Let’s go back to 2006. For my birthday, my sisters got me a ticket to the Family Values Tour. If you are unfamiliar with that notorious tour, let me catch you up:
The Family Values Tour was created by one of my favorites bands, Korn, in 1998 to be an annual rock and hip hop tour. Korn enlisted the likes of Rammstein, Ice Cube, Linkin Park, DMX, Stone Temple Pilots, Mobb Deep, and Limp Bizkit join them on these tours. As you might imagine, crazy combination of bands equals crazy stories coming from the Family Values Tour. For instance, crazy-weird like Rammstein celebrating Halloween by coming out on stage naked and getting arrested… AFTER the show. Or crazy-awesome, like when Korn and Limp Bizkit were on a rotating stage and performed the track "All in the Family."
With that knowledge now in you’re head, you can understand what fueled my excitement to attend the next available Family Values Tour. Lo and behold, that opportunity would become reality when my aforementioned sisters purchase the three of us tickets for the Family Values Tour 06. The lineup consisted of 10 Years, Dir en grey, Stone Sour, Deftones, and Korn.
I was beyond ready.
On the day of the concert, my sisters picked me up and we began the journey from San Diego to San Bernardino. After 2 hours of going through literal wasteland to reach the amphitheater, my excitement reached peak level. Not only was I going to see my favorite band Korn, but I could say that I was there… I was at the Family Values Tour! However, as we approached the amphitheater, we were welcomed with... nothing. I said it. Nothing.
Empty. No show. No Bands. Just a dusty marque reading:
“THE FAMILY VALUE TOUR
Korn
Deftones
Stone Sour
Flyleaf
10 Years
Deadsy
Bury Your Dead
Dir En Grey
Aug 19, 2006”
The day we arrived was August 20th. We had missed the show by one day. I had missed the Family Values Tour.
So take this as a lesson, if you take someone to a show… make sure you take them on the right damn day. Or else they may point the finger at you rather publicly at some point in the ensuing 10-12 years.
Author Archives: Bradley Konkol
Let Us Talk About Aggretsuko
It's rare to see any metal in pop culture and — let’s be honest — it's not hard to see why. The raw aggressive energy behind it doesn't always hit the average person unrefined ears as smoothly as we metalheads. But, I think there may finally, at long last be a solution. Please allow me to introduce you to Aggretsuko!
Who is Aggretsuko? Well I'm glad you asked!
Aggretsuko, or Aggressive Retsuko, is a Japanese anime franchise based on the eponymous character created by "Yeti" for the mascot company Sanrio (the same guys who created the slightly less metal Hello Kitty).
Here is how Sanrio describes the Aggretsuko:
“She is a cute Red Panda, working as an office associate in the accounting department of a highly respected trading company. She works in one of the biggest metropolitan areas of Tokyo. It's always been a dream of hers to work in this field, especially in this part of the city. But in reality, her bosses are unsympathetic and give her harsh deadlines.
She ultimately has become a pushover within the company. When she gets pushed to the limit, she goes out after work and takes out her frustration and stress with heavy metal Karaoke sessions!”
The strange combination of relatability, comedy, & death metal has already won over much of the internet and has even spawned a Netflix series that has dropped this April.
So. If you are the type who hates your job, can't stand your annoying co-workers, and has either embraced or repressed the need to scream it all out... don't worry, Aggretsuko is there to help you out. And by extension, further infect the unassuming masses with the most awesome disease of all: heavy metal fever.
Pan-Pot
My Dad Introduced Me To RAMMSTEIN
With recent news that RAMMSTEIN is officially back in the studio for the next album, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the first time I heard the band.
The time was 2001, and I was enjoying my summer break the only way I knew how, by playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 the whole time. My dad, on the other hand, had his sites set on some father-son bonding and decided to peel me away from my paradise of pixels and combos.
The time was 2001, and I was enjoying my summer break the only way I knew how, by playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 the whole time. My dad, on the other hand, had his sites set on some father-son bonding and decided to peel me away from my paradise of pixels and combos.
Now, I don’t know how you bonded with your respective old man, but for me it was usually car rides. Long, boring car rides. As an adult, I now know it was probably tough for my dad to ‘get' me a lot of the time. We’re talking about a German native who moved his life to the states, and let’s just say his upbringing involved neither Dragon Punches nor Hurricane Kicks. But there was one safety net that connected us: music.
Most of my music taste came from my parents and my dad was the first person to introduce me to metal. Dio, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead… the list goes on. And around the time of said car rides, my taste in metal was fairly grounded to what was big in the states, so mostly what was played on the radio and whatever I could find in Metal Edge Magazine.
With all the background, let me get back to the point: car rides and German metal.
Most of my music taste came from my parents and my dad was the first person to introduce me to metal. Dio, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead… the list goes on. And around the time of said car rides, my taste in metal was fairly grounded to what was big in the states, so mostly what was played on the radio and whatever I could find in Metal Edge Magazine.
With all the background, let me get back to the point: car rides and German metal.
So my dad is taking me on one of his infamous cruises down the coast, talking me about, like, stuff and whatever. At some point, he could tell that our precious bro time wasn’t creating the desired result and that music was likely his only choice to get things back on track.
Back against the wall, my old man throws out: “Hey, so there is this band I like a lot from Deutschland.”
“Cool…” I said whilst, staring out the window.
“I think you will really like them as well” he proclaimed with a cocky attitude.
“Sure, put em on but-”
Before I could finish, the mouth of the beast opened and Till Lindemann voice echoed out with:
“Du
Du hast
Du hast mich!”
That was the most metal way of saying “you have me” I have ever heard in my life at that moment. Credit to my dad, I loved that goddamn band. We spent that whole car ride listening to Sehnsucht, bonding over some of the most awesome and most inappropriate music ever… and creating a car ride that I wouldn’t change for anything.
WWE Brought the Metal
This past weekend was the most important of the year: WrestleMania weekend. Such an event needs the presence of some good ol’ metal… and so the metal did come!
First up, at NXT Takeover, Cane Hill performed the official theme song of the show, "It Follows" to kick off the night!
First up, at NXT Takeover, Cane Hill performed the official theme song of the show, "It Follows" to kick off the night!
Later that night, Lzzy Hale of Grammy-winning Halestorm played in "Ember Moon." Perfect entrance for the champ!
However, nothing topped the charismatic Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance. Alice Cooper’s own Nita Strauss performed with ten drummers and more than a few violinists to play to Mr. Nakamura onto the big stage in front of 80,000 people. True story, this was pretty much the coolest thing I have seen this year.
In sum, thank you WWE for providing this metalhead, and most importantly metal itself, with yet another fantastic Wrestlemania.
DUBFIRE
Mammoth back-to-back session with techno titans Dubfire b2b Nicole Moudaber b2b Paco Osuna at Ultra 2018!
NINA NESBITT
Another virtually perfect acoustic performance from the up and coming Scottish singer/songwriter!
JACK ANTONOFF
Jack Antonoff puts his own folky spin on an acoustic cover of Icona Pop’s “I Love It”.
Dorothy
Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival
Featuring The Weeknd, Beck and Bon Iver!