This is another photo I shot using a borrowed professional camera that was kindly pre-set to “Idiot Mode.” The fact that I framed Eddie so nicely and managed to capture that spotlight glow over his left shoulder was due to my many, many, MANY years of professional … dumb luck!
By Metal Dave When it comes to bulletproof credentials, Chris Gates is rock-n-roll Kevlar. During his early years with the Big Boys, Gates helped pioneer the punk-funk template that was equally pillaged and praised by everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Henry Rollins to the myriad bands that rock Austin’s annual Big Boys-indebted Fun,…
By Metal Dave Glessner So the Shotgun Rebels recently rolled into town from San Angelo to play an Austin gig with two of my favorite bands, Broken Teeth and New Disaster. Knowing that a band on the road always appreciates food, beer and a cool place to hang out before showtime, I invited the Rebels…
By Metal Dave Glessner Back in the day, my birthday parties were the stuff of legend. Think “Animal House” meets Megadeth and you’ll start to envision the wreckage. Most of these black-tie affairs took place in San Antonio or just outside the city limits where we hoped to elude the cops while raising six kinds of hell.…
By Metal Dave Glessner For a guy who burst onto the scene like a Human Resources wrecking ball, Billy Milano is actually a fairly mild-mannered gent (or at least he is to me). Debuting some 25 years ago as the barking-mad, politically incorrect, psycho loudmouth for seminal crossover thrashers, Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.), Billy and his…
ABOVE: Houston and I writing songs together in 2004. The longtime Austin punk rocker celebrates his 39th birthday April 3 and continues to fight cancer. Be sure to wish Houston a Happy Birthday this weekend and make plans to attend one of the upcoming benefit gigs being held in his honor. Do it for Huey! Info below.…
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…
By Metal Dave When AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young phoned my house in 2000, I was certain a friend was prank calling me. In a cartoon voice that sounded like a chain-smoking Popeye, Malcolm’s Scottish accent wheezed into the phone asking for “Die-vit Guh-lesshneh.” When I told him it was me, he informed me I was talking…
By Metal Dave Before Steven Tyler fell short of offering any sage advice as a judge on “American Idol” (too bad), 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.…
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 the tale. So how did a nice boy like me fall into trouble like this?