For years now, I have been a faithful metalhead, a ‘Defender Of The Faith’ as some call it.
I follow bands progress in album writing, interviews, tours and lives.
My first concert ever was my favourite band to this day; Mudvayne.
I was 13 years old and I went with my older sister Amy, who practically enforced that I cannot buy tickets to the Mudvayne concert months before.
This angered me and upset me immensely.
I had planned to go into Ticketek with my friend Nikki K at the time and get the tickets then just act like I had a sleep over as you do at that age.
Yet by the time Christmas came around, my sister Amy gave me her present.
I opened the wrapping and found our ratty over played VHS copy of Waynes World, our families favourite movie.
I was puzzled at first, looking around at their very strange expressions, I said thank you and gave out the next round of presents.
Still puzzled I though, there had to be a catch.
I looked over the cover and still nothing, then I opened it.
There lies a ticket to Mudvayne at the UNSW Roundhouse on the 24th January 2006, at 7pm.
My first reaction was to scream and run at my sister and jump on her to thank her.
It was the most exciting day of my life, and with only 30 days til the concert itself I was extremely nervous.
As the date of the Mudvayne concert edged closer, my sisters work had some issues inthe health side of things and had a mystery bug living in her eye.
Causing her to wear an eye patch.
With heavy metal boys being extremely attractive to my sister and I, this freaked her out. She went without this patch to the show as there was no way she would be seen in public with this.
We enter the concert a little bit later than many, with the support act Switchkicker almost through their set.
As I walked in I was awestruck at this thing called a concert, it was new to me and I was in love.
The bass surged through my body and my organs were beating with the rhythm, my eyes opened to this new world that I had been without for so long.
Amy met up with one of her friends Jade and his little sister Donna who I actually went to school with at the time.
Even though I was only 13 I had about a head of height more than Donna so she grabbed my hand and told me to be her protection during Mudvayne.
Both our siblings told us to go for it and get in the pit.
As we entered the pit we were about half the height of everyone in there.
They opened up with a fairly unknown song off their first recorded album LD.50 called Under My Skin.
As soon as Matts sticks hit that first beat the crowd erupted.
Greg and Ryan jumped onto the stage and threw themselves into the song.
Yet there was one member I was waiting for, Mr Chad Gray, my hero.
He comes running out on stage, with camo shorts and a cut off shirt, and that voice just set the whole room on fire.
His stage presence and his stage energy, became my energy and I just let everything go and put my all into this song, and the rest of the set.
As soon as their song Dig came around, I knew the show was over so we had one last chance of making them proud and making this a lasting impression.
Walking out of the concert I meet my sister, drenched head to to toe in sweat, alcohol, water and god knows what else exists in a mosh pit.
My hair had turned into a single dreadlock just clumped from the headbanging and being thrown around for an hour and a half.
As our mum picked us up afterwards, I was still on cloud nine.
It was definately more than any 13 year old metalhead could ever ask for.
Singing songs like ‘Isnt She Lovely’ and ‘You’re Beautiful’ yet replacing key lyrics with Chads name, caused my mum and sister to laugh at my very first concert experienced.
It changed my life from then on in, going to as many concerts as possible.
A simple bands time on stage, playing back those songs you spent a lifetime studying and pulling apart, listening to them day in and day out,means the entire world to some people that can never be taken away.
When you’re in a setting like this, you have your own personal experience with the band and the crowd that no-ones could be a duplicate of.
& this is why I decided to do this, to document my concerts and meeting the bands that have changed my life.
