By Andrew Bansal
Following an eventful time in Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City and Missoula, Night Demon arrived in the North Western region of the country for the final week of the tour. This final part of the ‘Return Of The Demon’ tour blog brings you stories from Seattle, Portland, Eugene, San Francisco and Los Osos, but before that, read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 first.
Day 67 (07/07): Hammer Time
After an amazing off-day in Portland, we (Dustin) made the short drive to Seattle and arrived at the Highline Bar. The venue is located on the second floor of a building which also hosts other businesses, but since the elevator smelled like human piss at the time, we mostly just used the stairs for load-in. The last time Night Demon was in Seattle, it was at Studio Seven in the SoDo area with Raven, and not a particularly memorable gig. But on this occasion, Seattle came to the party, literally, as it turned out to be an incredibly positive experience for us all. It stands out as my favorite show of the entire tour, to be completely honest. Following the load-in, we were treated to some epic vegan enchiladas from the venue’s 100 per cent vegan kitchen. Mischa Kianne, guitarist of the band Witchburn, whom we shared the stage with in Fresno on the previous tour, came out to the show and said hello at the merch table. The show included local openers Substratum and Hexengeist, both bands of the old-school hard rock/heavy metal variety and putting on absolutely stellar performances. Hexengeist played an all-instrumental set, and Substratum’s set was also mostly instrumental, although singer Amy Lee Carlson’s voice came across as highly powerful and enjoyable, and I would definitely want to hear more of her in the band’s music.
While these two excellent openers were performing on stage, I was being brought high-quality beers at the merch table by an old friend I was hanging out with. Seattle’s local Manny’s IPA (available only in bars, not in stores, I’m told) was included somewhere in the assortment. As a result, I was completely hammered by the time it was Night Demon’s turn to take the stage. It didn’t stop there, as beer was graciously being delivered to me by my personal entourage during the set as well. But, as even Jarvis admitted after the show, it went down in the books as my best performance of the tour, both on lights and in costume. It was completely flawless. Also, drunk load-out was the fastest load-out ever, stairs not withstanding. High-quality beer powers the Demon to unimaginable extremes.
The band sounded as good as they’ve done all tour, and the crowd was very responsive, once again proving to us that no band should give up on any town based on one lightly attended show. I write down the set list every night, and by now I must have written at least 35 different set lists through the tour, but I felt the set we did at this gig was the best of them all. After load-out, yet more drinks were consumed, including the Highline’s “Iron Maiden” special. I have no idea what was in it but it took me to a different planet. This was the most drunk I’ve ever been in my life.
The staff at the venue was beyond awesome in their behaviour towards all bands, and set a solid example in how venues should book, promote and run shows. Dylan Desmond, bassist/vocalist of Seattle funeral doom duo Bell Witch, happens to be a bartender at this place, and he was kind enough to let us stay at his house after we were done here. Seattle for the win.
Day 69 (07/09): Spell Demon
Immensely hung over from the Seattle rager, the off-day that followed that show was spent driving back to Portland through carmageddon traffic on the I-5 South, and upon arriving in Portland, watching two morbidly disgusting movies ‘Beerfest’ and ‘Slither’. But the day after, the long-awaited union of Night Demon and Spellcaster was finally upon us. The venue for the show was changed from Rotture to a bigger room called the Branx, downstairs in the same building. The merch area was extremely comfortable with giant couches, and it was hard to not fall asleep on them after consumption of some great Pad Thai at one of the foodcarts located two blocks from this building. It was great to finally see Spellcaster on stage for the first time, as I kept missing all of their past LA shows for one reason or another. But because of the angle of my vantage point from the merch table, all I could see of them was time-traveling 1983 Dave Mustaine (a.k.a. Bryce Vanhoosen) shredding it up on the guitar on stage left. We had a very short drive to Eugene for the next show and had no hurry to get anywhere after this Portland show, but unfortunately our party schedules didn’t match up with Spellcaster’s, as they left immediately for a very long drive to Los Angeles. We went to our favorite Portland hangout the Lovecraft Bar for an after-hours drink, and called it a night. That bar has ‘The Lost Boys’ playing on its TV screen every time we go there. I bet they have that movie on every day.
Day 70 (07/10): Coffeehouse Moshpit
We arrived in Eugene for a gig at a coffee house called Wandering Goat. I cannot recall attending or being part of a gig in an actual coffee place, so it was another first, and a great time was had by all. The drip coffee, served free to the bands, was legit. The stage was low and tiny, with just enough room to fit Dustin’s drum kit, so Jarvis and Brent took position on the floor in front. The Night Demon set garnered several mosh pits, more so than any other show on this tour. All-ages shows are always so much fun. Dark Confidant, who set up this entire show, thanks mainly to the efforts of their Mikael Akerfeldt doppleganger vocalist/guitarist Noah Hadnutt, rightly played after us and kept the metal flowing.
The night did not end there, as we went to a house not far away for an after-party which lasted all night. Almost everyone that attended and played the show was there, and some of these dudes were drunk-jamming till five in the morning. They must have the best neighbors on the planet, because the jam was loud, to say the least. There was a pool table in the other room, and I witnessed a game wherein almost every shot was putting the cue ball in a pocket. Dustin slept in the van, to save himself for the long drive to San Francisco, while Jarvis, Brent and I hung out in this house. It was entertaining to hear Night Demon’s ‘Ancient Evil’ coming out of the jam room at one point, and these Eugene metal dudes did a fine job covering the tune. Shotgunning a beer at 5:30 AM was not in my plan, but I did it anyway. Meanwhile, Jarvis found an acoustic guitar and wrote a new tune, and played Saxon’s ‘Princess Of The Night’ on that guitar, surrounded by a group of dudes singing along to it. Brent was somehow sleeping on a couch in the house through this all, with a dog hanging out on his lap. I was completely sober, but the events at this party made me question whether it was really happening or just a series of hallucinations.
Day 71 (07/11): Bay Area Annihilation
We left for this tour on May 2nd, and 70 days later, we were back in California, in an attempt to end this tour on a high. It took an eternity to cross the Bay Bridge and the traffic was insane. I have no idea how Dustin is able to handle all of this driving and traffic without losing his mind. I do not drive at all in my home city of Los Angeles, and probably never will, because dealing with traffic and parking would make me drive my vehicle off a cliff and jump out of it right before it gets to the edge. Anyway, right before we finally got to the toll booth at the bridge, a girl cut us off and crossed the booth before us, and what’s more, the guy working there didn’t even charge her the toll, which was very strange. Listening to Death Angel at full blast on my headphones helped me through this torturous time to some extent. But all of our frustations were put permanently to rest once we reached Thee Parkside, the venue for our SF gig with Brocas Helm and Hell Fire. The food they served us was beyond excellent, and the Glenn Tip-A-Ton tip jar was simply brilliant.
The show was great and attracted a solid turnout of dedicated Bay Area metalheads. Hell Fire most definitely put on a better show this time than they did playing with us and Raven last year. Night Demon were main support for this gig, as Brocas Helm were the rightful headliners. Jarvis’ bass head blew out mid-way through the set, so we had to cut our performance short by at least one song, which was a bummer, but the whole thing was very rock ‘n roll, and as Jarvis troubleshooted his technical issues, Dustin kept playing the Howling Man intro sample on a loop. The problem was fixed when Hell Fire let Jarvis borrow their bass head, and the set ended as strongly as it began. The crowd enjoyed it. My setup for the lighting board was weird, as I had to stand with my back facing the stage, but I know the set inside out by now and I was able to pull it off without any mishaps on my part.
Brocas Helm played an interesting set as well, and their loyal cult fan base was loving every minute of it. Some of the Slough Feg guys were also in attendance. I chatted with Brocas Helm vocalist/guitarist Bobbie Wright for a good while after load-out, and he told me that he thought I was the masked lead singer of Night Demon before he got to see the band at this show. San Francisco gave us a hell of a good time, and it’s quite clear that Night Demon needs to make more trips up this way on a regular basis.
Day 72 (07/12): The Final Frontier
It was almost hard to believe that we were down to the last day of our seemingly endless tour, with one final gig at Sweet Springs Saloon in Los Osos. Jarvis had prepared a homecoming-themed play list, which we listened to on the drive to this show. It included Iron Maiden’s ‘Coming Home’ and White Wizzard’s ‘West LA Nights’, among other great selections. Yes, we are deliberately cheesy and over the top with everything we do. What else do you expect from us metal dudes?
Spellcaster were also on the bill for this show, as for them it fell conveniently on the way back from Los Angeles to Portland. I thought they played a far better set here than they did in their hometown three days prior. ‘Ghost Of My Memory’ off of their 2014 self-titled full-length album is the catchiest song I’ve heard in a very long time, and they nailed it to perfection on this stage. Our scheduled once again mismatched, as they had nothing to do after the show and we had to drive straight home, but we still managed to get in a solid hang session with them during the show. I have no doubt that a full Night Demon-Spellcaster tour around the country (or better still, in Europe) would be an insane amount of fun, and I strongly hope that the powers-that-be make it happen sooner than later.
And with that, our 2015 US spring/summer tour came to an end. To most people, such a long tour might seem like a blur, but I personally will remember every moment of it, and so will the Night Demon guys. Huge props go out to all the bands that shared the stage with us, and all the kind folks who put us up at their houses. Contrary to consensus, America does have a metal scene, and there are dedicated metalheads in every nook and corner of the country, as proven by the overwhelming response Night Demon has received everywhere.
While the rest of the world would timestamp this period in history as the celebration, discussion, beration and/or mourning of various newsworthy/non-newsworthy topics such as the confederate flag, legalization of gay marriage, Kanye West’s attempt at singing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner and the death of Christopher Lee, Night Demon will mark the ten weeks traveled the country and compelled the metal world to take notice, keeping the faith in classic metal alive and turning the entire American metal community into our stage and our home. Until next time, America.
Note: LA folks, we hope to see you at the Viper Room on Thursday July 30th! The event is open to ages 21+, and FREE with RSVP via facebook or email. More details here.