Gods of Metal 2012

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Inebriated, I fall into bed at 1:00 am on Friday morning, the 22^nd of June. An hour and a half later, I am awakened by the anemic tink of my alarm clock. Time to rise, time to shine, the trip is about to begin. Scarf breakfast, grab bags, descend stairs, pile into car. It’s a rather small car and there are five of us. Marcello’s sister gets shotgun since he’s driving. So I squeeze in back with Vinnie and Julie. At least I get a window. I spend the roughly two and half hour drive to Venice trying to reclaim sleep. Not happening.Too cramped, too much Portuguese rattling around the interior.

Shortly before 6 am, we arrive at Venezia Mestre, the main train station. The train leaves at 6:35. We head into the little common area to wait. Everyone orders coffee. Except me. I don’t drink coffee. I head to the ticket counter and buy a bus ticket from Venezia Mestre to Villach for the return journey. 20 Euro, not bad at all. Finally, the train is pulling into the station. A round of goodbyes are said. Marcello and crew are heading off on a road trip around Italy. Vinnie and I are heading to Milan.

The train ride is much like the car ride. But at least I have the headroom to sit up straight. In fact, I have to since the seats are vertical and not adjustable. Sleep remains elusive, despite valiant efforts to capture it. It’s like a mythical beast at this point. A unicorn, a minotaur, or a puma, for fans of Red vs. Blue. But after 8 hours of travel, we arrive at our destination: Milan, Italy, venue of Gods of Metal 2012.

But first, we have a whole day to explore the city. So we set out on foot. Vinnie printed out the locations of three potential hostels to stay at on a piece of paper. The images are small, providing only the smallest glimpse of Milan. But all three are within walking distance of the main metro (subway) station by Milano Centrale (train station). We head off to the closest one. 20 minutes later (after orienting ourselves to some landmarks and making sense of Vinnie’s small map) we walk inside. They have a room available. 20 Euro per person. Hmm, a little more than we were expecting, but ok. Wait, we can’t check in until 2 pm? Vinnie checks the time. 10:15. Shit. And that quickly, we’re on our way to the second destination. Another 20 minutes of walking. 30 Euros a night, late check in. It seems we’re making backwards progress here. But is it really progress if it’s backwards? No matter, we continue. The third place on our map is Hostel California. Vinnie researched this one before hand. Beds for 5 euro a night. He forewent making a reservation. Big mistake. Because it’s full. The whole weekend. I want to /facepalm.

It’s 10:45 at this point. We’re starving. On the way to Hostel California we passed a hole in the wall pizzeria. We head back to it. They’re just opening. Italians operate on a different time schedule from the rest of the world, it’s called “Later than everyone else.” We step inside and plop down. Peruse the menu. Pizzas are listed in two different sizes. We ask what the difference is. The first is the normal 30cm personal pizza. The second is…huge, for lack of a better word. With ham, it’s 16 euro. We order one. The guy has to heat up the pizza oven, do we mind waiting? Fuck it, no, we’ll wait, we’re tired of walking anyway. 20 minutes later he sets the pizza down. Ravenous, we immediately try to devour it. Another mistake. It’s hotter than hell. Looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer, taunted by the sight and smell of melted cheese and ham.

Pizza polished off (yes, we ate the whole thing, quite a feat) we head back into the streets of Milan to search for a place to sleep for the night. After numerous stops and poor directions, we arrive at Hotel Adelci, a small hostel proprieted by a Chinese family. Yes, they have two beds, 19 euro a night, check in at 2 pm. Ok, we’ll take them. Can we leave our bags here until check in time? Yes. Perfect. We book a night. The backs of our shirts are soaked with sweat from the heat and packs. The temperature is in the mid 30’s (that’s mid 90’s for you Fahrenheit people), a completely dry, inland heat magnified by the concrete and asphalt. It’s less than pleasant.

Hostel booked, we head back into the street and heat. Time for some site seeing. We acquired a map from the hostel that has the metro lines on one side and a map of the city center with all the main tourist attractions on the other. Let’s head to the St. Maria de Grazie church on the far end and make our way back to the middle to end at the Duomo. Sound plan. We head to the metro. It’s closed. Ok, maybe it’s just this station. We walk to the next one. Closed. Frick. After some inquiries by Vinnie, we arrive at the conclusion that the metro is on strike today. Double frick. The hottest day possible, and the public transportation is shut down. Wonderful. We set out on foot to try and find the city center.

Needless to say, it took us a loooong time to walk there, considering we only had a relative map and took several wrong turns. But along the way, we passed a market. And stepping into the air conditioned interior was like finding an oasis in the desert. We hung out inside for a while to let our interior temperatures reset and buy a couple liters of water before heading back out into the oppressive heat.

Eventually, we did arrive at our destination, but I am going to interject here some general observations of Milan. First and foremost, it’s a dirty city. I mean, really dirty. Litter on the sidewalks, dirty buildings, graffiti, the ground floors of buildings are covered with those rolling metal doors that you find in self-storage facilities. The traffic is bad, and the drivers are crazy. They honk at the slightest provocation and zip around everywhere like a cloud of insects. The air is full with the incessant din of horns and exhaust. It’s not a nice city, and I have no desire to return.

After an exhausting walk in the heat, we arrived at Castello Sforzesco, the central castle of the city. It’s not castle in the medieval sense, but still impressive. Nice fountain out front. The main, central tower is under construction and covered in scaffolding, so the vista is a bit marred. We move on. After visiting various statues, landmarks, the main city park, etc. we arrive at the Duomo, Milan’s largest church and most impressive feature. It’s a huge church, full of spires, statues, carvings etc. We’re meeting an old friend of mine Esther in the main courtyard. We take a quick trip through the inside. It’s an impressive interior. Old, dark, full of massive paintings, and candled alcoves. A full contingent of priests in robes presiding over the altar. It’s incredibly churchy. I appreciate the architecture and art, but am completely disillusioned with the catholic institution. I feel slightly tainted being inside. Like if I stay too long, my mind will be poisoned and I’ll want to go out and kill millions of people in the name of a fictitious, supreme entity. But somehow avoid eternal damnation in the process because I’m killing in the name of my supreme entity, so it’s somehow sanctioned, justified, and excused.

Crossing the threshold back into the heat of the evening is surprisingly refreshing. I feel cleaner, despite the filthy streets and hundreds of pigeons. Esther arrives, bringing with her that moment of joy in seeing an old friend, in catching up and recalling old memories. Not having eaten, we head off to another section of the city for dinner. Along one of the main canals is a string of bars/restaurants. It’s off the beaten path, not a tourist destination. Esther takes us inside a place called Maya. We sit down and open the menu. Maya, like all its neighbors in this section of town has a unique service. The menu consists entirely of cocktails. But with the purchase of a cocktail, you get unlimited access to the buffet which is full of just about everything. Pastas, salads, fruit salads, breads, various finger food appetizers, meats, sautéed vegetables, all kinds of things. All delicious. Cocktails are 9 euros. After perusing for a few minutes, I order a grasshopper, in honor of my sister and her eternal search for a good one. This particular incarnation contains Crème de Menthe, cacao, and a dairy product. It comes blended in a martini glass with a chocolate mint cookie garnish. It ended up being more like a mint chocolate milkshake with alcohol. Not what I was expecting, but tasty none the less. All in all, quite a delicious experience. We pay the tab, head back into the street and walk to the next canal with is rife with bars, the theme the same. We enter another and repeat the process. Still fun, and tasty, but inferior to our first destination. After a few hours of eating and drinking, Esther gives us a ride back to the Duomo. We say our goodbyes and head to the metro, hoping that it’s open. No such luck.

The walk back to the hostel is long. Really long. But the ensuing shower and collapse into bed is magnificent. Tomorrow is going to be another long day.

At 9 am we wake up, shower, and check out. The hostel closes at 130 am and we aren’t sure what time we’ll be getting back from the concert. We walk to the metro, it’s open! Success. We descend, buy a 24 hour ticket and head off to see some more sites. Vinnie wants to see San Siro, the football stadium of Inter-Milan. Riding the metro is much nicer than walking. The football stadium is impressively large. We can’t enter, but it was fun to see at least. We hop back on the metro and head to St. Maria de Grazie. Another church. Along the walk is an old building which, I think, used to be the training facility for men of the cloth, or priests. I’m not positive. There is, however, a door with a sign reading “Museum of Torture” in Italian, so I’m probably not far off the mark.

St. Maria de Grazie really nothing special. We arrived at the tail end of something, Vinnie thinks it was a wedding. Whatever. We dip inside and take a look. Just another church. Ok, moving on. There really isn’t much more to see in Milan and we’ve got some time to kill before the meat of the concert starts, so we head back to the central park, find a nice shady spot and take a nap on the grass for a couple hours.


Around 3 pm we hop on the metro to Rho, the venue for the festival. We pick up our tickets and pass through security. The venue is huge. The majority of people are conglomerated along the borders, hiding from the beating sun. It's been in the mid 90's the whole time. Some unknown band commands the stage, so we seek the shade as well at a table and wait for the fun to start.








: To enhance the experience, I will be providing YouTube recommendations for the various acts of the concert. I would provide direct links, but international copyright laws thwart me, so I’ll just supply the song. I leave it to your discretion whether to look up the studio version, or Gods of Metal 2012 version. Or at all.



Gotthard comes on stage at 4:15 and we make our way to the center of the venue, take a seat and listen. Neither of us have heard of them. They turn out to be an unexpected surprise. Gotthard is a Swiss rock band that is decidedly not metal. They play a lot of mellow rock with folk influences. Their lead singer died in a motorcycle accident in 2010, but the new guy is doing a stand up job, at least in my opinion. Their style definitely doesn’t fit at a metal concert, but they’re a solid rock band. Definitely the concert Wild Card for both of us.

YouTube recommendations: Starlight, One Life One Soul



Up next is The Darkness, a British glam metal band. No, they don’t take themselves seriously, they’re a throwback band. They write good rock in the 80’s style and capitalize on the over-the-top ridiculousness of the genre of the era. If you can handle catchy riffs and hooks with some falsetto vocals, you’ll like the Darkness. And they put on a terrific show. They just got back together after a hiatus (lead singer/guitarist was in rehab). Their stage act is full of charisma (much like their music videos) and humor. Unfortunately, the power went out in the middle of their set, cutting it short by 5-10 minutes. Kind of a bummer, but still got to go through all their major hits. Quite a quiver of good songs.

Recommendations: I Believe in a Thing Called Love, Love is Only a Feeling. (You should definitely watch these two)

Disclaimer: Be prepared for some really cheesy music videos if you go that route.



The next act is the entire reason Vinnie and I made the trek to Milan: Slash with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. First of all, Slash is probably my all time favorite guitarist. And Vinnie’s too. Most of you probably know him as the Top Hat adorned shredder for Guns N’ Roses, but he also wrote music in a side project called Slash’s Snakepit and reformed all the old GNR bandmates with Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots into a new band called Velvet Revolver. Good, but I feel they were really held back by Scott despite putting out some good tunes. After kicking Scott out, Slash put out a solo record Santana style featuring a slew of various vocalists. Fantastic record. Among them was one Myles Kennedy (vocals for Alter Bridge). The chemistry there was so good, Slash took him on as the vocalist for his entire second album, Apocalyptic Love, released in May, and the reason for his current tour. I would consider it his magnum opus, go buy it. It’s worth it. But on to the concert portion.

While Gotthard and The Darkness were entertaining, we got into concert mode for this one. As soon as the Darkness went off stage, we weaved our way against the exodus to the railing separating us from the “pit ticket” holders, perhaps 50 meters from the stage. After a short hiatus, Slash and Co. came out axes swinging to play close to two hours of absolutely incredible music. A mixed bag of GNR, VR and solo album songs to give any rock fan an eargasm. The best part however, Slash improvises his solos for all the songs. So you’ll never hear the same solo from the album. It was hands down the best performance I’ve had the pleasure of watching. I just wish they’d release a DVD of it so I could watch it over and over again. Rather than provide recommendations, I’m putting the whole set list below. If you’re going to look up GNR songs, look up live ones with Myles on vocals.

Set List:

One Last Thrill (GNR), Nightrain (GNR), Ghost, Standing in the Sun (Apocalyptic Love), Back From Cali, Shots Fired (Apocalyptic Love), Rocket Queen (GNR), Doctor Alibi (Todd Kerns on vocals), Out Ta Get Me (GNR, Todd on vocals), Halo (AL), Anastasia (AL), Sweet Child O Mine (GNR), You’re a Lie (AL), Slither (Velvet Revolver), Paradise City (GNR)



It was an amazing show. The headliner that evening was Motley Crue. And it could not have been more anticlimactic. Honestly, they didn’t deserve to headline. At all. But then, I’m a little biased because I can’t stand them. They’re all pretentious assholes who have forgotten what Rock N’ Roll is all about. They’re in it for the lifestyle and not the music. And it shows. Vince Neil came out drunk, was forgetting words in his songs and making an ass of himself on stage between songs. Their sound techs were terrible, the balance was off. Needless to say, Vinnie and I were completely unimpressed and left a third of the way through their set.

Recommendations: Saints of Los Angeles, Shout at the Devil



Fortunately, the metro was still open when we left. So we hopped on and headed back to Milan. The current problem facing us: a place to sleep. Vinnie wants to save money (he’s pretty much broke from the concert) so it looks like hostels are out. We head to the central park. The gates are closed. Looks like they lock the place up at night. Ok, we head to the train station. It’s close to 1am and the police are locking the place up for the night. Looks like we can’t sleep there either. Crap. We head back out onto the main street leading up to Centrale. A few blocks down, there are some grassy areas on either side of the broadway. The south side turns out to be a poor choice. We head to the north side, there are some large hotels and some stone “art” in the middle of the little park area. It’s like one of those city beautification projects to reduce the urban feel. Anyway, we head in, Vinnie opting to sleep on the elevated stone, me on the grass. Except, 5 minutes later, a drunken individual comes by and begins shouting at the homeless man sleep 15 meters away. Vinnie thinks he’s yelling at us all to get off the grass. The homeless man gathers his stuff and relocates to the other side of Vinnie’s statue to lay back down. An altercation between the drunk and the vagrant ensues. Shit. We leave.

Back on the street, we resume the search for a place to rest our tired feet. It’s been a long day. First walking around the city and then at the concert and now walking around the city again. We head into the city in the direction of the hostel we stayed at to look for a park. And get lost. Aimlessly wandering, we stumble onto a small park dividing a side street at 3 am. There’s a play ground for kids, and benches. But the benches have arm rests in the middle to prevent people from sleeping there. It isn’t stopping some. Further along, passed the chess tables at the end of the park are a few benches sans obstructions. And a fountain. A veritable urban oasis. We fill our bottles and stretch out, backpacks for pillows.

Sleep arrives, but it’s a light sleep that accompanies the paranoia of public places. Even when walking around in a city, I’m never completely relaxed. Too many people, too many strangers, too many variables. You call it paranoia, I call it caution. Every person that walks by could be a potential pick pocket, mugger, rapist, or just plan crazy and confrontational. So you can imagine how I feel about sleeping on a bench 20 meters from an intersection in a highly urban foreign city. It’s not a restful sleep. I can hear people walking home from the bars, talking in that excited, loud way that drunk people do. Feeling eyes on me, I even awoke at one point in the night and looked over my shoulder to see a random man standing by the newsstand, watching. Fucking creepy. He walked off pretty quickly when he noticed my awareness though. I didn’t sleep much after that.

Shortly before 7am, we vacated our park benches. Quite a timely departure as the proprietor of the newsstand behind us was just beginning to open up shop and we were disinclined to be shooed of by some enterprising business man. So we proceeded with the process of getting un-lost which mostly involved walking in a straight line until we reached a street we recognized. It worked out and a short time later we made our back to the central park where we promptly proceeded to pick out a shady patch of grass and pass out again. Needless to say, I slept a bit better. Around 11am we rose again in search of satiation for our complaining stomachs. After passing by an eatery advertising kebap pizza, Vinnie was adamant about finding one. I fully supported the decision. Combining my favorite all time food with my current favorite European dish seemed like an A+ idea. But like Motley Crue, it ended up being a little anticlimactic. Maybe it was just this particular incarnation. But the guy piled quite a bit more salad than necessary on top. And maybe it’s just me, but red cabbage has no place on pizza. Ah well, I’ll make sure the next one is better.

After another quick stop at the market for me to stock on vittles for the concert (I bought a kilo of peaches and a bag of cookies) Vinnie and I said our goodbyes. He headed back to Centrale to wait for Marcello and make the drive back to Villach. I descended back into the depths of the city to ride the metro back to Rho for the last of the four day festival that is Gods of Metal.

My timing was perfect. I arrived as the sound techs were setting up for Trivium, one of my favorite American metal bands. Trivium are a quartet from Florida, and they shred. Their sound has changed and progressed from album to album. Ascendancy was a classic metal album full of heavy riffs, throaty screams, melodic choruses and shredding solos. Heafy is one of those lucky people gifted with pipes. He can scream with the best of them and immediately shift to clean, melodic choruses over a broad range as expressed on the new album In Waves. The Crusade was a great thrash album whose content delved into numerous social and political issues such as the Matthew Shepard murder or Andrea Yates’ murder of her children and railing at the injustice and inhumanity of the world. Shogun was the show-off album, full of long songs, insane instrumentation and lyrics rooted in Greek and Japanese mythology. The newest album, In Waves, is a concept album trying to revolutionize the stagnant state of metal. Heafy describes it as the “Modern Art” response to classical art.

Unfortunately, Trivium’s set time was limited to 50 minutes, so they had to be very selective in their song choices. 90% of their set came from Ascendancy and In Waves, largely in part, I believe, because those albums were written on 6 string guitars while The Crusade and Shogun were written on 7 strings, thus requiring less guitar switching. It was a good show. You can tell from their stage presence and crowd interaction that they love making good music and love playing live for their fans. It’s nice to see when a band acknowledges their fans for their success, rather than take it for granted *cough*Motley Crue *cough*. Their set list (like Slash’s) was much shorter than I would have liked it. They have an immense quiver of amazing songs to play, and it’s a shame they had to play such a select few. But I got to hear several of my favorites and it was worth it none the less. For recommendations, I will limit my choices to songs they played live, but there are so many outside the list that are worth listening to (Shogun, the Calamity, The Rising, Anthem, Drowned and Torn Asunder, Caustic are the Ties That Bind, All of These Yesterdays, Built to Fall)

Recommendations: A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation (Ascendancy), Black (In Waves), Throes of Perdition (Shogun).



After Trivium, Lamb of God took the stage. And I have to say, I’m not really a fan. Much like Disturbed, their music tends to sound all the same to me. The vocalist utilizes the same growling scream in every song and has a limited range. The guitars all use the same, chugging, start-stop style. I find it all really repetitive, so I opted to sit in the shade for this one. A few of their songs stood out as decent and it was worth it to have them on the ticket, but I’d never go out of me to see one of their shows.

Recommendations: Walk With Me in Hell, Laid to Rest



Up next: Black Label Society. Another mediocre band (in my opinion, don’t send me hate mail). Fronted by Zakk Wylde on lead guitar and vocals (a former guitarist for Ozzy, fired for alcoholism, can you guess what happens later?) Black Label Society is surely a talented band, but not my flavor. Zakk can shred, don’t get me wrong, he can really shred and I’d give anything to be able to play like him (or anyone else mentioned in this piece), but again, to me his playing sounds stale. His whole set sounded exactly the same to me. I accorded them more courtesy than I did Lamb of God by actually standing and watching them, but like Lamb of God, I wouldn’t by a ticket to see them headline a show. Zakk exhibited some great, talented guitar work, but unlike Slash, he plays without passion. His solos exhibit the same repetitive scales and techniques. I don’t know, maybe I’m biased, but I think Slash plays circles around Zakk as far as creative expression and moving people with music. This is the only portion I won’t be providing a recommendation for, as none of their songs were particularly memorable.

The second to last band of the festival are the Swedish Progressive Metal Masters, Opeth. I have just recently (in the last month) been developing a belated appreciation for progressive metal, primarily in Opeth and Dream Theater and am completely stoked to see the former live. I have yet to become familiar with their entire work since they have myriad albums spanning two decades, but I know enough of their songs to be excited for the show they’re about to put on. And they didn’t disappoint. They played an amazing set ranging from their death metal roots full of shredding guitars and deep growling vocals to their progressive, orchestrated pieces. They came out heavy, slowed in the middle, and picked up again at the end. Their lead singer/guitarist is exceptionally funny and mild mannered. He reminds me quite a bit of Dave Grohl for those who know of him. It’s actually quite surprising to hear him singing (if you can call it that) death metal songs because he does it with such poise. Either way, their set was fantastic and every song was punctuated with witty humor and commentary between songs. It was worth every cent of the two day ticket I bought. I will limit my recommendations to their more progressive, mellower tunes to make it easier on the ears.

Recommendations: Burden, Harvest



The festival was timed perfectly, because the sun always set between the last two acts, punctuating the headliners. And today’s finale, the final show of the festival, is none other than John Michael Osbourne, commonly known as Ozzy. Now, I’ve never really been the biggest Ozzy fan. In my opinion, he’s a middling singer who rose to fame on the shoulders of giants and a crazy personality during a developing period of music. But I’m still excited to see him, just for the “wow” factor. And it isn’t disappointing by any means. Not by a long shot. And since everyone is in accordance on this, they roll down a huge projector screen background with a live stream of the concert on it for those in the back. I’m not in the back. But it’s still nice, because no matter how much I maneuver, the one guy in the crowd taller than somehow manages to stay in front of me. Irritating. Looks like I’m going to use the screen a bit anyway. Ozzy came out guns blazing with Bark at the Moon followed by Mr. Crowley and Suicide Solution. All classics. But Ozzy’s voice hasn’t gotten any better with the years. Actually, it’s really obvious that the years of drugs and rock n roll haven’t been all that kind to Ozzy. He shambles around the stage with stooped shoulders and a quick, shuffle step, not unlike an uncharacteristically quick zombie. Hmmm….Zombie Osbourne has a bit of a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

But despite Ozzie’s fame and crazy, he’s not the one on the stage who draws my focus. It’s actually the guitarist (surprise!). Shit, this guy can play the guitar. I mean really play. He’s fucking awesome. And I’m thinking to myself “Who the hell is this guy playing for Ozzie? It’s not like he’d pick up some schmuck to be his lead guitarist.” Then at the end of Rat Salad, Ozzie says he’d like to introduce his band. On drums: Tommy Clufetos. Ok, don’t know him. But he’s good. Really good. On keyboards, Adam Wakeman. Ok, don’t know him either, but then, why would I? Some guy named Blasko on bass. All right, cool. Tell me the name of the guitarist already. “Ok, fine,” says Ozzie, “It’s Gus G.” Well shit. No wonder I was so impressed. Gus G. is the Greek God of Guitar having played for Dream Evil, Firewind, and now, apparently, Ozzy. Damn. Awesome. I’ve always liked Gus G. He’s a top shredder. And after Ozzy hands out the introductions, he bows and walks off stage, leaving Gus G. to solo for Rat Salad. And holy hell it’s awesome. The band, which has been playing quietly in the background for the introductions, roars to life again in support of Gus. It’s a solid three to five minutes of pure awesome. At the solo’s completion, Gus bows and walks off stage. Blasko and Adam disappear. But Tommy isn’t going anywhere. It’s his turn.

Drum solo’s aren’t usually the people’s favorite at a concert. So it’s a risky tactic. Unless you’re Iron Butterfly or the Dave Matthews Band. But this guy is good. His drum solo rocks. And he even gets the crowd involved with a bit of drum-and-response in rapidly quickening intervals until he jumps right back into jamming out again. Hmmm, I wonder what the drumming equivalent of shredding is? No matter. At the conclusion of his moment of fame and expression, the lights dim for a few moments before Ozzy returns and introduces a new friend who play a few songs with him. Well, ok, the show is titled “Ozzy and Friends” so it makes sense. I have a inkling. As the lights come back on, my suspicions are confirmed. I love being right. It’s none other than my favorite, top-hat-wearing, shredmaster Slash here to play a few tunes. I’m so fucking stoked I came to this concert. Oh yeah, he also brought out Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath on bass. Afterthought.

And what do they open with? Iron Man. That iconic Black Sabbath tune with the slow, gritty intro. Pure epic, but what follows was even better. One of my favorite Ozzy songs, and I get to see Slash play it. War Pigs. The bridge guitar riff is really simple, but it touches a nerve with me every time I hear it. I love that riff. And the solo leaves plenty of room for improvisation and expression. Basically, Slash takes War Pigs, shreds it to oblivion, and leaves it smoking on the floor. The exact middle of the set. It was orchestrated, perfect. They followed it up with N.I.B., another fantastic song and then Slash bowed and departed, leaving the stage open for Zakk Wylde to take his place. Predictable, but still awesome. Zakk’s portion opened with Fairies Wear Boots followed by I Don’t Want to Change the World. Nowhere near as good as Slash’s portion. But they followed those two up with the iconic metal song from Ozzy, written by Randy Rhoads: Crazy Train. I’ve been waiting for this one. And Zakk doesn’t disappoint. Gus G. would have played it much better and with much more feeling, but Zakk does all right. Actually, I would have rather had Gus play all of Zakk’s songs, but whatever. I wonder how it was for Zakk to share the stage again with the guy who fired him for being a drunk. Ozzy, of all people, fired someone for drinking too much. Ha. Ah well, Crazy Train was the perfect song to close out the set.

But wait! Of course there’s an encore. But Ozzy refuses to return until the chants of “Ole! Ole ole ole, Ozzy, Ozzy” are loud enough. It’s been a consistent theme throughout the whole set. My fellow UCSB mates would be right proud of us metalheads this day. But Ozzy does return, with Zakk wielding a white, doubleneck Gibson SG to play Mama I’m Comin’ Home. Quite a good song actually, and performed well. But after that, Ozzy announces he’s going to play one more song. The one song he concludes every concert with. And he’s bringing all his friends back out to play it. Just for us. Paranoid.

If War Pigs was the first climax, then Paranoid was the second eargasm. Now, on the album, Paranoid runs a little over two minutes and is a catchy, but fairly average song. Not tonight. Tonight, Paranoid runs a solid ten minutes and gives each of the three guitarists an opportunity to shred their heart out in a blistering solo. It was epic. Phenomenal even. Fuck. I’m supposed to be eloquent, but I am simply at a loss to further describe the well of elation at the conclusion of the festival. It was hot, dirty, and tiring, but so incredibly amazing. The best concert I’ve ever been too, trumping even Taste of Chaos in Long Beach. Worth every, single, measly penny. And I shelled out quite a bit for the tickets and travelling expenses. All worth it.

Recommendations: Find good quality Gods of Metal 2012 versions of any of these songs. Otherwise, look up War Pigs, Crazy Train, Paranoid.



But now it’s over. I haven’t showered in over 48 hours and I don’t have a place to sleep tonight. I feel unspeakably dirty. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. I’m a clean person. I shower once a day minimum. And I won’t be getting one for at least another 12. But at least the metro station is still open this late. Probably just to accommodate the concert. So I hop on and head towards Milano Centrale. The subway is packed, chalk full of other dirty, sweaty, tired concert goers heading home to showers and warm beds. Me, I’m just hoping to fall asleep on a bench in the train station. My train to Venice departs at 6:30 am. Fortunately, I arrive before the police close the place up for the night. I scope out a section of bench in the main entrance and curl up on my backpack and rain jacket. Looks like a few other people my age have the same idea. At least there’s a bit of safety in numbers. After an hour or so, the police come to round us up, asking for tickets. I hurry to produce and present my proof of purchase. They nod and hand it back. Looks like I’m not getting evicted. Sweet. I curl back up and fall in and out of a restless doze for 4 and a half hours. At 6 am, a new pair of police return to roust us. No worries, I was getting up anway. I head to the fountain in the back corner by the small internal police station to fill my water and rinse my face. Man I feel filthy. Just have to survive a bit longer. I hop on the train, hoping I don’t smell terrible and endure the trip to Venice. Again, sleepless. From there, it’s a 30 minute wait on the curbside for the bus to pick me up for Villach. A double decker. I’m sitting in coach on the second floor. The seat next to me remains empty. Hell yes. I lean against the window and give myself some legroom as best I can. Two and a half hours later we pull into the train station in Villach at 1230 and I am released to walk home. I have a meeting with my adviser in an hour and a half and it will take me at least 20 minutes to walk home. But there’s a shower waiting for me.



I don’t think I’ve ever walked so fast in my life.



Word of the Blog: Biglietti.

It means ticket in Italian.

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