Last night was arguably the metal equivalent to the Grammys. But if you were too busy or too drunk to watch the black carpet being rolled out, TBOS brings you the highlights of the Revolver Golden Gods 2013.
Anthrax and (Half of) Pantera Play Tribute to Jeff Hanneman
Anthrax opened the show with guest appearances by Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown by Pantera. They performed “This Love” and part of “Raining Blood” as a tribute to Jeff Hanneman, who passed away yesterday morning.
Afterwards, Kerry King held a “moment of noise” (instead of a moment of silence) in order to honor his fallen bandmate.
The Dillinger Escape Plan Perform With Chino Moreno
In perhaps the most controversial event of the night, The Dillinger Escape Plan put on a bloody performance alongside Deftones’ Chino Moreno.
Halestorm and David Draiman Cover “Whole Lotta Love”
Distrubed/Device frontman David Draiman and Halestorm covered the Led Zeppelin classic, giving both powerhouse singers the opportunity to show off their chops.
Five Finger Death Punch Perform with Rob Halford and Rob Zombie
5FDP performed alongside the legendary Judas Priest frontman and horror mastermind.
Slipknot and Stone Sour Cover Sabbath
After Stone Sour played songs from their House of Gold and Bones series, Slipknot’s Clown and Chris Fehn joined Corey Taylor’s other band onstage to perform “Children of the Grave”.
Danzig Plays Misfits Classics
Danzig played a five-song set featuring hits like “Last Caress” and “Mother”. Misfits guitarist Doyle von Frankenstein joined him, and his guitar broke at the end.
Metallica Gets the Lifetime Achievement Award, Play With Rob Halford
Metallica received the ended the show with a four-song set, opening with “Disposable Heroes”. Rob Halford joined in during “Rapid Fire”.
More highlights:
Ghost B.C.’s Papa Emeritus II removed his hat when presenting an award in order to honor Jeff Hanneman.
After winning the Song of the Year award, Black Veil Brides were apparently booed by the crowd and decided to respond by insulting the audience.
The full list of winners can be seen below:
BEST GUITARIST – John 5 (Rob Zombie & solo) – Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) – Alex Lifeson (Rush) – Misha Mansoor (Periphery) – Brendon Small (Dethklok) – Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)
BEST DRUMMER – Abe Cunningham (Deftones) – Mario Duplantier (Gojira) – Arejay Hale (Halestorm) – Gene Hoglan (Dethklok & Testament) – Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour) – Neil Peart (Rush)
PAUL GRAY BEST BASSIST – Rex Brown (Kill Devil Hill) – Steve Harris (Iron Maiden & solo) – Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead) – Geddy Lee (Rush) – Jason Newsted (Newsted) – Sergio Vega (Deftones)
BEST VOCALIST – Phil Anselmo (Down & solo) – Maria Brink (In This Moment) – Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) – Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) – Chino Moreno (Deftones) – Corey Taylor (Stone Sour & Slipknot)
BEST NEW TALENT – Device – Ghost – Kvelertak – Miss May I – Of Mice & Men – Young Guns
MOST METAL ATHLETE – Tom Crabtree (Green Bay Packers, NFL) – Tanner Faust (Rally and drifting car racing) – Clay Guida (Mixed Martial Arts fighting, UFC) – Triple H (WWE wrestling) – Geoff Rowley (Skateboarding) – CJ Wilson (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB)
BEST LIVE BAND – Anthrax – Five Finger Death Punch – Hatebreed – Lamb of God – Slipknot – Volbeat
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR – Aerosmith – The Darkness – Quicksand – Refused – Soundgarden – Tenacious D
SONG OF THE YEAR – Asking Alexandria, “Run Free” – Avenged Sevenfold, “Carry On” – Black Veil Brides, “In The End” – Dethklok, “I Ejaculate Fire” – Halestorm, “Love Bites (So Do I)” – In This Moment, “Blood”
MOST DEDICATED FANS – Black Label Society – Black Veil Brides – A Day To Remember – HIM – Rammstein – Slipknot
ALBUM OF THE YEAR – Deftones, Koi No Yokan – Gojira, L’Enfant Sauvage – Halestorm, The Strange Case of… – Marilyn Manson, Born Villain – Soundgarden, King Animal – Stone Sour, House of Gold & Bones Part 1
Do you think the winners were deserving of their awards? Do you think some of the performances were outstanding or sub-par? Sound off in the comments section!
Unless you’ve been away from the headbanging world, you are aware that Halestorm won the 2013 Grammy for “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance”. This win is historic in the sense that singer Lzzy Hale is the first female singer to ever be nominated for that category and win.
By all means, congrats to Halestorm. They are a hard working band and “Love Bites (So Do I)” is a great song.
But once again, this decision reflects the cluelessness of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the head of the Grammys, when it comes to metal.
The hard rock/metal category has undergone several changes.
The first and only “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental” Grammy was awarded in 1989. It was expected that Metallica would win. Their album “…And Justice For All” had spawned the hit “One” and was their best-selling album to date.
Jethro Tull released an ad in Billboard Magazine showing a picture of a flute and the line, “The flute is a real, heavy metal instrument!” Subsequent editions of Metallica’s “…And Justice For All” contained a sticker reading “Grammy Award LOSERS.”
Metallica: 1989 Grammy award LOSERS. Photo courtesy frenk tatranky on Flickr.
Entertainment Weekly called it one of the biggest upsets in Grammy history.
Here are some more examples of the board’s knowledge:
Metallica won the 1991 metal Grammy for their cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy,” though Queen itself was never nominated.
Motörhead won the 2005 metal Grammy for a cover of Metallica’s “Whiplash”.
The 2009 metal Grammy was awarded to Judas Priest for a live version of “Dissident Aggressor,” a song originally released in 1977.
Now it’s 2013, and though the board appears to have made progress, there are still changes to be made.
Up against Halestorm were Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax, Marilyn Manson and Lamb Of God.
Iron Maiden has one Grammy to their legendary name. They are often credited as one of the pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and are regarded as one of the most successful metal bands of all time.
Anthrax and Megadeth are two of the Big Four of Thrash Metal, which were credited with popularizing the genre. Neither have won a Grammy. Megadeth holds the record for the most Grammy nominations (eleven) in the metal category without a win.
The hard rock/metal category is the still the only one dedicated to this art form and the award is not televised. Eddie Trunk and other metal journalists have complained about the outright disrespect for these musical genres by the board.
Though the talent of all this year’s nominees is unmistakable, Halestorm’s win is reminiscent of actions by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Winners and inductees are not chosen according to a band’s record sales or influence, but according to politics.
While KISS, Deep Purple (“Smoke on the Water”), Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and countless other influential rock and metal bands have yet to be inducted, newer bands like Guns N’ Roses and non-rock acts like Madonna are in there.
With all due respect to Halestorm, the proponents of “Music’s Biggest Night” have a lot of explaining to do.
In Part 2 of our interview with Doro Pesch, she discussed her experiences performing at the Monsters of Rock and Wacken Open Air Festivals, her first tour with Judas Priest, and receiving health advice from Blackie Lawless. Here, she talks about meeting Lemmy Kilmister for the first time, discusses being a female pioneer in metal and gives advice to aspiring musicians. Click here to read the interview from the beginning.
The Blog of Shredding: Do you still keep in touch with (the musicians you’ve toured with)?
Doro Pesch: Yes, yes. Sometimes when I see somebody’s on tour, then I always go there. And actually the closest I’m with Lemmy and Motörhead. I love Lemmy so much, and I love all the other, you know, bands… I don’t know. I love him so much and he’s one of the first (famous) people I’ve ever met. It was actually—we played the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington together. And I met him before too. And I couldn’t speak one word of English! (laughs) It was like the very early 80s. And he was so nice. He said, “Oh yeah, have a cigarette. Have a whisky cola.” And you know, we hung out and had a great time… He actually sang a duet with me on the new record. It’s called “It Still Hurts” and I love it so much. It means so much to me.
But all the other people too. When I see Judas Priest is playing where I am, I always try, you know, to go. Or the Scorpions. And Udo Dirkschneider from Accept and many many other bands. Yeah.
The Blog of Shredding: Why did you choose metal at the time when it was such a male-dominated music genre?
Doro Pesch: I love metal so much and think everybody knew that—that no matter what—I never thought it made a difference, being a man or a woman. If you love music and people, they feel you can touch their hearts, I think it doesn’t matter. I never thought, I never felt degraded or second-best being a woman. I felt really good, really respected. All the bands that we just talked about— and many more bands—they were always treating me really great. I never thought it was such a big deal. I always had a great time and always felt very supported. So, yeah, to me, I feel I’m just a human being and I want to try to do my best and make people happy, give them positive power, positive energy. I never felt bad being a woman. I just-I think it doesn’t matter in the end. And I think music is about that.
The Blog of Shredding: How do you feel about (female-fronted band) Halestorm being nominated for the hard rock/metal Grammy? Lzzy Hale’s the first woman to be nominated for that.
Doro Pesch: That’s super! I was so happy when I heard that. I just found out a couple of weeks ago, and I was like, “Wow! Super!” More power to them and more power to her, and of course, I keep my fingers crossed that she will win. And that’s great! I think that’s awesome! That’s awesome.
And I must say, when I started, we were just maybe a handful of women. And now there’s so many more, so that’s great, you know. It doesn’t feel so lonely anymore!
But all the women that were doing this, I always had great connections. Most of the girls I know, and most of the girls I’m great friends with, like for example, the girl of Girlschool. We started together in the early 80s. Yeah, I think that’s great. Halestorm were nominated. Super!
The Blog of Shredding: What do you want your legacy to be?
Doro Pesch: Just when the fans think of me, that they know that I always try to give my best and try to make the fans happy and give them something that they will never forget, that it’s like the real thing. And something they could always count on. I promise you that I will never ever give up and I want to do it till the day I die.
I will never ever do a goodbye tour, I promise that. And I will always try to give 150 percent in songs or shows or records. And they know that I love the fans more than anything else in this world and the fans, they are my family and they’re the most important thing to me, my only inspiration and motivation.
I love the fans—to death! (laughs)
The Blog of Shredding: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
Doro Pesch: I just would say, always give your whole energy, your whole heart, do 150 percent, and never let them change you. Always do what you feel is right. Follow your heart, follow your instincts. And never ever ever give up and do what you feel is right. Do what is you, you know, don’t follow a trend and just, you know, express yourself. Be the best you can be. And always try to find good people who will help you, support you, and even if you can’t find them, just believe in yourself and do whatever you can. I would say, you know, it’s a hard road but everything is worth it. If you try, if you believe in it, if you don’t give up, in the end, you definitely get to go to places. You definitely get successful. Whatever is in you, just follow that… And maybe find a good management. If you find somebody or if you want to sign a deal then, I would say, you know, it’s good to consider a lawyer because I [laughs] must say I can talk from experience. I signed my life away many times [laughs] because I thought, “Oh, everybody just wants the best for the band, just what’s best for you.” So I would get legal advice. Yeah, seek legal support like a lawyer before you sign a contract. Yeah, I would say that’s pretty good because, you know, I didn’t do it. And back in the day, actually, we made many handshake deals, which I believed when people told me something, that that was for real. I was very naive—I still am. I just want to believe the best in people, but sometimes it’s good to have a second opinion, somebody who knows. Yeah, a good lawyer who, you know, who loves music but takes care of you. That you don’t wind up in too much, you know, problems (laughs). I guess, you know, these experiences in the end, you know, it was alright to go through some hard stuff. And always know, always know it will always go up and down, up and down. But always try to keep a good attitude and if somebody knocks you out, get up as fast as you can, and you know, fight more and fight for what you want to do.
To be continued. Part 4 of 4 will be published soon.
The Blog of Shredding 