Metal Church
80’s Metal Perfect Pairing: Armored Saint Metal Church
Since December I have seen Motley Crue, AC/DC and Iron Maiden live. Arena Rock is great, but these bands all started in some club somewhere. And there is just something about a small club that takes you back to the early hungry days as bands work to make a name for themselves.
Saturday night’s Armored Saint Metal Church concert at the Hawthorne Theatre (capacity -620) in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, June 11, 2016, had that feel and it was awesome. Putting these bands together for a tour was a great idea, but too short as this was the final show.
Armored Saint
A friend of mine who attended said “Armored Saint was crazy good!!! The energy there was just something you don’t see at many shows! There was some urgency to it! Still buzzing from it, rhythm section was amazing!”
This co-headline tour featured each band switching off each night and on this stop, Armored Saint took the stage first. The last time they played here was 2001 at the Roseland Theatre. At the time though, that venue had a different name and lead singer John Bush asked the crowd what is was called? (Starry Night).
I loved the localized banter from Bush between songs. We know most singers just repeat the same lines each night, but Bush was specific to Portland on most things he talked about, including playing here with Metallica in the early 80’s and the time he threw out his armour costume into the crowd… “somebody here tonight still have that?” he asked. Speaking of which, there aren’t too many photos out there of the 1984 tour, but I found one here courtesy of the Kevin Estrada Blog.
Armored Saint opened with the great new song ‘Win Hands Down’ and their setlist included all the classics we know and love… ‘March of the Saint’, ‘Long Before I Die’, ‘Reign of Fire’ and ‘Can U Deliver’.
My friend continued, “Armored Saint should’ve headlined and their set wasn’t long enough! John Bush was the star this night! That voice is just flawless! My fav moment was when Bush nailed that scream in the middle of “Can U Deliver”!
Yes, I felt that… I’m still buzzing too. And how about Bush jumping into the crowd to surf? The dude is 52… that was killer! A guy next to me was at the Seattle show the night before and I thought “you drove down here to see it again?” I get it though. Hope they come back soon.
Metal Church
Around 11:30, Metal Church hit the stage, opening with ‘Fake Healer.’ The crowd was just as fired up for this one and with Mike Howe back on vocals, the night just felt special, like how lucky are we to see this great concert.
The mosh pit was non-stop during both shows. My 17 year-old son and I were separated from the pit by only one row of humans, who did a good job pushing the moshers back in, but we got bumped a few times. When Metal Church launched into ‘Start the Fire’, I felt like I might want to join the pit, but I came to my senses and perished the thought.
There were quite a few tracks from the new album in their 13 song set, including ‘No Tomorrow’. Most of the setlist featured songs from the Church albums Howe sung on from 1988 to 1994, including ‘In Mourning’, ‘Date with Poverty’ and ‘Badlands’.
Only one song was played from their 1984 debut album and it was ‘Beyond the Black’. Howe joked with guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof that this song was written the day he was born.
This West Coast USA tour lasted all of seven dates. I’m not sure if it was a test run or something, but it was one of the best 80’s metal concerts I have attended. The small club feel and sound combined with musicians who have been playing together for 30+ years in some cases, made for an enthralling performance from both of these great bands.
Hello again 80’s Metal lovin’ friends. Today is a big-time landmark day because today in 1986, METALLICA released what many consider the greatest metal record of the 80’s and maybe of all-time, ‘Master of Puppets.’
Rolling Stone notes the album still sounds as powerful today as it does fearless. It was also written in only eight weeks. The first song Metallica wrote for the LP was “Battery,” followed by “Disposable Heroes.” The only songs that weren’t complete by the time they got to the studio were “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “Orion.” Originally, they’d hoped Rush singer Geddy Lee would produce the LP, but he was unavailable due to time constraints.
The title track is so popular it surprises Lars Ulrich, saying “when I listen to ‘Master of Puppets’ now, I just sit there and go, ‘What the fuck? How do you do that?’ It’s very gutsy music.” Former bassist Cliff Burton said in 1986 that it was Metallica’s “best song yet.”
Did you know Lars used another band’s drum on ‘Master of Puppets’? Def Leppard’s Rick Allen had been in an accident that resulted in him losing his left arm and wasn’t using his snare at the time, so Lars asked, “Can you send it over? They just overnighted it.”
Ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says he would be open to reuniting with his former bandmates on the occasion of a hypothetical Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Even better he said “is to schedule a massive tour featuring of BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN and PRIEST. I think we would all love to see that. “It would be something I would have to be part of,” Downing said. “Only because I’d like to see the greatest heavy-metal tour happen because it’s never happened. And it’s never gonna happen. Unfortunately, that chapter of history won’t be there forever, which is kind of sad.”
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King may have temporarily lost his mind or may be a little delusional when he said in a recent interview that Iron Maiden and Metallica are ‘living on past success’. Although he did admit that Slayer is, to some degree, resting on its laurels. Not sure what to make of this.
SAVATAGE Guitarist CHRIS CAFFERY is joining METAL CHURCH for their upcoming tour.
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Hope it was a good weekend for you. Maybe you live near Dallas, Texas and got to see MEGADETH kick off off their North American ‘Dystopia’ Tour on Saturday. They opened with “Hangar 18” and the encore was “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due.” Dave Mustaine recently said about the setlist that people say, “You gotta do this, you gotta do that. I ain’t gotta do nothing. And listening to the fans, what they like, and listening to what I like. Between the two of us, one of us is going to be right. And I know that when it comes down to playing stuff that makes me feel good, I like playing the heavy stuff.”
Maybe you live near Aberdeen, Washington and got to see METAL CHURCH play their first show with singer Mike Howe in more than 20 years on Friday. Howe fronted the band from 1988 until 1994, and is featured on the new album, “XI”, which will be released on March 25. Check out fan footage – Click Here
Great read on DOKKEN this weekend and how their MTV success and the approval of Freddy Krueger couldn’t stop the most fractious band of the 80s from tearing itself apart. Despite the success the band had, singer Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch had never much liked each other. In 1988, Dokken played on the ‘Monsters of Rock’ tour with Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica and Kingdom Come. Don Dokken says they had to follow Metallica and “didn’t stand a chance. After Metallica went out and played ‘Master Of Puppets,’ we sounded like the fucking Partridge Family.” (Free registration required for full article).
OZZY OSBOURNE released his fourth solo album, “The Ultimate Sin” 30 years ago today after finishing a stint in rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic the year before. Ozzy considers it his worst album, calling it “The Ultimate Din” and guitarist Jake E. Lee would be unceremoniously terminated the following year after the Ultimate Sin tour ended. Of course, the fans didn’t experience this record the way Ozzy and his band did. While not his best, it stands up on it’s own and sounds better with time.
In 1989, a category for Heavy Metal was included at the Grammy Awards for the first time. Metallica performed on stage, but the award went to Jethro Tull. Fans (and even some audience members) were rightly outraged, though Tull’s record label tried to make light of the faux pas by placing a Billboard ad that read, “The flute is a heavy, metal instrument.” When Metallica later won a Grammy for 1991’s Metallica, they thanked Jethro Tull for not release a competing album.
Have a fantastic Monday and thanks for listening to METAL SHOP.
