Over the past few days Van Halen has released 90 second clips from three songs off of their (soon to be released) new album. So I sat down on my computer and with much excitement listened to them.

What a trip! The song Blood And Fire really threw me for a loop... all the way back to 1983. I was totally blown away by the four and a half minute time warp they'd taken me on. Holy smokes! It was everything that I had wanted a new Van Halen song to sound like. After the first listen I even concluded that the song would fit comfortably onto their Diver Down album.

Check it out below:



I've been phoning all my local record shops hoping that one of them will have the new album on vinyl so I could go for a complete adventure back to my youth. A time when me and my buddies would all head downtown to A&B Sound to grab some new albums. I still have all of mine. Some still in mint condition, others worn well like really old blue jeans... those are my favourites.

Oh thank heaven for Ed, Dave and Al putting that old water under the bridge. It certainly makes me feel better about everything in my life. Their music has always soothed my soul, and now I've got ten more new Halen tunes coming my way to help me with any problems that the future may throw my way.

Amen to the Gods,

The Rev

Last Tuesday Van Halen released their first song with David Lee Roth on vocals since 1996. It's the lead off single from their forthcoming first full length release with Dave since the 1984 album. Needless to say as I longtime, diehard classic Van Halen fan I was very excited for the arrival of the song.

The weeks leading up to it's release had a lot of talk online, most notably Sammy Hagar spouting off about the Van Halen's and Dave rehashing old material... bla, bla bla. The usual Sammy acting like an unhappy ex-girlfriend ranting and raving to whomever would listen to his BS. If he (or any other uninformed people) actually had a clue, they'd know that Van Halen's classic catalog is full of re-worked material. For example, the song 'Romeo Delight' from the Women And Children First album lifted the entire pre-chorus from the unreleased song 'Get The Show On The Road', the track 'Hang 'em High' from Diver Down was completely re-lyricized from an older unreleased cut called 'Last Call', and (I can't remember the original song title) Ed's solo from 'Somebody Get Me A Doctor' came from elsewhere, plus the last track on 1984 'House Of Pain' was written around 1976 and had originally used the car horn intro from 'Running With The Devil'. I'm sure there's more, but those are a few examples that come into my mind. So if it ain't broke, don't fix it. "Hey Sammy shut up!"

So here (in all its glory) is what was originally a song called 'Down In Flames', what has become a more polished, re-lyriczed latest Van Halen single called 'Tattoo'... and I love it!




The new album A Different Kind Of Truth is set for release on Tuesday, February 7th and I (for one) am thoroughly stoked!

The Rev

Yogi and I attended last night's tribute to classic Van Halen courtesy of southern California's Fan Halen at a venue formerly known as Harpo's. Harpo's (to me) has many, many fond memories; from performing and attending gigs, to working various shows in the early 90's. That paired with a sound track of classic VH, I knew that I was headed for an evening of flashbacks and good times.

I saw many buddies from high school and even one of my pals from grade one. Through out the whole night I heard Van Halen's classics and had people from my past coming up and saying, "Hey man it's good to see you!" And it was good to see them too. But the real cool thing was that after all these years we all still had one thing in common; classic VAN HALEN.

What a great show it was. Fan Halen delivered the goods. Their David Lee had a great screech, and their Ed's fingers shredded the fret board as he was fully expected to. The summer sound track was out in full force last night: Beautiful Girls, Everybody Wants Some, Unchained, Feel Your Love Tonight, Ice Cream Man... they did 'em all. It's funny, the weather last night was cold and wet, but today the sun is shining brilliantly. It just goes to show that music moves more than people.

I find it very fitting that as I type this, the real Van Halen is 'up to something' as Ed's wife says. And as the latest picture of them proves it that yes indeed they are up to something, and I for one can not wait to hear and see what it is!

God bless,
The Rev

During yesterdays show through out my traditional weekly birthday and death day announcements, there were some concert anniversaries for me celebrate.

October 17, 1987: Motley Crue, Girls Girls Girls tour at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum with Whitesnake opening. That was my first Crue concert, and it was wicked. I remember the audience had a very, very intense vibe. It wass if fights were going to break out all over the place at any second. During Whitesnake a fight erupted right next to me and my buddy Stu. Every time we'd escape the melee, people would crash back into us. The fight seemed to follow us whenever we tried to avoid it, and it lasted for the better part of Whitesnake's entire set.

Motley Crue ruled. The arena was packed to the rafters with tons of rocker/metal chicks with big hair, leather jackets and tight-tight jeans. The guys dressed the same too! Tommy Lee's drum solo had him and his whole kit levitated doing 360's. Nikki Sixx was non-stop, probably completely ripped on heroin, and Vince Neil dropped the F-bomb easily over 100 times. I've seen Motley four times since. Love those guys.

October 18, 1988: Judas Priest, Ram It Down tour at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum with Slayer opening. My first time seeing the Priest. I forced my way up to second row for the Priest's set. I snuck in a Kodak disc camera and took pictures of the show. My other buddies snuck in a tape recorder and got both sets on cassette. This gig was the then and now of metal bands at the time. Priest from the first generation, and Slayer from the next. I remember hearing talk of everyone being there to see Slayer. But not I. Solely Priest for me. Slayer had a big impact on my buddy Stu. I believe that night took him into his thrash metal phase. I do recall Dave Lombardo's bass drums being the most double bass I'd heard up to that point in my life. I too was moved, but I'm a die hard Judas fan so I wasn't converted into my thrash phase until 1990 after my introduction to Kreator.

Any ways, back to the show; Judas rocked my world. I remember checking my ears for blood because their set was so loud. Halford screamed from start to finish. His voice was on fire. At the end of their set, they had the loudest explosion of pyro. I remember it echoing for minutes after the house lights came back on. I still have the bootleg tape of that show. It's one of my prized possessions.

October 21-22, 1995: David Lee Roth, Las Vegas at Bally's. This would be my fourth and fifth times seeing Dave, and also my first time in Vegas. My two buddies and I planned on catching Dave's Vegas show, it was a must-see for us.

While talking with my dad about which route we should drive, he asked if he could join us on the trip. My dad's cool, so the guys didn't hesitate when I mentioned that he was interested in going to Vegas with us. It was pretty much a 24 hour drive once we got off the ferry. We drove down to Eugene, Oregon then went left. We stopped in Reno for a couple of hours, gambled some money away, and got introduced to the neon lights. By the time we hit Vegas, it was 11am and desert sun was cookin' big time.

Vegas was awesome. None of us had heard my dad mention that you could drink booze while walking outside on the strip, so after the three of us had seen a husband and wife holding their kid's hand with drinks in the others, we knew it must be alright. We bought an 18 pack (I think) of Bud cans. I remember it being an odd number of beers. Different than the usual 6 or 12 packs back home at the time. We cracked our first beers in front of two foot patrolling police officers, and their only comment was, "Good afternoon!" We boozed all day, gambling and wandering the strip. None of us had ever seen or been to a place anything like Las Vegas. We soon voted it Greatest Place On Earth.

We had killer seats for both of the Dave shows. We sat second table from the stage. Close enough for my buddy to drunkenly walk up to the stage and shake Dave's hand, and for me to hand Dave a letter the next night. We drank buckets of beer, a couple 30 ounce Bally's Hurricanes and had a blast. Edgar Winter was Dave's saxophonist, and it was quite the moment watching them perform 'Free Ride'. I snuck a camera into the second show and snapped some photos too. I can imagine all the pictures I'd have now if there was such a thing as camera phones back then.

Everything about that trip was awesome. We managed to rent a limo for only $22, Tom found some cheap weed, Roth ruled, I won $80 in dimes and we ate steak and lobster for only $3 each. I've been back to Vegas twice and seen Dave seven times since then.

While growing up, rock concerts were a major part of my life. Because I lived on the island, it was always an overnight holiday of sorts. We'd get up early, catch the ferry, find a hotel, then go to the arena and try to meet the bands. It always cost a good chuck of money... but was very well worth it. For me, the pictures from the rock magazines I had pinned on my walls were coming to life on those nights.

Here's an interesting Reverend tidbit: After the brain injury I suffered from my 1994 car accident, my ability to remember things has been consistently awful. But for some reason or another, rock concert dates have been ingrained in my conscience. I guess it just goes to show how monumental those days were for me.

Amen,
The Rev

Just as I was about to start our Wet T-shirt contest on Wednesday night, my cousin Scotti informed me that a dancer friend of ours had just passed away. He had only found out the news a couple of days prior, and wondered if I had known. Like a slap to my face, I shook my head and said that I hadn't heard. Then within minutes, I was on stage in front of 250 people kicking off another wacky promotion in the world of Exotic Entertainment. Ninety minutes later, the contest was fininshed and I was on my way home to my wife in bed.

I was pretty restless winding down from work and didn't fall asleep til a little after midnight. At 2:15am my phone buzzed with a message from my Fantasy Football co-owner expressing his excitement about the upcoming NFL season and everything else about us winning, winnin, winning. After I turned off my phone I found myself totally wide awake, then it hit me, "Holy sh*t, Paige has died."

For the next couple of hours I stared at my ceiling (unable to sleep), with various memories coming back to me. Paige was a dancer whose stage name was Deja Scott. She was first booked at The Fox during what I believe was her second week of dancing. At that time, our lowest paid girls earned $30 per show. I remember our agent saying, "I've got a great new dancer coming in at $27 per show... and that show price ain't gonna last to long. Trust me." She came in for that week of work, and everyone was taken by how cool and polite she was to work with. She didn't have an attitude at all, and she certainly wasn't 'shaky' like most newcomers were. She handled herself well, and we all knew she was going to amount into something.

It wasn't long until her show price increased quite a a bit, and the news got around that she had some upcoming magazine appearances. She'd come around for a week of work every few months at The Fox, and always remained the same cool cat she was. Another new girl at the time; Lyona Ryder became buddies with her, and together they'd book themselves at The Fox. Paige was a blonde, and Sera (Lyona) had jet black hair. They were like salt and pepper, and both very cool people. The photo on the right, that's me with both of them.

We used to run Amateur Contests every few months, with the bar making a ton of money. But after awhile, we'd try and think of ways to spice up the Amateur Night promotions. One idea wa to offer a 'Dream Date' with mega magazine model Deja Scott. As she was The Fox's first dancer to do the magazine blitz with appearances in (what seemed like) almost all of them, it was an extremely big deal to offer some Joe-Shmoe off the street a night on the town for dinner and drinks with a her. She was super cool with the idea, as the 'date' would be chaperoned, and it was to be a profitable promotion for the bar. The event came and went without any flaws, and everyone involved was happy about it.

Another promotion we came up with was a Customer Appreciation kind of event. We raffled off tickets to have a BBQ and free drinks with all our dancers pool side at our hotel. Twas our way of saying, "Thanks for your business, here is something cool back" to our loyal clientele. I think we invited around 50 guests (and our buddies) to hang out, eat and drink for free. As we only wanted girls that were socially cool (and ones that wouldn't mind hanging out with strangers), we booked Paige and Sera for that Pool Party promotion. When that was all said and done, we lost our 'Liquor Tab' privileges for good!

In 1996 when the original KISS got back together for a reunion tour, I received a phone call from Sera. She wanted to know if I could help her and Paige with a dance contest they were entering. She told me that Monty's was hosting the 'World Trio Championships', and they wanted to do a KISS trio with one of their buddies. Immediately I told her, "I'm in!" After all, I had tons of KISS bootleg videos and I could teach them Paul, Gene and Ace's signature moves. As it was a trio contest, Peter Criss wound up as a manikin placed behind my drum set on the stage for added effect.

The contest came and when it was time for the girls to do their thing, Paige (as Paul Stanley) led them out onto the stage for their first number Love Gun. When she got up their she did this wicked Paul Stanley move where she laid down onto her side on to the stage or her grand entrance. I thought to myself, "Awesome. How'd she know to do that?!" But little did I know, it was a total accident caused her slipping and felling gracefully onto the stage. She even looked great falling down! They did their performance perfectly, and I remember watching the video feed on the big screens and thinking, "Man... I've never seen KISS look so good!" I made them KISS guitar picks that they throw into the crowd, and a buddy of mine Gord made tour programs the could autograph after the show. The front row was filled with cigarette lighters for their encore of God Of Thunder, and the girls really knocked it out of the park with their performance.

They wound up placing second, which I thought was just awesome. But the girls were so disappointed in not winning, they felt they had let me down. I however thought that with their second placing, they had really won championship title. I felt that the fix was in with the chosen winners, so with the girls placing second; they were the real winner in my mind, and I told them that too.

The last time I ran into Paige was on a visit to Vancouver. I stopped for a drink at the Cecil and saw her in passing. I had heard that she had been chasing her dream of singing and making music; doing her own thing (similar to me). We chatted for a bit and caught up with 'band' stories then parted ways with a, "It was so good to see you. Be sure to take care of yourself" farewell. Twas great to see someone whom I deemed as cool trying to carry on to bigger and better things.

Now after learning of Paige's death, I sigh deeply and recollect the happy memories. My thoughts are with her family and loved ones.

Here's a collection of some of her songs. Please listen.



Rest in peace Paige,
Loran

The first Soundgarden album I purchased was Badmotorfinger back in late 1991. At that time, the Seattle 'sound' was exploding onto the world music scene, with such bands as Alice In Chains, Mookie Blaylok (Pearl Jam), Nirvana, Mudhoney, Tad and Soundgarden starting to really make their mark. As Victoria is located fairly close to Seattle, we got a fair number of those bands touring through a great old club of ours called Harpo's.

I was a fan of Alice In Chains from the get-go, but it took a couple of albums for me to catch on to Soundgarden. My band mates at the time were into them; seeing them perform club shows in Vancouver a couple of times. But I myself was not accepting the Seattle explosion as openly as most others were. I was still disappointed that music listeners in general hadn't made David Lee Roth's A Little Ain't Enough album go platinum! (To this day I still believe that it's his best solo album) Anyways, when Badmotorfinger was released, I couldn't help but realize how cool of a band Soundgarden really were. The song Jesus Christ Pose blatantly slapped me upside the mind, then there was no turning back for me.

Throughout the 90's however, for some reason or another, I never ever saw Soundgarden in concert. But there was one time where I blew a chance to see them for free. In 1996, Molson Canadian were sponsoring a 'Blind Date' promotion; they'd giveaway a select number of tickets to a mystery club to see a mystery band. On June 15, 1996 there was to be a 'Blind Date' in Vancouver. A few days prior to it, my old boss and I had lunch with our Molson-guy Dave. Dave had two spare tickets for the 'Blind Date' and offered them to us. He said we could have them because it was to close to the actual date to do anything else with the tickets. We asked Dave who he thought the mystery artist was and he told us (with pretty good certainty) that it was Alanis Mosette. We declined the tickets. Looking back now, I see how early in our drinking careers it was. A year later, without a doubt we'd have taken the free tickets just for the booze!

The day after Vancouver's 'Blind Date' I received a phone call from my buddy saying, "You won't believe who I heard the 'Blind Date' show in Vancouver was last night... SOUNDGARDEN!" I was aghast. Then began the kicking of myself, followed by Soundgarden breaking up in April 1997.

Fast forward to 2010: it was announced that a reformed Soundgarden would be playing some shows; a Lollapalooza date as well as two club gigs. My excitement began. Then in early 2011 they announced a summer tour with a date in Vancouver. It was pretty wild when I finally got my concert tickets in-hand. I WAS FINALLY GOING TO SEE SOUNDGARDEN!

Reading interviews with the different band members over the years it never seemed like Soundgarden would get back together. It wasn't as though they disliked each other. It just seemed that they were very content with that box being kept closed.

There are certain bands that represent the different decades of my life, and Soundgarden is one of my 90's bands. I know they'd been around from the mid-80's, but it wasn't until 1991 that they smacked me. then for the next seven years they continued the smacking until my own ass-kicking had begun.

The Soundgarden concert winded up being perfect. They were in fine form. Their set list slapped me around repeatedly, and Cornell's voice rocked my world to the extremes. I'm 100% satisfied, and the fact that they're actually recording a new album just makes things even greater. Music for me is everything. I love playing it. I love listening to it. I love watching it performed. Music is my life.

Now if Yogi can hook me up with Lombardo for a hand shake, summer would be complete.

Hallelujah,
RDB

My wife and I ventured down to Las Vegas for our second anniversary over the Independence Day holiday weekend this year. I had read weather reports ahead of time and saw that they were expecting lows of 27 and highs of 40 degrees Celsius, so I knew that we were headed for the heat. But it wasn't until we actually got out of the air conditioned airport that the blast of sun really blew our faces off.

Once we figured out where to catch the shuttle bus to take us to our hotel, I turned on my phone to let my mom know that we made it. Upon powering up my phone, it buzzed with a message that I must've received when it was off. I checked to see who the message was from and what it said. It read, "Have you seen Dave's site?" (David Lee Roth's web site), I responded with, "No. What does it say?" Then my phone buzzed back with a, "Dave sez to 'GET READY'."

The funny thing with me and my lifetime of David Lee Roth fan-dom, is that every time I've see him in concert after 1986, the weather has been always smokin' hot... I'm talking almost record setting. So knowing that thee mighty Dave has been recording the long awaited follow-up to Van Halen's 1984 album, getting that message totally explained the weather that day.

I love my wife. I love the sun. I love the summer. I love classic Van Halen. It was a perfect weekend.

RDB

Getting asked to host the awards show was an honour for me. I had been involved (somewhat) in previous years; my band was nominated for an award one year, we presented an award the next year, and I was the floor MC interviewing various constituents another year. So getting the call to be one of the main guys on stage was pretty cool for me.

This year the awards were held at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay, BC. It was also in conjunction with the Vancouver Island Music Business Conference, so this year it was an even bigger deal than usual. A gentleman by the name of Bob Johnstone, the morning-guy from Courtenay's 97.3 FM was invited to be my co-host. I was quite happy that I was going to have a local personality helping me out, but I didn't know if Bob was going to be a cool guy. I crossed my fingers.

Bob and I met for the first time a few hours before the event and went over a couple of things; we both didn't know what was going on, and neither of us had any information about the people that we were going to be introducing onto the stage all evening. So two things became very clear to me; we had to wing it, and Bob was cool. So long as he didn't know what was going on (either), it made me more comfortable with my own uncomfortableness.

I gotta say though, Bob was thee essential piece to everything and all things good. Without him present I would've had to clusterf**k my way through the entire program. Luckily though Bob brought his laptop with him. After every presentation he'd zip off the stage and get us a quote or two about the next presenters/performers. The first half of the night flew by in what seemed like a blink of the eye, and we managed to only slip five minutes behind schedule.

We took a fifteen minute intermission, during which I changed into my favourite black fur pimp suit. I had told Bob before the show that I was going to start off the night in a simple black suit, then nominate myself for 'Best Costume' and come back in my outfit. Bob told me that he had a pimp hat he'd throw on for effect. Little did I know, Bob was lying. (I'll get to that later)

The second half of the program got started, Bob re-introduced me and I went on stage wearing my outfit. The one thing I have to mention is that I feel way more comfortable while donning my gear. When I was origianlly asked to host the event, I asked James (Producer of the VIMA's) how he wanted me for the show. Did he want me to dress normal, or did he want me to be me? James told me, "Why don't you start out normal then become you." I was cool with that, as I'd only have to tough out the first half of the program then smooth-sail-it til the end.

The second half of the show was really cool. I got to meet Sue Medley, a well established Canadian artist/award winner/gold record/you name it-singer, which was pretty awesome. I met her just before she had to present an award. I held out my hand and said, "Hey Sue Medley I'm The Reverend, wicked to meet you." I also had the honour of presenting the Irish Rovers with an achievement award near the conclusion of the night.

After the Irish Rover presentation, I re-introduced Bob back out onto the stage. I wanted to tell all in attendance how important it was that Bob was involved in the evening's festivities. I couldn't imagine how it would've went without him. I am confident in myself, but man-oh-man Bob was the engine. So I brought Bob back out on stage and he blew me away. He wasn't wearing a pimp hat... he donned a full-fledged silver pin striped suit! This guy was my perfect partner in crime, and I can't thank him enough for completely answering the call the way he did.

After experiencing the whirlwind event, looking back on the night now I'm still blown away. It was such a great evening with an eclectic mix of great music. I really hope that I can do it again.

The Reverend

Being a hockey fan is second nature for most of us Canadians. I started watching hockey when I was really young. I'm sure my dad had it on the TV when I was a kid, but I do know for certain that I started buying hockey cards in 1979. Even prior to that though I knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Back then, the Flyers were a bunch of scary looking guys. Shrubby haired, missing toothed thugs. I recall seeing footage of them on TV beating up the Russian Red Army team so badly that the Russians left the ice refusing to finish the game. I was hooked on the Flyers at a very young age. If they didn't beat the other teams at the sport, they'd beat them with their fists... but for the most part, they beat 'em at both; on the ice and with their fists.

The one thing with the Flyers is, you either love them or you hate 'em. So being located on the west coast of Canada, over 3000 miles away from Philadelphia, I grew up taking a lot of verbal abuse for being a Flyers fan. And since the closest team to here is the Vancouver Canucks, I took the worst flack from their fans. Not all of their fans are loud-mouth idiots, but there certainly were (and are) enough to have made me dislike their team more than most of the rest of the league's teams (Toronto Maple Leafs excluded. Their fans are the worst).

The one insult I grow tired of more and more each year is how being a Flyers fan makes me 'unpatriotic'. What a load of garbage! I'm always quick to respond that the very last team to win the Stanley Cup with an entire Canadian roster was the 1975 Philadelphia Flyers. I love when Montreal Canadians fans try and grill me about the Flyers. I always respond with, "You guys call yourselves the 'Canadians' and you've got less actual Canadians on your team than the Flyers!"

I do admit that I'm a diehard fan, and sometimes can get a little too intense for my own good. I don't get into fights about the Flyers, but I certainly can get moody. During last year's Stanley Cup final I made sure that I wasn't in my bar during the games. You wouldn't believe how Murphy's Law dominates my sanity during the most crucial moments of a game!

When the Flyers get eliminated from the play-offs it hurts. When they lose a Stanley Cup, I have a moment alone where I bow my head and make peace with the loss. In my life of watching hockey, I've suffered through five Stanley Cup losses. I do not really recall watching them lose the one to Montreal in 1977. But I do remember my uncle (who's a Canadians fan) razzing me about it, which influenced me into hating the Canadians for the first half of my life.

After last year's Stanley Cup loss to Chicago, I received a message minutes later about the Flyers 'crashing and burning'. I was having my moment of dealing with the loss, when that message kicked me while I was down. It took me a few minutes to figure out which jack-ass, buddy of mine had done that to me. I learned that it was an old roommate of mine whom of which was a Canucks fan. It made me quite angry, and at the time I probably would've grabbed him by the throat if he was within my reach and through gritted teeth said, "How dare you f**k with me!"

Now, a season and a play-off elimination later, I think about the possible results of this Stanley Cup final. If the Vancouver Canucks wind up losing to the Boston Bruins, I won't say a thing to my buddy. However, in my mind I will be squashing his Stanley Cup dream like a cigarette butt saying, "You ain't felt nothin' until you lose three more of those you b*stard!"

The Reverend

The first rock concert I ever attended was April Wine back in 1984. I believe they were on a farewell tour in support of their Animal Grace album. Cory Hart was their support act... he was awful. April Wine was loud and very cool. Their pyro scared the sh*t out of me because I'd never experienced anything like it before. I've been hooked ever since!

Their drummer Jerry Mercer's solo was most memorable. He had drum sticks that glowed red in the dark. For the climax of his solo, he'd alternate lifting his arms above his head, all while playing the snare drum, going faster and fasterwith , the red sticks becoming a blur of speed. The crowd went nuts. Jerry Mercer was this big bald dude behind a massive drum set that looked like he could kick every one in the arena's ass if he felt inclined to. Scary, but extremely cool.

I remember Brian Greenway's voice being super high. He sang lead on the song Before The Dawn. At that time I don't know if I knew that he sang any leads. I remember being blown away by his power and thinking, "Wow. Two of them are kick ass vocalists!"

Over the past 27 years since that first show, I'd go on to see April Wine a number of times. In the early 2000's they had a date booked at a friend of mine Derek's club that used to be called the Blues House. I asked Derek if I could be there when the band showed up for load-in. I'd be the local guy at their disposal if they needed anything. When Brian Greenway arrived, I sat back and just watched him operate. He was very casual. He looked at the small stage and said, "Hmm... alright. No room for the piano, so no ballads tonight." He laughed and left. There was another guy setting up the drums that wasn't Jerry Mercer. Bald, but not Jerry.

That particular show was very loud, and very cool. I took my oldest brother to the gig because he was the one who took me to my first concert. We had a great time. Jim Clench was back playing bass in the band, so to see and hear his voice sing leads for Ooowatanite was totally awesome. My brother nearly shat himself when they whipped out Weeping Widow and Jim belted out that one too. That show was the first one I'd see of them without Jerry Mercer on drums. Word was that he'd been having heart problems so he was sitting out the tour. His replacement was great, but it wasn't Jerry Mercer.

In 2005 another friend of mine was managing a nightclub in Langford called the Blue Pearl. At the time, the Grey Cup was being held in Vancouver. During the week leading up to Canada's greatest football game, Vancouver was having the traditional Grey Cup celebrations with lots of great bands kicking lots of ass. April Wine was one of them. Since they'd be out on the west coast, my buddy booked them for a gig at his club. He asked me if my band wanted to open up the show. I didn't hesitate, "F**k yeah we will!"

Figuring out all of the details, I offered to supply April Wine's back line; drums, amps, etc. Jerry Mercer playing my drum kit, hell yeah! For the previous five years, I had most of my drums put away. I had simplified everything about my playing and was using only four drums. I was in Phil Rudd of AC/DC mode. My Dave Lombardo (Slayer) animal was caged up... but always ready to escape!

Man, I was excited about Jerry Mercer using my drums. I wanted it to be pristine for him. I had to re-skin the whole thing, top and bottom. Cost me $450. I dusted every shell and buffed those babies shiney. I had my other brother do up an April Wine logo for the bass drum, and the kit looked flawless. On the day of the show, Jerry Mercer's roadie and I set up the kit together. As the monster was assembled I started to get nervous and think, "What if Jerry doesn't like it?" I began to doubt and worry... "I should've let the club supply a drum set, so if Jerry didn't like it he'd be pissed at them not me. What had I gotten myself into?"

I was pouring myself a pop behind the bar when Jerry arrived. There was silence. He looked angry. I think I was imagining things. But the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Ah. They even made me my own bass drum logo." He was impressed! I breathed a sigh of relief, then approached him from his left. "Does it look alright sir?" I asked. "This is yours?" he responded. I gulped and answered, "Yes." He nodded in approval then went on stage to sit behind them and play. I watched him for the next 45 minutes, fine-tuning the skins and making minor adjustments on the set up. I told him that I had a recent picture of his kit and based mine on it. He was impressed and started to sound check it. That's when I started to feel pretty cool myself.

For the gig, the club was packed to the rafters. Our set was our best one to date. Great repsonse from the crowd, and everything about it ruled. I had marched on to the stage with one of my April Wine shirts tied to a pool cue like a flag, waving it in the air. I grabbed the mic and sermon'd "On the 25th day, of the 11th month, it cames to pass... that tonight... April Wine was gonna kick Langford's ass!" The crowd went ape-sh*t and the rest was cemented into my history of cool things done.

After the gig, Jason (my club manager buddy) told me to grab my bass drum skin. He was going to go backstage and tell the band to wait and autograph my skin. I quickly grabbed the drum skin, my guitarist and we went in to see the band. It was a very wild few moments. We all shook hands. They were all impressed with the equipment and especially the logo'd bass drum skin. As they signed it I told them how I felt, "You guys were my very first rock concert twenty-one years ago. You introduced me to arena rock, pyro, everything. To be sharing the stage with you guys is probably the coolest thing that'll ever happen to me." Myles Goodwyn came over and gave me a hug. I was totally blown away.

My guitarist Johnny told them that it was a powerful moment for him as well. He said, "You guys were my brother's favourite band... and he died. So he's probably thinking this is pretty cool too." Myles hugged Johnny as well. We all shook hands and parted ways. As I was closing the back stage door, Jim Clench stopped me and asked, "Earlier, your buddy mentioned doobies..." I told Jim that at the hotel where they were staying, I ran the stripclub so we could renezvous back there afterwards. He was was happy, nodded yes and said, "Cool." Now I felt extra special.

We made it back to my club for last call, and at the very end of the night Jim and Brian showed up for drinks. As it was closing time, the doormen almost didn't allow either of them into the bar. We had Ooowatanite playing, so Brian told the doorman, "You have to let us in," he pointed to the speakers, "this is us!" So the doorman stepped aside and they came in to meet us.

We carried on into the wee hours of the morning, drinking all the way. I was mixing myself Jim Beam and orange juice into empty Budweiser cans, and we all were having a good time. Brian was bewildered that I was an actual ordained minister. I was telling him that he too could be if he so desired. He was shaking his head in disbelief. We were all getting pretty discombobulated. In only a couple hours both bands had to be on the 7AM ferry, as we had a show in Seattle and they in Vancouver. We shook hands and bid farewell.

I zonked out at home and got up late. We missed the boat. Turns out so did April Wine. We ran into them at the cafeteria in the terminal. We hung outside drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and talking rock. Myles kept to himself and kind of hung out on the edge of the crowd of us. I walked over and said hello. He responded with, "You guys were the other band last night, that's right. Thank you." He started talking to me about a number of things and got very serious about his son and diabetes. Myles was poking my in the arm very hard, "Four times day he's gotta stick needles in his arm," poke-poke-poke, "four times a day!" It was quite intense.

The ferry arrived, we boarded. I went for a coffee at the snack bar. Jerry was in the line-up in front of me. I didn't want to bother him. He started talking to me, "You need cream?" (for my coffee). I told him I was feeling pretty rough for the previous evenings events. He told me he stopped doing that years ago. "When I was in Mashmakhan, I used to drink a beer after every song." He continued, "After three sets, that about 30 beers! I couldn't keep time, so I stopped drinking during shows." This was cool. Jerry Mercer (in my mind) was telling me to smarten up!

We parted ways and I went outside for a Marlboro. Jim was out there already having a smoke of his own. I nodded. He nodded back. We stood together at the railing with the cool ocean breeze blowing in our faces. He started talking about Loverboy's fallen bassist Scott Smith who had died a few years earlier. Here I was smoking with a guy who'd played in April Wine and BTO, talking about a member of Loverboy as if we were all friends. A very surreal, and sad moment... yet kinda trippy.

After the ferry docked, we went to Seattle for another cool gig. At that point in my life things were beginning to spiral. Within a month I went from my highest of highs to an extreme low. I bounced off the front of a pick-up truck, defied all odds and survived with not more than an achey lower back. Re-evealuating my life after near death experiences had become common for me. I thought about the April Wine gig and concluded it was a perfect end to that chapter in my life. So a couple of days later I ended the band and continued my seventeen month bender.

This latest April Wine gig was very cool. Only Myles and Brian remain in the band. Jerry has since retired (he turns 72 in a few weeks), and Jim unfortunately passed away late last year after not playing with the guys for a few years. Myles and Brian's voices are still top notch and hearing the songs made me feel like a little kid again. I love those guys! I think I'm going to double-shot Ooowatanite and Weeping Widow for him on this week's broadcast.

The Reverend

I don't know if I hate anything more than cancer. Twelve hours ago my Auntie Tiny (Antoinette) passed away. We only found out last week that she was sick... very sick. My only solace is that she is no longer in any pain.

Life is a major downer sometimes. Twelve hours earlier today I was blogging (below) how I regained some peace of mind, only to be dealt another losing hand. This all reminds me of a hostile venting an acquaintance of mine's dad had a few weeks ago. His second wife passed away from cancer ten years ago, and he's still extremely p*ssed off at the Cancer Agency.

When I found out that Tim was sick back in 2002, there was a number of sleepless nights I spent at the computer. I read a lot of articles and blogs from doctors about cures and tests that didn't get any backing from the governments of either Canada or the USA. I had lunch with a lady I mowed lawns for when I was a kid because I remember my mother telling me that this woman had beaten cancer. Back in the 70's she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only two months to live. She put herself on a 'Grape Diet': nothing but grapes. She told me that she went on that diet in hopes of actually killing herself, but it wound up saving her life. In the 90's she was again diagnosed with cancer and went on the diet so her doctors could monitor any changes. Sure enough the diet got rid of her disease a second time.

I believe that there's a cure out there, but unfortunately the big b*tches up top wouldn't make any money from it. They make their loot from the drugs that prolong the ill people's deaths. And that makes me sick to my stomach.

How many billions have been donated or raised for the cancer cause? It's complete bullsh*t. I wrote a letter to Michael Moore to film a documentary on it but I never heard back from him. They're probably paying him not too.

P*ssed off,
DB

I miss you bro.

I attended an AA meeting this morning. I've been sensing over the past few days that I needed to go to one. My patience and tolerance for stupidity was at a low. One of the great things about AA is that it reminds me of my thinking problem. Because for the most part, I am wrong!

Yesterday a very obnoxious, drunk Vancouver Canucks fan got quite vocal about his distaste for me being a Philadelphia Flyers fan. He was making racial remarks towards me (which were quite baffling), and was extremely loud while doing so. As I've been used to a life of insults from being a Flyers fan located on the west coast of Canada, I tried to let this donkey and his comments slide. But after he ventured into his 'unpatriotic' rant, I began to get quite angry. I sensed my anger coming on and did my best to stop myself from going there. But after I left the scene, my imagination did what it does and I began fantasizing about smashing the guys' teeth in and bar-stooling him across the back of his head. It took me another 36 hours to realize that I should to go to an AA meeting.

Now, after 60 minutes of AA banter and venting with my fellowship brother and sisters, I feel somewhat normal and no longer want to smash that donkey. Why waste my energy on such an unneccessary thing? I'd rather turn on my booth television at 4 PM PST today and focus my powers on something far more important: the Flyers taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs!

I'm certainly glad I've got my priorities back in check, and I owe it all to AA.

Thank you god,
The Reverend

On February 3, 1993 a guy I kinda knew from another band overdosed on heroin and died. Pete Randell was his name, and he was the bassist for a band called Moral Decay. These guys went to a different high school than I, and were a year or two younger than me. A couple of my buddies became friends with them, and introduced me to their music. For 16 and 17 year olds, they were quite amazing. Especially their guitarist/singer Dave Wenger. You could tell from Dave's playing that he had some sort of classical training. If he didn't, I guess he was just naturally phenomenal.

When I bought the Moral Decay demo tape, I was quite blown away... and maybe even a little jealous. Their music really stoked a fire in me to be a part of some intense music myself. Looking back now, I realize those five songs were pretty influential on me. I went on to make some pretty heavy music for the next seven years, and Moral Decay disbanded and went their separate ways.

I'd cross paths with Pete every now and then. He was good buddies with a friend of mine, so we hung out once. I can vividly recall baking our minds with the now bassist of Fear Factory (who was also a buddy of Pete's). Another recollection of mine is of running into Pete one afternoon downtown and asking him, "What's new?" He said, "I'm moving to Vancouver..." I can not remember entirely, but I think he might have been leaving that day. That was the last time I saw him alive. He moved to Vancouver, and shortly afterwards tried heroin for the first time. The television news (at the time) was reporting that some very potent heroin was on the street. 'Bad heroin' as they called it. But is there really good heroin? Pete was the third casualty that year.

Pete was the first guy I knew to overdose. When I found out, it really put me in a weird head space for awhile. It underlined the fact that f**king around can kill you. I wish it sobered me up then. I can only imagine where I'd be now.

So every February 3rd I pay a visit to Pete's resting place and talk to the ground for a bit. This year I parked the car as close as I could and cranked Moral Decay's five songs. For a brief moment I thought some of the other dead may haunt me to turn it down, so I turned it up louder.

It's hard to believe that it's been 18 years since he passed away. Next year he'll have been gone for almost as long as he was here.Time indeed flies. I'm certainly glad that his music helps keep him alive, so please check them out:

So it is more and more apparent that Diamond Dave and the Van Halen's are working on a new album. To me, this is the greatest of news. If you're a listener of my show, you're plenty aware that I'm a classic Van Halen diehard. Personally, I've never met a BIGGER fan than myself. I'm sure there is, but admittedly I'm massive.

In my time of attending rock concerts, I've seen Diamond Dave in 1986, 1988, 1994, twice in 1995, 1998, 2001, twice in 2003, then finally fronting Van Halen twice in 2007. With the exception of the 1986 show, the weather was hotter than hell every time Diamond Dave came around. He is the bringer of the sun, and classic Van Halen has always given me blue skies on my mind.

You'll notice the picture on the right. It's a photo I took of the television back in September 1996 when Dave and the Van Halen's made a surprise appearance on the MTV Awards. I pumped both fists in the air when they walked onto that stage. I had to take a picture of that moment, because who knew how long it would last. Turns out it lasted just the blink of an eye. By the end of that awards show, Dave and the guys hated each other even worse than before. The only positive that came from it was the two new songs they released on their 'Best Of' CD.

I recall the first time I heard 'Me Wise Magic' on the radio. It was probably around 3AM, me and my band mates (at the time) were all lit up in Vancouver after seeing The Who in concert. We were carrying on (as we did so well), with the radio playing in the background at a friends place. The song came on and my head tilted, like a dog hearing something outside. Then I thought to myself, "I think that's Ed Van Halen..." I walked over to the speaker, closed my eyes and put my face into the mesh. Then the drums kicked in, and my goose bumps began. After sixteen years of waiting, I finally heard David Lee Roth sing a new Van Halen song! With my eyes closed tight, I saw blue and I will never forget it.

Now, another fourteen and a half years later, I await for their new blue. The thought of an album's worth of new Van Halen songs moves me in wonderful ways. Upon its release, I will eat, breath and live it.

The summer of 2011 could be our hottest yet. They talk of global warming, and now I know why.

All hail thee mighty VH,
The Reverend