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Onslaught are joined by M-PIRE OF EVIL, EVIL DEAD at all West Coast shows and great local supports like e.g. FUELED BY FIRE.
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This is the story of Scream For Violence North America 2012 - Mr. Nige Rockett has the floor!
DAY 1: God doesn't exist and circle pits rage at first show in Seattle, WA
Well here we are, first time for Onslaught in the US to play some live shows... and to be totally honest: it's been a fucking tough start!
We flew out from London Heathrow on what surely had to be a Wilbur & Orville prototype 'jumbo jet' with no on board entertainment and zero leg space, worst long haul flight I have ever experienced. 11 hours of pure boredom and discomfort courtesy of United Airlines. To quote Jeff: "I was praying to god that the plane would crash just so i could get off the fucking thing, but as he doesn't exist - it didn't." :D
We eventually arrived in Seattle at around 10pm sunday night after a second and equally uncomfortable flight from San Francisco and met up with tour manager Dustin Schoenhofer (drummer for Walls of Jericho). Real cool guy, which is great as he is gonna be our 6th member for the next month.
M-Pire Of Evil guys are already in town and catching some Z's, something I am unable to do cos of the fucking jet lag kicking in! We hit the diner next door to the hotel for a late night snack only to find they 'dont sell beer... NOOOOOOOOO - Coke it is! Liquid variety I hasten to add.
Sporadic sleep ensues and then it's up and off to the first show at Studio 7 on a very cold and rainy monday afternoon in Seattle. All the backline is here, everything works just fine and soundcheck sounds great. Cool enough venue, cool local crew, typically Metal...works for me!!
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| A sad moment for Andy in Seattle... |
There is another first for Onslaught tonight and it is that we perform the track 'Godhead' from the Sounds Of Violence album for the first time live, it works really really well and i think it will now become a permanent addition to the set over the duration of the tour.
So first show down, no dramas no crisis no tears and we blasted out the cobwebs. Portland here we come for round 2!
Seattle set list March 19, 2012:
Killing Peace
Born for War
Let there be Death
Angels of Death
Destroyer of Worlds
The Sound of Violence
Metal Forces
Planting Seeds of Hate
Fight with the Beast
Shellshock
Burn
Demoniac
Godhead
Power from Hell
Thermouclear Devastation of the Planet Earth
Day 2 - Portland, OR: Getting back into the groove
Are we back in the UK??? Fuck, this is just like being at home. It's freezing cold and pouring with rain, totally unexpected and definitely unwanted!
We have a short drive from Seattle to Portland for the next show and the first impressions of the city are great, it looks a beautiful place even in this gloomy weather, somewhere I'd definitely like to see much more of. We arrive at the Hawthorne Theatre around 3pm, it's a cool venue and soundcheck is real good, sounding brutal!
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| Onslaught, then rehab. That's the spirit! |
Got chance to hang out with some fans after the show and have a few beers which was cool, especially with the fucking horror that is facing us in the morning...
Day 3 - Santa Clara, CA:
Losing Taco Bell virginity and looking for Dolly Parton in California
We decided not to take a hotel after the Portland show as we have to be on the road for 6.30am, a friend of our tour manager has kindly offered the band to crash at his ranch to get a few hours sleep before the "11 hour drive" to California.
We arrive at the ranch around 2.30am and now its fucking snowing, jeez can it get any more like home - and can anyone remember the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Haha! 4 hours sleep and we wake to 4 inches of snow which means the journey will be even tougher and take even longer. It's about 3 hours until we drive clear the snow, passing several smashed cars and trucks along the way. This will probably be one of the weirdest weather days of our lives.
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| Finally: Onslaught over California! |
TACO BELL stop. We lose our Taco Bell virginity on Wednesday lunch time. Obviously heard about it, never tried it. It was great, what else can I say except: bring us some more! It breaks the monotony of this monster of a drive that is now thankfully coming to an end and we arrive in Santa Clara at 6pm ffs. Doors are 'meant' to be at 7pm - I dont think so somehow.
The organisation for this particular show has been a total nightmare with cities and venues being changed no less than 3 times due to venue refurbishments etc., which I'm sure doesn't bode well for a properly promoted show. Anyway, this venue is fucking weird / huge and about as 'un-metal' as you can get.
We're all looking around for Tony Bennett or Dolly Parton to appear, so maybe we should do our Lounge set tonight? But that's another story... The turn out tonight is pretty average for obvious reasons though not a complete disaster by any means, but the crowd is well up for the show and it really is enjoyable.
The sound in particular was fucking immense and we are dead on our feet. Goodnight all!!
Day 4 - Los Angeles, CA:
Insanity in L.A., but will we ever get round to partying again?
It's real nice to get a decent night's sleep at last, and waking up to the Californian sunshine sure makes for a good start to the day! Then we remember we have a 6 hour drive to Los Angeles. Hhhhmmmnn, where's the time for partying? We could sadly be earning ourselves a good reputation at this point! FUCK THAT!! Surely we can find ourselves some chaos in L.A., the Rock 'n' Roll capital of the world. Can't we?!?
Everything is manic today as usual, me and Sy have a live interview with Jimmy Kabbs on KNAC Radio this afternoon as soon as we arrive in L.A.. Interview goes great and it's real cool to meet everyone down there, the guys have been really fantastic in their support for the show! (Thanks so much guys, very much appreciated.)
We get to the Echoplex venue for 6pm and straight into soundcheck, again the sound is brutal in the extreme. I'm real suprised by the standard of 'in house techs' over here, everyone so far has been a real star and delivered exactly what we're looking for and beyond.
By 7.30pm queues are winding all the way down the street and these guys / ladies are definitely up for some violence. The show really starts to liven up when Evil Dead hit the stage, so we know it's gonna be 666% mental tonight - bring it on!
L.A. does NOT disappoint!! "Fucking Insane" are the words that immediately spring to mind, these guys are relentless without respite thru the first 4 nonstop tracks of our set. There's a great atmosphere and incredible energy in the venue tonight. What a fucking show, everyone is wasted including us, hahaha. We're buzzing right now.
Met up with some old and new friends after the show which is real nice, but it's late on a Thursday night and yet again the chaos fails to transpire as we had hoped for. I'm gonna go back to the hotel and burn the fucking bible just to prove we're not going soft... Rockett out!
Day 5 - San Diego, CA:
A special meeting, another great show - and still no party in sight
Today we actually get to stay in bed for a few extra hours, even though I'm still on an adrenaline rush from last night's show. We only have a 90 minute drive to San Diego, so no mad rush. The sun is shining and it's another beautiful day here, this place is definitely taking hold of me in a way I never thought possible. I love the general vibe and feel of L.A., it's a real cool city!
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| Mic, Rusty Coons and Sy |
We have a quick spot of lunch at a nearby diner. I'm on a health kick right now, so it's salad all the way for me - with a few beers. ;) I know, I know, but it's sunny and hot outside...
It's a 45 minute drive from here to the Jumping Turtle venue, and the scenery is amazing as we travel along the Pacific coast. This is the first day that has offered us even the slightest hint of relaxation.
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| The Jumping Turtle - San Diego, CA |
So once again, showtime comes around, it's fairly busy and there's a hell of a lot of ladies in tonight. It's not far off a 50/50 split, so no complaints there. It's a very different reaction compared to L.A. last night, but we take each show as it comes and on it's own merits. Everyone including us has a great time and the band is getting it's shit together now. We should be just about listenable by the time we hit Washington, D.C., hahaha!
No fucking parties again tonight, what's going on??? Hotel bibles beware, we are the METAL FORCES!!!
Day 6 - Tempe, AZ: Jeff keeps cool in Arizonian heat - and where's the roof?
Here we go again, up and out early at 8am for another monster drive to Tempe, Arizona. 8 hours, so we are told as we reluctantly leave California.
It's really bizarre in the fact that as soon as we hit Arizona the scenery changes radically, almost like another continent not just another U.S. state. For any of you cartoon freaks out there (like me), this is real 'Roadrunner / Wile E Coyote' territory, speaking of which: when will Wile E actually catch that annoying fucking bird?
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| Welcome to Arizona! |
We have a stop for refuelling and to grab some lunch, as soon as we step out from the air conditioned bus it's like being thrown into a furnace. It's close to 90 degrees out here and Jeff promptly sticks as much of his torso as he can manage into a huge ice container on the forecourt. Cool dude is our Jeff, haha!
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| No kidding - no fucking roof!! |
Soundcheck is shocking, everything sounds so bright and thin because of the atmosphere and we just cannot get good guitar tones whatever we try, the onstage monitors are dreadful, too. These things are so crucial for us to play a good show, we really gotta hear stuff very clearly when playing at such tempos.
Unfortunately the heat does not subside and the problems remain at show time, which kinda takes the edge off of things for me, especially when other technical problems begin occurring too.
The show is all just a blur to me as I'm fighting with shit all the way through the set. My one lasting memory of this show though will be a real young lad probably only around 10 years old, stood on the barriers and really going for it. So fuckin' cool!!! Rockett out...
Check out this audio interview with Sy Keeler, conducted by The Age Of Metal:
Day 7 - El Paso, TX:
"Children of God pure fucking evil!!!" - Onslaught enter Texas
8am, another beautiful sunny Sunday morning, up and at it again!
These mighty journeys are now becoming the norm and anything under 5 hours we consider to be a mini day trip, hahaha. Unfortunately today is another long haul as we head for El Paso in the Lone Star state of Texas. I'm really looking forward to these shows, you always build up pre-conceptions of cities / countries before you visit, and Texas conjures up all kinds of interesting images for me. Cowboys / oil fields / TV shows / infamous border towns and of course Pantera, all kinda cool stuff.
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| Not very convincing: the Hitler mannikin at The Thing? museum in Arizona |
We take a stop for fuel and food after several hours of travel at the famous The Thing? roadside attraction in Dragoon, Arizona. There is a huge kind of tourist shop here selling everything that is Texas, and of course there is The Thing? museum!
$1 entry fee, ya just gotta be inquisitive and take a look! A museum sure don't come any more basic than this, but the things on display are quite fantastic.
Stagecoaches like you've seen in the old Western movies / cars so old and primitive that they probably actually pulled the stagecoaches / a Rolls Royce that belonged Adolf Hitler, which contains a not very convincing Adolf mannikin :) / muskets & rifles dating back hundreds of years - and finally I guess what is the main attraction: the Thing itself!
The corpses of a partially decayed woman and her baby in a coffin, freaky shit. If you are ever randomly passing this way ya must drop in and take a look, it's the best dollar you will ever spend!
En route the scenery rarely changes once we cross the state line, again it's quite different to Arizona in terms of landscape. We have small mountain ranges flanking us either side and this just goes on and on and on with no habitation to be seen. It's lucky for us that the bus has WiFi and we are able to occupy ourselves in times of such mega boredom.
After a few more hours drive we finally reach El Paso and to our right is Juarez, Mexico literally metres away as we drive along the Rio Grande (which really isn't so grand, Jeff said he could piss a bigger river, haha). What an amazing visible contrast between the 2 countries!!
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| The lights of Juarez, Mexico |
The venue is a stones throw away from Mexico and as darkness descends the lights of the vast Juarez city look stunning, sprawling as far as the eye can see. It's meeting day for the local bike gang at the House of Rock venue and there are some real cool machines parked up outside.
Soundcheck goes pretty smooth in front of a large audience of biker dudes who offer a great round of applause at the end of Destroyer of Worlds.
Soundcheck goes pretty smooth in front of a large audience of biker dudes who offer a great round of applause at the end of Destroyer of Worlds.
Only one local support tonight which is cool, because it's not great to finish late on a Sunday. The crowd is good tonight and very much up for some thrashing, it appears several of our Mexican brothers have crossed over for the show which is real nice to see!!
Real enjoyable show goes off with out a hitch, Godhead is getting stronger every time we play it, and the Americans always enjoy Sy's banter about the amount of weird religious cults in the country. "Children of God pure fucking evil!!!"
