Upon arriving in Sacramento, we left the confines of the van to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat. When you walk around with Jameson, you get looked at. I’m pretty sure most of the people on the street hadn’t seen this much hair since early 90’s MTV. I felt out of place without long hair, wish I hadn’t decided to cut it last year! Oh well… I had the best mustache of the group.
Yelp told me that the bar Jameson was playing at, On the Y, was “one of the last bars that allows smoking inside. It smells like cigs, and you will too.” and had “the filthiest bathrooms I have ever seen, do not go there!” so it sounded to me like the perfect joint to hold a metal show in.
Unfortunately, two of the three opening bands canceled leaving Jameson and Maleva to play the show with only one local act opening up for them. That might not seem too bad, but the local acts are what draws a large portion of the attendance for these shows, so cancellations lead to lack of patrons. The Jameson guys took it in stride though, and set up just like they would if there were 500 screaming fans.
The show got a lot weirder when the opening band hit the stage. It seemed as though someone didn’t get the message that Jameson is a heavy metal band. They seemed like cool enough guys, but their style was way out of left field for this type of show. The covered Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and a few others throughout their set.
Here’s Victor from Maleva wailing on the skins. Victor is a great guy, and I heard that his other band plays ultra-brutal black metal, so the Maleva repertoire is a cakewalk for him. Maybe that’s why he’s smiling all the time behind the drum kit.
We had already watched the night start out weird, so Jameson and Maleva decided to continue with the weirdness theme and play their sets at the same time trading back and forth after each song. It was like watching the metal version of West Side Story. Both of these bands are going big places, so I’m sure in a few years those of us who witnessed this will consider ourselves lucky for having such an opportunity. All five of us.
This is Dan. Dan represents half of the dynamic shredding duo Jameson is so lucky to call their own. He has lots of excellent nicknames like Dannibal Corpse, Danthrax, Dantera, Danowar, Mastodan, Every time I Dan, &c. Awesome right? Don’t worry, this is not the last you’ll see of Dan.
Keanu and Ahmad from Maleva get some work done on stage during the West Side Story-esque battle.
Yay! More boobs! Thanks for repping LifeBlasters, young lady. FYI, I worked hard for this picture… how hard, you ask? I actually had to take a picture of my balls and show it to her before she’d let me shoot her with a LB stick on her boob… Yes, I’m a dedicated journalist.
With the show over, we made our way to Chico where we’d be staying the night. The following morning, the guys and I headed over to the Sierra Nevada brewery to check it out and enjoy a frosty beverage. Chad in the pic above: “I want that one, and that one, and that one”
Chad was so jazzed about the fresh brew that he bought a growler full! The following hours in the van were jolly to say the least.
“I look cool as f*ck in this pic, J-dub! good job!” – Matt Bomb.
Thanks MB, I appreciate it.
Back to the road we go! Issue #3 will be hitting the interwebs on 5/21 at 12:00PM! Don’t miss it… we’re just warming up!
-G
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