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leighblackI wasn't going to go to this show, 'cause it was $25. For RATT & Slaughter? Fuck that. I am certainly not paying that much to see either of them. But then ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rockerlee was going to come up from KC for the show, and it was all good. However, she couldn't get off work, but still offered to hook me up with the guest list, which was awfully sweet. Some further prodding (read: begging) from DeathKitty (Rachel), and I got talked into going.
The idea of the show was that it was a Festival of some sort, called the Dirty Leg Festival. I never did figure out what the hell that meant, other than it started at noon and a had a bunch of local bands on the bill. After picking up Rachel, we drove to the other side of town. And found that the Whiskey Rack was in a strip mall, next to a Target. And in the parking lot, there amongst the minivans and Minnesota hicks, was a big stage, and about 50 drunk people not really watching the local band that was playing. We were going to see RATT play in a parking lot. Okaaaaaaaaaay.
Of course, I wasn't really on the list when we got there. Phone calls were made and help was soon to arrive. I noticed Cherie & Flynn also waiting around outside the gate, so we weren't the only ones. There was something about Blotzer hurting his shoulder and going to the hospital...I don't know. It just seemed very chaotic and like no one knew what was going on. It wasn't so bad though. The local band playing was actually pretty good and we could see them just fine. Plus, it was entertaining to watch the Target crowd wander over to see what was going on.
Rachel saw someone she knew, Brenda, who I also recognized from meeting back in 1990 at a Nelson in store and a Steve Stone in store in 1991 (I think). Oh, it was going to be one of those kinds of nights. It seemed that Rachel kept spotting people from "back in the day" most of the night. It was a shame thatkaceofspades couldn't make it, because she would have loved it. I wasn't allowed to go out to bars back then, so I really didn't know any more of those people.
Blotzer's list made it up to the gate, and everyone finally got to go in. Everyone but us, that is. Rachel & I decided to go hang around the campers that were set up for the bands and look pathetic. Crabby went out into the crowd, and Flynn eventually waved me over to tell me that Crabby had brought another list to the gate. Finally, success! We walked in, to the applause of people on the other side. It's nice to be loved. ;)
I was totally surprised, because there were not very many mullets represented. I had thought they'd be out in droves! Instead, we were amused by the scary drunk girl. She had to be in her 40s, wearing a skin tight turquoise snakeskin print dress and stripper shoes with light-up heels. She was stumbling ALL over, falling over, dancing around, swinging her hair and hanging all over people. Generally, making a huge ass of herself. Classy all the way. Rachel wanted to know where the hell she had been able to find a dress like that, and if she knew it was 2004. This could be said for a few people, but I'll get to them later.
We stood around and talked with people for a while. As it turned out, it was quite a while, as the Slaughter roadies took FOREVER to set up their stage. The dude was checking the drum sound on the monitors for about 20 mins. I kept shouting, "Who cares what it sounds like? You're in a fucking parking lot!!" It didn't help that the sun was starting to go down and it was pretty windy & cold. I had at least brought a sweatshirt with me, otherwise I would have been whining.
Finally, Slaughter hit the stage. We hadn't gone up to the front of the stage, cause it was kinda high and we couldn't see anything that close. So we were back a few feet, and right before Slaughter came on, this massively tall chick snuck in front of Rachel & I. sigh... So, we split apart, with me going to the left, near the drunk chick, and Rachel to the right, with the scary Slaughter fans. All those jokes you hear about Slaughter fans?? Yeah, they're true.
Scary Slaughter fan #1:
Wearing a black oversized Slaughter shirt, black windbreaker shorts - complete with snaps where the bottoms attach to make pants, birkenstocks, and a black fanny pack. A fanny pack??? Where the hell did she come up with that?? She had to have kept it all this time. "Nope. Can't throw that fanny pack away. I may need it for a show someday!" Yeech.
Scary Slaughter fan #2:
This girl's appearance was fine. In fact, she looked exactly like a shorter version of Gretchen, which was weirding me out. I could even overlook the Slaughter tattoo on her arm. But you could NOT overlook the fact that she screamed "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" during the ENTIRE show. While giving the metal horns, of course. Just over and over and over and over again. Every song. Every break between songs. Even the guys in the band were giving her weird looks. I just prayed that I don't look like that at Faster shows. But I don't think even I'm that annoying.
Scary Slaughter fan #3:
This guy took the cake! He was somewhat cute - tall & lanky, with long blonde hair. But, he was wearing a Slaughter shirt from The Wild Life album. Okay, that's not so bad. He was also wearing sweatpants, that had "Slaughter The Wild Life" written down the right leg. And since that wasn't quite enough, he also stuck a bunch of Slaughter patches on the left leg. Oy! He was also wearing these gloves. They were black & red suede. I can't accurately describe them. Let's just say that they looked completely ridiculous as he kept his fist pumped in the air during the show.
Besides these guys, there were a plethora of not-quite attractive women lining the front of the stage. I know I'm not beauty, so I probably should be ragging, but...whatever. There were some fugly chicks there! While Rachel was dealing with this crowd of winners, I was stuck with the drunk girl. Who was quickly making herself quite a few enemies as she kept stumbling into people and grabbing onto them. Or was waving her lighter around people's hair. Or just being pretty much the most annoying person ever. I have no patience with that, so when she fell onto my back, I knocked her hard backwards with my elbow. She came around my side and was looking at me with puppy eyes. I told her that if she touched me again, I was going to flatten her. She got scared and ran behind some people. Eventually, security dragged her away, to the cheers of the crowd.
Oh yeah! There was a show going on! I've never seen Slaughter before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't know too many of the songs, but I still had a good time. They sounded great! They couldn't have asked for a better effect from the wind, as it was doing beautiful things to their hair. Perfect for "Fly to the Angels"! Mark jumped off the stage during one song and wandered through the crowd. He stopped and gave me a big hug, then ruffled my hair. Yeah, I hate when people do that. People were stopping him for pics, and he would be singing, then stop to pose. It was all very amusing. I did get a photo with him on his way back to the stage, while he was mid-song. All in all, it was a very good experience for my first Slaughter show.
Mark Slaughter
Mark Slaughter & I in the crowd
Dana Strum
We switched to the other side of the stage for RATT, as we wanted to be by Robbie & Crabby. This girl standing there sort of looked familiar, and she told me that I looked familiar. She mentioned the MSX show at the Quest last year, and we figured that's where we knew each other from. We started talking about Sludge, and she said that she was NotMolly on the boards. I told her Rachel was DeathKitty and I was LeighBlack and her eyes lit up. She's like "That's where I know you from! The Killingbird shows!" Me, confused, "The ones in the middle of nowhere??" Yep, that was it. Never in my life did I ever think I'd run into someone who would remember me from there! Turns out Cassandra was from the U.P., and in fact dated Ponch way back when. So, we stood at chatted while we were waiting for RATT. She's pretty cool, and has a band, who I'm sure I'll be going to see.
RATT finally came on stage...and my camera battery died. I had pretty much cursed myself, as I was about to grab my extra battery before I left, but didn't think I'd need it. All I could think was thatjawakimchee was going to kill me! She needed pictures of Jizzy!! Thankfully, Rachel used up her film and wasn't planning to take more pics, so she let me use her camera. I was saved! So, I didn't get as many pics as I planned, as I had an almost new roll stuck in my useless camera, but I still got pics.
The RATT show was a lot of fun. Again, I didn't know a lot of the songs, but I knew quite a few.rockerlee, I'm pretty sure that they didn't play "Over the Edge." In fact, they didn't really follow most of the set list, as Warren decided to start playing songs and the rest of the band just followed along. At one point, Crabby & Robbie got tired of waiting for him and started up the country. I felt like I was at a FP show! Everyone looked like they were having a good time, which is always nice. Jizzy was even smiling. Yes, smiling!
Crabby
Jizzy Pearl
Robbie Crane
After their show, we went into the bar to warm up, figuring they'd come in. And we waited. And waited. And waited. I at least wanted to say thanks to Robbie for getting us in, so we decided to brave the cold to see if they were outside. Sure enough, Jizzy, Robbie & Crabby were holding court out by the camper. Cherie & Flynn were there, and I talked to them some more. As was Sharon, who I hadn't seen since the BOD show. We ended up talking to her for quite a while.
I went up to Jizzy and told him that I'd be a bad friend if I didn't give him a hug from Frog. He just looked at me and said "okay." So I gave him a big hug, and told him that Frog couldn't kick my ass now. He just stared at me some more and said "okay." =)
The crowd around Robbie broke loose, so I went over to him. When I mentioned I wasrockerlee's friend, he got all excited and gave me a huge hug. Then he asked me about a million questions, which I tried to answer as fast as I could. He was trying to leave, so I didn't bother him for too long. I just made sure to thank him for his help, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek as he was leaving. awwwwww...
I was just standing around, when Crabby came up like we were old friends and asked how I was doing. He gave me a big hug and we got a photo together. We talked for a moment, before he wandered off to the bar. I noticed that Warren had gotten off the bus, and I really wanted to go talk to him. Warren never goes out into the crowd! He looked....well, completely baked. Must have helped him brave the fans. Sharon started talking to him at a mile a minute and he just kind of stared at her. I just thanked him for the show. He was all "Did you have a good time? That's good!" And I got my picture taken with him! Whoo-hoo!!
Crabby & Me
Warren DiMartini & Me
And that was pretty much it. Rachel & I are hoping to hit some other upcoming shows, since we seem to fit well together. It's nice to have a good show-goin' buddy!
Slaughter Photos
RATT Photos
I have some more things that happened this weekend, but I'll post them later, as I'm about to leave!
rockerlee was going to come up from KC for the show, and it was all good. However, she couldn't get off work, but still offered to hook me up with the guest list, which was awfully sweet. Some further prodding (read: begging) from DeathKitty (Rachel), and I got talked into going.The idea of the show was that it was a Festival of some sort, called the Dirty Leg Festival. I never did figure out what the hell that meant, other than it started at noon and a had a bunch of local bands on the bill. After picking up Rachel, we drove to the other side of town. And found that the Whiskey Rack was in a strip mall, next to a Target. And in the parking lot, there amongst the minivans and Minnesota hicks, was a big stage, and about 50 drunk people not really watching the local band that was playing. We were going to see RATT play in a parking lot. Okaaaaaaaaaay.
Of course, I wasn't really on the list when we got there. Phone calls were made and help was soon to arrive. I noticed Cherie & Flynn also waiting around outside the gate, so we weren't the only ones. There was something about Blotzer hurting his shoulder and going to the hospital...I don't know. It just seemed very chaotic and like no one knew what was going on. It wasn't so bad though. The local band playing was actually pretty good and we could see them just fine. Plus, it was entertaining to watch the Target crowd wander over to see what was going on.
Rachel saw someone she knew, Brenda, who I also recognized from meeting back in 1990 at a Nelson in store and a Steve Stone in store in 1991 (I think). Oh, it was going to be one of those kinds of nights. It seemed that Rachel kept spotting people from "back in the day" most of the night. It was a shame that
kaceofspades couldn't make it, because she would have loved it. I wasn't allowed to go out to bars back then, so I really didn't know any more of those people.Blotzer's list made it up to the gate, and everyone finally got to go in. Everyone but us, that is. Rachel & I decided to go hang around the campers that were set up for the bands and look pathetic. Crabby went out into the crowd, and Flynn eventually waved me over to tell me that Crabby had brought another list to the gate. Finally, success! We walked in, to the applause of people on the other side. It's nice to be loved. ;)
I was totally surprised, because there were not very many mullets represented. I had thought they'd be out in droves! Instead, we were amused by the scary drunk girl. She had to be in her 40s, wearing a skin tight turquoise snakeskin print dress and stripper shoes with light-up heels. She was stumbling ALL over, falling over, dancing around, swinging her hair and hanging all over people. Generally, making a huge ass of herself. Classy all the way. Rachel wanted to know where the hell she had been able to find a dress like that, and if she knew it was 2004. This could be said for a few people, but I'll get to them later.
We stood around and talked with people for a while. As it turned out, it was quite a while, as the Slaughter roadies took FOREVER to set up their stage. The dude was checking the drum sound on the monitors for about 20 mins. I kept shouting, "Who cares what it sounds like? You're in a fucking parking lot!!" It didn't help that the sun was starting to go down and it was pretty windy & cold. I had at least brought a sweatshirt with me, otherwise I would have been whining.
Finally, Slaughter hit the stage. We hadn't gone up to the front of the stage, cause it was kinda high and we couldn't see anything that close. So we were back a few feet, and right before Slaughter came on, this massively tall chick snuck in front of Rachel & I. sigh... So, we split apart, with me going to the left, near the drunk chick, and Rachel to the right, with the scary Slaughter fans. All those jokes you hear about Slaughter fans?? Yeah, they're true.
Scary Slaughter fan #1:
Wearing a black oversized Slaughter shirt, black windbreaker shorts - complete with snaps where the bottoms attach to make pants, birkenstocks, and a black fanny pack. A fanny pack??? Where the hell did she come up with that?? She had to have kept it all this time. "Nope. Can't throw that fanny pack away. I may need it for a show someday!" Yeech.
Scary Slaughter fan #2:
This girl's appearance was fine. In fact, she looked exactly like a shorter version of Gretchen, which was weirding me out. I could even overlook the Slaughter tattoo on her arm. But you could NOT overlook the fact that she screamed "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" during the ENTIRE show. While giving the metal horns, of course. Just over and over and over and over again. Every song. Every break between songs. Even the guys in the band were giving her weird looks. I just prayed that I don't look like that at Faster shows. But I don't think even I'm that annoying.
Scary Slaughter fan #3:
This guy took the cake! He was somewhat cute - tall & lanky, with long blonde hair. But, he was wearing a Slaughter shirt from The Wild Life album. Okay, that's not so bad. He was also wearing sweatpants, that had "Slaughter The Wild Life" written down the right leg. And since that wasn't quite enough, he also stuck a bunch of Slaughter patches on the left leg. Oy! He was also wearing these gloves. They were black & red suede. I can't accurately describe them. Let's just say that they looked completely ridiculous as he kept his fist pumped in the air during the show.
Besides these guys, there were a plethora of not-quite attractive women lining the front of the stage. I know I'm not beauty, so I probably should be ragging, but...whatever. There were some fugly chicks there! While Rachel was dealing with this crowd of winners, I was stuck with the drunk girl. Who was quickly making herself quite a few enemies as she kept stumbling into people and grabbing onto them. Or was waving her lighter around people's hair. Or just being pretty much the most annoying person ever. I have no patience with that, so when she fell onto my back, I knocked her hard backwards with my elbow. She came around my side and was looking at me with puppy eyes. I told her that if she touched me again, I was going to flatten her. She got scared and ran behind some people. Eventually, security dragged her away, to the cheers of the crowd.
Oh yeah! There was a show going on! I've never seen Slaughter before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't know too many of the songs, but I still had a good time. They sounded great! They couldn't have asked for a better effect from the wind, as it was doing beautiful things to their hair. Perfect for "Fly to the Angels"! Mark jumped off the stage during one song and wandered through the crowd. He stopped and gave me a big hug, then ruffled my hair. Yeah, I hate when people do that. People were stopping him for pics, and he would be singing, then stop to pose. It was all very amusing. I did get a photo with him on his way back to the stage, while he was mid-song. All in all, it was a very good experience for my first Slaughter show.
Mark Slaughter
Mark Slaughter & I in the crowd
Dana Strum
We switched to the other side of the stage for RATT, as we wanted to be by Robbie & Crabby. This girl standing there sort of looked familiar, and she told me that I looked familiar. She mentioned the MSX show at the Quest last year, and we figured that's where we knew each other from. We started talking about Sludge, and she said that she was NotMolly on the boards. I told her Rachel was DeathKitty and I was LeighBlack and her eyes lit up. She's like "That's where I know you from! The Killingbird shows!" Me, confused, "The ones in the middle of nowhere??" Yep, that was it. Never in my life did I ever think I'd run into someone who would remember me from there! Turns out Cassandra was from the U.P., and in fact dated Ponch way back when. So, we stood at chatted while we were waiting for RATT. She's pretty cool, and has a band, who I'm sure I'll be going to see.
RATT finally came on stage...and my camera battery died. I had pretty much cursed myself, as I was about to grab my extra battery before I left, but didn't think I'd need it. All I could think was that
jawakimchee was going to kill me! She needed pictures of Jizzy!! Thankfully, Rachel used up her film and wasn't planning to take more pics, so she let me use her camera. I was saved! So, I didn't get as many pics as I planned, as I had an almost new roll stuck in my useless camera, but I still got pics. The RATT show was a lot of fun. Again, I didn't know a lot of the songs, but I knew quite a few.
rockerlee, I'm pretty sure that they didn't play "Over the Edge." In fact, they didn't really follow most of the set list, as Warren decided to start playing songs and the rest of the band just followed along. At one point, Crabby & Robbie got tired of waiting for him and started up the country. I felt like I was at a FP show! Everyone looked like they were having a good time, which is always nice. Jizzy was even smiling. Yes, smiling! Crabby
Jizzy Pearl
Robbie Crane
After their show, we went into the bar to warm up, figuring they'd come in. And we waited. And waited. And waited. I at least wanted to say thanks to Robbie for getting us in, so we decided to brave the cold to see if they were outside. Sure enough, Jizzy, Robbie & Crabby were holding court out by the camper. Cherie & Flynn were there, and I talked to them some more. As was Sharon, who I hadn't seen since the BOD show. We ended up talking to her for quite a while.
I went up to Jizzy and told him that I'd be a bad friend if I didn't give him a hug from Frog. He just looked at me and said "okay." So I gave him a big hug, and told him that Frog couldn't kick my ass now. He just stared at me some more and said "okay." =)
The crowd around Robbie broke loose, so I went over to him. When I mentioned I was
rockerlee's friend, he got all excited and gave me a huge hug. Then he asked me about a million questions, which I tried to answer as fast as I could. He was trying to leave, so I didn't bother him for too long. I just made sure to thank him for his help, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek as he was leaving. awwwwww...I was just standing around, when Crabby came up like we were old friends and asked how I was doing. He gave me a big hug and we got a photo together. We talked for a moment, before he wandered off to the bar. I noticed that Warren had gotten off the bus, and I really wanted to go talk to him. Warren never goes out into the crowd! He looked....well, completely baked. Must have helped him brave the fans. Sharon started talking to him at a mile a minute and he just kind of stared at her. I just thanked him for the show. He was all "Did you have a good time? That's good!" And I got my picture taken with him! Whoo-hoo!!
Crabby & Me
Warren DiMartini & Me
And that was pretty much it. Rachel & I are hoping to hit some other upcoming shows, since we seem to fit well together. It's nice to have a good show-goin' buddy!
Slaughter Photos
RATT Photos
I have some more things that happened this weekend, but I'll post them later, as I'm about to leave!
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 03:06 pm (UTC)I hate Screaming Girl. There's one at every show, and of course most bands do not sell ball gags at their merch booths.
Glad you had fun!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 05:09 pm (UTC)I HOPE I got a photo or two of smiling Jizzy. I tried my best! We'll see.
I don't think even a ball gag would have stopped that chick.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:58 pm (UTC)Ok, yeah, so Slaughter fans are weird, and I used to have those same sweatpants (shut up!)...but the Slaughter guys are fucking cool. And did you see the new drummer, Will? Totally fucking hot...and sweet to boot.
I'm curious about the million questions Crane asked you. Did he remember you being on the bus with me in Big Lake? Did Crabby remember you from Big Lake? (Or did he think you were Melissa? lol)
Now about Jizzy smiling...REAL smiles, or his trademark smirks? 'Cuz if you got a pic of him actually smiling, I want to see! I think I've gotten one ever (that wasn't a smirk anyway).
Did I ask enough questions?? Can you tell I really really really really wanted to be there??????? lol
no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 05:21 am (UTC)Ah, but the key word here is that you USED to have them. As in, you don't anymore. And wouldn't wear them to a Slaughter show if you did.
And did you see the new drummer, Will?
Kinda. He was quite a ways back. Pretty cute though.
I'm curious about the million questions Crane asked you. Did he remember you being on the bus with me in Big Lake? Did Crabby remember you from Big Lake? (Or did he think you were Melissa? lol)
I don't think he remembered me. I probably could have triggered his memory, but he was trying to leave and it wasn't important. He definitely didn't think I was Melissa. He just asked me about getting in and how long it took and did I have a good time. Stuff like that.
Now about Jizzy smiling...REAL smiles, or his trademark smirks?
Well, there were smirks. He seemed to be very amused by the whole parking lot situation. But, there were also real, actual smiles. I wish I had my photos! sigh...
no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 12:15 pm (UTC)