The following is a Headbangers Ball guest Blog by God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle. We’ll warn you that it’s pretty long and if you read the whole thing you might be late for your next appointment, but since nothing here is offensive we’ll refrain from the usual crap about the views expressed here not necessarily being the views of ourselves or our higher ups. So, get ready for a housecall from the Doc.
I hate saying the same things about every tour when the record label asks for a tour report. It usually sounds something like this: “This f–king tour with (insert awesome band here) is amazing! Every night we get hammered, and party, and act crazy! Touring is awesome, we’re awesome, metal is awesome, blah, blah, blah.”
Anyway, I’m just a bit sick of the canned rhetoric, and thought I’d bring more insight into what it’s like to be on tour. First off, the tour has been awesome! LOL. It’s the second Monsters of Mayhem tour and it features us, Hatebreed, Evergreen Terrace, Terror, The Acacia Strain, and After The Burial.
We have been friends with Hatebreed since before we were signed. We actually put together a show in 1999 for Reject The Sickness just so we could open for them. They ended up using our guitar amps, and we were honored. From 2002 on we’ve done stints of tours and even got to do Ozzfest with them and a bunch of off-dates. It’s mainly because they like our band and us as people, and want to play with us. In an industry, which revolves our politics and trendy motherf—ers following the gravy train, it’s amazing to see a band that sticks to its guns, and gives back to younger, developing bands. All of the other bands have been really incredible as well.
We first played with Evergreen Terrace back in 2002 in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida (that show was actually with Hatebreed as well). I remembered that they covered U2. Since than they’ve done really well for themselves, and have become a great live band. It’s cool to have another melodic band on the tour, so we don’t feel so lonely. They are also extremely warm and nice guys who make touring really fun.
We’ve never played with Terror before, with the exception of a festival here and there. But we do go a way back with singer, Scott Vogel — all the back to his previous band Buried Alive, who was goddamn amazing and very underrated. I was really happy for him when Terror started taking off because, if anyone deserved it, he did because he put in time-and—a-half. Having only seen glimpses of the band here and there, it’s been quite humbling watching them every day This is a band that exemplifies what hardcore should be about and what initially attracted me to the hardcore scene as a teenager. Although, I am a diehard metalhead, the hardcore scene I discovered in the late ‘90s had passion, integrity, originality, and the bands I liked knew how to f—ing play. I don’t want to get into it too much, but I just get really excited watching Terror every day.
One memory that really pops in my mind when thinking about The Acacia Strain is the last show (of many) we played with them at Fat Cat’s in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was weird because I never knew how popular we were there since there was always some local Massachusetts band opening up for us and we always headlined. All That Remains, Diecast, and even Killswitch (back when Jessie Leach was singing) all opened for us in their hometown, which I always thought was strange. This brings me to when Acacia Strain opened up for us and A Life Once Lost in fall 2004. I remember not realizing a band could have so many breakdowns, plus I remembered they had, like, three guitar players or some s–t like that. Hardcore kids completely destroyed the venue for the duration of their set, and most left the venue before we went on. We probably played to only a quarter of their crowd. I knew than that they were on to something and now they’re killing it every night and still have more breakdowns than a 1982 Chevy Nova.
After The Burial are the young upstarts of the tour, but are doing a great job opening things up. They kinda have a Meshuggah-meets-Unearth thing going on, and they are shredding it up I think I have to go home and get my practice on because these guys make me look bad. They are really good guys as well.
I’ve been talking a lot about the past and other bands and that’s because this tour has just brought up a lot of memories. I feel like I’m looking at the past through the present, and that tells me a little bit about where things might be going — if that makes any sense. I don’t know if many people out there have a sense of the history of God Forbid, but we were always the “Metal” band in the hardcore scene. We had to fight hard to get respect early on, and eventually we seemingly earned it, but we never fit in 100 percent. At some point, maybe when we were signed or when we started doing a bunch of metal tours, we began to lose our affinity with the “scene.” I don’t think it was just us, I think the hardcore scene became a lot more commercialized and fashion and image became a huge part of making or breaking bands. We felt much more comfortable aligning ourselves as a metal band in the metal scene, and I still think that’s ultimately where God Forbid belongs. But doing a tour like this, where we become injected back into that community which looks and feels a lot different, is pretty cool.
Another hardcore thing about this tour is we are back in a van The last few tours we’ve done in the past year have been in a bus with a full crew, but we’re not making a lot of money on this tour, so we have had to cut corners. I find myself more at ground level doing more physical work — driving the van, lifting gear, selling merch, changing guitar strings, etc. In the past, this has kind of sucked but recently I’ve rather enjoyed it. When you’re on a tour where everyone is in vans, I think there is a more “all for one, one for all” type of spirit. When you have a bus, you’re more likely to become reclusive and lethargic. I’ve enjoyed a fellowship that I haven’t really experienced in a while, and it’s a nice feeling. I think when you’ve done this for as long as I have, and don’t have a platinum record or a Grammy, I think you learn to appreciate things in a different way. Although God Forbid is successful in it’s own right, the joy of just being able to do what we do on a daily basis becomes a blessing. I guess, though, it’s all how you look at it. Many people find riding around in vans, sleeping in crappy places and being away from home to be the most terrible existence. I’ve hated it many times myself. It certainly can wear you down after a while.
Anyway, we actually have played some concerts on this tour, and it has kicked ass. Probably some of the best and biggest shows we’ve played were in Rochester, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, New Jersey, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Orlando, Florida, and all of the Texas gigs. I think we are playing better than we ever have, and the support from our fans has been unreal. If this is the last tour we do before the next record (and there’s a 99 percent chance of that) then it will serve for future creative inspiration, I think. Now I’m going to try to rest a little bit. Once I start partying, it’s hard to stop, and with only one day off in about four weeks period, your body tend to become upset with you after a while. Farewell until next time.
Peace,
Doc Coyle
