Brian Fair’s hair is just ridiculous. Not only is it in dreads, but it is also super long. I mean that shit is down to his ankles! There were only about a hundred people in the house to watch Shadows Fall tear it up, and that led to a kind of relaxed atmosphere. Fair was standing stage left with his girlfriend, waiting for his bandmates to finish sound checking, while I was observing the insanity of his hair. He was doing the right thing – taking pictures with fans, bumping fists, even agreeing to send out a birthday dedication to someone, which he did, although Jason Bittner then pointed out that it was also Dimebag Darrell’s birthday. I drank one for you, Dime! I’d say what I was feeling was consternation at the dreadlocked wonder. Why on Earth, I asked myself, would someone adopt a hair regime as out of control as that? And then Shadows ‘Motherfuckin’ Goddamn’ Fall took the stage. The strobes were flashing, the jams were rocking, and there it was – dude has created the ultimate headbanging hairdo!

Everyone was still looking for what kind vibe we were gonna surf when the band launched into War, a track from their most recent LP, Retribution. At the end of that song we all went wild and it was clear we were gonna get the fuck down, jump up & around, and have a good time with some great metal. Shadows Fall tore through (not in this order and missing one or two): A Public Execution, King of Nothing, Still I Rise, My Demise, The Power of I and I, Thoughts Without Words, and for their penultimate number, they played a well-received cover of Bark at the Moon. The band hung around after their set for more pictures and what-have-you and Matt sold me a kickass t-shirt on my way out. I let him know I thought the show was great.

Rhythm guitarist Matt Bachand (pictured) was a little subdued throughout the show, but he played and sang well. This was the band’s last show for a while, so I can’t blame the guy if he was just ready to get off the road, or maybe he wasn’t feeling great, or maybe he’s just a chill guy, I don’t know. He did his job, though, and vocalist Brian Fair more than made up for the lack of charisma from Bachand. Fair was up on the monitors, sharing the mic with fans, encouraging us all to have a good time, and he sounded on top of his vocal game as well.

I have to give some props out to local heroes Pain Link. I’ve seen these guys open for Overkill at the Mad Hatter and they did a great job for Shadows Fall too. I once saw this band play after Woe of Tyrants and my buddies and I had more fun with them than Woe! The guys in Pain Link are really serious about enjoying the night and that comes across to the crowd well. They usually hand out some free CDs and are generally just a good, hard-playing metal band. They’ve supposedly got a new album coming out soon, so I plan to review that here. Make it a good one, guys!

The Mad Hatter is more or less a dump. About half the bar stools are just stems with no seats, the restrooms are always disgusting, and they need a FUCKING RISER FOR THE STAGE. But, you know, I keep going back and while money talks, bullshit walks. I’d love to buy the place. I think about $20k in remods would do it wonders. And who knows? Maybe if it were nicer, there would’ve been two hundred people at the show instead of one hundred.

I happened to be wearing an Amon Amarth tour shirt (one of my favorite shows ever) and had parked myself at the bar to slam a few down before Shadows Fall played when a guy came up and asked me when Amon Amarth had been in the area. I clued him in and we chatted for a minute about how awesome the band is and he went on his way. These guys are all over in the metal world. These are the guys who will happily let you bum a smoke or help you up if you fall in the pit. Life isn’t easy for most of us, but we get together and now and then to throw a few beers back and cut loose and try to forget all the bullshit for a few precious hours. These are my brothers.

I finally put some highway pegs on my bike the other day so I can stretch out and really cruise; it’s amazing what a big change in feeling I’ve noticed from that small addition. Sometimes it comes together, huh? It’s payday and, for once, you haven’t mailed it all out in bills already, you’ve got your wheels hooked up, you saw a great band in an intimate venue, and walked out with a cool shirt. You have a shit-eating grin on your face all the way home. If you couldn’t get your lazy ass out to the show then it’s like Pain Link said, “you fucking missed it pussy!” But, that’s O.K. I’ll look for you at the next one, brother.