Today we’ll wrap up this brief diversion into some old pictures I found while packing for Japan. I don’t remember even having a camera back in 1989, or taking these pictures, but I do remember this evening well.

Sepultura was virtually unknown at the time. This was their first time in the USA, and they had begun their Beneath the Remains Tour in Philadelphia less than a month before.

This show took place at the Omni in Oakland, California on November 30, 1989. The members of Sepultura couldn’t speak much English at this point. Members of Metallica were in attendance, although that wasn’t unusual at Bay Area shows in the 80s. I also met Metallica at a Megadeth show in San Francisco at The Stone on Broadway in May of 1987.

Metallica had already done their best work by 1989. Everything from this point on for Metallica is basically crap in my opinion. Not so with Sepultura. While Beneath the Remains is still my favorite, Sepultura’s next two albums (Arise and Chaos A.D.) are far better than anything Metallica ever did without Cliff Burton.

Andreas Kisser is still with the band, 20 years later.

Max Cavalera split from Sepultura in 1997 and formed Soulfly. I haven’t been much of a fan of Soulfly or Sepultura since.

This last picture is a particularly classic and vintage one. When is the last time someone could smoke at an indoor concert venue? Not only that but the smoker is a mulleted security personnel! Personally I enjoy coming home from concerts these days not smelling like an ashtray.

Posted on July 28th, 2009 under Other • Tags: concert photography, metal, sepultura. • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed