An Amazing New Band

It was August 31, 2016 (Stephanie's birthday). We had just finished our fantasy football draft. Mike Matney sent me an amazing song.. "Ether" by Bloody Hammers, and I think it might have been the 2nd time he'd sent it to me. Mike is amazing, and has turned me onto quite a few new bands. "Ether" is fantastic, by the way, as is a lot of their other stuff.

I had just prior to that shown him "Anesthetize" by Porcupine Tree, the Gavin Harrison drum-cam version. Upon reading a bunch of the comments under Bloody Hammers' "Ether," I figured out that in addition to them being one of Sweden's most popular bands, someone mentioned that this band called GHOST is too.

Not even 15 minutes later I was listening to this live version of Ghost's recently Grammy award-winning song, "Cirice", and this was my very first exposure to Ghost. The rest is history. . .

Saw them live in October, 2016. They have a ton of history, and have also entangled themselves within a lot of mystery surrounding band members' identities, and such.. But their music is so good that the negative publicity is worthless. They've toured the world, drawn millions of fans, and are currently venturing out on a tour along with IRON MAIDEN.

They are also currently working on their next studio album.

Morning Eddie

Via

Iron Maiden - Powerslave

Source - (NSFW)

Powerslave Title Track, from 1984

Source

1984 was such an incredible year in the world of rock music...

Ohh the Iron[oxide]y

Via

And that's irony in and of itself that we're talking about irony involving Iron Oxide. Stupid chemistry - why did I learn so much about it?

By the way I remember this: Rust consists of hydrated iron(III) oxides Fe2O3·nH2O and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide FeO(OH)·Fe(OH)3. (Source)

Dream Theater - "Home" (LIVE)

~ San Antonio 2010, opening for Iron Maiden


Courtesy: Jason Jude

So yeah - that's 8 today after 9 last week. I told you we'd get off to a great start!

Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name (LIVE)

Source

They put on such a great show. They're coming to SA again, and I'm trying to convince my wife to go.

A Metallica Tribute to Iron Maiden: Remember Tomorrow

And here's Iron Maiden's original.. Truly one of the best covers I've ever heard - especially of such a complex song. Note for note, Metallica did an awesome job in this tribute. Kudos!

Iron Maiden - Out of The Silent Planet

Via

This is even further back.. 2000's Brave New World. Back? Not yet.

These guys still just GET IT DONE. After all these years.. It's amazing that none of their stuff since Powerslave has been fortunate enough to gain some airtime. I recently had the opportunity to see Iron Maiden for the 3rd time.. I took it. Of course I was swayed because their opening band was Dream Theater. Of course, I'm there!!

My June, 2010 Iron Maiden / Dream Theater concert experience is detailed HERE.

Newly discovering years and years of new Iron Maiden material has been amazing!!

Iron Maiden - Face in the Sand

-- also from 2003's Dance of Death


Source

Iron Maiden - No More Lies

From 2003's Dance of Death


Source

AND Live in San Antonio, 2010: - a link you must click..

Iron Maiden - Different World

A Matter of Life and Death



Yeah 2006, but one of their best ever written.

Incredible Rock Music Era 1: Sept. 1983 - Sept. 1984

What an incredible year for hard rock releases. I was in 7th grade, and transitioning my piano-trained mind from the likes of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, popular rock like Prince, Billy Squier, and Night Ranger - to the likes of some harder bands. Def Leppard was instrumental in this transition. One of the best albums of all time, Def Leppard's Pyromania was still in my head, and going strong since its January, 1983 release, and I've just began with my first drum set. Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" was a highlight in my growth as a drummer, as I was featured on my set in our 8th grade band's performance of it in fall of 1984. The rest is history:

Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil - Sept. 1983


Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon - Dec. 1983


Van Halen - 1984 - Jan. 1984


Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith - Jan. 1984


Ratt - Out of the Cellar - Mar. 1984


Rush - Grace Under Pressure - Apr. 1984


Scorpions - Love at First Sting - May 1984


Metallica - Ride The Lightning - July 1984


Dokken - Tooth and Nail - Sept. 1984


Iron Maiden - Powerslave - Sept. 1984


Queensryche - The Warning - Sept. 1984

(A preview of what's to come in another era..)

What an incredible year of rock releases, huh? Rush is really the only one who is on this list, but whose prior songs were really more prevalent than their newest release during this period. So began my backtrack to the BEST Rush, and the beginnings of Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen. Another Era will also be showing you The Cult, who has by this time already introduced their debut album, plus one. Pink Floyd and Boston were both kind-of in hiatus. Enjoy!

DIY Tattoo Removal

Via

I Thought I Saw A Resemblance

Via

Iron Maiden - Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

And the rest of Powerslave. One click - tons of material.


Image Source

Click the pic!

Drumming Legends - A Megapost

Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain - Live At Guitar Center's Drum-Off


This man-legend is now 56 years old! Still one of the very best ever to pound the skins..

Neil Peart - And the Masters - At Work


There might not ever be anyone better.

3:03-3:09 OMG!

Neil Peart is now 57, and still rockin'.. My one idol growing up. Certainly one of the dozen men I would give anything to meet in my lifetime. His influence will linger for decades... Simply amazing!



Now there is.. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater


Currently the best drummer in the world. No doubt about it. Just go listen to some Dream Theater.

Old, and long 80's hair, but an incredible demonstration:



Iron Maiden

Rush

Dream Theater

Peace

Dream Theater & Iron Maiden - San Antonio, 6/12/2010

Here are some of the best pictures I got from the incredible concert last Saturday night. I went in with expectations too high for DT's (my favorite band) performance. Not that it wasn't good, but it was only 40 minutes long. And if you know anything about Dream Theater, you realize how short that seems for them - it was only 6 songs. They started playing "Pull Me Under" at about 8:10, and I was like, "why are they playing this?" and that became, "why are they playing it NOW?" The answers were obvious in about 8 minutes.

So I stewed for the entire time in between bands - wondering if it was warranted to have paid this much for my $28 ticket (Ticketmaster piles on the charges to a sum of $49, then there was $15 for parking, and the $6.25 16-oz. beer I bought after finding my seat -- That's over $70 for a 40-minute DT show.. you get where I'm going with this.) As always, they were amazing! I've seen them 6 times now. See, I keep track of all this stuff, and my notes said I've seen Iron Maiden twice before. The first one is crystal clear, since that was my 2nd-ever concert back in 1989. (Yeah - that's 21 years ago!) The second one had to be within a few years afterward. Nevertheless, it's been a long, long time. And you know what? These guys can still nail it after all this time!

It only took me about 30 seconds into the Maiden show to realize to make this "worth it" I've gotta get the most out of the rest of it. And that I did!! I was thoroughly impressed that I enjoyed Maiden's 2-hour set, especially since they stuck to their guns and played mostly newer stuff with which I wasn't very familiar. Yet it was still as if I were, you know?

Anyway, here is a selection of the very best of the 119 (doh!) pictures I took: Click images to enlarge!









































The Steve Harris pic is meaningful because my friends and I shook his hand back in 1989. Short little guy with thick, stubby fingers. Bad-ass bassist! Nicko was obviously an idol growing up as I played more Maiden than probably anything besides Rush. Hence the love of Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy.

Here were the set lists:

Dream Theater
1. As I Am
2. A Rite Of Passage
3. Home
4. Constant Motion
5. Panic Attack
6. Pull Me Under

Iron Maiden
1. The Wicker Man
2. Ghost Of The Navigator
3. Wrathchild
4. El Dorado
5. Paschendale
6. The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
7. These Colours Don't Run
8. Blood Brothers
9. Wildest Dreams
10. No More Lies
11. Brave New World
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden

~Encore~
14. The Number of the Beast
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Running Free



Here's what I missed. YES, I left at the end of "13. IronMaiden" - I knew I'd miss "Number of the Beast", but not sure what else. And when I found out that they did "Hallowed..", I was upset I left. Because yeah along with the recent live performance of Running Free as I'm now preparing a solid live threesome, I don't know what the hell else I'm doing. Oddly, it was this clip of their version of "Phantom of The Opera" that even led me to finalize this post with this set of video clips. Remember, this is what I missed.


~Encore~
The Number of the Beast


Hallowed Be Thy Name


Running Free


Well then obviously, I had to go find the live version of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which leads to the climax of this post.





Peace!

Together This Summer!

Image Credits

New York, NY:
Prog rock/metal institution DREAM THEATER will spend their summer supporting Iron Maiden on the band's month-long tour of major US and Canadian markets. The tour launches on June 9 and runs through July 20, and includes a stop at the storied Madison Square Garden in NYC, marking the first time in a lengthy and respected career that Dream Theater have played the world's most famous arena.

This tour will mark another milestone in Dream Theater's history, which continues to expand and evolve twenty-five years deep.

Of touring with Iron Maiden in North America, drummer Mike Portnoy said, "It is a bit of a dream come true for us. After 25 years together, at this stage in our career, there's honestly only three bands Dream Theater would consider opening for and Maiden is one of them. It is an absolute honor. Through the years, we've done many one-off shows with Maiden and they've almost all been overseas. It is very exciting to finally be doing a full tour with them and on our side of the pond no less. These are gonna be amazing shows that the fans won't want to miss. Up the f***ing irons!"

Playing MSG for the first time is also a huge accomplishment for the band and they are thrilled about the prospect. "Dream Theater has achieved so many dreams through the years, from playing the Budokan in Tokyo to Wembley Arena in London to Radio City Music Hall in NYC," Portnoy recalled. "But the one remaining dream that has eluded us through all of these years was to play at Madison Square Garden. Well, on July 12, along with Iron Maiden, that dream will finally be fulfilled."

Guitarist John Petrucci was equally stoked about the MSG play, saying, "I am unbelievably excited to be finally playing Madison Square Garden, and with the almighty Maiden to boot! They have been heroes to the band since the beginning and are iconic in our eyes. There is nothing like achieving success and recognition in your own country, in your own city. It's going to be an incredible night for sure."

Portnoy has proof of this career-long dream, saying, "About a month ago my family and I were watching a video of my first band Intruder from back in 1983, and in the video before the show, I was interviewed and asked what my dream goal was. I responded 'to play the Garden.' It took almost 30 years, but it's surreal that I will now be able to check it off the list."

Dream Theater's Black Clouds & Silver Linings was released in 2009 and debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Sales chart.

Source

Click here for dates.. I know what I'll be doing Saturday, June 12th!!