Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Black Friday Metal

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I grew up with 80's Metal. I love the stuff. When the Big Four of Thrash got together to play in Europe, my initial thought was, "Fucking Europe, they get all the cool Metal festivals". How cool would it be to see Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax all at one show? Amazing.

Recently, there has been talk about the Big Four doing some shows in the States. While I'd like to go, the reality is that the chances are pretty slim that I would bother going. Giant sized stadium shows can't really compare to the experience of seeing a band up close and personal, and for the most part they don't interest me.

When Metallica was scheduled to play the Bonnaroo Music Festival back in 2008, they decided to do a warm up gig the night before at Grimey's Record Store in Nashville. Now this is the way I would prefer to see Metallica live...in a nice intimate setting.

As a special release on Black Friday in 2010, Metallica gave us that live set from Grimey's on two 10 inch pieces of vinyl. Upon first listen, I wasn't too impressed....just more live versions of songs that we've heard a thousand times. Sure there were a few surprises, like No Remorse and Motorbreath, but come on, isn't this band sick of playing Fuel and Seek and Destroy? When I put the vinyl on the turntable a second time, and paid closer attention, I found that I really enjoyed this record. The banter between the band and crowd, and the crowd's interaction (even the annoying guy that screams the lyrics to For Whom The Bell Tolls in between songs) really captures how amazing it must have been to be at Grimey's for this set.

Another record that was released on Black Friday was the World Painted Blood 7 inch single from Slayer. The highlight of this record was the unreleased b-side song Atrocity Vendor. The song starts with a riff that does not sound like Slayer at all, but soon into the song, the guitars kick in, and there is no mistaking the band's trademark sound. Great song. Released on red vinyl and limited to 2,500.

2 comments:

mindset said...

hi mike i have the seven brotherhood and there is no insert if you ok can you photocopy this and i pay with paypal thanks

Piesay said...

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