a random collection of whatever from beyond the cosmic horizon; the psychic adventures of a rambling, gambling, heavy metal beatnik.
The Gates of Slumber "Feast of the Dead" live in Brussels 03.04.20
The Gates of Slumber "Stitched Back from Deth" Live in Gothenburg 03.09.20
patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thegatesofslumber merch: https://thegatesofslumber.bigcartel.com/ follow: https://www.facebook.com/thegatesofslumber/ https://www.instagram.com/thegatesofslumberdoom/ Video by Jason Rich. Edits by S Janiak. Karl Simon - guitar / vocals Chuck Brown - drums Steve Janiak - bass
dream from this morning:
i got an early morning phone call. it was from a sweepstakes official telling me i was the grand prize winner of a judas priest prize package. it included a meet and greet with rob halford, tickets to see judas priest that night, a bunch of guitar amps and recording equipment, tshirts and related merch and even branded playing cards and casino chips. they said i had to go early because rob would need to rest most of the day for the concert later tonight.
my wife being a huge judas priest fan, i needed to let her know asap. for some reason i was unable to get her on the phone. so i went to the meet and greet by myself, assuming she would call me back soon. the meet and greet was in a conrad type of swanky hotel in a metropolitan downtown looking area, not exactly indianapolis, but not necessarily not indianapolis. the venue was a massive deer creekish amphitheater on the top of another skyscraper across the street.
i get to the conrad and eventually i'm led by handlers to a makeshift dive bar near the top floor. like CBGBs but recreated by a hipster artist. there are probably 6 or 8 wasted metalheads talking loudly on barstools, debating metal bands and albums. i'm still checking my phone every two seconds. i call jason rich and tell him i have two extra tickets if he wants to come up. finally rob halford comes out and is cordial. i don't really have a lot to say except my wife is a lifelong fan.
eventually my wife does show up, wearing her judas priest gear and leather jacket. i don't remember much, but it seems like fun was had. at some point later we are in a hotel room with a slew of concert goers. i'm sitting on a couch near the window and see my elderly blind cat julius hanging on the screen outside the windows, 30 stories up. i quickly get him safely inside the room. crisis averted.
fast forward to the show. now i'm at the venue in the backstage area. the opening band (five finger death punch??) is playing. people are cracking jokes about them. someone tells me i need to wash my hands before they make me sign the forms and give me all the prizes. i follow a small staircase into a tunnel, down another small staircase through a door, into a small room like a janitor's closet / laundry room. there's a woman there who cleans the facilities. i wash my hands and make small talk with her before going back upstairs.
entering a different room, i can see the amp prizes i was supposed to win, but by the way it's staged, it looks like some of the amps are gone. i find the display with all the playing cards, casino chips and merch items and there are definitely things missing. i am asking what's going on, no one is talking. at this point there is lots and lots of waiting and milling around while a band plays in the distance.
finally i find out there is a tall guy who looks like nicholas cage playing borat who gave a bunch of my prizes away. we have a confrontation. i call him a "giant dumbass" as he walks away. we eventually find out that he had a problem with my friend jason and randomly decided to give my prizes away to the runners up.
now the concert is going and i'm still trying to get to the bottom of this. on one hand i'm still stoked to meet rob halford, on the other hand i can't do anything about this fiasco. the dream seems to linger in this state for a long, long time before i wake up, and write down whatever i can remember.
the end?
dream from this morning:
dtp had a big show scheduled. it was 6 or 7 bands in what used to be a giant steakhouse. lo-pan was headlining. there was a girl from my high school days there, but she was still high school age. she wanted me to check out her new band, they were playing early.
before the show started, jesse (from lo-pan) told me he had something he wanted to show me. we walked out in the dark behind the building. parked in the grass was an old truck with a large black barrel in the bed. as i opened the barrel, jesse told me it was radioactive waste that he had stolen. i put my hands inside it and felt around in the dark. i don't remember actually feeling anything inside. i put the lid back on top.
we chatted for a minute, until i felt a weird sensation on my arm. i looked down and there was a small, green, flat kind of worm squiggling out of my skin. it looked like a blade of grass. i could feel it wiggling around, trying to get out.
"oh i forgot to tell you about that" jesse said. a second and a third worm sprouted next to the first. as they became free they left behind a stringy residue of cobwebs. i held my arm up and could see a thin layer of cobweb covering it as more worms sprouted. i tore at the cobwebs and started yanking out the worms as they popped up. when i pulled them, they became stretchy and snapped like a rubber band out of my skin. they started coming out of my side, then my ankles, my other arm, my thighs, my face and eventually my privates.
i thought "i can't play like this" and went back inside to find the promoter. i'm in the upstairs backstage and i'm yanking green worms out of my skin every few minutes. people are staring. the high school girl's band is already playing downstairs. i finally see the promoter in the hall. he looks exactly like ray romano. i told him i couldn't play the show, i have these stringy worms coming out of my body and i need to go to the hospital. at first he is upset, then he sees the worms and he's terrified.
i finally ask jesse how i'm supposed to get rid of these worms. he says "basically you have to find some time and sit in the bathroom naked and pull them all out, one by one, until they're all gone while tearing the heads off. also make sure you don't leave any heads under your skin."
i go downstairs to tell the high school girl i missed her set and need to leave. she's sitting in a round booth with two other high school age friends. i'm trying to explain all this to her as a large worm comes out of my forehead. "obviously, i need to leave", i say. one of the girls makes a horrified face.
i tell the band that i'm leaving. i help load the gear out. it occurs to me we have a long drive home and i'm still yanking worms out of my skin. chad decides he doesn't want to leave. he asks if bobby liebling is playing the show and if he needs a drummer to fill in.
then i woke up.
