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 ;-)

Iron Maiden and Ben&Jerry's Free Cone Day!

But ice cream's not very metal, you shout!!! Well, that's where you are wrong.
Machine Head gigs, Terror pits and SOIA walls of death are all orgasmic experiences right?
And Cookie Dough cones, Phish Food bowls and Fossil Fuel scopes are all orgasmic experiences right?
See?!!!
PLUS...any ice cream brand that chucks helpless chocolate dinosaurs in its tubs has got to have (a) a sense of humour and (b) a small streak of sadism, I reckon...so I am figuring I have here conclusive evidence that this twisted post is totally justified. S'there!!
Right, now on to the details:
Tomorrow is not only Iron Maiden Day (see 666 premier post below) but it is also Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. All over the UK, in fact. So, get yourself one of those vague out-of-office 'synergy' meetings scheduled anytime from 1-5pm and have a scout just HERE for flavours and generous stores in your area (avoid spots bosses can see from the window!) and get worshiping. After all, indulgence is up there with bathing in Jager, begging Satan to strike down exes and gambling away your best mate's wife as far as the seven deadlys are concerned - all to be encouraged in the name of Maiden, surely?

Iron Maiden:Flight 666

A couple of years ago I was on a cheap'n'cheery package snowboarding holiday with some mates when we walked into the designated boarding gate to discover this (above) was the plane we were about to fly to Switzerland in.
HELL YEH.
To this day we don't know if Bruce was flying it (probably best considering the band's mad partying and touring antics) but it still made for one of the most metal holidays in history.
Now it seems the band is releasing a rock documentary inspired by their beloved plane and all it stands for. It was shot around the time of their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in early 2008 and is said to be 'a revealing portrait of one of the world’s most successful rock bands and an inspirational and often humorous account of the chaotic world of a band on tour around the stadiums of the world'.
It's already won the “24 BEATS PER SECOND” award for best music documentary at the SXSW Film & Music Festival (Texas) and will premiering in London on the 20th April. Happy days.

Check Metal Hammers interviews on it HERE and buy tickets to see the film at www.ironmaiden.com/flight666