Writing about the Lost in Manhattan (Kansas) piece yesterday got me to thinking about what else happened in some of my other Metal Night adventures. What would be a better night to talk about than the first such time that I have had Metal Night, or as today's piece will indicate, Metal Weekend.
It was October 2007 on that first Thursday morning when I made my way to the airport for what would be my first trip without family. That morning, I was to head to Atlanta, GA for ProgPower VIII, with a stop in Denver. They always say waiting is the hardest part, and the two hours that I had to wait until the plane left were the longest. Since this was the first time that I was going to be away from family, naturally, my family had their share of worries about me. I got into Atlanta about 2 PM their time, and as per the agreement for when I got in, I had to phone them to say I made it in one piece. Atlanta's airport is one really long walk from where you get off the plane to where you had to pick up your baggage. The trains that they had going between terminals are only marginal help, as many take it, which makes the time between two spots rather pointless. At some point, I phone a friend of mine who was already at the hotel where I would be staying that I made it in, and had to call when I got there. That would take a while, as the shuttle I got on made a detour to Cobb County to drop off a couple of folks before heading to the hotel where I would be staying. I got there, and there wasn't much time to relax, so I changed shirts and me and the two people I was staying with all headed out to the venue, which by the way, would be the only time that we would have to take a cab to the venue, as I will explain later. When we got to the venue, we find out that Vanden Plas, a band that was supposed to play that evening, had to drop off the bill due to visa issues. So, to kill time, we headed to the nearest bar and grill for food and beer. Incidentally, that would be the cheapest that I would have to pay for a beer that weekend.
Opening the evening's show was a local band called Halcyon Way, who I only remember because they had a belly dancer on stage with them for the first and last song of their set. Next on stage was Krucible, which was one of the bands fronted by Nightmare Records owner Lance King. They were alright to the point where I even bought a shirt. It was before Cellador hit the stage that we, the people that were there already, met up with the couple from Las Vegas, NV. They had gotten in later than us, and adding to their lateness was the pickup of a rental vehicle. And given that Atlanta was a money drain, that kind of thing was greatly appreciated. Back to the show itself, the Living For Metal Weekend was in full force, as four of the five in the group were a part of the webzine in its heyday. Cellador hit the stage, and for all of the flack that they get for their age, they did put on a great show that evening. Closing the evening was Freak Kitchen, a weird progressive metal band from Sweden. Read that last part for a second, and tell me if that sounded redundant because the words "weird" and "Sweden" are almost synonymous with one another. The band put on a show that many enjoyed. We got back to the hotel about 12:30 AM, since there wasn't any parties going on at the nearest hotel from the venue, but not before some goofy pictures took place in the SUV. If I find them, I will have them up somewhere.
Friday and Saturday will have to wait for another day.
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