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Between my impromptu stint as a guitar tech on Friday night and opening Saturday afternoon, I got a full dose of mayhem...Minneapolis Mayhem, that is. My plan was to show up early Friday evening to see Division, check out some other bands, and go home for my beauty sleep before playing the next day. I made the mistake of offering some of my guitars to help out the European bands who didn't bring their own. Bad move...alternate tunings, on-the-fly setups between sets and a general lack of resources meant making the best of a rather bad situation. For my part, I got Gaia Epicus and Steel Attack set up with some Jackson guitars and a Charvel bass, although the EMGs in one Dinky crapped out towards the end of Steel Attack's set. Kind of a bummer, as the only other available axe was a Halo...a free Halo provided for a drawing...suitable only for use as firewood. That thing would NOT stay in tune, period. But the show must - and did - go on. Unfortunately, I only got to see two songs of JCFers Division, but what I saw (and heard from backstage) was EXCELLENT!!! Mike's custom Soloist was truly a sight to behold.
Omen and Seven Witches were the Friday night headliners. Omen's guitarist lost his guitar in transit (fourth time an airline has f**ked him in that regard), so he was going to borrow a Peavey Rotor from another band, but I could have sworn he was playing that God-awful Halo. He managed to make it work, better than the guy from Gaia Epicus anyway. Seven Witches was OK, and Jack Frost definitely had some stage presence going on, but after Division and Steel Attack, most of the other bands didn't impress me. Jack was playing a custom BC Rich Warlock with white finish and what appeared to be a rosewood headstock veneer. On to Day 2...
I brought my DK2M specifically to torment the lead guitarist from Cold Colours (Friday local openers), as he wants one badly, but he missed out entirely due to a wicked hangover. We took the stage at 2PM, which unfortunately was so early that we ended up playing mostly to the venue staff, stage crew and other bands. Not all bad, as it was filmed for a DVD, plus Metal Maniacs and Unrestrained had photographers there. Something was bound to go wrong, and it did, in the form of my ART Tube EQ crapping out. Normally I bypass it, but the sound guy had everything dialed in from the night before, and our standard tuning was sounding tinny through the PA mains. I turned on the EQ and made it halfway through our first song, and then my rig went silent. I guess it's not such a bad thing that when I do have technical difficulties, it's always on the first song. In any case, I missed my solo, but we made it an "extended jam" version once the stage manager jumped in and got me back in action. The only other problem of note was that all the Saturday bands were using Usurper's drums, and the kick drum was double-triggering like crazy. But we made it through, finishing off with a brand new song. Got some compliments on my tone, songwriting, and the new Jackson too.
I missed the next couple of bands while getting my gear loaded back up, but I was able to see Bellicose from Nashville, who got on the bill after winning a contest from a merch sponsor. They were very nice guys, definitely Pantera fans. But for me, the highlight was Avenger of Blood from Las Vegas. If Slayer retired tomorrow, these guys could fill that void in a heartbeat. The frontman/lead guitarist was using a black Stealth EX, doing some whammy theatrics that were absolutely over the top. The rhythm guitarist had a black KV2T, so that combined with Mike's Soloist (seven-string w\ SLS headstock) has me lusting for another new Jackson...bastards. I started spacing out after that, due in part to exhaustion and with a little influence from Captain Morgan, but I'm pretty sure a couple other bands were using Jacksons. I ran next door to get some food during Usurper's set (BC Rich Bronze series, no lie) and was in and out the remainder of the night. Both of Hirax's guitarists were playing Jackson, a trans blue WRXT and black Rhoads import of some kind. One of the Helstar guys had a nice Robin super-Strat with some sort of skull finish. I headed home after collecting our merch, too tired to witness the beer-metal of Tankard.
Here are a couple pics of yours truly and the Under Eden lads...
Omen and Seven Witches were the Friday night headliners. Omen's guitarist lost his guitar in transit (fourth time an airline has f**ked him in that regard), so he was going to borrow a Peavey Rotor from another band, but I could have sworn he was playing that God-awful Halo. He managed to make it work, better than the guy from Gaia Epicus anyway. Seven Witches was OK, and Jack Frost definitely had some stage presence going on, but after Division and Steel Attack, most of the other bands didn't impress me. Jack was playing a custom BC Rich Warlock with white finish and what appeared to be a rosewood headstock veneer. On to Day 2...
I brought my DK2M specifically to torment the lead guitarist from Cold Colours (Friday local openers), as he wants one badly, but he missed out entirely due to a wicked hangover. We took the stage at 2PM, which unfortunately was so early that we ended up playing mostly to the venue staff, stage crew and other bands. Not all bad, as it was filmed for a DVD, plus Metal Maniacs and Unrestrained had photographers there. Something was bound to go wrong, and it did, in the form of my ART Tube EQ crapping out. Normally I bypass it, but the sound guy had everything dialed in from the night before, and our standard tuning was sounding tinny through the PA mains. I turned on the EQ and made it halfway through our first song, and then my rig went silent. I guess it's not such a bad thing that when I do have technical difficulties, it's always on the first song. In any case, I missed my solo, but we made it an "extended jam" version once the stage manager jumped in and got me back in action. The only other problem of note was that all the Saturday bands were using Usurper's drums, and the kick drum was double-triggering like crazy. But we made it through, finishing off with a brand new song. Got some compliments on my tone, songwriting, and the new Jackson too.
I missed the next couple of bands while getting my gear loaded back up, but I was able to see Bellicose from Nashville, who got on the bill after winning a contest from a merch sponsor. They were very nice guys, definitely Pantera fans. But for me, the highlight was Avenger of Blood from Las Vegas. If Slayer retired tomorrow, these guys could fill that void in a heartbeat. The frontman/lead guitarist was using a black Stealth EX, doing some whammy theatrics that were absolutely over the top. The rhythm guitarist had a black KV2T, so that combined with Mike's Soloist (seven-string w\ SLS headstock) has me lusting for another new Jackson...bastards. I started spacing out after that, due in part to exhaustion and with a little influence from Captain Morgan, but I'm pretty sure a couple other bands were using Jacksons. I ran next door to get some food during Usurper's set (BC Rich Bronze series, no lie) and was in and out the remainder of the night. Both of Hirax's guitarists were playing Jackson, a trans blue WRXT and black Rhoads import of some kind. One of the Helstar guys had a nice Robin super-Strat with some sort of skull finish. I headed home after collecting our merch, too tired to witness the beer-metal of Tankard.
Here are a couple pics of yours truly and the Under Eden lads...
That was really cool of you to let the other bands use your axes. I hear that this will be the final Minneapolis Mayhem. 
Looks like Monte's and Main Event are about all that is left up in that area.
Many good times there! I had never gone to Star Central though since my days of seeing bands all the time kinda came to a close about 5 years ago. I kinda just quit going out. It also seemed like most the people I knew who were playing out just said it was time to do other things, so with the exception of Touched, all the bands I used to go out to see pretty much ceased to exist.
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