atalush's Journals on Buzznet

Brand New Balances 'Devil,' 'God' On New Album

atalush — 2006-10-10T10:12:00Z

Brand New Balances 'Devil,' 'God' On New Album

October 10, 2006, 11:20 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Long Island quartet Brand New embraces polar opposites on its upcoming major label debut, "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me." As previously reported, the Interscope set hits stores Nov. 21 and was produced by the band and Mike Sapone, who helmed Brand New's 2001 debut "Your Favorite Weapon" and 2003's "Deja Entendu."

As implied by its title, the album's inter- and intrapersonal conflicts play a significant role in the band's bang-and-whimper rock style, encompassed best by opener "Sowing Season (Yeah)." Starting out softly, vocalist Jesse Lacey reveals "She's losing all her friends/losing them to drinking and to drugs," looping the sentiment until the band roars into hardcore attack mode.

His electric voice gets an equally electric guitar backing on "Millstone," with big tom drum breaks and layered vocals on lines like "I used to know the name of every person I kissed."

"Jesus Christ" is one of the more pop/punk-oriented tracks, with featherweight vocal harmonies and a steady drum beat that eventually boils over into a frenzy. The pre-chorus of "Degausser" is augmented with what seems like a dozen voices, its instrument tracks heavily panned and giving the song a paranoid feel.

Misery and love meet on "Limousine," where the sweet plucks on an acoustic guitar are offset by the miasma of creepy sounds in the background. "I can dish it out/but I can't take it," Lacey admits, "I love you so much/but do me a favor, baby/don't reply." "You Won't Know" is driven largely by its bass line and the all-instrumental "Welcome to Bangkok" is a flurry of activity, the guitar lines distorted to the point of noise somewhere between shredding and screeching.

New wave and glam show their colors on "Not the Sun," halting abruptly for the scary and lonesome "Luca," a tale of sending one's lover to the bottom of the sea. One of the few songs that clocks in under four minutes, "Untitled" continues the creepy theme and gives way to the album's biggest song, "Archers." Packed with dirty bass lines on the verses and clean, tambourine-laden, 4/4 drumbeat choruses, the song offers an enormous crescendo and a breakdown of all the vocal tracks singing in a round.

The set concludes with "Handcuffs," a melancholy reflection on punishment and indifference, as Lacey sings, "It's hard to be the better man/when you're still lying/it's hard to be the better man/when you forget you're trying."

Brand New begins a fall tour with Dashboard Confessional Friday (Oct. 13) in Mesa, Ariz.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003223808

M. Shadows lays to rest rumors about why they walked offstage Sat in San Antonio

atalush — 2006-10-09T15:36:00Z

I was just wondering if what the little kids are saying is true about Fall Fest..
RUMOR has it that you guys stormed off stage because of "technical difficulties" and instead of trying to fix it you guys just left?? It has also been said that someone threw a guitar at the wall...

Now I myself believe that this was blown way out of proportion..
but rather then keep reading the RUMORS...
I thought I would go straight to the source...and get it from who would know best..yall got it right fo sho....TOO MUCH GARBAGE!!!!!

thanks, yo
<3 Manda

I will try and attempt to explain what happened at FallFest, even though a lot of these kids that know it all have jumped to their own conclusions. (If your not in a band that has played a radio festival before you probably have zero credibility to be talking like you know what happened or how we should have acted)
There are two sets of crews for radio shows. The local crew that sets up the stage, patches mic cables, brings in the P.A. and makes sure the show runs smoothly, and our crew which is our sound guy, guitar techs, drum tech and others. Basically, we were playing early in the day for some reason unknown to me after two bands that had probably 1/10th the gear and equipment Avenged Sevenfold has to put on a show.
The local crew couldn't get anything right. Everything was patched wrong so if you turned up Zackys guitar, my mic would feed back. If Syn wanted his mic up, The Revs kick drum would go up in every ones in-ears. This went on for 45 min (we were 15 min. late to hit the stage) as they tried to fix the problem with our crew trying to help them the whole time. Since it's a radio show they told us we had to go on stage. So we went out only to find that not only were the in-ears mis patched but the whole front of house was as well. How can you take 32 tracks and mix them when you have no clue what track is what? You can't. I was furious about the fact that we couldn't hear a Goddamn thing in the in-ears, but when I took them out, I heard that front of house was even worse off then us. We played for about 45 seconds through nothing but feedback and no tonality whatsoever. It was embarrassing, and it was embarrassing for Avenged fans having to hear that shit. So I flipped out and was not going to stand there through that for 40 min. There was no fixing the problem unless everything was re patched, which is about a 35 min job.
Again, its a radio show, they would not let us re patch for 35 min. and then start again. So we left. The reason that all the other bands sounded fine was because after we played they obviously had to go fix the problem. Even though Stone Sour and Breaking Benjamin still had patching problems, it wasn't every channel.
And to the kids that keep saying we are trying to be like GnR... get over yourselves, quit trying to take a band that influences us and comparing everything we do with them. If we told you the Sex Pistols were an influences half of you would say Johnny Christ is trying to be like Sid vicious and we stormed off stage because we want to have and attitude like Johnny Rotten. Try not to be a guinea pig and think for yourself. The fact of the matter is everyone has bad days, and this was a bad day for Avenged Sevenfold. We are sorry to the kids that didn't get to see us play, but I don't regret our actions. I was not going to put us, or our fans through 40 min. of the worst Avenged show in the history of shows. We did not go out and explain ourselves or apologize that day because the venue wanted us escorted off the property right after the show. So that's basically what happened in a nutshell, and as I'm writing this I'm still upset about Saturday. But whatever, time to write a new record and put this behind us.

P.S. To people talking about sound problems on Ozzfest. I think we found a solution. I always knew it sounded great if you listened from the sound board. Ted is an amazing sound guy and has been the subject of some of the biggest mixing magazines. That and we also have him tape every show on video from his position and it sounds great. One night he was mixing The Confession for me and I was listening from and angle. Not straight on but to the left a little and all I could hear was drums and bass, kinda like some of the complaints we've gotten. So I talked to him about it yesterday and I found out he's been mixing in Stereo. Which means Zackys guitar is in one speaker on his side of the stage and Syns is in the other. It's basically how the CD is mixed and it sounds great if you are standing in the middle of the arena. But if you are on the side, you are getting full power from all the other instruments, but only 1 guitar, which means the guitar is getting buried. So from now on I asked him to mix the bigger venues in MONO so that people off to the side get both guitars and not one or the other. Should fix the problem.

from avengedsevenfold.com/forums

Avenged Sevenfold Seek Rat-Infested Garage To Record Next LP (RS and MTV)

atalush — 2006-10-04T13:48:19Z

* AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. SHADOWS has spoken out about the band's recent fall tour cancellation, telling MTV, "I think that once you're not feeling it live anymore, that's how you get yourself in trouble as a band. People start arguing with each other, and it's not cool." The operatic metalheads are using their time off to work on a new album with several producers. "It's cool to mix it up a little bit," explained Shadows. "Like how Korn used [AVRIL LAVIGNE producers] THE MATRIX on a bunch of songs -- they had a whole revival. We're just keeping our options open." Among those options? Writing in the rat-infested garage where the group worked on their first three records for a "gritty feel ... not some polished crap just 'cause we've got a couple songs on the radio now."

-RS

Avenged Sevenfold Seek Rat-Infested Garage To Record Next LP
10.04.2006 6:00 AM EDT

'It's not [going to be] some polished crap just 'cause we've got a couple songs on the radio,' says M. Shadows.
Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

DEVORE, California — As M. Shadows sees it, Avenged Sevenfold had no choice but to cancel their fall tours of the U.S. and the U.K.

"I think that once you're not feeling it live anymore, that's how you get yourself in trouble as a band," the singer said of the recently canceled outings with Bleeding Through. "People start arguing with each other, and it's not cool."

There's no friction within Avenged now, but the band figured, why risk it?

"I don't think being in the spotlight too long is healthy," Shadows explained backstage at KROQ's recent Inland Invasion (see "Guns N' Roses Take On Aguilera, Chester Bennington Joins Alice In Chains At Inland Invasion"). "We've been touring on this record for 16 months now, and we're like, 'Enough's enough.' We were kind of going through the motions for a while, playing the same songs, so we were like, 'We need to write some new stuff.' "

The band's already been writing some material (see "Avenged Sevenfold Don't Expect A Moonman, Set Sights On New LP"), and Shadows is promising something "completely different."

"The last thing we're going to do is write City of Evil part 2 or Waking the Fallen part 2," Shadows said. "It's not going to be a thrash record or old-school or anything like that. I know it's going to be a sound that no one's heard — kind of like when Korn came out, they were the first ones to start that whole scene and they sounded different than everybody. We want to do that for our own generation."

Shadows referred to Korn again when explaining Avenged Sevenfold's plan to work with a variety of producers on the project.

"We've met a lot of new friends this year, and hopefully we'll get a lot of different people to work with us and do something really different," he said. "From Lil Jon to Paul Wall to All-American Rejects. I just sang on the Good Charlotte record. Those guys are good producers. All these different people, they know what they're doing and can work with different kinds of music. It's cool to mix it up a little bit. Like how Korn used the Matrix on a bunch of songs — they had a whole revival. And I don't think we need a revival or anything, we're just keeping our options open."

First things first, though, as Avenged Sevenfold plan to convene in one of their garages to finish writing.

"Our first three records were written in a garage with rats running around, just with a Pro Tools [recording] setup," Shadows said. "And that's how we're going to write this record. If we upgrade, we'll have a drum set miked in there and we'll actually jam a little bit live."

The band may never even make it to an actual studio.

"It's just going to be gritty," Shadows said. "We want it to be a cool record, not some polished crap just 'cause we've got a couple songs on the radio now. No one needs it to be like that. We're going to do the exact opposite."

— Corey Moss

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1542300/20061003/avenged_sevenfold.jhtml?headlines=true

Things you won't learn in school by Bill Gates

atalush — 2006-08-19T10:52:44Z

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Billboard interviews Cobra Starship/Gabe Saporta

atalush — 2006-08-15T09:51:57Z

'Snakes' Theme Boosts Profile Of Burgeoning Band

Katy Kroll

8-10-06

"I have had it with these motherf*ckin' snakes on this motherf*ckin' plane!" may be the most memorable movie quote of the summer.

In fact, "Snakes on a Plane" has already reached cult status, and it hasn't even been released yet. And the band Cobra Starship is adding to the hype with the theme song, "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," which last week debuted at No. 38 on the Alternative/Modern Rock chart.

The band is the brainchild of former Midtown singer Gabe Saporta, and the single features William Beckett of the Academy Is..., Maja Ivarsson of the Sounds and Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes.

Saporta tells Billboard.com that "this recording is -- I hate the term 'solo project,' which is why I came up with the name Cobra Starship -- but this is definitely a representation of my influences and the kind of songs that I wanted to make. I have a band that I'm going to be playing with live, though."

Cobra Starship's full-length Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen album, "While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets," is scheduled for release Oct. 10.

The band came together under unusual circumstances. "Last year, I did a spoof of [Gwen Stefani's] 'Hollaback Girl,' and I was already using that name [Cobra Starship]. Then the 'Snakes on the Plane' movie came around, and it was like, 'Wow, this is fate,'" Saporta says. "The weirder thing is I had the song already -- including lyrics like 'Cheap champagne / we're going down in flames' -- before I even knew about the movie. So I just changed the vibe of the song and used 'Snakes on a Plane' as a metaphor for what the song was already about. It was meant to be."

The infectious track may surprise some Midtown fans, though, because it leans heavily towards pop. "When I first started, I was very elitist about who I wanted to listen to my music. But then I realized that's bullsh*t. I just want to make music for everybody," he says. "The attitude of Cobra Starship is to have fun. I'm not concerned with punk rock credibility. Right now I just want to have fun and make party music, but the album will also have real songs that aren't campy."

That said, Saporta promises one song on the album features 1980s freestyle group the Cover Girls. "It almost sounds like Miami Sound Machine," he says. "Their voices -- they are all Spanish girls from the Bronx -- just add exactly the right dynamic."

But despite that fun-loving spirit, Saporta isn't just riding the coattails of a possible summer blockbuster with Cobra Starship. There's definitely more to come, and soon. The band is hitting the road next month, and Saporta expects to "put out another record in like nine months."

My favorite poem

atalush — 2006-08-10T15:29:33Z

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand
and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
and company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren't contracts and
presents aren't promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow's ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting
for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn
that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye you learn.

Veronica A. Shoffstall

Hawthorne Heights vs. Victory and Tony Brummel

atalush — 2006-08-08T11:06:15Z

Hawthorne Heights Sues Victory, Brummel

August 07, 2006, 6:45 PM ET

Susan Butler, N.Y.

Hawthorne Heights has filed a lawsuit against its record label, Victory Records, and label head Tony Brummel today (Aug. 7). The band claims that Brummel's "overly-aggressive, unethical and illegal schemes and tactics," including physically threatening music industry figures and scheming against other artists, have severely damaged the band's reputation and its relationship with fans.

In February, Hawthorne Heights and Ne-Yo were vying for the top of The Billboard 200. On Feb. 28, an email from someone at Victory appeared to urge its street promotions team to tamper with Ne-Yo's sales potential. "If you were to pick up [a] handful of Ne-Yo CDs, as if you were about to buy them, but then changed your mind and didn't bother to put them back in the same place," the message read, "That would work ... just relocating a handful creates issues."

Within hours of the email's appearance on an industry message board on March 1, a second email appeared calling the first message "a joke." The Hawthorne Heights record, "If Only You Were Lonely," wound up debuting at No. 3 on sales of 114,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while Ne-Yo's "In My Own Words" bowed at No. 1 on sales of 301,000 units.

Band members Eron Bucciarelli-Tieger, Casey Calvert, Micah Carli, Matt Ridenour and JT Woodruff claim that Brummel then signed the band's name without their knowledge or approval to a so-called manifesto, which falsely stated that the band believed it was in some type of war with artists in the hip-hop and R&B music genres, leading many to brand the band as racist.

In the suit, the band also charges Victory and Brummel with "egregiously fraudulent accounting practices." Despite sales of nearly 1.5 million units of the band's recordings and videos, Victory and Brummel claim that the band owes the label in excess of $1 million, the suit says, even though Victory has received in excess of $10 million in revenues from their sale of Hawthorne Heights' CDs, DVDs and merchandise.

he suit, filed in the federal District Court in Chicago, follows the band's posting of its own "manifesto" on its Web site, in which it describes the way it claims Brummel has treated them.

Hawthorne Heights wants the court to stop Victory from distributing its recordings, to order that the recording agreement be rescinded and to order the company and Brummel to pay unspecified monetary damages.

The complaint alleges a slew of claims, including copyright and trademark infringement, invasion of privacy for placing the band in a "false light," fraud and interference with business relations.

In a statement, Victory Records said, "The lawsuit filed by Hawthorne Heights has no merit whatsoever. Victory Records fully expects Hawthorne Heights to honor their commitment to deliver two additional studio albums to Victory pursuant to their recording artist agreement with Victory."

------------------------and the letter from the band--------------------------------------

Due to recent events we have decided to leave Victory Records. Our departure is anything but amicable. We have decided to leave Victory, in part due to the actions of the man who sits at the head of the label, Tony Brummel. Tony Brummel is a man that cares more about his ego and bank account than the bands themselves.

Many of you are familiar with the greed driven letters sent out by Mr. Brummel: his manifesto calling rock supporters to arms and virtual declaration of war on hip-hop and Ne-Yo done under the guise of a band message; as well as the street-team letter which instructed people to re-arrange our CDs, putting them in higher visibility areas in stores. Unfortunately, the head of street-team, Abby Valentine, who understandably resigned following the incident, took the fall for this. At the time of the letters we were branded as racists by some, all over a letter we did NOT write, targeting a genre which we have NOTHING against whatsoever. Because of these letters, our second album debuted at ..3 on the charts, an incredible feat, which would normally be cause for joy, but now is tainted much like Barry Bonds statistics.

When questioned about the letters Tony was more upset that we had told the press that he actually wrote the letters (not us) because he was more worried about rumors surrounding Taking Back Sunday and Thursdays exoduses being justified than the credibility and reputation of his current biggest band.

Couple these letters with him threatening the head program director at Q101 in Chicago for putting the new Taking Back Sunday song into rotation to the point in which the program director pulls Saying Sorry from rotation and you can see why we would more than question whether or not the head of our label cares about us or his own ego more.

Tony is a man whose greed knows no bounds. After selling more than 1.2 million copies of The Silence In Black and White and If Only You Were Lonely, we have never seen a single dollar in artist royalties from Victory Records. Tony will claim that we have not recouped, a term used by those in the music business which means the label has spent more money in advertising than has been made by CD sales. In fact questionable accounting practices are the culprit and we are in fact owed substantial amounts of money much like audits from Taking Back Sunday, Thursday and Atreyu have uncovered.

You may be wondering, why now? Why did they wait three years before saying something? Why did they sound happy in that interview??? Like being in an abusive relationship, we let certain things slide as we were afraid, as many of the bands on Victory are, to stick our neck out for fear of being beaten, in this case represented by the threat of not being promoted as has been the case with certain bands on the roster. Were done being abused. The reasons stated above represent the final straw in a huge pile of hay that broke our backs.

Undoubtedly Tony will proclaim that we are ungrateful and our success was due solely to his promotional efforts. In reality, promotion is only a portion of the equation in a bands success. Even then, in our case especially, promotional efforts can be attributed to the hard work of the band and staff at Victory, many of whom recently resigned or were fired due to differences with Tony. Non-stop touring, dedicated fans and songs (we challenge Tony to sell over 1 million blank CDs) account for the rest of the equation.

Weve accomplished more in three years than most bands do in a lifetime and for that we are extremely grateful and consider ourselves very fortunate. Our situation with Tony Brummel is indicative of issues that all bands on Victory Records encounter on some level or another.

We have decided to remove ourselves from the negative situation so that we can continue to do what we love best and focus on writing and playing music to people that care about what we have created.

Hawthorne Heights

--------------------------

I'm not a fan, but GO HH!

My Chemical Romance Injured (In Car Crash or on a video shoot...?)

atalush — 2006-08-08T09:48:00Z

From gigwise.com, if any of you were wondering why they had to cancel the show in San Diego this past weekend....

My Chemical Romance were forced to cancel their appearance at this weekend’s Street Scene festival after being involved in a car crash.

According to AOL music the band travelled to San Diego to play the show but pulled out at the last minute because their injuries were too painful.

The crash apparently took place last Thursday and drummer Bob Bryar is said to be the most seriously injured having possibly received third degree burns.

Front man Gerard Way also suffered a broken ankle in the crash.

It is not known as of yet if the injuries will affect MCR's future gig commitments

AND FROM ROLLING STONE:

As reported on RollingStone.com's Rock Daily blog yesterday, MY
CHEMICAL ROMANCE apparently cancelled their appearance at the San
Diego Street Scene Festival this past weekend due to a video shoot
gone haywire. Another band that performed at Street Scene told us that
drummer BOB BRYAR suffered burns from wayward pyrotechnics and singer
GERARD WAY broke his ankle. A spokesman for the band confirmed the
injuries but insisted, "I don't think it's as serious as people have
been saying." 


who knows... someone ask G

My Chemical Romance Gets Busy On New Album

atalush — 2006-08-02T09:33:00Z

August 01, 2006, 11:55 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Rock act My Chemical Romance is finishing up work on its next, as-yet-untitled album, due Oct. 24 via Reprise. The set is being recorded at Eldorado Studio in Los Angeles with veteran producer Rob Cavallo. Tracks were conceptualized in a portable studio on the band's tour bus over the past year.

"We all have records that shaped our childhood and teen years," says bassist Mikey Way. "When you hear a song, it shoots you back to a moment in time. We want this album to do that for people. We want the entire world to be moved."

The upcoming album is the follow-up to My Chemical Romance's 2004 breakthrough, "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge," which has sold more than 1.4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The group is expected to roadtest some new material at a handful of shows in the coming weeks, beginning Saturday (Aug. 5) at San Diego's Street Scene festival. My Chemical Romance will also play Japan's Summer Sonic festival, the U.K.'s Reading and Leeds festivals and two dates in Pennsylvania and New York in early September with Taking Back Sunday.

And another little tidbit....

My Chemical Romance has recently been working on their third album, which was thought to be titled The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance but in a recent interview with Kerrang! magazine Gerard Way denied this was the title of the next album, stating "It was never the title of the album, more a spoof, or joke." The album, whose title has yet to be announced, is scheduled for release on October 24th, 2006. The band started recording the album on April 10, 2006 with Rob Cavallo, who has produced every Green Day album since Dookie except Warning:.

The new single for the upcoming CD has been said to be called "The Black Parade" and is to be directed by Sam Bayer, the same director who did Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" and all of Green Day's American Idiot videos.

Soooo CLASSIC! (I love Spinal Tap)

atalush — 2006-08-01T16:03:43Z

I guess the Stonehedge scene was based on a true event:

DRUIDIC DISASTER

Black Sabbath

Floundering in the ’80s with a new singer and a sagging fanbase, the members of Black Sabbath decided that something monumental needed to be done for their 1983–’84 Born Again tour. Their idea? A gigantic onstage recreation of Stonehenge, the ring of colossal standing stones built in the English countryside by prehistoric druids. As any fan of Spinal Tap might guess, the stage set turned out to be an epic disaster. Unsurprisingly, no one involved can quite agree how it happened …

Geezer Butler (bassist, Black Sabbath): At the time it was essential to have a big stage set, the more complicated the better. Audiences expected it. As far as Stonehenge went, I always thought it was corny, but not having any input one way or another, I just went along with it.

Ian Gillan (singer, Black Sabbath): We had a meeting with LSD: Light and Sound Design. The guy said, “Has anyone got any ideas for the production?” Geezer suggested Stonehenge. The bloke said, “That’s a great idea, how do you visualize it?” Geezer said, “Life size, of course,” so they went and built it as big as they could — up to the lights in most places. I realized immediately we were going to have problems getting it to the venues.

Butler: It was our manager’s idea. He gave the task of measuring the stage set to our tour manager, who measured it in feet. The company that built the stage, however, assumed it was in meters, so everything came out almost three times bigger. When it came to do a stage rehearsal, we found we could only accommodate part of the set. All the large Stonehenge pieces had to be scrapped, costing us a small fortune.

Gillan: It was definitely Geezer’s idea.

Ross Halfin (photographer): I went to their rehearsal to do a shot for the tour book. They had this plywood Stonehenge that reached to the ceiling — it was ridiculous, like a building. The drum riser was about 20 feet high, with all these lights built into it like a spaceship. I think they had to scrap that, too.

Brian Tatler (guitarist, Diamond Head, support act): It looked a little bit heavy metal and a bit clichéd, I suppose. What can I say? They were Sabbath.

Gillan: Nobody considered the fact that a life-size Stonehenge was just plain silly because you couldn’t get it all up. We only had three of the stones onstage, and there was a dwarf who’d come onstage miming to the sound of a baby screaming. He’d crawl across the stones and when he got behind the drum kit, he’d fall off onto a pile of mattresses. The screaming would cross-fade to the tolling of bells, and then roadies dressed in druid outfits would walk out onto the stage. They were pretty convincing actually, apart from the Reeboks. Then the show was supposed to start. We didn’t like the idea of the dwarf much, so the night the first show started, he came out, fell off the back and the screaming didn’t stop, because someone — who shall remain nameless — had moved the mattresses out of the way.

Butler: It gave me a good laugh when Spinal Tap used their mini Stonehenge, even though they said it was a coincidence.

Gillan: When I was in Vermont working with Deep Purple, we used to go to the pub and this bloke came up on weekends from New York. It turned out he had a friend who was working on a movie called Spinal Tap, and I told them all these stories. It has to be what inspired it.

HAHAHAHAHA

This story is pretty funny too:

STUCK IN A LEMON (YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF)
U2
At the climax of the shows on their Popmart tour, U2 planned to encore from an enormous 40-foot-high lemon. But on the opening night of the tour, in Las Vegas on April 25, 1997, unexpectedly calm weather conditions failed to disperse the vast clouds of smoke that accompanied the entry of the giant fruit. The Edge, unable to see the foot-pedal to activate his guitar, had to crouch down and fumble around for it on the floor. “This voice came into my head,” he later said. “I’m Derek Smalls.” The lemon failed to open altogether later that summer in Oslo. “We pissed ourselves,” recalled The Edge. “It did open about a foot,” said manager Paul McGuinness. Eventually, the band climbed out the back and made their way to their positions by more conventional means.

Oh man, I love that movie and these stories so much...