Death Angel ACT III Tour Part III
- Bleeding Priest
- 18 hours ago
- 5 min read
Maryland Deathfest! My first time attending or playing. It lived up to all my expectations. Death Angel played the main stage outside. We were sandwiched between a bunch of Death Metal bands.
To some folks we probably sounded like a Rock n’ Roll band compared to the ultra-heaviness going on around us but the crowd went NUTS! Let’s talk about the lineup, the bands I saw, the record vendors I met and the day in general.
Like I said we were the only Thrash band on an all Death Metal lineup. Directly before us was Cancer … sort of. The sole original member, singer/guitarist John Walker wasn’t there due to his flight being cancelled. So instead they had a slew of people handling the vocal duties…sometimes with multiple dudes on stage at once. It was an odd and unfortunate situation.
They actually rehearsed a couple of songs with various guys singing in front of a festival crowd before they officially started their set. It was really bizarre. I completely commend them for soldering on though. The crowd didn’t seem to mind all too much either and had a great time.
Death Angel had a pretty rad set I must say. Kids were pitting and crowd surfing for the entirety of our 50 min. We didn’t do our standard Act III set either. We opened with 3 tracks from said album and then did a bunch of our more contemporary fast paced numbers. We also threw “Mistress Of Pain” into the mix which was received very well. In all honesty it couldn’t have gone better.
Now after us was Swedish, 100% true, and pure Death Metal gods GRAVE! I fucking LOVE this band. I don’t even know where to start. They’re a trio. That’s a win right there. If you’re too Metal to appreciate a kick ass power trio then you ain’t Metal enough for me! Some of my all time favorites are three pieces - Rush, Venom, Forced Entry, Coroner, Celtic Frost, Destruction, early Kreator, Motörhead, early Carcass, Raven and on and on and on.
Grave have a total Rock n’ Roll swagger in their music and performance. They just look fucking cool doing what they do…no nonsense, no frills, no bullshit Death Metal through and through. Their set blew me the fuck away. That’s all that needs to be said.
During all this I wandered the fest a little bit and met up with a buddy of mine who’s a major record dealer, who in turn introduced me to a couple of record Vendors who were familiar with Dave and I’s little operation. Words getting around! It feels good.
I caught Vio-lence’s set at the other outdoor stage. It was the best they’ve sounded on this tour thus far and the crowd ate it up for sure. I also stumbled into one of the smaller venues in the festival and caught the band Tomarum (I think) and I gotta say they impressed the hell out of me. Top notch musicianship and stellar, well constructed songs. They had their fans as well.
I eventually made it back to the main stage to catch some of Sarcofago but honestly by that point I was spent and really didn’t give them the attention they deserved. They sounded killer for sure but I had had enough by then.
After MDF we did an AWESOME trio of shows in Florida. All three gigs were hot, sweaty and packed! At the Orlando show our longtime producer Jason Suecoff came out, which is a rare thing. Always great to see him.
Another producer from the annals of Death Angel history attended 2 of our Florida shows, legendary producer/mixer Max Norman! In addition to producing Act III he has worked on some of the most iconic Metal albums ever released such as Rust In Peace, Thunder In The East, Delirious Nomad, Blizzard Of Ozz, Diary Of A Madman and my personal favorite Speak Of The Devil! I got to talk to him about that record. I actually told him that Brad Gillis’s guitar tone on that album is my favorite tone on any live recording. He seemed surprised by that.
I tried to pick his brain about how he got that tone but it just so happened to be Max’s birthday so he was a tad distracted. What he did tell me was how amazed he was at how well Speak Of The Devil turned out. Under the stressed conditions (the very recent passing of Randy Rhoads and Gillis only having 4 days to learn the set) he was expecting the worst. He also told me that the album was mixed on really crappy speakers that were supposed to be “state of the art”. He was pleasantly surprised when he heard the end result.
In Ft. Lauderdale, my buddy and podcaster Ralph Vierra took me to Nico McBrain’s restaurant Rock and Roll ribs. I’m no rib connoisseur but these were quite possibly the best I’ve ever had. The place was a real hoot with Iron Maiden paraphernalia all over the place. I would definitely go there again.
I’ve hit some great record stores along the way which the videos will show.
I almost got into a fight with a guy in Allentown. I was at the merch table and a dude belligerently comes up to me, grabs on to me and shouts “VIOLENCE!”. I told him to get the hell off of me and things disintegrated from there. Security asked if I wanted him to be kicked out and I said no. I even went up to him and tried to take the higher road and make peace. I could tell in his drunken eyes it wasn’t over…and it wasn’t.
During our set he took it upon himself to chuck a cocktail my way. He missed me but definitely made a mess. I got out from behind my kit between songs and addressed the situation. He was found and thrown out with force! I love meeting with the fans, ask anybody, but there needs to be a level of respect. It’s a two way street. If you can’t act accordingly and you cross that line then we’ll have a problem.
Other than that it’s been smooth sailing. We’re having a blast out here. Up next is the Milwaukee Metalfest. I’m sure there will be lots to talk about…
–Bleeding Priest
Good night from Death Angel Tour!
