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(In anticipation of the EP "Testament: Live At Eindhoven" being rereleased, I've written the following memoir. Enjoy! - Alex S.)

 

Playing in Europe for the first time is like losing your virginity. You get nervous with anticipation. You imagine it vividly, but no matter what you do, nothing can fully prepare you for it. Eventually, when that moment arrives, you just have to overcome your fears and do it. Such was the case when we flew to Eindhoven in 1987 to perform in front of 30,000 metalheads at the annual Dynamo Open Air Festival.

 

I'd been to Europe seven years earlier with my family. But here I was, eighteen, out of the house and no longer the little boy under the watchful eye of mom and dad.

 

As the van shuttled us in from Amsterdam International Airport, I looked out upon the peaceful serenity of The Netherlands, better known by it's unofficial nickname "Holland." It was a lot like I'd remembered it: life size gingerbread houses, rolling green hills, windmills, tiny cars and people on bicycles. Could this fairy tale like country really be into metal?

 

All doubts were quickly cast aside when, the night before the festival, we performed a warm up gig at the Dynamo Club to hundreds of sweaty fans. The intensity of the mosh pits and stage diving rivaled that of any crowd we'd scene before.

 

Already, it felt like we'd reached a new level. We weren't playing for the local metal scene back home. These were total strangers across the ocean who who spoke a different language and asked us for our autographs. Tonight there were hundreds, tomorrow there would be thousands.

 

After the warm up show, several of our new fans became gracious hosts, buying us drinks and showing us around the town.

 

With it's endless array of nightclubs, sex shops and hashish houses, Eindhoven was like an adult playground. We bounced from bar to bar in a beer and hash induced haze. Soon it was 3am and the bars were still open. I'm not sure how I got back to the hotel, but I made it. Eventually everyone else did as well.

 

At around noon the next day, we were driven to the festival site, a giant airfield with a stage and PA system. The crowd was a sea of leather and denim. Everywhere you looked there were people with band logos on their patches and t-shirts. "Motorhead," "Venom,""Iron Maiden," "Slayer" etc... I'd never known this many metal fans existed let alone seen them in one place.

 

Headlining the festival was Stryper, a Christian rock band from LA, who had developed a big presence on American radio and MTV. They wore black and yellow stripes, had huge eighties hair and sang commercial hard rock songs for Jesus.

 

We didn't know Stryper, and had nothing against them, but it seemed especially weird to have us and them on the same bill, for several reasons:

 

1. Our music was fast, intense speed metal. Theirs was 'easy listening' by comparison.

 

2. Our songs were about darkness and violence. Theirs were about the virtues of Christianity.

 

3. We indulged in alcohol and other vices. They indulged in the Holy Bible.

 

 

How ironic that the name of our band was "Testament."

 

In keeping with their pious lifestyle, Stryper had imposed three rules for backstage etiquette:

 

No drinking, no smoking and no cursing.

 

All the other bands were instructed to observe these rules while in their presence.

 

When the time came for us to walk out and perform, the guys from Stryper were just arriving backstage. Our vocalist, Chuck, decided to greet them by letting them know just what he thought of their rules.

 

"Where's my pot?" he yelled. "Let's smoke some pot! I cant go on without my god damn pot!"

 

The members of Stryper turned their heads and looked perplexed. They didn't know what to say. Chuck looked straight at them and didn't miss a beat.

 

"You guys got any fucking beer?" he asked.

 

We all started giggling like naughty school children and headed outside into the damp cloudy air to take the stage.

 

The show was a total rush. It was cold out there. My hands felt frozen. It started raining. The sound onstage was terrible. But we were pulling it off.

 

The crowd went wild. For the first time, we were playing in front of thousands of people. And in the blink of an eye, it was done. I don't remember much else except that it was followed by a lot of celebrating and another night on the town in Eindhoven.

 

The next day, as we were driven back across the Dutch landscape towards the Amsterdam airport, we awaited our flight back home to the USA. Mixed in with our hangovers was an overwhelming sensatiion of relief that it was over. We had done our first big European gig.

 

Like a first time sexual encounter, it was far from perfect, but with repeated experience, it would get better. For now, we had done it. We had lost our virginity and were no longer a "local" band. We had just stepped out of the Bay Area and onto the world stage.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 8:47 PM New Blog By Chuck Billy, 4/29/09

 

What’s Up Mother Fuckas...

 

Testament is about to embark on a KILLER North American tour and I am stoked!!! Formation of Damnation took us all over the world playing 126 gigs so far since the release of The Formation Of Damnation in April 2008. We even played rare shows in Eindhoven and London where we got to perform our first 2 Albums; it was incredible being on stage with our original line up performing songs from the early days of our career. It made us realize that we have a whole new generation of fans out there who love to thrash. Now we are coming home and there is nothing better than Headlining stages Coast to Coast. We are thrilled to be able to brutalize the nation and to be bringing some Class A Metal Acts: Unearth and Lazarus A.D. along for the ride.

 

Dudes, we have something SICK planned for you, we know times are tough and it is hard to get out there and spend the money on a ticket so we are making this tour YOURS. It is your choice what we play, check out the BRAND NEW contest live on our MySpace and VOTE on 3 set lists to determine our musical fate for the evening. We promise which ever set wins, we will get out on stage every night and kick your motha-fucking ass... Also, for the first time EVER we have VIP packages for sale. Not only does the VIP package include a ticket to the show but... hey, Go ahead have a drink ON US! ...and with us, you will hang with us and check out our sound check, PLUS receive an autographed poster, collectible laminate, Testament Music Skins, a Very Special Limited Edition Merch Item and you will be entered into a raffle to win one of our NOT EVEN OUT YET Darkstar Testament Skateboard as well as Eric Peterson’s signature Dean guitar “Old Skull” V, and more! So don’t waste time take a look at our dates, see when we are coming to your city, buy a ticket to the show & GET INTO THE PIT!

 

~ Heavy Metal Forever! Chuck Billy Currently listening:

The Formation of Damnation

By Testament

Release date: 2008-04-29

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Dokazuju iz dana u dan , da su ipak tu zbog muzike , a ne zbog novca....

 

Bas sam cuo pre neki dan pricu da jebeni smrdljivi m.head nije hteo da izadje na binu kod nas jer im promoter nije doneo 3.finlandija votke crvene...

 

jebo to ....

 

Kako volim sto ne slusam Nuclear Blast i Roadrunner muziku.

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Znam da je off, al moram se nadovezati. Jebeni Flynn kad je izasao 2005. ili tako negde sa Vio-lence-om da svira, lik, ne mrda, vidis ga, kao Madona, samo merka da nece neko da ga upuca, pipne, i sve izmedju. Svaka mu cast za Forbidden, Vio-Lence i prvi album MH, ostalo, ma cao, pali, budalo!

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Hmmm... ne želim nikoga da branim ali čini se da su neki muzičari uplašeni, od kada je na brutalan način ubijen Dimebag... više, nego što bi hteli da priznaju.

 

Testament sam oduvek cenila, posle ove "akcije", još više.

btw i Forbidden, naravno.

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Znam da je off, al moram se nadovezati. Jebeni Flynn kad je izasao 2005. ili tako negde sa Vio-lence-om da svira, lik, ne mrda, vidis ga, kao Madona, samo merka da nece neko da ga upuca, pipne, i sve izmedju. Svaka mu cast za Forbidden, Vio-Lence i prvi album MH, ostalo, ma cao, pali, budalo!

 

Лепо си приметио. :da: А у Forbiddenu је био маргинална фигура, на сву срећу.

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Nije Flynn svirao na onoj kratkoj reunion turneji,koliko ja znam.. Jedino je on falio iz originalne postave. A u Forbiddenu nije nista uradio.

 

Gostovao im je u Stone-u ja mislim kad su svirali, ili na nekom drugom jednom koncertu, a u Forbiddenu je potpisao pesme Chalice of blood, Forbidden Evil i As good as dead. Nije mnogo, ali je daleko od nista i od margine.

Edited by Rizzen
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Veteran San Francisco Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT are offering fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to choose what songs they would like to hear during the band's upcoming North American headlining tour. The poll is being conducted on the group's official MySpace page.

 

There are three setlists fans can vote on:

 

* Set A:

 

"The Legacy" full album + "Best Of"

 

* Set B:

 

"The New Order" full album + "Best Of"

 

* Set C:

 

01. The Persecuted Won't Forget

02. Practice What You Preach

03. Into the Pit

04. Dog Faced Gods

05. Raging Waters

06. More Than Meets The Eye

07. Demonic

08. True Believer

09. The Legacy

10. Over the Wall

11. The New Order

12. Souls of Black

13. First Strike Is Deadly

14. Disciples of the Watch

15. D.N.R.

16. Three Days in Darkness

17. The Formation of Damnation

 

Each city's setlist will be open for voting.

 

 

Znam, nema ovo mnogo veze sa nama, ali zanimljivo je videti sta ce drugi da dobiju :)

 

Ja bi' glasao za opciju "1" :]

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Да, али ово је турнеја за Амере, јебига.

Гласао бих за опцију два (set Би), без икаквог размишљања и премишљања. Њу ордр!!!

Edited by Вуду шнеле Неле
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