Tour Blog: Rise Of The Demon – Part 1

By Andrew Bansal

imageLess than four weeks after the epic extermination of North America with the mighty Raven, the Night Demon van rolled out for another tour Stateside, this time as support act to Skull Fist and Elm Street, old-school metal warriors from Canada and Australia respectively. On a tour that’s completely different from the journey with Raven in every way imaginable, I accompanied the Night Demon trio once again with some additional responsibilities on my end, and the prospect of this exuberant three-pronged metal force has kept me excited and eager ever since I was asked to be a part of it.

Aside from manning the merch table and creating the words and images for this tour blog, I’ve been assigned the duty of full-on tour manager for this run. Plus, I’m handling Night Demon’s new light show that would go along with their performance, and making a costumed cameo as their on-stage mascot every night. Jarvis was hard at work on a non-stop basis all the while we were home in December, finalizing brand new merch designs, getting the t-shirts and hoodies printed, purchasing ideal lights and mascot costume for the new show, replacing tires on the van, and everything else of minor and major significance. All three members ensured that their gear was in top shape for the start of the tour and made any and every modification necessary. We obviously needed to rehearse the light show together, and were able to do so a few times over the last two weekends of the month. Even with that short amount of rehearsal I was fairly confident we’d be able to pull it off. I couldn’t stop imagining the show in my head, and the stunned, awe-struck, mind-blown expressions on faces in the crowd. As I would soon discover, this mental picture was not at all far from eventual reality.

We left Ventura on the afternoon of December 28th, and made it to Ohio in nearly record time, within 48 hours. The guys took turns and drove us straight through with no overnight stoppages. It was too cold to even contemplate sleeping in the van in any case, with temperatures at a high of 2 degrees (F) in some areas. The windows kept fogging up constantly, and a fog cloud in the shape of the Ultimate Warrior logo remained on the windshield through the nights. The front speakers of the van’s stereo system are currently not working, so it’s very hard for the two sitting in the front seats to hear the music as the volume is kept at normal levels for the sanity of those resting in the back, although Jarvis did crank Iron Maiden’s ‘Brave New World’ loud enough on one of his driving stints. But for the most part, without the music it’s almost impossible for me to stay awake in the van, so I’ve had to resort to music on my own headphones, and Riot V’s ‘Unleash The Fire’ and The Skull’s ‘For Those Which Are Asleep’ albums have mainly occupied my headspace during drives. Listening to The Skull while going through the absolute darkness of vast desert lands is therapeutic.

Our first mission was to pick up the mask for the costume, handmade for us by a creative kind soul in the ghost town of Wakeman, Ohio. We spent the next two days with friends in Ohio and visited Rippers Rock House, a bar/restaurant/live music venue in Akron owned by metal singer extraordinaire Tim Ripper Owens. The place had a great vibe to it and would be a good one for Night Demon to play in sometime soon. We woke up early on the morning of January 2nd, all in readiness for the first show of the tour. I had a really good feeling about this tour and couldn’t wait for it to get underway.

In contrast to the extreme DIY nature of the Raven tour, this one was set up by a professional booking agency. Right from the outset, I was handed contract agreements and venue/promoter contact info for every show. Night Demon is third on the bill this time (except for the Los Angeles and Fullerton shows where they headline), and another difference from the previous tour is the sharing, loading and setting up of gear. Elm Street have flown in from Australia with just their guitars, so they are using Dustin’s drum kit and Skull Fist’s backline. Elm Street helps load out and load in both bands’ equipment, which makes the process much faster and easier for all involved. There’s clearly a healthy, friendly competition between all three bands but we are working together in many ways and it has made for a fun atmosphere so far.

Day 5 (01/02): No Fisting

We arrived at Bogie’s in Albany, New York a full hour before the load-in time of 5 PM, had the obligatory pre-show New York pizza meal, exchanged first pleasantries with the Elm Street dudes, and loaded in gear and merch with them. I have a lot more Night Demon merch to handle than the previous tour, and it took me a while to organize it and get it ready to sell at this show. Doors opened at 7, I was just about ready and there was still no sign of Skull Fist. Word came in that they were held up at the border crossing for several hours. All the opening acts went on as scheduled, and before we realized it, it was Night Demon’s turn. I didn’t get time to prepare the lighting setup on stage beforehand, so it was all a bit rushed, but the band’s performance and my lighting changes went well after all. My reaper costume act certainly caught people’s attention and brought some extra cheer and applause for the band. It’s completely unrehearsed and it’s perhaps best that way, as it leads to a slightly different sequence of stage moves every night, and gets better with every gig. All stages being different in size and layout adds further variations to my part in the set. Juggling between controlling the lights, putting on a costume and getting on and off stage is a challenge but it feels quite amazing when I pull off all of it to meet expectations, the band’s and my own. Elm Street went on after us and ended up as the headliners as Skull Fist couldn’t make it by the venue owner’s deadline. No fisting for Albany. We were loaded out snd ready to leave at 11:30. One of the hosts of Saratoga Springs’ FM radio station WSPN was so impressed by Night Demon’s set that he not only took us to the broadcasting studio and had Night Demon on his show which aired live from midnight to 3 AM that same night, but also let us sleep in his house. We couldn’t have imagined a more rock ‘n roll end to the first show of the tour.

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Day 6 (01/03): Take 2

It took us an extra few hours to get to the Amityville Music Hall, with snow everywhere and multi-car pileups every few miles. We still made it in good time and quickly loaded in through the rain, all by ourselves as Elm Street were stuck on the freeway. Skull Fist did make it shortly after us, and immediately noticeable to me was the fact that their merch girl is infinitely more attractive to stand next to and rub shoulders with than Raven’s merch dude. Night Demon played better here than Albany and I was able to express myself more during the reaper act, although I had the odd hiccup doing the lights as I wasn’t able to see my lighting controller and missed some cues. But people loved the show and flocked at the merch table to make hefty purchases as soon as the set ended. Elm Street sounded tighter as well, and their song ‘Barbed Wire Metal’ really is the perfect start to the set. It was great to finally see Skull Fist live, even though the song I was waiting to hear the most, ‘Head Of The Pack’, came at the very end and I strongly feel they should open with it instead.

Day 7 (01/04): Bizarro World

Our next destination was the land of ridiculously bad drivers and toll tax robbery, New York City.  Miraculously enough, we found parking directly across the street from the venue, and our biggest potential pre-show obstacle was already taken care of. I spent two hours re-organizing and labeling all the merch boxes in a way that I’d be good to go for the rest of the tour, and was also able to set up and test lights before doors opened. We were well prepared for this NYC gig at Webster Hall (Studio) and the band was raring to go. The great North Carolina classic metal band Widow flew in to open this show as a one-off, and were absolutely fantastic. They were clearly excited to be here and nailed their performance. Our set was mind-blowing in every aspect, I thought. It felt like all four of us were fully in the groove in terms of performing our respective roles. The sound at the venue was top-notch, the turnout was good despite Dark Tranquillity and Insomnium playing down the street, and all three touring bands rocked this crowd. But things started going haywire for us after the show. After driving two hours out, we realized we were missing Dustin’s backpack. Shortly after, the van’s Check Engine light came on, and wouldn’t turn off. Mindfucked, we reached Pennsylvania in the early morning.

Day 8 (01/05): Road To Nowhere

Before we set out for the show at the Champ in Lemoyne PA, we found out that Dustin’s backpack was still at Webster Hall. Luckily, the show on the 6th was in Providence RI and NYC wasn’t far out of the way, so we were able to go and get it on the drive to that gig. Heading to Lemoyne, as the Check Engine light was still on, we went to an auto repair shop but decided not to get ripped off just for a diagnosis. We proceeded onto the venue, which was hard to locate, and as we drove around in circles trying to reach it, Jarvis aptly played Ozzy’s ‘Road To Nowhere’ on the stereo and was glad to get his timing right after his failed attempt to play Ace Frehley’s ‘New York Groove’ while entering Manhattan the previous day left him extremely bummed. The show in Lemoyne at this old punk venue was fun, and by now all musicians and crew members in the three bands are more familiar and friendly with each other. Handling Skull Fist’s goofy Canadian humor took me a day or two to get used to, but I think I’m all set to be able to hang with them for three more weeks. We refueled at a gas station at the end of the night, and the Check Engine light turned off. It was the gas cap that triggered it.

As I write this, we’re almost at the venue in Providence RI, and I’ll bring you more stories and behind-the-scenes exclusives in the next part of the tour blog.

Read Part 2 here.

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Remaining Tour Dates:
01/06 Providence, RI @ Firehouse 13
01/07 Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
01/08 Cleveland, OH @ Maple Grove Tavern (Night Demon only)
01/09 Chicago, IL @ Red Line Tap
01/10 Cudahy, WI @ The Metal Grill
01/11 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
01/12 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
01/13 Lincoln, NE @ Vega
01/15 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
01/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar
01/17 Farmington, NM @ Studio 18
01/18 Albuquerque, NM @ The Blu Phoenix Venue
01/20 Phoenix, AZ @ The Nile Theater (upstairs)
01/22 Colton, CA @ Hub
01/23 Los Angeles, CA @ Airliner
01/24 Fullerton, CA @ Riff Haus
01/25 Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst Club

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