STONER HANDS OF DOOM FEST
A CRUSHING NITE!!
Phantasmagoria, Wheaton Md 8/14/99

Due to commitments beyond my control, I didn’t make it to the daytime portion of this show, but…I lucked out!  There had been a thunderstorm in the afternoon and thanks to that, Wino’s SPIRIT CARAVAN opened the night at Phantasmagoria in Wheaton, MD.  Wino’s 3-piece riff machine put on a massive 60 min+ set, including tons of stuff from the “Jug Fulla Sun” CD & the new MCD “Dreamwheel.”  There were also some vintage gems like “Concrete Cancer” and covers of “Wicked World” & “Inside Looking Out.”  Best power trio currently in existence?  Only Paul Chain could argue!

Next up was ROTORS TO RUST who, honestly, were mediocre stoner rock.  Don’t get me wrong, stoner is awesome when done by people like Fu Manchu, Datura, etc., but careful, as the clones will come.  Virginia doom gods WHILE HEAVEN WEPT followed and, due to time constraints, played a short set, but a killer one, filled with their classic epic doom.  Excellent band.

The big surprise of the night for me was CLEARLIGHT.  These guys played what could only be described as an instrumental cross between Trouble and Mahavishnu Orchestra, if they were from Georgia!  Awesome long ranging cuts with tons of guitar and organ dueling for position blew me away.  A song or 2 of theirs got a trifle long-winded for it’s own good, but these guys should put out a wicked debut as soon as somebody has the sense to sign ‘em!

Next came a magical interlude I’ll remember for years.  Bobby Liebling and Joe Hasselvander of PENTAGRAM manned the stage, accompanied by Rick Wartell (guitar) and Ron Holzner (bass) of TROUBLE.  This one-time line-up blazed through a version of “Relentless” that was just that!  Again, an amazing and timeless moment.  “Review Your Choices” and you’ll see, there’s no better metal band!

After this, it was time for TROUBLE!  OK, Eric Wagner is no longer in the band and the guy from Exhorder(??!!!?) filled in for him, let’s get that out of the way first.  To be honest, he is not a good singer, and mainly just screamed throughout the set, but to his credit, it was a difficult position to step into and he handled it as professionally as possible.  The band themselves smoked like a house afire, blasting out doom epics like “The Tempter” and “Wicked Man,” from the old days, on to more mid-period stuff like “Black Shapes Of Doom” and “R.I.P.” and the first 4 songs from “Manic….”  Oddly, nothing was featured from “Plastic Green Head,” but their set was so good that it wasn’t an issue. 

When the Chicagoans finally left the stage it was 3:07 AM (!!!), and altho’ LEADFOOT was up next and I really wanted to see them, I had to pack it in as there were things to do the next day.  I have to give tremendous applause to Rob Levey who organized this great event and here’s hoping it’ll happen again next year!

POWERMAD 1999
Baltimore, MD 8/20-8/22/99

I can’t really give a full review of this show, as once again, prior plans prevented me from attending the whole thing.  Still, I must say that from what I did witness and reports I got from others, POWERMAD made big strides this year.  One thing I saw for myself was the huge improvement in scheduling.  There was a list posted of each day’s line-up, the order of bands and estimated time of performance.  When I arrived on Saturday afternoon at 4:26, CAGE who were slotted to play at 4:30 came on within just a few moments.  This San Diego band was excellent, by the way, steeped in the pure ‘80’s metal vein of Priest and Metal Church.  It was good to hear their great private CD “Unveiled” will soon be re-released with distribution.  Additionally, I saw DIVISION on Friday night, who were quite good as well.  Other cool bands who played this fest and who, by reliable reports, kicked ass were NEW EDEN, TWISTED TOWER DIRE and OCTOBER 31, just to name a few.  There were also a good number of metal CD vendors on hand, one of note being SENTINEL STEEL.  Main man Denis Gulbey had his usual dizzying array of great stuff (including some very difficult to find items) at rock bottom prices.  A great guy!  In short, I would say this was easily the best POWERMAD thusfar.  Keith Menser should keep going and try to advertise even more next year in advance, as getting a really BIG turn-out should be the next step.

HELLACOPTERS
8x10 Club - Baltimore, MD 9/4/99

A friend of mine & I rolled into the tiny 8x10 Club just in time to see Sweden’s THE HELLACOPTERS take the stage this Saturday night and watch them kick all us Yankees’ butts!  This boisterous crew delivered a thoroughly stomping, albeit short set of their snotty punk tinged hard rock.  To be frank, the abbreviated nature of their show was not under their control, as they were 2^nd on a 3-band bill, and the energy they packed into it supplied a helluva wallop as it was!  Culling material from the new “Grande Rock” as well as their past albums & EP’s they also made my day by extending several songs into lethal dual lead axe battles.  Sure, there have been plenty bands to play hard core hard rock, but THE HELLACOPTERS put themselves over the top by writing highly memorable songs and lacing them with scalding lead guitar.  Plus, as they proved on this Baltimore night, they deliver live in spades.  Hey, it was pretty damn cool to get one of those baseball jersey-type t-shirts with the ¾ length black sleeves, too!  Haven’t seen ‘em in ages & my Mahogany Rush one has a few too many holes!