death metal musicians showed up, Terry Butler going wilder than during his Obituary show, beering with Dino and Donald, songs like Succubus early in the set, new material passed by, sound was over the top, Dawn of Eternity (where’s Xeon when you need him
), Biohazard, new tune, From Beyond, Back from Beyond (title track to the new album). I waited after the show, let them breath for a sec, got a set list, all men signed it, and two plectrums from Terry Butler!
FANBOY
…so… here is the setlist:
- As We Wait
- Defeat Remains
- Succubus
- False
- Dawn of Eternity
- Biohazard
- From Beyond
- Back From Beyond
- Corpsegrinder
- Mutilation
Once again, I had to recuperate a bit and went to pick up another shirt. Wearing one of my Neurotic Deathfest I ran into Lee Harrison, totally freaking us both out, me because of the cool picture, he because he could mention Terrorizer is announced for Neurotic!! We meet again, Lee! After such good news I strolled up to the Carcass- and Dark Tranquility shows, but I should have known better. Totally drunk, filled with emotion and off to bed. I had not heard Tom return, when I got up around eight to meet the Skullcrushers (Germans Torsten and Sandra) and Neckwreckers (Stach, me and some dude in an Overkill hockey shirt) aboard. It’s definitely a cool set of pictures, but it rained. Actually, it was a tropical storm. All Pool Deck shows had been moved to the Chorus Line, totally screwing up the schedule of that venue. I needed a quiet breakfast, but nearly the entire band Izegrim sat next to me, Robert and Kick (Aardschok photographer). Funny to talk about a band I know, but not really remember how the (non-Jeroen or non-Marloes)-band members look like, stating ‘I’m Dutch and I’m sure as hell not gonna miss the one Dutch band aboard again!’. I shouldn’t have worried, as Izegrim was scheduled first band in Spectrum Lounge. Funny to see the band go nuts next to a Bingo-board hahaha.. so.. more fanboy-ness, a setlist:
- Relic of the Past
- My Secret Society
- Deathstrip
http://youtu.be/MuseOFsFlAg (this vid is actually from their first set)
- Victim of Honor (Marloes joking ‘the sea rocks the ship, we rock the ship harder’ I yell ’Dancing Queeeeen!’ she replies ‘Let’s play some disco then!’
- Deliverance
- Endless Strife
- Celebratory Gunfire
- World Power or Downfall
http://youtu.be/TpaimL_e5rI (first set also)
My goodness. What a great band. Rhythm guitarist Jeroen Wechgelaar could count my fillings time after time, shouting my crowns out… During the Izegrim I finally meet up with Tom again, he stated ‘Raven, nice pit but can’t ever get used to the singing, November’s Doom is even blunter and deathier than in Belgium as Paul Kuerten has lost over 50 kg and Terrorizer destroyed.’ Noted. Stories go around about the week so far at another visit to Johnny’s. Not too long though, as Poltergeist is up next in the Spectrum Lounge. I had a tape once, long lost but not forgotten and my wishes were granted: Writing on the Wall and Behind The Mask as first two songs. During Doing My Job I went out to arrange some financial stuff for Jelle (he couldn’t use his PIN) but that went downhill for me instantly. In a mix of coincidence, emotion, frustration and one single date (last logged in 24 januari 2014, 12:26 ) I totally lost it. I felt like dying, as this date is the exact date, up to the minute, my brother died 35 years ago. To the minute!! My emotions plunged even more as I got the chance to express my deepest love and friendship for someone, entire band around, meeting Kees, Hugo and Jelle along with John Tardy.. met the Hannover ladies once more… I needed water, I needed rest, I needed my parents. Only during the Raven show that followed I calmed down, just to find out Raven seriously kicked ass, I saw half of D.R.I. AND Carcass going nuts on Raven, discussing my and Jelle’s denim with Harald Oimien and Kurt Brecht in a Dennis Bergkamp shirt. Awesome!! I felt so relieved to know this form of friendship and comradeship, I wasn’t even thinking back to the previous Death – DTA show I had seen. I greatly enjoyed the set, the performance and especially the interview with Chuck on big screen.. it was so comforting to hear Chuck’s voice again I knew this tour is not just a moneymachine, but a true tribute to a great artist and his legacy. As the smoke machine didn’t stop at all I just heard these:
- Flattening of Emotions (…)
- Leprosy
- Suicide Machine
- Spiritual Healing
- Chuck alive, on stage and during interviews
- Infernal Death (!!) in medley with Zombie Ritual and Baptized in Blood
I could have stayed, but chose to go to the bass clinic with Kees. Kees has been playing bass for quite some time, I just wanted to see John Gallagher explaining. Kees stayed, had some great tips and I went to see the Viking Lounge with Jelle. I had not been there before, met some Finntroll members again but still didn’t drink them below the table
. You’re not going to miss Raven again, willya? I could have seen them on tour with Kreator, but couldn’t go in 1989, I didn’t go to that particular Arrow Classic Rock fest, missed them on Graspop 2010…
Not much of an intro, just tuning guitar and adjusting vocals, here they are: RAVEN!!! I have enough goosebumps to blow up a circus tent, my neck and voice are in total harmony (NOTTT!) . This is what I wrote:
- Take Control
- Inferno
- All For One (including guitar – bass joust)
- Rock Until You Drop (including bass solo and riffs out of Sunshine of Your Love
)
- In The Reflex (Bill Steer going insane)
- Mind over Metal
- On and On
- Break the Chain (the backline broke
all we heard was monitors)
- Rock Bottom (explaining to Jelle this is the original
FOOL Herrieman72, it's from UFO
)
- Dog Eat Dog
I knew it! From an early age on I sorta suggested Raven was influenced by AC/DC and here you are! This was one of the highest highlights of the festival to me. Cooling down happened during Vicious Rumors, I have nothing with this band but was too lazy to stand up, beer was being brought by nearly all my friends (Bart and Jurwin showed up, then Alex and Ron, Kees and Tom were there) but I must say this: this singer is not such an arrogant prick as one of their previous singers (note: it wasn’t Carl Albert I disliked, it was mainly the wrong music at the wrong time and I have not much with power metal. Metal Mike might disagree, I don’t care) and he simply does it! Presentation OK, reaches every note, enough volume, even he is Dutch. Just not my band. Same with Soilwork, this time it would have been the wrong band at the wrong time, as I really wanted to see Twilight of the Gods. This was their second set, sadly missed the first one, but made sure I’d see this set entirely. Some people argued it wasn’t the real Twilight of the Gods as Nick Barker wasn’t around and it seems too fast music for Alan Nemtheanga, but band and audience are enthusiast. I wrote down to remember the song The End of History (this vid is from 2013
http://youtu.be/9QbwE_BoezE ) and this vid is one piece of recollection of 70K 2014, the set I witnessed:
http://youtu.be/lBwD13IGMe0 ; I liked this performance a lot. Only at the end they played two Bathory songs but apart from Blood Fire Death I didn’t write it. Oh well. I had a great time, not having to drink Finntroll under the table, just saw the backdrop
but I sadly missed Nekrogoblikon. Tom later stated ‘it was a drunken mess, but a nice drunken mess on stage and off’ so I keep it that way.
On Pool Deck you still couldn’t see the Pool Bar from the beginning of the stage, so no one except a mad jogger ever came to 11th or 12th deck anymore. Inside the venues it was crammed full. But during The Haunted the venue was only two thirds full? Why? The band kicked some serious ass, even Marco Alo joined the raging pit. I did also, but with a bucket of ice, beer [here’s another bakkie bier
] and water to hand out to the ravenout pit presidents Jelle and Tom. Hugo nearby, Kees next to me, the band starting with my favorite track of theirs: Bury Your Dead. Here’s the new single:
http://youtu.be/rpQN86z5lNg The Haunted played ancient material, brand new stuff and something in between. I don’t know if the band brought her, but there was a three-ton-Snow White as well. Probably at the wrong cruise, we laughed, especially when Hate Song begun and people started pointing at trucky Snow White. Bit harsh, but with enough beer around we all laugh. Alo in the pit:
http://youtu.be/XyLBQMBo9Qk (look at comment).
Seeing so much of The Haunted nearly made us miss D.R.I., but I managed to capture the madness in a few pics. Photobarf later. Talking to Harald once more, meeting Lee Harrison again, Todd was there, no extra plectrum from Perez
I could have stayed longer, but feared the morning: sheets at the floor of the cabin stating there only would be breakfast from 6 to 8 AM, off board at 9… It wasn’t that sharp as stated in the form, but we got out quickly. We returned to the Mariott Biscayne, no need for another car but just taxis. One of them even played us his metal: Frank Zappa, Roy Buchanan and Peter Green; he was the one that had the least room in the car but got the biggest tip. Hugo needed a special pair of shoes for his birthday sister and we roamed Miami once more. Or twice, as we returned to the hotel to swim and get beer for the night and went out again. Went to Miami Seaquarium, beer for the road back to the hotel, was quite an interesting trip. The bar at Mariott Biscayne could have used a second try, but none of us was into it, so we got out for beer and installed Jelle’s iPod. So.. loads of D.R.I., Cannibal Corpse, Airbourne and Hausmacher. Jelle and Hugo had agreed to stay for another week, but didn’t need a 4 person with 5 beds room anymore and checked out right after we went to the Miami International Airport. Waited for three hours… nearly missed the flight at JFK as we didn’t know there was a different time zone (thrash zone?
) between Miami and New York. Sadly we couldn’t hang out with Scott, but as we ate at the airport (badddd burger and even worseeee beer) plus the hour difference wouldn’t have made it probably. Seeing two movies in the plane sure killed time, but I hesitated. Should I sleep or should I stay awake? I knew we’d land in Amsterdam around 6 AM, what to do?
Delivered Tom and Kees home, one final shot of Jäger (in my new Enslaved shot glass) made me realize how tired I was. I have spent a shitload of money (billed the hotel and car to my card, put to my card around $ 1,500 for the both of us, had to switch between euros and dollars for Jelle, bla bla). Blah blah as in I don’t care (too much) as I had, once again, a trip of a lifetime. Warming up, booking, more booking, flight, bands, missing flights, swimming in an ocean, driving a car bigger than my house room, eating 14 kinds of hamburgers, drinking four brands of beer through each other and not barf, meeting so many cool people [even at the airport, in Fort Lauderdale, taxi drivers, asshole drivers, animation girls with or without annoying flutes but always good tittie, waitresses wondering if we could pay the bill… 25 Corona’s and 5 beef burgers LOL] and making friends. Res/Jason, Robert, Eugene, Kick, Todd, John, Alex, Bart, Jurre, Lee, John, Donald, Frank, Dino, Burton, I can go on. It wasn’t just 70,000 Tons of Metal. It was also 70,000 Tons of Friendship. And 70,000 bakkies bier. Metal.
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