A VOLCANIC MAILBAG FOR 10/2/04

With your host, bastard boy floyd

Whoooooooooooo!

Welcome once again to the wonderful Metal Sludge Mailbag! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve done one of these. Actually, I’ve been fucking off in the desert for awhile, and once again I let all the mail stack up. Well, letting the mail stack up is nothing new, except this time, I felt compelled to go on a ‘soul search’ and go out in the desert for a week. I’m not sure what exactly brought that on, but a few weeks ago, Jani Bon Neil and I were watching that “Doors” movie, and for some reason I totally identified with Val Kilmer. I mean, Val so totally sums up what I’m all about. If there is ever a Metal Sludge movie, that’s who I want to play me on the big screen. He so perfectly embodies all of my characteristics that Val’s the only logical choice. But anyway, back to this week in the desert thing…

After watching that “Doors” flick, I went and rented as many Val Kilmer DVDs as I could find, took my trailer out to the desert, parked it next to a big cactus formation, and watched all the videos, including “The Saint,” “Batman,” “The Salton Sea,” and my personal favorite, “Top Secret.” And while I didn’t ‘find myself’ or anything like that, I did like the videos and I really, really enjoyed not having to check the e-mail for a week. But now I’m back, there’s earthquakes and volcanoes all over the place, and here I am answering the mail again, so I guess that whole ‘wind walk’ thing was kind of pointless.

Well, anyhow, we’ve gotten a few e-mails this morning saying that Vince Neil got hurt during last night’s performance on the “Rock Never Stops” tour when it stopped in Long Island. Here’s a few first-hand accounts from Sludgeaholics that were at the show:

Don’t know if this is newsworthy to you or not; I know you like to rip on Vince “Chicken Dance” Neil, but this one really wasn’t his fault. This is my firsthand account of what I witnessed last night at the Rock Never Stops Tour (Slaughter/Ratt/Vince Neil) at Westbury Music Fair on Long Island last night:

As soon as Vince did “Home Sweet Home” a few songs into his set, girls began to rush the stage to sing with him arm in arm, hug him, etc. This seemed under control for the first few girls (yes, this really did happen). The girls would get a few seconds with him and then get off the stage. It then started getting out of hand, with girls not leaving, and more and more of them going onstage, and security soon had a problem on their hands, exacerbated by the fact that this venue is “in the round” with a rotating stage. Every time a security guy or two would be grabbing and escorting girls off the stage, two or three more would be sneaking behind them to make the mad dash towards Vince.

Finally, on his seventh song (can’t remember the tune right now), as a girl had just gotten on the stage and begun to grab at Vince, a security guard literally yanked her backwards and she grabbed onto Vince’s left wrist to break her fall (although unknownst to her, the security guard was there to catch her). Vince immediately yanked his hand back in what seemed to be some pain and kept his left hand and arm immobile straight down his side for the rest of the song. I could tell something was wrong. Mid-song, he confirmed it for me when he walked over to his drummer while singing and gave him a hand signal (with mike in hand) to “cut” after the song (the “cut sign” across his throat). A few moments later he walked over to his guitar player and it took him a few taps to get his attention and obviously tell him the same thing. The song ended and he said something to the effect of “goodnight and thank you very much,” and the lights came on immediately and the exits were opened within minutes. It was obvious that there would be no encore. He wound up playing about 40 to 45 minutes, which was about the length of Slaughter’s set (the opener) and somewhat shorter than Ratt’s set (middle performer).

In Vince’s defense, the guy was coherent throughout, in other words not drunk, and he was still favoring the left wrist when they ended the show. Granted, the guy still sang every other word of every song he sang, but that’s been expected the last couple of years, and more due to the fact that he’s out of shape. But he looked in good spirits and was really into it. Security was virtually non-existent with respect to rushing the stage.

Would be interesting to see if Vince had anything official to say on the matter.

Peace,

Gary Lee Hagar

p.s.–kind of ironic that the openers included some of your favorites, including Slaughter, Jizzy, Warren and Blotz with Ratt (and Corabi to boot! how do those Vince/”Crabbie” encounters go? “hey Vince, I’m the dude who replaced you for two minutes… now I get to play Ratt covers after turning down doing original material with that Nikki dude…” or those Robbie Crane/Vince encounters: THWACK! BAM! BOOM!)… first time seeing Jizzy live… not bad!

p.p.s.–also, I had Jeff Blando and the Slaughter replacement drummer (? – but it wasn’t Blas Elias) standing behind me taking in a good part of the Ratt set)…

(Andrew)

Hey Metal Sludge –

Well, its been almost twelve hours since the Rock Never Stops show at Westbury Music Fair in the ever-so-lovely Long Island, and not a peep about the unfortunate events that transpired has been mentioned on the boards (no, I don’t mean Slaughter’s performance. They were actually decent).

Throughout the show, disgusting fat housewives found it necessary to jump on stage and grope the performers. I found myself wondering why security wasn’t making a bigger deal out of it, since it was seriously grossing me out. Once Vince took the stage, things hit a downward spiral. One after another, over-the-hill, Amy Fisher-on-a-bag-of-crank lookalikes were hitting the stage, sliming all over Vince. One of the guys in the crew was doing his best to keep the girls off, but the stage set up was in-the-round, so he couldn’t have his eyes everywhere. At one point one of the security guards from the venue blocked a girl, but it was getting ridiculous. Either there weren’t enough security guards there, or they just didn’t give a shit.

Vince remained very professional and didn’t look too pissed, but it was terribly distracting. Some girl jumped on stage and grabbed Vince’s arm, and two guys pulled her off, while her kung-fu grip held onto Vince for dear life. He almost fell off the rotating stage. He finished the song with his arm just dangling there, and then promptly ended the show. We couldn’t tell if his arm was dislocated, but it looked pretty serious. I can’t believe a venue the size of Westbury Music Fair couldn’t provide decent enough security to keep these retards off the stage. Vince and the guys were rockin’ the hell out of the place, and we all missed out on a great show due to the lax security and a few attention whores. On a side note, this is the venue where Connie Francis was raped, about a hundred years ago, so I guess they haven’t upgraded security since then.

Sadly, the rock has stopped.

Alex

Just got back from an excellent show featuring Slaughter, Jizzy Pearl/Ratt and Vince Niel. During the last couple of songs female fans were jumping on-stage taking pics, kissing and hugging Vince..Security at some point decided to prevent this from continuing.As they were escorting 1 fan off the stage another jumped on..As they were removing her she latched onto Vince..From my angle (behind Vince) it looked like he was pulled towards the crowd..He than limped towards the drummer, motioned and said something to the band and continued the song (“Looks that Kill”)..At the end of the song he said to the drummer “we’re stopping”, than he thanked the crowd and the show was over..He never made a statement to the crowd that it was cut short for any reason..Perhaps you will hear what exactly happened.Also note the facility, Wstbury Muic Fair, usually hosts older acts, children shows and comedy shows..Security was inadequate, mostly elderly female ushers. -Thanks, Kenny

Well, as much grief as Metal Sludge has given to Vince Neil over the years, we never want to hear about anyone getting hurt, especially when it’s something fucked up like fans jumping all over you on stage. If he gets his ass beat for pissing off the wrong people, that’s one thing, but performers depend on security to keep shows safe for everyone, so when shit like that happens, it’s kind of fucked up.

Speaking of Vince, this is from one of our coolest fans ever, CrouchingStonerHiddenBong, the chick in Cincinnati who got us the Vince Neil Chicken Dance on video! It?s her report on the day she spent stalking Vince at Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest, and offers some insight on how it all went down:

The day I found out Vince Neil was doing the Chicken Dance at Oktoberfest, I just about shit my pants. I have lived in Cincinnati my whole life, and I found it funny that I found out about it on Metal Sludge before I heard about it from anywhere around here.

Of course it was happening on a day when I was scheduled to work. I conjured up all kinds of lies to tell to get out of working, shit like “My key broke off in my ignition” or “I’m getting a hysterectomy”, but in the end I ended up telling just telling them the truth. Someone volunteered to cover for my while I went down there and shot the video, if I would come back when I was done.

On the day of the show, I left a few hours before the spectacle was scheduled, went home, smoked copious amounts of weed, and then walked down to the festival. (Did I mention it was 5 blocks from my fucking house?) I decided against drinking any beer, because it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to show back up at work drunk off my ass screaming “WOOOOO! SHOUT AT THE MOTHERFUCKIN CHICKEN, BITCHES!”. It was easy enough to walk to the front row 3 minutes before the whole thing went down. The only people you had to fight you way through were the 3 yr olds and old fuckers dancing to polkas.

I LMAO when I saw that they were doing a god damn sound check – a sound check, for the CHICKEN DANCE? The MC’s came out to get the crowd fired up and I noticed that for the first time in my life, there were people pressed up against the stage for the Chicken Dance, instead of the regular infants and geriatrics I mentioned before.

Anyhow, of course Vince was late, and the MC’s tried to stall the crowd by saying Vince would not come out until we got louder. WTF? This is Oktoberfest, not Madison Square Garden. Someone screamed “LEAVE A TRAIL OF COKE TO THE STAGE AND HE’LL COME OUT” which made everyone in the front laugh, except for the 2 fat girls wearing Vince Neil shirts who shouted “FUCK YOU” in between mouthfulls of sauerkraut balls.

When Vince came out, I was almost disappointed. HE LOOKED GOOD. And he sounded good too. WTF is up with THAT? I went down there hoping to catch a drunken mess stumbling around to some gay ass german music and shaking his hiney. Instead what I got was a slimmer appearingly sober version of the joke I had anticipated. And he sounded good too. Like I’ve said before, I almost felt bad taping it. ALMOST.

After Cincinnati’s first Chicken Mosh (because once he came on the stage, that’s what practically happened in the crowd), I was tempted to stay and go for the capture. But I decided to go home and get it up on the boards ASAP, and I knew I had to go back to work.

I would just like to add that I took my camera to work with me and showed it to a doctor who had just got done cracking a gunshot wound victim’s chest open, and he started cracking up and said “THAT FUCKING ROCKS!”

More feedback on Vince Neil doing the Chicken Dance:

Loved the chicken dance and also these photos..not as much as we love metal sludge? Lindsy and Sara north east UK

Wow, I’ll definitely pay $100+ for a Motley Crue reunion ticket if Vince does the chicken dance with Tommy while Mick accompanies them on the guitar. Fuck the onstage strippers, the chicken dance is where its at.

All joking aside though, Vince didn’t look as bad as I remember him looking lately.

Thanks for the laugh, 10secondbitch

Here’s a few more concert reviews sent in by dedicated Sludgeaholics around the country:

Went to see Slaughter in Baltimore MD last Friday. What’s with the rock star attitude from these guys? They waited an TWO HOURS after the opening band finished before they went on. They were scheduled to start at 11:00 (45 minutes after the opening band finished), but didn’t go on until 12:15. I I hadn’t paid a ridiculous $25 per ticket, I would have just gone home.

They had no merchandise there whatsoever. Nada. Lame.

After the show, I thought I’d try to get some old LP’s & stuff autographed, but they were gone less than 5 minutes after showtime. What dicks.

By the way, who’s their drummer now? It didn’t look like Blas.

–Zeke

don’t know who to email this to,,, so i sent it to you—- Saw Van Halen last night in Biloxi, Mississippi.. Show was not as entertaining as a Sammy show!! Seems like they have Sammy on a tight leash!! Very last seconds of the show after the encore –Eddie kept running around the stage ( I thought he was drunk!) trying to pump up the crowd- only to blurt out on the microphone, “Good night Houston!” WE WERE IN FUCKING MISSISSIPPI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOU EDDIE

Remember last week when we posted a fan’s recollections of Robbin Crosby’s last years? We weren’t sure how the Sludgeaholics would react to a post of such a serious and profound nature, but it was a tale that needed to be told. Here’s some feedback:

I sincerly thank you for posting that R-Crosby piece. It reinforced a timeless lesson for me: ‘being talented and famous doen’t make someone immune from having to make peace with themselves’

My deepest sympathy goes out to not only Robin for the hell he put himself through, but also for those very close to him who had their patience tried, and tried again but kept loving him.

All musicians (including myself) should realize, ‘that if we want help for addiction and depression, it is available. Also, being proficient at an instrument gives no one the right to act like a creep, burn bridges, and treat other people like shit.’

RIP-Robin Crosby

Blair from Alberta, Canada

Over the past 6 years, I usually end up with tears in my eyes from laughter when visiting Sludge. This is first time I’ve read anything on this site that has left me with tears of sorrow. I would have never pictured Robbin’s demise so heartbreaking and painful. Thank you for posting such an important story about the evils of drug addiction… RIP King Crosby.

Kevin Zimmer

Again, I’ll give you all the credit Bastard. Great job on the Robbin Crosby article. It’s great to see you put the assholedness aside, and show your love for a fallen comrad of rock and roll.

RIP Robbin

Jennifer

I just got done reading Curt’s diary. I laughed a few times and cried more times than I would like to admit. Thanks for posting that. I agree, too, that its something that needed to be read, if anything for us to be put in Robbin’s shoes his last few years as a lot of it was shrouded in mystery. We always heard through others in the music world that he was laid up in the hospital or out of the hospital but really had no idea everything else.

Although it seemed like a fear of us, hopefully Robbin finally believed that anyone who crossed paths with him in his life will NEVER forget him.

Lynn

Hey Sludge, I was blown away by the tribute that Robbin Crosby was given by his friend. Robbin was one of the many talents lost to AIDS and that is a sad thing. The diary was not only well written, but very touching. It is a shame that Robbin Crosby was almost forgotten because he was dealing with this horrible disease that nobody wants to talk about. Well newsflash folks AIDS is not just a gay disease and you need to protect yourselves because there is no way of knowing if the next person you are with is infected. I feel really bad that people that have any disease that is caused by sex or drug abuse are pushed to the side while we worry about if Mary-Kate Olsen is eating or if Britney’s marriage will last until the end of the month. Kudos to Curt for writing the excellent memoir and to Sludge for having the balls to post it when you know a lot of places would not have. Keep up the great work. Prowler

Thanks for the piece on Robbin Crosby. It was very moving. Jeff

Hey folks!

I’m a very frequent reader of the Sludge, and rock’n roll fan from Venezuela. I’m really touched by the Robbin Crosby article on your site and I’d love to share some thoughts with the reader… Curt, I think is his name. I was a hughe Ratt fan when younger and when I found out about Robbin’s condition sent him some mails, I guess he never read them, anyway I really interested in get in touch with Curt. Could you be so kind to give me his e-mail or give him mine?

Regards from the South!

Keep it Heavy,

Mauricio.

Hey Mauricio, at the end of the article about Robbin Crosby, there’s a link to the tribute site which is run by the author of those recollections. Head on over to his site at www.robbincrosby.net — you’ll find ways to contact Curt and also to donate to his efforts.

Here?s some feedback on the recent 20 Questions interview with Tora Tora’s Patrick Francis:

I found the 20 Q with the bass player from Tora, Tora very interesting. See, no one really knows who he is! He was right. Anyway, I saw them play in Portland, OR back in the day, they played at this place called the Pine St. Theater. The place was a far cry from a theater & it wasn’t even a street, it was more like an alley! Anyway, they put on one hell of a show. At the time, I was like 16 or so. It was a great chance to see a new band up close like that. Also, they did play “Guilty” that evening, in fact they tore through the entire record.

Thanks for Reading this,

Ruben

Just for the record, you can count me among the “dozens of Tora Tora fans” who were excited to see the band finally make it to the Sludge. Great site in general and a damn fine 20 Questions specifically. It makes up for your overly soft handling of Many Lion (who I don’t think had much of a reference point for what was going on anyhow).

Kail

“18. For $100,000 in unmarked bills: A mob hitman grabs you off the street and says he has the body of someone he just whacked in the trunk of his car. He wants you to take the body home, dismember it with a handsaw, and dissolve the body parts in your bathtub with hydrofluoric acid, of which he will gladly provide you with an ample supply. When the body parts liquefy and go down the drain, he wants you to take the bones and remaining carrion, crush them into little bits with a sledgehammer, then spread the bone fragments throughout a sparsely populated wooded area several miles away from your residence. You are guaranteed to never get caught and your bathtub won’t be damaged either. Plus, he’ll be giving you enough cash to have your entire bathroom remodeled anyhow. What do you say, Patrick? Would you do it?”

Just so you know, HF acid eats calcium. It won’t completely dissolve skin, but it will take the bone out of you. I used to work with the shit and have seen what it really does to a person.

Hello, just read you’re 20 questions with Patrick Francis….the best bass player on earth?? “What” do you think you are? Your’e a bass player from Tora Tora! and i highly doubt that you’re any better than the bass plyers listed, you’re an ass wipe……don’t forget it…..what i see is a dip shit trying to make himself look “cool” in front of a ton of readers. nicki

More random inquiries:

Hey! Another sludger here. I know this may be difficult or completely useless but I’ve been in love (or lust) with Axl Rose since 1987. I’m 31 now and have been waiting for something from him and his “band” for years now, besides bootlegs. So what I’m asking for, you may not even give a flying fuck or may impossible. But I was wondering if any of you have connections to get a 20 questions from Axl. ME and all his fans want to hear from, not just about the album but from him himself. Okay, this is more for me. And don’t tell me I’m wasting my fucking time. I’m just devoted to this guy! Please help if you can!?!? 20 Questions with Axl Rose, even 10 will do as long as there good questions. Hahaha. And don’t make them up yourself!. Hehehe. Thanks, Stephanie-Hot Sludger

Yeah, you know, we’ve answered this question I don’t know how many times before. We’ve been asked over and over again if we’d do 20 Questions with such-and-such a person, like “Do 20 Questiosn with Axl Rose,” “Howard Stern,” “Eddie Van Halen,” etc. etc. Plug in any random ‘star’ or ‘celebrity’ into that question and we’ve probably been asked it before. YES, we would LOVE to score an interview with any of those people, but the truth is, either they don’t need the press, or they could give two fucks about Metal Sludge. And with Axl Rose, it’s probably both of those factors. We’re always stoked when we get a ‘big star’ to do 20 Questions with us, but seriously, that’s kind of up to the person we’d be interviewing as to whether or not they want to do it. If Axl’s people ever want to set something up, hey — we’re game, and they know how to find us. Until then, keep an eye out for 20 Questions, Rewinds, 3-Winds, and Back-4-Mores with anyone from a random ‘big star’ to someone you’ve never heard of. That’s how it works.

Here?s some stuff about our Birthday Wish from way back, like, a month ago.

– First of all.. great site. I have been “lurking” around here for about two years and this site has always made me laugh like crazy.. except today when I read your “birthday wish.” I am one of the lucky ones that survived that night. I lost friends and seeing their names and reading your wish brought a tear to my eye. It is wonderful to see that some people will not forget, and will always remember those people who died that night, remember those who have survived and the friends and families who still hurt and grieve for their loved ones. Thanks again, Metal Sludge. Happy 6th Birthday!!!!! Lisa

You guys fucking kick ass!! That birthday wish was awesome!! Totally and completely unexpected!! Everything the Sludge is all about. I loved it. I’m not even a fan of Great White, but what happened to them and to everybody whose lives were taken in the fire, it sucked. I personally salute Great White for going on and my wishes are with all of the families friends who were involved with this horrible atrocity. Spread peace, love, and Sludge. CrueKiss13 Jeff

Here’s some shit about our old pal Brent Muscat wearing a Metal Sludge shirt on the new L.A. Guns live DVD!

Hey bastard boy floyd,

Secret Records recently released a live LA guns DVD in the UK titled “HELLRAISERS BALL -CAUGHT IN THE ACT”.

What’s the big deal?? It features Kerri Kelli and Brent Muscat on dual guitar, and Brent himself is wearing a metal sludge T shirt!

Check it out at http://www.secretrecordslimited.com/secret_cat/secdvd121.htm

Download the video clip (warning: 25 MB) and you can see Brent with Sludge !

Cheers

Lastly, here’s a question about future Sludge parties and such:

Howdy there. Not sure if I am sending this email to the correct place, but fuck it. I don’t know where else to send it. Anyhow this is ImaRockerChick from the boards and I am writing to ask if and mainly when will there be more MSX coming to the rest of the country. I am in Houston, TX. I was supposed to make it to this last one in LA but unfortunately was not able to make it. Good thing because knowing me I would have gotten extremely drunk and extremely naked (which seems to go hand in hand) and there were way to many cameras around to be doing that shit. LOL! Please hurry up and plan another one so I can make my plans to get my ass on a plane and come and drink with you fuckers!

So hurry up and book another MSX show in another part of the US for the rest of us Sludgers. I would suggest Houston, but honestly, I don’t think there are all that many Sludgaholics in this area. Maybe Texas collectively.

By the way…. keep up the great work with the site. Things are looking good. Fuck the haters. There will always be haters. Keep on doing your thing and know that thousands out there appreciate and love what you do for us. Y’all Rock!

Take Care,

Wendy (ImaRockerChick)

Well, Wendy, we’re glad you asked about that, because we’ll be announcing our next Metal Sludge Extravaganza within the next several days or so! How’s that for vague? Well, we can’t spill the pudding about it now, but we’ll let you in on everything you need to know as soon as we possibly can.

Until then, we hope some of you Sludgeaholics in the midwest will show up at the Ricky Parent Benefit in Chicago on October 17th. We’d love to have a big Sludge presence there, and Ricky totally needs your support. Ricky’s made it through a 20 Questions, the MSX Tour last summer, years of Chip Z’Nuff’s second-hand smoke, and now, with your help, he’ll make it through chemotherapy and related surgeries, and before too long, he’ll hopefully be back bashing the skins in Enuff Z’Nuff. That way, we can start bashing on Ricky Parent again, and everything will be back to normal.

bastard boy floyd

Sludge You Like a Volcano (hey, at least it’s not another fucking hurricane!)