Not only was this past weekend Mother's Day but it also marked the return of SLAVEDRIVER to Specter Studios to record a couple more tracks. I got there later than Ray and Moon since I was out at Harley Davidson of Greenville for their Hot Rods and Harleys car and bike show. While at the event, I got to emcee the Pin-Up Girl Contest and strike a few poses with the lovely ladies!
After the event I had to run down to Anderson to pick up our singer Al then zip all the way up to Boiling Springs where Ray was laying the drum tracks. After his tracks were done for the evening, it was my turn to lay bass tracks for the first of the two songs. Once again I locked up and couldn't play worth a crap because I get so tense when I record which is crazy because playing live doesn't bother me at all. So I got done what I could and we'll see if I need to go back and fix anything.
After I finished the first song, Al did the vocals for both songs then I went back and laid tracks for the second song. By the time it was all said and done, it was 2:30 in the morning which means I didn't get home until nearly 5 a.m. after dropping Al off in Anderson.
Needless to say, Tessa wasn't the only one exhausted the next day as we went to Spartanburg to have our moms, aunts and her grandmother all meet up at Olive Garden for a big Mother's Day celebration.
Quite a weekend adventure but it pales in comparison to the venture we shall embark on tomorrow as we will be heading to Myrtle Beach for the Full Throttle Fest going on at the House of Blues where I will be broadcasting live and hanging with the cast of the Full Throttle Saloon television show! Did I mention THEORY OF A DEADMAN, JACKYL, POP EVIL and MARSHALL TUCKER will be playing?! You won't wanna miss it so join me at the beach or tune in and catch the insanity!
Is anyone really surprised that The Avengers broke box office records on their opening weekend? I'm not! They got at least $40 of my money this past week! Tessa and I went to the midnight showing Thursday night and even went the extra mile and caught it in RPX 3D at Hollywood 20! And the movie did not disappoint! It was a bit slow getting started but, once it did, it took off and was over-the-top in terms of action and special effects! And Hulk had all of the best scenes in the film!
Saturday was Free Comic Book Day so Tessa and I went by Borderlands Comics to show our support for what I consider to be their Black Friday!
On Sunday, we once again joined the Borderlands gang for their charity screening of The Avengers followed by some late lunch/dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was a great cap to a fun geek week! Speaking of which, here's a fun pic from a couple of months ago that's relevant!
Well this weekend it was back to the drawing board for mine and Tessa's house hunt since the house we were under contract with fell through. Without going into great detail, the sellers got a better offer after we were under contract so they proceeded to hassle our mortgage guy. As it turned out, Tessa and I together made too much money for a USDA loan so we pulled my name off the loan and the contract. The sellers then refused to sign the new contract despite the fact that Tessa was on the original one and they were still legally obligated to her as a result. However, we could have fought it legally but it would have dragged on and on so we decided to walk.
On a brighter note, we discovered through the ordeal that Tessa qualifies for an FHA loan in which she could get an additional loan for the down payment since she is a nurse as long as we pick a house within a five mile radius of a GHS hospital. So, going in that direction, we went through a new listing of houses and chose seven houses to look at on Saturday.
We were very excited because the houses we chose to go see were really nice houses....in the pictures! Once we arrived at several of them, they just simply did not hold up to how they were presented. I actually kinda liked one house that was, indeed, very nice but Tessa wasn't quite sold on it. So, disappointed, we press on with the hunt and will be scoping some houses in the Simpsonville/Mauldin area this Saturday.
When we got home from house hunting, our pup Vader wasn't feeling very well after getting several shots at the vet the day before including a good deworming. So Tessa decided to stay with the dog as I made my way to B.F. Enoree for Carolina Metalfest 2012!
When I got there, CHIVALRY was on stage so I got to see them with their new vocalist for the first time since the passing of their former singer, Luke just days after last year's Metalfest. After their set, Casey, the coordinator of Metalfest, had me get on stage and make some announcements so I did while pimping my new band SLAVEDRIVER and our debut show at Ground Zero on Friday, June 1st!
I got to hang around long enough to catch BEITTHEMEANS and SIX SHOT REVIVAL bring some real diversity to the festival and then caught a few songs of AVAST's set before having to head home to actually spend some quality time with the li'l lady....well as much quality time as we could with a sick pup on our hands!
Well it was supposed to be a calm and peaceful weekend for me and Tessa but we ended up running all over town with my mom and her fiance on Friday night and then Tessa's grandmother and Aunt Cheryl on Saturday.
We had considered going back to see Cabin in the Woods a second time on Sunday since we loved it so much on opening weekend but instead we were awakened by a phone call from my mom telling me her fiance's son was needing to find a home for his Boston terrier puppy. I first told her I didn't know anyone but then Tessa and I talked about it and decided to take in the pup ourselves. So we did. I present to you the newest member of the Twisted clan, Vader!
Needless to say, Vader crushed any last hopes of calm and peaceful!
Saturday was the day the band had designated to do a photo shoot at various areas around Pelham Road and Highway 14. The first was a dilapidated gazebo out in the woods somewhere then in the river stream behind it. After that, we went over to the ruins of an old mill right by a dam. We climbed up on some of the remaining pillars of brick and damn near killed ourselves! Moon and I had the worst ones for maintaining balance and we both got numerous scrapes especially from the climb down. And that wasn't all! We then had to climb up on the dam, hop the guardrail and sit along the edge! The photographer wanted us to stand but I refused! It took all I had just to get my fatass up there! Those pics had better look AMAZING!
Ok, I normally don't post blogs two days in a row for the simple sake of throwing too much out there and expecting folks to keep reading until they go blind or their eyes fall out but I HAD to write about the amazing show last night! I haven't been that excited about going to a show in a long, LONG time!
After I got off the air, I picked up Tessa and we grabbed some dinner before heading to Ground Zero. When we got there, LIONIZE was playing. They were really tight but I'm not a big fan of their psychedlic style. After they played, DEAD LETTER CIRCUS hit the stage and I gotta say I was really impressed with the boys from Down Under! However, the treat for me was finally getting to see FAIR TO MIDLAND after being a big fan of theirs for the past five years.
As the band set up, I could feel the anticipation welling up inside me and then the singer walks on stage like his legs are broke. Darroh just kinda shuffled his feet across the stage looking like he wasn't sure about performing. However, after everyone sound checked, he went into 'ON' mode and was all over the stage as if something otherworldly had taken over!
Words cannot describe how amazing the show was. I mean I nomally just coast through sets and long for the show to be over so I can go home and say that I had the experience even if I like the bands. But, au contraire, I was rocking out, singing along and wishing the show wouldn't end despite the fact I didn't sleep well the night before. Tessa said she had never seen me so into a show and she has seen me rock out to SKILLET and TSO numerous times and THAT'S saying a LOT!
When the show was over, we went to the merch table and each bought a shirt and I picked up a couple of wristbands. I then ran around and got each member of FTM to sign my copy of their latest album Arrows & Anchors but I was not able to get them all together for a group photo. It didn't matter though because I got to go home satisfied after having seen what has to be the most underrated and overlooked band in the land!
Since Tessa had to work most of the weekend, there aren't too many highlights to go through but Moon and I did run to Ground Zero Saturday night to 'Meat' the Spartanburg Deadly (Roller Derby) Dolls and catch GHOST IN THE MACHINE and DURTY ROCKSTAR. I knew a couple of the girls since they came from the Upstate Rollergirl Evolution (U.R.G.E.) so I wanted to support them and the GITM boys and experience DURTY ROCKSTAR for the first time.
The first couple of bands (I think we missed one before we got there) I wasn't familiar with but I checked them out while checking in with some peeps I knew....including one hot stud we all know and love from the old Ground Zero!
It was a good time out there and I will be returning tonight to see one of my favorite newer bands, FAIR TO MIDLAND! Can't wait and you can bet yer ass I'll be writing about that!
Well it sucked to be Tessa this weekend since she had to slave all weekend long at North Greenville Hospital while I was left all alone at home at night. However, I did have practice with the SLAVEDRIVER boys on Saturday so I wasn't COMPLETELY forlorn! And what a practice it was since it was our first since Moon's dad passed away the Saturday before. He had dealt with just enough of his grieving to focus and help soothe some of the remainder of the pain he is going through. It was nothing short of spectacular as I think we are swiftly approaching time to start playing live!
After practice, our drummer Ray treated us to dinner at the Spice Diner next door to the band room and, while we were waiting to order, I got a call from Mike Huskey from GHOST IN THE MACHINE and Specter Studios. He informed me that he was almost finished with mixing our debut single "Push Me Down" and that we would be receiving it via email that night. After a critique from the band, we have decided to have a couple of minor parts tweeked before we call it done. Having said that, be looking out for it to be unleashed soon!
Last night after I got off work and Tessa finally caught up on some much needed sleep having worked three 12 hour night shifts in a row, we went to check out the new movie Wrath of the Titans. She had wanted to go see it being a fan of the first film, the remake of the 1981 classic Clash of the Titans. As for me, I wasn't a big fan of the remake being a fan of the original having grown up with it back in the early 80s. Having said that I wasn't terribly disappointed being I didn't have high hopes for the sequel to a remake in the first place. Tessa, on the other hand, was indeed disappointed and even signaled such with a sour facial expression within the first half-hour of the film. Moral of the epic piece of crap: don't waste your time or your money! Save it for a SLAVEDRIVER shirt!
This weekend was a decidedly more laid back weekend for Tessa and myself. After work we went to go see my Aunt Tina in the hospital who had taken a nasty fall the previous Monday. She had just come out of surgery to relieve some swelling on her spine so she was quite out of it when we went back to see her. Her daughter Tonya had come up from Myrtle Beach so I got to see her and her husband Soup for a little while.
After the hospital, we decided to go ahead and get grocery shopping out of the way so we hit Walmart where I picked up a copy of The Muppets on Blu-ray. On our way out, we ran through the produce department and Tessa spotted a container of kumquats. Since she had never actually seen kumquats before, her curiosity was aroused so she bought a package of the tiny citrus fruits. As it turns out, they taste like a cross between an orange and a lemon which works for Tessa since she LOVES lemons and is allergic to oranges though, so far, she hasn't had an allergic reaction from the kumquats. Not for me, personally!
The next morning I got a text from my guitarist in SLAVEDRIVER, Moon informing me that his dad had lost his fight with pancreatic cancer that morning at 5:30. His visitation was last night so I went to pay my respects and show my support for the family. Regrettably Tessa was unable to accompany me because she had to work and I am unable to attend the service which is in progress as I write this. However, I am able to share Bryan Moon's obituary here so feel free to go and sign the guestbook and give your condolences to the Moon family.
Shortly after receiving the unfortunate news, I had to get up and make my way to Spartanburg for the Electronics Expo and Sale's Sale of the Century. There was a HUGE selection of name brand electronics on sale and the turnout was great.
Since we were in Spartanburg, we stopped by and visited her grandmother and Aunt Cheryl then went by a couple of the houses we had looked at on Wednesday that we had really liked. The search will continue on Thursday and hopefully we will be selecting a house soon!
Sunday was the usual laundry day but we also decided to catch a matinee showing of the new teen-based blockbuster The Hunger Games based on the book of the same name. Tessa is a big fan of both the Twilight and Harry Potter books and films although she has never read The Hunger Games series. Needless to say, she is definitely considering it since we both actually really enjoyed the film. I've never read the Harry Potter books but I like the films and just tolerate the Twilight movies but I think I can handle more from The Hunger Games franchise. Worth a look!
Well the green was flowing and the saints were matching this weekend as it was St. Patty's Day on Saturday and the hair was hitting the floor the next day at St. Baldrick's!
For St. Patty's Day, the Rise Guys morning show had a Big Ass Draft at Ford's Oyster House in downtown. Being of Irish heritage, I donned my newly acquired plaid green hat and kilt and made an appearance. The place was a madhouse so I kept to the walls on either side to avoid being trampled so needless to say the turnout was fantastic!
The next day Tessa got a few hours of sleep after working all night then went back to downtown with me for St. Baldrick's at Larkins on the River. I led a team of shavees representing my new band SLAVEDRIVER that included my guitarist Chris Moon as well as my brother Anthony plus his friend Michael and my old friend Brian and even Paige's husband, Fireman. We managed to raise over $250 which was more than half of our goal and got to pose sporting our new dos!
It was great getting to come back and do the event for my second year in a row especially because I got to bring in some people to join me and help support the cause. Maybe next year will be even bigger!
