On a chilly spring day, a few hundred society dwellers descended on the Theatre District...

I got to the Town Ballroom at about 5:30, maybe a little earlier. About 10 die-hards were already lined up. The wait seemed like forever. The cool air certainly didn't help, and the stacks of pizza that they took inside, right in front of us, just served to add insult to...freezing. When they opened the doors, I got hit with a whammy: digital cameras weren't allowed. I had to sprint around the block to my car, giving up my prime spot. Thankfully, they were slow at letting people in, so I got back in time to get a decent enough place in the line to get through the second doors. When they finally opened the doors to the main hall, I managed to get a spot slightly off-center and three rows back. Not bad, considering the time I spent going to the car and back. (Bonus: they were showing the Sabres game on projectors in the bar area and, before and after the opening band, in the main hall.)

The opening band wasn't anything to write home about. I don't even remember their name. I couldn't make out the guitars, as they scooped all the mids out of their Krank Revolution stacks. For shame!! Most of the people on the floor got the mosh out of their system while they were on, and I was paying more attention to the crazy people right behind me (I was on the edge of the pit) than to the band.

Around 10:00, a screen with a huge BLS logo dropped from the ceiling, blocking the view of the stage. The lights went down, save for four spinning red hazard lights. The Wall of Doom roared, the screen fell and BLS launched into "New Religion." The stage volume was probably the loudest of any club show I've been to. I could clearly hear Zakk's and ET's JCM800s cutting right through the PA. 24 hours after the show, my ears still haven't fully recovered. (I should really invest in some earplugs.) I don't remember the set list exactly, but it contained mostly newer material, from The Blessed Hellride and later. My personal highlights were "Forever Down," "Fire It Up" and, of course, "In This River," which is forever dedicated to the memory of the late, great friend of Zakk, Dimebag Darrell.

I met the band, minus Zakk, at the bus after the show. I got a picture with Nick Catanese, who shared a story about the #81 Sabres jersey he wore toward the end of the show, that he had to have said jersey because of the name: Satan. (Never mind that the name is actually pronounced "shuh-TAN," it's the spelling that counts!)

All in all, it was a killer show. Pics here.

New toys:

Sony MDR-7506 headphones on top of Canon MP600 printer/scanner...both of which are things I've been wanting for a while: I'm sick of using other printers/scanner in the house; having my own is so much more convenient; and it's about time I got a good pair of reference headphones.

New projects: I'm going through all my old guitar mags and scanning everything worth keeping: any lessons, features or song transcriptions that draw my interest. When I'm finished, I'll probably try to sell off the mags and seed the GAS fund a little bit (relates to new ambitions, below). Also, I've begun reconfiguring my room with plans to finally do the repainting, etc. that I've been wanting to do for months.

New ambitions: it's time to get serious about this recording stuff. I'm looking into buying a couple beginner-level recording books, and once the room is finished, I'm going to invest in a bunch of upgraded recording gear...a FireWire mixer, a large-diaphragm condensor mic, monitors, (eventually) a 2-channel outboard mic preamp and 2-channel compressor, and maybe even a bass guitar. Long-term GAS, stoked by Nate from cyberjammin: a Soldano Astroverb amp. That would be a mighty fine recording/practice amp, and they can be had used for $700-800. I wouldn't have imagined that one could have a Soldano for under a grand until Nate scored one and I looked into it a little bit.