(liver) Damageplan

Check this shit out.

Last night I went with The Mighty Big Daddy Den-Den to see Damageplan and Shadows Fall play at The Starland Ballroom in Sayerville. I really didn't feel like going, since I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before (I played my first gig with Chump-it was a blast-but the ChumpBus broke down during the ride home, and I didn't get in until 5:30 am), and I had about $12.00 in my pocket. Dennis really wanted to go, and offered to not only pay for the drinks, but provide a bottle of Wild Turkey for the ride down. The sumbitch knows my needs. Also, he had two "Aftershow Passes" that he had gotten the previous Monday at the Irving Plaza show.

Here's the thing-Dennis is a freak. He LOVES Dimebag Darrell (formerly of Pantera, now in Damageplan-if you don't know this already, you need to brush up on your knowledge of METAL), and pretty much stalks him every chance he gets. He has seen Damageplan play everywhere from New Orleans to Florida, and somewhere up north (I forget where). He has been to so many of their gigs that he knows half of the road crew, and at the gig in N.Y., Dimebag even recognized him. Dennis is a true team player, and passes out Quick Kill Formula discs to everyone involved with Damageplan at each show, hoping for some connections/help/free drinks/whatever. Den-Den assured me that not only would we get into the Starland gig for free, we would hang out with Dimebag and the boys. Perhaps even gain access to their tour bus. I was skeptical.

We got there early, and Dennis pulled around the back of the venue to park near the tour busses. He had brought a 12 pack of Coors Light and a bottle of Crown Royal for Dimebag (Dime's favourite drinks), and had the foresight to adorn both gifts with QKF stickers, so there would be no doubt where the booze had come from.

It was colder than a well-digger's ass outside, so all the bands were pretty much holed up in their respective busses. Dennis was keeping an eye on Damageplan's bus, and when one of their roadies came out he gave him the Crown and Coors to bring back to Darrell. The Plan was in full effect.

We used our passes to get in (for free) through the back entrance, and hung out on the side of the stage. I was still fairly sober, thinking that if I actually got to meet/hang out with any of the bands, I should be able to form complete sentences and promote QKF.

Damageplan kicked ass. I had never seen them play live, and they were brutal. I walked around to the front of the stage near the end of their set, so I could see the whole stage. It was the last night of the tour that Damageplan and Shadows Fall would be playing together, and the S.F. guys came out on stage to jump around and fuck with the band (it's a Metal tradition). What do I see when I get to the front but Dennis right up there on stage with "The Jersey Mafia (a buch of local guys who know the band)," singing along with an old Pantera tune they were playing! Nutjob.

After the Damageplan set, Den-Den and I found ourselves next to a table full of drinks. There were plastic cups full of beer and "Crown and Coke" shots. So much for sobriety. We dug in, and drank like we had guns to our heads.

Shadows Fall came on next, and I gotts to tell ya, they ROCKED. I wasn't familiar with their music, but, holy shit, I was impressed. I got so into it, I handed Dennis my camera for safekeeping, jumped up on stage, and dove into the crowd. Now, I'm 32 years old (damn, it's creepy to type that), and I've been to many metal shows, and been in many, many mosh pits, but I've never actually stage dived (dove?). What a friggin' rush. I felt bad for the people up front- no one wants a 6'1", 200lb drunk guy wearing work boots landing on their head, but much to their credit, the fuckers caught me. Good times.

So, the show ended, and anyone not wearing an "Aftershow Pass" was herded out. Here's where the real fun begins. Dimebag and a few of the other musicians (Bobzilla-Damageplan's bassist, and some of the guys from Shadows Fall) sat at the bar and started buying round after round of shots for people. Mostly Crown and Coke, with some random, mystery shots thrown in to keep us on our toes.

Dennis (of course) sat right next to Dime, and introduced me to him. Dimebag said something to Dennis along the lines of "You are the most persistent fucker I ever met. You're at every show, promoting your band." Dennis was thrilled.

I walked away for a bit to clear my head, and met a cute blond chick. I didn't actually catch her name, but after a few minutes of conversation she asked me for my phone #, which I gladly gave her (did I mention that she was cute?). There were a couple of guys giving me the "stink-eye," while we talked. I think one (or more) of them had set his (their) sights on her, and was (were) none to happy to see she and I chatting and laughing. I decided to head back to Dennis and Dimebag (the aforementioned guys were all scary biker-types, and I'm not much of a fighter), but not before getting one of the guys to take a picture of me with my new friend. Much to my surprise, she planted a smootch on me just as the camera flashed. Nice. I doubt she'll call, but, you never know. Gotta love those Metal Chicks!

From there the bar cleared out, and somehow (my memory gets a bit hazy at this point) Dennis and I ended up on Damageplan's tour bus! The last thing I remember clearly is sitting on the bus next to Dimebag, drinking from the very bottle of Crown Royal Dennis had brought for him, and listening to the QUICK KILL FORMULA disc! It was SO fucking badass to sit there on the bus with those guys while my band played over the bus stereo. Everyone seemed to dig our music, and an impromptu mosh pit broke out on the bus. Dimebag got Dennis' phone #, and told us he would try to help us out if he could! Who knows if he can/will help us (shit, who knows if he even remembers it-we were all pretty fucked up at that point), but it was a great fucking time nonetheless.

Dennis' girl Judy (hey, Jooliezz, I know you're reading this)was cool enough to pick our drunk asses up from the gig and get us back to the Kimak Funeral Home. By then I was sober enough to drive my DODGE STRATUS (!!!) home. I'm not really sure what time I got home (I wasn't really sober-I'm a liar), but I slept until 3:30 Sunday afternoon. I love my Rock and Roll lifestyle.

I have pics from the whole night up at http://www.losinfartos.homestead.com Click on the first pic to see the rest.

I'd like to thank Dennis for talking me into going to the show. It was the most fun I've had in awhile. If the cute blonde calls me, it could turn out to be even more fun...

Life is good.