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Alice Cooper @ 2016 Copenhell
The Hollywood Vampires are playing at Britt Festivals on 7/23/16. I will miss the show as I’m still in Denmark, but I did get to catch part of the show at Copenhell a few weeks ago. Alice Cooper did a portion of the set as part of his own. I thought it was excellent.
I’m back in Copenhagen, now, after three days in Prague. My only regret is that I didn’t bring a long lens on the trip (and I had a 70-300mm sitting on my table back in Denmark! What was I thinking?). That just gives me an excuse to return to Prague someday. This shot could have been cool at 300mm, instead of being a 4-photo photomerge @ 11mm, with the Church of Our Lady before Tyn on Old Town Square in the foreground and St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle area on the other side of the Vltava River in the background.
Prague really can’t be captured in photos adequately. In person my jaw was dropping around every corner. Next time I need to go when it isn’t tourist high season. Does such a time of the year exist? All I know is on my way out of town on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. the streets were empty. Next time I’ll spend more time out in the streets at dawn and more time sleeping in the afternoon when decapitation by someone else’s selfie stick is a serious concern.
Prague sunset
At an international faculty party, in which I was probably the least traveled of the bunch, we got to talking about where we were going on our long weekends. I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays at CBS so I usually have four days off in a row to explore. In the past I’ve gone primarily to Norway and Sweden. I mentioned that I was undecided and asked for their feedback. I was debating between Estonia, several places in Germany, or Finland. Someone asked, “You’ve been to Prague, right?” When I said “no” they all universally agreed that Prague should be tops on my list. So here I am.
Tonight is my last night in Prague. What a place! Were it not for the ridiculous number of tourists and selfie sticks, this place would be near perfect.
Today’s photo was taken three days before Ronnie James Dio’s birthday earlier this week.
“No sign of the morning coming
You’ve been left on your own…”
Today I’m in Prague for the first time ever.
Aosoth @ 2016 Metal Magic Festival
@agoniarecords @MetalMagicDK
I was initially clued into the existence of the Metal Magic Festival by looking at where Uli Jon Roth would be playing in 2016. When I saw he would be playing in Denmark when I was also in Denmark I delved into the other bands on the bill. The one that rose to the top was Aosoth. Their most recent album, in particular, is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard.
They’ve only played one gig, ever, in the USA, and that was on the east coast. This was probably my only chance to ever see them live. They did not disappoint.
Aosoth setlist
I was jetlagged; I was tired; I was wet. This was about my last shot of the evening on day one of Copenhell before I hightailed it out of there. I got more wet on my bike ride home, much more wet in fact, and lightning struck all around me in flashes and bolts. It was pretty spectacular at times. Riding past the Rundetaarn as lightning was reflecting off its windows was particularly memorable.
Had I been in a better mood I probably would have stuck it out. What got me in a bad mood? Strange I know, but it was not just the rain.
I love it when a band has really good intro music or the song they play over the PA just before going on is great. Take Iron Maiden. You know they are about to hit the stage when UFO’s “Doctor Doctor”, a fantastic song, comes on. I think King Diamond had Black Sabbath playing before he went on the next night. Megadeth had something cool too, but I can’t remember what it was now. Anyway, before the Scorpions went on stage Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” came on the PA. What a crappy song. The skies opened up at that point as if to piss on Metallica’s demise. My mood was worsening. Then the Scorpions came on about 10 minutes late which meant standing in a downpour for 10 minutes more than had they been on time. Finally, they opened with a lame song like “Going Out With A Bang”. Had they opened with something good and played something other than 90s Metallica before that, I probably could have pressed on through the rain. But I wasn’t looking forward to their ballads from the 90s or any more new songs either so I left to the sound of “The Zoo”.