From the Attic: Overkill / Excel / Whiplash flyer, the Commodore, April 1st/1990, Vancouver, BC.

My last post featured a photo of me with an Excel tour shirt on, so I got thinking about that show and what year it was exactly and dug out the flyer for the show.  One of the main reasons I started doing this blog in addition to sharing stuff from my collection was to document my memories before more fragments of them disappear and are gone forever. Everytime I talk to an old friend of mine from those days he reminds me of things that I had totally forgotten about that we experienced together, so I thought it would be a good idea to get what is left in my head written down before it is all gone.

The flyer is cool with the row of skulls and black and orange colour scheme.  Luckily, I still have this one in my collection. 

This was a great show, crossover was sort of at its peak and the crowd was a pretty good mix of skaters, bangers and punks and I don't recall any violence at this particular show.  Excel blew Overkill off the stage that night. I mean that with no disrespect to Overkill either as they were fucking great that night as well, and maybe a different night on the tour it went the other way.  However, at least for that night, Excel were running on all cylinders and proved that they were an even better band than their two studio recordings had showcased.  Live they were tight, energetic and heavy as hell and the energy they exhibited on stage transferred down to the floor and really set the bar high for the evening.  I saw Excel about five years later supporting their Seeking Refuge album at the Starfish room, and while they were still very good the magic they displayed that night with Overkill was largely gone.

Stub from Excel's 1995 show in Vancouver.

I actually have more memories in regards to this show than a lot of other shows I attended back then which admittedly, still isn't much.  My other memories from this show are that there was a little bit of bickering between bands regarding the price of the tshirts either on stage or it might have been off stage... I forget.  It has been a long time, so I could be wrong, but I believe that the argument was because Excel's tshirt prices were cheaper than Overkill's.

We don't care what you say...

Being in Vancouver, Overkill acknowledged Vancouver's very own Subhumans with their cover version of "Fuck You", which was unjustly never credited to the local band when released by Overkill on their megaforce EP, so a lot of people wrongly assumed it was an Overkill song (but I don't think many people thought that in Vancouver!). Anyway, when they played it they acknowledged the Subhumans, so that was cool to see (although I can't recall what was said exactly).  I also remember this was the first show I saw how desperate some girls could be to get back stage. There was a guy who I assume must have been a roadie getting his knob polished to the side of the stage at one point in the evening.

One of the greatest Vancouver and Canadian bands of all time and the record where "Fuck You" originally appeared, long before Overkill covered the song.  Worth noting that Bob Rock was the recording engineer on this album.  A personal favourite. 

Unfortunately, Whiplash did not play this show as they were stuck at the border I believe, but I can't remember for sure what happened to them or why they were cancelled.  That was really too bad as I never got a chance to see them play live and am still a big fan of their first two records.

From the Attic: Metallica - Master of Puppets era commercial "mall" poster by Funky.

Here is one of the earliest Metallica "mall" posters from the 80's.  There was a band photo poster circulating before this and the Hell on Earth poster, but I think that was it.  I bought this poster in about 1987 from the local mall at a small chain record store in my town called Big K music. We were lucky to have this store as it carried the Banzai label and other Canadian metal labels like Maze and Cobra. I always loved this poster despite its cut and paste look. The iconic photo of Lars surrounded by the three smaller photos of the other band members might be fairly mediocre as far as grapic design goes, but it just has a classic look to it.  At the time it was relatively hard to find Metallica merchandise of any sort, so when this appeared in the malls, I was surprised and did not hestate to purchase it.

One of the reasons I still love this poster is when I look at it, it is like a time capsule as pretty much all of my friends at the time had this poster on their wall as well.  It transports me back to that time as if it was yesterday, I can feel like i'm there again hanging out in one of our bedrooms playing tunes and discussing music.  Unfortunately, my original from back in the day seen in the photo directly below did not survive after a move, but I was able to repurchase one off a friend for a reasonable price.  It has some wear and tear, but it's cool and adds to its character.  Now if I could just find those curtains again.

15 year old me in my bedroom in 1990 with the poster to the left of me.  You can also see in this photo the beginnings of my gig poster and flyer obsession as they were starting to cover my walls.

From the Attic: Rare Iron Maiden Canadian Mountie slipcase limited cd's Promo Poster

A new edition to my collection is this beautiful Canadian promo poster for the limited edition slipcase cd's that were available in Canada for a very short time period.  The poster features Derek Rigg's great painting of Eddie dressed in the uniform of the Canadian mounties.  The painting was first used on the cover of the Canadian heavy metal magazine, Metallion during the 80's.  

Of course, these slipcase cd's are now quite rare as the mounties were apparently not happy about the unauthorized use of their trademarked image.  When they first came out, I was lazy grabbing them thinking they would be around for awhile, but just as fast as they appeared they were pretty much pulled off the shelves.  Luckily, I managed to get the one below because of a friend who bought two. 

The limited reissue cd's came out in 1998 and at that time the mountie image was under the ownership of Disney.  Control of the trademarks had been given over to Disney when the RCMP hired the company to promote their image and protect them from being abused in the commercial marketplace.  Thus, if anyone wanted to use the image to put a Mountie on a T-shirt, a mug, or in this case cd's, they had to pay a licensing fee or be charged with stealing "intellectual property." It really is too bad they were not around a little longer as I would have liked to grab more.  Someone has also bootlegged up some shirts with this design, there may have been a few official ones made up for A&B Sound employees, as I seem to remember them wearing one around this time, in fact I got one off of someone claiming it to be such, but the price was cheap, they look great, so what the hell.  Whatever the case, the local market seems flooded with obvious fakes.  Thanks to my friend Jason for giving me this poster to add to my collection.  I think this one will be next in line for a nice frame job. 

The cover of the Canadian magazine, Metallion that featured the first appearance of Eddie in the Mountie uniform, 'tis a shame the moose and wintery scenery were left off the cd's.

From the Attic: March 27th, 1984, Metallica's first show in the UK at the Marquee + Hell on Earth tour poster

Even with the disappointing ticket sales still looming and the eventual cancellation of the UK Hell on Earth tour featuring The Rods, Exciter and Anthrax, Metallica of the days of yore were still able to squeeze one show in at the legendary Marquee and thus, play their first date on UK soil.  Here is the flyer for that show that happened 31 years ago today.  For those interested, this show is available on a number of bootlegs (both cd and LP) and there are also some great photos out there for this show.

The flyer for the show

While we are on the topic of the cancelled Hell on Earth tour dates it seems like a good time to also pull out this poster for the cancelled tour.  This Hell on Earth Tour poster is also one of the first commercially available "mall" posters of the band that could be found, thus there are a few different versions of this one.  The earliest ones seem to be the ones with the white border like mine.  I bought this poster in my local mall in either 1986 or 1987, but this particular copy is a replacement that I bought off of another collector as that one is long gone.  I do not recall if mine had a white border or not.  This is easily one of my favourite Metallica posters largely because of my own personal nostalgia associated with it, but also because it the design of this one is absolutely great.  I have wanted to frame this one for awhile, and will eventually get it done.  

A funny memory I have regarding this poster is that when we were kids one of my friends hooked up two lights that blinked in time to the music of his stereo and placed the two red bulbs in the demons eyes, it looked pretty wild to our young impressionable minds.  A fire hazard to be sure, but still pretty cool.  

From the Attic: Metallica Birmingham/Hammersmith UK 1986 Poster

Been a while since my last post, so with no further delay I bring you this HUGE poster from the UK for the two consecutive shows by Metallica 28 years ago today.  Given its size am not sure if it was a subway poster or sold at the shows or what? Thanks to my friend Anthony from the UK who sold me this poster.  The poster was signed by Lars and Jason in 1993, so a bit of a bummer that the signatures are not period correct, but still cool even if Jason did not play these shows.  

Sadly, Cliff was only able to play 3 more shows after the 21st of September.  Thus, on that note my brothers and sisters I leave you with something to think about with a poem by Rainer, Maria Rilke, entitled Death:

Before us great Death stands

Our fate held close within his quiet hands

When with proud joy we lift Life's red wine

To drink deep of the mystic shining cup

And ecstasy through all our being leaps-

Death bows his head and weeps. 

R.I.P. H.R. Giger (5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014)

The Swiss master was one of the brilliant artists of the 20th century and one of the greatest artists period.   I first saw his work in one of my older brothers Penthouse magazines when I was just a young lad sneaking a peak.  I was fascinated more by his artwork then I was the women on the other pages.  Later, I saw the Alien movie and of course the Celtic Frost LP cover and at that time I began buying every book I could find on Giger and his art.  His art does not let go, it grasps you and pulls you in to this strange, yet familiar world. R.I.P.

  

LOU REED (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013)

Another legend has died.  Sadly, Lou Reed passed away due to complications with his recent liver transplant.  Love them or hate them, the Velvet Underground are one of the most important bands in the history of rock and roll, period.  They have influenced everyone from David Bowie to Joy Division and are one of my personal favourites.  

Lulu may not be exactly the high point of Lou's career (though it is not as bad as many claim… still, I must admit, even I have trouble calling it good), but I was lucky enough to see him in San Francisco with Metallica at Metallica's 30th Anniversary bash, here are a few photos my lady took at the event.  R.I.P. Lou.  

Photos taken at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco