| We went on right before Hendrix and the crowd was still a buzz from the haze of burning pot plants the police had seized. Oh yeah, this was Walt Stock... sorry, wrong show. Anyway, here's that outdoor party we did to try and get Bob Heath comfortable with us in a live setting. In typical Jeff & Tom fashion we tried to make it bigger than it was with the full tiered stage, fog and crazy lights. You know- the typical set up at every beer bash and waupatula party. At this point we were doing half covers and half originals. This is a cover song of Pantera's "Walk" which was the heavier, grunt-ier vocals we started to incorporate into our own originals. For a guy who was comparable in style to Geoff Tate & Bruce Dickenson over the years, Jeff sure found a second home with the extreme power metal vocal. In setting this up for the internet I noticed that when I added sepia tone to the video it brought images out more as the original color version was quite dark. Although you can't see much of me I was without my Flying V because I broke a string. I rarely played my back-up guitar so I'm surprised the guitar solo came out as well as it did. Looks like Todd was having some feedback issues in the beginning but considering half of his guitar gear was power surged before the show it's a wonder he had any sound at all. Another reason I posted this on the site is that I needed some Bob Heath video footage and unfortunately, some of our good rehearsal videos were degrading badly. This was a decent song from an unfortunately "too" memorable evening. Jeff's mock lyrics of evening which he sent me by email are postyed below so you can sing along with the video:
How easily
I'm bothered by conditions
One step from freezing my balls off
We wanted to get up on the stage
And literally break the ice
We've got more broken gear
What’ll we do?
Are there no standards anymore?
What the hell, holy shit, must be ten below
A lesson learned in life
Known only through hindsight
Must
Get
Warm
W w what d d did y y you s s say?
Turn the heat on high on the way home boy!!
|
|
I probably talked Tom into posting this video footage seeing how the only evidence that he is in the footage is his silhouette, shadow and guitar solo. It is probably the best footage we have with Bob Heath as the bass player which is unfortunate. Waltstock was actually an outdoor event I lined up as a party at a friend of mines home in Lebanon NY. His name is Walt Palmer and he used to own and dwell at the property where this was filmed. He now resides in FLA. The property was on a large pond or small lake, whichever you prefer. I think we jokingly referred to the event as "Waltstock" afterwards. I really don't recall to be honest but it has a funny ring to it. Tom reminded me of that day where we blew amps and had power failures before we started. We probably should have recognized this as an omen. Perhaps we did but in true obstinate fashion, we continued. This was to be an informal gathering of people to get the bugs out and get our new bassist acclimated to performing in front of people. Bob Heath did rather well by the way. I think I borrowed the PA from some friends of mine (Call Me Crazy band) and the lighting was supplied by a friend (Jerry Cole) of one of my older brothers (Bob Gale) thrown together at the last minute. He and my brother were DJ's at the time and we utilized the resources. I do remember the night becoming very cold and having difficulty with my sinuses clogging up which made it rather difficult to sing. "Walk" was notably the best which I personally could master on this particular evening so like I mentioned, I probably talked Tom into posting it. I do, however, really like what he did with it. The sepia tone is kind of cool with the lighting. You can tell how cold this night became by how the sound was deadened and the fact that the fog just decided to creep toward the lake and away from where it was supposed to project. Also, in between songs, Tom, Bob and Todd were rubbing their hands together and blowing on them... Brian actually put his shirt back on which is rare! I think the cold may have had a little to do with Tom’s guitar string breaking on his V. I am sure his all the instruments were going out of tune.. even the drums as I recall. Todd, I am sure was cold and pissed with the whole day/night. He probably quit the next day but re-joined the day after that when he warmed up (not really). Of course, we had the rather large staging. I believe I brought the scaffolding for Brian’s drum riser while Walt rolled out a hay wagon for the rest of us. It was a real crazy day and night but we survived it...I think.
|
