NAILBOMB!!!! THE DAY OF HATE!!!

June 3, 1995 was finally here!  I wasn't gonna miss that show for anything!  True, in order to be able to get on the plane, I misinformed the airline about how close I was to Igor being born.   I am not sure about the rules now, but in the '90's, it wasn't recommended for pregnant women tp fly during the last month of the pregnancy.   I guess you could say I had a bit of a waddle.  I also had 2 year old Zyon attached to my hip, and Roxanne, and Richie.  Christina was accompanying Alex.  We were all going to Holland to see Nailbomb!

 

 

 

 

At the festival site, the press was  hot on the heals of Max and Alex.  For 2 days they had done every top mag in Europe!  This day they only had a press conference, and after it was over, they brought the 120,000+ fans carpeting the countryside .....as far as your eyes could see...to their knees!!

 

 

  

 

 

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of the Live At the Dynamo DVD of Nailbomb's performance, you will see the ruckus, the fans and yours truly, experiencing one of the sickest sets in Metal History.  This is the stuff legends are made of!!

Class dismissed....

 

NAILBOMB......PLANNING THE DAY OF HATE....PART 3

As was custom with the Dynamo Festivals, many bands were asked to play a small club the night before their festival appearance.  Nailbomb was no exception.  The Club Hollywood, in Eindhoven, was the chosen launchpad.  A tiny, dark club, that would soon be stuffed with fans who were lucky enough to even get a ticket!  There were more people outside the venue, than were inside, that night!

 

 

I really will never forget that brutal show!  When Alex hunched over and started singing Sum of Your Achievements, it was the top of Mt Everest!!  " Everyone knows God Hates," brought me back to our living room and Max recording from the TV.  Feels good to be a punk loser, spilled its rum soaked birth onto the stage.  Even Richie came out, on Cockroaches and I think he was a bit shocked. It was the first stage appearance of his life.  He wasn't on the side any more; he was out front.  When you are 8 years old, the world has a much larger perception to your sponge brain.  You soak it all up, but in a different view than adults have!  I could barely breathe; it was all so heavy.

 

 

That show will always be one of the best gigs I ever witnessed.  The vibe was dark and hateful and hilarious, all at the same time!  The fervor of the fans outside, rolled in like a high tide!  Christina, Roxanne and Richie were all with me near the stage.  We could see Dana in the center of the pit and I could feel Igor nesting in me.   We had all witnessed firsthand, the birth to adulthood of this massive force!  Nailbomb in the house!!!

Class dismissed.....

NAILBOMB... PLANNING THE DAY OF HATE... PART 2

Moving along towards the Dynamo Festival, there was much preparation to do. Choosing the musicians, rehearsals, advancing the show details, flights, gear, you name it, it had to be organized. Nailbomb had never played before so every adjustment had to be carved out. This wasn't goofing off in the nanny's bedroom any more. This was a festival with over 100,000 people! It would be the sum of our achievements!

While I was working on the flights, and preparing the rider, Max and Alex were choosing band members. I would be making laminates for the 2 shows and they were reaching out to musicians. Christina was sorting the merch and show details wth me. It was all unfolding nicely. Because the band was a hate project, we laughed a lot! Seriously! It was all about shock and awe! It was a funny kind of hate, actually. We were disturbed; hate was reality!

Max had a list of musicians compiled. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. Some of the tracks were done on drum machine, so we had to find a drummer who could imitate this precision drumming. We settled on Barry Schneider, a drummer from a South African band named Tribe After Tribe. He was very well known for his click track skills. Peligro from the Dead Kennedys and Iggor Cavalera, would both split drumming on the remaining songs. Dave Edwardson from Neurosis would slam the bass; Rhys Fulbar from Front Line Assembly; would man the keyboards, and Scoot from Doom would add some action!

Next I had to collect the info to send in the rider. For those of you who don't know what that is...it is the list of requirements a band has, to perform a show. It is usually the PA, lights and monitors, security, hotels, things like that. And don't forget the catering info! We have always been pretty simple in our catering. We don't ask for stupid things like a bowl of red M&M's, or round bread. We did have some fun with the Nailbomb catering rider, as you can see. After all, we were in Holland.....

Class dismissed......

NAILBOMB...DAY OF HATE IS BORN

22 years ago, I worked with Andre Verhuysen to bring a band I manage to the Dynamo Festival in Holland. That band was Nailbomb. We never realized or even dreamt that the record, Point Blank, would march through the ages and stay relevant....but it did. In a few months, Max will bring this classic music to the Tribe. The timing is perfect..war, hate, suffering, sorrow. It's all still here, alive and well.

Recently, I found my Nailbomb file from the time of the festival. The next couple weeks, I will show you the behind the scenes, the growth and the reality of the concept of Nailbomb. Here we start off with my schedule that I prepared for the band. It's funny to read the rider and also the rooming list with our fake names! Christina was my partner then and my partner now. Let's time travel, Students!!


Hate is reality!!!

Class dismissed......

HOLD THAT POSE!!!!!

In 1997, we entertained a photographer at our Phoenix home, who had been flown in, courtesy of a guitar magazine. We didn't know it at that time, but in walked Glen LaFerman, one of the hottest rock photographers in the business and soon-to-be-in-the-future-adopted-friend/family-member!! He has our family's life in photos going back to Soulfly 1, and even took my favorite shot ever, of Max and me.

Photo by Glen LaFerman

I will never forget that first day....after the shoot was over, Glen said he wanted too chill in our backyard, by the pool. Of course we were cool with it !! A few minutes later, when I looked out the kitchen window, there was Glen, standing and loving life, but stripped down to his Tidey Whiteys! Max was like "whoa, there are young girls here; can you put your pants on?" We all laughed and said "those Californians!" Jokingly, of course! Glen decided to spend the night, so we offered him a private room at Christina's apartment. When she woke in the morning and couldn't find Glen, she went outside. He was soaking up the Arizona sunshine, drinking a beer and smoking his cig, in his Tidey Whiteys, on her balcony! We still crack up at this!




Glen's history as a rock photographer has been unmatched. From his first band member shoot ever, which was the famous Corky Laing from Mountain, to KISS, to Bob Marlie, he has more notches on his camera strap than any photographer I have had the pleasure of working with! He was the staff photographer for RIP Magazine, all the guitar mags and countless recording sessions. He has shot Eddie Van Halen since the beginning of his career. His photos of Ozzy wearing the maid's dress in his hotel, made me smile! KISS has adorned their tour books, clothing and lunch boxes with Glen's shots. And we all have seen the photos in the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Sunset....all Glen's visions.

Glen was very honored to show Max and me the Max shot, he had placed in the Rainbow. We were surprised to see Max in there with the heavyweights....Slash, Eddie, Gene Simmons, Ginger Baker, Ozzy, Jeff Beck... Unfortunately some time later, a cunning fox made off with all the photos in the room where Max's photo was!




Glen's studio is in his living room. Through the years, he has perfected every shadow in his black and white portfolio, in this very location. His walls are a museum of rock history. One room has so many magazine covers on the wall, you can't even focus on them! They are only a fraction of his work! Recently, Max and I paid Glen a visit. I had Max detain him while I snuck a few shots for the blog, without Glen's knowing! Glen, if you are reading this...it has been an honor to know you, to work with you and to reminisce with you. You have graciously shot our family through time, even capturing Incite through their evolution and Zyon and Igor's Moldbreaker to Lody Kong transition!! Long after we are all gone, your photos will tell our story!

One of our favorite times was going to Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, for a SIT String's shoot. The ballpark was just starting construction and had many photogenic opportunities. Unfortunately, soon after starting the shoot, a foreman walked up and kicked us out. Max said "it's ok. I am going to play here some day when you finish building!" We laughed and snuck around to another corner and did the deal!! Secretly, Glen shot photos of Max and me, and the shots of Max with his guitar. And guess what...on December 31, 1998, Soulfly opened the New Year's Evil Ozzy festival, and became the first Metal band to ever play Bank One Ballpark!




We all have seen your Bob Marlie shots, taken only a couple months before he succumbed to cancer. The expressions and emotions in this shoot are some of the most intense Marlie shots in existence. Recently, Glen was honored with a display and plaque inside the Bob Marlie museum in Jamaica. It is a honor well earned. The music world of business and fans can never thank you enough for the history you have logged and given us!!!! Very proud to be a part of it!!

Class dismissed.....