Adam’s Cerebral Spillage

That’s the noise currently living in my ears after last night’s Machine Head gig, and it’s one of the painful reminders of just how awesome last night was. The others would be the aches and pains of hours of pit antics, and a severe lack of sleep.

We got there way too early; I was expecting much worse traffic than was actually on the roads, so we were inside waiting for the arena doors to open by 5:45. It was disheartening at first, as teen after teen arrived and queued, most of who were wearing the same one or two Machine Head t-shirts, and all of who looked way too young to even remember the likes of Davidian. I was sat there feeling very old as emo haircuts, leggings(!) and bumfluff beards queued, wondering why on earth anyone would stand and queue to get in before the first support act starts, but each to their own.

I don’t even remember the name of the first band, but I feel for them. Trying to get a small crowd going for it at half-six in the evening, with really crazy vocals and heavy guitars is a pretty thankless task. They had one half-decent track but the others left me cold. Next up was Bleeding Through, a group I knew of through the likes of Metal Hammer, but had never really listened to before. They were pretty good, very heavy and really good at working the crowd (I’d never been a part of ‘The Wall Of Death’ before last night), but still pretty indecipherable. To be honest, I think the sound setup for the first two acts left a lot to be desired. All you could hear was guitar and nothing else. I’m as big a fan of heavy guitar as the next man, but I want to hear the rest of the band too.

After the first two small sets Hatebreed took the stage. Now Hatebreed I’m more familiar with. They were great, big heavy riffs and a lot of bouncing. They were the first ones to get me moving on the floor. They played a long set much to everyone’s very vocal enjoyment, and I think I’ll be investing in an album or two soon. Lights up, curtains up and time to mill around and get a drink before the headliners take the stage.

Stood there with my mate having a chat before they started, the roadies started doing the sound check, and I can honestly say I’ve never heard – or more accurately ‘felt’ – a louder bass drum. It made every part of me shake; we looked at each other in instant acknowledgement that this was going to be loud, very loud, and very excellent! Once the curtain dropped they opened with a track from the ‘The Blackening’ album and the whole arena went fucking crazy! They weren’t promoting an album so they treated us to a mix of old stuff and some of the less well-known album tracks which was just brilliant. Everyone in there knew every track, the pit was bouncing, shoving and getting into it (and we were in the middle of it), it was a metal-head’s wet dream. At one point the band got everyone to clear the centre of the floor and demanded to their very obliging fans, that they start ‘the biggest circle pit this place has ever seen’. We didn’t disappoint, it was immense and incredibly good.

Machine Head take the stage, Plymouth erupts

Robb Flynn and the rest of the guys are consummate professionals; every track they played sounded as good as the studio versions. Harmonised solos, awesome vocals and finishing with an encore of Halo followed by Davidian just topped off the perfect night. You haven’t heard Davidian until you’ve felt the machine gun double-bass drumming hammering your chest. There’s not a bit of me that isn’t aching this morning, I didn’t get in the front door ’til after 1am, and I can barely hear a thing today, but it was all worth it. I can happily say that I’ve seen one of my favourite bands in the world, and they lived up to my expectations and far beyond. I was going to go to a local Rock Night tomorrow night, but I don’t think I’ll bother now, there’s no way it can top that while it’s still fresh in my head .

A very blurry Robb Flynn in glorious phone-cam-o-vision

Technorati Tags Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Machine Head, metal, Plymouth Pavilions

Friday was great, really great. A hot day in work got followed up by a very hard hour in training, as one of our fold who left to join the forces came back for the weekend, so he was given a good one to remind just how hard we like to work. My legs were in agony after the running the night before, and then that workout, so I was looking forward to cutting loose a little in Plymouth.

The club was pretty busy by about midnight, and everyone had a great time. 2am rolled around and I was starting to feel the need for bed, all that dancing on top of the hard training had finally caught up with me. We got some food then started heading back. After about 20 miles I noticed we had been followed by a Police Land Rover for about 5 miles, and then they decided to pull me over…. Apparently I was swerving(!), when in fact if anything I was just trying to see, as their stupidly big car was blinding me in all mirrors as they were driving right up my backside! He asked me if I’d been drinking (not a drop), and just couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that we’d travelled up for a night out, asking me why my car was registered in Cornwall if I live in Plymouth…. Anyway, we rolled back into Cornwall and I got back at about 3.45am, but as I got out of the car I was in for a bit of a surprise. Somehow, in the last 60 miles of driving, my knee had decided that it wasn’t fine, and that I wasn’t going to be allowed to walk properly. I got out of the car and nearly fell over, and walking down my (steep) lane took ages and was so painful it brought tears to my eyes. I put it down to tiredness until the next morning when I got up and found I still couldn’t walk properly. Not exactly the best start to my nice relaxing Saturday.

As the weekend’s gone on, it’s gotten no better at all. The pain is on the outside of my left knee, and it really hurts if I’m doing anything other than walking on the flat. Stairs and hills are my worst enemy right now. It means I’ve missed the seminar we had booked for today, and that I’m going to miss training tonight too. I’m still going to go along, maybe I can hold some pads or something useful. I’m pretty worried about it though, it doesn’t feel like a simple muscle pull, and I really doubt right now that I’ll be training again this coming week. It’s one of those few things which is actually going to stop me, the idea of twisting into a good side kick and permanently mangling my leg is one I’m not really going to entertain. If it’s no better by midweek I’ll be popping up the road to the hospital where the self-referall physio is. I’m feeling quite miserable now.

So all in all, excluding the first two hours, this weekend has been pretty terrible. I’ve spent the afternoon on the sofa with a bag of frozen cauliflower tied to my leg, and before I know it it’s back to work again. Surely next week can get better, please? I don’t know whether to feel sad or really f’ing angry, I’m starting to lean towards the latter.

Here’s a song which caused me to put my drink down, halt all conversation and leap to the dancefloor on Friday night.

Static-X – Push It.

Technorati Tags anger, frustration, injury, knee, metal, police, static-x

It’s back to work on Monday, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. Especially now that my body clock seems to be adjusted to getting up at 9. Damn you circadian rhythm! We took the decorations down yesterday, and while it’s always a little sad to see it all go into boxes for another year, it’s great to have what seems like a huge living room back. If anything it’s a bit empty now, I may have to get some tall plants I think.

Last night was Rock night again, being the first Friday of the month, and despite going on my own I had a blast, it was just what I needed, especially after the first training session of the new year was cancelled. Plus I made myself known to a few of the regulars I tend to bash into every month. There was a glut of 80’s covers and originals which made the night for me, and as much as I love the Depeche Mode/The Cure/Marc Almond originals of things like that, the songs had me whirling like a Dervish. When it was topped off with Sisters Of Mercy it was just a bit too good. Although I had a bit of an awakening at one point where I realised that while myself and two others dancing remember the songs from the first time around, there were some bouncing around who weren’t even born then!

I’ve just gotten back from taking Murphy for a much-needed hike around the woods. He gets wound up like a spring if he doesn’t go out regularly, so it’s good to have him knackered and snoozing on my lap as I type this. It rained just before we went, so naturally he came back with all his legs and undercarriage caked in mud, but he seemed to enjoy it so no harm done. I intend to light a fire now, carry on with my book (Hyperion for the time being) and wait for the FA Cup on the TV.

Technorati Tags back to work, hyperion, metal, rock, sisters of mercy

I have nothing in particular to say today, just lots of random bits and pieces I think. Firstly, I’ve recently turned my hand to playing a new game. And this is where it gets odd, it’s not a video game… No, of all things I’ve taken to playing Cribbage in the evenings. It’s an odd game, and quite complicated so I won’t even bother explaining it here, but it’s fun. I think we’re not playing it properly (in fact I’m certain after re-reading the page I just linked above), but even so it’s great and tactically clever. I think it’s one of those games that you really need someone to show you how to play.

Tonight sees Murf’s second class at junior obedience school. He’s been doing his homework from last week and seems to have some of the hand signal recognition down very well. He’s an utter treat tart, and will do almost anything for a snack of some kind, so training’s actually been pretty pain free so far. I still think he should have some kind of schoolbag and hat, but I can’t see it happening.

Training was good over the weekend. On Friday we had the opportunity to work with our ‘combat’ staffs (e.g. rattan or wood, something that won’t break easily), and it was really satisfying to have the smack and crack of wood on wood as we learned to strike to and block from an opponent. It seems to have made a huge blister on my thumb which refuses to seal over and heal, maybe I’ll have to resort to trying a plaster. We did more sparring last night also, I had fun working some new combinations and leads I’ve been toying with, we’ll see how they pan out at competitions before too long I hope.

I also need to finally sort out my costume for a week Friday. The metal night I go to is having a Halloween party with a theme of Fantasy And Fairytale, and I’ve seen a costume I like, so I think I’ll probably go with it. No, I’m not telling what it is yet, you’ll have to wait and see! I’m looking forward to another good night of great music though.

Technorati Tags bo, cribbage, metal, obedience