As promised, SONISPHERE FESTIVALS have confirmed another date with the amazing BIG FOUR line up. The third festival to feature the history making combination of METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX will be held in SWITZERLAND, with special guests HEAVEN & HELL, MOTORHEAD, and many more to be confirmed.

Said METALLICA drummer LARS ULRICH on the initial BIG FOUR announcement:

“Who would have thought that more than 25 years after its inception, thrash metal’s big 4 would not only still be around and more popular than ever, but will now play together for the first time…what a mindfuck! Bring it on!”

FRIDAY, 18TH JUNE 2010

www.sonispherefestivals.com

I’m thrilled to find out that “The Big Four” Thrash Metal Bands will finally be sharing a stage in one show. I’ve heard about the effort to bring all four bands together for quite some times, mostly all talks.

Now, here’s the completely unofficial news. The Big Four might be doing a “few” shows in North America. A little Danish Elf is surely thinking about it.

Metallica.com News
Slayer.net News
Megadeth.com News

Pretty big news for heavy metal fans!  The interesting story will be how Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and James, Lars and Kirk from Metallica agreed to tour together.  Now let’s just pray they don’t restrict their tour dates to Europe!

http://www.billboard.com/events/metallica-slayer-megadeth-anthrax-to-tour-1004053671.story#/events/metallica-slayer-megadeth-anthrax-to-tour-1004053671.story

Well, it is now official. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax will share a stage.

From Metallica.com

You’ve been posting and chatting about it for months and we’re here now to confirm it . . . Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax will all share the same stage for the first time EVER! Look for the four of us at the Sonisphere shows in Warsaw, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic on June 16 and 19, 2010 with a few more of the festival dates still in the works, you can be sure these shows won’t be the only ones.

From Megadeth.com

“This is a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for Heavy Metal “Fans” to see the four greatest Heavy Metal “Bands” in American History back together on one stage” concludes Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine. “If there are any heads left at the end of this Festival that haven’t banged, they don’t belong there.”

From Slayer.net

“It’s about fucking time this happened,” declares Slayer’s Kerry King. “and about time the fans finally get what they want. This is fucking awesome.”

http://www.sonispherefestivals.com/

one of my few shortcomings is that i can’t predict the future.  – lars ulrich

(This blog entry was originally written for Irish heavy metal website www.metalireland.com)

There’s nothing a really underground metal fan hates more than a really mainstream metal fan. And there’s nothing a really mainstream metal fan hates more than mainstream pop music fans. It’s a generalisation of course, some people have lives to be getting on with and don’t really concern themselves with what other people are or are not into, but as a generalisation it’s got a fair few hundred thousand people behind it willing to cast all sorts of personal judgements left, right and centre. Now I’ll agree that it can be easy to get sucked into this sort of mentality and especially so if you’re in an underground metal band or run an underground label or promote underground shows but unfortunately there just isn’t that much weight behind how specifically hard done by our little metal lives can seem.

For every one of us who laments the existence of each fanboy who buys Trivium into fame there is an independent film fan who laments the €10 we spent watching the latest discharge from Michael Bay and a drab coat-clad socialist who laments the litre of watered-down Pepsi we sucked on while we were at it. And how on earth not to sound political when essentially talking about capitalism but all three things have exactly the same cause for existence. So is it pointless railing against mainstream music in general and metal specifically while flagrantly ignoring other aspects of the same problem? And, in a nutshell, does money make music shit?

My first ever encounter of money in metal was seeing Lars Ulrich driving a Porsche in a clip filmed during the recording of the Black Album. At the time I was about fourteen years old and money to me was exactly that: what separated me and things, shiny black high-speed things. Well, money and a driving license. And while my initial impression on seeing the clip was admittedly, “holy shit that’s amazing, they’ve made money from playing the best music I know!”, it wasn’t long before I began to understand that the link I had had with these people no longer existed. I distinctly remember listening through to Master of Puppets at around sixteen and during Leper Messiah I thought to myself… make a contribution and you’ll get a better seat… so how much are tickets for the snake pit these days?

We’re meant to mollie-coddle and understand the difficulties of the modern band, we’re meant to sympathise, we’re meant to say “oh poor you, people downloading your music for free!”, we’re supposed to be shocked that modern metal bands like Mastodon don’t rake in millions, we’re supposed to feel like we have an obligation to the bands we enjoy, to get them up there to the comfort zone and then keep them there. Well sorry but I don’t buy it. Literally. Money and the metal aesthetic are like oil and water, Jesus and Satan, Rob Halford and women – they just don’t go together. I’ll happily support an underground metal band but I’ll also happily instantly stop supporting them as soon as they sign up to a money making machine. Good luck to them, on the off chance they’re still making music I’d like to hear then I will steal it from their money making machine masters and I’ll pat myself on the back while I’m at it for doing the music world a favour by not supporting any aspect of it involved in pure product.

Do you know what free downloading of music does? It almost returns the dynamic of music to where it was around 1930 and before. So let’s say 80 years ago, that’s where it brings us back to. Now, I would like every short-sighted, uninformed person who has ever suggested that illegal downloading of music is killing the music industry to ask themselves if music existed before being widely available as a physical product, a piece of merchandise. I’ll give you a few minutes to look up ‘history of music’ in wikipedia if need be. What then was the dynamic of music before 1930? Well, if you wanted to listen to music you could either play it yourself or you could watch someone else play it. And if you were a musician in those days, how did you make money? First of all, you didn’t make very much of it and second of all, what you did make was made through live performance. You travelled around, you sacrificed your life but you sacrificed it only out of obsession for music, there was just as little if not even less chance of fame back then as there is now. For every supposed financial disadvantage the internet age has brought to music there is a potential financial advantage too. But I honestly couldn’t give a rat’s ass about that aspect. As far as I’m concerned the internet has returned recorded music to its rightful place in the big picture of music as an artform – utterly insignificant in terms of any definition of value when compared to the live experience. Who really gets to share in music these days? The closest the average metal fan comes to uniting around metal in a human way is singing and roaring along to their favourite recordings at a session or in a rock bar… which is excellent. But gone is the spontaneous creation or recreation of music which dominated life before 1930. We humans don’t love music any more now than we did before but beforehand the enjoyment of music necessitated the coming together of people, it was a link between men and everyone present was partaking in a creation. Whether spurring an orchestra on with thunderous applause in Paris or Vienna or raising your voice in accord with your neighbours in a local pub to an aul Irish air – you were actively involved in an event which had never happened before and would never happen again. Moments of pure authenticity.

When comparing the experience of the theatre to that of the cinema Walter Benjamin said, “The most lamentable production of Faust in a provincial theatre is superior to a film on that same subject.” Why? Because a recreation is still a creation and man is an animal who creates. A reproduction at its very highest function can only remind us or tell us of a creation which we, probably, had no part in.

I’ve almost forgotten what I’m talking about here… ah yes… capitalism. Listen, be glad of and cherish the fact that you have a genuine underground metal scene to partake in. Sure it’s nice to have these recordings, these reminders and informers of what other people are creating but the scene is alive, music is alive and every person who stands in a dingy bar watching a band struggle or shine is taking part in creating something new. Every musician who complains about music downloading is missing a fundamental point which only really smacked me in the face when people started illegally downloading my music. It’s not the job of the audience to pay the musician to play music. A true musician has an obsession which nothing will quench except the creation of music. Don’t you be worrying about musicians and how they make their bread… and if this means that they can only put up with the lifestyle for 5 years instead of 50 – so what?

And who knows, maybe after thinking about this long enough you’ll see what it means for the other aspects of life we allow be run by other money making machines and you might just think twice about buying into the whole anti-human experience, product-churning monster we’ve let the world turn into. But that’s quite enough of my ranting for now, there’s a market here I want to check out that sells the most wonderfully drab coats…

Upcoming U2 Tour Dates:
Source: http://www.NationalShowTickets.com
12/05/2009 Las Vegas , NV Mandalay Bay
12/07/2009 Boise, ID Idaho Center
12/08/2009 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
12/10/2009 Anaheim, CA Honda Center
12/12/2009 San Jose, CA

Wikipedia Fact: Metallica /məˈtælɨkə/ is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper, Metallica’s line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists. Currently, the spot is held by Robert Trujillo.

Time to get a little bit pissy.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the Top Ten Worst Songs EVER.

Let the bitching and controversy begin!

Ten: Lightning Crashes. (Live.)

I could sit here and write an entire paragraph about how Live sucks, and how they’re cheesy and over-the-top. I could go into great detail about how they’re below average cock-rock specialists, only without the rock and lacking…the other thing. I could regale you for hours about how the only reason I don’t consider them “over-rated” is because they were never good enough to be even “semi-rated” to begin with.

I could talk about all of that, and more.

But the simple fact is, this song’s lyrics tell about a woman’s placenta “falling to the floor”, and do so without any hint of self-consciousness – or any awareness of how disturbing such an image is. And don’t give me any crap about how childbirth is all beautiful and what not. It is, sure…but not when placentas are flying around the room like Sally fucking Field.

And that’s all you really need to know about this piece of shit.

Nine: Don’t Cha. (The Pussycat Dolls.)

The Pussycat Dolls make their way onto this list by asking us “don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me.” Since I’ve never really been interested in dating filthy, talentless whores, I can honestly say that no, no I “don’t cha.”

No, I “don’t cha” one fucking bit.

Eight: Jump. (Van Halen.)

I had a friend who once called Van Halen “the worst band in the world.” While his musical tastes could at times be questionable, I think he may have hit the nail on the head here. Van Halen also happens to be one of the most popular bands in the world, so this entry might be considered a little bit controversial.

I, however, disagree.

Van Halen is not now, nor has it ever been, a “good” band. Not with David Lee Roth, not with Sammy Hagar, not with whoever else may have at one time fronted this piece of shit. They are a mediocre hair band somehow masquerading as a classic rock outfit, who’s most well-known front man (Roth) was clearly over-the-hill even in his prime. I’m sure he considers himself his generations Robert Plant, but that’s about as idiotic you as you can get. If Robert Plant today went skydiving, and his parachute failed, and he plummeted to the Earth and ended up in a coma for six months, and woke up after losing half his motor skills, talent and charisma, and was then hit by a speeding ambulance while exiting the hospital…well, maybe THEN he and David Lee Roth would have something in common.

Anyways, long story short – “Jump” takes Roth’s black-hole of talent, throws in some of his ridiculously inane lyrics, and tops it off with some of the cheesisest synth this side of a 1984 magic show.

But, hey, play it at a forty-seven year old’s bachelorette party and you’ll really see that shit takeoff.

Seven: We Built This City. (Starship.)

Jefferson Airplane was a good band. Drenched in wacky ’60s era psychedelia, they produced the excellent LP “Surrealistic Pillow,” which spawned the classics “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.” Then came the ’80s, and everything went all to hell.

Over the course of a few decades, Jefferson Airplane somehow devolved into something called “Starship” that had apparently traveled through the galaxy to bring our planet the gift of suck.

This is one “Starship” I wouldn’t mind seeing on a collision course with the sun AM I RIGHT?!?!

Six: St. Anger. (Metallica.)

“Hey, Lars.”

“Yes, James Hetfield?”

“Our new song/album sucks hardcore.”

“I know, James Hetfield.”

“Nobody would even download this shit for free!”

“THEN THEY’LL DOWNLOAD NOTHING, JAMES HETFIELD!”

And thus began Lars Ulrich’s quest to end illegal downloading.

(I may have my Metallica timeline a little skewed here. Among other things.)

Five. Kokomo. (The Beach Boys.)

Don’t get me wrong. I love the Beach Boys. “Pet Sounds” is arguably one of the greatest achievements in music, and Brian Wilson is one of the greatest songwriters of his generation.

However, Brian Wilson had nothing to do with “Kokomo,” and it was written in the ’80s. THAT’S TWO STRIKES, REST OF THE BEACH BOYS.

Try to forget all the warm, fuzzy memories you may have of this song, singing along with John Stamos and the rest of the Boys on “Full House”, completely oblivious to how stunningly awful it is. And check this out, fair reader…THERE IS NO KOKOMO.

Strike three, Beach Boys!

Four: Cotton Eyed Joe. (Rednex.)

Anyone else have to learn the dance to this song in public school?

I sure as hell did. And never mind the fact that it’s horrifyingly repetitive.

“Celebration of Dance” is why I’ll always hate this stupid song.

Three: Butterfly. (Crazy Town.)

I don’t know what happened to this band, and I’m to lazy to Wikipedia them. Did they have other hits? Did they have other albums? Did they have other songs, even?

Or, did they just feel the need to inflict this Linkin Park wannabe piece of shit onto the world, pack up, and crawl back into whatever lame hole they originated from?

Whatever. At least they’re gone now.

Two: Photograph. (Nickelback.)

I probably could have thrown any Nickelback song on here. Hell, I probably could have just wrote “Nickelback’s Entire Discography” at number one, and nobody would have complained or questioned it. Like Simple Plan, and to a lesser extend Live, Nickelback’s entire catalogue of songs is its own “worst of list.” They really are just. That. Bad.

But, I decided to be grown-up about it, and select just one song from their ever-widening catalog of suck to represent them on this list.

“Photograph” is about as cheesy as Nickelback can get, and in case any of you weren’t paying attention – that’s pretty fucking cheesy.

One: My Humps. (Black Eyed Peas.)

If ever there was a band that made me sit up and say to myself, “you know, this music thing worked out pretty well for us up until now, but maybe we should think about just packing it in,” the Black Eyed Peas fits that lofty bill.

When they first came out they were mildly annoying, but I could deal. I’m good at dealing. Than they gave free rein to Fergie, and all hell broke loose. And suddenly I couldn’t deal anymore. Or I refused to. Well, whatever.

So here we have Fergie desperately trying to set woman’s rights and equality back thousands of years by singing about how her “humps” and her “lumps” get stupid rich horny guys to buy her shit.

As a man, I find it offensive and sexist. I’m sure she was trying to be all empowering and what not, but as a woman I find it pretty offensive and sexist as well.

Wait.

Fuck this song.

El rumor de una nueva visita a Mx por parte de James, Kirk, Lars y Robert ha sido confirmado en la nota acerca del DVD ORGULLO PASION Y GLORIA, TRES NOCHES EN LA CIUDAD DE MEXICO.

Metallica en su sitio comenta lo grnadioso que fueron los 3 conciertos que dieron a principios del año y nos da detalles acerca del contenido del DVD/BLUE RAY. Seran 18 los temas que conformen el paquete asi como ediciones especiales, este DVD estara enventa solo en algunas tiendas de latinoamerica y en la tienda en linea de la banda.

Al finalizar la nota el grupo dice :

“Y claro despues de pasarnosla tan bien en la ciudad de Mx, no podemos esperar a regresar…, nos vemos pronto en Monterrey y Guadalajara, esten pendientes para mas informacion…”

Con esta declaracion no se descarta que la nueva visita de la banda sea solo en estas ciudades.

The intro to the new book  “Full Metal Jackie Certified: The 50 Most Influential Heavy Metal Songs Of The ’80s And The True Stories Behind Their Lyrics” describes the joy of vinyl — in a time before the Internet — with perfect sentiment.

“Listening to a metal album used to be an event. Without the digital availability of information on the Internet, hearing an album for the first time was the single source of make-believe, a direct connection to the imagination. Fans would slit the shrink wrap and carefully slide the vinyl LP from the cardboard cover. The paper sleeve would rest in cross-legged laps while the listener absorbed the lyrics, word for word, studying them and staring at the photographs and artwork to make the songs come alive in their mind’s eye.”

Of course, this could be describing any album. And the experience is just not the same with a new CD.

There is also a foreward by Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. Who could be a better person to describe those metal times than Dave Mustaine? Maybe Lars Ulrich. But, post-Napster, it comes out better from Dave Mustaine.

One other thing: that’s a fantastic photo by Mark Weiss of Rob Halford and KK Downing on the cover (cropped, of course, just right) of Full Metal Jackie Certified.

Você não quer? Mas Dave Lombardo quer! Segundo uma entrevista postada no Blabbermouth…

Rhythm: Tocar com o Metallica no Download [Festival] em 2004 deve ter sido uma experiência e tanto.

Lombardo: Yeah. Mostrar a eles como é que se faz! Não desrespeitando Lars [Ulrich], porque Lars é ótimo e ele é um cara muito legal, mas ele precisa passar uma semana na minha casa e precisamos sentar e tocar. Eu mostraria e ele – “Não, Lars, assim!” … “Vamos dar uma esfriada, relaxar, tomar um café e tocar!” Hahahahaha!

Para quem não sabe do que estamos falando aqui…

Até minha mãe sabe que ela poderia derrubar Lars Ulrich na bateria com 2 horas de treino, mas ele não sai do Metallica nem se ele mesmo quiser, então essa discussão é meio boba… mas podemos pelo menos torcer pra ele faltar em mais alguns shows da banda.

Pintaram hoje no site do Metallica as datas de dois shows do grupo californiano no Brasil no comecinho do ano que vem: 28 de janeiro de 2010 – Porto Alegre – estádio do Zequinha, apelido do Esporte Clube São José. E em 30 de janeiro de 2010, a volta a São Paulo – primeiro show da banda no Morumbi (P.S.: show extra no dia 31).

Outro dia passou na TV uma edição do programa inglês Later With Jools Holland. O Jools entrevistou o Lars, que é o porta-voz da banda. Eu já sabia que o batera era fã de carteirinha da banda britânica Diamond Head (de quem o Metallica regravaria a espetacular “Am I Evil?”, “The Prince” e “Helpless“). O que fiquei sabendo no Later é que por conta desse fanatismo pelo Diamond Head, na adolescência o Lars viajou para Inglaterra para ver a banda tocar.  E acabou passando uma temporada instalado na sala de um dos caras do Diamond Head, é mole?

Metallica podría regresar a México en marzo del 2010

Un diario mexicano asegura que Metallica regresará a México, en la última etapa de su gira Death Magnetic, donde daría conciertos tanto en el Distrito Federal, así como en Guadalajara y Monterrey, durante marzo del 2010.

El periódico Récord apuntó que una fuente cercana a la banda detalló que Metallica tendrá un tour latinoamericano amplio, pasando por Costa Rica, Panamá y regresando a Venezuela, Perú, Colombia, incluyendo a México.

La banda integrada por James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammet y Robert Trujillo, tuvieron gran éxito en la capital mexicana durante sus actuaciones en el Foro Sol, donde tuvieron llenos completos.

La próxima semana se presentará un DVD sobre los conciertos de Metallica en México, titulado “Orgullo, pasión y gloria: Tres noches en la Ciudad de México”.

H1N1-fare eller ej. Demokratiet må tale. Folket må afgive deres røst. Og jeg er folket!

Derfor begav jeg mig tidligt i morges, omkring klokken 09 da valgstedet åbnede, ned til skolen på Nyelandsvej, hvor de stakkels elever måtte opgive at have gymnastik denne tirsdag og afgive deres gymnastiksal til os stemmelystne frederiksbergensere. Skolen på Nyelandsvej er i øvrigt i fortrinlig stand, kunne jeg ved selvsyn observere, hvilket bringer mig til den konklusion, at det med nedslidte folkeskoler er noget, russerne har fundet på for at skabe frygt i det danske samfund! Ingen svamp, råd eller rustne søm var at se. Men det kan naturligvis også være fordi, dette er det mondæne 2000 Frb og ikke det pestinficerede København, der desværre kun befinder sig få hundrede meter væk med sin fæle dunst af pøbel.

Nu blev jeg helt harm i låget af at omtale København. Det må jeg hellere lade være med. Jeg er bare sur, fordi jeg arbejder på Rådhuspladsen (med tryk på RÅD) hvor der altid er irriterende folk opstillet, der håber på at se nogle kendte i Aftenshowet om det guddødeme regner eller sner eller generer normale mennesker på vej fra arbejde!

Jeg gik ned og stemte først af flere grunde. For det første fordi, jeg har fri ved fem-tiden og derfor havde udsigt til at skulle kæmpe mig gennem alle de andre mennesker i mit nabolag, der har fri ved samme tid og derfor ville skabe uendelige køer på længde med selv den ondeste sidst-på-eftermiddagen-fredag-Netto-kø ved valgbordene. For det andet fordi alle de klamme bakteriebefængte ting, der ifølge ALLE verdens medier skulle befinde sig i valglokalerne, så i det mindste ikke ville være befængte af SÅ mange menneskers klamme snot og savl endnu.

Men selv om jeg vel nok syntes, jeg var smart, så havde det ikke gjort en forskel, om jeg havde været der klokken 19.58 to minutter før mit valgsted lukkede, for jeg beholdt nemlig mine pæne, røde læderhandsker på ind i boksen, og derfor rørte jeg ikke ved noget som helst. Til gengæld var jeg senere på dagen en tur i Føtex, hvor jeg holdt om den åregamle indkøbskurv med mine bare hænder, mens jeg skiftevis grinede lidt af og var ret så nervøs over, at ingen nogensinde har gidet beskæftige sig med mængden af bakterier på indkøbskurve, mens det er gået fuldstændig amok med influenza A-ramte valgblyanter. Som Muse så smukt sang det: Hysteria.

Hvad stemte jeg så?

Mange mennesker vil ikke sige, hvad de stemmer. Fordi politik er sådan et personligt og følsomt emne, og fordi man risikerer, at folk dømmer én på sin politiske overbevisning.

Bullshit!

Jeg fortæller jo også folk, hvilket fodboldhold jeg holder med uden at være bange for, at jeg bliver hånet af Manchester Uniteds stinkende lortefans. Eneste forskel er bare, at jeg er svingvælger i dén grad, fordi jeg vælger efter mærkesager og ikke partier. De tider er slut, hvor man var født ind i en Venstre-familie, og hvis de tider ikke var slut, ville man gøre oprør alligevel og stemme på SF. Jeg er opdraget til – synes jeg selv i hvert fald, og det synes min mor sikkert også – at have et næstekærligt livssyn, jeg ønsker ikke at nogen skal lide overlast eller nød, jeg vil gerne have ordentligt miljø, mindre kriminalitet, et godt uddannelsessystem og gode hospitaler.

Og det vil ALLE andre også. Go figure. Som om nogen overhovedet nogensinde i hele verden ville gå offentligt ud og sige, at de ønsker flere bander og mindre respekt for deres by (tag den med dit møgmotto, Frank Jensen!!!) Men så er det heldigt, at kommunalpolitik i høj grad handler om personer og enkelte mærkesager, så man lynhurtigt kan udelukke visse kandidater.

For eksempel har jeg udelukket Toke Helmø fra Radikale, fordi han har formastet sig til at foreslå, at dele af Gl. Kongevej bliver spærret for biltrafik. I stedet vil han lede trafikken om ad Rolighedsvej, Åboulevard og Frederiksberg Allé. Toke Helmø ligner Lars Ulrich i nærmest uhyggelig grad, derfor er jeg villig til at give ham lidt goodwill-snor (fordi Lars Ulrich også er en toptosse, og det derfor nærmest forventes at hans lookalike også vil være det) men det der var direkte dumt. Der findes rigtig mange mennesker, der gerne vil køre i bil på Frederiksberg, og så lad dem dog!!! Jeg er på nuværende tidspunkt ret sikker på, at det forslag er et af grundene (sammen med Klaus Bondams lemfældige omgang med bilag, tak til min kammerat Casper Dall og fænomenet aktindsigt for at give Bondam nosseprygl dér) til at Radikale ifølge de første exit polls er gået så meget tilbage.

Jeg kunne aldrig finde på at stemme på SF. Jeg ved ikke hvorfor. Måske er de bare for latterlige og oppositions-agtige og “alt ville være meget mere bedre med det samme og for evigt, hvis vi var ved magten og alle de andre er dumme og dårlige til politik”-holdningsprægede. Og måske fordi mange af SF’s nye, idealistiske vælgere desværre lider af den vrangforestilling, at revolutionen straks ville komme bragende og plante solsikker og strø velfærdsydelser og åbne grænser over det hele, hvis SF fik mere magt. Schimmelarsch! Især ved kommunalvalg. SF er sikkert et fint parti, men jeg ørler i stråler over deres retorik overfor regeringen aka. “det eksisterende system.” Brok dig hvis du er uenig, men det er min egen ydmyge mening!

Liste Ø og DF er milevidt fra det, jeg kan identificere mig med. Enhedslisten endnu mere end Pia-folket, indrømmet, så nej tak. Og bortset fra Nihilistisk Folkeparti, som jeg er svært glad for, er lokallister kun til at falde i bananskræller og slå halebenet af.

Så derfor…

…ja, jeg bor jo på Frederiksberg, hvor Konservative historisk set altid har siddet tungt på magten og egentlig gjort det meget fint. Frederiksberg er jo en fin kommune med lav kommuneskat og udmærkede tilbud til borgerne (for eksempel gratis hjemme-klamydiatests til alle mellem 16 og 25 år, hvilket jeg syntes var et helt vildt herligt tilbud som jeg håber, mange unge mennesker har benyttet sig af) og rene gader og fine kulturelle tilbud, et godt bibliotek, servicebusser og kort til hospitalet for alle kommunens gamle, rige røvhuller, så de kan falde og brække hoften uden at skulle ligge i timevis og jamre iført rævepels og perler i deres femværelses herskabslejligheder.

Men Kons. har ikke været så søde ved børnefamilierne, og det tabte de min stemme på. Ser du, jeg hader sædvanligvis børnefamilier. Jeg bander og svovler over dem, når de har deres møgbørn med i Frederiksberg Centret, hvor de larmer og skriger (mest børnene men nogle gange også forældrene) eller når de går tur på gaden med deres kæmpe barnevogne og fylder HELE gaden og går så pisselangsomt, fordi små drenge i flyverdragter ikke magter at træde over mere end 15 centimeter ad gangen, eller når de slikker på ruden i bussen (igen mest børnene…) Nej, jeg er simpelthen ikke glad for børnefamilier. Tænk hvis man engang bliver en lige så stor belastning for sin omverden? Netop derfor vil jeg gerne have, at politikerne tænker lidt på unge par med 2-3 kronisk forkølede børnehave/vuggestueafkom. Så retfærdiggør jeg ligesom, at jeg ikke bryder mig om børn til hverdag.

Så jeg stemte på en socialdemokrat. Udelukkende for børnenes skyld. En socialdemokrat jeg tilmed har talt med et par gange og godt kan lide. Han er ret fornuftig. Og så vil han – selv om han ikke selv har børn – gerne bremse takststigninger og sætte børnehavealderen op til tre år igen i forhold til de nuværende to år og 10 måneder, fordi børnehaver åbenbart er dyrere end vuggestuepladser. Det er ikke sikkert, det kan lade sig gøre, men jeg synes ærlig talt måske, at de mange konservative Stig Elling-typer i byrådet trænger til lidt modspil. Og det skal ikke være fra de der hysteriske “nogen skal slå i bordet”-typer, fordi det ikke ville hjælpe nogen eller noget med sådan nogle pms-ramte koste, der vil ændre verden på en enkelt valgperiode (SF-syndromet?)

Slut med det! Nu venter vi bare og glæder os, til valgresultatet er kommet, så vi kan glemme alt om kommunalpolitikerne igen og da i ENDNU større udstrækning kan glemme regionerne fordi god damn it, det går jo op i sygehusplaceringer det hele.

I mellemtiden kan vi spise konfekt og bestille biografbilletter til New Moon, fordi befolkningen synes, Robert Pattinson måske er lidt lækrere og mere interessant end Anker Boye.

P.S. www.lamebook.com er sjov. Hvis du ikke kender den så læs den. Blandt andet er der perler som disse:

Må Herren være os og vores uendelige dumhed nådig!

Orgullo, Pasion y Gloria sera el titulo del DVD que Metallica grabo a principios de año en nuestro pais donde vendran escenas de los 3 conciertos asi como una entrevista realizada por el ex locutor de Radioactivo Olallo Rubio, pero la noticia es el rumor donde se anuncia una nueva fecha para Mexico, Guadalajara y Monterrey el proximo año como parte por su gira en Latinoamerica. En cuanto tengamos mas informacion les mantendremos informados, via SOPITAS

Metallica cumplirá el sueño de sus fanáticos peruanos el 19 de enero de 2010 en el estadio de la universidad de San Marcos. La cuenta regresiva se inicia: es momento de desempolvar las viejas botas metaleras y los polos negros. ¡Seek and destroy!

Si tuviera que resumir mi vida musical en tan solo dos nombres, pues aunque sea la elección tan difícil como el más complejo problema de geometría del espacio -dada la cantidad de bandas y solistas que han hecho mi vida más llevadera- me vería obligado a escoger a Metallica y Pearl Jam. Dos bandas muy diferentes, pero demasiado importantes.

Metallica se metió en mi galería de héroes musicales desde que era muy pequeño. La electricidad y el poder de su sonido llenaron mis oídos con éxito absoluto. La voz de James Hetfield, el poder de los solos guitarreros de Kirk Hammett, el incesante bajo de Jason Newsted (Rob Trujillo no lo hace nada mal hoy en día) y la batería implacable de Lars Ulrich le dieron a mi corazón la dosis de fuerza necesaria para resistir los embates propios de la adolescencia.

Lo de Pearl Jam es otra historia que merece un post aparte y si algún día Eddie Vedder y sus muchachos pasan por nuestro país, pues después de ello podré decir que soy el hombre más feliz de la tierra (musicalmente hablando, claro está). Pero es mejor no desviarse. Prosigo. Metallica llenó espacios en momentos justos. Cuando uno es chico necesita desfogarse y las melodías de los californianos eran el vehículo perfecto para sacar toda la energía reprimida por medio de desaforados gritos y el agitar de la cabeza.

Pero el tiempo ha pasado y James Hetfield ya tiene la barba blanca. Lars Ulrich ya no usa más el cabello largo. Kirk Hammett luce algunas arrugas en el rostro que evidencian el trajín de la vida. Sin embargo, la esencia persiste. El cuero sigue pegado a sus cuerpos. El grito está intacto. Metallica está más fuerte que nunca. Yo ya tengo mi entrada. Me toca desempolvar las botas y seguir contando los días.

Have you ever been to a concert and been so far back from the stage on the floor or in the stands that the musicians looked like little pins on a huge map that you could barely make out?  Me too… and it can be really frustrating.

I must admit, I have had some pretty great opportunities to interview bands, or sit up close from time to time through my years as a reporter and former rock radio DJ, but there is NOTHING like being in the protected area in front of the stage called the “Photo Pit”.   You are actually closer than being in the front row, and protected from concertgoers who might push their way around you while trying to get a good spot to see the band.   Last night, I had the rockin’ opportunity to be in the Photo Pit for Metallica’s sold out show at Madison Square Garden, and I took some great shots to share with you.

!!!

Getting into the Photo Pit area is quite a process, but a really exciting one to be a part of.  First security checks you in, searches you, and has you in a holding pattern in the bowels of the arena where everything sounds muffled and has the charm of an abandoned hospital ward.  Then you are loaded into a service elevator and taken to the main floor where waiting fans are filling the arena with nervous and excited energy.   Because Metallica plays “in the round” which is a stage in the center of the arena, you are led out through the tunnel in the middle of MSG to the stage, and once fans see the photographers being led out in a row… they know that the band is very close to going on.  There are loud hoots and cheers, hands go in the air, the volume of the arena cranks up to 9  (11 is saved for Metallica of course).   Photographers get in position, roaming the area between the barricade and stage like cats pacing for milk.     Once the lights go down, and the band comes out, you have 3 songs only to get as many shots as you can before you are escorted back to the service elevator and led back outside.  That’s right, no free tickets come along with the Photo Pit pass, but once you see the slide show and video clip here, I think you’ll agree, it’s not a bad payoff!

No, that wasn’t an earthquake shaking downtown Albany last night.  It was the sonic assault of the one-time reigning metal gods reclaiming their divinity.  Metallica’s 2-hour show at the Times Union Center re-solidified their status as heavy metal heroes, drawing on a wide variety of songs to please both the old hardcore fans and the newer ones alike.

The darkened stage blazed into a net of laser beams as the first notes of “This Was Just Your Life,” the opening track to their newest album Death Magnetic, blasted out of the speakers.  Singer/guitarist James Hetfield was barley illuminated as he belted out the lyrics, while drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo danced in shadows around the open stage.  Upon the final notes of the 7-minute song, all the stage lights burst to life, finally giving the crowd a good look at the veteran rockers.  To say the crowd greeted them enthusiastically would be quite understated.  Hetfield whipped the fans into a frenzy between songs, spouting rhetoric about everyone being a part of the Metallica family, blah blah blah…but the audience ate it up.

Following another new song “End of the Line,” long-time fans of the old Metallica got an unbelievable treat – “Ride the Lightning,” the title track of their second album.  And Metallica cranked it out like they just recorded it yesterday rather than 25 years ago (and they probably hadn’t played it live in 20 years at least).

The preamble to “One” featured a monstrous pyrotechnic display as nearly the whole stage erupted in flames, echoing the sounds of war that precede the song.  In my opinion, “One” is about as perfect as a metal song can be, from the beautiful, haunting opening melodies, to the eerie, descriptive lyrics that take us inside the mind of a quadruple amputee who also loses his sight, speech and hearing and is waiting to die, to the final few minutes of machine-gun riffs and wailing guitar solos.  And they played it perfectly.

They played a good number of songs from Death Magnetic, the other highlights being “All Nightmare Long” and “The Day that Never Comes,” both showcasing the band’s return to a much more thrash-metal sound.

Another fantastic surprise for the old fans was “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” a fantastic blend of beautiful melodies and hardcore metal.

As the set began heading to the finish line, they broke out two of their best – the title track to “Master of Puppets,” for which Hetfield was more than happy to let the audience sing most of the lyrics, and then, taking me and probably everyone by ecstatic surprise, “Battery.”  This is one of the fastest songs they’ve ever recorded, and they played it like they were still in their 20’s instead of pushing 50.  It was astounding…my neck hurts from head-banging.

They closed the set with the overplayed but crowd-pleasing “Enter Sandman,” complete with fireballs and audience sing-a-longs.

They left the stage for a few minutes and came right back with three more oldies: their cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy,” and then two tracks from their first album Kill ‘Em All – “Motorbreath” and “Seek and Destroy,” and during the latter giant Metallica beach balls rained down from the ceiling and bounced around the crowd.  It was a fitting end to a crazy, fun show that, as I alluded to in my previous post, brought all Metallica fans together.  Hmm, maybe that clap-trap about the “Metallica family” has some merit?

(See the full set list here:  http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/2009/times-union-center-albany-ny-63d73a87.html)

Prior to Metallica, Virginia’s Lamb of God played for almost an hour, shoving their pounding death/thrash metal down everyone’s throats.  Lamb of God is arguably the best metal band to arrive on the scene in the last decade.  Their riffs are incredibly tight, and singer Randy Blythe’s demonic snarling vocals are a great fit.  I saw them open for Slayer about 3 years ago and they nearly upstaged the speed-metal icons.  Last night they probably recruited a lot of new fans who hadn’t heard them, but they probably also turned off a good chunk of the crowd.  Metallica fans have a diverse fan base, and those who really like more radio-friendly metal probably found Lamb of God a little too intense.  But they played well and Blythe interacted a lot with the crowd.  Unfortunately the vocal mix was not loud enough, making it hard to hear the lyrics.

Opening band Volbeat was pretty good.  Their sound was kind of rockabilly-meets-punk, with a little thrash thrown in.  They were very entertaining, and the sparse crowd seemed to enjoy it.

This Metallica concert gets 4 out of 5 stars!

This was a pretty easy one. Record companies bitch about stuff being downloaded over the internet, and Metallica have had their say in the matter as well. The fact of the matter is that if you are great, you are great. Whatever Metallica gives out, I will buy. It is simply because they are the best band out there now, and perhaps of all time.

James Hetfield, king of rock, monster of metal and God...

People talk about The Beatles all the time, as do I, but one has to remember that they didn’t play live. I think that whether a band is good or not is determined by how they play live. Metallica is even better live than on albums. I don’t know any other band where I’d rather listen to a live recording than to a studio album. My love for the band began in 1991, when the black album came out. Enter Sandman was something bone chillingly cool, something I’d never heard before. I can’t remember if we had a cd player back then, but as a kid, 8-9 years old, I didn’t have the money to buy the album. We usually copied vinyls or cd’s to cassette. The whole notion of going to the store to buy an album was a little strange, because I’d never really liked anything the way I liked Metallica. Guns N’ Roses gave out their Use Your Illusion albums the same time, but although I liked them, I never really thought they were as good. They were a little stupid with Axl’s cycling shorts and all that. I was afraid of James Hetfield. I thought he was going to kill me if I ever went to a Metallica concert. I was without any money and raised back then to believe that if you want something, you can only get it on your birthday. Me and my friend used to go to a library that was close to our school and listen to the album there. I remember how they had these cool soundproof rooms, where you could turn up the volume as high as you wanted to. I was a kid growing up and a year was a long time, so naturally when the band took their sabbaticals, I also forgot about them. It wasn’t until about ten years ago when I returned and this time I wasn’t going away.

(Here’s a little taste from their upcoming live DVD.)

It’s the Sick of the Studio ´07 tour. The much anticipated day kicked off around 8 am. That’s when the alarm went off. It was surprisingly difficult to get out of bed, seeing as how this was a day much anticipated. After breakfast me and the missus headed over to the stadium where Metallica would go on stage in just under 12 hours.
The idea was to get there in time, get the passes for the snake pit and then just hang around the general area without having to worry about any queues. This was wishful thinking. We arrived there half a day before the show would start and found hundreds of die hard fans standing in line. Did I mention it was raining? The rumor was that the first 5000 fans would get passes to the “snake pit” the area right in front of the stage. This was where we were headed and nothing would come in our way. We were informed pretty quickly that these rumors were true, but we also learned that we would get them once inside the stadium. This is what I thought might be the procedure but I didn’t want to take the chance of coming too late and being left with a crappy view of the stage. After about 20 minutes of standing at the end of this long snake of a line, something started to happen. Suddenly the line started moving forward and fast. The walking turned into running, the running turned into tackling and elbowing and in just a few seconds it was every man for himself. All desperately fighting for something, not really sure what. Why was the line moving so damn fast? Were they letting us in already? Or was there in fact someone with the passes to the snake pit handing them out to a few lucky ones. The reason for this sudden rush was that the line had to be tightened. Just minutes ago we were hundreds of yards away from the stadium gates, and now we were around 15 yards from those metal gates. My bashing elbows and tackles had worked out great for us. But what now? We were like sardines packed in that line. It was so tight that even talking to the missus demanded great effort. So now it was 7 hrs until the gates would open and the situation we were in sucked ass. Standing in line with a bunch of assholes, packed so tight that their dandruff brushed off onto my shoulders for the next 7 hrs was not how I had planned this day to turn out. But what else would I do? Here’s a chance to see James Hetfield, a guy I have idolized since I was about 9 years old, from a few yards away. On the other hand I could fuck off from this line, go to the Metallica party being held in a bar a few blocks away, and kick back a few brewskies and just chill out. I would have to sacrifice my front row tickets. No way, we came to see Metallica and that’s what we were going to do. Literally. So the next 7 hrs just flew by. Not. It was the worst thing ever. A bunch of drunken kids having a food fight and hitting me in the face with various meats. If the line wouldn’t have been so tight, they would have gotten a piece of my meat hooks. BEEATCH!
5 PM, the line starts moving. The gates are open. “No running!” the security guards scream. Having been in that line all day, standing without moving, knees locked all the time, made it really hard to walk at all. When that line started to move I noticed that my legs just weren’t working. They were collapsing under me. Now everyone was running despite what the guards were shouting. Dammit, I’m not gonna make it. My legs are spaghetti. But I had to move. I need to get in there. I walked through the security checks and through the gates like an injured spider. We almost ran through the tunnel that led out to the stadium field. The light at the end of the tunnel made the experience almost religious. Coming out of that tunnel and on to the field in front of that huge stage was unbelievable. How could all these tickets have been sold out in under 45 minutes. 65000 tickets. I couldn’t get tickets myself. I had to buy black market tickets at four times the cost, but it was so worth it. Even with my legs all beat up. We get inside the snake pit among the first hundred fans. No problems what so ever. –But now what? It’s not like the show will start. It’s still hours until the band takes the stage. We made our way to the front of the stage. It was really crowded and you couldn’t really see anything that close anyway because of how high up the stage was. So we decided to move to the back of the snake pit where we could sit down and chill for a while. I had already purchased my t-shirts and accessories while my wife held our spot in the line, so we were pretty settled. Now my wife needs to pee. We look around and see that there is a peeing section way back on the other end of the field. This is the cool thing about being in the snake pit. As we walk out of there we get the armband that allows us to get back in there. So now we can walk around.

We buy some nachos and pizza slices and eat them while we walk towards the urine section. That might have been the most expensive meal I’ve ever eaten. When we get to where the Porta-Johns are, my wife disappears into one of them. Surrounded by walls of Porta-Johns , in the middle, was a star shaped object made out of five one-man-urinals with their backs connected to each other. –I could pee, I thought and went to do my business. I unzipped and tried to pee, but nothing came out. I looked up and noticed that I am actually trying to pee in front of tens of thousands of people. Some other dudes came and peed in their own urinals, now facing me so close that we could actually kiss without having to lean forward. I couldn’t get a drop out. The line behind me grew bigger. Come on!!! PUSH!!! I thought to myself. Nothing… Finally I just gave up and walked over to my wife who wasn’t so happy with her experience either. As we walked back towards the pit some piece of shit band started to warm up the crowd. I couldn’t care less. All I could think about was whether or not I would manage through the entire concert without having to pee.

A few hours and a couple of bands later, the loudspeakers started to play Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone. This only means one thing for those who know Metallica. The concert was starting. Ennio fades out, the crowd is screaming as Lars enters. He walks behind his drums, hits his cymbal four times and so the concert begins with Creeping Death. Hetfield, Hammett and Trujillo all enter from various parts of the stage. The crowd goes wild.
It’s just after the 3 minute mark of the song. Hammett has rocked his solo and the crowd all know what to do. 65000 fans all start pumping their fists in the air screaming die, die, die, die, die, die, die. It is amazing. Hetfield covers his ears, like the sound of us is making his tinnitus act up. Thank you Metallica.

Max Koljonen at the Cliff Burton memorial in Sweden, summer 2009.

After the 2007 tour the band returned to the studio to polish their album Death Magnetic. This took some time, but eventually the album came out in September of 2008. The album is the band’s fifth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States, making Metallica the first band ever to achieve five consecutive number one debuts. Metallica went out on a world tour with their new album. I planned a trip to Copenhagen, Lars Ulrich’s hometown and where Metallica would be performing five nights in a row, in July of 2009. I would also be visiting the Cliff Burton memorial in Sweden. On September 27, 1986, during the European leg of Metallica’s Damage Inc. tour, members drew cards to see which bunk of the tour bus they would sleep in. Burton won and chose to sleep in Hammett’s bunk. Around dawn near Dörarp, Sweden, the bus driver lost control and skidded, which caused the bus to flip several times. Ulrich, Hammett, and Hetfield sustained no serious injuries; however, bassist Burton was pinned under the bus and was killed. Hetfield recalls, “I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, ‘Don’t fucking do that!’ I already wanted to kill the guy.”
The trip was sort of a success, except for that I somehow got my mother and my sister, who lives in Denmark, to join me and my wife. Now, my car is a 2004 Volvo stationwagon with the deluxe comfort package, but there was no comfort on that trip. Everything I’d planned was voted down by these women in my life. My mother, the dark cloud, couldn’t go an hour without talking about how little money I make and that I should get a proper job. My sister, well… Let’s just say that watching Janice on The Sopranos always gives me Déjà vu. But alls well that ends well. Then I had the food poisoning. The day of the Metallica show. Had some mussels the night before, and spent the next two weeks on the shitter. I was able to pull through and make it to the concert, the first one of the five scheduled. I had around twenty anti-diarrhea pills and they kept it in just long enough for me to get back to the hotel. The concert was great though. Indoor concert, a small crowd and pyrotechnics. I have to say that the Death Magnetic album truly comes to life on stage. The album doesn’t do justice to the raw power of the songs when played live. My wife is not a Metallica fan per se, but she always comes with me because we’re partners and best friends. We were in the front row during Mastodon and Lamb of God, but someone threw a pint of beer on my wife between Lamb of God and Metallica and she threw a fit. She barged away leaving me alone, thinking if I should follow her and check if she’s alright or stay where I was, front row. I had to follow her, and as she came out of the bathroom the music started. Ennio that is. This was such a small venue that even though we decided to hang back, we were only some meters away from the stage. Awesome show. Awesome album. Awesome band. Thank you. Let’s not forget the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Guitar Hero: Metallica. –Thank you again… –SEEEEK AND DEEEESTROOOYYY!!!

Discography:
Kill ‘Em All(1983), Ride the Lightning(1984), Master of Puppets(1986), …And Justice for All(1988), Metallica(1991), Load(1996), ReLoad(1997), St. Anger(2003), Death Magnetic(2008)

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