What's more hardcore than metal on metal?Crushing metal, both literally
and figuratively, can be found by heading up towards
Albany this summer for the Rock N’ Derby, held May 20-22 at the fairgrounds in Schaghticoke,
NY.
Cars will be smashing into each
other, as bands thrash on stage.With three days of concerts and demolition derbies, they will be
demolishing everything from cars designed in the themes
of performing artists, to short buses, tractors, and more. Plus, derby winners will be taking
home $10,000.
Five Finger Death Punch
Bodies slime against bodies, as people can smash into
each other in mosh pits while bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown, Halestorm, Megadeth, Sixx: A.M., Lamb
Of God, Clutch, Anthrax, Ghost, Wolfmother, Sevendust, Dokken, Trivium, Memphis
May Fire, We Came As Romans, Scott Stapp, Pop Evil, Thy Art Is Murder, Wild
Throne, and Currents play.More bands are being added to the bill; plus,
there will be pre- and post-concerts for the event.
Anthrax
We Came As Romans
For more intense contact, human-on-human collisions
will thunder with mud ridden wrestling matches all weekend long. With Battle
Royales, Tag Team, and State Pro Championship matches, expect to witness
history in the making. Wrestling matches will be featured all weekend in the
Wrestlin' Shack.
Megadeth
Pop Evil
Pitch a tent and stay inside the camping area; guests
will have access to electricity, showers, and running water will also be
available in designated areas. Campers will have daily access to the festival
site and demolition derby, and connections are available.Camping prices are 2 person (10x30) $120.00, 4 person (20x40) $180.00, 6 person
(20x40) $200, 6 person RV (20x40) $225.00 (no hook up), and 6 person RV
(20x40) $325.00 (with hook up).Additional parking is $29.99, a 10x10 tent with sides is $150, cots are
available for $65, sleeping bags $40, and locker rentals are $20 per day or $50
for the weekend.
Sevendust
Thy Art Is Murder
Weekend
General Admission Tickets start at $119, Two-Day General Admssion starts at
$89.99, Demolition Derby General Admission for a single day is $29.99.Children tickets for 12 and under, with
children under 16 needing a guardian to attend, starts at $29.99 for a single
day, $54.99 for two days, and $74.99 for the weekend.
VIP
packages are available.RV Package for $6,599.99, with only 11
AVAILABLE, includes six VIP Weekend Passes & Lanyard, $250.00 in
Stock Food & Drink (alcohol served to 21+ only), Gift Box of Festival Merch,
Access to Monster Energy Artist Bar'n, Artist Meet and Greet, Pre & After
Party Access, six Pit Passes for Demo Derby, and six Festival Sleeping Bags.
The Cabana Package for $3,499.99, with only 10 available, features
six VIP Weekend Passes & Lanyard, six pack of Craft Beer per day, Gift
Box of Festival Merch, Access to Monster Energy Artist Bar'n, Artist Meet and
Greet, Pre and Post Party Access, and six Pit Passes for Demo Derby.
Like its sister event Food Truck & Rock Carnival, ROCK'N DERBY will include more than 20
scattered food trucks and other mobile culinary vendors, along with several
staple Schaghticoke Fair eateries, offering a wide variety of delicious eats
and providing 24 hour food options.The Village
Of Barns & Brews will include multiple bar locations with some of the
finest micro and macro brews the region has to offer. Specialty barns will host
a movie theater, a bar, VIP activities, a laser light show, and various sponsor
activities.
Braving the spurts of flying snow,
driving up to The Machine Shop in Flint, MI, listening to Banana
101.5 FM, the radio station reporting live from the event, telling
listeners that tickets were still available for the show. The
evening starts with a quick trip to see COC, also known as Corrosion
of Conformity, a North Carolina band with a New Orleans frontman.
Reed Mullin greets me with a big smile.
We talk about his rotator cuff surgery. The doctor guessed he may
only get 70% of his range back, but he shocked himself and the
medical world with a whopping 98% full function after the procedure.
Pepper and I chatted about his
six-year-old and about my new book, a retrospective of my 15 years in
journalism called “Interview Rock Stars.” There is an entire
chapter of Pepperisms, and I told him I would bring him a copy in
January, when COC plays with Deicide - with any lucky, he might
actually write a blurb for me, instead of vice versa. Woody, Pepper
and I walked into the club together.
Mothership was already on the stage,
first on the bill. Mothership has that Texas guitar drawl, hard
hitting but tightly composed with melody. They fit in perfectly with
the rest of the bill, a great band to start off the evening; if
you're not familiar with them, they're worth a listen.
Saviours is second on the stage. It's
easy to get lost in the music. They have that more melodic style with
a nice groove line.
Like riding a wave on the West Coast,
as Saviours hails from California, their music you can hang ten to,
bounce around metal style. The air is thick with smoke outside,
left-handed cigarettes burning. You can't see where, but people keep
commenting that they can smell it in the air.
Third band is like an acid trip. They
have that slower feedback that builds into a crescendo. Fits the
stoner vibe perfectly, as it is easy to get carried away in a riff,
almost like a jam session.
Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk
Band reminds of that saying, “the riff compels you.” They close
their eyes tight, getting lost in the music. When their eyes open,
you can see that surprised amusement, like where did these people
come from, as if they had gotten lost in the jam and opened their
eyes from the wormhole of the music.
When COC took the stage, the crowd
seemed to thicken like a gravy. Wet, sweaty bodies, rubbing up
against each other, chanting, erupting like a volcano when the first
song started. In between songs, they chant, giving the love yet
demanding the next song.
Reed may have said that Stanton Moore
was a great drummer, but having the main four COC guys back together
beats any replacement. There's an organic groove, that spark of
originality that Stanton Moore sure as hell could not bring to the
table when he tried replace Reed on a tour. Reed brings a serious
playfulness, and his backing vocals are much stronger than Stanton's
was; sorry Stanton.
Pepper maintains strength, commanding
the audience with a take no shit and have a good time attitude. Woody
has the rock star poses with comical expressions that touch
individual audience members. Mike transcends, like he is playing on
the astral plane, then snaps back and sparks up a fire, exploding.
They save "Clean My Wounds"
for their very last song, dedicating it to their friends in Eagles of
Death Metal, the band that was playing during the attack in Paris.
Bubbles storm from the sky, and Pepper jokes, "those bubbles
have acid in them." It would have been cool if they did, for
they went into a long jam in the middle of the song, reminiscent of
"Stranglehold," but with an originality that would make any
hippie into jam proud.
Perhaps Stanton left some of his jam
influence with the band. Mike and Reed hold steady, while Pepper
leads a musical journey to the beyond and back, singing the return
with a new undertone to the song. It only proves my respect for the
band, way more versatile than the average metal band.
Marisa Williams earned her Master's in
Writing from the Johns Hopkins University and is the author of more
than 100 books. For more by Marisa, visit
www.twitter.com/booksnbling
and www.lulu.com/spotlight/thorisaz.
Her latest book, The Murder House is now available on
Amazon.com and Kindle; Carnival of Cannibals
will be released by the end of this year, and in early 2016,
Interview Rock Stars
will be published.
Corrosion of Conformity is a band that
has always been near and dear to my heart. Yes, Pepper is back
touring with them finally, so you best go check out their tour. Here's where you can see them on this tour:
Corrosion of Conformity w/ Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, Saviours, Mothership:
11/20/2015 Venue Nightclub - Vancouver, BC 11/21/2015 Neumo's - Seattle, WA 11/23/2015 The Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO 11/24/2015 The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO 11/25/2015 Mill City Nights - Minneapolis, MN 11/27/2015 Rtr 20 - Racine, WI 11/28/2015 The Odeon - Cleveland, OH 11/29/2015 Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA 12/01/2015 Opera House - Toronto, ON 12/02/2015 Machine Shop - Flint, MI 12/03/2015 Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA 12/04/2015 Gramercy Theater - New York, NY 12/05/2015 Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA 12/07/2015 9:30 Club - Washington, DC 12/08/2015 Orange Peel - Asheville, NC 12/09/2015 Shaka's Live - Virginia Beach, VA 12/10/2015 Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
A few little known facts about
Corrosion of Conformity. Mike Dean is a vegetarian. Woody
Weatherman is a Dwight Yokum fan.
Did you know that the drummer from
Galactic, Stanton Moore, did a tour drumming for Corrosion of
Conformity? Or that Pepper Keenan took a break from singing with the
band is now back for this tour? Corrosion of Conformity, better
known as simply COC, is one of those bands that praises all kinds of
music.
When I told Pepper my friend was a bass
player, he sat him down on the tour bus and had him watch Mike
Gordon's video. Of course, Mike Gordon is the bass player from
Phish. When I told Woody that I wasn't a big country fan, he made me
listen to a series of old school country songs, explaining that
anyone that is into music should be able to appreciate all kinds of
music, not just a specific genre.
I first caught COC when they toured in
1996 with Ozzy and Filter. Eight years later, I, too, would have the
opportunity to tour with Ozzy on Ozzfest 2002. I went to cover the
Detroit stop of Ozzfest for my magazine, which had two shows playing;
during the second day, I was pulled on stage by Rob Zombie and
shortly after was offered a job on the tour.
However, it was the night before, the
evening of the first Detroit tour stop, that I first met Pepper. I
had been showing a group of people some of the pictures I had taken
that day, and somebody asked if I had any pictures of Down. Flipping
through, I found the pictures and began showing them off.
“I see you have a lot of Phil, but
what about that Pepper cat? I heard he's pretty good. You have any
of him?”
I had not looked up to see who had
asked the question, but I knew I had pictures of Pepper, so I flipped
through until I found one. Once I did, I looked up to show the
person who had asked me about the picture. Sure enough, I was face
to face with Pepper Keenan himself.
Flabergasted, I thought I was
hallucinating at first. There he was, a huge grin on his face,
standing amidst a crowd who hadn't realized that he had snuck over to
see what the gathering was about. From that point on, I had always
thought of him as approachable and almost like a Cheshire Cat, as he
appears from seemingly out of nowhere, with this huge grin, then he
disappears just as quickly.
Calling him a Cheshire Cat in one of my
first screenplays, as I got to know him better after living in New
Orleans, I remember going to give him a copy of the book – which
wasn't even professionally bound or published at the time. COC was
playing with Motorhead and Brand New Sin. Now, Brand New Sin I had
interviewed before, and they had challenged me to see how many curse
words I would include in my article, as well as shared with me a
funny cross dressing story about Lemmy.
That was my first time seeing Motorhead
though. When I was standing in the crowd, a guy walked up and handed
me a pass, and I had assumed it was from Pepper. However, at the end
of the night, Pepper walked up, a girl under each arm, but he fluffed
them aside when he saw me.
Asking him if he got my book, we
chitchatted for a while, and he looked down, saw the pass in my hand
and asked where I had gotten that from. Shocked, I thought that it
had come from the COC camp, but he looked at it and pointed out it
said Motorhead. He pointed me backstage to meet the band.
Long story short, I went back, and the
drummer came out with a towel wrapped on his head. The crowd rushed
him, but when he took the towel off, they looked to rush Lemmy, who
had positioned himself in back of the crowd, sneaking in undetected
for a few moments. Since I was standing off to the side, the drummer
came to chat with me, and as we were an impromptu interview, a woman
approached us.
Peabody's had invited the bands over
from the Agora Ballroom to come hang out. Next thing I know, I'm
chilling with the guys from Motorhead, of course Pepper, the guys
from White Lion and E'Nuff Z'Nuff. “All of us bands have been
around for quite a while, so, of course, we all know each other.”
Random stuff like that seems to happen
around Pepper. If it doesn't, he stirs the pot, like he did here in
Detroit. Down had been recording an acoustic version of “Stone the
Crow” for a radio promo, and they invited me up to watch the
process happen with their portable recording studio in the hotel.
Afterwords, I offered to take the guys
around, since I had a car and they only had the big bulky bus.
Norris, Rex, Pepper and I went out to a couple clubs, and as they
walked in, people could tell they were famous, but couldn't exactly
pinpoint who they were. Each person who had enough guts to ask,
Pepper would proudly profess that he was from an 80's band, telling a
different band to each person.
They would be satisfied enough, hearing
a familiar band name with members they had not seen in a while, and
nobody really compared notes to know that Pepper was telling a
different hair band each time. What made it hilarious was that
Pepper would point to Rex and shout. “Yeah, that's my Roadie,
Rex.”
Poor Rex could barely be heard
grumbling something into his whiskey. Norris and I just sat back
laughing. That's the type of stuff that comes to mind when I go
through my Rolodex of memories.
Living in New Orleans, I got to know
Pepper better than anyone else in the band. Although, I must say,
all of the guys from COC have always been extremely warm, welcoming,
and down to earth. In the music industry, that can be a rarity, so I
have always appreciated them.
Sure, the band has been around for
decades. They have more than made their mark in the music industry,
and if you have never caught their show, I encourage you to check
them out. For those who have not seen them, and for those longtime
fans who know just how good they are live, they are coming on tour
with a Detroit stop schedule for December 2nd at the
Machine Shop in Flint, and also in Cleveland on November 28th
at The Odeon.
After some unexpected downtime from
surgery, I found myself being called to the Freedom Hill Ampitheatre
in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Forget that I could barely hobble
from being sliced and diced as if the doctors were trying to cut me
down the middle. Wrap myself in some warm clothes, for the Chill on
the Hill lives up to its name, ringing in the chilly weather of the
year, a sure sign of fall.
Trying my best to walk, I probably
looked more like a penguin to the average person strolling by me.
Shift the weight from one side to the other side, then back again.
Many take a normal gait for granted.
I needed to get out of the house.
Music has been such a massive part of my life, even wincing in pain,
I love getting lost in a large crowd at a concert. Not fully up to
par, I didn't venture into the photo pit like I normally do; instead,
I only brought my phone as a means to capture the concert.
Don't judge my grainy photos too
harshly. It's called work with what ya got. Better than nothing.
Chill on the Hill is an event hosted by
CIMX-FM, a radio station known to many as 89X. This is not a new
station. It has blossomed in not only Detroit, but Windsor, over the
years I've been on the planet.
I hate 89X. It has me spoiled. It has
set my expectations for other radio stations way too high.
I first discovered 88.7 when I was in
middle school. Back in the day, it was a faint alternative station
that I had stumbled on by accident. As I was the first one on the
bus, I set the radio to it every day.
Throughout the years, the signal grew
stronger, as did the fan base. Even after it got bought out by the
bigger corporation, the station attempted to remain true to its
roots. I continue to listen to it, because it highlights local
artists, as well as international artists that not a lot of other
stations are willing to play.
Whenever I travel, which is quite
often, I search the radio stations in other cities, hoping to find
radio stations that might be similar. I thought for sure the other
big cities would have as cool of a station, but I've been
disappointed. Places like California, New York and Miami, I had
expected to set the standards for music, but they don't have radio
stations like 89X; people just don't understand that.
Drive up the coast of California, and
it's Oldies, Spanish and static; come to find out, the mountains
heading to Humboldt are not the best for great radio reception.
Miami has a lot of salsa and electronic. New York, don't get me
started, but let's just say I was more than a little disappointed by
their music.
New Orleans has funk and blues. The
Carolinas and East Coast is more jam. Where's the rock?
South of the Mason-Dixon Line, it's
mostly rap, country and jam. There's pockets of rockers, a few radio
stations along the way, but they don't compare. The rock scene in
Detroit is, as one of the bands who played the 89x Chill on the Hill
put it “legendary,” defining the rock scene for everyone else.
Detroiters know how to mosh. We are
not afraid to crowd surf. From the stage, the crowd erupts.
Old schoolers think of The Riff as the
rock station in Detroit. Granted, 101.1 stole Dave and Chuck the
Freak from 89X's morning show, but their song mix throughout the day
is just slightly different. In my opinion, while The Riff has rock,
it tends to have more classic rock than the alternative found on 89X.
My buddy came in from out of town and
was surprised listening to 89X. “Wow, they play one good song
after another; their lineup is strong like Donkey Kong.” He
travels just as much, if not more, than I do; “most places in the
country do not have radio stations that play a lot of good songs in a
row.”
He was shocked when Violent Femmes came
on the radio, claiming nobody plays them. I had to explain that
bands like the Violent Femmes have always been played on 89X, and
that's what makes them a little different. Sure, they play hits, but
they sprinkle in a different flavor of old school music.
When I grew up hearing people talk
about how radio sucks, I didn't understand it until I started
traveling. He's right; most cities only have a few decent stations
that play okay stuff. In most places, it's like a good song,
followed by some hogwash, maybe a halfway decent song, and more
hogwash.
My brother said it best. “It seems
no matter where you travel to, they all play the same songs by the
same few selected artists. I want to hear the smaller guys, the
lesser known people that are good, too.”
Stuff like the Homeboy Show sets 89X
apart from others in that area. The fact that 89X broadcasts in both
the United States and Canada also sets them apart. We get exposed to
more Canadian music here.
When my friend was in town, I wanted to
take him to a show. Looking at Bands In Town at the last second, I
saw that Thousand Foot Krutch was playing. He was not familiar with
the Toronto rockers, but I had seen them play a few times and knew
that they were definitely worth seeing in concert.
Though I would have been happy just to
see TFK, come to find out, they were only one of many bands at 89X's
Chill on the Hill at the Freedom Hill Ampitheatre in Sterling
Heights. Cage the Elephant, Panic at the Disco, Weezer, the Wombats,
We Came As Romans and many others; it's a no brainer.
We had to go. The first day, we waited
out the rain a bit, but we made it in time to see TFK. He was more
than impressed by the band that 89X has been playing for years, even
if he was not so familiar with their hits, as Thousand Foot Krutch is
a strong performing Canadian band.
They have energy, and they always get
the crowd going. Frankly, I was surprised to see them playing on the
smaller stage, but the crowd was more than willing to swarm the
outside area in support of them. A rocking good time, people were
singing along with their hits and dancing to their distinct beats.
The next band on the outside stage,
Detroit's We Came As Romans, kept that energy going and cranked it up
a notch with moshing fans that were not afraid to crowd surf. Their
beats hit hard, fitting to their name, as it really does remind you
of the Romans storming into a territory to take over by force.
The first time I saw that band was at a
festival in Jackson. I remember then being shocked not only by the
full force of the bass pounding inside your chest, but by the
reaction of the crowd going berserk. The fact that there's more and
more people recognizing their radio hits only confirms what I knew
the first time I saw them, that this was a band to watch, as they are
only going to continue to blow up.
Probably the band that shocked me the
most though, was actually Panic At The Disco. Sure, I knew their
radio songs, and I knew people liked them, but I was pleasantly
surprised by seeing them live. The first part of the set did not
immediately grab my attention, as I was wandering the VIP area, but
when I actually sat down and watched the second half, I found that I
could not leave my seat.
Each song was better and better. The
lead singer has a phenomenal vocal range, and his bandmates did not
miss a beat. What really blew me away as the cover songs they did,
as I am not typically a fan of covers, but they did not slaughter the
covers, they actually sounded very true to form surprisingly.
First, they did Queen. The vocal range
matched perfectly. Then they did AC/DC, and I was sold.
Not only did he match the range, he
added that raspiness to his voice. It's hard to match that kind of
rasp, as part of the natural harshness may have been from smoking,
and for someone to match that, it's very hard on the throat. Not
only did they nail it, but the crowd went probably the most wild for
them.
Going in, I would have thought that
Weezer would have stolen the show for the fan vote, being the
headliners that day, but sorry to say that I think they got showed up
by Panic At The Disco. Even the lead singer of Weezer commented how
great Panic At The Disco was when they took the stage, adding that
they need to do more shows together. Unfortunately, some of the
crowd cleared out for Weezer's set, but it mostly seemed that it was
the teenieboppers that had left, leaving the true Weezer fans.
That was cool. It allowed people to
get closer to the front. That only made more room for dancing.
The fans that were left were the die
hards. Many people sang along to every song. There were stories
that people shared of all the times they had seen Weezer, and how
excited they were to see them then.
Don't get me wrong. Weezer put on a
phenomenal show. I was surprised how many songs I knew, too.
Did they play even one song that I did
not know? They were so ingrained as part of my life growing up in
the 90s that I think I knew every song. I definitely knew more of
their songs than any other band.
The second day had more solid
performers, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Robert Delong, The Struts,
and Cold War Kids. Walking around, it's almost comical to watch the
Silent Disco. A mass of people wearing headphones dance to music
only they can hear, sometimes dancing in synch, or all erupting at
the same time, which, to the outside person that is looking in, can
be quite funny at times.
Coheed and Cambria I was probably most
excited to watch, as I had heard so many great things about them.
Even from the far depths of the furthest seat on the lawn, one can
see the lead singer's hair. Musically, the band has a talent that is
perhaps underrated by many, but it is well worth checking out.
Of course, Cage The Elephant stole the
show. Energetically, I would say they may have taken the entire
festival. Keeping track of the lead singer is like watching a ping
pong match, zipping around.
I lost track of how many times he dove
into the audience. Seemingly not caring, with a running leap, eager
hands held his body up, twirling him over the crowd. Crowd surfers
were anxious to respond.
Taking it in as a whole, Cage The
Elephant may have been my favorite. They really put forth the effort
into the stage show, and not by flash and trash, but by the sheer raw
energy on stage. It's like being splashed by a bucket of ice water,
where you can't help but have your eyes open wide and be alert.
You didn't want to leave your seat, not
even to go to the bathroom. You didn't know what you might miss.
From the lawn, he might look like Mr. Plankton from Sponge Bob, but
he's all over the place.
It was more than a good show. The
Chill on the Hill is only one of many great shows 89X throws
throughout the year. Often, they have contests where you can win
tickets, and they will have special pricing on tickets at certain
times, making for events that will be remembered for a lifetime.
Looking back, I can recall various
shows, like The Night 89X Stole Christmas. I remember buying buy one
get one tickets, where I got free tickets to other events for
purchasing tickets to the ones I wanted. That's like getting two
memories for the price of one, and not every radio station does that
type of stuff.
That's why I am spoiled. I expect
other radio stations to be as cool as 89X. The more I travel though,
the more I realize that there really is only one 89X in the world,
and I am lucky enough to know them.
I was also lucky enough to make it
through the concert, as it was not long after that I landed myself in
the hospital again, this time puking up bile and blood. When you're
so dehydrated that your body spasms, it makes fun times at a concert
like this all the more worth while. Do not take your health for
granted, and make the most out of life while you are in the right
health to be able to do so, for you never know when you might find
yourself in the hospital unexpectedly, as most do not plan such
trips.
Chill on the Hill featured Weezer,
Coheed and Cambria, Panic! At The Disco, The Wombats, The Struts,
Night Riots, Vinyl Theatre, Arkells, Coleman Hell, Beartooth, Secoya,
We Came As Romans, Andrew McMahon, Robert Delong, Kaleido, Civil
Twilight, Five Hundredth Year, The Glorious Sons, X Ambassadors, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Cold War Kids, a Silent Disco and a bunch of fun
surprises. For more information on the 89X Chill on the Hill, visit
www.chillonthehillfestival.com.
For more by author Marisa Williams, visit
www.lulu.com/spotlight/thorisaz
and www.twitter.com/booksnbling.
