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March Metal Meltdown V, Irvington, NJ March 7-9 2003
 by Al Kikuras
I have said time and time again that I would go to the New Jersey Metalfest EVERY year no matter what, even if the lineup sucked.
I may make a liar out of myself next year.
The 5th installment of March Metal Meltdown took place the weekend of March 7th at the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ. For the record, the lineup didn't suck this year. There was a fair number of excellent
bands on the bill, but for a number of other reasons, this was absolutely the worst year in the history of March Metal Meltdown so far.
Speaking to one of the fest's organizers last year, I learned that the venue where three of the five fests had been held, the Asbury Park Convention Center, was charging an exorbitant amount of
money to host the show. At that time, it was up in the air as to whether or not the fest was even going to take place for 2003, but a solution was found by moving the fest to the Cricket Club,
which is a much smaller venue and the cause of the primary weakness of this year's show: the fest was stretched to three days instead of the standard two as the promoters "...wanted to
be able to accommodate the 100-plus bands and give the bigger bands the opportunity to perform their full sets," according to a press release circulated by Mazur Public Relations, the firm
representing Koshick and the festival. A fine notion, but the fatal flaw there is that two stages over three days as opposed to three stages over two means a LOT more down time when the slew of
"pay to play" bands that make up 70% each festival's lineup are on stage. Now, I am all for checking out new music, but there are bound to be times when you aren't into either of the two choices
presented to you. In previous years, even with three stages there were periods of an hour or more where it was possible, and even likely, that an attendee might not be interested in any of the acts
currently on stage. This year I found myself with up to 4 hour windows where there was not a single band I was excited to see. Folks, you can shop only so much before you've looked through
every CD case and every box of vinyl three or four times.
The great thing about the Asbury Park Convention Center was two of the rooms had ample theater and stadium-style seating where
you could always find a seat to take a load off and read through a fanzine, root through the freebies you collected, or even catch a quick nap. The Cricket Club afforded no such luxuries. If you were
VERY lucky you might be able to sit in one of the dozen or so chairs floating around the three levels, or you could sit on the floor and risk being trampled on, but even with those periods of respite
from standing and counting off the seconds until the current band's set is over, you're still looking at 12 hours spent primarily on your feet. While Asbury Park is virtually a ghost town, a 5-minute
ride brings you into the neighboring town, which is host to a number of really tasty and reasonably priced restaurants, so during those gaps you could leave and have yourself a nice meal. For
those not familiar with the area, the section of Irvington that the Cricket Club is in is not a nice one. While the Metalfest web site proclaimed there was "Plenty of secure parking" that most
definitely was not the case. We arrived Friday night and both lots were closed and we had to park on the street. We were only about two blocks from the club, but on the way we passed at
least half a dozen boarded-up buildings. When we got to the club, a friend of mine made a comment to the girl at the ticket booth akin to "SO, there's plenty of secure parking, huh?" and she just
laughed. All throughout Friday night, part of my mind was wondering if my car would still be there when we got out. Luckily it was and we came back the next day at around 1 PM and actually
managed to get the last paid spot in the lot. While it was a relief knowing our car would be there when we left, the catch 22 was that if we left to get something to eat or take a break, we'd lose
the secure spot, since as previously mentioned, that section of Irvington isn't exactly an area where you want to take a leisurely stroll.
Folks, I didn't think it could get worse than the infamous "two
stages separated by a curtain" incident at March Metal Meltdown 2 (at the South Jersey Expo Centre in Pennsauken, New Jersey) but it happened. By the time Saturday night rolled around, we were all
so tired of being on our feet and of just waiting and waiting that we decided not to come back for day 3, which is something I NEVER envisioned myself doing (especially considering Revenge,
Vehemence, and Deicide were on the bill that day). While, luckily, I had only purchased a two-day ticket, a friend who had three days gladly ate the cost of the additional day to stay in and relax.
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Martyr, Canada’s answer to constipation.
So good, you’ll shit your pants.
There were some great bands on the bill this year. Canada's technical thrash/death monsters Martyr put on what may have
been the best performance of the weekend. Tight, inventive, and relentlessly heavy, they are one of the bands that are pushing the metal genre to new levels of creativity and passion. I was blown
away, to say the least. They should have had a longer headlining slot as the 25 minutes or so they played seemed painfully sort at the set's end.
The Dave Brockie Experience (side project of GWAR frontman
Oderus Urungus and fellow GWAR members, sans costumes and alter-egos) gave the surprise performance of the event, not only because they were so damn entertaining, but as a decidedly
non-metal act, they were also very well-received. Brockie's goofiness and sense of humor are infectious and the notoriously intolerant metalfest crowd couldn't help but be swept up by the
catchy and sophomoric songs.
While Louisiana's Goatwhore pissed me off to no end by taking about a half hour to set up (4 of the 5 band members stood
around on stage while the drummer meticulously tweaked his drum setup, and guitarist Sammy Duet was seen shaking his head at the amount of time the drummer was taking), they put on an amazing
performance once it finally got going. Not since Angelcorpse have I heard a band that sounded so hateful and venomous. Their brand of thrash-influenced black metal sent the crowd into an absolute
frenzy. This is the kind of music that censors warn the general public about... I could see Goatwhore's music actually inciting people to violence, as it virtually did in the pit. They were so
impressive I actually forgot I was so ticked, though I didn't forget how hilarious it was when someone started yelling "Encore!! Encore!!" about 15 minutes into the wait.
Swedish death metal legends Grave put on an inspired performance, their first on these shores since 1996, when I saw them play at The Chance in Poughkeepsie to a crowd of a
whopping dozen or so people. Luckily, they were much more well-received at the Cricket Club. The crowd was ravenous in their support, and Grave earned every appreciative roar, tearing through
a well-balanced set of older material and selections from their new release, the aptly titled Back From The Grave.
Fellow Swedes Carnal Forge assaulted the crowd with a
supercharged blast of thrash metal. This was their first live show in the US and judging by the warm reception, Century Media would do well to bring them back to these shores (in fact, they were just
added to Rob Halford's "2003 Metal Gods Tour" package). Vocalist Jonas Kjellgren was manic on the stage, screaming and roaring like a grizzly bear on crack. The band was tight, the songs were
great... a quality live performance the likes of which this festival could have used a lot more of.
Despite hearing the name numerous times over the past few years,
their surprise (ie, unscheduled) performance on the Relapse stage was my first experience with Candy Striper Death Orgy and I
was very pleasantly surprised. CDSO are a thrash band in the purest sense of the word. Not technical thrash, not deaththrash, not Swedish thrash... just straight-up, puritanical thrash metal
that was, ironically, refreshing to hear in its retro-nature. I'd like to hear a recording to see if the songs stick as classic thrash metal should, but in the live situation they delivered the goods.
Twilight Odyssey in a deleted scene from Prince’s Purple Rain.
Some fine power metal performances were unleashed on the main stage, first by NY's Twilight Odyssey, who won the crowd over
primarily through the inspired performances of vocalist Pamela Berlinghof and bassist Gennady. They were having such a blast on stage that it was a true joy to watch. The whole band put on a
great musical performance. Their brand of straightforward, clean, and catchy metal was a real pleasure. Even Nile guitarist Karl Sanders could be seen in the "band" area off to the right of the
stage with a big grin on his face, yelling and applauding with enthusiasm at the close of their set.
Despite being plagued by a muddy sound that afflicted a number of bands on the main stage, Zandelle's brand of melodic but heavy
power metal hit big. Capped off by the soaring vocals of George Tsalikis, they played well despite the sound problems, and are proof positive that there are still traditional US metal bands with
the vitality and balls to live up to the genre's forerunners.
Nuclear Assault unfortunately fell even worse victim to sound problems. About two-thirds through the set, John Connelly was
having incessant problems with his guitar rig, and eventually abandoned it altogether and spent as much time during what remained of the set surfing the crowd instead of singing, much less
playing guitar, leaving Danny Lilker to take over vocal duties. They haven't had much luck at the NJ Metalfest so far. Their set last year was cut short due to scheduling problems and this year due
to technical ones. They were still a blast, though I haven't seen Nuclear Assault do a full set since they played with Overkill on the "Under the Influence" tour back in 1988. I think I am due!
Zandelle, sponsored by Pert Plus. Look at the body in that hair!
Though I saw them live just a few weeks before in NY, Nile were still very enjoyable. Their unique brand of Egyptian death metal is intense beyond compare. Tony Laureno is an inhuman drummer. I
remember seeing him live when he first joined Angelcorpse as part of the Cannibal Corpse "Gallery of Suicide" tour (he had already been part of the tour as Cannibal's drum tech). I don't think he
was nearly as practiced then as he is now, as he seemed to be struggling through the set, but these days you won't find a faster or more solid drummer in all of death metal.
Nile's set was cut short as a result of the main stage being a clusterfuck as far as scheduling went (blame going to different parties depending on who you ask). By the time Overkill went on, it was 1:15 AM (their set was supposed to start around 11:30). By that time I was so tired and wiped out that we stayed for the first
three songs then hit the road to beat the crowd on the way out. Overkill had a huge sound and were very tight, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Reportedly, once 2AM rolled around, the club
owner pulled the plug on the stage, quite literally, cutting off the power (aren't local sound ordinances a bitch?). A melee ensued between the lighting guy/sound crew and the club owner as he
could have blown tens of thousands of dollars of equipment, and the crowd was supposedly less than happy, but there were no major incidents. Hopefully some good will come out of it. I think it
is safe to assume after that kind of heavier on the part of the club owner, March Metal Meltdown will not be held at the Cricket Club again next year. Amen!
“Watch out for the pirate ship behind you!”
(Note: if you can tell me why that quote is appropriate here, I will send you a free CD.)
As I stated earlier, I skipped day three, and despite missing bands I was very much looking forward to seeing, I don't regret it in the slightest and was happy to be relaxing on the couch, eating
take-out Italian and watching movies.
The shopping was so-so at the fest this year. Prices at many tables were remarkably higher than previous years, with new CDs
(not rare finds, but regular stock) sometimes going for as high as $17. I felt like I was at Tower Records! Some tables had great $10 each or 3 for $25 deals. The notorious rare t-shirt tyrant was in
attendance, once again charging $25 and up a pop for knock-off bootlegs of classic shirts. What a peckerwood. Best find of the fest were the three-CD sets of Rage, Grave Digger and Running
Wild at the Century Media table. I spent considerably less money than previous years, a combination of a conscious decision not to go broke and the result of less good deals, but still went home with a decent pull.
(Overkill photo courtesy of RICK-T from the Overkill message board. All other photos courtesy of the artist[s].)
RELATED LINKS:
Metalfest.com
Martyr
Zandelle
Twilight Odyssey
Candy Striper Death Orgy
Overkill
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