2 Years of Review: Part 1; Music

WOO!

As I said Here is my post about Music. Warning very Long.

The path of my year 2014 truly started in june the previous year. Apparently I run on 18-24 month timelines. Bite me.

Note: This was originally written in January but I’ve been tweaking it since.

Music:

2014 has been a time of exploration, adventure, and doing things I’ve always wanted to. I was able to somewhat follow 2 of my favorite bands of more than a decade, hell I may have even made a few new friends along the way.

It all started off when my friend @Amaya invited me to a Project Pitchfork show at DNA in SF; she then casually mentions that Ayria is sublining for them. I was shocked. I recalled seeing a lapse of time without any music and for some reason thought that production was done. Grabbed the new album, mainlined it and prepared for that night. A sunday Domino.

We hit the show enjoyed the openers and then on came Ayria. A few of my favorite songs came on and I was freaking psyched. I toss a picture up and a very good friend of mine comments that she’s seeing her later that week! Of course I immediately inform her that we’re now better friends. Turns out she was seeing her twice and one of those two was a somewhat more private gig with friends, she stated she’d see if she could get me in. Turns out the photo I posted later of Jen and I got me in and this lead to me buying a plane ticket to Seattle for that weekend (hooray miles). Hung out with Mary for a day and then off to meet one of my more interesting and more influential friends for my travel bug. Enter Gus.

Gus and I decided we’d make good friends relatively quickly. Saw Jen, Sarah, and Mike relaxing before the show. Mentioned I saw their SF gig and that it was a blast. Sat with them for a bit before they went on. I could go on a lot more but I could do that for days. At this point I was acquainted with the group and in contact with Mike W (Drummer with Ayria tour among other awesome things)

Hanging out with Gus here lead to us gallivanting around Europe; Much of our shenanigans involved concerts and several of those were Ayria related. We saw Jen, Sarah and Mike in Berlin. This was my first trip to Berlin, first visit Oktoberfest (albeit in the wrong county), and trips to several of my favorite cities. We were able to see Ayria again in Dresden shortly thereafter and Jenn and Sarah were able to hang out briefly before the show. The show was great, the venue was ridiculous, and good times were had. A few months later was the UK leg of the tour. I was able to do 2 shows in a weekend, hit London and Bristol bringing it to 6 shows in 1 years time or about 1 every other year on average tongue emoticon. Jennifer, Sarah, and Both Mike’s were awesome and I just want to say thanks for hanging out, you’ve got a friend in whichever city I may be in.
In March 2014 another of my favorite bands was announced to be performing at an industrial festival in Berlin. 3 days of Industrial, night 1 headlined by Combichrist, and in Berlin. There was quite actually nothing I didn’t enjoy in that combination. I bought my tickets, booked an airbnb for cheap and was off. The show was fucking awesome, I found a few new bands to listen to and was able to see bands that I didn’t realize I had liked (songs from the past that I had forgotten about). I even made a new Rivet and Metal head friend!
A few weeks after I was supposed to be in Boston, around the time I was buying my flight for PAX they announced their “We Love you Tour” with VIP tickets. They were going to be in Boston a few days before PAX. Took some extra vacation time and bought my flights. 2 weeks before my flight, a chance for a work trip to seattle came up. The monday after Combichrist would be there. 1 more vacation day and a flight for work and BOOM 3 times in 2 months grin emoticon. I was even recognized by a couple of them in Seattle. I thought that’d be the end of it.

A few months later Combi announced a second leg of the We Love you tour. Starting in October in Atlanta 3 days before a wedding I was going to (more on that later). Guess I had to take a few more days off again huh? Zmarr saw me outside and laughed about me showing up again. Show kicked ass, made a few acquaintances in the crowd and hung out with Joe, Abbey, and Eric after the show. So fucking awesome. Part 2 of the Europe tour brought them near by in Glasgow. A close friend of mine loved the band as much as I did and we both grabbed VIP tickets. We got to hang out with them again before and after the show, as always they were awesome. May have even made some new friends. Thanks Andy, Joe, Z-marr, Abbey, and Eric. If you’re ever in the area let me know!

Those are only the biggest shows I went to. There were also shows for Rotting Christ, The Fantabulous Electric Eel Shock (Thanks to Christian!), Bodom with Napalm Death&Insomnium, Death, and of course GHOST [B.C.].

Special Mentions Also to: Juuso, Kibby, Dawn and Renken for joining me at the Combi shows abroad. Special mention to Rory for hitting that first Ghost gig with me (Epic freaking time) [and of course to G-Bad for letting me crash and game] and Amaya without whom the first domino would never have toppled.

Twilight of the Thunderer

Cloud cover pervades the expanse of arid land.

The sun’s been down for sometime.

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been riding on this ridge into Oregon, “Oregon Trail Highway,” definitely feels somewhat removed like that.

My nerves are starting to question my current sanity; For miles on each side of me the cloud cover is smattered with lightning. No rain, just the flares of electricity gaining in frequency. 2 small pieces of rubber and no Farraday cage in sight. Lightning has never been a friend to motorcyclists.

As my luck would have it, none of the blasts have taken place over the highway, just everywhere around it. I hope I don’t need to take an exit for gas anytime soon, as the odometer clicks to 30 miles remaining til my next gas stop.

That’s when the music changes, as if it was answering any questions I may have about my current situation. The guitars raise, drums blast. “There is Fenris’ twin, his jaws are open wide, The serpent rises from the wave” Twilight of the Thunder God begins it’s audible assault upon my ear drums. Like a reminder, much like Thor, I am not one to back down. My right wrist begins to roll as my hand grips tight. For Thor.

These were not blasts of warning, each strike was Thor cheering me on, excited for my 5000 mile journey. I may be riding solo, but I never ride alone.