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Retirement sells . . . but not without San Antonio buying one more visit from Megadeth

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Retirement sells . . . but not without San Antonio buying one more visit from Megadeth

For as long as thrash metal has existed, metalheads should undoubtedly be able to agree that one of the main reasons for its influence and allure has been the presence of Dave Mustaine.

Fired from Metallica more than 40 years ago merely led to his formation of Megadeth, a band that took no prisoners and took no shit from the outset and continues to do so in its final days.

Making a long-awaited return to the Alamo City on Tuesday night as direct support to Iron Maiden along with openers Anthrax before 50,000-plus at the Alamodome, the Megadeth frontman brought his latest edition of the band that has included drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James Lomenzo for several years and was rounded out in 2023 by Finnish guitarist Teemu Mantysaari.

Mustaine has been the ultimate example of the type of perseverance metal helps many push through when it comes to the rigors of life. He has battled stenosis that has affected his neck and spine. He went through a bout with throat cancer.

His latest malady is called Dupuytren’s contracture, or “Viking’s Disease,” a condition that affects the feeling and shape of his fingers.

So yeah, while no one would wish any of those issues on their enemies, they’re especially not so ideal for a vocalist and guitarist.

Consequently, Mustaine confirmed shortly after the release of Megadeth’s self-titled 17th studio album earlier this year that this would be the final record and tour run.

But first, he had an audience to entertain at the dome.

Verbeuren took to the stage, acknowledged the fans, and surprisingly began the pounding drum sounds to the rarely played classic “Devil’s Island.” The rest of the band came out — and Mustaine promptly struggled mightily on vocals.

His patented snarl was there. So was his incredible guitar playing. But the abundance of health issues visibly reared their ugly head from the vantage point in the photo pit right in front of Mustaine, at least for the first three songs.

Upon leaving the photo pit, these eyes locked onto shaking of the head reactions from some in the front row that occurred even through second song and fellow 1986 classic “The Conjuring,” another surprise Mustaine inserted into the set after having said he would never play it again due to his Christian beliefs.

Mustaine’s vocal work appeared to improve halfway through the set from a vantage point in Section D on the floor as he and the band tore through “Sweating Bullets,” “Tornado of Souls” and the lone offering from the new album, the record’s ripping opener “Tipping Point.”

Mustaine even subbed in a regular electric guitar for his customary Jackson Flying-V for a couple of songs before ending with the familiar trifecta of “Symphony of Destruction,” “Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying” and “Holy Wars . . . The Punishment Due” that are always an invitation for maximum headbanging and, potentially down the road, one’s own stenosis diagnosis.

Mantysaari, who replaced Kiko Loureiro three years ago, has been an incredible complement to Mustaine on guitar. Verbeuren, formerly of Soilwork, has been in the band for a decade, with the 2016 River City Rockfest here being one of the first gigs he played in Megadeth. Lomenzo, meanwhile, has contributed bass to many artists after initially hitting the metal scene throughout White Lion’s late-’80s commercial success.

Mustaine confirmed to the audience the “rumors are true” he’d retire the band after this tour and album run. He certainly doesn’t owe fans anymore of his blood, sweat and tears throughout a legendary career. What a shame it would be if his final San Antonio showing didn’t come in headlining fashion.

For now, one potential last visit will go into the history books and memory banks, for better or worse. But it will also be for all those who appreciate Megadeth’s tenure and contribution not only as a member of the Big 4, but to heavy metal. Period.

With no prisoners taken.

SETLIST: Devil’s Island, The Conjuring, Take No Prisoners, Sweating Bullets, Tipping Point, Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells . . . But Who’s Buying, Holy Wars . . . The Punishment Due

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Anthrax caught in a blur while moshing on Iron Maiden tour

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Anthrax caught in a blur while moshing on Iron Maiden tour

There aren’t many bands that have been around for 42 years that would agree to play a five-song set for only 30 minutes.

But Anthrax isn’t your ordinary band. They’re also smart enough not to say no to Iron Maiden and its “Run For Your Lives” tour.

So the veteran thrashers from New York agreed to play a mere six dates in September opening for the lads from Britain and Megadeth. One of those dates was fortunate enough to be in the Alamo City on Tuesday night before an estimated 50,000 fans at the Alamodome that was packed to the rafters.

But even vocalist Joey Belladonna, rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, bassist Frank Bello and lead guitarist Jon Donais were thrown a curveball when original drummer Charlie Benante was said to have woken up with “debilitating vertigo” and unable to play.

A mad scramble ensued to enable Anthrax to avoid cancelling its appearance. Megadeth drummer Dirk Verbeuren took action by calling San Antonio resident and current Raven and former Fear Factory backstopper Mike Heller, who luckily answered the phone.

Without knowing any Anthrax songs (surprisingly), only being given 4 1/2 hours notice and being directed to the wrong place to park — and only meeting with the band members an hour before hitting the stage — Heller turned into Mighty Mouse on his own by saving the day as Anthrax kicked off a loud, memorable, headbanging night for the ages.

Despite releasing their first album in 10 years only 11 days prior, Anthrax could not perform any tunes from Cursum Perficio given that Heller had to chart even their most well-known classics. And given their short allotted 40 minutes of stage time that turned into 30, it’s not clear whether Anthrax would’ve performed at least first single “It’s for the Kids” even if Benante had answered the call.

No matter.

Heller stepped in, and Anthrax moshed things up as only they know how with five of their tunes from the 1985-90 era (setlist below).

Heller wrote on his social media pages the day after in part:

“So I woke up today thinking that I was gonna spend a nice day with my cats and my drumpad… then out of absolutely nowhere at 2:00pm I get a call from my buddy Dirk Verbeuren… he asks me if I’m in town tonight, and if I might know any Anthrax songs, and if I can fill in for Charlie Benante at 6:30pm tonight on the Maiden/Megadeth/ Anthrax tour…. Well… I didn’t know any Anthrax songs on the drums, but I quickly charted two out, raced down to the Alamodome… sat in traffic and got thrown to the wrong place to park, finally got inside, sat down with the guys in Anthrax for less than an hour… charted the other songs as they told me how the versions they play live are different from the album… and then went on stage in front of 56,000 people or whatever, and did my best... Holy crap! How the HELL did I get here?!?!”

“I still have no idea what happened! Next time, I hope I get more than a few hours to try to learn the songs… and hopefully I would actually be able to move the drums into a comfortable playing position for me… but this is a night I will never forget!” (see 42-photo gallery).

As Ian told the crowd immediately after opening track “Caught in a Mosh:”

“Before we go any further . . . Charlie was puking his guts out this morning.”

But when push came to shove, Anthrax delivered the goods as they so often do. It’s virtually a given they’ll be back nearby on a headlining run once things settle down.

Until then, “My journey has come to an end” may or may not be taken literally from Anthrax’s point of view. Between now and then, however, it’s perfectly acceptable to be caught in a mosh anytime Anthrax is in the vicinity.

SETLIST: Caught in a Mosh, Madhouse, Antisocial, Got the Time, Indians

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Thunderbolts & thunderheads by W.A.S.P., KK's Priest provide sonic blasts from past

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Thunderbolts & thunderheads by W.A.S.P., KK's Priest provide sonic blasts from past

Another scenic sunny yet muggy summer evening Saturday outside the Aztec Theatre proved to be anything but on the inside of the downtown venue.

That’s where thunder reigned.

Thunderheads from W.A.S.P. Thunderbolts courtesy of KK’s Priest. And it all resulted in a thunderous return to the Alamo City for the leaders of both bands celebrating their early years with a modern twist.

Making their third San Antonio appearance in six years after a several-years absence, the Blackie Lawless-led W.A.S.P. focused on their first four albums on the “1984 to Headless” tour.

In 2022 at the Boeing Center at Tech Port, W.A.S.P. spotlighted 30 years of The Crimson Idol in a performance that was odd, and perhaps short of some expectations, in various ways (coverage here). In 2024, Lawless rectified that in a big way at the Aztec by turning up the intensity and focus as W.A.S.P. played the 1984 self-titled debut album in its entirety with a few additional hits (coverage here).

This time, the addition of songs from 1985’s The Last Command and 1986’s Inside the Electric Circus that culminated a string of three sexually charged records and preceded 1989’s politically driven The Headless Children promised and delivered a broader spectrum of classic W.A.S.P.

Somewhat inexplicably, though, the Aztec’s response was rather lukewarm. Despite the fact Lawless, guitarist Doug Blair, bassist Mike Duda and drummer Aquiles Priester opened with a pair of classics they did not play on either of the two preceding visits: the 1986 Uriah Heep cover of “Easy Livin’ “ — a track with which the originators closed their May 30, 2024, stop at the Tobin Center supporting Saxon — and 1985 deep cut “Fistful of Diamonds,” the Aztec’s reaction was, shall we say, lame?

As W.A.S.P. progressed through their ‘80s repertoire that included 1984 favorites “The Flame” and “B.A.D.” plus The Who cover “The Real Me” (printed setlist in 55-photo gallery), an explanation for the crowd’s indifference was needed. Some theories abounded:

1) Prior to W.A.S.P. taking the stage, there was a peculiar announcement warning patrons that crowd surfing and/or coming onto the stage would result in “immediate ejection.” To be fair, the venue had signs outside alerting of the former. But even in the world of heavy metal, such a pronouncement is not expected. And it seemed to partially suck the air out of the crowd moments before the headliners played a note.

2) Other than repeating “All I need, all I need, all I need is my L.O.V.E. Machine” and “I’m blind, I’m blind, I’m Blind in Texas” for the mandatory finale, Lawless’ lone instance of speaking to the audience came when he introduced 1984 “Cries in the Night” demo “Mr. Cool” by sharing that he sold the song for $5,000 but was later sued for $1 million. Other than that, Lawless bypassed his customary, “San Antonio, how the hell are ya” or any other moments of keeping his fans engaged.

3) Despite being the headliner and having 90 minutes to perform, W.A.S.P.’s 76-minute set featured half-and-half versions of “Thunderhead” and “Forever Free” plus “Inside the Electric Circus” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” So just when fans may have been getting into the first of the pairings, Lawless changed things up perhaps one too many times. On “Forever Free” in particular, the band omitted the midsection heaviest part of the ballad that would have complemented Priester’s booming thunderclaps of the kit. Not to mention, it would have served as an ode to the late Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali, a close friend of Lawless’ who played on the entire The Headless Children album. With San Antonio drumming royalty in the house in the form of Buckcherry’s Francis Ruiz and ex-Fates Warning, Halford and Sebastian Bach backstopper Bobby Jarzombek, W.A.S.P. missed an opportunity for a nice touch.

4) Speaking of one too many times: Lawless frequently turned his back to the crowd to make sure he was in tune and rhythm with Priester. Most frontmen do that once or twice during a show, but Blackie’s frequency contributed to the disconnect with the crowd.

Not even Lawless frying a likeness of Adolf Hitler in an electric chair that had been covered all night by a “Danger: 10,000 Volts” banner during the title track to The Headless Children (watch ATM footage below) could resonate with the crowd.

Lawless deviated from the theme of the tour briefly by playing the intro to his latest album — 2015’s Golgotha — before the Aztec came alive at last to the sounds of “Wild Child” (ATM footage below) and of course “Blind in Texas.”

Although W.A.S.P. delivered the goods, they didn’t have a typical opening act to follow. In fact, KK’s Priest architect K.K. Downing’s first album with Judas Priest dropped a full decade before W.A.S.P.’s.

But after previous tours in Austin, Downing and his new band that formed in 2019 and has released two albums finally stopped in the Alamo City. Downing even acknowledged “It’s been a long time” to the Aztec faithful before launching into Judas Priest’s three most commercially popular songs: “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ “, “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”

Though they turned the former into half a song, KK’s Priest fit in a variety of Judas Priest classics to go with four KK’s Priest future classics in their 61-minute set.

The crowd was fired up from the get-go seeing Downing and vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens tear through the tunes with drummer Sean Elg, guitarist A.J. Mills and bassist Tony Newton.

As the support act, KK’s Priest did not offer any tracks from Owens’ 1996-2003 era in JP. Nevertheless, Owens has always been the right choice to front the many bands he has, including Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen and Dio Disciples.

Though they omitted obvious selection “The Ripper,” the band shined on KK’s Priest blazer “Hellfire Thunderbolt” and 1981 Judas Priest favorite “Heading Out to the Highway” (ATM footage of both below).

Any gig involving “Beyond the Realms of Death” and “Victim of Changes” is worth the price of admission alone, and KK’s Priest further amped up the already fired up audience with those before also tossing in “The Sentinel” and “Turbo Lover,” then ending with KK’s Priest tune “Raise Your Fists.”

The tale of two audience reactions between the bands was in and of itself unusual. Some of it was through no fault of the efforts of the musicians. Some of it was.

But when it comes to receiving the headbang for one’s buck, you couldn’t go wrong with a 74-year-old silver-haired guitarist who hadn’t played San Antonio since leaving his former band in 2010.

Or with a one-of-his-kind leader who has dedicated his life to spewing out metal record after metal record when he could’ve played baseball in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization. A legendary frontman who demonstrated that his gargantuan mic stand Elvis was no match for his recently turned 70-year-old body that was filled with herniated discs and vertebrae damage just three years ago when he climbed it at show’s end and bellowed his patented, “Good night! We’ll see you next time!”

So if there is a next time for turning back the clock with one or both of these majestic bands — sign us up. ‘Cause there’s no such thing as too much heavy metal thunder.

W.A.S.P. SETLIST: Easy Livin’, Fistful of Diamonds, The Flame, Mr. Cool (1984 Cries in the Night demo), B.A.D., Thunderhead / Forever Free medley, The Real Me, The Headless Children, I Wanna Be Somebody, L.O.V.E. Machine, Inside the Electric Circus / I Don’t Need No Doctor medley, Golgotha (intro), Wild Child, Blind In Texas

KK’s PRIEST SETLIST: You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (half), Breaking the Law, Living After Midnight, Strike of the Viper, One More Shot At Glory, Hellfire Thunderbolt, Heading Out to the Highway, Beyond the Realms of Death, The Sentinel, Victim of Changes, Turbo Lover, Raise Your Fists

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Engines of riffs, tributes & seeing double demolish Boeing Center

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Engines of riffs, tributes & seeing double demolish Boeing Center

Headbangers, metalheads and curious onlookers comprising the San Antonio chapter of the Black Label Society on Friday night at the Boeing Center at Tech Port may not have realized they were watching a riddle unfold before their eyes.

Three bands on stage. Two of them had four members each, while the other utilized three. But there were only seven musicians combined.

Since when does 4 + 4 + 3 = 7?

That’s what you get when BLS, Zakk Sabbath and Dark Chapel come together.

BLS, in its 28th year as the brainchild of guitarist / vocalist Zakk Wylde, was making its first appearance at the Boeing Center since being the middle band Feb. 10, 2023, in support of Anthrax with opening act Exodus.

This time, Wylde’s band comprised of bassist John “J.D.” DeServio, drummer Jeff Fabb and guitarist Dario Lorina were headlining joined by, well, the trio of Wylde, DeServio and Fabb known as Zakk Sabbath.

Not to be outdone in the double duty department was Lorina, who unleashed his bluesy vocal skills to go with lead guitar as the frontman of Las Vegas-based Dark Chapel, which kicked off the night in support of their 2025 debut Spirit in the Glass.

But the Alamo City chapter didn’t come to the Boeing for a math lesson or to solve riddles. They came to rock. And the bands took care of that with ease.

BLS was fully charged in support of Engines of Demolition, performing a 12-song set in 1 hour, 24-minutes.

Focusing on half of their 12 studio albums going back to 2003’s The Blessed Hellride, Black Label Society mixed in older tunes such as “Funeral Bell” and “Suicide Messiah” with new-album track “Name In Blood” — though they omitted anything from 2010 personal favorite Order of the Black.

Wylde, who entered heavy metal’s conscience as a precocious 19-year-old on an episode of MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” after being hired as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, has made a habit of dedicating part of his visits to honoring the late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and now Abbott’s late brother, drummer Vinnie Paul.

But of course, this latest BLS concert hit home even more after Osbourne passed last year.

To his credit, Wylde didn’t stack the emotional waterworks on top of one another. After his traditional piano-led “In This River” tribute to the Pantera brothers, BLS returned to the heaviness with “The Blessed Hellride,” “Set You Free” and “Fire It Up.” The latter saw Wylde stand atop the piano and blister into his solo with the guitar behind his head while Lorina did the same several feet away before Wylde tossed in a brief “Smoke on the Water” riff to end it.

“Ozzy’s Song” from the latest album was of course mandatory, and Lorina sat behind the piano for that one while Wylde provided his vocals and guitar work. A triplet of classic Osbourne photos dotted the big screen but, surprisingly, they were the only pictures of the Ozzman shown throughout the evening. Just as unexpected was the fact that unlike his previous visit, Wylde left himself out of the photos shown of Abbott and Paul.

Wylde also broke up “Heart of Darkness” with the “No More Tears” solo and sang its final verse. But there was arguably no larger tribute to Osbourne than the fact Wylde formed Zakk Sabbath in 2014 and has had headlining tours with that band.

This time, Wylde, Fabb and DeServio directly supported themselves, challenging their conditioning, stamina and vocal health each night.

As the middle artist Friday, Zakk Sabbath limited itself to five songs (setlist below; no professional video was allowed), but still turned it into a 49-minute set. The highlight came during finale “War Pigs” when Wylde left the stage and was escorted to the front of the soundboard, ripping into a lengthy guitar solo behind half of the general-admission portion of the crowd that was still staring at the front of the stage unaware of the presence and sound emanating behind them (see 85-photo gallery).

Fabb, the original drummer for In This Moment when that band formed 20 years ago, utilized two different kits for each band. His Zakk Sabbath setup included one bass drum while his BLS machinery had two.

Dark Chapel got the festivities started in a heavy yet bluesy way with Lorina, rhythm guitarist Dylan Dyce, bassist Mike Leon and drummer Jeremiah Walker spotlighting their album but also pulling off a cover of Bill Withers’ 1971 classic “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

Leon was his usual animalistic self on stage after spending the past several years in Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy with former Sepultura voice Max Cavalera.

While the crowd of 2,000 — according to a LIve Nation staffer — in the 3,000-capacity Boeing Center got their money’s worth and appeared to thoroughly enjoy themselves, a pair of fans received an extra dose of reality when Wylde ended everyone’s night by wiping his sweaty forehead with two washcloths and tossing them into the crowd. Wylde had definitely earned a cooldown moment. As did his double-duty bandmates.

Their engines of riffage remained ringing in these ears throughout the drive home. And the legends watching from above probably would’ve taken that as the greatest tribute of them all.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY SETLIST: Funeral Bell, Name In Blood, Destroy & Conquer, A Love Unreal, Heart of Darkness (w/ No More Tears solo & final verse), In This River, The Blessed Hellride, Set You Free, Fire It Up, Suicide Messiah, Ozzy’s Song, Stillborn

ZAKK SABBATH SETLIST: Children of the Grave, Snowblind, Fairies Wear Boots, N.I.B., War Pigs

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Aeternal Starlight shines bright despite venue's dark cloud

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Aeternal Starlight shines bright despite venue's dark cloud

For more than a decade, Austin Zettner and Jyro Alejo have been at the forefront when it comes to spotlighting the talented crop of guitarists comprising the San Antonio metal scene not named Ron Jarzombek.

Zettner has had quite a journey as the one constant in Aeternal Requiem for more than 11 years as guitarist and vocalist of what once was a trio, then went through lineup changes, then dissolved from the scene before resurrecting earlier this year as a quartet.

Alejo, meanwhile, has dazzled audiences with his thrilling style and skill on the axe, shredding his way to performances alongside Tim “Ripper” Owens and at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention while dedicating his craft throughout Jessikill’s tenure from 2012-23.

Alejo has a new group called Starlight, and they provided direct support to Aeternal Requiem this past Friday night at The Mix in a showcase of the 2026 versions of each of their musical undertakings.

The show, however, was supposed to feature four bands. And the cancellation of the other two didn’t come very lightly or for typical reasons.

Scars Of The Flesh and scheduled openers Arbiter took themselves off the bill earlier in the afternoon but unbeknownst to several in attendance until their scheduled set times went by without activity.

A visit to Scars Of The Flesh’s social media pages resulted in the band telling its fans: “So in light of situations that have arisen to the surface with the venue tonight, we must announce we are canceling (sp) our performance at The Mix tonight. We respect all parties involved but we must stand on the side of integrity. We will have some shows coming up here in town so catch us very soon! Duly noted: We love The Mix and the venue itself is a great place to play, once everything is settled and clear we would love the chance to return.”

Arbiter could not be reached for comment, but ATM was able to contact Scars Of The Flesh during what should’ve been the group’s performance time, and the band replied in kind: “As far as speaking for the cancellation of tonight, we are professionals through and through. We are not at liberty to speak of what caused said reason but to know we had to stand at the side of integrity since what was shared on social media from other parties regarding said venue. It’s too soon to know what’s happened so to be sure not to be associated in any way shape or form, we chose to bow out gracefully.”

ATM questioned two staffers at The Mix regarding the reasons for the cancellation, with one saying he “thought” it was over an Instagram post and the other saying twice, “I don’t know” before referring ATM once again to the first staffer.

Upon further digging, it was discovered that an alleged sexual assault had recently taken place in the back of the venue and that the Instagram post was reportedly the corresponding police report. According to a source, the alleged incident took place June 26 with the bar staff knowing about the activity, but that the incident allegedly was a false accusation between a boyfriend and girlfriend.

ATM asked Alejo why Starlight didn’t follow suit with the other bands not taking part. Citing the incomplete investigation, Alejo said, “We don’t ever like to cancel shows.”

So while the four bands were split on the proverbial “the show must go on,” that should’ve meant more stage time for the two bands that stayed and played. Instead, Starlight played a mere four songs in 23 minutes, while Aeternal Requiem’s headlining set was an all-too-brief 31 minutes.

But both bands made their time count.

Zettner not only has rebirthed Aeternal Requiem into a quartet of all-new players in bassist David Rey — a veteran of the local scene with other bands — guitarist Diego Quiroga and drummer Waldo Guardiola, but he has put his previous experience honing his craft and exploring other genres of metal while in Finland a few years back to various uses.

For example, Zettner has blended the band’s older material on albums such as Rise into newer tunes such as “Forlorn Hope” that put the focus on folk metal.

Nevertheless, ATM has covered Aeternal Requiem since 2015, and Friday’s show was Zettner’s most vicious to date.

Setting the tone early by telling a packed crowd, “I have a lot of pent-up energy to get out,” Zettner and the band tore into "Eternal My Soul” and “Invictus” while taking a chance on newer tracks such as “Chant Song” and “The Triumphant” (watch ATM footage of the latter two below).

Aeternal Requiem advanced out of the San Antonio Regional of the Wacken Metal Battle in February (coverage here) before falling short at the state final in March. But that has allowed the group more time to gel, write and rehearse, and Zettner appears to have Aeternal Requiem headed in a promising and longer-lasting direction when it comes to the city’s metal landscape.

Starlight in its own right, with vocalist / bassist Eric Blair, Alejo and drummer Riley Castillo have introduced San Antonio metalheads to their brand of power metal, and you can check them out below via ATM’s footage of “Night Rider” and “Cosmic Chaos.”

Starlight also has a couple of promotional videos out which, ironically, were mixed and mastered by Scars Of The Flesh guitarist Bryan Eckmermann.

In what was undoubtedly an atypical night of San Antonio live metal, here’s hoping both performing bands will continue to drop new music leading to more appearances.

But here’s much larger hoping that those involved in the aforementioned alleged activity can get things sorted out without any harm coming to any individuals. And that the bands who stood up for what they believed in, by sitting out, will be back on stage throwing down sooner than later.

AETERNAL REQUIEM SETLIST: Never to Return, Eternal My Soul, Chant Song, The Triumphant, Forlorn Hope, Invictus

STARLIGHT SETLIST: Starlight, Into the Night, Night Rider, Cosmic Chaos

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From Hardworking Heroine to Humbled Solo Artist: The Lynnwood King story

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From Hardworking Heroine to Humbled Solo Artist: The Lynnwood King story

For as dedicated and prideful as San Antonio’s heavy metal scene has been for five decades, you could probably bet the house that only a small handful of metalheads know the answer to this question:

Which band was:

a) a staple of the local scene for 17 years

b) played in front of the members of Motley Crue during the national finals, among 10,000 entrants, of a Guitar Center Cruefest contest at the Whisky-A-Go Go in Hollywood

c) is the only artist — local or national — to have played every River City Rockfest (2013-18)?

Who are The Heroine, Alex?

Ding ding ding ding ding!

From pool halls and dive bars to the main stage of the AT&T Center, The Heroine was arguably the most energetic, most rocking and most tireless band the local scene had to offer.

And it wasn’t even close.

Living up to his song “Hardworking Man,” vocalist Lynnwood King was at the front of it all on stage and off. Joined by bassist Wes “Ghulie” Vargulish, drummer Johnny Lightning, lead guitarist Derek “Dibby Disaster” and rhythm guitarist Jorge “The Kidd” Luevano, The Heroine dropped Playing for Keeps in 2007. Songs such as “Texas Star,” “Night Rocker” and “Ballad of Lenny King” (which wasn’t a ballad) introduced San Antonians to a microphone slinging wild man fueled by his passion for the Christian inspired music he helped create and the bandmates that collectively threw down during every show no matter how large or small their audience.

They entered a Guitar Center contest to see which band would open for Motley Crue in 2008 during the inaugural Cruefest, which included a stop at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Advancing to the final six bands, The Heroine traveled to Hollywood and had one shot at attempting to impress Motley’s members.

Drummer Tommy Lee was sold, saying, “This band kicks ass!” Alas, The Heroine came this close, falling short to The Last Vegas.

But it wasn’t all for naught for The Heroine.

In addition to the experience the band gained, it earned endorsement deals with Gibson Guitars and Ernie Ball plus a collaboration with Best Buy to have their CDs sold in one of the biggest electronic and entertainment stores the nation had at that time.

King had another project on the side called Lynnwood King & The Revival which occasionally doubled up with The Heroine at the River City Rockfest. The Revival was more blues and gospel oriented with a horn section and female church choir backup vocalists complementing King’s acoustic guitar.

Despite a couple of lead guitarist changes along the way, with David Arias Jr. replacing Dibby Disaster and Joey Villalobos taking over for Luevano, The Heroine was going strong for many years, releasing Out for Blood in 2022. They’d occasionally land a small headlining tour that would see them traveling in a van across the country, but they were never quite able to land The Big One.

Once Covid took over, things began to change for The Heroine.

Sitting in that same van last Saturday after performing a three-hour afternoon set with two breaks as a now quartet version of Lynnwood King & The Revival, King laid it all out exclusively to Alamo True Metal.

“It’s been a good but challenging road,” King said.

Accompanied by his cousin Tito on drums, guitarist Maclovio Perez III and bassist Dmitri, King and The Revival played a mixture of covers and originals during the Chopper and Vintage Bike Show at Caliente Harley-Davidson on the city’s northwest side.

“I could tour the rest of my life playing in front of 50 people a night, and I’d be happy,” King said. “I just love it. But when everyone doesn’t feel that way . . .”

That’s about how many witnessed The Revival’s performance at the bike show, an audience that included King’s mother and 95-year-old grandmother.

Without a whole lot of fanfare, The Heroine decided to call it quits in 2024. Rather, King uses the phrase “rebranded.” For example, the Playing for Keeps album cover on your streaming devices now looks like this.

Naturally, the decision wasn’t exactly one of the happiest moments in the band’s history.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished,” King said. “And I miss Johnny, I miss Wes, I miss David. I even miss Jorge and Derek, man. I miss all those guys. But on the 1st of January, I typed up this long letter, and I texted it to them. I would’ve had a meeting. Laid it all out: this is what I want to do, and if you want to come with me, I want you to come with me. Everyone was just like, ‘No problem.’ We’ve all worked hard, but they also know the financial investment I have in this.

“They offered to do a show where we could try and raise money and pay me back, but I didn’t want to do a benefit show. I want to build what we have and keep doing what we do. I was content. I love to play. I have enough money. I’m blessed. I have several companies that have done well for me. My music: I’m not making a killing, but I’m making enough.”

King and the band were active on social media doing whatever they could to promote shows locally and whenever they’d go on tour. But then that was taken away from them.

“Social media banned the band’s name,” he said. “We can’t say or promote The Heroine on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. They flag it as the drug. Literally. We were restricted. We lost all our accounts. TikTok wouldn’t let us be searchable. If I talked about The Heroine, it would restrict me for days. AI just killed us.”

Wonder how Wonder Woman feels about “Heroine” vs. “Heroin.”

“In this day and age, you have to have a social media presence,” King continued. “Do reels and engage with your audience. And we couldn’t do that, man, and that was such a frustration. I brought it up to the band: ‘Hey, maybe we should change the name. Let’s try to relaunch,’ and everyone was against it. We’re stuck. And there’s no way out of it. And I’m losing money every month.”

King cites three turning points along the way when he could feel things going south, starting with the Chancla Fest in April 2023 at Alamo Beer Company, an all-day event that featured 20 local bands headlined by Upon A Burning Body (coverage here).

Promoted by Joe Cordero as the first of its kind with aspirations to hold it annually at Boeing Center at Tech Port and eventually the Alamodome, those hopes never materialized.

Nearly, as well, did The Heroine’s paycheck.

“We had agreed to do the Chancla Fest (but) I’m used to dealing with contracts,” King said. “When you do a big event, you lock in a contract. Everyone signs it. You get a deposit. That was kind of a weird thing. I had just lost my social media and couldn’t communicate on Instagram, but the promoter was communicating with all the bands on Instagram. Then he started messaging everyone: ‘I’m not paying everyone. Only the headliners are going to get paid.’ And they moved us from being direct support to Upon A Burning Body to playing at 3 in the afternoon, super hot. Then I called and said, ‘Hey dude, you’ve gotta keep your guarantee.’ And so he agreed to keep it and was like, ‘Don’t just tell no one that I paid y’all.’ It was super humbling. Nothing against the guy, but there’s a certain level of professionalism everyone expects.”

Despite the awkwardness of going from a promised direct support slot to wondering what their audience was going to be like at the Chancla Fest, things appeared to be moving forward shortly thereafter.

“I always thought the band was amazing, and every show we played was good,” King said. “We were signed to Atomic Music Group. They were going to put us on some super awesome tours, and we kept telling them — there was always someone who couldn’t do something. Our agent called one time and said, ‘Hey, The Supersuckers need someone to jump on their tour from Chicago through the Midwest and ends in Austin. I need you all to be there on Monday.’ And I was like, ‘I’m down. I can do it.’

“I called all the band, and some of them didn’t have a very good attitude about it: ‘The Supersuckers? They don’t even draw.’ This is our booking agent from Atomic Music Group, who’s really taking a chance on us. We weren’t a big draw.”

King shakes his head in reflection regarding the second moment.

“We did a tour after that, and it was just brutal. Headlining tour. San Antonio to Seattle and back. It was a good route, but Covid kind of changed the landscape. The first two dates were just brutal. We got guarantees, so they’ve gotta pay us, but it was like, ‘No one’s here.’ I bought this van for us to tour in. We had just freakin’ got our deal with Atomic, and (claps his hands twice): upgrade! I got this van, and this is our first tour, and we all have our beds. But we were losing money.

“And finally, we get to Portland, and we have a good base out there and a killer show. But then me and Joey — Joey was already checked out. I was throwing my mic stand around, doing my thing, and Joey was like, “Watch out, man! You almost hit me!” He was like, “Stay on your side of the stage,” and he started getting upset. I’d never seen an attitude (like that). He was frustrated. We all were. When you have a family and you’re not making money on tour, and you’re playing all these dates. You’re like, ‘I can’t send my wife money, and we’ve got kids.’ So that was kind of a buildup.

“Johnny said, ‘I don’t want him in the band anymore.’ David was like, ‘Meh’ and that night came to a head. I let him know, ‘Joey, man, I’m gonna have to drop you off at the airport, Bro.’ I’ve fired guys before, but . . .”

Asked if and when he knew his final show as frontman of The Heroine was going to be, King went back to the June 7, 2024, Summer Fest at Stable Hall at the Pearl Brewery as the third turning point. It was a headlining bill with support from The Recasts, Grupo Tan Tan, Becoming Sons and Rebel Angels.

“It’s fun when you’re headlining and you’ve got all this buzz around the band,” King said. “But when it’s not there, and you’re not getting the attention or validation, I think it just demoralizes people. I don’t know how well they promoted it. We didn’t promote it very well. But that night, I knew that was my last show with The Heroine. But we had just done a photo shoot. I was losing weight. We were getting ready for stuff to relaunch.

“But when we got to that show — the band did great. But I just felt like there was no turnout, and I was just wondering what was going on. I was discouraged. We played the show.

“We probably didn’t talk to each other for a few months (afterwards), and we didn’t play any shows. I just started working on myself, music, trying to write. And then December, when 2025 was coming, I was thinking, ‘We have to make a change.’ “

Which brings us to 2026 and the rebranded version of Lynnwood King & The Revival. Last weekend’s performance also saw the band unknowingly have the added duty of judging the bike contest in between their sets (see 43-photo gallery and watch them in action below via a cover of The Doors’ “Gloria” plus original track “Let It Fall Down”).

Indicative of the times for King, he played “Let It Fall Down” twice, doing it a second instance because “no one was really here” the first time.

The gig also marked Perez’s final performance with the band. Perez, whose father is a TV weatherman in Corpus Christi, is preparing to move to Miami to work for Gibson Guitars.

But where one door closes, another may be opening. And it’s from King’s immediate past.

“David has agreed to start rehearsing, and he’s going to play a couple shows with me,” King said of Arias Jr. “I’m so excited. My mind’s already: if David comes in . . . “

Then King pumped the brakes.

“David’s not committed. He just says, ‘I’m gonna jam with you all.’ And I’m gonna pay him. He’s not a business partner anymore. He’s a hired gun.”

“And he ain’t cheap,” King added laughing. “Don’t tell those other guys. And he deserves it. They all get their publishing still. They all get their share.”

King, Lightning and Luevano were all contractors in their non-music time. Vargulish is an aviation technician, and Arias Jr. is a psychology therapist. Eventually, their day jobs consistently paid more than their musical passion — another factor that helped do The Heroine in.

“Wes and I talk a lot. Wes was very hurt,” King said of Vargulish. “But he understood. But he was more hurt that the guys let it get to that point. Wes and I were always telling the guys, ‘Man, we’ve got to work harder. We’ve got to play more, we’ve got to stay tight.’ But when Covid hit, everyone stopped playing music and (started) focusing on their business. They were doing contract work. Me and Wes were like, ‘My work is going to play.’ But when you make money outside of music and the money’s better, music becomes a hobby. It may have gotten to that point with some of the guys, and I understand. But I don’t want to play part time.

“When I made the decision to kinda rebrand The Heroine to Lynnwood King & The Revival, that was a hard decision because everything was The Heroine,” King said. “The only reason I did The Revival was because The Heroine wasn’t playing enough, and I wanted to play. In The Heroine, we’re like business partners. We won and we lost together. Since I rebranded to Lynnwood King & The Revival, that brought all the content with me. I let them know . . . and everyone was cool with that. They’d already felt like . . . they were tired. They’re still playing, but being in a band is more than just playing shows.

“Especially in this day and age with technology, you have to be playing shows. And doing content. And messaging your crowd, the audience, every day. You gotta be consistent with that. And it’s hard for a band to do that.

“I like it when you’re business partners. But the problem with that model is, one guy decides not to show up, you can’t play. One guy decides he doesn’t want to do a tour, you can’t do the tour. One guy decides he wants to take a year off or decides he’s going to get wasted drunk. That’s the problem with that. Right now, thank God I have a lot of people around me that I can ask to fill in, and they’re very proficient and good players. But there’s no promoting. With The Heroine, everyone was talking about it, sharing posts, collectively working together whereas now, it’s just me. Right now where I’m at, as long as I get paid enough money to pay everybody, I’m good. And if you don’t show up, that means I make more money. They’re both good. I miss the guys, but I definitely feel like I have more control over my life.”

While Arias Jr. is getting ready to reunite with King on stage, Lightning continues to play drums for Thunder Horse, which took part in the two-day Ram Jam last month in Windcrest, and his wife recently gave birth to their second child.

Vargulish is putting together a Christian oriented band called Enoch Flesh with Chris Gamez on guitar and longstanding San Antonio and former Wednesday 13 drummer Jason West. They’re looking for a hardcore styled vocalist male or female.

“What’s done is done. We had our moment in the sun, and circumstances beyond our control, pandemic lockdowns, ultimately was the undoing of it all,” Vargulish said when contacted by Alamo True Metal. “I have no regrets, we did a lot of cool things, and now I am trying to get my band off of the ground.”

So while each member of The Heroine is moving on in his own way, King is doing what he’s always been known to do: be a “Hardworking Man.”

“I can’t tell you, Jay, how many times I’ve sang that song and cried,” King said. “Cried, literally, on stage with my bandmates, crying, singing that song. Because that is the energy we should always bring. And I still want to bring that. Because I’m so passionate about this, and I love it. And when someone loses that, when you lose that fire, you can tell. So, don’t lose that fire.

“This is my whole life. I’ve got thousands of dollars invested in the music of The Heroine. And our last tour, thousands in repairs and fixes. I got to the point where if we’re not playing a lot, man — I can’t just not play. That’s when I started gigging with The Revival. I started live streaming, figuring out how to stay afloat.

“I’m a solo artist now. The difference is now, I have to make sure everyone gets paid. If you’re going to play with me, I’m going to pay you. Everyone. I’ve gotta have my P.A. system. I gotta pay my soundman. ‘Cause, it’s my name. (In) The Heroine, everyone gave. We went tours without getting paid. We struggled together. And we had success together because we were in it. We were partners.

“I don’t want my bandmates to feel like I betrayed them, that we broke up. But we did break up because we’re not playing together anymore. They’re my best friends. I would love to play with them again.

“But I also have to understand that I gotta move on and try and keep growing. To keep playing. I can’t throw those songs away.”

 

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Higher power provides Stryper's salvation more than ever four decades later

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Higher power provides Stryper's salvation more than ever four decades later

Among the Hollywood Strip’s plethora of mid-80’s bands that were shouting at the devil, breaking the chains and dancing undercover came a quartet that defied the norm. And not just because they were wearing yellow and black costumes to go with their big hair and spandex.

Stryper’s message and not-exactly-subtle tone in lyrics touting the power of the almighty went against the grain of what everyone else was playing — and what metalheads around the nation were hearing — and 42 years later could make an argument as one of the biggest gambles in heavy metal history.

Not only did it pay off in a huge way for the original lineup of vocalist / guitarist Michael Sweet, drummer Robert Sweet, guitarist Oz Fox and bassist Timothy Gaines, but Stryper has outlasted many of its contemporaries while reaching the big time that other Christian-laden artists such as Barren Cross and Bloodgood had hoped to achieve.

Stryper is more than still going strong. But in the midst of 15 studio albums and all of the Holy Bibles tossed out at each show has appeared a stark realization:

Stryper’s faith within the band has never hit home — or been tested — more than in the past 4-5 years.

Michael Sweet has battled retinal detachments requiring multiple surgeries on both eyes and thyroid cancer. Fox has endured seizures leading to multiple brain surgeries.

Think about that for a minute, folks. We’re not talking a case of the sniffles here.

So the fact both continue to play music is a testament not just to their will and perseverance but, well, to the New Testament itself.

Sunday night was a prime example as Stryper returned to the Aztec Theatre with a 17-song, 81-minute headlining set with Guatemalan guitarist Hedras Ramos and his instrumental trio Hedras in tow before a crowd of 800, according to a venue staffer.

Donning a pair of sunglasses, Michael Sweet did not bring up the band’s maladies or ask for any type of sympathy.

He and his mates simply came to rock.

And rock they did, taking to the stage with a trio of classics from their 40-year-old seminal album To Hell with the Devil: traditional opener “Sing-Along Song” and Dial-MTV hits “Calling on You” and “Free.”

During Stryper’s previous visit to the Aztec in 2024, they played two sets, splitting between the classic era and the modern variety that is about to see their seventh album in the past 13 years drop Sept. 25 with Throne of Thorns.

This time, Michael Sweet simply told the crowd, “I miss the ‘80s. We’re here to celebrate the ‘80s with you.” Despite mentioning the upcoming record and the fact the title track has already been released as a single and video, the band opted not to play it.

Instead, the trip down Memory Lane was mostly comprised of tracks from 1985’s Soldiers Under Command, half of To Hell with the Devil and one each from 1984’s The Yellow and Black Attack, 1988’s In God We Trust and 1990’s Against the Law (setlist in 43-photo gallery; no professional video was allowed).

Stryper gave the Aztec tastes of the newer era on “Divider” and the title track to 2024’s When We Were Kings. And though there were no surprises with the classics that included the regularly played “More Than A Man,” “Surrender” and “The Rock That Makes Me Roll,” the unexpected came in the form of what the band did not play.

A single ballad.

If anyone wanted to hear something soft on this night, they could’ve gone around the corner to the Majestic Theatre to catch Air Supply. That meant no hint of the song Michael Sweet said on 2003 live album 7 Weeks: Live in America “took us out of clubs and put us into arenas.”

That would be “Honestly.” Stryper deserves credit for keeping the entire show rocking without any perceived sappiness. Or it simply could’ve been a matter of not having packed a piano for the tour. So credit them again for not using backing tracks — when a vocalist overcoming the threat of never being able to sing again would’ve had every reason to.

Stryper did throw in a bit of a curveball at one point by harkening back to their 2011 covers album The Covering.

“We grew up listening to Scorpions, Priest and Maiden,” Michael Sweet said in part. “People told us, ‘You shouldn’t be listening to that stuff.’ They thought all we listened to were Christian bands, but we didn’t know a lot of Christian bands other than us. If we didn’t listen to it, we wouldn’t be here on stage.”

And with that, Stryper ripped into Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law.” Sweet saved attempts at high-octane screams for the song’s end, showing he’s still got it and resulting in extra enthusiastic applause and roars from the crowd after not utilizing the high range on some of the original songs, including the previous tune, the title track to 2013’s No More Hell to Pay.

Hedras, meanwhile, had the oft-difficult task of warming up the headliner’s fans with a completely non-lyrical set. The trio featured the band’s namesake on lead guitar, and he instantly dazzled on a slew of tracks showcasing the skill that had him play alongside Steve Vai and Mr. Big’s Paul Gilbert.

Joining Ramos were Dallas resident Robert Trusko on bass and drummer David Salazar. Trusko, a native of Philadelphia, earned his Master’s degree at the University of North Texas in Music Composition. Salazar was a menace on the drums, so it was an eyebrow raiser when Ramos told the audience that Salazar was “playing this music for the first time.”

Hedras’ latest album Front Line dropped last October, and you can get your hands on some of their material here.

Anytime Stryper visits the Alamo City, it’s a full-circle moment. Touting “this is where it all began” as far as Stryper having played Texas on its first tour, Michael Sweet was perplexed at the high number of fans who indicated they were seeing Stryper live for the first time.

Pointing out one young person, Sweet said, “Well, you have an excuse. You weren’t even born yet. But for the others, what’s your excuse? Why’d you wait 42 years?’

It was a lighthearted moment the Sweet brothers, Fox and bassist Perry Richardson know all too well could end at any given time.

So when it comes to not taking life for granted?

That may be Stryper’s greatest gift and message of them all.

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No cons just pure rock for gathering of area artists

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No cons just pure rock for gathering of area artists

If comic book nerds and movie aficionados can have their con(vention) days, why can’t local metal bands?

So was the logic of Fitzgerald’s and its staff during the San Antonio bar’s inaugural Rock-A-Con on Saturday night.

And there wasn’t a cover song in sight.

The brainchild of Fitzgerald’s owner Sharon Perkins and her S.A.A.O.M.T. (San Antonio All Original Musical Talent) showcase that frequently spotlights just what it implies, Saturday’s one-day conventional gathering featured seven local and/or area artists of various styles.

Beginning at 4 p.m. and lasting till the final note just after 12:15 a.m. by The Broken Page, the event enabled the artists to show up as early as they wanted but not just hawk their merch tables. It allowed them to take time to get (re)acquainted, network and support one another through checking out each other’s sets and exchanging info if so desired.

But the real winners were those who attended and checked out each artist. Seeing other non-performing artists support the scene as they frequently do, such as Even In Death vocalist Sean Nations and former The Taking vocalist Alan Lozano and The Taking drummer Daniel Ross, was also a highlight and an indication of what the night was all about.

Kicking off at 5:30 p.m. with Rufus Rufasu’s High Stakes and followed by locals Dark Sky Ordinance then Pavilion, those three groups warmed things up with brief but rockin’ 20-minute sets. Although the changeovers between the three bands were 40 minutes (that’s twice as long as their sets for you non-math majors), each group made the most of its allotted time and can be checked out below via ATM’s exclusive footage.

Following Kerrville natives Pavilion playing their first show in San Antonio, the four featured acts ensued with 45-minute sets that included more aesthetically pleasing 15-20 minute intermissions.

The first of the four was The Night Miles, a local supergroup of sorts consisting of members of Van Cronk, Napoleon Machine Gun, Bone China and The Maplehelm that quickly exhibited a separation of the men from the boys.

The energy then shifted in a big way with Nikoli and local favorites Rebel Angels.

Nikoli formed in 2021 in Las Vegas but is now splitting its homebase in San Antonio. The quartet fronted by RB Arredondo is getting close to releasing its full-length debut The Outcome and showcased nine of the 10 tracks on the album before time cut short the live version of “I Won’t Bleed Again,” the studio version of which features Lita Ford guitarist/vocalist and San Antonio native Patrick Kennison, whose own band Heaven Below returns to Fitzgerald’s on Aug. 28 with Nikoli in tow.

Wanna bet the house they’ll jam together on that one next month?

To tide you over, take in Nikoli’s high-octane performances of “Heist” and “Rising from the Dead” below.

Rebel Angels, meanwhile, has been making its mark throughout the city since 2022, releasing a plethora of rockin’ singles along the way.

Mauricio Adan has been atop the local scene’s collection of heavy metal and hard rock vocalists for nearly two decades whether you’ve heard or seen him in other all-original outfits such as Down Generation, sharing the stage with the late Manowar co-founder and guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman in 2013 as part of the Manowar tribute Blood Of My Enemies or in tribute acts devoted to Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and other cover outfits.

Watch Adan, guitarist Gabe Jimenez, bassist Stan Martinez and drummer Bob Rulez below via ATM footage of “Sucka for You” and “High as a Devil.”

The night ended with The Broken Page showcasing its own brand of metal. Frontwoman Ali was the only female musician on stage among the seven artists and she, along with members of her band, Nikoli and Dark Sky Ordinance deserve a special shout-out for being at the Rock-A-Con from beginning to end.

Watch the alums of the 2023 Chancla Fest below on “I Lie.”

For a city and music scene that leans heavily on cover and tribute bands, the S.A.A.O.M.T. is a breath of fresh air for those who appreciate local musicians creating their own form of expression in the hope of taking their group to new heights that’ll help put San Antonio back on the national map with the likes of Nothing More and Upon A Burning Body.

Sure, the overwhelming majority of those taking in the music were friends, wives and family of those on stage. But as is the case with each of the artists on hand, the Rock-A-Con has now officially had its own starting point. And there’s only room for growth — and more Texas-styled Rock N’ Roll — from here.

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Monstrous Alamo City return for German power metal giants Helloween

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Monstrous Alamo City return for German power metal giants Helloween

When Helloween embarked on its Keeper of the Seven Keys journey in 1987 — and as a German power metal quintet force in 1985 that would storm the globe with its double bass drum fury — San Antonians had no idea their part of the world would experience two significant gaps between visits.

One: Helloween’s most recent stop was 2003 at a half-filled White Rabbit, ironically, on the Rabbit Don’t Come Easy tour

Two: the last time the band played here with vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist / vocalist Kai Hansen was on the 1989 Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II trek.

Or to put it another way: 1989 saw Helloween touring in support of its third album, and 2003 was its 10th.

In the minds of San Antonians, 23 and 37 years ago may as well have equaled a trip around the moon.

But that all rectified itself Wednesday night at the Aztec Theatre as the pumpkins — who united in 2018 by bringing Kiske and Hansen back with original bassist Markus Grosskopf and original guitarist Michael Weikath, vocalist (and Kiske replacement) Andi Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Dani Loble — celebrated their 40th anniversary on the second night of a 16-show North American jaunt coinciding with their 17th album Giants & Monsters.

Although the seven keys locked up the seven seas, perhaps the band realized it needed a united septuplet pumpkin front to be the gatekeepers of power metal. Lineup changes, ill will and egos were put aside eight years ago, and at the Aztec, another set of keys may as well have been on display: friendship, hope, togetherness, happiness, redemption, forgiveness and success resulted in a blistering and entertaining 2-hour, 15-minute showing that more than made up for the distant memories of prior visits.

But this wasn’t just any return.

Helloween’s triumphant resurrection in 2018 only saw six U.S. shows in five cities, none of them in Texas. Their comeback self-titled 2021 album brought them closer geographically as they played in Dallas, which is also where the 40th anniversary tour kicked off Tuesday.

A chance meeting with Hansen by the River Walk several hours before Wednesday’s show resulted in the original vocalist from 1985 debut album Walls of Jericho admitting he couldn’t remember his previous San Antonio stop but that “It’s been a while.”

That made the fact Kiske and Deris quickly reminded their Dallas audience of their 2023 visit but didn’t attempt to banter with the Aztec’s patrons as to just how overdue and welcome this occasion was a bit shocking. Also understandable given that the 2003 gig didn’t feature the band as we know it today.

Taking the stage after all of the album covers passed through time on the big screen, and with the help of the reaper introducing several songs, Helloween unleashed absolute power and fury in an unforgettable night.

Having played 2 hours and 40 minutes on the 2018 tour without a support act (ATM coverage here), Helloween this time brought along Finnish friends Beast In Black.

The beasts had planned to release their fourth album late in 2025. Instead, they collaborated with gaming company Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate the Diablo IV and Berserk crossovers tying into the game’s eighth season Belial’s Return, punctuated by their standalone soundtrack single “Enter the Behelit” (ATM footage below).

As a result, the quintet was without founder and guitarist Anton Kabanen, who’s sitting out the tour to finish writing the forthcoming album. Nevertheless, vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos, bassist Mate Molnar, drummer Atte Palokangas and touring guitarist Daniel Freyberg (ex-Children Of Bodom filling in for the recently departed Kasperi Heikkinen) squeezed in 10 powerful tracks in a 50-minute set (see setlist in 84-photo gallery). See more ATM footage below of “Die by the Blade.”

In addition to being able to hear and watch Helloween span most of its catalog live once again at last, the best component of the band’s resurgence is watching Kiske sing with Deris on songs the latter recorded solely when he replaced the former beginning with 1994’s Master of the Rings.

When ATM interviewed Kiske by phone in 2012 during his Unisonic days, the vocalist confessed he had not listened to any Helloween music that didn’t include him. Fast forward to 2018, and the fact the two singers have become best friends and thoroughly enjoy performing together on stage regardless of who originated the music is a godsend and proof egos can be put aside to make one’s lives healthier and more prosperous.

Whether they’re going back and forth on classics such as “Halloween” or acoustically before being joined electrically by the band on 1987 ballad “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” (ATM footage below), the singers’ joint efforts and enthusiasm were sights to behold that other bands with storied singer histories would never attempt (imagine Judas Priest’s, Motley Crue’s or Van Halen’s multiple vocalists trying to co-exist).

Kiske’s and Deris’ humor also came to the forefront when they began out-of-the-vault track “In the Middle of a Heartbeat.” With Kiske playing acoustic guitar to Deris’ vocals, Deris joked that Kiske “really fucked it up” in Dallas the night before. Deris then asked fans up front if there were any witnesses to that moment, and when he found a couple, Deris added with a smile, “I’m not making this up, right?”

The ‘80s Keeper material is always at the forefront of Helloween shows such as opener “March of Time”, “Future World,” “Halloween,” and “Dr. Stein” (setlist in photo gallery). But that’s only half the enjoyment.

The surprise inclusion of 14-minute track “King for a 1000 Years” from 2005’s Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, which marked Loble’s first album with the group (ATM interview here), was a bombastic second tune even though the band shortened it by nearly four minutes to fit in as much as possible for the show’s duration.

Loble’s four bass drums took center stage during a crowd-infused drum solo and on the new album’s first single “Universe” (ATM footage below). Not to be outdone was the return of Part 1’s “Twilight of the Gods,” which had a certain audience member flirting with vocal loss a mere six songs in.

Helloween also marked its long-awaited return by breaking out Deris-era favorites “Hell Was Made in Heaven” and “Power” and dusting off “We Burn” and “Hey Lord” (ATM footage of the latter below).

Hansen, Weikath, Grosskopf and Gerstner yukked it up on stage while filling both levels of the 1,093-clad Aztec (according to a staffer) with killer riffs. Hansen also harked back to his first-album lead-vocal and guitar duties on “Ride the Sky” and “Heavy Metal is the Law” (ATM footage of the latter below).

Fortunately, the entire 13-minute rendition of 1987 MTV hit “Halloween,” the track that got American fans hooked on the band due to “Headbanger’s Ball” was included after the band skipped it altogether on the previous tour.

A bright orange “40” appeared on the screens with the zero morphing into a sinister pumpkin during the “Invitation” intro to “Eagle Fly Free,” another moment that confirmed the shot vocals of most diehards, before Helloween ended with a brief reprise of the 13-minute “Keeper of the Seven Keys” opus.

But make no mistake. It will not take 23 years for voices to recover. In fact, a trip to Las Vegas for the tour finale May 2 is already in order. Because a night like Wednesday’s bears repeat witnessing.

And that is the best trick o’ treat of them all.

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There's A Revolution: Geoff Tate closes book on Operation: Mindcrime

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There's A Revolution: Geoff Tate closes book on Operation: Mindcrime

For a man who has performed in San Antonio since the third concert his former band ever played back in 1983, a couple of consistencies have glaringly rung true regarding Geoff Tate:

  • As long as promoters want him to play Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety, he will

  • San Antonians will never get tired of hearing him do so

And why should they?

Widely regarded as the greatest heavy metal concept album in history, the original voice of Queensryche has performed the 1988 masterpiece from beginning to end on at least five occasions in the Alamo City, nearly always at the Aztec Theatre.

Saturday night’s rendition at the Aztec marked what Tate has billed as “Operation: Mindcrime: The Final Chapter.” Though he has said that prior occasions would mark the last time he would play the album live, including as recently as 2025 at the Aztec, this latest performance may have been the most scintillating of them all.

Given the energy, musicianship, enthusiasm and electricity that was vibrant on stage and throughout the venue, it would’ve been easy for fans to forget that Tate had open heart surgery just four years ago — another reason this man and his band should always be appreciated on stage going forward no matter what he chooses to play and something we discussed before his 2022 appearance (watch here).

Accompanied by Irish support acts Ogma and Tomas McCarthy — each of whom employed a musician that pulled double duty in Tate’s band, and neither of which had even been mentioned by the Aztec as being on the bill — Tate donned a black cowboy hat and appeared to feel right at home.

His band featuring guitarists Kieran Robertson (Glasgow, Scotland), Dario Parente of Rome and James Brown (Kilkenny, Ireland), bassist “Smilin’ “ Jack Ross (Glasgow, Scotland), one-moniker drummer Baker of Seattle, keyboardist Bruno Sa Ferreira from Rio de Janeiro, cellist Julia-Maria and violinist Ryan Parsons (both of Cork, Ireland) and alto saxophonist / vocalist Clodagh McCarthy from Wexford, Ireland, were impressive throughout the show.

McCarthy, the wife of Tomas, reprised the role of “Suite Sister Mary” following in the footsteps of others such as Sass Jordan and Tate’s daughter Emily Tate. Watch the band in action via ATM footage below during the Mindcrime portion on “I Don’t Believe in Love,” “Waiting For 22,” “My Empty Room” and one of the greatest songs in Queensryche’s catalog, album closer “Eyes of a Stranger.”

There’s no denying Operation: Mindcrime’s influence on metalheads around the world. For this writer, the album was purchased immediately after high school let out on release day with a trip to an Illinois record store six months before the video for “Eyes of a Stranger” even dropped on MTV and would take the metal community by storm.

Following the album’s hour-long performance and chapter closure (theoretically), Tate told his audience, “Guess what? We’re just getting started.”

With that, Tate and Clodagh McCarthy broke out the saxes for a unique jazzy playing of the revolutionary “Can . . . you . . . hear . . . it calling” part of the title track to 1990’s Empire (ATM footage below) that morphed into the second half of the set (see setlist in 65-photo gallery).

Tate was fresh off a New Year’s Eve acoustic set at Deco Ballroom only 39 days earlier in which he delved into deep cuts “Until There Was You,” “I Will Remember” and a pair of Hear in the Now Frontier tracks in “Sign of the Times” and “Chasing Blue Sky” — the latter appears on the reissue edition. So naturally, this night’s performance stuck mostly to the hits including “Jet City Woman” during which Tate brought up a fan named Mitchell Miller onstage to join in the singing.

But that wasn’t all.

At song’s end, Tate presented Miller with a surprising souvenir that he’s sure to treasure forever (ATM footage below).

Then it was time for the one track that wasn’t part of the norm. Not to mention, the most serious part of the show. Turning into an acoustic bit that spotlighted Parsons on violin and Julia-Maria on cello, Tate gave his two cents on the recent trend of violence around the nation without directly mentioning Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Fuck this violence,” Tate said as he took a drink. “Let’s get rid of it. Here’s to those families that have been torn apart by acts of violence.” That segued into the rarely ever played “Blood” from 2003’s Tribe (ATM footage below).

The changing tone was odd given that it came immediately following the happiness of the fan participation on stage. But its inclusion was more important than its placement.

Tate’s concerts that include deep tracks from albums that may not have resonated with Queensryche fans as much as Mindcrime and Empire was something ATM spoke about with Tate before one of his two Aztec appearances in 2014 (watch here).

Ogma played an energetic 30-minute rock set led by singer / guitarist Brown that included an ode to fellow Irish mainstays Thin Lizzy with “Jailbreak,” though that would’ve fit better toward the end of the set rather than the second tune. Watch ATM footage below of original track “Enslaved.”

Tomas McCarthy, meanwhile, wowed the crowd with his own 30-minute opening set. Joined by his aforementioned wife Clodagh on vocals and alto sax and guitarist James Keegan, the Mrs. told the crowd that when they opened for Tate previously at the Aztec, it was their favorite gig of the entire tour due to the venue’s marvel.

The challenge the trio faced of keeping the crowd’s interest and attention due to the fact it doesn’t employ electric guitars or a drummer is akin to what instrumental guitarists face performing live, but they more than pulled it off. Watch the group in action below on the title track to EP Colours, a Grammy-nominated track Tomas McCarthy wrote after the passing of a friend that wasn’t meant to be released musically.

Meanwhile, Tate is said to be working on Operation: Mindcrime III with Disturbed bassist and Austin native John Moyer producing.

That, of course, would leave the door open to Tate eventually playing the original, its 2006 sequel and forthcoming effort live at once.

So does that mean “The Final Chapter” of Nikki’s story with Sister Mary and Dr. X is not so final after all?

Or has it just begun?

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Local artists Voltreus & Aeternal Requiem advance to state final of Wacken Metal Battle

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Local artists Voltreus & Aeternal Requiem advance to state final of Wacken Metal Battle

The annual competition for worldwide supremacy of bands battling to represent their respective countries at metal’s most renowned festival this summer has kicked off around the globe. Closer to home, it all began Friday night at the Rock Box as the San Antonio Regional of the Wacken Metal Battle commenced to crown the top two bands that would advance to the state final Sunday, March 15, at Come And Take It Live in Austin (tickets here).

Some bands brought their “A” game. Some treated it as another opportunity to play in front of their friends and family and hawk their merch. Others stayed home for reasons only known to them.

When the night was over, a two-man panel of judges decided that the artists which most made like Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and seized the moment rather than letting it slip were San Antonio’s own Voltreus (regional winner) and local runner-up Aeternal Requiem.

Each of those bands came with an eyebrow-raising story on its quest for success.

The regional’s official flyer announcement began with 14 bands around the Christmas holidays. Soon thereafter, Thunder Horse, Surge, Glorious, Cheese Grater Masturbation and Wicked Angel withdrew.

By the time Friday rolled around, the event had whittled more from nine to seven bands.

Slated to kick off at 5:50 p.m. with San Antonio’s Blood Moon, with each group allotted 20 minutes to strut its stuff, Blood Moon did not appear. Nor did Forever Silent, a Spanish metalcore outfit from El Paso that would’ve had to make a 10-12-hour trek to San Antonio. The latter band did not make any mention of the Wacken Metal Battle on its social media pages, so perhaps something got lost in translation.

The more bands that succumbed, the better the chance the ones at the Rock Box were going to advance to Austin.

Voltreus (Voal-TRAY-us) arguably exhibited the most energy and, from a person who has covered and judged prior Wacken battles, that is always one of the top qualities that can help bands impress the panel. While it isn’t a guarantee it will lead to victory, artists can certainly play themselves out of the running if they take up part of their 20 minutes giving shout-outs to their friends in the front row or telling the audience to “come say hello to us at the merch booth.”

Note to bands: the Wacken Metal Battle is not your typical show. You are playing for 20 MINUTES TO ADVANCE TO MOVE ON TO HOPEFULLY AND EVENTUALLY PERFORM AT THE WORLD’S BIGGEST HEAVY METAL FESTIVAL IN GERMANY. You can play in front of your friends and family in your city anytime and point out your merch then. When you only have time for three or four songs to put a stranglehold on your opportunity and give the best you have, take advantage of it. Furthermore, when you’re playing in a bar and there’s fewer than 100 patrons there, they will see your merch stand simply when they’re walking around. If you’re going to emphasize that over your performance — a performance that, by the way, should concentrate on impressing the judges more than anyone else there — you’ve already lost. Consider it a lesson learned for future battles if you so desire.

Voltreus and Aeternal Requiem needed no such PSA.

Voltreus came out with black paint, eerie horned masks, loud music and an intriguing story as told by vocalist Tyler “Obidius” Groshon of how three of the band’s four members have been adopted (himself twice). The end result was the one song in which the band showed its faces in an uplifting message to what family and their fans mean to them on “Kith & Kin” (ATM footage below), which the band was scheduled to shoot a video for the day after winning the regional and releasing the song as a single April 10.

Voltreus was formed in 2019 by 27-year-old guitarist / singer Ferni “Infyct” Ramirez and bassist Devin “Obelith” Guy, 29.

Groshon, who turns 32 next month, drummer Fox “Primal” Alexander and Guy were adopted. Groshon, originally from Washington, D.C., spent six years in the Navy but said it was his dream to move to San Antonio not because it is Military City, but because of its music scene.

“The plan for me was to get into the military to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and then when I wanted to get out, that’s what I wanted to do,” Groshon told Alamo True Metal. “San Antonio just kept popping up in my head because that was a place that I could go. There’s a music scene there, it’s always been a dream. You know what, I’m going to try my best to get there. When I was applying for places to go, you never get anywhere that you pick. Ever. And I chose San Antonio as my No. 1. I’m the only person that anyone knows that got their No. 1 choice right off the rim. It’s super rare. I got my orders before my buddy who applied for orders six months before me, and he also came to San Antonio.”

Groshon joined Voltreus in 2021 after being asked by Ramirez to try his luck at vocals but not until he had declined several times. “Then I was in Calculus class, and I messaged him and said, “Alright, let’s do it. I blew out my voice the first practice, and I was like ‘That’s never gonna happen again.’ We just kept working at it,” Groshon said.

Aeternal Requiem has quite an interesting tale of its own.

Formerly a trio led by singer/guitarist Austin Zettner, the band competed as a quartet in the 2020 Regional at Fitzgerald’s. Basically defunct ever since, Zettner has resurrected the group with an all-new quintet that is now meshing folk metal using a mini flute Zettner keeps in his back pocket with songs from their initial album Rise (ATM footage below of “Forlorn Hope” and “Invictus”).

Friday night marked only Aeternal Requiem’s second gig in six years after playing the Texas Viking Festival in December in Paige, Texas. Now the band finds itself preparing for its third gig with its new lineup in Austin at the State Final.

While bands emanating from the Alamo City dropped out of the regional before the competition and the day of, Egregious made an incredible statement of its own by driving 10 hours from Albuquerque for its own 20-minute opportunity at exposure.

It wouldn’t have been the first time a band traveled that far to play 20 minutes. Texas Voodoo Stomp did that deed from El Paso to the Alamo City and ended up advancing out of the San Antonio Regional in 2020 to the state final in Austin that ended up taking place the day before the world was shut down due to Covid-19, eventually wiping out the national final and Wacken Open Air entirely.

This time, Egregious visited the Rock Box after raising $650 for a rental van through a GoFundMe effort “because nothing was really close to us” in terms of the Battle.

The mere fact that a band demonstrated that level of dedication to put all their eggs into such a brief set spoke volumes about certain bands’ outlook and goals for themselves as artists.

Egregious was one of the bands to shine on stage (see ATM footage below of “St. Vengeance”), though the judges had them finish just outside of the top two.

Immortal Execution, Corpse Hole, Overlay and Ariah Falls — all local bands — joined Voltreus and Aeternal Requiem in bringing their various genres to the stage. Corpse Hole, impressively, was fresh off an appearance at the annual 70000 Tons of Metal Heavy Metal Beach Party the week before at The Clevelander on South Beach in Miami. See each of those bands in action below.

In the end, only two could move on to Austin. Voltreus and Aeternal Requiem will need to step up their game with each round of the competition. They will join A Good Rogering, BountyTX, Nemesis and We Are Man at the State Final, with only the winner advancing to the national final June 13 in San Diego. The winner of that will be on the road to Wacken in Germany from July 29-Aug. 1 also earning VIP camping and $1,000 for the flight to the fest that will include 80,000 headbangers and headliners Judas Priest, Def Leppard, In Flames and Powerwolf.

The Wacken Metal Battle is a great way for fans and industry folks to discover bands — and to find out just how serious each outfit is in an attempt to “make it.”

Losing the competition also tests whether a band is going to ask itself, “Are we good enough going forward, and what do we need to work on? Or, are we going to give up because a couple of judges didn’t feel we were talented enough?”

While Voltreus and Aeternal Requiem move on in a competition featuring bands from 62 countries this year that is slated to grow to a whopping 102 nations in 2027, they know the stakes get higher and the contest gets tougher with each round.

“We don’t have to overthink it because we’re accounting for every little detail always,” Voltreus bassist Guy said. “All we gotta do is execute the plan.”

The quality of songs and a band’s look go a long way toward success in such a competition. But it also more than helps to have the right attitude.

“Honestly,” Groshon said, “don’t get me wrong, and I don’t want this to sound mean or anything, but when someone says, ‘You guys did great,’ we love that and we appreciate that a lot that everyone had a good time. But what I’m here for is I wanna hear what you have to tell us that we can do better.”

May the best band win.

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UFO sighting: 50 years of scintillating Schenker takes over Tobin Center

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UFO sighting: 50 years of scintillating Schenker takes over Tobin Center

No matter the occasion or milestone, no matter the album they’re touring in support of, Michael Schenker and Armored Saint were made to share the same stage.

Whether they fit together like a glove or peanut butter and jelly, well, that’s in the ears and eyes of the beholders who buy their concert tickets.

But there’s no denying magic happens when the two veteran artists tour together, and the latest example came last Friday night at the Tobin Center when ‘70s and ‘80s metal converged with a 2025 flair.

Schenker brought his Michael Schenker Group 50th anniversary celebration of “My Years With UFO” to the Alamo City this time, following visits with the Michael Schenker Fest and Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock.

And Armored Saint? They were making their second San Antonio stop that bookended a trip to Austin in May 2024, all in support of 2020 album Punching the Sky.

As during both artists’ joint stop supporting W.A.S.P. on Nov. 4, 2022, at the Boeing Center at Tech Port (coverage here), Schenker was backed by guitarist / keyboardist Steve Mann, bassist Barend Courbois and drummer Bodo Schopf. This time, Mystic Prophecy vocalist Robert Dimitri Liapkis did the bang-up honors for the 1-hour, 26-minute performance paying homage to Schenker’s 1972-78 era in UFO after he had joined Scorpions as a precocious 15-year-old on that group’s Lonesome Crow record, among others.

The 15-song setlist (see 48-photo gallery) was heavy on tunes that exhibit a new twist on Schenker’s My Years with UFO album, employing a slew of guest vocalists, guitarists and drummers ranging from Dee Snider, Axl Rose, Joe Lynn Turner, Stephen Pearcy and Joey Tempest to Joel Hoekstra, John Norum and Adrian Vandenberg to Carmine Appice.

At the Tobin, Schenker’s backing band played flawlessly as the legendary guitarist remained on the exit stage left portion of the platform for the entire performance. In fact, they may have played too well, judging by what happened at the end of classic “Lights Out” (ATM footage below).

Schenker was so focused on delivering the UFO goods for this show that helped wind down the North American tour, and all of the stateside and overseas shows that came before it, he never even mentioned MSG released new album Don’t Sell Your Soul just seven days prior. As solid, once again, that album is and that can be played on repeat several times without growing stale, you’ve gotta respect that Schenker isn’t all about self-promotion — even when he deserves to be.

That’s OK. We’ll plug it for him — a small piece of gratitude for all that his music has given to us and for all of the interview time he has given ATM over the years, including as the self-proclaimed “trend maker” in 2018 (watch here).

Along with oft-unheard-live renditions of “This Kids” (ATM footage below), “Mother Mary” and “I’m A Loser” due to the fact prior visits have encapsulated Schenker’s career with MSG and Scorpions as well as UFO, staples such as “Only You Can Rock Me” and “Shoot Shoot” were again highlighted by his customary 14-minute version of “Rock Bottom” that included a 5-minute jam solo. Schenker ended the track by taking photos with his right hand holding a camera (not a phone) as he continued to play with his left.

Schenker then dedicated finale “Too Hot to Handle” to the late UFO bassist Pete Way and guitarist / keyboardist Paul Raymond, who passed away in 2019.

In most cases, having a band whose debut album dropped in 1984 serve as an opening act would be a travesty. But Armored Saint is devoid of grand egos, as evidenced by the fact they don’t mind supporting Schenker and/or W.A.S.P. (coverage here) and by the admirable and likely possibility that if not for the 1990 passing of guitarist Dave Prichard, the band would have maintained 100 percent of its original lineup before and after vocalist John Bush had a memorable run with Anthrax from 1993-2001.

As it is, fellow originals Joey Vera (bass) and brothers Gonzo Sandoval (drums) and Phil Sandoval (guitars) plus Prichard’s replacement Jeff Duncan continue to bring the metal whenever they hit the stage.

Friday’s visit saw a whopping four tunes out of the 10 played come from 1985 second album Delirious Nomad, including “Nervous Man” and “For the Sake of Heaviness” (ATM footage of both below).

To that end, those who hold a special place for 1987 third album Raising Fear would have been disappointed that album was not represented (though they did play its title track May 16, 2024, while headlining Come And Take It Live in Austin with Dangerous Toys and Snake Skin Prison; coverage here).

Bush referred to Dangerous Toys vocalist and South Texas metal mainstay Jason McMaster at that show as “an extra member of Armored Saint at this point” after McMaster filled in for Bush when the latter had vocal issues and was worried it would lead to cancellations.

On Friday, the Armored Saint vocalist need not be as emotional or retell the story — in large part because he didn’t have time as the opening act. Rather, Armored Saint once again brought McMaster on stage to celebrate 1984 single “Can U Deliver” (ATM footage below) before ending with “Reign of Fire.”

Incredulously, there are still some in Texas unfamiliar with McMaster, given the between-bands chatter that occurred in parts of the venue, with one man asking others what McMaster’s name is and stating his wife thought it was Sebastian Bach.

But if there’s one thing everyone on hand could not be confused about, it would be that the acoustics of the Tobin Center can handle any artist of virtually any genre and help turn the performance into sounds that remain embedded in one’s brain long after the show. As Bush stated about the Tobin: “This is a beautiful place. Too nice for metal!”

But not too nice to bring forth nearly 100 combined years of metallic mastery between Michael Schenker and Armored Saint — and be able to say the experience of watching both live never gets old.

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Throw your Rah-Rahs up! Lineup of locals joins Florida's Severed Sun in hammering down

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Throw your Rah-Rahs up! Lineup of locals joins Florida's Severed Sun in hammering down

When a city has established itself as the “Heavy Metal Capital” over five decades, certain aspects of the flip side of that moniker also come to fruition.

Namely, the fact that bands and venues come and go as part of the circle of metal life.

But much like your favorite pizza place or Mexican restaurant in the Alamo City that may have been short lived, concert venues — particularly of the bar variety — tend to resurrect from the dead from time to time.

A convenient jaunt around the corner from North Star Mall, at 6322 San Pedro Ave., lies the newly revamped and reopened Rah! Rah! Room, where five bands didn’t give a rat’s ass about reliving history or getting nostalgic last Saturday.

They just wanted to kick ass and entertain.

Local crushers Wicked Angel, Metalriser, Even In Death and Konvxtion did the honors and were joined by “groove metal” quintet Severed Sun, which made the 17-hour drive from Clermont, Florida, in the Orlando area to close the show.

Two years ago, Rah! Rah! Room was known as The Rec Room -- and, going back to the ‘80s, may have even been a pizza joint or two. While that installment of a local concert venue didn’t last long, more shows such as this gathering, combined with an increase in spreading the word about said show beforehand around town through various methods, may ensure Rah! Rah! has a longer life span.

The gig came to life thanks to Joseph Dwyer of Hammerhead Productions, which was making a bit of history of its own. Dwyer and Hammerhead, a once steady influence on the local metal scene, had taken a break from the business and hadn’t put on a show in town in nearly five years.

That changed when Dwyer reconnected, oddly enough, with the one non-local band on the bill — Severed Sun and vocalist Rod Rawlins, a longtime friend.

Before they knew it, Severed Sun added San Antone to its “Call to Arms” itinerary. And although the group closed after the four locals with an 11:08-11:52 p.m. set that shouldn’t have been past too many bedtimes on a Saturday night, it was disappointing to see only roughly 30 fans stick around from what had been a larger turnout for its predecessors.

But demonstrating the true epitome of “doing it for the love of Rock N’ Roll,” Severed Sun treated those on hand to a heavy, energetic and headbanging performance mixed in with some fun and humor.

Rawlins took the time to thank those on hand by sharing a few shots with Wicked Angel guitarist Roland Casias and fans (see 85-photo gallery). He came off the main stage at one point and dosey-doed with an attractive onlooker who had declined the shot offer but was one of the most dedicated patrons who was also there for the first note of openers Konvxtion at 7:30 p.m. on the muggy outdoor stage.

Toward the end of the seven-song set, Dwyer held up one of the group’s banners and had anyone remaining in the venue sign it as a keepsake for Severed Sun to take back to Florida.

You can watch Rawlins, lead guitarist Kevin Miller, new rhythm guitarist Ricky Rock, bassist Daryl Jones and drummer Justin Telfer in action on “Fuktard” from their 2021 EP Catacombs. Or, at least half of it. The Rah! Rah! didn’t have any available outlets, incredibly, indoors or out, and after having shot and filmed the four other bands, well, batteries tend to run out when they can’t be recharged.

But that wasn’t an issue with Wicked Angel, Metalriser, Even In Death and Konvxtion.

Wicked Angel is always a treat to watch due to its storied history dating back to the early ‘80s and its “haunting” thematic songs.

Vocalist Dave Caballero is always entertaining, setting the tone in his black cloak, wide-ranging vocals, unique stage presence and willingness to engage with the crowd.

Watch Caballero, Casias, guitarist Joseph Valdez, bassist Raymond Castaneda and drummer Ernest Chavarria in action below via ATM’s footage of ‘80s track “People of the Black Circle” and the brand new “Phantazma.”

Wicked Angel will celebrate the release of its new EP on June 21 at The Starlighter (1910 Fredericksburg Rd.; $10 cover) with Santa Oscuridad and Perfect Darkt. The former group is the Spanish-signing band led by Helstar guitarist Larry Barragan, who produced the new tunes.

Preceding Wicked Angel on the new and fantastically lit inside stage (Rec Room bands played on the floor) was a veteran yet still young local outfit that always tests one’s neck elasticity.

Metalriser brings the thrash to its shows every time, and with band founder, vocalist, rhythm guitarist Joel Estrada delivering new tunes “Thoughts of Chaos,” “Reality is Death” and “Inner Self” in addition to “Hell’s Gate” from 2022 album Demise, diehard headbangers now have more reasons to check out the group’s shows.

Estrada has welcomed back drummer Kevin Ortiz to the fold along with guitarist Raymond Valdez and bassist John Talabay. Having toured with D.R.I. and been around for more than 12 years, which is when ATM first began covering Metalriser, the group has endured a slew of lineup changes. Two months ago, former bassist Nick Gamboa passed away.

But Estrada’s vision for the band remains steady, and with new tracks hitting our eardrums at last, metalheads far and wide would be wise to appreciate this band live and in the flesh whenever the opportunity arises. Er, metal rises.

As three quarters of Metalriser were about to take the stage inside, the only missing piece, momentarily, was Talabay. That’s because he was watching every note of his former band Even In Death being played on the outside stage before running back in to fulfill his current obligations.

What he heard was a seven-song set filled with the group’s staples such as “Fire All Your Guns” and “Abandoned,” and you can watch ATM’s footage below of “Freeze” and “My Salvation.” Vocalist Sean Nations and crew also tossed in Bullet For My Valentine cover “Your Betrayal” before ending a 38-minute set with new track “World Upside Down.”

Whether Talabay, or anyone else for that matter, actually saw it may have been debatable, however — through no fault of the band. On a cloudy and very muggy night, the 8:30-9:08 p.m. set was “lit” more with Christmas-like bulbs than actual lights, particularly around David McGilvery’s drum kit.

And in all ATM’s 26 years of covering gigs in various states and by whatever name ATM has gone by, Even In Death’s set featured an oddball occurrence first: guitarist Anthony Carrillo was on site, but not on stage, because he had a prior commitment with his Metallica tribute act Blackened and had to leave halfway through his original group’s set.

Saul De Leon came to the rescue on only four days’ notice, joining lead guitarist James Garza, bassist Anthony Aleman, Nations and McGilvery.

The night kicked off with Konvxtion outside, but with more clear natural light for its 7:30 p.m. start.

Vocalist Ed Rios and drummer Eric Rios led the way, getting things warmed up with tracks such as new single “Burning A Hole In Me” and 5-year-old tunes “We All Bleed Red” and “Guillotine,” the latter watchable below.

As for more chances to see some of these acts in action?

Wicked Angel will open for Watchtower’s return with James Rivera’s Metal Asylum on Friday, Sept. 5, at Fitzgerald’s (tickets here).

Konvxtion, meanwhile, plays tonight at Nowhere Bar on Austin Hwy with Dragging The Depths, The Broken Page, Blind Lies and A Cautious Optimist.

With Hammerhead Productions back on the map and the Rah! Rah’s existence led by one of the city’s most riveting vocalists — Wall Of Soul and Whiskey Bliss’ Chrissy Bliss — that tag team plus a bevy of local bands from which to choose can only mean good things for Rah Rah’s contribution to the scene going forward. How long it lasts, as always, remains to be seen.

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'The Sickness' turns Frost Bank Center into fiery & Disturbed haven of rock

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'The Sickness' turns Frost Bank Center into fiery & Disturbed haven of rock

The Frost Bank Center has had its share of scents, atmospheres and one-of-a-kind moments over the years even when it was known under different names. There’s the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, where animals fill the air with their own brand of aura. There was the time Hall of Fame guard Manu Ginobili caught a bat (the winged kind, not the baseball kind) out of the air during a Spurs game.

Last Friday night, a different type of feeling permeated the air: The Sickness. And it was swept up by approximately 15,000 dedicated fans of Disturbed.

The Chicago band, which includes one-time Austin resident and vocalist David Draiman and Austin native and bassist John Moyer, celebrated 25 years of their landmark 2000 debut album by playing it in its entirety with special guests Daughtry and San Antonio’s own Nothing More.

There was no fanfare for The Sickness coming to life live. Rather, the stage curtain illuminated many early images of the band (see 65-photo gallery) before slowly rising, allowing the Frost Bank Center to see its first in-the-flesh images of Moyer, guitarist Dan Donegan and drummer Mike Wengren.

Draiman was wheeled out a la fictional serial killer and forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, wrapped in a white straitjacket and covered in a black mask. He was assisted onto the stage, set free from the jacket and promptly delved into opening track “Voices,” setting the stage for a talk-free 12-song in-album-order rendition of one of the best rock records to come out of the first part of this century.

That meant that the group’s most revered tune, “Down With the Sickness” was performed as it is on the album — fourth — rather than a final encore. It also signified that some tracks that rarely, or ever, get played live saw the light of night such as “Violence Fetish” and mandatory neckbreaker “Droppin’ Plates.”

For album finale “Meaning of Life,” the band changed into orange prison jumpsuits, and Draiman was “electrocuted,” his forehead spewing fake blood as the crowd went animalistic.

Following a 20-minute intermission, Disturbed took to some of its greatest hits. Having already performed its cover of Tears For Fears’ “Shout” from the first album, the group launched into Genesis’ “Land of Confusion” before rolling out a piano that was set ablaze and played by Donegan during Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” Draiman sang that one at the front of the runway portion of the stage that jetted out into the crowd, while Wengren pounded a pair of Taiko drums and Moyer stayed behind on the main portion of the stage accompanied by female orchestra members.

Disturbed spared no expense of pyro at the Frost Bank Center, particularly during 2022 and latest album Divisive track “Bad Man” — when the album cover and group mascot came to life in a larger-than-life inflatable — and show finale “Inside the Fire.”

After taking a bow, the stage curtain read “Disturbed Celebrating 25 Years of ‘The Sickness.’ Thank You San Antonio!!”

Chris Daughtry, incredibly, has been on the rock music scene for 19 years since finishing fourth on “American Idol,” only to branch out into stardom status despite not winning his season of the program.

Setting the stage for Disturbed, the well-rounded vocalist who has done everything from brilliantly acoustically covering Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” to collaborating with Sevendust on rejuvenating track “The Past” spotlighted several of his albums during an 11-song set.

Tracks such as “World on Fire” and “Heavy Is the Crown” meshed with his “American Idol” days cover of Journey’s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and self-titled debut album hits “It’s Not Over” and “Home.” Daughtry did the latter alone and acoustically, telling the audience: “If I hadn’t written this next song, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be standing in front of you right now, San Antonio.”

Over the years of playing their hometown shows, the men of Nothing More have often shared with Alamo True Metal that performing in their city brings its share of challenges and pressures unlike other shows. Vocalist Jonny Hawkins has been one of those to state such sentiments.

On this night, Nothing More undoubtedly felt that pressure multiplied — because Hawkins wasn’t even present.

A mere 24 hours before the show, Hawkins had to bow out due to doctors’ orders after it was discovered he was bleeding from his vocal cords. In stepped Atreyu vocalist Brandon Saller on, yes, a mere single day’s notice to learn the tunes the group would be playing in its opening 30-minute set.

The band’s 2024 album Carnal includes separate tracks with guest appearances by Daughtry and Draiman, making this tour trio a match made in fiery Rock N’ Roll heaven.

Guitarist Mark Vollelunga allowed the band and crowd to get warmed up with a pair of new tunes before introducing Saller as the “saving-the-day” vocalist, to which those who were actually watching the group and not hanging out in the lobby, late to the party or in the concessions line applauded vociferously for Saller’s timely rescue and Nothing More’s latest hometown appearance.

But as brief as it was, Nothing More couldn’t leave the stage without performing “Jenny” and “This Is the Time (Ballast)” as Vollelunga, bassist Daniel Oliver and drummer Ben Anderson got through a show they’re not likely to forget anytime soon unscathed.

DISTURBED SETLIST: Voices, The Game, Stupify, Down With the Sickness, Violence Fetish, Fear, Numb, Want, Conflict, Shout (Tears For Fears cover), Droppin’ Plates, Meaning of Life; (20-minute intermission); I Will Not Break, Ten Thousand Fists, Bad Man, Land of Confusion (Genesis cover), Indestructible, The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover), The Light, Inside the Fire

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Myles Kennedy and friends let go into a rockin' world of discovery and tales galore

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Myles Kennedy and friends let go into a rockin' world of discovery and tales galore


Many of the few hundred venturing to the Rock Box last Friday night likely came for the sheer enjoyment of witnessing one of rock and metal’s renowned and multi-talented front men put on an entertaining performance with his solo band.

While that certainly happened, they also ended up stepping into a world of discovery when it came to not only the Alter Bridge vocalist/guitarist but also his support acts Tim Montana and openers Sons Of Silver.

Kennedy, who of course is the voice behind Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, is touring in support of third solo effort The Art of Letting Go. He unleashed a few of those tunes, including opening with the title track before segueing into arguably the album’s most rocking song “Nothing More to Gain.”

Unlike when he’s fronting the band highlighted by the Guns N’ Roses guitarist strictly as a vocalist, Kennedy plays guitar throughout his solo shows — one of the many topics we discussed back in 2017 (listen here). His eponymous band includes bassist Tim Tournier and drummer Zia Uddin, the latter a friend of Kennedy’s for 40-plus years as kids growing up in Spokane, Washington, who also served as his backstop in The Mayfield Four.

Uddin performed songs from all three of Kennedy’s solo albums, including 2021’s The Ides of March and 2018’s Year of the Tiger, behind a unique plexiglass setup, which transformed into a humorous explanation by Kennedy during new track “In Stride” (ATM Facebook Live footage here).

If anyone came expecting Kennedy to bust out an Alter Bridge classic or a Slash tune, they would’ve left disappointed. Fact is, Kennedy has more than enough capable material to carry him through a gig via his three solo records, and he even left yours truly wondering why he hadn’t performed new-album single “Say What You Will” . . . until the trio re-emerged for its lone encore (footage in above link. No professional video of Kennedy’s set was permitted).

Burly singer/guitarist Tim Montana provided direct support . . . and brought with him a crew laced with a multitude of interesting and impressive credentials who knew how to more than dabble in fun while rocking — and rapping — the house.

So proud of his home state that he incorporated it into his stage name, Montana and his band unveiled a slew of tunes from 2024 effort Savage such as “Devil You Know,” “Get You Some” and the title tracks. Montana introed “Die Today” by recounting a hero who had saved lives by taking out a hotel terrorist, although the track should’ve been called “I Forgot to Die Today.”

Backed by bassist Jackson Moody, guitarist Tom Samulak and drummer Kyle Law, the band’s namesake has had quite an upbringing when it comes to his career.

He’s played on “The Late Show With David Letterman” and not only collaborated with Kid Rock and ZZ Top legend Billy Gibbons, he and the 75-year-old Texan have teamed up to produce several flavors of Whisker Bomb hot sauce.

Sure, rockers and metallers nowadays venture into side businesses such as hot sauce and beer. But how many of those who are more well-known than Montana actually scored a business venture with a guy like Gibbons?

Upon one of his first meetings with the ZZ Top mainstay, Montana regaled a tale of how Gibbons wanted him to “do that hip-hop shit,” so Montana busted out Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” in front of Slash. Montana spotted Slash mouthing, “What the fuck” while smiling — so of course, Montana had to do it at the Rock Box, which you can view below via ATM’s footage.

Montana also relayed a story about how he once played before one of his heroes, Alice In Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell (who will be at the Aztec Theatre next week; tickets here). Montana said Cantrell watched his performance stoically with his arms folded the entire time, and when Montana nervously asked his idol what he thought, Cantrell stated: “I think you guys are some bad motherfuckers.”

Montana, whose video for “Mostly Stoned” was directed by Charlie Sheen, even turned the oft-mundane act of a band plugging its merch into a time when you wouldn’t have wanted to miss it while utilizing the restroom:

“Buy a shirt, and that will get us 50 miles down the road if you like us. And if you don’t like us, buy two ‘cause that will get us 100 miles further away from you.”

Before the humor and storytelling unfolded, there was Sons Of Silver. The quintet from Los Angeles released their debut full-length album Runaway Emotions on Jan. 10 following a pair of EPs.

Highlighted by opening track “Tell Me This,” which the band played third on this night, the album is a terrific mix of up tempo hard rock with dashes of metal and steady musicianship that leaves you wanting to hear much more than the 25-minute set the Los Angeles outfit was relegated to.

Still, vocalist/guitarist Pete Argyropoulos (aka PeteRG), guitarist Kevin Haaland, bassist Adam Kury, keyboardist Brina Kabler and drummer Marc Slutsky delivered the goods on their first San Antonio visit as a band. As expected with a less than 30-minute set, there wasn’t much time for introductions or storytelling, so Sons Of Silver stuck to what they do best on the record. They brought that out at the Rock Box, including “Who’s Gonna Stop Us” and “Hold Tight,” both of which can be viewed below.

Haaland spent a few years playing guitar in Skillet, while Kury has had his stamp on San Antonio performances in recent years. He’s the bassist in Candlebox and longtime Alamo City favorites Legs Diamond, the latter having played twice here since 2022.

Kennedy’s solo band, along with Tim Montana and Sons Of Silver, may not have resonated strongly preshow on many radars locally. But for those who checked out all three artists and relished the chance to perhaps discover some new musical acts to add to their collections, who knows? Maybe one day down the road, you’ll be able to tell those acts you were there from their early days — if not from the very beginning.

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Death metal community bids farewell to Bonds Rock Bar in demonic fashion

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Death metal community bids farewell to Bonds Rock Bar in demonic fashion

No matter a band’s look, no matter its hometown, no matter its gimmick, most metal artists will tell you the same thing: it’s all about the music.

That has always held true for 25 years at 450 Soledad St., the two-storied home of Bonds Rock Bar (formerly known as Bonds 007 Rock Bar) in downtown San Antonio. And for the past 16 years, Bonds has been owned by the married tag team of Dirce and John Eguia.

The Eguias will never say it publicly or privately. But last weekend’s double dose of concert finales proved to be the exception to the bar’s purpose because the back-to-back musical extravaganza wasn’t about the music this time.

Yes, there were bands that provided both evenings’ soundtrack. A seven-artist death-metal program last Friday night that marked the bar’s final gig of all-original music before last Saturday’s sold-out tribute-band show.

Click on the group’s name to get a taste of their performances via ATM’s Facebook Live footage of Sledgehammer Guillotine’s “Buried Alive,” Lacination’s “Undying” and “Excruciating Ejaculation,” Laredo headliners Antisma on “Eyes of Damnation” and “Obscured Afterlife,” Chaotic End, Vvormking, Corpse Hole’s “World Rotted Black” and “Bone Cave of the Cannibal King,” and openers Nauseum.

Rather, the final weekend of 2024 was about paying respect, thank yous and giving a proper farewell to the bar and its owners and staff who have given so much of themselves to the metal community.

The Eguias have always given Alamo City metalheads, and those who just wanted to come in to take a load off regardless of their musical tastes, age, religion or creed a sanctuary to chill, play pool, listen to the jukebox downstairs, check out a live gig upstairs or simply share a few laughs and memories. Their bar has been the only one in San Antonio that has been metal inclusive — no rap or country music. Nothing but tossing your horns in the air.

However, Bonds has been forced to close its doors thanks to the fact a developer bought their property — and that of the bar formerly known as The Korova next door — to make way for another downtown hotel.

The downstairs portion will remain open until construction begins, but the Eguias must be given a 90-day notice before that happens.

Last weekend marked the final days of the upstairs portion that hosted live shows. As Dirce Eguia told Alamo True Metal, she and her husband did not want to book bands in advance of the closure, only to have to run the risk of canceling them after commitments were made.

“I feel like I’m letting a lot of bands down,” Dirce said. “There are plenty of venues in San Antonio, but not medium-sized venues that let local and regional bands play. A lot of bands played their first show at Bonds because we gave them all a chance. A lot of bands called Bonds their home.”

The fact the Eguias have been made to give up their home away from home on the city of San Antonio’s terms instead of their own may be the toughest part of it all.

“I’ve been crying. I’ve been crying. Yes I have,” John Eguia reflected somberly as Friday’s show wound down. “Last weekend, I was on stage with tribute bands. And they called us out. The third band called us out. The fifth band called us out.” Asked if that’s when it hit him, John said, “Oh, fuck yeah.”

“It’s been 25 years of Bonds, 16 years of John and Dirce,” he continued. “Everybody that was here tonight, downstairs, I met y’all. We became friends here. It’s like that guy that nobody hung out with, or this guy that nobody liked. I went up and I talked to them, and I met them. (People from) Germany, just people that I’ve met over the years. Ireland. So many memories.”

Although Bonds was the king of tribute-band venues, it hosted more than its fair share of national acts. Everything from annual visits by Houston legends D.R.I. to earlier this year, the all-female rock band Plush which opened for The Warning in 2023 at the Aztec Theatre.

Friday night’s gig was filled with swirling pits, good times and controlled chaos. Even though Bonds was about to close its doors, there were fans in attendance who had never frequented the bar but came on this occasion through word of mouth of the impending closure. They wanted to be able to say they had set foot at least once inside the heavy metal capital’s hallowed hall of sorts.

There were some big names that came through as well over the years. Lamb of God bassist John Campbell stopped by to play some pool, while Scorpions (ex-Motorhead and ex-King Diamond) drummer Mikkey Dee provided his John Hancock among the bar’s logo-filled countertops.

“Meeting people from the band Foreigner, Lamb Of God, Alice Cooper, Scorpions,” John Eguia said. “I was just hanging out with (them). It was just so casual. Nobody even knew, nobody even suspected. These guys are here.

“But what’s funny about that is some of these people, I ran into them. Like Foreigner in Vegas. They ran into me, and they’re like, ‘Hey, John!’ And I’m like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ It’s like, ‘You’re coming to our show.’ I didn’t want to say, ‘I’m going to Scorpions.’ And they turned me on to tickets. It was so badass.”

One of John Eguia’s biggest memories, however, came from an unlikely source due to its unlikeliest of back stories.

“One of our biggest names in this bar was (black metal band) Mayhem from Norway,” he said. “They played here. They play for 50,000 people, and they played here for fuckin’ 300 people. I’m gonna guess (it was in) 2015.

“Their tour bus pulled up — I’ll never forget. Dirce was like, freaked out, when I told her, ‘This band, one of the dudes fuckin’ killed the other motherfucker and ate his flesh. And then he was arrested. He’s locked up. And I told Dirce, ‘You wanna get in the bus?’ “

Although that calamity among the band took place a couple decades earlier and thus, needless to say, the individuals involved were no longer in Mayhem, any hesitation on the Eguias’ part would have been certainly understandable.

Then again, this is heavy metal. A community that bonds (pun intended) together.

“They asked for a bottle of Jack Daniels,” John said, “and I said, ‘Let’s take it.’ And Dirce went in with me, and I said, ‘Alright. Watch out. We’re OK. The bus is in front of Bonds. And we’re gonna drink Jack Daniels with the band.’ It was funny.”

Bonds may be in the midst of being booted unceremoniously by its hometown. But its hometown can’t stop the Eguias from searching elsewhere to begin a new era.

But of course, that’s not going to happen overnight. John, however, remains optimistic.

“Our plans are, we’re going to find a place, somewhere,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, my thought is, I want an acre lot. We’re going to build it. Four walls. I told Dirce … we’re going to put up four walls. And we’re going to put up a trough with cold beer and a boombox. And we’re going to start it. We’re going to hang out. And then we’re going to build it. My thought is, I don’t give a shit. If we can’t find nothing, we’re going to build something from nothing. And then we’re going to grow. We’re going to make it happen. Bonds will revive somewhere else. It’s going to happen.”

Added Dirce: “Overall, it’s very sad because we feel there will never be another Bonds. Even if we find a place, nothing can come close to what we have now.”

Bonds as we know it wasn’t just a place to listen to metal. It was a sanctuary to gather, make friends and memories, treat friends and even strangers to drinks, and share an undying love for the music.

It was a bar where you could bring your non-metalhead mother and she could feel comfortable tossing up her horns in front of a mural paying tribute to the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. I did. And she did.

Bonds was an avenue where moms and dads could bring their kids to check out death metal (see 52-photo gallery). Where promoters of rock and metal bands could come out and support their death-metal counterparts behind the scenes.

Where a guy who used to work behind the bar could enjoy a full-circle moment and be the bassist for the final all-original band (Sledgehammer Guillotine) to play within these doors.

Where patrons could hold private parties. Where the Eguias could spend three months each year decorating upstairs for Halloween or hold a pre-Fiesta walk to NIOSA in April for its closest friends to party before the party.

It was simply — home.

Similar moments may be gone for now. But they’re likely to be reborn before it’s all said and done.

Because if there’s one message to the people in the position of power in San Antonio, it’s this:

You cannot kill the family. Especially not the Bonds Rock Bar family.

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W.A.S.P., Armored Saint ensure nostalgia & rock never stop

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W.A.S.P., Armored Saint ensure nostalgia & rock never stop

Many metalheads, particularly those in their 40s and 50s, would likely reference the ‘80s era, specifically that which emanated from the Sunset Strip, as their favorite brand of music’s golden period. The slew of bands, over-the-top fashions, excess of after-show debauchery and hundreds of memorable songs stamped their place in the lives of countless aficionados.

Naturally, some of the bands from that scene and time made it bigger than others. Some barely lasted one album. All played a part in a culture of music that’s second to none.

W.A.S.P. and Armored Saint fall somewhere in the middle of that ledger, though — especially in the former’s case — much closer to the top when it comes to popularity and an imprint that still resonates today. Both undeniably passed the criteria that matters most: creating music and specific songs that have stood the test of time four decades later.

Anyone requiring more convincing needed to look no further than Saturday night at the Aztec Theatre as W.A.S.P. brought its Album One Alive tour with veteran stalwarts Armored Saint in a double dosage of Los Angeles-area metal gone modern.

W.A.S.P. eccentric frontman Blackie Lawless went more than a decade without performing in the Alamo City until Nov. 4, 2022, when — guess who? — Armored Saint (along with Michael Schenker) each celebrated their longevity at the Boeing Center at Tech Port. That performance, from a W.A.S.P. fan’s standpoint, not only lacked the overdue punch many were expecting from the rare visit, but it also featured Lawless shockingly changing lyrics to one of his songs to a PG version and barely found him addressing his audience (coverage here).

Two years and 26 days later at the Aztec may as well have been another lifetime. This show was a hundred times better and more “back to the beginning” than 2022.

Saturday night brought forth a longer (88 minutes approximately) and clearer (in sound and lighting) performance exclusive to songs from the first four albums covering 1984-89 even after W.A.S.P. had played the debut record in its entirety. It also featured Lawless sharing various anecdotes and stories with the crowd that never seemed long-winded. Judging by various fans approaching Alamo True Metal during the night with comments about Lawless’ pre-show meet-and-greet being “next level,” “unrushed” and “worth it,” it was as if Lawless’ banter with both levels of the Aztec was an extension of the M&G.

One of those spoken moments featured Lawless stating how he had called “half a dozen promoters that I know around the country” to ask them for their thoughts on his idea of bringing the Album One Alive tour to life. He stated that each of them was all for it but that the final one asked if he would perform the album in sequential order, only for Lawless to tell him, “No.” When that promoter referenced a mythical Led Zeppelin reunion playing their fourth album all the way through and asked Lawless if they would start with “Stairway to Heaven,” the singer relented, “OK, you got me by the ying yang there.”

Lawless then admitted that initial rehearsals with his band — 18-year tenured guitarist Doug Blair, 26-year bassist Mike Duda and drummer Aquiles Priester — “weren’t going very smoothly” because some of the songs hadn’t been played in 40 years.

Not only were they played at the Aztec. They served to put to rest any public doubt that Lawless isn’t singing. Take it from one who spent the first three songs in the photo pit and actually heard Lawless and Blair’s vocals flowing from their vocal cords and not just the microphones (watch ATM Facebook Live footage of “B.A.D.,” “School Daze” and “Hellion”). Even 40 years later, it’s not hard to get fired up upon hearing “a fire bell is ringing hell” and “at the altar of Rock N’ Roll you kneel.”

Lawless also shared that until this tour, he had never opened a show with “I Wanna Be Somebody.” While gazing at the MTV video for that tune (and subsequently several others) on the big screen, it brought back the memory of a 1987 syndicated radio interview Lawless did with Z-Rock in which he said the inspiration for that song came after he heard the line uttered on an episode of “Barney Miller” (Google it, kiddos) and that it “put a hook in me.”

W.A.S.P. had spent the majority of its tours opening with another first-album track, “On Your Knees,” one of many from back in the day that sparked Tipper Gore’s Parental Music Resource Center (PMRC) shenanigans and efforts to bring down metal because she viewed W.A.S.P. as “We Are Sexual Perverts.” Forty years later, the acronym may be as obvious, or mysterious, to some as it once was. Regardless, you can watch ATM footage below of “On Your Knees,” “Tormentor” and “The Torture Never Stops” as W.A.S.P. ended the first album in style adorned by a blood-red stage emblazoned with chains and skulls (again, more back to the beginning than its previous visit).

And unlike 2022, Lawless expanded the post-album one portion of the show. After a 5-minute break, the quartet tore into medleys from 1986’s Inside the Electric Circus and personal favorite The Headless Children from 1989.

A 35-year celebration of the latter would’ve been incredible to experience. But at least we heard sizable portions of “The Real Me,” MTV ballad “Forever Free” and the tyrant-inspired title track, which was non-existent at Tech Port.

Fellow Los Angeles natives Armored Saint are always heavy, dependable and energetic, and that didn’t change from the 2022 show.

Opening with an absolute ripping tune from 2020 and latest album Punching the Sky in “End of the Attention Span,” vocalist John Bush and company took aim at today’s perils of gotta-know-everything-now social media with a song they could easily open every gig with from now on.

Following that blazing track, it was nothing but classics beginning with the 1987 title track to Raising Fear. Bush introed 1984 title track March of the Saint by saying the band first played it in San Antonio during a three-night stint at the Cameo Theatre with Metallica — a group the vocalist could’ve joined back in the day but turned down, something he discussed with ATM in a turn-back-the-clock interview here.

Guitarists Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan, bassist Joey Vera and drummer Gonzo Sandoval round out the quintet that still has 80 percent original members, and they teamed up to play 2000 track “The Pillar,” a deep cut they didn’t perform when they headlined Come And Take It Live in mid-May in Austin with Dangerous Toys (ATM coverage here. Ironically, Dangerous Toys was also headlining its own show this night at Deco Ballroom). The well-oiled machine was in fine form all night, as demonstrated by ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Left Hook From Right Field” and “Aftermath.”

Bush, who also referenced playing “the Majestic around the corner with Saxon back in the day,” took to the balcony during “Can U Deliver,” (ATM footage below) before the Saints capped it off with “Reign of Fire” (also below).

Unbeknownst to the crowd, it was reported by the band yesterday that Vera had surgery on his left eye in Fort Worth two days after the gig for Posterior Vitreous Detachment. In a prime example of “the show must go on,” Vera — who of course also has been in Fates Warning for many years with San Antonio natives Ray Alder and Bobby Jarzombek — showed no ill effects and continued to rock and perform like the trooper he’s always been on stage. Alamo True Metal wishes him well.

But you can’t end an evening with W.A.S.P. in San Antonio without performing “Blind in Texas” (ATM Facebook Live footage here), and Lawless gave the fans what they wanted. He prefaced it by telling them they had witnessed history in seeing the first album played live all the way.

There was no blood or raw meat. No pyro. No political flags. Just a kick-ass performance from beginning to end by one of metal’s important, influential, favorite and fun frontmen and artists.

Stay healthy and hungry, boys. And buckle up, metal brethren. Forty years of The Last Command is just around the corner.

W.A.S.P. setlist: I Wanna Be Somebody, L.O.V.E. Machine, The Flame, B.A.D., School Daze, Hellion, Sleeping (In the Fire), On Your Knees, Tormentor, The Torture Never Stops.

Medley 1 (The Big Welcome/Inside the Electric Circus, I Don’t Need No Doctor, Scream Until You Like It).

Medley 2 (The Real Me, Forever Free, The Headless Children), Wild Child, Blind in Texas

ARMORED SAINT setlist: End of the Attention Span, Raising Fear, The Pillar, March of the Saint, Left Hook From Right Field, Aftermath, Win Hands Down, Can U Deliver, Reign of Fire

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Maidens of Swiss metal Militia sizzle in live San Antonio debut

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Maidens of Swiss metal Militia sizzle in live San Antonio debut

A check of nearby flagpoles last Friday night appeared to portend another evening of serene inactivity outside.

Inside Fitzgerald’s, however, was a different story.

A gale force of power blew in from as far as Switzerland, courtesy of five maidens of metal known as Burning Witches, and as near as Austin and locally thanks to a grouping of bands that helped form the backbone of the South Texas Legion scene in the mid-’80s.

Featured attraction Burning Witches made their live San Antonio debut one to remember with a powerful 14-song, 75-minute set in the quaint “party hearty at McCarty” bar with San Antonio stalwarts Byfist, Austin veterans Militia and a rare appearance by local trio Grind.

And because it was their debut in the Alamo City, the Swiss witches were basically touring in support of, at least in North America, their entire five-album catalog and not just 2023 effort The Dark Tower.

Dutch vocalist Laura Guldemond, Swiss natives Romana Kalkuhl (founding member & guitarist), bassist Jeanine (Jay) Grob and drummer Lala Frischknecht and newest guitarist and lone American Courtney Cox — formerly of The Iron Maidens and Femme Fatale — came out flying on new opening track “Unleash the Beast” and 2020’s “Wings of Steel.”

No ballads and no fillers comprised the highly energetic performance (see all setlists in 55-photo gallery), and it continued on “Necronomicon” and ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Lucid Nightmare” and “Evil Witch,” which were just samples of Cox’s scintillating shredding capabilities and featured Guldemond leaving the stage to join the audience on the former track.

Burning Witches is already working on its 2025 album, which included the release of new single “The Spell of the Skull” just three days prior to the concert. It marks the first song the band has worked on with Cox on guitar, although Burning Witches did not play it live or even mention it.

By the way: sign me up for a Cox-vs.-Nita Strauss guitar battle any day of the week.

Although Burning Witches has covered Savatage’s “Hall of the Mountain King,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Shot in the Dark” and W.A.S.P.’s “I Wanna Be Somebody” on their two latest albums — and Dio’s “Holy Diver” going further back — none of those were offered up at Fitzgerald’s. That decision was very respectable given the whole inaugural San Antonio concert thingy and fans wanting to hear more of their own music. However, Frischknecht and Cox’s predecessor, Larissa Ernst, spoke about the Savatage cover and more exclusively with ATM in 2021 upon the release of The Witch of the North, which you can watch here.

Guldemond was also a terror — in a good, evil, demonic way — on one of Burning Witches’ heaviest tunes: the 2018 title track to Hexenhammer which was followed by new song “World on Fire,” both of which can be viewed below.

Guldemond, Grob and Kalhuhl in particular made themselves readily available to meet fans throughout the performances of the trio of Texas artists, and Guldemond’s personal website goes a step further. The singer offers to lend her vocal talents to other artists with the following message: “Yes, I also would love to help you out with vocals for your project. Just send me a message with a demo and lyrics and a plan if you have them at ‘contact.’ “

Go ahead. ATM will make it easier for you here.

The only downside of the group’s performance came via something not within its control.

An unfortunate occurrence at many Fitzgerald’s gigs is artists telling their fans they can barely see them, only hear them. (Grind said so as well in the middle of ATM’s Facebook Live clip of that band below).

Burning Witches’ performance may have been one of the first in which that scenario unfolded at the end of the set when the band simply requested to take a photo with the crowd. Guldemond asked twice to have the lights shined upon the patrons, but each inquiry was to no avail. As a result, no keepsake was taken for the group’s initial foray into the Alamo City, and it never should have come to that. But once again, ATM obliged regarding the ladies’ final bow in the photo gallery.

Byfist provided direct support with the usual hard-hitting crew of power vocalist Raul Garcia, lead guitarist Manny Santos, rhythm guitarist Nacho Vara, bassist Stony Grantham and drummer Scott Palmer.

Byfist has basically been playing the same set since 2020’s release of In the End, but it’s an entertaining show each time. Their 1989 EP Adrenaline was produced by the late Metal Church vocalist “Reverend” David Wayne, whose band Reverend included Vara until Wayne passed in 2005. Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of opening tracks “Left to Die” and “Universal Metal” and below on “Guaranteed Death” and “Mary Celeste.”

Why yes, that is an ATM photo under the “Born of Shredders” section of the band’s site.

Militia, on the other hand, doesn’t come around to San Antonio that often despite hailing from the nearby live music capital. Vocalist Mike Soliz, guitarist Tony Smith, band founder and bassist Robert Willingham and drummer Chip Alexander formed the impetus of the hard-hitting group in the mid-’80s, which recently added guitarist Phillip Patterson.

Although they were inactive for many years, Soliz made an appearance in 2018 at Fitzgerald’s when the South Texas Legion brotherhood of metal that included mainstays such as Jason McMaster, James Rivera, Bobby and Ron Jarzombek, Art Villareal, Pete Perez and others united on the same stage for a memorable evening of Q&A, storytelling and rocking everyone’s hearts out. (ATM coverage here).

On this night, Militia delivered the goods on seven tracks including ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Search for Steel” and “And the Gods Made War” plus below on “The Judas Dream” and “Salem Square.”

Soliz at one point apologized to the crowd for his voice being hoarse. But, seriously, the man’s pipes were in incredible form, and this opinion wasn’t the only one who felt that way as fans assured him they couldn’t even tell. That was further evidenced by the fact he screamed more than the other three vocalists on the bill combined — and nailed it every time.

However, the guitars were super loud, often drowning out Soliz’s chops unless you were at the barrier — but thankfully not resulting in anything near the Perry Farrell/Dave Navarro episode that occurred recently at a Jane’s Addiction concert over a similar situation.

Militia will shortly be marking a momentous occasion in the group’s history, as Nov. 30 marks the 40th anniversary of the famous “Slayer vs. Slayer” show at The Villa Fontana that included Militia as a support act for the Los Angeles Big 4 outfit and S.A. Slayer in 1984.

The trio of Grind began the Fitztivities (as the bar likes to often say) at 8 p.m. with a 30-minute set that delighted and made one wonder why the band doesn’t perform here more often. Guitarist Bob Perez may hold the key to that, as he spends the bulk of his musical time with Vara in Seance, while bassist Rudy Munoz may just need some nudging from his circle of friends to convince him there’s perhaps more of a demand to hear the band live than the band itself may think.

Judge for yourself below on “Who Do You Think You Are” and via ATM’s footage of “Pain” and “Surreal.”

Hopefully this initial viewing of Burning Witches in South Texas will serve as a warmup act. By the time the next album arrives, it wouldn’t be a stretch to have them perform with the likes of an Armored Saint, or even on Helloween’s 2026 North American 40th anniversary tour at a place such as Boeing Center at Tech Port or the Aztec Theatre.

So, local promoters, get on it. Let the witches set our world on fire once again. And give them a proper Kodak moment to remember.

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Titanic klash of thrash turns Aztec Theatre into hell on earth

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Titanic klash of thrash turns Aztec Theatre into hell on earth

Fans entering the Aztec Theatre on Saturday night may have expected a heavy metal concert. What they got was so much more: a conglomeration of historical celebration, hell unfolding into not one but two walls of death, and one of the genre’s most inspiring examples of living life to the fullest all wrapped up in a clash for the ages.

The Klash of the Titans tour featuring Testament, Kreator and Possessed delivered on more fronts than simply reinvigorating memories of the 1990-91 Clash of the Titans trek that tore through North America behind Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and a then-novice Alice In Chains.

Testament’s 1-hour, 7-minute closing co-headlining set brought its first two albums, 1987’s The Legacy and 1988’s The New Order, back to life — something the Bay Area thrashers originally did during the inaugural 70000 Tons of Metal cruise in 2011, which Alamo True Metal also witnessed up close.

This time, Testament may have become the first band in history to tour in support of the remastering of classic albums. And this time, the mainstays of those two records in vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarists Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson chose not to play them in sequence or in entirety but to mix the best songs from each into a melting pot of mosh pit inducing fury.

Along with bassist Steve DiGiorgio, who began the set with a five-string instrument and ended it with a unique three-string version and new drummer Chris Dovas, Testament allowed itself to recreate deep cuts such as “A Day of Reckoning” and “Do or Die” and mix them with all-time favorites “Over the Wall,” “The New Order” and “Trial By Fire.”

Much like the cancer-surviving Billy dedicated “Do or Die,” the first song he ever worked on upon joining the group as it was transitioning between calling itself Legacy and Testament, to a friend of his restricken with a disease, ATM would like to produce this article especially for those in and around the author’s former stomping grounds of St. Petersburg, Florida, and all along the Florida Gulf Coast still persevering through the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. That includes personal friends unable to watch this tour three days before the San Antonio stop at Jannus Landing in St. Pete due to that visit’s cancellation. Hopefully through this piece of work and its art, they will feel as if they were at the Aztec as well, and they can get a taste of Testament’s set through ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “The Preacher” and “The Haunting” (no professional video was allowed).

Testament ended its performance eight minutes earlier than the venue’s official set times, which would’ve been ample time to include the first album’s “Curse of the Legions of Death” and second album’s Aerosmith cover “Nobody’s Fault.”

Nevertheless, watching the Aztec’s patrons overcome a dearth of available room to mosh their hearts out thanks to the venue’s multi-layered levels of general admission space in close proximity to one another by body surfing on “A Day of Reckoning” and letting it all hang out on closer “Into the Pit” was a sight to behold.

And here’s something to put the albums’ longevity into perspective for ya: The Legacy and The New Order are 11 and 12 years older, respectively, than the drummer who performed them on this night.

The confined space, however, did nothing to stop Kreator frontman Mille Petrozza from performing with the same intensity as if he was in front of 80,000 maniacs at his home nation’s annual Wacken Open Air festival.

Making their second appearance at the Aztec in 17 months after supporting Death Angel here May 23, 2023, Kreator made it clear that hell was about to morph into the laps of those who dared to allow the band to take them on the journey.

Six stage-prop corpses hung from the rafters while three inflatable demons towered over Petrozza, guitarist Sami Yli-Sirnio, former Dragonforce bassist Frederic Leclercq and drummer Jurgen Reil. Petrozza bellowed all of his lyrics with bombastic fury as Kreator (and Testament and Possessed, for that matter) played roughly 80 percent of their respective sets in a flurry of bright blood red lighting.

Petrozza demanded two walls of death (see 65-photo gallery), but even more menacing and horns-inducing was his desire to know “Is there something following you” during the riff mastery of “Phobia.”

The hellacious tone continued throughout the co-headlining performances of “666,” “Phantom Antichrist” and “Enemy of God.” Watch ATM Facebook Live footage of “Hail to the Hordes,” 1989 classic “Betrayer” and “Satan is Real” and view the setlist in the photo gallery, as Kreator was arguably one of the clearest-sounding bands in Aztec history. Everything about the band’s set was crisp, hard-hitting and memorable.

Petrozza and Possessed vocalist Jeff Becerra first met when the Berlin Wall in the former’s country still existed. Now in 2024, they’re touring together, and the latter has served simultaneously as arguably one of the founding fathers of death metal while exhibiting his own brand of perseverance through personal tragedy.

As most vocalists tend to do in concert, Becerra asked the Aztec’s visitors who was seeing his band live for the first time. While many raised their horns and voices in approval — with many of them likely not familiar with Becerra’s story — the singer carried on musically as can be viewed via ATM’s footage of “The Exorcist” and “Demon.”

But to say he’s carried on in life would be the ultimate understatement.

Becerra was shot during a 1989 robbery while buying cigarettes and is paralyzed from the chest down. For 3 1/2 years, he was on a waiting list just to try out a pair of robotic legs before finally receiving the chance three decades later to walk for the first time in 2019.

Chew on that for a few minutes.

That year, Possessed released its third and most recent album Revelations of Oblivion, the follow-up to 1985’s Seven Churches and 1986’s Beyond the Gates. Becerra continues to make music, sing for the masses, headbang and will likely forever be known as the one who invented death metal.

Oh, by the way, Becerra also has had nine eye surgeries for cataracts.

Saturday night wasn’t simply a klash of the titans. It was an occasion to unleash pent-up emotions in remembrance of someone those in attendance may have lost recently. It served as a reminder those on stage have had their lives disrupted in horrible ways too but have worked immensely hard every day to come out on top and continue to do what they were put on this earth to do. And it was simply another chance to enjoy classic thrash and death metal at its finest.

Whatever your reason for attending, there’s no denying that Testament, Kreator and Possessed could not have provided a more ideal soundtrack and antidote to each and every fan’s own personal hell.

May the metal titans continue to heal us all as only they know how.

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Udo's 'nightmare' of albums a dilemma fans have come to Accept

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Udo's 'nightmare' of albums a dilemma fans have come to Accept

When a stocky diminutive German with an unmistakably raspy metallic voice debuted in 1979, he likely couldn’t have imagined having 27 studio albums under his belt by the time 2024 rolled around.

Most vocalists would see that as a blessing. And, in reality, Udo Dirkschneider most likely does. But when it comes to selecting songs to play live these days, the original voice of Accept views it as something else.

“There’s too many albums,” the 72-year-old Dirkschneider told his fans last Saturday night at Fitzgerald’s. “It’s a nightmare, really.”

Udo’s dilemma is his followers’ gain. Especially on this night.

That’s because eight years after declaring he would no longer perform tracks from his Accept days, the original voice of that seminal band mixed in a trio of those classics as part of a 90-minute, 16-song set touring in support of 2023 album Touchdown.

And this latest visit, supported by New Jersey thrashers Midnite Hellion, Christian outfit KillDevil Theory from El Paso and local veterans S.A. Territories, came with a bonus: original Accept bassist Peter Baltes left his longtime band to reunite with Dirkschneider’s solo group, which includes the singer’s son Sven Dirkschneider on drums with Andrey Smirnov and Fabian Dee Dammers handling dual guitar duties.

Patrons at Fitzgerald’s could also feel fortunate to witness Udo and company on a couple of other levels: a) this visit was originally scheduled for last November at Rolling Oaks Mall’s Events Center, only to have visa and travel issues disrupt those plans. b) shortly after Saturday’s gig, the bands had to cancel the El Paso stop in KillDevil Theory’s hometown due to a promoter snafu, according to Dirkschneider’s social media pages.

So a sizable audience at Fitzgerald’s took in Dirkschneider taking the stage to new track “Isolation Man” followed by 1989 tune “Break the Rules” (ATM Facebook Live footage of both here). Udo would go on to play Accept track “Midnight Mover” and four Touchdown tunes in all before ending the night with a pair of 1987 classics from personal favorite Animal House — which Dirkschneider told Alamo True Metal in 2015 was supposed to be the next Accept studio album that turned into his first solo record after his departure — and putting the cherry on top with a pair of his best-known Accept offerings (ATM footage of all four songs below; setlist in 46-photo gallery).

On paper, having a thrash trio and a Christian band provide direct support wouldn’t appear to be a good fit on a Dirkschneider-led bill. But who doesn't appreciate an eclectic show?

Midnite Hellion’s second album Kingdom Immortal dropped two years ago, but the group was finally able to bring the tunes to the Alamo City, and it didn’t disappoint.

Founded by drummer Drew Rizzo and fronted by singer/bassist Rich Kubik (who sports a resemblance to Corey Taylor and the late Grim Reaper vocalist Steve Grimmett), Midnite Hellion brought the heaviness to the Fitz. The eight-song album was recorded in a six-day span, a tempo representative of the group’s hard-hitting sound, with producer Alex Perialas, who has worked with Overkill, Testament and Joe Bonamassa among others. Perialas is also known for having recorded S.O.D.’s Speak English Or Die in two days and mixing it on the third day while Anthrax was recording Spreading the Disease.

Check out ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Phantomland” and “Cross the Line.” The former was inspired by Tom Petty’s “Refugee” and “thematically inspired by the original Nosferatu,” according to a press release.

KillDevil Theory didn’t hit the Fitzgerald’s audience over the head with Christian messages. In fact, the C word wasn’t mentioned at all. But the band, fronted by singer/keyboardist Deanna Crane with her husband Curtis Crane on guitar, her brother-in-law Phil Evans on bass and the intense Johnny Torres on drums did deliver some uplifting Rock N’ Roll that was both melodic and heavy. That was most exemplified on “As I Kneel,” which was highlighted by Curtis Crane’s guitar solo (watch here).

KillDevil Theory has three albums under its wings, with the latest being 2021’s Second Coming, highlighted by “Die Another Day.”

The Cranes’ formation of the band, and its sparking of Christian overtones, came about as a result of their daughter being born prematurely which resulted in the couple living with her in the hospital for her first nine months. They discovered Christ in the process, and the band is happy to report that their daughter is now doing well at age 15.

Not to be outdone was longtime local favorites S.A. Territories. Led as always by guitarist / vocalist Orrie V., the quartet took the stage at an early 7:15 p.m. (heck, Udo rocked from 10-11:30 p.m., one of the rare times a Saturday night gig at Fitzgerald’s didn’t end the following morning) and delighted the locals with a slew of tracks including “Promises”, “The Conquerors” and “Eternity,” the latter able to be seen here).

Orrie and his crew are true metal representatives of the San Antonio scene, and one of the things that makes them a joy to watch is that their style, while still being heavy at heart, can fit on virtually any bill supporting any type of national artist.

When Orrie isn’t on stage with his main act, he’s also singing nowadays in Iron Maiden tribute Seventh Son and has an ode to Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush as well.

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