Judas Priest with Skinlab
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Judas Priest with Skinlab
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Cyn (8/21/02, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA ):
Judas Priest
Photos by CynI LOVE this town!
First of all, everyone should see a concert at the famous Fillmore in San Francisco at least once just to say they've been. It is a phenomenal place, replete with crystal chandeliers, velvety curtains, hardwood floors, and lush carpeting, not to mention a killer sound system and a decent bar. It reminds me of Irving Plaza in NYC, but it's bigger and has the added bonus of thousands of famous rock and roll photographs on the walls. The upstairs area is covered wall to wall with famous posters for every concert that ever took place at the Fillmore. Wow! And because of its intimate size, there is not a bad "seat" in the house - anywhere you stand is fine. My friend Sara and I staked our claim on a stoop separating the bar from the main room, the closest we could get to the stage/photo pit without being squished by the die-hard fans. It was perfect. Now, I had no idea who the opening band for Judas Priest was going to be, or even if there was one at all. All I knew was that I had a photo pass, and I made every effort to get inside on time. So we chilled out with a few beers and observed the mullets, spandex, and hairspray that were out in full effect.
SkinlabAt around 9:15, the lights finally dimmed, and I heard a voice asking the audience to give a special hand to Skinlab, who, according to their lead singer Steev Esquivel, had gotten a phone call late the night before asking if they would open for Priest at the last minute because their originally scheduled band bailed out or something… I never did get a clear idea how that worked. Anyway, upon hearing and seeing that it was indeed Skinlab, I hopped to my feet and scrambled into the photo pit to snap a few quick pix for the record. What pissed me off is not that Skinlab, a band I like very much, opened for Priest, but all those stingy Priest fans out there who had no idea what to make of this very underground, very un-power metal, and very un-Judas Priest sounding band. They didn't boo in so many words, but most didn't give a rat's ass either, and that disappointed me. But knowing what I know about metal, I was not surprised and they were psyched to be playing the gig at all. So, what the hell, right? I think I turned Sara into a fan though, which is cool…
Judas PriestAfter a brief set change, Judas Priest hit the stage with the same fervor and received the same admiration from the fans as I always remembered, particularly, from whence I saw them most recently - earlier this year and on a very different leg of the tour for Demolition altogether. What was funny, was Sara and I trying to remember if and when we saw Priest before Halford left the band, and was it for Painkiller? We knew it was high school for sure, but as for the rest… Our brains were not functioning well on the memory scale that night. Nonetheless, I had fun taking pictures, and I had fun listening to the band storm through all their tunes, some new, most old, including "Devil's Child", "Electric Eye", "Metal Gods", "Turbo Lover", "Heads Are Gonna Roll", and the usual favorites. All in all, a good show. But here's the fun part, and the "go figure"/"Murphy's Law" aspect of our night. Some guy came around almost towards the end of the show and asked Sara and I if we wanted to meet the band. Hells Yeah! So, he hands us two passes for the "After Show" party…whatever that meant. I had just shot my last roll of film! Shit!
SkinlabAfter the concert ended, while the crowd filtered out, we headed upstairs to the VIP area and waited…not really knowing what the deal was. There were about 40 other folks hanging around as well, all with the very same after show tags we had on, but a few had VIP passes on, and a few I recognized as members of other bands, etc… I felt like a groupie in a way, even though I had my ski-tag collection of press passes on, but this was kinda cool. After a few minutes, Scott (drummer) comes out and after schmoozing a bit, introduces himself to us, asks if we wanted drinks, and escorts us through the crowd, into the back lounge, where Sara and I spent the next three hours, along with all five members of the band, as well as a couple of other fans/friends/chicks whatever you want to call them. Ian and Sara strike up a conversation about something. Sara is, by far, a more die-hard and intelligent Priest fan than I, and held her own better in conversation with the band about metal than I even could. Unconventional groupies, you might say.
Judas PriestAlas, I end up rambling on a bit about my photography to explain the collection of passes around my neck and heavy bag slung over my shoulder. Then I end up chatting with Ace, the (new?) drummer for Skinlab, and 2 members of Machine Head who had also come to meet the band. A clusterfuck of celebrity all in one room and I HAD NO MORE FILM!!! Dammit! So you will all just have to take my word for it that it really happened… After chatting with Ripper about movies, Ian sharing a few dirty jokes with us, KK (who now likes to be referred to as Ken) and Glenn talking shop with us about guitars, and Scott being a perfect gentleman, it is now 2:30am and the band decide to head back out to their hotel with my best friend in tow, and I head back to my "hopefully not locked in a parking garage" car, and ultimately home. As for what happened to my darling friend Sara? Let's put it this way, she showed up at my doorstep at 8:45am the next morning. My guess is that if I, or any of my friends every want to see, meet, get free shit from Judas Priest, don't thank me, thank Sara who is undoubtedly one of the coolest (and un-groupie like) rock and roll women I have ever known for 14 years…and counting. Respect, Sister! Go Figure!
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