I had a road rage incident about 10 years ago where this dude cut me off on an exit ramp. In response to me honking and flipping him off, he started brake checking me and shit. Then he got next to me and started edging into my lane acting like he was gonna hit me. I followed him into a Lowe’s parking lot and jerked him out of his truck. I was about to rock him when he started crying and apologizing. It was disarming. I’d never seen someone that scared of me before. Not a man, anyway. Ever since then, I’ve been able to let shit roll off a lot easier.
I went to see Napalm Death and The Melvins Sunday night. I’ve seen both bands countless times, so it was mostly for my kids experience. Several years ago, one of my closest friends died from heat stroke. He had battled severe mental issues and drug problems our entire adulthood. He passed away with 2 young kids. I never got along with his wife though, so my interaction with his kids has been minimal. About a year or so ago, his wife reached out to me and told me his oldest was interested in what music he liked. I made him a playlist of everything on Spotify and shared it and sorta started talking to him. He’s actually impressed me with the depth of his music knowledge. He’s 14 and already has dug into crust punk, grindcore and noise metal. I was actually worried about him because getting into that sort of stuff can put you into incel territory. Anyway, he mentioned he was planning on going to see Napalm Death. That kinda helped me decide to go. I went ahead and got my 2 older kids tickets, too. My kids are…different. While they’ve grown up as my kids getting exposed to my music, they’ve also grown up in Trap Music country, so even though they go to hardcore and death metal shows with me, they will alternate it with Travis Scott, Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely concerts. My 12 year old daughter is funny and likes to stir the pot, so she went to this show dressed sorta like one of the girls off Bring It On, with sweat pants and a halter top. She stuck out in the crowd like a sore thumb. So I met up with my friend’s son early. I was relieved that he was there with his girlfriend lol. He was a sweet kid. Very soft spoken and respectful. It was a little awkward talking to him because he obv doesn’t get along with him mom, but I didn’t wanna dog in her even though I really don’t like her. So I kept it positive. He looks and acts just like his dad, which is interesting because my fried died when the kid was 5 and had spent most of the kid’s life either in jail or mental health facilities. When the show started, my kids had made their way to the front rail. That’s when things got weird. So I mentioned my daughter dressed to stick out. Well, she’s 12 but she doesn’t look 12 at all. Most people will assume she’s 16-18. She’s already 5’8”. But the entire Melvins set, the bass player Steve McDonald was eying her. At one point, he made the classic tongue wiggle towards her. I wasn’t on the floor with them, but was on the balcony just above them and saw it. I honestly thought he was doing it towards a cute Hispanic girl near them, but they showed me videos of him and it looks like he’s looking directly at the camera. I’m still not sure how I feel about that. Melvins are one of my favorite bands and Steve also played on the first Tenacious D album, but he has been touring since I was born and is also married to Anna Waronker. My wife got a big kick out of it and saw it as validation of how beautiful my daughter is, but it still kinda grossed me out. It turned out that the spot I was at was right in front of the backstage entrance. I’m sorta jaded about that type of stuff, but I did have the random opportunity to come across Brent Hinds. I knew Brent in the 90s before Mastodon, but only vaguely. I went to his apartment a few times with common friends, but he was a heroin addict back then and I figured he wouldn’t remember me. The last time I spoke with him was at a bar 20 years ago. He remembered me as “Angie’s friend”, though. I didn’t get to talk to him long cuz he got ushered away, but it was cool he remembered me…at all. When Napalm Death came on, I had moved downstairs. My daughter was intent on moshing, but I didn’t want her doing that without me around to protect her. She got in some rounds in a circle pit and that made her night lol. At one point a brawl broke out. I was helping break it up when I noticed the band had stopped the show because of it. When I got the main aggressor restrained and everything calmed down, I looked up and Barney was looking directly at me. So I gave him a thumbs up lol. He asked if anyone was hurt and I gave him another thumbs up and they restarted the show. After the show, I got pics with my kids and my friend’s son together and chatted with him a little longer while we were in line for ND merch. I got both my kids shirts and my daughter hasn’t taken hers off yet. It was a very eventful night for me.
My girlfriend has a similar story with Dino from Fear Factory. When she saw Fear Factory in high school she got a picture with him, and he grabbed her ass and called her beautiful and stuff. She was in high school, so older than 12, but still a minor.
When my band opened for Soulfly a couple years ago, Dino was their guitar player. He remembered her, and grabbed at her ass again.
I was like "am I gonna have to get into it with Dino right now?" Luckily it ended there.
I took my sister to see OutKast just after Christmas 1999. She had just turned 18. The entire OutKast set, Andre was checking her out. He sent her a backstage pass via one of the crew, but she declined because they had a bunch of local pimps they brought out on stage that night and she didn’t want to mingle with them.
A friend of mine had Evan Dando of Lemonheads bring his wife on stage and serenade her in front of everyone. He had to retrieve her after the show because they wouldn’t let him backstage. It was awkward for our entire friend group and if she wasn’t a decent person it probably would’ve been cause for a breakup. He’s a has-been now but Dando was a teen heartthrob when I was in high school
Also @mc Dino made a porn movie once. He’s got some Ron Jeremy in him
My buddy Bill told one of the best stories I’ve ever heard while I was setting up camp for Knotfest when we all camped at Todd’s parents house. But it also frustrates me because I have so many follow up questions and no answers to them, so I’ve never told the story here. Bill and a big group of his friends went to an OG Pantera show back in the day. His old lady went up to the front row with the rest of the girls. Shows over they come back one chick is missing and the girls ain’t saying much about it. This missing girl has been dating Bill’s friend for like three years or some shit like that, it’s a solid relationship. They go towards the front, and at some point they get offered back stage passes, but the girls all declined except the one. She went backstage with the band. Dude is obviously pissed, but they are all out of town and have to bring this chick back home because you can’t just leave her there so they stick around after the show to try and find this chick. Venue is closed, no sign of her. Bus rolls out, no sign of her. The next day, no one has heard from her. Months go by, dude can’t get an answer, but her friends and family are kinda like “she’s fine, don’t worry about it”. Fast forward one something like 15 months later, dude gets a knock on the apartment door. He answers it, and it’s the chick. “Hey, you ahh, you still have my snake? Wanna talk?” Long story much too short, she went backstage with the band, ended up getting on the bus to party, stayed on until the next town, rinse and repeat, party some more, and she ends up on the road with the band for over a year.
Comments
I do not envy being a girl/chick. Dudes are pretty creepy lol.
When she saw Fear Factory in high school she got a picture with him, and he grabbed her ass and called her beautiful and stuff. She was in high school, so older than 12, but still a minor.
When my band opened for Soulfly a couple years ago, Dino was their guitar player. He remembered her, and grabbed at her ass again.
I was like "am I gonna have to get into it with Dino right now?" Luckily it ended there.