Kicking it here in The Bay once again after wrapping up the last day of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. I am downright shocked at how fast this tour went by, I guess the saying's true, time definitely flies when you're having fun, hell, fun doesn't even begin to describe it! That tour was incredible! Hands-down the best American festival tour we have ever done. Not to say the others were bad or anything, 'cause they weren't, but these guys have really got it down. It was well-organized/planned, very artist-friendly, with super chill vibe, they let bands host BBQ's every few days and paid for some food and booze, and as a result of all of the sponsorships there was a ton of money to go around to take care of shit for the bands. We could not have done anything better right now; without a doubt, this tour was MASSIVE for us.
The crowds themselves were phenomenal, and if I do say so myself, we absolutely KILLED it on this tour!!! We OWNED the side stage!!! Seriously, some of those shows were just plain ridiculous. We had 5,000 kids making 6 pits in Albuquerque... SIX FUCKING PITS!!! It was retarded! And we aren't sittin' there tellin'em to open up the pit for 5 minutes between songs, Head Cases just DO that shit!!! Hell, we usually had no less than 2 pits going at any given time, and even on a "slow" day we played to 3,000 people, it was crazy. On a good day like Mountain View, or Los Angeles, we played to 10,000 people, easily. And to tell you the truth, there wasn't even really a "slow" day, but if I had to mention some standouts, highlights for sure included San Francisco (FUCKING BRUTAL!!!!!!), Los Angeles (SICK!!!), Dallas (AMAZING!), Chicago was nothing short of mind-boggling, sing-a-longs from hell... they fucking love their metal in Chicago, that is for DAMN SURE! Detroit, West Palm Beach, Pittsburgh... Toronto was FUCKING ABSURD!!!! Camden... oh my GOD!!! Uniondale, Atlanta had 3,000 kids raging in the pouring, POURING rain our entire set, it was just... MAN!?! And though this sounds kinda hippie-dippie, a couple of times it had been raining all day... but as soon as we got to "Halo" the sun came out. It was fuckin' goosebump kinda shit, let me tell ya! The kinda shit you read about.
Definitely a HUGE thanks to John Reese, Mayhem, and all the Rockstar Energy Drink crew for going way above and beyond. We also want to thank the Jagermeister crew, Rob and Co. for being so amazing and on the ball, and Jagermeister for giving us endless supplies of Jager!!! All the bands on this tour have been so fucking amazing, such a rad vibe backstage, and awesome to make so many cool, funny, and genuinely good people as new friends. And a big shout out to Strati and the Metal Mulisha dudes for being so cool. Hopefully you got a chance to check out the Metal Mulisha guys... they're fucking UNREAL!!!
Immediately before this run, we did a show in Moscow, the With Full Force festival, and Wacken Seaside. Moscow was fucking incredible. What a great experience. It was actually quite the thriving city, I was thinking it would be all breadlines and cardboard boxes, but much to my surprise, we saw Prada stores and bling! Everyone spoke English pretty well and the show was sincerely amazing. Those people are soooooo into music, it's in their soul. As Dave mentioned in the Mayhem video diary, when we played Descend the entire crowd sat down on the floor, and then shot up and sang, it was so friggin' rad. After that was the With Full Force festival, which we headlined again, always a huge honor for us. I'm not gonna say it was our most flawless performance... *cough* ...both Phil and I were pretty hammered when we played, but man, there was something magical about this show. We were so on fire as a band, it wasn't even funny. We had fuckin' telepathy going and the 4 of us just locked in so friggin' hard, it was an unbelievble feeling. It was a sloppy sort of perfection, drunk and sweaty, spontaneous and reckless, beautiful and dangerous, just when it felt like it might fall apart we pulled it back together and killed it all over again. For me, it was one of the greatest shows this band has ever played, and as I watched it back on the DVD they gave us, I gotta say, it was everything I've ever wanted in a metal show. We owned With Full Force.
Here's some pics from the Moscow, WFF, and Mayhem insanity:
This tour hasn't been without it's ups and downs, though. On a personal level, for some unexplained reason I've been dealing with a bout of severe insomnia for the last 6 weeks. I get between 3 to 4 hours of sleep every night, and that's divided up over an 11 hour block of time, as in 1 hour here 3 hours awake, another hour here, another 3 hours awake, 2 hours here, get up cause I'm sick of laying down in my bunk. There were a couple of shows were I was seriously hallucinating from lack of sleep, seeing "skulls in the clouds" and shit... pretty crazy. Not to mention, I also quit caffeine at the beginning of this run which makes the whole insomnia thing that much more maddening, cause I'm so fuckin' tired I really, really, REALLY want to have some coffee or tea right now, but I'm holding on, steadfast. I even switched to caffeine-free Cokes for my Brown Eyes... it's pretty damn annoying to know that I slept better when I drank friggin' caffeine. Jeez!
And as I'm sure you've read by now, Phil had another collapse onstage again, thankfully without any bad connotations attached to it, like the one in Milan last year (if you're unaware of what happened, read the news piece about it HERE). It wasn't booze. It wasn't drugs. In fact, we don't really know what caused it. Since Phil and I were teenagers he's had these episodes of Cardiogenic Syncope. He had them in Vio-Lence. He has them now. He's been to doctors, had scans done, and for the most part, it's a mystery why they happen. Phil took a break from drinking a week ago. Yes, believe it or not, the "Alcohol Dumpster" eased up on the drinking, which is what made the collapse that much more bizarre. We joked that it was DT's, but it was a week after it, which makes it unlikely. I will say though, when Adam announced to the crowd that we wouldn't be able to finish the set, the support was borderline tear-jerking. "Machine-fuckin-Head" chants, "Phil" chants... to the good people of Bristow, we can't thank you enough for the support you guys showed us that day. Phil thanks you. Machine Head thanks you.
Whew!! Soooo... immediately after that, Dave and I flew to the Kerrang! Awards for a whirlwind 24 hours of insanity. The Awards were awesome again this year; held at the same brewery as last time, and once again with the honorable Scott Ian hosting (the man is hysterical!). As we were up for Best Live Band we sat at the table with the Trivium dudes, and as Kerry King was pulled to announce Best Live Band I started to have a funny feeling that we were gonna win, and that we did! It was awesome!! I most certainly want to thank Roadrunner Records UK for flying Dave and I over there, and for everything they've done for the band over the years, we had an awesome time! I joked during our acceptance speech that we didn't really know who to thank other than the fans when you win Best Live Band, so I guess we should just thank ourselves for being "so bad ass!!". Really though, after having a minute to collect my thoughts, once I got to Kerrang TV, I wanted to thank all of the bands we opened for when we first started out who helped shape us into the live beast we are. Specifically, thanks go out to Napalm Death, Obituary (our 1st tour U.S. ever) and Slayer (our 2nd and 3rd tours ever), who we paid our dues with for 5 months as a brand new band. And while plenty of those shows were awesome, more than a few of those Napalm and Slayer shows were hostile as shit. I'll never forget, walking onstage somewhere in America to a sold out show and a front row of 100 dudes flipping us off, screaming "Slaaaaaaayyyyyyer" and spitting at us for the first 25 minutes we were on. During the last 5 minutes we finally won them over, but let me tell ya, you learn A LOT from having to open for Slayer for 5 months. So, if we owe thanks to anyone, we definitely owe it to them!! As well, having to follow Slipknot in '99 when they were the most unbelievable phenomenon we've ever seen was no easy goddamn feat either, so we definitely give them props for forcing us to step up our live game to the millionth power!
Some Awards show footage:
And some pics of the festivities:
We take a short break for now, and then we bop on over to Japan, hit New Zealand for the first time ever, Australia, Europe and more as main support to Slipknot (which is gonna fuckin' RULE!) and after that, we're back in America... as main support to... ahem... METALLICA! HOLY FUCK YEAH!!!!!!
So we will see every one of you wonderful Head Cases on the road very, very soon. Massage those bruises and fat lips, put some ointment on those cuts and scrapes fuckers, 'cause it's gonna be ON!!!
-Flynn
Phil Demmel
08.19.08
Just a quick few words on my recent collapse onstage in Virginia. I first and foremost would have to apologize to the fans who didn't get to see a full set from Machine Head. You're the reason we're out there and I'm sincerely sorry for taking that from you. Secondly, I've suffered from episodes of Cardiogenic Syncope for the last 17 years or so. Ran a series of tests that came up inconclusive. I hadn't had it happen for awhile until last Dec in Italy, when I passed out roughly about the time my father passed away back in the states. The incident in VA felt similar to what has happened in the past. I have to thank my techs Alan, Brian and good friend Chief for catching me. Today is the last day of the Mayhem Festival and I will be seeing my specialist within the week. I appreciate all the concern from all my family, friends and fans that has been expressed.
- Phil Demmel
Robb Flynn
06.12.08
Ahhhhhh!!! What a whirlwind!!!
First and foremost, the "Halo" video is officially out, on-the-air, on the web, etc. and getting a GREAT reaction. This being our 3rd video from The Blackening - the first time that we've ever put out a 3rd video from ANY record! - we really wanted to retain the same high quality of the previous two, and we're super proud of how it turned out. Mike Sloat killed it as usual, and our friend Dean Modino at Modino Media Design did a great job bringing the artwork to life, Adam's dad, Mr. Ron Duce played an amazing evil tyrant, and all of you that made it out did a killer job! We hope you all enjoy it as much as we do.
These last few shows with Metallica have been nothing short of mind-blowing. And not just the shows themselves, but seeing how their whole camp runs their operation, seeing how they treat people, bands and fans alike, it's seriously restored my faith in humanity that things can be done a different way in the music business and still be a huge success. We have NEVER felt so welcome on a tour, and we had an absolute blast in the process.
The shows were pretty kick ass all in all... Poland took a minute to warm up but they were RAGING by the end. Spain was un-fucking-believable, raging beyond belief!!! I don't know if the fact that it was the 1st Blackening-era show we had done, but WOW?! Prague had scattered batches of MH diehards going nuts, but for the most part, they were waiting for Metallica. Portugal on the other hand... man, we've had a long love affair with Portugal... and Rock In Rio did not disappoint, they're fucking C-R-A-Z-Y!!! Those Portuguese go fuckin' BONKERS and we love every one of them for it. Jesus?! Just an awesome crowd. Insane sing-a-longs... we had a longer set than the other shows, so the Metallica guys let us jam in their rehearsal room (they have an extra set of equipment in the dressing room they use to jam on before they go onstage) so we could play some extra songs. I plugged into Hetfield's rig, Phil into Kirk's, Dave on Lars kit, and Adam on Trujillo's rig, and after having our obligatory fan-boy moments of busting out numerous Metallica songs, we busted out our cover of Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name". But that right there just goes to show what kind of class act the Metallica guys are. Lars was just like, "hey man, if you need to work on some songs, go jam on our shit". Who fucking does that?! We couldn't have been more impressed, nor more in awe (than we already are) of Metallica after this run. There's some good footage of it on Metontour.com (click on the Rock In Rio video link), our cover of Hallowed Be Thy Name below, and us joining Metallica for "So What" below that:
Now I'm the first to admit that I am a total fan-boy when it comes to Metallica, we all are. But I had been hearing for a while that they had become dicks, lost the plot, rock star ego trippin', etc, so I was a little curious to see how this would go. I really was not ready for how cool and down to earth those guys were. Growing up in the Bay Area, I'd chatted briefly with Hetfield here and there. I'd bump into him at Raider games and he'd always make a point to come over and say "Hi", despite the fact that he usually had a 150 person-long line of people waiting to talk to him for the entire time he was there at the bar. I always admired him for doing that (several of these times were when we were un-signed post-Supercharger), and even more impressed that he had the patience to talk with literally hundreds of people until the line went away. I was a little apprehensive of hanging with him on this run though. I guess I have a fear of meeting people that I hold in the utmost respect because they may end up being assholes, and in general, I don't look forward to talking to most frontmen/singers, just because there's often a kind of unspoken my-dick's-bigger-than-yours thing going on. It's funny... some frontmen I walk away from thinking, "wow, that guy's a douche!", other frontmen I walk away from thinking, "man, that guys the smartest, coolest, most charismatic dude I've ever met", but when I walked away from Hetfield the other day, he had somehow made me feel like "I" was the smartest, coolest, most charismatic dude HE had ever met. I was like, how the fuck did you do that?!?! He complimented me on my rhythm playing!!?? Man, I have to admit, my brain just literally discombobulated, and I was left there stammering like some blithering idiot, "Uh... durr, dur, durr, DURRRRR!!" Seriously, the dude fucking RULES!!!
Lars and I, we've become text buddies, or to coin a great Chris Adler term, "quick-friends". Every time I get one of his "You up???!!! Let's go out and rage!!!" texts at 3:30AM, just as I'm about to go to sleep, I can't help but laugh... and when he says rage, jesus christ, RAGE he does!!!! That motherfucker can DRINK!!! GOD DAMN!!! Him and his god damn Scandinavian liver!! First night in Poland I got him, Robert, and "The Head Wiigger In Charge" on the Brown Eyes, and he hung in there hard, I think he had about 3 glasses of wine, and then 10 or 11 Brown Eyes, and was still doing pretty good at 7:30AM!!! Needless to say, it was a helluva way to start the tour!!!
And like some people, I was ready to hate Lars, I even admitted as much to him that night. I don't really have a good reason why, I guess between Hetfield's complaints about him, and the occasional seemingly pompous interviews, he just... I don't know... I guess I've just never really thought of him as the kinda guy I'd enjoy hanging out with. But I like to give people a few chances, and as someone who has also been portrayed by the media in a bad light, I realize it's important to let people have a 2nd and 3rd chance. I had never met Lars until the Kerrang! Awards in 2003, and we rapped for like 5 or 10 minutes. Nothing big, but it was a cool, fairly deep conversation considering it was at an awards show (I actually wrote a diary about it 5 years ago). The first time we ever officially "hung out" was after Wembley, and after that we recently bumped into each other at The Sword show in S.F. and did some quality raging afterwards, and I gotta say... my opinion of the dude is changed forever. He's awesome. He has been nothing but respectful, funny, self-deprecating, gregarious, and genuine to all of us. AND, the motherfucker can DRINK!!! Not to mention, he let me win at blackjack like 35 times in a row, so he's gotta be cool, right?!?!?! *ahem!*
Kirk wasn't really around much, but the dude is ON FIRE with the leads... jesus, he's KILLING it!!!
ANYWAY... I'll take the fan-boy hat off now. : )
One thing I will say about the whole experience that definitely inspired us is how they make an effort to mix up their sets every night. So much so that - while we're still in the "talking about it" stage - I will say that since we've been through these markets a few times now, we are certainly looking at making a concerted effort on Mayhem and the Slipknot tour in Europe to change up the sets a little bit every night somehow. We want Machine Head's set to be an event, every day, something every band and fan on Mayhem HAS to see, and the same goes with the Slipknot tour. Maybe take fan requests or band requests, or something... we're still figuring it out, but something.
Anyway... needless to say, 2008 is shaping up to give '07 a run for its money... things are going great! Especially since the record seems to be gaining even more momentum (16 months after release... weird?!). It's definitely been amazing winning so many new fans and exposing the band to people who might not have ever heard us. We're really looking forward to headlining the Jagermeister stage on the Mayhem Festival this summer, super stoked to head overseas with Slipknot later this year, it's gonna be a hell of a second half, I'll tell you what.
Soooo, the gist of our plans involves touring, touring, touring, touring, and more touring, so join us, and let the Brown Eyes flow like the blood of Abraham!... orrr... something like that, and we'll see you on tour soon!!!
- Flynn
Robb Flynn
03.24.08
Jet lag rules... woo-hoo!!!
Just got back from Japan after our "around the world in 15 days tour". Really awesome experience over there in that part of the world, and for the first time, due to the more open schedule, we really got a chance to soak up the culture and check out some of the sights - something I rarely ever get to do, as most of the time it's straight to the venue, interviews, play show, on to next show. So having the extra time was awesome! It's been 3 years since we played the 2nd annual Desert Rock Festival, and the city has literally quadrupled in size... as such the attendance was also a lot higher this year. The show went really well, although humorously, after our fourth song ended and we had a break, I was given a stern warning by our tour manager that went something along the lines of "stop swearing onstage, the secret police are on the way, and they'll arrest you if you swear again!" And he was fucking serious! I promptly stopped, though one or two bad words may have slipped out "accidentally". We were a little bummed that the Killswitch's and the As I Lay Dying's didn't stick around to hang out, or watch our show, especially since we hadn't seen each other in ages (they had to go shower back at the hotel... presumably together) but the Korn dudes hung out, watched the show, and we raged a bit after. Maybe it was because we've played there twice, but to our surprise, according to the promoters, Machine Head had the highest attendance of the day with over 12,000 people checking us out. Fuck yeah!! Thanks to Jackie and all at Center Stage Management!
Had the day off the next day and watched Muse play from the side of the stage, and seriously, I was fucking BLOWN AWAY. I've been a big fan of this band for a few years now, but had never gotten a chance to see them, so I didn't really know what to expect, but MAN, I haven't been moved by a band like that in years. Adam was hanging out in front too, and was equally blown away, he had never even heard them, and it was a literal revelation for him. Start with "Absolution"!
Next up was the satanic flight through the shithole airport of Amman, Jordan, where passport control officers and security alike must certainly suck cock on the side for extra cash. We eventually made it through to Israel and checked out the beach a bit before getting to the club. Show was sold out in advance and having never played in Tel Aviv, we didn't really know what to expect. Playing in a country that has been ravaged by war for the last 60 years, staying in a city that is less than 50 miles away from the Gaza Strip definitely adds a bit of an edge to any show, but man... what a fuckin' incredible experience. Quite literally one of the greatest shows and audiences we have ever played to, it was a near-religious experience. FUCK! People were feeling it so hard, sing-a-longs were unreal, "Descend" made a very real connection with the audience, heavy energy... you could practically see it, it was so real. We basically played until we dropped, sweating every fucking thing we had out. We seriously felt more alive after this show than I think we ever have. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Israel.
Got to give it up to Phil, he soldiered through all of these shows like a champ. After starting off the flight over with the same bronchial infection that I had, he also got the flu, and then caught the pink eye that his son had... by the time we got to Japan he had diarrhea, and next vertigo! Needless to say, he was loving life for that first week and a half of the tour! Christ!?
Anthem Productions were the promoters for Israel, and they really went way above and beyond for us, they and did an incredible job. Me and a couple of the crew guys went to Jerusalem the next day with the promoter, and got a guided tour through the old city. On the highway into the city you pass a place called Hell, which is apparently where the infamous mythological place got its name from, as it was once where they used to burn babies and virgins (I was like, "dudes, we're on the Highway To Hell!"... *ba-dum-pssh*) Starting off at the Jaffa Gate, we got a guided tour down to the Wailing Wall, down Via Dolorosa (the path that Christ apparently walked on his way to the crucifixion), and eventually to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built atop the area where Christ was crucified, and still has some exposed rock from the area. I'm not a Christian or very religious at all, in fact, I find a whole lot wrong with organized religion, but there was definitely something very moving about it, and there was no doubt a rad energy about the place.
Next up was Bangalore, India, which was another first for us. Bangalore is apparently the Silicon Valley of India and most of the tech support that we Americans receive is based out of there. It was fuckin' crazy though, nothing could have prepared us for the crazy conditions... it went from severe squalor to jaw-dropping opulence over the course of three city blocks, then right back to squalor, it was insane. As Shawn from Megadeth put it "It was like a block of paradise... in the Bronx!" The festival itself was a bit disorganized, and the main promoter Solomon treated our crew like shit, which was a slap in the face considering our long-standing relation with him, but the kids more than made up for it... fuck, the kids were awesome!!! We talked to folks from Mumbai, Delhi, kids drove 2,000 miles just to see Machine Head, we even had the infamous Tharsh of "Tharsh Eats Balls" fame who'd flown in from Bangladesh... it was a rad show!!! Considering the average income is $400 dollars a month (!), the fact that there were so many Machine Head fans there really meant a lot. We'd gladly go back there in a heartbeat.
Next day, me and the crew guys tripped around Bangalore, went to the Bull Temple, went to the Ganesh Temple (where they have an effigy of Ganesh made out of a 400 pound slab of BUTTER?!), the Botanical Gardens, and then went to the Shiva Temple. Again, I don't follow any of these religions closely enough to truly understand the magnitude of it all, but there was again a very tangible vibe. Driving in Bangalore... well, let's just say that it's something everybody should experience. It is complete and utter lawlessness... no stop signs, no speed limits, thousands of small cars, mopeds and bikes just fucking GO! It was better than any roller-coaster I've ever been on, and the fact that cows and oxen are just randomly hanging out in the middle of the street eating garbage only adds to the excitement. Don't even get me started on the glory of straight peeing on public walls whenever you've gotta go. Again, needless to say, Bangalore RULES!!!
Japan was the final show of the run, having not headlined there in 8 years, we again didn't really know how things were gonna go. As I was peeking out at the crowd during the intro, everyone was standing there so polite and quiet, I was like "man... fuck". But GOD DAMN was I fucking wrong. HOLY SHIT!!! The moment we started "Clenching", it was pure fucking insanity, with one of the most brutal pits we've had in a while, and by far the most violent circle pit of the entire '08 run... and that includes the HellYeah tour! Mother fucker!!! What an amazing show. I was really happy with how well we played actually, and though both Phil and Dave had a bad case of the "Hershey Squirts" the whole day leading up to it, they fucking brought the thunder. Thanks to Creative Man Productions for the amazing night! Tokyo kicks ASS!!!
So now that we're back, we're gonna chill at home for a week or so and just decompress... I'm sure this diary sounds about as ragged as I feel. After this week or so we'll begin filming a video for "Halo" which we've developed a really amazing idea for. Really different and kinda "arty" if I may say so. Mike Sloat will be involved again, so as always, we're SUPER excited! After that we gear up for the Metallica dates, then headlining the With Full Force Festival again (woo-hoo!!!). The Mayhem tour starts right after that, which we're super stoked about. And then... more touring!!!
We're fortunate that we're getting offered a lot of support/festival slots for the 1st time in years on this album cycle, and even though it's kind of a bummer to you guys that we're not doing the standard 1 hour and 40 minute set we've spoiled you guys with over the years, we ARE thinking of you fuckers, and at some point on this album we will be doing the monster setlist tour from hell!!! Fuck, we even soundchecked "Blood Of The Zodiac" in Tokyo just to blow out the pipes. It won't be anytime soon, but rest assured my beer-breathed brethren, it'll happen. We've just had so many opportunities to play in front of new people with The Blackening, we'd be foolish not to. Too many new bands have taken this incredible form of music that means so much to me - that has literally saved my life - and watered it down. We need to show the people that there IS music out there that's deeper than that... more vital, more meaningful, and more powerful. If it takes playing the game to get our music into the ears of more people, so be it... because in the end, that support slot, or that edited video, or that opening band you don't think deserves to be on the same stage, it all puts us in front of fans that don't yet know what Machine Head has to offer. And before you know it, those fans are our fans, and before long we will be their gateway drug into a better world... a world that is far more intense, maybe even a little dangerous... but what better drug to be hooked on than metal?
-Flynn
Robb Flynn
03.24.08
Jet lag rules... woo-hoo!!!
Just got back from Japan after our "around the world in 15 days tour". Really awesome experience over there in that part of the world, and for the first time, due to the more open schedule, we really got a chance to soak up the culture and check out some of the sights - something I rarely ever get to do, as most of the time it's straight to the venue, interviews, play show, on to next show. So having the extra time was awesome! It's been 3 years since we played the 2nd annual Desert Rock Festival, and the city has literally quadrupled in size... as such the attendance was also a lot higher this year. The show went really well, although humorously, after our fourth song ended and we had a break, I was given a stern warning by our tour manager that went something along the lines of "stop swearing onstage, the secret police are on the way, and they'll arrest you if you swear again!" And he was fucking serious! I promptly stopped, though one or two bad words may have slipped out "accidentally". We were a little bummed that the Killswitch's and the As I Lay Dying's didn't stick around to hang out, or watch our show, especially since we hadn't seen each other in ages (they had to go shower back at the hotel... presumably together) but the Korn dudes hung out, watched the show, and we raged a bit after. Maybe it was because we've played there twice, but to our surprise, according to the promoters, Machine Head had the highest attendance of the day with over 12,000 people checking us out. Fuck yeah!! Thanks to Jackie and all at Center Stage Management!
Had the day off the next day and watched Muse play from the side of the stage, and seriously, I was fucking BLOWN AWAY. I've been a big fan of this band for a few years now, but had never gotten a chance to see them, so I didn't really know what to expect, but MAN, I haven't been moved by a band like that in years. Adam was hanging out in front too, and was equally blown away, he had never even heard them, and it was a literal revelation for him. Start with "Absolution"!
Next up was the satanic flight through the shithole airport of Amman, Jordan, where passport control officers and security alike must certainly suck cock on the side for extra cash. We eventually made it through to Israel and checked out the beach a bit before getting to the club. Show was sold out in advance and having never played in Tel Aviv, we didn't really know what to expect. Playing in a country that has been ravaged by war for the last 60 years, staying in a city that is less than 50 miles away from the Gaza Strip definitely adds a bit of an edge to any show, but man... what a fuckin' incredible experience. Quite literally one of the greatest shows and audiences we have ever played to, it was a near-religious experience. FUCK! People were feeling it so hard, sing-a-longs were unreal, "Descend" made a very real connection with the audience, heavy energy... you could practically see it, it was so real. We basically played until we dropped, sweating every fucking thing we had out. We seriously felt more alive after this show than I think we ever have. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Israel.
Got to give it up to Phil, he soldiered through all of these shows like a champ. After starting off the flight over with the same bronchial infection that I had, he also got the flu, and then caught the pink eye that his son had... by the time we got to Japan he had diarrhea, and next vertigo! Needless to say, he was loving life for that first week and a half of the tour! Christ!?
Anthem Productions were the promoters for Israel, and they really went way above and beyond for us, they and did an incredible job. Me and a couple of the crew guys went to Jerusalem the next day with the promoter, and got a guided tour through the old city. On the highway into the city you pass a place called Hell, which is apparently where the infamous mythological place got its name from, as it was once where they used to burn babies and virgins (I was like, "dudes, we're on the Highway To Hell!"... *ba-dum-pssh*) Starting off at the Jaffa Gate, we got a guided tour down to the Wailing Wall, down Via Dolorosa (the path that Christ apparently walked on his way to the crucifixion), and eventually to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built atop the area where Christ was crucified, and still has some exposed rock from the area. I'm not a Christian or very religious at all, in fact, I find a whole lot wrong with organized religion, but there was definitely something very moving about it, and there was no doubt a rad energy about the place.
Next up was Bangalore, India, which was another first for us. Bangalore is apparently the Silicon Valley of India and most of the tech support that we Americans receive is based out of there. It was fuckin' crazy though, nothing could have prepared us for the crazy conditions... it went from severe squalor to jaw-dropping opulence over the course of three city blocks, then right back to squalor, it was insane. As Shawn from Megadeth put it "It was like a block of paradise... in the Bronx!" The festival itself was a bit disorganized, and the main promoter Solomon treated our crew like shit, which was a slap in the face considering our long-standing relation with him, but the kids more than made up for it... fuck, the kids were awesome!!! We talked to folks from Mumbai, Delhi, kids drove 2,000 miles just to see Machine Head, we even had the infamous Tharsh of "Tharsh Eats Balls" fame who'd flown in from Bangladesh... it was a rad show!!! Considering the average income is $400 dollars a month (!), the fact that there were so many Machine Head fans there really meant a lot. We'd gladly go back there in a heartbeat.
Next day, me and the crew guys tripped around Bangalore, went to the Bull Temple, went to the Ganesh Temple (where they have an effigy of Ganesh made out of a 400 pound slab of BUTTER?!), the Botanical Gardens, and then went to the Shiva Temple. Again, I don't follow any of these religions closely enough to truly understand the magnitude of it all, but there was again a very tangible vibe. Driving in Bangalore... well, let's just say that it's something everybody should experience. It is complete and utter lawlessness... no stop signs, no speed limits, thousands of small cars, mopeds and bikes just fucking GO! It was better than any roller-coaster I've ever been on, and the fact that cows and oxen are just randomly hanging out in the middle of the street eating garbage only adds to the excitement. Don't even get me started on the glory of straight peeing on public walls whenever you've gotta go. Again, needless to say, Bangalore RULES!!!
Japan was the final show of the run, having not headlined there in 8 years, we again didn't really know how things were gonna go. As I was peeking out at the crowd during the intro, everyone was standing there so polite and quiet, I was like "man... fuck". But GOD DAMN was I fucking wrong. HOLY SHIT!!! The moment we started "Clenching", it was pure fucking insanity, with one of the most brutal pits we've had in a while, and by far the most violent circle pit of the entire '08 run... and that includes the HellYeah tour! Mother fucker!!! What an amazing show. I was really happy with how well we played actually, and though both Phil and Dave had a bad case of the "Hershey Squirts" the whole day leading up to it, they fucking brought the thunder. Thanks to Creative Man Productions for the amazing night! Tokyo kicks ASS!!!
So now that we're back, we're gonna chill at home for a week or so and just decompress... I'm sure this diary sounds about as ragged as I feel. After this week or so we'll begin filming a video for "Halo" which we've developed a really amazing idea for. Really different and kinda "arty" if I may say so. Mike Sloat will be involved again, so as always, we're SUPER excited! After that we gear up for the Metallica dates, then headlining the With Full Force Festival again (woo-hoo!!!). The Mayhem tour starts right after that, which we're super stoked about. And then... more touring!!!
We're fortunate that we're getting offered a lot of support/festival slots for the 1st time in years on this album cycle, and even though it's kind of a bummer to you guys that we're not doing the standard 1 hour and 40 minute set we've spoiled you guys with over the years, we ARE thinking of you fuckers, and at some point on this album we will be doing the monster setlist tour from hell!!! Fuck, we even soundchecked "Blood Of The Zodiac" in Tokyo just to blow out the pipes. It won't be anytime soon, but rest assured my beer-breathed brethren, it'll happen. We've just had so many opportunities to play in front of new people with The Blackening, we'd be foolish not to. Too many new bands have taken this incredible form of music that means so much to me - that has literally saved my life - and watered it down. We need to show the people that there IS music out there that's deeper than that... more vital, more meaningful, and more powerful. If it takes playing the game to get our music into the ears of more people, so be it... because in the end, that support slot, or that edited video, or that opening band you don't think deserves to be on the same stage, it all puts us in front of fans that don't yet know what Machine Head has to offer. And before you know it, those fans are our fans, and before long we will be their gateway drug into a better world... a world that is far more intense, maybe even a little dangerous... but what better drug to be hooked on than metal?
-Flynn
Robb Flynn
03.07.08
Yo, yo, yo,
Quick update: Been hanging out in Dubai for the last 24 hours; man, what a crazy, modern, cool, surprisingly American-ized city. Something like 1/5 of the worlds high-rise cranes are currently in Dubai building high rises. I'm tellin' ya, in 15 years this city will look like Blade Runner! We're getting ready to play the Dubai Desert Rock Festival again, which is gonna be awesome!!! We're the first band in the festival's history to play the festival twice, so as Anchorman Ron Burgundy would say, "it's kind of a big deal!!" Once again, they've treated us like fucking royalty, and it's damn cool I must say. I'm looking forward to seeing all the bands on the bill, as we know pretty much all of them, so it should be fun. AND they sell Grey Goose Vodka now, so it's fuckin' ON!!! Next stop, CRUNKVILLE!!!
It's funny though, Dubai being a Middle Eastern country and all, they've sent us a long, LONG list of things we can't do onstage, including, but not limited to: Drink alcohol onstage *cough*, swear onstage *cough, cough, cough*, take our shirts off onstage (not that anyone needs to see my "hate"-handles), take our pants off onstage (they actually could stand to see my well-chiseled buttocks), flirt with local women (uh...), not to mention the fact that a JOINT will get you 20 years!!! But they rock the fuck out like few countries we've been to, so it's a killer time. We of course plan on obeying every rule! These fuckers have even blocked all my favorite porn sites, as the government-controlled internet doesn't allow people to view porn, MySpace, Facebook, etc.!!! Don't they know that the internet is for porn??!! Thankfully, I got some insider info on how to get around the web-block from some local kids here, and was able to finally get to my glorious porn sites. As Dave joked, "dude, you got some tech support for whacking off!!!" Yeah... take THAT, government-controlled internet!!!
I'm gonna give a wrap up of HellYeah soon, and we will post some video of that tour soon as well. Gonna try and get some cool footage from these crazy places too, I was even thinking about interviewing some local kids to talk about their metal scene, and maybe ask them some questions about being a metalhead in the Middle East, where it really is almost dangerous, and the Government can come down and squash you... for real. I don't know if it'll happen, but just something I've been thinking about. If you have any questions you think might be cool, shoot on over to the message board and post them in the thread for this diary.
As-Salamu 'Alaykum, fuckers!!!
-Flynn
Robb Flynn
02.12.08
"We're number 2! We're number 2! We're number 2!"...
That’s what us and the Shadows Fall guys were jokingly chanting at the Grammy after-party last night. Yeah it was disappointing, but man, we’ve joined an elite group of Grammy "losers" that might be even more metal than the winners, including 4-time Grammy losers Pantera, Megadeth, Lamb Of God, and Killswitch Engage. Just getting nominated for a Grammy was an incredible highlight for the band, and the Grammys were pretty damn awesome. Tina Turner up there shaking her thing was just amazing, a smokin’ hot Carrie Underwood, Kanye and Daft Punk, the Cirque De Soleil Beatles tribute... jesus, their rendition of "Let It Be" had me on the verge of tears. My Dad and step-mom up there proud as could be... it was a once in a lifetime experience!
5 minutes after the Best Metal Performance nomination was given to Slayer, I got a text from Kerry King (who didn’t attend) that said, "I’ll take the Grammy... but I have no problem telling you that you guys should have won!" Very cool and VERY classy of him. He didn’t have to say that, but he did, and it was a very big thing to do. I give him all the respect in the world for doing it.
Should we have won? Well to listen to the "blogsphere" tell it... controversially, yes! On behalf of the band I want to thank all the kids and people who were on sites like Blabbermouth, MH1, etc. venting their overwhelming support for the band. Would I have rather lost to "Angel Of Death" or "Seasons In The Abyss", or "Disciple" rather than the Bonus Track on the re-release of the same album they won last year for? Sure! But, if any band can carry the torch in representing "pure" metal, it's Slayer. Past "metal" winners included Rage Against The Machine, Soundgarden, and Deftones, who, while great bands in their own right, are NOT metal. We can ALL take pride in the fact that it was Slayer this year and not Avenged Sevenfold or Jethro fucking Tull!!!
If it weren't for Slayer, there would be no Machine Head, and I have no problem saying that. Even before we toured with them, I had seen Slayer more times than any other band in my life. My friends and I lived and breathed Slayer, and Phil, Adam, and I all shared many pre-Machine Head moments worshipping Slayer, whether it was driving across country listening to Seasons on the first Vio-Lence tour, or driving all over California as friends for hours to follow the band around. At this point I can confidently say, that including the over 90 shows Machine Head have played with them, I have seen probably 130 Slayer shows all together, more shows than any other band in existence for me.
So to Kerry, Jeff, Tom, and Dave... congratulations, you've earned it... again.
HellYeah tour is going really cool, playing some crazy places that we've never played before in America like Charlotte, NC and Atlantic City, NJ. It's fun playing to their crowd too, since in a lot of these nooks and crannies of America a lot of kids are seeing Machine Head for the first time ever, and a lot of times have only heard the new stuff. We've had some amazing shows too, not quite the insanity of the U.K. or Europe, or even the last U.S. run, but rad nonetheless. Mudvayne dudes are really cool, Bob to Tomcat and their crew guys are really cool too, but dude, Vinnie Paul is possibly the coolest, smoothest, pimpest motherfucker I know. The motherfucker is like the god damned Pope when he comes out after a show, with people practically tripping over themselves to meet him. And good lord if the dude isn’t the biggest stripper-chick magnet I’ve ever been around in my life, christ almighty!!?? The ladies LOVE to be around Vinnie Paul!
HellYeah are a great rock band, and I gotta give it up to singer Chad Gray, he has an uncanny ability to make a deep and honest connection with the crowd. Not in the rocking / thrashing sense, but in his ability to make every person in the room feel a part of the show, something that sounds a lot easier than it is. Dude is a GREAT frontman. And GOD DAMN do those motherfuckers like to drink... whew!!!!??? I thought WE drank a lot!! I’ve never done more shots in my life. We're definitely having fun out here.
Really looking forward to supporting Korn in Dubai, headlining Israel for the first time ever is gonna be amazing, India for the first time, 1st headlining show in Japan in like 8 years, supporting Metallica in Portugal and Spain... 2008 is looking so killer already!!!
We will be doing a bunch of festivals in Europe and the U.K. come summertime, and we're stoked to be a part of the Mayhem Tour in the U.S., its our first U.S. festival run in a few years. Mayhem is gonna be fuckin' awesome, and we’re really looking forward to jamming with a lot of our friends again! Anyway, until next time...
"We're number 2! We're number 2! We're number 2!"...
-Flynn
Robb Flynn
02.04.08
Well,
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a whole bunch of photos to tell the story of what was one of the most insane 30 days of our touring lives. The highs and the lows, the mundane and the unbelievable, this... was The Black Crusade. All of these photos were taken by our very own Frontliner in arms Henning Gulli who has one of the most unbelievable "eyes" for photography I've ever seen! The dude is friggin' amazing!!
Henning was given unprecedented access to all things Machine Head, from the early morning stage set up, to pre-show warm up rituals, unlimited access to the stage show, including every stage dive, drunken sing-a-long, and even drunker after-party moment. At my request he has also made a page of photos of our very own Frontliners that came out to the shows, including the humongous Frontliner meeting in London. I'll probably do a more in-depth diary soon, but for now, sit back, crack open a beer, make sure you a have a good chunk of time to soak in the enormity of it all, and enjoy the almost 500 photos he captured of the earliest shows in Birmingham and London, to the absurdly drunken last night in Helsinki.
