Archive for the ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ Category

By Metal Dave Glessner As someone who remembers buying “Back in Black” as a brand-new vinyl album when it was released in 1980, I can recall the days when rock magazines were as close as you got to meeting your favorite bands. Before MTV, Google and YouTube, there was Creem, Circus and Hit Parader. Naturally, [...]

By Metal Dave Glessner When Kim and I drove to the hospital to welcome our son into the world three years ago, the soundtrack to our journey was Jesse Malin’s “Glitter in the Gutter.” As Jesse sings in that album’s opening track, it was indeed a “beautiful day.” As a fan of Jesse’s since his [...]

By Metal Dave Glessner After years of daydreaming and wishful thinking, I finally landed in Hollywood for the first time around 1997. It was a lifelong goal of mine to party on Sunset Strip and visit the clubs that birthed the likes of Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Poison, WASP and all the other [...]

Before Steven Tyler silenced his critics by NOT becoming a complete Bozo Cara DeGeneres on “American Idol,” he spent decades stealing the spotlight as the inimitable singer and showman of Aerosmith — a band that is easily among my Top 3 all-time favorites. Tyler also ranks as my all-time favorite singer. Amazing voice. Electric energy. [...]

KINGS OF SLEAZE: Crank County Daredevils circa 2002, left to right: Billy Velvet, Scotty P., drummer Mark Hammer and Adam Fever at SXSW in Austin (Photo by Jerry Milton) As the honorary fifth member of sleaze-metal band, the Crank County Daredevils, I was nicknamed “Cinco” and/or “#5” about six years ago and lived to tell [...]

As much as I’d like to blame a lost wager on this ridiculous headband I wore to a Skid Row concert three years ago, I must confess the frilly malfunction was nobody’s fault but my own. Hell, even the hair-metal Skids knew the ‘80s were dead and gone! What the Bach was I thinking? Despite the [...]

CHAOS MONGERS: At SXSW 2010 in Austin I slipped “backstage” to meet Voivod bassist Blacky (above) and drummer Away (below right) just moments before they stormed the stage (and got short-circuited by technical difficulties). Meeting Blacky for the first time last year was an honor as there was no dude more metal when I was younger (see [...]

It seems I went through a Rob Zombie/Phil Anselmo phase in 1997 as evidenced by this photo of me and my beard hanging out with Slash. The photo was taken by my good friend Houston Ritcheson behind Austin’s now-defunct Back Room music venue when Mr. Top Hat was touring with his post Guns N’Roses/Snakepit cover [...]

The photo above looks calm enough, but it’s surrounded by some crazy before/after stories. Thanks to my pal Jason McMaster and his longstanding friendship with mighty metal singer John Bush (above), I’ve had awesome access to Anthrax (and Armored Saint) over the years. Obviously, great access = great stories, but not everything is caught on [...]

It’s no secret the Ramones are 2Fast2Die’s all-time favorite band so it’s always a thrill to rub black-leather elbows with New York’s pioneering punks. Three of the original members are no longer with us (RIP), but the Ramones’ legacy forever remains too tough to die (I told you it’s no secret). The photo above was taken [...]