Live At The Starland Ballroom
The
Jagermeister tour rolled into Sayreville, NJ on November 12, 2004. The tour featured Heavy Metal legends SLAYER, along with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, MASTADON, and DRY KILL LOGIC. There were a few things that me and Steve C had going against us: It was Friday night, it was rush-hour, we were late, and it was pouring rain. Even so, we got to the Starland Ballroom and the line outside the sold out show was still being corralled into the building, which was pretty crazy since the doors opened at 6:30 and we got there at 8 O’clock.
After meeting up with Adam, one of the Jager guys that appeared on the
O&A show just a few days earlier, we made our way inside, through the masses of people. Mastadon was in the middle of their set when we got there, and by the time I figured out what was going on the opportunity for photos had passed. After schmoozing for a little bit, actually, watching Steve schmooze as I sit and wonder how the hell I am going to make it all the way up to the photo pit and back, I decided to head up to the stage to catch the beginning of
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.
I’m not a big fan of their music, nothing against them, I’m just more of a traditional Metal purist and the newer stuff doesn’t catch my attention very often. Regardless they played a pretty good set, even though I’m not into them very much, I still think they did a damn good job. After taking photos during the first 3 songs, it was time to fight my way all the way back to the VIP section way in the back of the club. It took me almost an entire song to get from the stage to the back, and for those who don’t know, the Starland isn’t exactly Roseland (larger venue in New York City), it’s big, but it shouldn’t normally take an entire song to trek from one side to the other.
Two shots of Jager later, it was almost time for
SLAYER! I pushed my way through the crowd and made it up to the stage with some time to spare. After the smoke machines left me with dried out eyes, the lights when dim and the crowd got so loud you couldn’t even hear the intro music that was playing. At least, I think I heard intro music. Who knows. Slayer pounded out a brutal set which included all their classics, “Angel of Death,” “Seasons in the Abyss,” “Dead Skin Mask,” “Post Mortem,” “War Ensemble,” and “Chemical Warfare,” to name a few.
In between acts, the world-famous
Lizard Man came on stage and did some little stunts and other crazy things, like hanging Jager refrigerator dispensers from his ears, or having someone throw darts right into his chest. Darts in a guys chest = more gooder. The Lizard Man was in the VIP room for a while, just hanging out, I didn’t get a chance to talk to him but he seemed like a real nice guy. Then again, when you cover your body in scales, sharpen your teeth to points, and split your tongue down the middle, you’d have to be a nice guy, because I doubt first impressions from his appearance are gonna get him in good with his girlfriend’s family. (that was my horrible attempt at humor)
The show was good, Slayer always puts on a great show and the guys from Jager were very nice to me and Steve. For those of you wondering if “Martini Steve” really likes to drink, he absolutely does. I’ll just say it was a good thing I was driving that night.
