The thing about partying like a madman and rocking out, feeling the love of not just good friends, but everyone in attendance…..makes you hungry! TBH, I recall basically nothing of leaving. But I know I was hungry by the fantastic selection of gas station pizza piled on the hotel dresser the next morning. Maybe Danny and Michelle aren’t such good friends after all letting me eat that crap….lol. *Pigeon Forge is abysmally horrid in the way of ANYTHING after about 10 or 11pm. It’s like they roll up the streets.
Holy flying monkeys with hammers Batman! Those little bastards are pounding on everything inside my head this morning. I feel like a bag of smashed assholes! Noticing my roommate had already vacated, assumably on the hunt for breakfast I got out of bed. Surveying the absolute carnage of the gas station pizza and noticing that it looked like plastic, like a kid’s Fisher-Price toy did nothing to improve my mood. With the hotel breakfast (I think the plastic pizza was even more appetizing) and buckets of reasonably decent coffee, I was ready to attack the day once again. I am a seasoned professional after all…lol. Back in the room for freshening up activities, roommate Jim returned with a mediocre report on his breakfast at a diner up the road. And very shortly after our third (one night only) roomie, Derik arrived.
MONSTERS ON THE MOUNTAIN – Day 3
After getting all sorted and daisy fresh, Jim dropped Derik and I at the venue as he was off to Wal-Mart or somewhere for something or other. Derik all checked in with his one-day pass, we went out to the tailgate area. And so the IPA highway once again began….well when someone’s buying it’s hard to refuse and as harsh as this stuff was, I’m sure Bud Light would instigate immediate vomiting! What the hell is wrong with me? We hung around in the Tailgate area through the misty drizzling of rain waiting for Tora Tora‘s Anthony Corder to open up the day.
ANTHONY CORDER (Tora Tora)
Even though the rain had basically dissipated, Derik and I witnessed Anthony heading away from the tailgate area and inside the building. This was our signal that he had been moved indoors. Damn! How fast can I pound back the first 7.3% IPA of the day? Pretty fast when I want to see Anthony Corder play. But unfortunately, that also opened up the floodgates of many more IPAs and too quickly TBH.
Anthony played a great set in a smaller room inside the venue. Between songs, he doled out snippets of information on things like the writing or recording. It was a great intimate start to the day as Derik and I watched from standing near the back of the room. I happily surveyed the room as I sang along, Tora Tora one of my favourite bands, witnessing many friends here to start the day with Anthony.
The IPA’s continued coming right along and we made our way to the main auditorium for what in my eyes is the clear headliner of the event…Rhino Bucket…lol.
RHINO BUCKET
It’s not really a secret by any means that I love Rhino Bucket. They were a part of that first 2012 cruise and even got Georg to sign my CDs on that voyage. I’ve seen them every chance I get (which is mostly on MORC) and every show stellar. Their brand of straightforward balls-out hard rock is my real flavour. I remember one MORC Simon Wright was on board with I think Dio Disciples and Rhino Bucket was also on board. Now Mr. Wright has in the past played drums for Rhino Bucket…and so after a few day drinking beers I approached Simon when I saw him. Accolades on the show last night flowed freely from my mouth even though he insisted he didn’t play last night. But I ignored him, hey I was at the Rhino Bucket show! I failed to recall that he no longer bashed skins for Rhino Bucket, but better yet, this wasn’t even Simon Wright I was talking to!
Anyways, enough of my embarrassing mistaken identity of people. We secured a position close to the front near the left side of the stage for the headliner. More IPA arrived during the set as I sang along in all my tone-deaf glory to classic Rhino Bucket tunes. The band sounded great as always fronted by Georg Dolivo‘s scratchy harsh vocals. I was disappointed a couple of years back when Rhino Bucket announced they were calling it a day. So this was the first time I’d seen them science re-emerging. And they didn’t miss a beat! With a European tour planned, scheduled and announced for 2022 all I can say is “watch out Rhino Bucket, you may see a weird Canadian stalker along on that tour at the clubs every night“.
…INTO THE VOID…
Now here’s where Saturday got away from me, well the start of the escape at any rate. There is a significant block of the day completely missing from my memory. I know that while Gilby Clarke shows on the schedule, he was unable to attend. Too bad, Gilby‘s latest album is great and I’ve seen him on stage a few times. Here’s what I can tell you: I was having the time of my life! I know that I did not catch the next bands, Jeff Scott Soto/Jason Bieler, John Corabi and Pat Travers. Perhaps some may call this a grievous error on my part and they may be right. TBH, I’m not an acoustic guy. I will always watch Anthony Corder and also Ron Keel, but aside from those two my desire and enjoyment of acoustic performances is long gone.
However, I have heard such ravings about Pat Travers, and he’s also Canadian, I had intended to catch him on stage. I failed miserably in this though. I don’t really know what I was doing, but I suspect I spent some time out in the tailgate area and probably “holding court” in the lobby drinking and talking with friends I’d not seen since the last MORC. I’m aided in this declaration by the photographic proof on my camera roll.
FIREHOUSE
Firehouse is one of those bands that never really inundated themselves to me back in the day. I always thought they were a bit “wimpy”. Probably since I don’t like power ballads. But once I caught them live, that preconceived notion was quickly out the window as they severely impressed. Now, having seen them several times through MORC, Firefest and other events, I’ve become a fan. This set was to be a little special and different however as frontman CJ Snare recovers from a surgical procedure and stepping in to his shoes was none other than Andrew Freeman. I love Andrew‘s vocals and was excited to see how this would work with Firehouse.
I situated myself back near the front in a repeat of the Rhino Bucket position. Again in all my beered-up glory, I sang along to the Firehouse earworm hits. As expected, Freeman brought a different vibe and energy to the Firehouse set and overall was simply fantastic. Great job Andrew and hopefully CJ is back on stage soon!
Straight up, I don’t recall exiting the frontal stage areas, but certainly, I did. There’s nothing in my camera roll to help me out with that and my next memory is of Winger.
WINGER
I’m a pretty big fan of Winger‘s first three albums mostly. I remember seeing them headline the Kingswood Music Theatre at Canada’s Wonderland. Fond memories of that show with my at-the-time girl. Well, that’s where we actually became more than friends, sharing our first kiss. Look at the sappiness on me FFS! Anyways, the first time Winger was scheduled on MORC I wore my “In The Heart Of The Young” tour shirt even! Amazingly it still fit….wonder if it does now? That was my first time seeing them since that tour and they sounded great.
The same still holds up now and even though I was in a beered-up euphoria heightened by hanging out with such good friends that I’d missed for so long. I recall singing along to songs from those first three albums although I’d really like to have heard “Junkyard Dog (Tears On Stone)“. I do also have a note in my phone that I struggled to hear the guitars at one point as well…..anyone else?
TESLA
Another band that sounds fantastic live. I’ve said since the first time I saw them, which was 2012 MORC, that they sound identical to the records! I uphold that still. I took in Tesla from my normal perch at the back of the room standing at one of the high-top tables.
In a set loaded with classic Tesla hits, I sang along in all my beered-up glory. Seriously, I sang….and I’m tone deaf! Michelle might even have video of such heinous acts? It was like 10 years ago, I met this couple Danny and Michelle at Tesla on the inaugural MORC in 2012 and here I was in 2021 (after a 2-year exile from gigs) hanging with them at another Tesla show! Life has come full circle and I’m 100% ok with that!
While there may not be video there are several photos floating around as we held each other arm in arm (and don’t forget, pounding back strong IPA beer) singing and dancing and having the best time. How far we’ve come. How much we’ve changed, grown, lived, loved, lost. MORC introduced us, but we all made us friends for life…..I will see you both again soon, guaranteed!
AFTER PARTY OR STILL PARTY?
More IPA flowed and I was well aware, yet also completely unaware of how this was going to roll. We performed another side table switch for the after-party featuring Signal 13. Now, call me crazy but if all bands so far today have been in the same venue, basically switching sides with the two stages all day long and the after-party band is doing exactly that, is it really an after-party or just an extension or the closing band of the night? To me, an after-party is a new location, even a different room in the same venue. In any case, I don’t recall what I heard from them. But I see comments of how good they were….so my ears may well have been full of IPA. For sure as hell I couldn’t tell you what they even looked like….so I need to give Signal 13 another chance and will see about looking them up properly.
THE PARTY AFTER THE AFTER PARTY
As strange as it may seem to the readers actually making it this far, I was still upright! Hey now, I’m Canadian…I may have a “blackout” period of the day, I may be swaying….but I’m ready to party! I never want this to end! It’s thoughts like these that see me ending up at Danny and Michelle‘s hotel lobby who knows what time after the concerts finished at Le Conte Center. Did we walk here? I’m hungry! Wow, a nice girl at the hotel bar overheard me (small disclaimer: I may have been being very loud) and gave me their leftover pizza. Covid who…I gotta eat man!
Danny kept the beers coming (well the water in a blue can-Bud Light) as if I needed anymore, but did that stop me…hell no, I’m stupid! When I realized for at least the second time, maybe third that Michelle had been trying to capture a pic of me sleeping (at which she never succeeded…Charles Brown!), I deemed it time to sleep. How Danny was so much better off than me I didn’t understand….at the time, but of course, he didn’t start on the IPA at like 11 am….where’s Derik, we gotta have a chat..lol. Oh yeah, he’s staying in my room! But, to his credit, Danny walked me home to my crappy hotel from his residence’s lobby….even though it was only two fucking doors down…he’s right, I may not have made it otherwise…lol.
Bring on Monsters on the Mountain last day!
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Cheers,
The Meister
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