The crowd was getting more than a little anxious. The speakers were pumping AC/DC’s For Those About to Rock at an ever increasing volume. On the stadium floor, the stage right audience was rising to their feet, straining their necks for a glimpse of something in the stage shadows. Then, my son leaned over to me and said, “After this song, if they don’t come out and play, it would really suck.”
Here’s another example of heavy metal gone commercial and getting fucking castrated: the gross horror band GWAR shows up on America’s Jimmy Fallon late night show. Fully decked out in their costumes, GWAR appears as a sideshow act and attempts to entertain the studio audience. What were they thinking?
On April 17 the Amoranto Sports Complex held an unprecedented capacity crowd of between 30,000 to 35,000 warm bodies for the yearly Summer Slam festival. Organized by a popular music magazine, the event has become a hallowed tradition for thousands upon thousands of Manila’s young and restless who congregate in the stadium each year like pilgrims to Mecca. Waiting for them inside is a massive stage towering above the gathered multitude. But this year was special. Unlike so many Slam’s prior since its 2001 founding, two of the most popular bands in today’s metal scene were performing back to back. To emphasize the importance of such a momentous pairing, the organizers christened the gig “Summer Slam X: The Apocalypse.” (more…)