Saturday was my Mom's birthday. My plan was simple.
Woke up in NYC after a long night with wonderful people
and hopped a train to New Haven. All I had in mind was a
decadent dinner with BCO and co. and some loud supportive
cheering for the Yale hockey team...seemed like a full and fun
night...Okay, but WOW! KO had NO IDEA what kind of charmed
beauty was beyond the bliss of dinner and hockey...really...
But here is what happened: I left dinner early to catch the 2nd
and 3rd period of the game (Yale let it go...rar...it was 4-0 until
the 3rd period and then 4 perfect goals against...and then...well
a tie is better than a loss I suppose, but it was painful to watch
the decline...Still, I love me some hockey, and atleast the 4-4
final was...intense...The Brown game this Saturday better be
a solid win, though, because I am tempted to take the tie personally!);
I drove past Toad's and was immediately curious...Could it be?! YES!!!
Hatebreed was giving a sold-out show...How could I have over-looked
this? More importantly, how would I get in? Hatebreed is not just a
hardcore head-banging adrenalin-pumping band~ Hatebreed is a
hometown hardcore head-banging adrenalin-pumping band.KO grew up with Jamey Jasta, and though KO may look like
a sweet-talking blond hippie prepster (and indeed KO is! ha!),
KO is for serio a hardcore head-banging Hatebreed-head to the core. To the core! Well...about a year ago an old friend told me to come by
Toad's any time I was in town if Hatebreed was playing...
And you know what? I did. I had to. And he HOOKED KO UP!!!
And the show was beyond amazing. KO is surprisingly hardcore.
Seriously, I surprise myself. Hatebreed brings out the 6-foot-tall
steel-toe-boot-wearing badass bruiser in me. Not that I ever would,
but IF I WANTED TO I COULD STOMP SOME HEADS! That's the
power and force and fun of a Hatebreed show! Hardcore bliss!To add absolutely to awesome, KO had the digi-cam (of course)
and KO got the BEST pictures!!! Hardcore happiness!!! Alot!!!Jamey, lead singer for Dreadnaught and Jasta 14 back in the day~~and current host of MTV's HeadBanger's Ball, OWNED the stage...
He is a burly, passionate presence~ a force and an artist~ he
without a doubt brings the best to his genre and his dedicated and
loyal crowd...Yes, on the surface (of course), KO stood out...
the blond hair, the FLEECE VEST (!!!) the LL Bean bag...but only a
fool would waste time judging my shell, because my core is
INVESTED...My core is HARD. KO kicked it full throttle alone
at the Hatebreed show at the House of Blues on Sunset in LA,
and KO represented TRUE and TOUGH for the old school at Toad's...Genuine Hatebreed fans embrace KO because KO is a soldier...
Solo, sure, and...soft skinned! Ha! Still, KO was CERTAIN and
(as if I need to say it~) CERTIFIED! Can't mosh in the pit (please!
yo! I am too old! 30!), but made sure to mash madly while mixed-in
with the wiser ones on the peripheral...and obviously I captured it all! Ted was my "found" partner-in-crime...We are sweaty because
WE THRASHED!!! (I had a great time, too, Ted! Thanks!)After the show KO wandered backstage...no reunion with Jamey (sigh)...
BUT~ a hardcore crew convened and gave me a good group shot...Toads Place, New Haven, 12.30.06
For real...goes down as ONE OF THE BEST CONCERTS EVER!!!
Huge THANKS and MUCH LOVE to Jim T! And again, thanks to Ted.