Words by Hannah McLamb, pictures by Allan Fielder - Charlotte, NC
"I have witnessed many things, but none of them as bodacious as what just happened."
- Bill S. Preston Esquire Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Flashback - a steamy Saturday night in July. The year is 1990. I am fourteen years old. My parents have gone bowling with their best friends and I am being "babysat" by my evil older sister, who sent me to bed at nine o'clock so she could be alone with her boyfriend. I sneak downstairs and hide in wait, hoping to scope out information I could possibly use to blackmail queen bitch in the very near future. I find her wicked babysitting ass asleep on the couch next to her boyfriend, who was snoozing next to her. However, I am not alone. Her boyfriend's buddy is there, too - let's just call him Troy to save me embarrassment at my high school reunion. Troy, in all his reckless glory, is sitting in front of the TV. At the tender age of fourteen, sixteen-year-old super cool Troy embodied everything that I thought I could ever possibly love. He wore the coolest Slayer T-shirt and played a red flying V guitar in his garage band, Spawn of Hell. Troy lit a cigarette with his silver zippo (sigh) and motioned for me to sit next to him. The television was tuned to MTV and some metal band was playing (I had no idea who they were - my mom thought rock music was the devil and never allowed us to watch MTV).
"This is Slaughter," Troy said. "They totally rule - this show totally rules."
"Yeah," I replied. "I totally love MTV. I watch it all the time." (I was a big geek and this was a big lie. See the paragraph above.)
"This isn't just MTV," Troy said looking at me as if I had just uttered a sacrilege. "This is the Head Banger's Ball. One day (dramatic pause) I will be on there." (Actually, he is now a very successful accountant.)
I felt like such a dork for not knowing. So I decided to name-drop a band. "Do they ever play any Duran Duran?"
The look on Troy's face was the most fantastic blend of amusement, disgust, and pity.
"Uh… no," Troy answered. "If you want to know what real music is, just watch."
I did watch - almost every Saturday night until HeadBanger's Ball went off the air. Although my enchantment with the totally gnarly Troy faded within a month, my adoration for heavy metal never paled.
Flash Forward: A rainy night in November 2003. I am in my car with my tattoo artist, Big Al (who also became on this trip a photographer for Choler and my partner in concert covering crime) and our friend Lucky. We are on our way to see MTV2's first HeadBanger's Ball tour during its stop at Charlotte's Tremont Music Hall. If someone had told me back in 1990 I would be journalist covering the first ever tour to carry the Headbanger's Ball name, I would have shit a kitten. Although I had become disillusioned with MTV, almost as quickly as I had with Troy, in the 90's shortly after they laid to rest my favorite MTV shows - HeadBanger's Ball, Liquid TV, and Sifl and Ollie - this was a big deal for me. Curiosity, coupled with the fact that decent underground metal bands were on the bill, prompted me to take the assignment of covering the tour. There was also my romantic attachment to the show itself. I thought MTV had forgot about metal for the likes of lighter, more mainstream fare such as boy bands and skanky teen queen divas. Just what would it be like, a tour that touted authentic in-your-fucking-face-aggressive metal acts Killswtich Engage, Lamb of God, and Shadows Fall and evoked the ghost of the once great Headbangers Ball? It was a great idea - but the weird thing was it was a tour backed by the media giant MTV.
So, how was it? The answer in two words - KICK ASS. Although I don't care much for the CD that followed the tour due to the inclusion of too many "softer" mainstream metal acts that don't quite carry the mind numbing impact of bone crushers such as the tour's three headlining bands and older metal gods such as Slayer and Maiden, I think that the sponsorship of the tour was a step in the right direction for MTV2. In the underground realm of music, any band's association with MTV spawns whispers of "sellout." This is an image that the tour and the wise decision to let the three relatively underground bands headline might shatter. The success of the tour has cast a spotlight on a genre full of truly "buzz worthy" bands that are very deserving of media exposure and has the potential to make metal gods of the bands that headlined the tour their supporting acts God Forbid and Unearth. The return of the HeadBanger's Ball, its first namesake tour and the tour that is being planned for later this year all herald GOOD things for heavy metal. Metal geniuses Poision the Well, Devil Driver, and My Chemical Romance now have a home where their fans can catch their videos and find out information concerning tour plans and upcoming albums.
MTV is also highly pleased with the venture. Following the tour, I asked Joe Armenia, VP of Promotions for MTV & MTV2, how much of a success MTV2 felt the tour was. Mr. Aremnia replied that the tour was "a huge success. The biggest press pickup we had for any recent tour on any channel. The fans really were outspoken about their passion for the live shows and the bands were thrilled with the support of the channel and the buzz it gave them."
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| Check out tons of pictures from the MTV2's Headbangers ball Tour in Choler's concert gallery. |
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Mr. Armenia also believes that since the tour promoted five hardcore metal bands that came from the depths of America's underground, the impact on the underground metal scene will be a positive a one - "Hopefully these bands will feel that they have a home on mtv2, that their music is nurtured and embraced here, and that we are committed to bringing them this music not only on the channel, but off as well."
Rest assured that the recent triumphant Head Banger's Ball tour will not be the last. Before this coming summer, MTV2 plans to unleash a second installment of the expedition.
The impact of the tour on the underground metal scene, along with myriad of other issues, is also a question I put to Shadow Fall's throat (and keeper of the best dreads in music) Brian Fair.
Choler: You guys recently came off MTV2's Headbanger's Ball tour - a tour that many people regard as a landmark for underground metal bands. How successful do you feel the tour was for your band?
[Brian Fair] The tour was absolutely incredible!!! It was amazing to watch the growth of the American metal scene over the past few years. We had toured with both Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage right before all of our records had come out and it was a much smaller event to say the last. All of the bands had spent the last year pushing those records and working their asses off and spreading the word. This tour was a testament to that hard work and exposure. Every night was packed and every night all of the bands killed it. It definitely helped to push this scene and our band to a new level and gave us a chance to prove that this shit aint just hype.
Interview Page 2
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