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| Late summer 2001 found Scott and myself headed for the X-games in Philadelphia, PA. Sobe was doing a joint promotional party with Maxim magazine and we were on the bill. The event was called SoBe adrenaline rush & Maxim present 6 degrees of adrenaline and was being held in the Transit Nightclub. The concept was to transform the club into six different rooms or zones, I believe our room was 'horror'. The room itself looked to be a converted vault and was either cramped or intimate depending on your outlook - I would lean towards the former since the up close and personal setting really drove home the acts for everyone in attendance. Adding to the mood, we had horror movie clips projected onto the back wall over us while performing. |
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The show went really well, basically we would lure groups of people into the room and do a few acts. We repeated this process until we had people talking about the show throughout the club and then finished with one big run through all the acts we had prepared for the event. There is a special sort of thrill or pride that comes from knowing that even in a room full of people that have nearly seen it all (or even done it themselves) you can still have an impact. However, as can often be the case when Scott and I hit the road, the show just part of the adventure. We actually went down to Philadelphia a day early, not only to get a chance to settle in a be a bit more relaxed but also because I had friends in Philadelphia and there would certainly be festivities to enjoy with the x-games in town. We found our hotel, the Sheraton at Society Hill and after unloading the show gear headed out for Infinite Body Piercing. |
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| The Sheraton Hotel. |
Outside Infinite Body Piercing. |
| I've known some of the staff and owners of Infinite for a few years now, having originally made contact via online newsgroups like rec.arts.bodyart and www.BMEzine.com. Those of you who have read my implant experience might remember that it was performed at Infinite during one of Steve Haworth's guest stays at the shop. I didn't have anything done during this visit but I did get a lollipop that turned my tongues blue and a chance to hang out with friends. Walking back to the hotel we wandered a bit and checked out some of historical Philadelphia - including a landmark which probably should have served as an omen... |
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| When we got back to the hotel, we found out about a party being held at The Electric Factory. I was familiar with The Electric Factory from having played there in 1999 while on tour with Godsmack. Since we had some time to kill before the party, we did the only natural thing - started drinking at the hotel bar. The party was alright but a bit poorly laid out, drinks were only available on the upper level which meant that no one really hung out on the floor and thus a really decent band ended up having to play to a crowd they had to look and to the back of the hall to even see. When we returned to the hotel, we hit the bar again - just to complete the circle, of course. Now, this probably should have been the end of our night, if we were sensible. Once back in the room, for reasons still not entirely recalled or understood, Scott looked over at me and uttered the now immortal words; "That's it, we're fighting". The ensuing battle probably looked like something out a backyard wrestling tape gone wrong. There were multiple choke and tap outs, brief losses of consciousness, overturned beds, and tossed chairs. We've gotten drunk and had at each other for fun and stress release before (picture dueling chokeholds rolling on the pavement in the middle of the streets of Albany) but this was one of our better epics. Sore and bruised (we continued to find injuries for the next couple days) we pieced the room mostly back together and got some sleep before the next day and our show. |
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| The hotel room - nearly back together. |
Blue tongued lizard... |
| Maxim has some pictures and video from the event online in the parties section of their site. |