I've entered myself into the domain of public scrutiny in an attempt to become the next presenter of the .
In order to win £1000, a video camera and VIP access at the festival, I need my faithful friends and readers (all 2 of you) to head to and like the video for "Will, 21 from Lancashire" (posted on 30th April 2010 at about 10am).
I'm quite happy with my video. Don't quite know what happened with the layout of my 5 Download Festival photos (it's supposed to be balanced/symmetrical) and my head seems to be stuck leaning towards my shoulder - but otherwise I hope I come across as knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
So yeah, a final drill home:
Head here:
Click like on "Will, 21 from Lancashire".
1. Porcupine Tree
I'm currently Spotifying the bejesus out of Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" and endeavour to purchase this masterpiece when my bank account becomes a little greener (or slightly less red...). I've been aware of Porcupine Tree for some time, reading nothing but positive things about their live performances, but I never seemed to "get" their music. Looking for some decent music to work to, I decided to try them out again - and this time something just clicked. The reason I feel I have gotten into this band too late is that I've seen their tour dates pass me by on more than one occasion and I now regret it. Luckily they're still an active band so there's plenty of opportunity to rectify my mistake.
2. Pantera
I was relatively early with Pantera (when put into context). I bought "Cowboys From Hell" when I was about 13 or 14 - which sat awkwardly amongst my Nu Metal CDs. Unfortunately this was still after the band had ceased to be. If I'd been just a year earlier, I still wouldn't have been able to see them live (which of course would be the ideal scenario), but I'd have had a ticket to see them live - which would at least give me a little more "fan" points. Looking back at older Kerrang magazines that I subscribed to for my weekly fix of Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park news, I discovered a small advertisement [] for an event named "Tattoo The Planet" featuring Slayer and Pantera. This was the famed Pantera tour that was cancelled due to the horrific events on the 11th September 2001 in New York which signalled the end of the band. A slightly less pathetic justification of my disappointment that I didn't properly discover Pantera earlier was the fact that the album I bought after "Cowboys" was "The Great Southern Trendkill" - which at the time was far too heavy for my tender little ears. This stunted my Pantera growth until I saw Damageplan at Download 2004 and I was helpfully pointed back in the right direction.
3. Crowbar
Crowbar are one of the bands that after hearing, quickly became one of my favourite bands. After I bought the "Equilibrium/Odd Fellows Rest" double album, I had to go out and buy the rest of the catalogue. It's looking increasingly like they'll be returning to our little island soon (they're supporting Sepultura in other European countries) - but I could have already seen them! In 2005, Crowbar supported Hatebreed on their UK tour and they toured on their own around this time too - even worse is one of my friends was dragged to one of the Crowbar gigs by her boyfriend at the time. Had I just been 2 years earlier, I'd have seen Crowbar touring their "Lifesblood For The Downtrodden" album, a personal favourite of mine. Ah well, at least they're active again!
4. Weedeater
I was actually invited to see Weedeater and declined. It was closely after a heavy weekend (possibly a Damnation Festival) and a couple of my friends were going and thought I'd enjoy it, but I was all gigged out. A few months later I checked them out and couldn't stop playing the "God Luck and Good Speed" record and instantly regretted my feeble laziness.
5. Corrosion of Conformity
A friend of mine introduced me to Corrosion of Conformity a long time ago. I paid little attention and I've lived to regret it. A decent sized group of my friends went to see C.O.C. around the same time that Crowbar toured and I blissfully ignored the occurrence. I can't remember what caused me to check them out again, but it wasn't long after the gig and they're now my 11th most played band (according to Last.fm) and my 4th most played band this year.
6. Gallows
I've missed so many opportunities to see Gallows it's ridiculous. I've been at more than one festival that they've played and I've been aware of them playing in either Leeds or Manchester on more than one occasion. Their recent Sheffield gig came at the wrong time for me (the night before a deadline) so I have yet to see them live. "Grey Britain" was introduced to me via my weekly intake of the Metal Hammer podcast, and it really is as good as host, Terry Bezer keeps saying. I'd been asked a few times before if I liked Gallows, but by people I thought had dreadful tastes in music - which always put me off checking them out. I'd heard "Belly of a Shark" and thought it was OK, but nothing that would compel me to buy an album. However after Spotifying "Grey Britain" my opinion changed drastically. I bought the record and it's now a walking/driving iPod staple.
7. Witchcraft
I've seen Witchcraft. They were excellent. The problem was that I didn't know any songs. A friend of mine encouraged me to accompany them to the gig (he needed somewhere to crash in Leeds...), so I went along and was thoroughly impressed. Cut to 2 years later - they're my 14th most listened to band and "Firewood" is one of my favourite bodies of work I own. Had I listened to recommendations earlier I'd have been so much more into the gig and it would have meant so much more! Here's hoping they return to our shores soon.
8. Gorerotted
I never used to get along with extreme metal. It was fine. We lived our separate lives, I was fine without it and it was fine without me. Whilst my friends were attending gigs by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Gorerotted I sat at home listening to my thrash and classic rock records. It wasn't until I heard my mate Sam's band, that I got bitten by the extreme metal bug. I'm not "Mr Death Metal" by any stretch of the imagination, but if I'm ever looking for some aggressive music, nothing soothes my itch like sticking Gorerotted's "Only Tools and Corpses" on. Unfortunately, I was too late to the party to see them live. On the other hand I'm rather a fan of Gorerotted's spin off, The Rotted and have seen them on more than one occasion - so all is not lost.
9. Megadeth
They're my favourite band and I got into them 17 years into their career. If I'd been into Megadeth just a little earlier, I might have seen the Dave Mustaine, Al Pitrelli, Jimmy DeGrasso and David Ellefson lineup and performances of songs like "Return to Hangar" and "Burning Bridges". I'm not too gutted at this one though, as I've more than made up for any moments I may have missed by seeing the band 10 times thus far, meeting them 3 times and even going to the studio to hear tracks from "United Abominations" 5 months before you. Did I mention I'm a bit of a fan?
10. Type O Negative
Similar to Witchcraft, I've seen Type O Negative live. I loved them at the time, and I even paid a greedy ticket tout £50 for the privilege to get inside the Manchester Academy 2 to witness their performance. I discovered Type O when their cheap Roadrunner produced best of was released. I'd always heard good things, but not from anyone that would force me to check them out. This was one of my prouder impulse buys. So why was I too late? I saw Type O on the "Dead Again" tour when, at the time, I only owned the "Best of Type O Negative". Since attending the gig, I've purchased the entire back catalogue and "Dead Again" is my favourite. The disappointment comes when I think back, I can recall faint memories of some of the riffs from "Dead Again" being played live, but I couldn't appreciate them fully. Had I been more prepared, the gig would have been even better.
As a Megadeth fan, I've had to become accustomed to change. Through my teens up to now, I've seen one lineup of Megadeth split up ("The World Needs a Hero" lineup of Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson, Jimmy Degrasso and Al Pitrelli), another record an album ("The System Has Failed" lineup of session musicians Jimmy Sloas, Vinnie Colaiuta and guest soloist Chris Poland - with Dave Mustaine of course), another tour ("Blackmail the Universe" tour lineup of Dave Mustaine, James MacDonough, Glen Drover and Shawn Drover - with a brief tease of a Nick Menza return before that), a bassist change before recording another album (James MacDonough replaced by James Lomenzo just before recording "United Abominations"), a guitarist change (Glen Drover departing to be replaced by Chris Broderick before going on to record "Endgame") and now another bassist change, which sees 1983-2002 Megadeth bassist and co-founder David Ellefson return to the fold following the departure of James Lomenzo. That's quite a bit of change, and I'm too young to have experienced 15 years of the band's career!
So, as I said earlier, as a Megadeth fan, I've had to familiarise myself with change. My problem is I get comfortable. I liked James MacDonough and mourned his departure when James Lomenzo stepped in, only to realise that the change was for the better. I loved Glen Drover and was extremely gutted when he and his smooth tone departed, but Chris Broderick more than stepped up to the job. With James Lomenzo's departure, I'm feeling the same kind of mourning... but the change is so much more significant!
I credit James Lomenzo with bringing a lot of energy back to the Megadeth live show. If you see footage of Megadeth from the Gigantour 2006 DVD (Lomenzo's first tour), you'll see a fairly boring Megadeth. If you see footage from the tours that followed - when Lomenzo got comfortable (such as Megadeth's infamous Download festival performance of 2007) you'll see a reignited Megadeth. Their live shows have kicked severe ass ever since.
He's a really nice chap, and comes across very personable in interviews and the one time I had the pleasure of meeting him - and he's a monster on the bass. "Washington is Next!" has one of the most incredible bass lines I've ever heard and seen performed - and it will be interesting as to whether this song will ever feature in Megadeth's live repertoire again. I look forward to hearing more details on Lomenzo's departure. What I hope to hear is that he wanted to leave for whatever reason - and Dave sought out to please the fans and brought Junior back into the fold. It'd taint Ellefson's return to think that JLo was driven out.
Now, of course I'm happy to see David Ellefson back. It's fantastic that after all the bullshit of $18 million lawsuits and interview gags whenever the Megadeth subject comes up will be over and the two most important characters in Megadeth history will once again be sharing a stage, writing music and touring the world together. Even better for the American audience (and hopefully everyone else...) is that they get to see the entire "Rust In Peace" album performed by half of the lineup that recorded it. It'll be a treat to see Ellefson back and it adds special value to the upcoming big 4 tour and Download performance.
One thought I did have stems from a point that was raised on the recently in which Mr Terry Bezer stated that Megadeth are more relevant now than they've been in a long time. I worry now that the throwbacks to the past will overshadow the critical success of "Endgame" and the hard work the 2008/9 lineup put into the album, only to find themselves touring a CD that came out in 1990. "Endgame" hasn't been properly toured. Due to complications with upcoming Slayer tours, Megadeth have only been to Canada, Australia, Japan and some of the States in support of the record. I've been eagerly awaiting an indoor European tour where I'll get to hear "This Day We Fight" and "Headcrusher" and hopefully deeper album cuts like "The Right To Go Insane" and "How the Story Ends" live - but I fear this may be in jeopardy.
So in summary, I have mixed feelings about the latest change, as I always do. It's exciting to see Ellefson back, but it's heartbreaking to see James Lomenzo leave. Thanks for everything James and welcome back Junior!
I'm sure I'll be tweeting more about this so follow me at .
Welcome to one of the far far far corners of the internet, a corner occupied by me, Will. The majority of those reading this initial blog will be well aware of who I am, as I've probably directed you here, but for those who have somehow landed here, please allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Will Beardmore (original domain, no?), and I'm currently entering my 3rd year of study at Leeds University for their . In addition to being a poor student, I've been learning web design and development for almost a decade, starting out at the tail end of primary school, clowning around on Geocities and Homestead, I soon developed a large interest in the field, going on to learn HTML, PHP, MySQL, CSS, jQuery, etc, etc, etc.
My main interest and passion outside of the internet is Heavy Metal music. Over the years, I've poured just about everything I've earned into attending concerts and festivals, buying CDs and merchandise and just about anything I can get my hands on to do with metal. This blog will be my forum to discuss all things metal, because the internet needs another opinion...
Megadeth are my all time favourite band, my most seen band (10 times) and my most met band (3 times, once in the studio!). About 5 years ago, I started a Megadeth fansite, RattleheadHQ.com (now deceased), which became pretty popular, managing to attract almost 20,000 visits in its most successful month. When I started my degree, I lost the time it took to keep the Megafans informed, and so decided to stop updating it. It was fun whilst it lasted though.
Other bands I have an unhealthy interest in are Anthrax, Crowbar, Alice in Chains, Witchcraft, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Down and tons more. See what I'm currently listening to at my .
Enjoy reading what I have to say, and feel free to contact me or comment below.
Also, I'm one of those Twitterers, so to follow me.
