Metal memories

[Pentagrimes]

It was a stressful weekend for me too alright, given I gave myself alcohol poisioning 

[metalusername]

that was a kind of flat-feeling gig if I recall

Ah jesus loads, even if some of them might be a bit detached.  One I think of a lot is that Enslaved / Zyklon / 1349 gig in the Village years back, maybe 07 or 08 again.  Great craic with good people but two things are etched into my mind forever - the lad from 1349 setting his face on fire during their intro by mistake, and lads getting sucked into the zyklon moshpit at the speed of the strobe light from the edge of the crowd.  And also the bass cutting during the kick in of "Fusion of Sense and Earth" in Enslaved's set but we'll forgive that.  A fun and deadly gig that I can't forget.

The first Siege I attended too - Easter 2010, when they were still in Baker's place.  Having been to a good load of the gigs in the Precinct (ahh Metal After Mass) I had assumed this would be similar but all day, few local heads and pints, but I was met with cracking weather and hundereds of lads on a monumental rip across the three bars.  It was serious festival atmosphere, too hammered to deal with living before the sun even went down but somehow stayed going.  It is also sealed to my memories.

[Despondent_Soul2]

Out of all the gigs we played in Ireland, one does actually stand out when reading Andy's story about the Donegal accent; the first time we (pre Era V., when we were still Gambit) played up north, in Ballymoney to be precise, home at the time to Putrefy and, unbeknownst to us before arriving, a prominent unionist stronghold.

It was our first time playing outside of Dublin/Wicklow and we hiked up, train to Belfast, then another to Ballymoney itself. Our drummer at the time fancied himself a proper rock 'n roller, although only in the chemical sense, and I knew he had supplies on him. No sooner does the train pull out of Dublin then he's out of his seat and heading for the jacks to get a line or two into him. "Here man," I says to him, it being around 11 in the morning, "Pace yourself, yeah?" The perfect answer he gave off the cuff had the rest of us in stitches; "I am pacing myself. Starting now." 

When we eventually made it to Ballymoney, we walk out the train station and there's Union Jack bunting absolutely fucking everywhere, zig-zagging all along the main street all the way up. Seriously unnerving and unwelcoming stuff; didn't know where we were and didn't want to open our southern mouths to ask anyone. Then the comprehension difficulties began; I rang Jason (Putrefy's drummer, whose old MI handle I can't remember right now... edit: rapistofrednecks??) to ask for directions. He answers, seems to understand what I ask him, but I can't make out a single word from the stream of nordy gurning. "Can you send me a text message?"

Grand, get to the venue. Drummer disappears immediately to the jacks. Now we're sitting with a pint outside of the venue, glad to be "safe" surrounded by metallers rather than orangemen, and Jason starts talking again. Seriously, the lad has the strongest accent I've ever heard in Ireland outside of the deepest depths of the Kerry gaeltacht. I'm getting about two words per sentence, but that's enough to gather that what he's saying is, "I haven't listened to yer music, but I just hope yer brootal. We've loadsa bands come up say they're gonna be brootal but then they're not brootal at all." We were not, nor had ever said we were, "brootal". At the time, Gambit still even had some remnants of nu-metal influence from two of the founding members, now since ejected. Anyway, we're thinking, "Fuck, we are going to bomb." Sinister Demise were the other band on the line-up, so, yeah, in terms of being "brootal", we were going to stick out like a clean thumb on a hand of bludgeoned fingers. Needless to say, next time I spotted the drummer heading off, I tagged along, despite the danger of being murdered by any locals who might have walked in to find two southern lads cramped into a cubicle together. Then we went out and performed a profusely sweaty, thoroughly unbroootal set and got the fuck out of there.
 
Never went back to Ballymoney. If it's all about the memories you form along the way, then that one was sufficiently burned in there not to need repeating.

I remember us (was 2nd guitarist in Putrefy them days) thinking that some of the Gambit fellas were a bit extra 'wired', especially the drummer lol! Wouldnt have been much fun doin lines in The Bush toilets!

[Caomhaoin]

We played in Ballymoney once too, the Bush Tavern. Stayed in the bass player from Putrefy's gaff and I remember the next morning the UDA flags in the gardens in the estate. Wrecked on speed from the night before and a manic search for car keys and Steve from
Abaddon Incarnate being so steamed that he didn't give a shit are my abiding memories.

I wasn't called a fenian or anything like that at the house party though so I think it wasn't as big a deal as we thought in retrospect.

[leatherface]

Two great concerts from memory:

Seeing Bolt Thrower for the first time in 2010 at the Button Factory (Rotting Christ opened but I was at the bar), stagediving during the gig a few times and meeting Karl Willetts afterwards. Perfect.

Seeing Suffocation play Fibbers, 2008?. Insane gig,  Mike Smith turns up at the bar at some point  in the afternoon and someone near the bar  gives me their phone and asks me to take a photo with him.

[open face surgery]

That Suffocation gig was fuckin savage. Mental to see them in Fibbers.

[Ollkiller]

Ah the old Bush Tavern in Ballymoney. Played there one night with an old band Shermanm4 and were staying in the promoters house a few miles away. Promoter fainted at the gig and was brought to hospital. Gig ended, we're all pissed and asked the barman where the taxis were. He said not a taxi to be had and we cant wait around outside as we'd get set on. So our singer drove us to the promoters house about 10 miles away after 8 pints in him. Christ if we were stopped. Got to the promoters gaff and he wasn't back yet so their neighbours (a 60 year old couple) brought us in for drinks. All a ruse as the old wan was trying to get off with all of us. It's a strange place Ballymoney.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

  

[mickO)))]

Two great concerts from memory:

Seeing Bolt Thrower for the first time in 2010 at the Button Factory (Rotting Christ opened but I was at the bar), stagediving during the gig a few times and meeting Karl Willetts afterwards. Perfect.

Seeing Suffocation play Fibbers, 2008?. Insane gig,  Mike Smith turns up at the bar at some point  in the afternoon and someone near the bar  gives me their phone and asks me to take a photo with him.

And that was first gig they played after all the issues or whatever went on with them never coming over here for years. I think the previous time they played before that was November 04 with Krisiun in the Village.

[Paul keohane]

They played Cork with God Dethroned in 2006,the gig was plagued by bad sound is my memory.Gorefest were originally ment to the the support.Was at the gig in the Button factort in 2010 too,real old school vibe to that one!,just loads of stage diving!