Gloryhammer at 70,000 Tons of Metal

PQleyR

PQleyR

Platinum Member
Guys, I've just had the most insane week of my musical life if not my whole life.

For the uninitiated, 70,000 Tons of Metal is a metal festival held on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship (it has been the 73,941 GT MS Majesty of the Seas so far, hence the festival's name), with 40 bands, three stages, and about 2000 metal fans. After a few days of fun in Miami, on Monday 27th we embarked on a four-day voyage with a (very) short stop-off in Costa Maya, Mexico, being the halfway point.

We received our set times on the Monday morning, and we were a bit alarmed to see that our first set was at 4.00am on Tuesday...it was on the pool deck stage, which is a stage built over one of the swimming pools on the open top deck of the ship, and arguably the best one, but we didn't expect anyone to still be up at that time.
However, fortunately we needn't have worried:

The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee (sound is awful but you'll get a feel for the atmosphere/crowd)


Quest for the Hammer of Glory (can't see me but decent sound/fun visuals)

We had a lot of people dressed as either wizards or unicorns, and apparently there was a wizards vs unicorns wall of death at the beginning although I didn't see it.

So then on the Wednesday we were the first band to play after the ship departed from Costa Maya at 5pm, in the much less impressive Spectrum Lounge:

Hail to Crail

Magic Dragon

I'm somewhat lost for words, to be honest!

One thing actually, due to logistical issues I was using backline cymbals, Paiste for the first set and Sabian for the second, and while I preferred the Paistes neither was a patch on my usual Dream setup which I missed tremendously.
 
Hey Ben,
when I saw the schedule of the 70k (on facebook) I couldn't believe my eyes that

1) you made it to this event, and
2) that you play(ed) on the same day as Symphony X?

Major thumbs up!!
 
I had to go to bed instead of watch Symphony X's first set! Went to sleep about 9pm and woke up at 2am. Russel Allen was a regular fixture in the karaoke lounge on the ship, he did some very impressive Led Zeppelin covers and I think our guitarist hugged him at one point.

I'm still in shock from the whole thing. Can't process it at all!
 
I'll bet you had fun on that gig. Congrats to you, glad to see some success coming your way. Any good drunken metalhead spectator stories?

On a related note, I think "Magic Dragon" may be my new favorite thing ever. I went to the website to buy a t-shirt but the comma and that freaky E money just confused me. I'll buy one when you come through my neck of the woods on tour.
 
Ben, no idea how I missed this thread. What an epic journey! I've never played on a ship. My impression of playing on a cruise ship is nothing like this. So you had to play at least a couple of times during the cruise - more?

Must have been a wonderful experience. Congratulations!
 
Anon La Ply said:
You guys are one helluva live band! Arrangements are killer. Playing is solid and rocks. Zappa meets metal :)
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Thanks Grea! The Zappa comparison is an interesting one, I think our music is much too simple for it to be totally true, but then again we do believe humour belongs in music.

Red Menace said:
I'll bet you had fun on that gig. Congrats to you, glad to see some success coming your way. Any good drunken metalhead spectator stories?

On a related note, I think "Magic Dragon" may be my new favorite thing ever. I went to the website to buy a t-shirt but the comma and that freaky E money just confused me. I'll buy one when you come through my neck of the woods on tour.
Click to expand...

Too much fun. Too many stories. I wouldn't know where to start.
Magic Dragon is a favourite of many people! I'm not sure what the situation with t-shirts is at the moment, I have a feeling the ones that Napalm Records have run out of stock of theirs and aren't planning a reprint. Not sure what's going on with our own ones now in terms of online sales.

keep it simple said:
Ben, no idea how I missed this thread. What an epic journey! I've never played on a ship. My impression of playing on a cruise ship is nothing like this. So you had to play at least a couple of times during the cruise - more?

Must have been a wonderful experience. Congratulations!
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It was. There's nothing like the sense of community you get from a load of metal fans who've all come together to enjoy the same things. It's one of my favourite things about the metal scene. That stuff crosses continents!

This was definitely not the usual cruise ship gig. It was so much fun being a featured performer on something like this because there was no 'backstage' as such, all the bands and fans shared the same space for the best part of a week so I met lots of people. All the bands did a meet & greet/signing session on the Tuesday, and I was amazed how many people turned up for ours, more than we could fit into our half-hour slot (we overran slightly!)

Someone posted this photo on twitter from the session:
BfblJFaCYAEOB_D.jpg


Here's another video, our bassist won't like me posting this because the bass is too loud and he thinks it sounds crap but it's a good video of the rest of us and I like my playing on this one. Angus McFife
 
Wow man you guys are great! You ever come to the states?? I would with out a doubt pay money to see you
 
bizz said:
Wow man you guys are great! You ever come to the states?? I would with out a doubt pay money to see you
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This was our first show anywhere near the US, I'm sure we'll get there before long but it's a question of when at the moment. Hard to know what'll happen until I'm on a plane heading somewhere! This show was a good example, we were booked two weeks before the first day of the cruise, so we barely got any warning ourselves!
 
Great stuff mate! Freakin' excellent!

I think I had a mate that used to work on that ship. It was certainly one of the Royal Caribbean ships. He was a stagehand and general technician. He has many stories to tell, few of which are suitable for family listening...
 
BacteriumFendYoke said:
Great stuff mate!

I think I had a mate that used to work on that ship. It was certainly one of the Royal Caribbean ships. He was a stagehand and general technician. He has many stories to tell, few of which are suitable for family listening...
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Funnily enough I also had a friend who did that, on Monarch of the Seas which is one of the other Sovereign-class ships, now sold to another cruise line.
 
excellent job as always. great crowd for early morning!!
 
PQleyR said:
Thanks Grea! The Zappa comparison is an interesting one, I think our music is much too simple for it to be totally true, but then again we do believe humour belongs in music.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77Oz3VJSIQ
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Agree with that, but it's a hop, step and a jump in that direction - some ornate arrangements going on at times, even if not Zappa's convoluted inventions, which is probably for the best if you want to have a broad audience!
 
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