Metal Hammer Awards

Yes, they took place at the O2 Indigo on Monday and I am stillll recovering. Proof I am old or just proof that no normal human can cope with drinking Jager shots under the same roof as Iron Maiden and half of the Roadrunner roster?

I have a hazy memory of talking about pizzas with Anthrax's Scott Ian, getting rewarded with a hug from Phil from Machine Head for ordering him a JD(on another artist's tab) and brushing past Hatebreed's Jamie Jasta no less than four times and silently drooling. The man may be cute and pretty sweet-natured but I still worship the ground his band walks on, and even after DJing with him I cannot bring myself to ever have a conversation with him. So kill me, he was my one fail of the night.

Hey ho. The live shows were good (Malefice and Devildriver did slick shows making up for Trivium's slightly muddy set) but half as amusing as the chaos back-stage as bands were shunted about to be pushed on stage to accept the awards. I remember seeing girlfriends kept apart from groupies and seeing Bam Magara's mate being carried out with his trousers around his ankles and arse on show. Oh, and believe one chaperone has bite marks to show from minding Steel Panther - hee hee.

Looking back on it now I am finally sober again, I reckon trying not to spill mojitos at Steel Panther's mini-gig at the Regent St Embassy aftershow and being asked for my address by the late Dimebag's girlfriend Rita so she could send me a selection of sequin-stamped hold ups (???) are always good things to tick off on a Monday night. Pity I felt the need to stay on until 5am to drink beer, argue about the state of black metal and hardcore today and watch the on-bar strip show...

Bring on next year, baby ;-)