Day 2 - Gym, 5k,- San Diego Tour - Sleep - Death Angel

We've docked in San Diego.

This day was intense, especially coming off the very long and fun Sunday. I woke up early just b/c I was till so amped up. This would come back to haunt me later.

I believe it was this day I saw Kurdt and Mike from Metal Church in line at the reservation desk and I said hello and asked them to play "Reset" but Kurdt said they hadn't rehearsed it for this trip but that I would not be disappointed when I saw them later that night. This seemingly trivial exchange would resonate later.

We woke up and went to breakfast at the cafe and then the gym for a bit.  I hit the gym for a short bit prior to the 5K run with Kiko L., guitarist of Megadeth. I saw him in the gym and quickly introduced myself. He's a thin dude and while I'm a fan (sort of by default) I was not gawking it's just cool to see him in there. I also saw Alex Skolnick lifting some free weights near me and I just said a quick hello.

The real treat was seeing Kurdt Van Der Hoof from Metal Church there. He was in all black sleeveless and he's just a big guy and a presence. I said hello and he seemed to remember me from the photo shoot and the reservation desk. I smiled and said hello and shook his gloved hand and held it and said to him: "I can't believe I'm talking to the guy I listen to, at the gym." He got a genuine laugh at that and then I let him do his thing.

At one point, the three guitarists commiserated near the lat pulldown machine and I thought that was cool -- like a meeting of the minds. I'm sure they all know each other to some degree -- MC toured with Megadeth relatively recently. Kiko is newest to the American scene, b/c he was recruited from Angra to join MD in '15 or '16 for Dystopia. Anyway, I just looked over and, w/o gawking, just marveled at the level of musical talent.

OK so from there we went back out to the deck to meet up for the run with Kiko and Luca (artist?). Liz was with me but went off especially once we realized we needed our licenses to get off the boat. So we all went downstairs and made our way out and Luca pointed out where we'd be going (off to the left) and to turn around at the yellow sign, b/c he said he'd been here before. I had my phone for the sake of using Map My Run.

So we ran and I went mostl ahead of the pack. There was a woman who was our designated pacesetter and I was 2-3 runners behind. I stopped a few times for some pix.

There was a path so it was fine. There were some homeless along the path. Felt weird running by them considering all the money I had spent to get there.

I found the yellow sign and turned around and we finished and it was in fact 3.1 miles, according to MMR. I took a pic w/ Kiko after he finished and caught his breath and he seemed impressed with my running abilities. After a short bit I got back on the boat.

11am (ish)
OK so this was also pivotal moment. I walked in and went to the pub (on 8) which looks down at the atrium on 7. I just wanted a water from the bar. And so I look down and I see my goddamn hero -- the top reason I wanted to do this cruise -- John Bush. He was with his 2 kids at the Starbucks. I was already sweating through my from-the-parking-lot Metallica tee and I also realized I had 1% left on phone battery (I should have gotten new battery beforehand).

So I casually went downstairs to just hang out while he waited for his coffee. I waved and tried to talk to him a bit but the words weren't coming out right (tried to connect about fatherhood) and I was getting embarrassed for myself just b/c my energy was also down. Very little sleep plus a run in the sun was not a good combo. Then this Australian family came up and started talking to him and that was cool and then John's room card was declined for the Starbucks and the family picked up his bill. I had to bail. I knew I'd see him again but I didn't know where or in what context and felt like I might have blown my chance to talk to him. I waved goodbye and said thanks. He was wearing a "people for the eating of tasty animals" shirt.

I had been texting with Ted from Death Angel to coordinate our interview for the next day and settled that.

1230pm
We went back down to the atrium to get ready to go on our San Diego trip and that was when Doro was doing her Q&A so that was kinda cool.

The San Diego tour was from 1-5 approx and, amazingly, there was nothing incredible happening in the way of Q&As or performances.

Our city tour was through Viator and started at the Santa Fe train depot. A charter van driver picked us up and we were on our way. I was passing out from being physically exhausted and for being bummed out for my botched meeting with John. Liz and I were also not getting along b/c this is what happens when we travel -- we annoy each other. Particularly when I believe we can walk to a place that the visitor center said was 2 blocks away and she wanted to call a cab and doubt my navigation abilities the entire 4 minutes of the walk. One bad look or sigh or eye-roll and we get pissy.  We eventually moved past it.

We stopped at the hotel Coronado, which is where "Some Like It Hot" was filmed and used as a backdrop for Florida. It had no significance for me but it was a nice property.

We also stopped at the botanical gardens.

We also went through Old Town, which was a little Mexican pueblo. That place was cool it was very tourist-y of course but we enjoyed that. I got a quarter pound of pumpkin-walnut fudge from a shop and we downed that. I was in the mood for calories.

We drove past the little Italy portion of the city, too and then they dropped us back off at the ship.

5 or 6ish

We get back on and I want to say we ate some dinner at the Irish Pub but I can't recall offhand. But I do know we went back to the cabin to nap before I would get ready to see Testament at 7:30, then Ellefson's MegaJam, then Metal Church and then Death Angel at the pool at 12:30.

Yeah none of that happened. We slept. Immediately. Either I didn't set the alarm or I didn't hear it. Either way, Liz woke us at 11 and my heart sank. I was not going to immediately run out to catch MC, esp b/c I knew they were playing again the next night w/o a conflict.

I got myself together and went upstairs for a couple of coffees near the pool. I mingled a little bit and saw Jeff from Armored Saint hanging out a bit but didn't say hello yet and then saw some of the Metal Church guys and shook their hands. Stet Howland was cool.

Then I went down to the pool stage and caught Death Angel. They started as we were leaving San Diego.

THEY.
FUCKING.
SLAYED. 

They opened with "Thrown To The Wolves," which I think is their standard opener but it really set the tone. Mark has a voice but not a growl. He can sing. But it can be something of a slightly raspy pierce.

Setlist:
The dream calls for blood. 
I came for blood. 
Seemingly endless time. 
Lost. 
Father of lies. 
The Moth. 
Song from Ultra-Violence.
Finale was "kill as one."

I do remember Mark introducing Ted as the band's "Rock of Gibraltar."

A small mosh pit broke out right behind me a few times. I was near Thomas, who I saw let Dylan jump in there so I kept half an eye on the kid, too, since I could not in good faith let him get beat up.

This was my first DA show and I would absolutely see them again. And I must get my hands on Humanicide. I think "The Moth" was the best song of the night, though, and not just because I knew it a little better.

My memory afterward is hazy. But I remember thinking how cool it was that this band just annihilated the pool stage and they were waaaaay better than COC (in all fairness, I've seen COC at least 4 times already, too and they cannot move around as much). And the nap was worth it.

I might have gotten some tea or a warm pastry afterward. I then made my way back down to Bliss Lounge to check out the karaoke party. I spotted Metal Church bassist Steve Unger and almost struck up conversation but then he got called up to sing and he did "Burnin' Love" by Elvis and that was cool.

Afterward I just meandered a bit and left. By then it was 2-3am.

Day 1 - Art drinks metal buffet

Got acclimated to the boat. It’s massive.

We had tickets for one free drink each and I had the champagne and the bartender at the Irish Pub gave me a full big plastic cup-full of it. I eventually got Liz's too, so I started to feel a buzz as we made our way upstairs.

4:30 ish
The first event we happened upon was the tail-end of the "Death By Design" graphic novel panel. We were just checking out the boat and it was in the Spinnaker Lounge. There, we met Cap, Emily and Logan. The latter two are married. Cap is a lawyer from DC and he shelled out the dough for the book -- which is a magnificent collection of short comic book stories inspired by 'Deth song titles. The collection's casing was quite nice, as well.

Liz took some shots of me next to the art panels. Cap was very gracious and bought us a Saison 13 and I will reciprocate when he inevitably returns to NY for bizness. We connected a few times at other events & days so their names will resurface.


6:30PM
My first real "event" was the photo experience with Metal Church, Death Angel and Dragonforce. I was waiting on the 13th floor deck as Metalachi played down at the pool. They were fun. They are a drumless mariachi band that covers heavy metal classics. I remember hearing "Epic" and "One." While in line I met Nick and Austn, two young dudes from the midwest (Indiana?) who were vested and tatted up with all sorts of band logos, many of which were on the ship. They were especially into Death Angel, which became a recurring theme on the boat. It was also where I met Thomas, an earth sci teacher from Cali and his son, Dylan, an up-and-coming guitar prodigy. Their names will come up a few times, too.

So we get in and Metal Church was the first band to photo with. They have taken me by storm the past few years, esp since 2016 when Mike Howe rejoined. I have almost all their albums and all the studio albums with Howe. Those are the superior ones IMO anyway. I really love those last two they did with him -- XI and Damned If You Do.

Anyway, upon seeing them my spirit downed 10 energy drinks and it was like I was a football player getting ready to take the field. They loved the energy and I high-fived all of them and gave Mike a hug and a bro-hug to Kurdt. More on them later.

The staff moves you along quickly from band to band. There is no signing.

Next was Dragonforce. I'm a fan but all their stuff sort of blends together. Really fun speed-power metal that is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I run elliptical to them. IDK how they play that effing fast. I high-fived them and we took the shot and moved on.

Death Angel was last. I had wanted to introduce myself to Ted A., their rhythm guitarist, since I'd be interviewing him but there was no time. I was pumped to meet them, though, b/c I have almost all their albums. I've been into them for the last 2-3 years but mostly LOVE their Nuclear Blast output -- particularly from Relentless forward. One of the guys got distracted and wasn't looking at the camera (I want to say it was Mark but cannot really remember). And that was it I was out and back to the pool. I mingled with some people and did some celebrity-spotting.

845 PM
First show was COC at the pool. Small crowd due in part to Anthrax performance. That worked better for me bc I was up close.

Corrosion of conformity set: open w bottom feeder intro and then shake like you and paranoid opioid then in no particular order performed Albatros and who’s got the fire and my grain and   heavens not overflowing and senior limpio  and broken man and vote with a bullet closed within my wounds.  They jammed on that for a while it was pretty groovy.  Maybe 50 min total set. Nothing off No Cross nor Wiseblood, which is a bit of a bummer. But they seem to be playing Deliverance songs bc it's the 25th anniversary. 

They kept complaining that the sound was bad for them and for the most part the audience and I were telling them it was fine and could not tell. One of their techs was dressed up like Jesus.  It was distracting bc it kept happening and he kept coming out, standing in the spot to check the sound and then would run back off. So Pepper intermittently moved the mic Stand to the front a few times which is why my shots were so close. 

DORO, PT 1 Next up at the pool was Doro. I was curious bc this is one of 2 female-fronted groups and I met her bass player, Nick Douglas, in my hotel that morning.  It’s like Kiss with a woman singer. The players really came alive. I was impressed, even further back from the stage area.  

But it was getting cold.  And Overkill was due to start in the Stardust Theater at midnight.  So after a few songs I made my way.  This is my second-ever Overkill show. The first time was 2 years ago at Irving Plaza. 

I wound up in third row center.

SET LIST: Last Man standing electric rattle snake. elimination head of a pin ironbound bring me the night hello from the gutter mean green killing machine rotten to the core feel the fire bastard nation fuck you welcome to the garden state 80 minutes. Sooooo good.  

Derek the Skull Tailer (in all black sleeveless with hat, no beard) was having some tech issues. During the show I could see he was getting a little PO'd with it but he just plowed through it.

I had seen that they had been playing "Bring me the night" recently and was thrilled when they did that one it was a highlight. It's incredibly fast. Guess what the line of the chorus is.

Bobby hops off-stage during solos or long instrumental parts, which I've always admired. He's such a presence that it would be too distracting otherwise. Plus I would guess he needs a lot of water for the billion lyrics and wailing.

DD and Jason had a cool bass-and-drum solo interlude that lasted a while. I want to say it was the lead-in to "Feel the Fire."

I had been breaking in "Bastard Nation" in the last six months b/c I'd also seen that was weaved back into the setlist. I like WFO a lot but I've only had it about 2 years so its songs had not been on regular rotation as long as some others. Glad I did so I could sing along during that killer chorus.

I'm having trouble remembering exactly what happened after that show. I might have gone back up to get some tea or something on 12, but that was the last show of the night.

The caste system begins    O’er yonder are some musicians and people who paid way more than us.

Joe and Frank from anthrax check in one leg at a time like the rest of us 

My reaction