Jeff Hanneman of Slayer in his Tyrone Wheatley jersey in Japan in 2009

One of Slayer’s guitarists died a couple days ago. I can’t say that I’m all that surprised. While a flesh-eating bacteria, apparently contracted by a spider bite in 2011, is being partially blamed for Jeff Hanneman’s liver failure, the last time I saw him in 2009 he didn’t look very healthy. He looked great when I saw him in the 1980s and 1990s, but it didn’t seem to me in 2009 that he would continue for long.

I’m sorry to see him go. He wrote some of my favorite Slayer tunes.

Posted on May 5th, 2013 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal, slayer. Comments: None

My random wallpaper of the day is this one–Loudness in Tokyo at Loudpark 2009. This was one of their first shows, maybe even their first show, with Masayuki Suzuki (鈴木政行) on drums.

Posted on February 10th, 2012 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal. Comments: None

Today’s photo is also my random wallpaper of the day on my PC.

Led Zepagain, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, played on the small stage (Sanctuary Stage) at Loud Park 09. There were three stages in all with the main acts switching back and forth on the two main stages. The small stage overlapped the performances on the big stages so I didn’t hang out there much. I caught just a few minutes of Led Zepagain and a few minutes of Dokken, who were playing at the same time on the big stage. Neither band did anything for me so I headed outside to explore instead.

There is, or I should say was, a fun Led Zeppelin cover band to see live, Zepparella. Alas, the all-female Zepparella broke up a few weeks after I saw them so a repeat performance of that fun evening won’t likely happen again.

Posted on January 9th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: loudpark. Comments: None

I was thinking about naming today’s entry “The view when you are 6′ 4″ at a concert in Japan,” but that seemed a bit long.

This photo is from Load Park and the band was Arch Enemy. The picture is more of a crowd shot than a band pic though. I like the atmosphere and feeling of it.

I’m planning on seeing many shows in the next five or six months including Amon Amarth (a 2-set show with no opening band, Woo Hoo!) in Portland next month, Floater in Grants Pass, and Robert Wynia in Medford. Most acts don’t make it anywhere near my neck of the woods, though, so this summer I plan to see many in Europe while I’m teaching in Denmark for six weeks. I’m especially looking forward to Mastodon at the Roskilde Festival.

Posted on January 6th, 2011 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal. Comments: 2

Another random image off my hard drive for you today. This is Michael Amott of Arch Enemy playing at Loud Park in Japan in 2009. Arch Enemy is one of those bands that has hit it big in Japan compared to their popularity in most other places in the world. In fact, they probably wouldn’t even exist were it not for their early success in Japan.

Arch Enemy is supposed to be entering the studio to record their next album today, scheduled for a May 2011 release.

Posted on December 1st, 2010 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal. Comments: 3