August 13, 2005

Well, I wish I could say that I fared better than I did at Ozzfest this year... I had a 'photo' pass that didn't allow for me to freely walk around the 2nd stage backstage area (to scour for picks) and by the time I got a 'working' pass, it was too late to look for 2nd stage picks.... but I did take 595 pictures(!) of all bands except Gizmachi, A Dozen Furies, Maiden, Sabbath (I wasn't approved for Maiden and nobody shoots Sabbath!)

Here's what I got at the show! There are plenty of other picks that I didn't get, because of aforementioned 'photo' pass issues....

* A Dozen Furies - black on orange - A Dozen Furies logo - Ozzfest 2005 logo & InTuneGP
* Arch Enemy - gold on black - RADIOACTIVE RIFF REVOLUTION (2 lines) & Arch Enemy 'eye' logo - Arch Enemy logo & Michael Amott sig & ESP logo
* Black Label Society - red on black (chalky) - BLS logo ('L' is 'Sopranos' gun) - Zakk Wylde sig & tiny Dunlop Turtle 
* Black Sabbath - white on black - Iommi logo Gibson logo & PURE   & M 
* Black Sabbath - white on black - Iommi logo Gibson Strings & Accessories logo
* Dirtbag Clothing - red/white on black - Dirtbag logo & www.dirtbag.com  - blank
* Dirtbag Clothing - red/white on black - Dirtbag logo & www.dirtbag.com  - Crybaby logo & jimdunlop.com (2 lines) (white print)
* Dunlop - white on black - Crybaby logo & jimdunlop.com   (2 lines) - blank
* Gizmachi - white on black - Gizmachi logo - Ozzfest 2005 logo & skullhead in circle   & InTuneGP
* In Flames - black on green - In Flames 'I' logo (double-outlined) Bjorn sig inside In Flames 'I' logo (outlined)
* Iron Maiden - gold on bone white - Maiden logo & ADRIAN SMITH - Ernie Ball logo
* Iron Maiden - gold on white - Maiden logo & ADRIAN SMITH - Ernie Ball logo
* Iron Maiden - gold on white - ADRIAN SMITH & Maiden logo - Ernie Ball logo
* It Dies Today - black on yellow - It Dies Today logo - IDT & Steve Lempe XXX sig & Dunlop 'D'
* Mastodon - black on yellow - Mastodon logo & Dunlop 'D' - Symbol inside circle   (right half missing)
* Mastodon - black on green pointy - Mastodon logo & Dunlop 'D' - Symbol inside circle 
* Shadow's Fall - red on yellow - Shadow's Fall logo & Dunlop 'D' - Paul Romanko sig
* Spiritual Beggars - gold on white (translucent) - Spiritual Beggars logo - Michael Amott sig
* Trivium - white on black (shiny) - Trivium logo - Ozzfest 2005 logo & InTuneGP
* Trivium - white on black (chalky) - Trivium logo - Ozzfest 2005 logo & InTuneGP
* Wicked Wisdom - red on black (chalky) - Wicked Wisdom logo & Dunlop 'D' - Lady snake w/wings symbol 

Click here for my tradelist, as I do have a couple of Ozzfest picks for trade!

August 10, 2005:

Ozzfest, Sounds of the Underground, Gigantour, and Warped Tour Guitar Picks will all be online here soon.  Been busy, sorry for the extreme lack of updates!  My tradelist still gets updated almost daily though!

April 20, 2005:

I've been really lame about not updating this page, and most of the other Guitar Pick pages on this site!  I am working on the logistics for my new website www.metalXcore.com, as well as going to as many damn shows as possible, so my time has been shifted from this site.  I have a backlog of so many Guitar Picks that need to be scanned, it's not even funny!

April 19, 2005:

Velvet Revolver and Hoobastank were in concert tonight.  I missed Hoobastank, so I have no idea what Guitar Picks they are using for this tour.  I was close enough to see on Velvet Revolver's mic stands that Dave Kushner uses a 'black on white - logo - signature' pick, Duff uses a black on yellow pick, probably 'logo - signature', and Slash uses a black pick, probably white print, 'logo - signature'.  At the end of the show, I got to the barricade on Dave Kushner's side and the tech onstage threw a pick to me.  I missed it, and he threw another.  I missed that one, and he threw a third!  I missed three f*in Velvet Revolver picks and can kick myself for that!  Then to make it all worse (salt in the wound), right at my feet was one of those three picks, and some girl lunged for it two seconds before I spotted it, so I lost out on that as well :(  But the show was killer!  I snuck in my camera and took 80 pictures too!

April 15, 2005:

Soilwork, Dark Tranquility, Hypocrisy, and Mnemic were in concert tonight at the House of Blues in Anaheim.  Great Scandinavian metal show!  All four bands were great, and Soilwork was an excellent headliner with a nice light show to boot!  I believe that Soilwork is the only band on this tour with custom Guitar Picks:

* Soilwork - black on translucent white - 'Ax' logo - Caparison Guitars logo & Peter sig
* Soilwork - black on translucent white - logo & ?? sig - Caparison Guitars logo  

April 14, 2005

Sevendust was in concert tonight at the House of Blues in Anaheim.  My friend Sonny Mayo is now in the band, so since I was in Southern California, I decided to go to the show and check them out!  Sevendust rocked better than I ever have seen them before; not completely because of Sonny, but they were on fire!  Sonny left me a photo pass for the show, so I was really close to the stage for the first three songs.  Vinnie was using generic In Tune Guitar Picks, Sonny does not have any Sevendust custom Guitar Picks yet, and John was using black on purple '7d' custom In Tune Guitar Picks. 

April 12, 2005:

Slipknot, Shadows Fall, and Lamb of God were in concert tonight.  Excellent show, although I truly believe that Slipknot is much better without the big stage, the fancy lights, the elevated drum solo, etc.  Just the 9 members of Slipknot jumping around a stage that isn't 10 feet away from the front row is the way that I enjoy seeing this band.  I was lucky enough to score a photo pass and an aftershow pass so I was in the literal front row for the first three songs, and backstage after the show! 

While backstage, I asked Jonathan of Shadows Fall about their Guitar Picks, and he told me that they do not use In Tune Guitar Picks anymore and have custom Dunlop signature picks.  I didn't actually see their picks, but I think that Lamb of God still uses the same In Tune Guitar Picks that they've had for a while.

Slipknot doesn't put their Guitar Picks on mic stands as most other bands do.  Since they spent a good portion of the show sort of 'hunched over' while playing their guitars, James Root (#4) and Mick Thomson (#7) place their Guitar Picks on the stage monitors at the foot of the stage.  So, being in the photo pit and seeing these Guitar Picks in front of my face for the first three songs, before I left that area, when the lights went down, I snagged one!  Mick uses generic Dunlop Jazz III picks, but James uses custom Guitar Picks.  Backstage, I asked Paul Gray (#2) for a Guitar Pick and he gave me one!

* Shadows Fall - black on green - logo & Dunlop 'D' - Matthew Bachand sig
* Shadows Fall - white on black -logo & Dunlop 'D' - Jonathan Donais sig
* Lamb of God - black on purple- logo & InTuneGP - upside down flag
* Lamb of God - white on purple - logo & InTuneGP - upside down flag
* Slipknot - red/black on white - logo and pentagram - '4' (inside circle)
* Slipknot - gold on silver pearloid - logo & Dunlop 'D' - '2' (inside circle)

See my tradelist for the extra Slipknot picks!

March 24, 2005:

Atreyu, Unearth, Norma Jean, and Scars of Tomorrow were in concert tonight.  Awesome metalcore show!  Atreyu and Unearth have custom Guitar Picks:

* Atreyu - red on black (chalky)
     FRONT - ATREYU THICK AS THIEVES WORLD TOUR 2005
     BACK - Atreyu Thick As Thieves tour 'graveyard' graphic 
* Atreyu - yellow on black (chalky)
     FRONT - ATREYU THICK AS THIEVES WORLD TOUR 2005
     BACK - Atreyu Thick As Thieves tour 'graveyard' graphic 
*Atreyu - green on black (chalky)
     FRONT - ATREYU THICK AS THIEVES WORLD TOUR 2005
     BACK - Atreyu Thick As Thieves tour 'graveyard' graphic 
* Unearth - white on black - logo & Dunlop 'D' - big Jagermeister deer logo

February 14, 2005:

Soulfly and Morbid Angel was in concert tonight.  I was super-lucky enough to interview Trey (guitar) before the show and he gave me a handful of picks after the interview:

* Morbid Angel - green on pink (chalky) - Piranha drawing & CHEWING INC. - Trey Azagthoth sig

Tony Norman (from Monstrosity), Morbid Angel's other guitar player, doesn't have custom picks, but he told me that he may get some.  Soulfly had the same black on green picks that they've been using for a while now.  See my tradelist for the extra Morbid Angel picks!

The tour manager of Morbid Angel told me that I was, and will be, the only person on this entire tour to interview Trey!  I interviewed him for my upcoming website www.metalXcore.com, but the site is not ready yet.  Trey is a very private person and doesn't like the spotlight that celebrity brings, he hates his voice on the radio, and isn't a man of many words, but it was really cool that he granted me this interview.

January 26, 2005:

Band picks that I got at NAMM:

* Black Label Society - white on black (chalky)- Silhouette of man playing - Nick Cantonese sig & ExTx
* Body Count - black on white
     FRONT - logo & VINCENT PRICE (2 lines) & Dunlop logo
     BACK - Cross w/B.M.V, MOOSE, R.I.P 'banners'
* Damageplan - silver on black
    FRONT - Dimebag face & Dimebag sig
    BACK - NINJA PLEASE (2 lines, asian font) & NAMM 2005 (2 lines)
* Def Leppard - black on white - logo & Tortex (severely rubbed) - US Crew Not A Teabag Crew (4 lines)
* Megadeth - white on black - logo & 'D' Dunlop - Dave Mustaine sig (2 lines)
* Megadeth - black on purple - logo & 'D' Dunlop - Glen Drover sig
* Savatage - white on blue - JACK FROST (2 lines, 'icey' font) - blank
* Savatage - black on purple - Jack Frost sig - blank
* Springfield, Rick - silver on black
     FRONT - Circle face symbol & 'shock'
     BACK - rickspringfield shock/denial anger/acceptance (3 lines) & Rick Springfield sig
* Styx - gold on white
     FRONT - logo in circle & RETURN TO THE PARADISE THEATER TOUR (3 lines)
     BACK - Tommy Shaw sig
* Three Days Grace - white on black - logo & Dunlop Tortex - Face w/small mohawk
* Timmons, Andy - white on black - ear X-tacy - Andy Timmons sig
* Trans-Siberian Orchestra - gold on silver pearloid - logo - Chris Caffrey sig
* Van Halen - red/orange/yellow on white
     FRONT - VH logo (white) w/fireball behind it & Dunlop 'D'
     BACK - 4 chilis (red) w/fire above them (orange)
* Whitesnake - white on black (chalky) - 'WS' logo & Tortex - Doug Aldrich sig

January 25, 2005

I just returned from the 2005 NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) annual convention in Anaheim, CA.  This was my first time attending.  It was a great weekend, very cool show to go to.  Looking forward to next January so I can go again!

Thursday (the first day) was okay, I spent way too long in the line to pick up my registration badge, only to find out that my name was not in their computer.  After I got that sorted out, I had half-day to go around looking for swag!  Friday and Saturday were fun, running around from merchant to merchant looking for autograph signings.  Sunday was kinda lame, because everyone just wanted to pack up and get the hell out of there, so I left early.

I scored a bunch of Guitar Picks at NAMM!  My list is not ready at this moment, but I will have the full list online soon.  In the meantime, please view my NAMM photos at http://guitarpicks.netfirms.com/nfpicturepro/. 

I met a lot of musicians too!
* Ronnie James Dio, Craig Goldie, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright (Dio)
* Dave Mustaine, Sean Drover, Glen Drover (Megadeth)
* Scott Ian, Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
* Kerry King (SLAYER)
* Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer)
* Flattus Maximus, Beefcake the Mighty (GWAR)
* Scott Travis (Judas Priest)
* Munky, Fieldy, Jonathon Davis (Korn)
* Michael Anthony (Van Halen)
* Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue)
* Dave Navarro (Janes Addiction, ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers)
* Yngwie Malmsteen
* Rick Springfield (Jessie's Girl!)
* Shadows Fall
* Peter Frampton
* Terry Balsamo (Evanescence)
* Jack Frost, Chris Caffrey (Savatage)
* David Linsk, Rob Comeau (Overkill)
* Jack Gibson, Gary Holt, one other guy (Exodus)
* Ted Aguilar, Dennis Pepa (Death Angel)
* Alan Robert, Sal Abrascuto (Life of Agony)
* Bob Weir (The Dead)
* Bruce Kulick (Union, ex-KISS)
* David Vincent (Morbid Angel)
* Dan Donegan (Disturbed)
* Tommy Shaw (Styx, ex-Damn Yankees)
* Monte Pittman (Madonna, Prong)
* Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains)
* Evil-J (Otep)
* Steph Carpenter (Deftones)
* Alexi (Children of Bodom)
* Robert Sweet (Stryper hahaha)
* Kip Winger (Winger hahaha)
* Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, ex-Dio)
* Dave 'Snake' Sabo (Skid Row)
* David Ellefson, Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth)
* Andy Timmons (Danger Danger)
* Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
* A.J. Pera, Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza (Twisted Sister)
* Tim Skold (Marilyn Manson, ex-Shotgun Messiah)
* Vinnie Paul, Bobzilla, Pat Lachman (Damageplan)
* Michael Schenker (UFO, ex-Scorpions)
* Ira Black (Heathen, ex-Vicious Rumors)
* Steve Riley (LA Guns)
* Phil Demmel (Machine Head, ex-Violence)
* Christian Olde Wolbers, Raymond Herrera (Fear Factory)
* Dino Cazares (Brujeria, Asesino, ex-Fear Factory)
* James Murphy (Disincarnate, ex-Testament, ex-Death)
* Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters)
* Travis, Dan (Atreyu)
* Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)
* Jacoby, Jerry Horton (Papa Roach)
* Jon Wysocki (Staind)
* the drummer of Yes
* the drummer of REO Speedwagon
* The Peppermint Creeps

I almost met Stewart Copeland (The Police), Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani!  Eric Singer (KISS) was at NAMM, but I couldn't find him either.

January 15, 2005:

Happy New Year!  I am back from 16 days in Japan!  The purpose of my trip was not to seek out music stores and Guitar Picks, but while I was in Osaka and Tokyo, I did happen across planty of guitar and music stores.  In Tokyo, there is a section called Ochanomizu (Jinbocho district) which has a dozen or so guitar stores all within a block from each other.  But I didn't get any Guitar Picks here, I got most of them at a store in OSAKA called Miki Gakki.  One particular location, in America-muri, had an 'Igloo' cooler full of Guitar Picks.  This was the clearance bin -- 50 cents each! SEE PICTURE!  I bought 42 of my 55 Picks here!  I found some gems in there, I wish I had more time to look, but after an hour, my girlfriend was getting tired of being there! 

This is a complete list of what I got in Japan.  Picks shown with '#' are Picks for Trade. 

* 311 - black on green - logo & TIM MAHONEY - UFO cartoon & miT sig & DUNLOP PICKS #
* Aldrich, Doug - white on chalky black - cartoon of guy playing guitar & DOUG ALDRICH (vertical) - Doug sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Alice in Chains - white on black - logo & MIKE INEZ - Mike sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Alice in Chains - white on black - logo & JERRY CANTRELL - Jerry sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Balzac - red/white on black - logo & AKIO & 0.8mm & Fernandes logo - blank (bass)
* Balzac - purple on white - logo & ATSUSHI & Fernandes logo - blank
* Blink 182 - black on orange - box logo & TOM DELONGE - spacecraft cartoon & DUNLOP PICKS
* BLS - white on chalky black - BLS logo & ZAKK WYLDE - Zakk sig & DUNLOP PICKS
* DeMartini, Warren - gold on black - WARREN DE MARTINI around skull, guitar, martini - Warren sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Friedman, Marty - black on white - Ibanez logo & Marty sig - blank
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on purple - 'sand applying old lady' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on black - Gegege no Kitaro logo (outlined) - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on blue - 'one counter rub it is' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on gold - 'eyeball father' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on maroon - 'eyeball father' character - logo (bass)
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on red - 'cat daughter' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on silver pearloid - 'murine man' character - logo (bass)
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on yellow - 'ogre taro' character - logo (bass)
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on white - 'coating or ^\' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on silver - 'ogre taro' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on brown - 'murine man' character - logo
* Gegege no Kitaro - gold on dark green - 'the child is not pop' character - logo
[ Gegege no Kitaro is a Japanese cartoon - see 'characters' at http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/kitaro/ ]
* Gilbert, Paul - gold on black - cartoon of Paul playing guitar - Ibanez logo & Paul sig
* Gilbert, Paul - black on silver pearloid - cartoon of Paul playing guitar - Ibanez logo & Paul sig
* Gilbert, Paul - black on white - cartoon of Paul face w/'IBANEZ PICKS' on shirt - Ibanez logo & Paul sig & music notes
* Gilbert, Paul - white on translucent red - cartoon of Paul face w/'IBANEZ PICKS' on shirt - Ibanez logo & Paul sig & music notes
* Gilbert, Paul - red/pink on translucent dark blue - cartoon of Paul face w/'IBANEZ PICKS' on shirt - Ibanez logo & Paul sig & music notes
* Hoey, Gary - gold on tortoise shell - alien face cartoon & GARY HOEY - Gary sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Janes Addiction - white on red - JANES (printed in gothic) & DAVE NAVARRO - Dave sig & DUNLOP SERIES #
* King Crimson - gold on black - KING CRIMSON & circle symbol & ADRIAN BELEW - Adrian sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* KORN - black on white - star (red/blue/black) & MUNKY - Munky sig & DUNLOP PICKS
* KORN - black on white - blank - Munky sig & DUNLOP PICKS (might be a misprint of the one listed above)
* Kotzen, Ritchie - black on blue - face drawing (eyes, nose, mouth) & RITCHIE KOTZEN - Ritchie sig & DUNLOP PICKS
* Lit - multicolor on white - tiki mask (red, yellow, blue, black) & JEREMY POPOFF - Lit logo & Jeremy sig & DUNLOP PICKS (all black print)
* Loudness - black on translucent white - logo - 3 Japanese characters (big teardrop shaped pick)
* Loudness - silver on beige (back on red on beige) - 1 Japanese character - 3 Japanese characters (big teardrop shaped pick)
* Loudness - black on translucent white - logo - 3 Japanese characters (different) (big teardrop shaped pick)
* Loudness - silver/black/red on white - logo & YAMASHITA & red stripes - ESP logo (bass)
* Loudness - gold prism on black - logo (different) & AKIRA - blank (6-sided odd shaped pick)
* Marilyn Manson - black on purple - logo - ZIM ZUM & DUNLOP SERIES
* Pantera - black on green - 101 Proof logo & DIAMOND DARRELL - Darrell sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Pantera - black on blue - 101 Proof logo & REX - Rex sig & DUNLOP SERIES (bass)
* Rush - white on blue - Rush (w/underline) & ALEX LIFESON - Alex sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Salas, Stevie - black on pink - SURF GUITAR TEQUILA (3 lines) & STEVIE SALAS - Stevie sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Salas, Stevie - black on dark pink - SURF GUITAR TEQUILA (3 lines) & STEVIE SALAS - Stevie sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Salas, Stevie - black on maroon - SURF GUITAR TEQUILA (3 lines) & STEVIE SALAS - Stevie sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Satriani, Joe - gold on tortoise shell - cartoonish drawing of guitar (vertical) & JOE SATRIANI (printed in a semi-circle vertically next to guitar) - Joe sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Sepultura - black on green - SEPULTURA & 'S' logo & ANDREAS KISSER - DUNLOP SERIES (vertical) & cartoon face w/point nose & ENIAS
* Sepultura - black on green - SEPULTURA & 'S' logo & PAULO PINTO - cartoon face w/NEGA & DUNLOP SERIES
* Silvertide - white on chalky black - logo & crescent moon symbol - MARK MELCHIORRE JR. (2 lines)
* Slash - white on black - SLASH - blank
* Vai, Steve - black on pink - pyramid symbol & Steve sig - Ibanez logo
* Vai, Steve - white on green - pyramid symbol & Steve sig - Ibanez logo
* Vai, Steve - gold on white - pyramid symbol & Steve sig - Ibanez logo (pick has indents for grip)
* Vai, Steve - silver on white - STEVE VAI (2 lines) - Steve sig & DUNLOP PICKS
* White Zombie - white on red - wavy logo & SEAN YSEULT - Sean sig & DUNLOP SERIES
* Wylde, Zakk - black on blue - ZAKK WYLDE (2 lines) - Zakk sig & DUNLOP SERIES

I ended up spending a total of $50 on picks, and I went broke on my last day in Tokyo, so I'm glad I didn't buy anymore LOL.  But as I was digging through the 'Igloo' cooler, I ended up finding TWO Diamond Darrell PANTERA Guitar Picks (and two Rex Bass Picks)!!  I am not sure what I plan to do with these just yet, I may hold out for a really good trade or I may just hold onto them and maybe they'll be worth something in 5 years... RIP Dime!

December 28, 2004:

From now until January 13, I will be on vacation in JAPAN!  So there will be no updates here (obviously!).  Then, a few days later, I will be headed to NAMM in Anaheim, CA! 

Happy New Year and thanks for visiting Guitar-Picks.com (GuitarPicks.us)! 

December 26 and 27, 2004:

Joe Satriani was in concert tonight.  This is the first of two 'intimate' shows at The Fillmore (capacity 1,000).  I was watching from close to the very front... tt was a great show!  I have to work at the 2nd show, so I probably will not get to see most of it, but at least I will be there!  Joe's guitar tech (whose name is 'Spike', I believe I overheard) was kind of an ass; when I presented my Guitar Pick card, he just laughed it off and didn't give me a pick.  But I found him a few minutes later and asked politely again for one and he eventually threw one to me.  Thanks Spike!

* Joe Satriani - black on white - IS THERE LOVE IN SPACE? (2 lines) - cartoon drawing

December 22, 2004:

InTune Guitar Picks has printed a bunch of new Guitar Picks for Kerry King of SLAYER.  Some of these are also for Kerry's KFK Industries.  I have 40 total, but currently, 26 are ready here (although the backs of 12 of them are not online yet because my scanner sucks -- I need to redo them).  Oh, and yes, I am a total slacker on site updates, but time is not something I have a lot of right now! 

October 24, 2004:

Helmet was in concert tonight.  The show was great!  It was as if Helmet never disbanded in 1998.  With the addition of Frank Bello (Anthrax) and John Tempesta (Testament, Rob Zombie), thankfully Helmet reformed!  It gets better... on top of this fantastic show, Jimi Dunlop was in the house to provide Page Hamilton and the band with brand new, fresh-out-the-box custom Guitar Picks! (actually, Page was using bass-size generic Claytons during the show) 

* Helmet - white on black - Helmet logo & 'D' Dunlop - blank
* Helmet - white on black - Helmet logo & 'D' Dunlop - Frank screaming face drawing & Bello sig
* Helmet - white on chalky black - Helmet logo & 'D' Dunlop - Circle inside triangle & C T T

October 23, 2004:

Los Lonely Boys and Chris Duarte Group were in concert again tonight.  I was hoping to get one or two more Guitar Picks from Los Lonely Boys (because the one that I have is a little bit chewed up), but was unsuccessful.  I did, however, find out that the Chris Duarte Group has custom Guitar Picks.

* Chris Duarte Group - black on green - Chris Duarte Group logo - Chris Duarte sig

October 22, 2004:

Los Lonely Boys were in concert tonight, with Chris Duarte Group opening the show.  I'm not very familiar with their music.  According to their bio, "Weaned on Tex-Mex, country, blues, and rock pioneers like Richie Valens, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, and such pop music giants as The Beatles, Los Lonely Boys augment those solid basics with red-hot guitar playing, percolating rock and Latin rhythms, and dynamic interplay and luscious vocal harmonies...".  Henry Garza, the guitar player, is the only one to use a custom Guitar Pick. 

* Los Lonely Boys - red/blue on white - bass pick
     FRONT - Texas (split into red, white, and blue) with Los Lonely Boys written inside
     BACK - Henry Garza sig

October 1, 2004:

DAMN, the months go by too quickly!  I have a bunch of new Guitar Picks, satin passes, and a few drumsticks to put on the site here... but no damn time to do it.  October is hella busy with shows, and November doesn't look any less busy.  Maybe I'll get a friggin' update here one of these days!

September 1, 2004:

Well... I didn't realize that I haven't updated this page for most of August.  I will go back and fill in the blanks.  I am on vacation from now until September 8, so any updates will have to wait until I return.

August 30, 2004:

Static X and Soil were in concert tonight.  Since I was working the show (and I was late), I wouldn't have gotten any picks at all if it weren't for a chance encounter with Static X's guitar tech in the liquor store around the corner from The Fillmore.  Long story short, I wear my friend's laminate on my lanyard and this guy sees it and asks me if I know him (name withheld).  We exchange a minute's worth of conversation, he tells me that he used to work with him and he is now Static X's guitar tech.  Score!  After the show, he found me and gave me a handful of picks!

* Static X - black on purple - bass pick
     FRONT - 'X' in circle w/hair sticking up & STATIC-X logo underneath
     BACK - -WAYNE- & Dunlop Tortex
* Static X - black on purple - bass pick
     FRONT - 'X' in circle w/hair sticking up & STATIC-X logo underneath
     BACK - Tony sig & Dunlop Tortex 
* Static X - black on green - bass pick
     FRONT - 'X' in circle w/hair sticking up & STATIC-X logo underneath
     BACK - WHO IS JOHN GALT? 

August 1, 2004:

The Hives were in concert tonight.  They also performed at a local radio station-sponsored 'Studio Session' for 200 people inside of a small room.  I went to both.  The Hives have custom Guitar Picks.

* The Hives - black on white - NICHOLAUS ARSON (printed, 2 lines) - blank
* The Hives - white on chalky black - DR MATT DESTRUCTION (printed, 2 lines) - blank
* The Hives - black on white - DR MATT DESTRUCTION (printed, 2 lines) - blank
* The Hives - black on white - VIGILANTE CARLSTROEM (printed, 2 lines) - blank

July 29, 2004:

Ozzfest was in concert today; all I can say is 'Wow, what a long day this was!'  My day started at 10:30 and ended at midnight. Even with the 10:30 start, I still managed to miss 3 bands (Throwdown, Magna Fi, God Forbid).  Every band that I saw on the 2nd stage was awesome: Unearth, Every Time I Die, Lacuna Coil, Bleeding Through, Otep, Atreyu, Darkest Hour, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Slipknot!  On the main stage, I missed Black Label Society and Superjoint Ritual, but saw Dimmu Borgir, Slayer, Judas Priest, and a little bit of Black Sabbath (I skipped out on most of their set).  Most of the Ozzfest bands have custom Guitar Picks:

* Black Label Society - white on chalky black
     FRONT - BLS logo & DOOM CREW INC. (inside cross)
     BACK - Zakk Wylde sig & 'D' Dunlop Tortex
* Darkest Hour - black on purple - logo & skull symbol - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP
* Darkest Hour - black on green - logo & skull symbol - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP
* Darkest Hour - black on yellow - logo & skull symbol - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP
* Dimmu Borgir - whiet on chalky black - pentagram right-side up (misprint) - Silenoz sig
* God Forbid - white on chalky black - God Forbid logo & Dunlop Tortex - big deer logo (jagermeister)
* God Forbid - black on blue - logo & Dunlop Tortex - blank
* Hatebreed - red on chalky black - Hatebreed logo & Dunlop Tortex - Sean Martin sig
* Hatebreed - black on blue - logo & Dunlop Tortex - Chris Beattie sig
* Lamb of God - black on blue - Lamb of God logo & upside down flag - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP
* Lamb of God - black on purple - Lamb of God logo & upside down flag - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP
* Lacuna Coil- white on chalky black
     FRONT - chinese letter & Lacuna Coil logo & Dunlop Tortex
     BACK - big deer logo (Jagermeister)
* Otep - white on chalky black - Otep logo & www.otep.com - small deer logo & Jagermeister
* Slayer - red on black - THE SLAYTANIC ARMY logo - snake in circle symbol (Tom Araya's bass pick)
* Slayer - black on white - logo - star (red) & Hanneman (Heineken logo) & Lager Bier
* Slipknot - red/black on white - logo over pentagram - 4 in circle
* Unearth - black on blue - logo - Ozzfest 2004 block logo & InTuneGP

July 17, 2004:

smile empty soul, Strata, and Crossfade were in concert tonight.  I'm not really a fan of either band, although Strata was decent.  smile empty soul's has custom Guitar Picks, and Strata and Crossfade are hoping to get soon.

* smile empty soul - white on chalky black
     FRONT - smile empty soul logo (3 lines) & smileemptysoul.com & Dunlop 'D' logo
     BACK - Jagermeister 'deer' logo
* smile empty soul - black on white - logo (big, 3 lines) - MRA ('A' = anarchy)
* smile empty soul - black on purple - logo (big, 3 lines) & InTuneGP - Sad face w/'$¢' eyes & ¡SES! '04
* smile empty soul - black on white - logo (big, 3 lines) & InTuneGP - FUCK BUSH
* smile empty soul - black on purple - smile empty soul (3 lines) - Sad face w/'x' eyes

July 10, 2004:

Rush was in concert tonight.  They played for 3 hours!  Neil Peart's drum solo was amazing. He had a xylophone attached to his kit and during the solo would play a sequence on the xylophone keys and then hit into the drums... hard to explain, but it sounded great!  They apparently didn't sell either Bay Area show really well; I spoke to someone I know who worked at both shows and they sold 8,000 at each. So there were a lot of free lawn -> 200 section upgrades going around at both shows.

I made my own upgrade at the Concord show.  I had a lawn ticket, but instead of holding out for the 200-section upgrade, I took my
100-section ticket with me from the KISS show last month.  So my lawn ticket got me in the gates, and then I used the 100-section KISS ticket to pass through two checkpoints to get into the 100-section.  The ticket taker people look at the section number on the ticket rather than the band name... and I knew it would work!  Of course, once I got into the 100-section, I ended up sitting in someone else's seat, but luckily he was cool enough to let me stay in the row... later, I found one of my friends who had a seat even closer and so I squeezed into that row for the remainder of the show (he bought his ticket at the box office 30 minutes before showtime -- so you don't necessarily have to buy tickets when they go onsale or from a scalper to get a great seat!). 

As I had unfortunately expected, I did not get any Rush picks.

July 9 2004:

Clutch was in concert tonight.  It was "An Evening with" and began with 30 minutes of The Bakerton Group, which is all of the members of Clutch, minus the singer, so it was all-instrumental (as if Clutch turned into a jazz band).  They reappeared as Clutch 20 minutes later and proceeded through 2 hours of Clutch material, from the new Blast Tyrants CD, all the way back to Transnational Speedway League.  Clutch's Guitar tech used to be in the band Tree.  Clutch has custom Guitar Picks.

* Clutch - black on yellow - logo & pro-rock.com - small deer logo & Jagermeister logo

July 3, 2004:

Warped Tour was here today.  One word sums up this great afternoon of music, fun, and hot girls -- "SUNBURN" (hahaha).  I guess I need to apply sunscreen earlier in the day next year.  It was a really fun day at Warped this year.  There is just too damn much to see in one afternoon, so I know that I missed a lot... but I saw Flogging Molly, Eighteen Visions, Coheed & Cambria, Anti-Flag, NOFX, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, Yellowcard, UnderOATH, Juliette & the Licks (actress Juliette Lewis' band), Story of the Year, Bouncing Souls, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, The Phenomenauts, and Senses Fail.  Since I had backstage access, Guitar Picks were easy to find.  Most of the techs were nice, one or two were assholes.  One tech, whose band did not have custom Guitar Picks, gave me a Deftones Pick, because he told me that he's normally on the road with them.

* Warped Tour - black/blue on white - Van's Warped Tour 03 logo [f] - Dunlop 'D' & DUNLOP & jimdunlop.com [b]
* Yellowcard - black on orange - YC logo w/lines around it (to give the appearance that it is glowing) [f] - blank [b]
* Anti-Flag - black on red - FUCK THE FLAG and (3 lines) [f] - FUCK YOU anti-flag (2 lines) & InTuneGP [b]
* Flogging Molly - black on green - FLOGGING MOLLY & pint/swords & Tortex [f] - NATE w/circle around 'A' & 'E' [b]
* Bad Religion - white on black - 'Crossbuster' & Dunlop USA - VOTE KERRY (2 lines) [b]
* Story of the Year - black on orange - storyoftheyear & wings/snake/swords drawing [f] - blank [b]
* Story of the Year - black on purple - storyoftheyear & wings/snake/swords drawing [f] - blank [b]
* The Early November - black on yellow - THE EARLY NOVEMBER (3 lines) & Tortex [f] - blank [b]
* NOFX - black on blue - NOFX logo [f] - EL HEFE w/'XIV' in triangle underneath 'EL' [b]
* NOFX - black on green - NOFX logo [f] - MELVIN SUCKS (2 lines) [b]
* NOFX - black on shiny white - FAT ('A' is anarchy symbol) [f] - silhouette of woman [b]
* The Matches - black on green - boy screaming drawing [f] - blank [b]
* Thursday - black on orange - 'dove' logo [f] - Tortex turtle [d] & Dunlop USA .60mm [b]
* Thursday - black on yellow - 'dove' logo [f] - Tortex turtle [d] & Dunlop USA .73mm [b]
* Deftones - album cover & Dunlop Tortex [f] - CHINO [b]

June 20, 2004:

KISS, Poison, and ZO2 was in concert tonight.  You would expect the phrase 'Rock N Roll show' to be synonymous with KISS, but unfortunately, their show was quite bland, and the lights and pyrotechnics overshadowed this cover band version (Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer should not be replacing Ace and Peter and wearing their makeup).  They changed up their setlist from their other 'makeup' tours, and I didn't recognize many of the songs.  I guess if I were a bigger KISS fan, I might have.  ZO2 was on first.  The singer of ZO2 actually reminded me of Paul Stanley a little bit, the way he sang and spoke to the crowd, which unfortunately was very sparse when they were on stage. Good up-n-coming Rock N Roll band though.  Be on the lookout for them!  Poison's set was comprised completely with their hits.  I recognized more Poison songs than I did KISS songs hahaha!  The whole show was not very crowded; I guess people are sick of paying $$$ to see essentially the same show that KISS has been doing since the Reunion Tour in 1996.  The 100 Level seats was full, the 200 Level seats was probably less than half-full, leaving an empty lawn.  KISS and Poison has custom Guitar Picks, and ZO2 was supposed to but they were shipped to the wrong place, so they didn't have them for this show.  I have no idea what the KISS 2004 picks look like because their techs would not part with a single Guitar Pick.

* Poison - white on green - logo & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Bobby Dall (2 lines) [b]

June 15, 2004:

P.O.D., Blindside, Hazen Street, and Lacuna Coil were in concert tonight.  This show was alright.  Lacuna Coil was good, but unfortunately they played first (at 7pm).  Hazen Street should have played first, they were terrible.  I couldn't watch and listen to their set.  The whole show was not very crowded, but by the time Blindside went onstage, the Warfield was as full as it was going to get (less than half capacity).  Blindside was the most energetic band on the bill, jumping around all over the stage.  Their set was comprised of a good split of old songs and new songs.  P.O.D. was up last. I don't know many of their songs, so I stayed for only half of their set.  Lacuna Coil, Blindside, and P.O.D. have custom Guitar Picks.

* P.O.D. - black on green - logo [f] - Jason Trudy sig [b]
* P.O.D. - black on green - logo & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Jason Trudy sig [b]
* Blindside - black on white - logo (outlined) & crest w/cross & SWEDEN [f] - Tomas Naslund sig [b]
* Blindside - black on white - logo (outlined) & crest w/cross & SWEDEN [f] - Simon Grenehed sig [b]
* Lacuna Coil - white on chalky black - Chinese letter & logo & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Jagermeister logo [b]

June 11, 2004:

Live105, the local Alternative/Modern Rock radio station, had their annual concert today: The Strokes, Beasties Boys, Violent Femmes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bad Religion, New Found Glory, Death Cab For Cutie, Story of the Year, Yellowcard, and a few others.  The show sucked for the most part.  Bad Religion, New Found Glory, and Violent Femmes had custom Guitar Picks.  Story of the Year usually has customs, but ran out.

* Bad Religion- black on green - cross in circle/slash & Tortex [f] - JAY BENTLEY (2 lines) [b]
* Bad Religion - white on chalky black - GREG HETSON'S SILVER JUBILEE (4 lines) [f] - blank [b]
* Bad Religion - white on chalky black - cross in circle/slash & Tortex [f] - BRIAN BAKER (2 lines) [b]
* Violent Femmes - black on yellow - logo [f] - sig [b]
* New Found Glory - black on yellow - N.F.G & pug dog 'skull/crossbones' [f] - Fender logo .73mm MED [b]

June 7, 2004:

Velvet Revolver was in concert tonight.  Scott Weiland, Duff, Slash, Matt Sorum, and Dave Kushner put on one hell of a show... and they even did a couple of Guns N Roses and Stone Temple Pilot songs!  I scored an aftershow pass and met Duff, Matt, and Dave.  I did not obtain any Velvet Revolver guitar picks.  In fact, the only pick that I did get was from Ernie-C (Body Count), who happen to be hanging out at the show.

* Body Count - white on red - logo [f] - ERNIE-C [b]

June 5, 2004:

Death Angel was in concert this afternoon.  They played a free show in the parking lot of Tower Records.  Surprisingly, they played for a full hour!  It seemed that no one complained about the noise because the police never shut down the show.  Death Angel has custom Guitar Picks, of which I got a couple.

* Death Angel - white on chalky black - logo [f] - blank [b]
* Death Angel - black on green - logo [f] - Rob Cavestany sig [b]

June 4, 2004:

Prong was in concert tonight.  The songs sounded just as they do on their records; overall, it was a great show.  Tommy Victor seemed in good spirits, despite having several of his guitars stolen a few days prior.  His Guitar Picks were apparently stolen as well, so Prong did not have any custom Guitar Picks.

May 25, 2004:

Kings X was in concert tonight.  It was a really boring show, but Ty Tabor is a great guitar player.  Kings X has custom Guitar Picks.

* Kings X - black on yellow - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X -  black on white - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X - black on blue - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X - black on blue - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick sig [b]
* Kings X - black on gray - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X - black on dark green - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X - silver on tortoise - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]
* Kings X - gold on tortoise - logo [f] - Doug Pinnick 2004 sig [b]

May 23, 2004:

Brides of Destruction and AMEN was in concert tonight.  Throwdown, Most Precious Blood, and Sinai Beach was also in concert tonight.  I went to the venue hella early because I was scheduled for an interview (for KCRH) with Brides of Destruction (or so I thought). I found the tour manager, who recognized me from a previous show for LA Guns in September 2003.  This is a good thing that I had previously met him, because otherwise I think he would not have granted me an interview, with tonight being the last night of the tour, and with the band and crew just wanting to do the show so they could drive home.  Fast-forward approx 2.5 hours later... and finally, Nikki Sixx was available!  I was escorted into the dressing room and there sat Scot Coogan, Tracii Guns, and Nikki Sixx!  Nikki was probably one of the better interviews I've ever done.  He is very cordial and didn't curse once (well, except when mentioning the song Shut the Fuck Up).  With the interview finally done, and the time schedules of both shows in hand, I went to another venue to catch a little bit of Sinai Beach and Most Precious Blood.  Well, this show was running so far ahead of schedule that when I got there, Sinai Beach was packing up their stuff already.  That totally sucked because I wanted to see Sinai Beach, but at least I should be able to see all of Most Precious Blood now, and get back in time for the last half of AMEN.  Most Precious Blood was good. The last time they played in SF, Rachel (guitar) had flew back home for a family emergency or something like that.  So I get back to Brides of Destruction only to hear the music of AMEN finish and see all of the techs taking their equipment from the stage.  That totally sucked because I wanted to see AMEN.  Ah well, I'll blame it on Nikki Sixx for making me wait 2.5 hours, but also, AMEN did start 15 minutes before their scheduled time... but at least I made it back in time for Brides of Destruction!  They were cool; they played most of the Here Comes the Brides, and since there's only 9 songs on it, the encore arrived quickly... and they did a long encore comprised of a few LA Guns songs and a bunch of Mötley Crüe songs (Bastard, Live Wire, Shout at the Devil)!  Most Precious Blood has custom Guitar Picks, and Sinai Beach is very interested in getting customs.  Acey Slade of Murderdolls is the touring guitar player for AMEN, so he had Murderdolls Guitar Picks with him.  Brides of Destruction has custom Guitar Picks as well.

* Brides of Destruction - red /black on white - logo [f] - SHUT THE FUCK UP (red) [b]
* Brides of Destruction - red on white - logo w/cross behind it [f] - Tracii 1966 & InTuneGP [b]
* Brides of Destruction - red on black - logo w/cross behind it [f] - Tracii 1966 & InTuneGP [b]
* Brides of Destruction - red on white - BOD logo w/cross behind it [f] - SIXX & InTuneGP [b]
* Brides of Destruction - red on black - BOD logo w/cross behind it [f] - SIXX & InTuneGP [b]
* Brides of Destruction - black / red / tan on white
     FRONT - Nikki Sixx's face (entire pick front) & Nikki Sixx sig (red)
     BACK - 54/200 [p] (handwritten)
* Murderdolls - red on black - coffin logo & Dunlop Picks [f] - ACEY [b]
* Most Precious Blood - black on orange
     FRONT - MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD & skull/crossbones & GOTHAM CITY & InTuneGP
     BACK - JUSTIN & pentagram w/curved tops
* Most Precious Blood - black on yellow -
     FRONT - MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD & skull/crossbones & GOTHAM CITY & InTuneGP
     BACK - Bulldog & RACHEL
* Most Precious Blood - black on blue
     FRONT - MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD & skull/crossbones & GOTHAM CITY & InTuneGP
     BACK - MATT & grenade

May 19, 2004:

Machine Head, God Forbid, and 36 Crazyfists were in concert tonight.  This was Machine Head's hometown show and one of the last on this tour.  I picked up my photo credentials (and even got a VIP pass!) and made my way to the photo pit for 36 Crazyfists.  The crowd was still a bit thin but their 30 minute set went over pretty good with the folks that were there early.  By the time God Forbid hit the stage, the crowd was a lot fuller and the pit a lot bigger.  I still prefer to see these bands at smaller venues like The Pound SF though.  At The Fillmore, the kids can't stagedive and get close to the band and the band can't get close to the kids because of a 3-foot barricade.  God Forbid still had a good show, playing a good mix from Determination and Gone Forever... and since Arch Enemy backed out of the tour, they had a few more minutes to play :)  Machine Head finally hit the stage and ran through a bunch of old favorites, like Blood, Sweat and Tears, Davidian, Ten Ton Hammer and new songs Imperium and Left Unfinished... but of course, we can't forget about their encore!  Machine Head has a wide range of songs that they cover, as I have seen them cover Sepultura, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, and Black Sabbath in the past. Tonight, they covered Metallica's Creeping Death and a Mötley Crüe song (I can't remember which one).  All three bands have custom Guitar Picks.

* Machine Head - black on orange
     FRONT - MH diamond logo w/2 lions w/swords (a medieval crest) inside circle & Dunlop Tortex
     BACK - Phil Demmel sig
* Machine Head - black on blue
     FRONT - MH diamond logo w/2 lions w/swords (a medieval crest) inside circle & Dunlop Tortex
     BACK - Robb Flynn sig
* Machine Head - black on purple
     FRONT - MH diamond logo w/2 lions w/swords (a medieval crest) inside circle & Dunlop Tortex 
     BACK - Adam Duce sig
* 36 Crazyfists black on green
     FRONT - 36 Crazyfists (one line) & A SNOW CAPPED ROMANCE & heart
     BACK - Holt 36 CF sig & InTuneGP
* 36 Crazyfists - white on black
     FRONT - 36 Crazyfists (two lines) & A SNOW CAPPED ROMANCE & Dunlop Tortex
     BACK - Jagermeister logo [b]
* God Forbid - white on chalky black - logo & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Jagermeister logo [b]

May 13, 2004 - and - May 14, 2004:

Slipknot, Fear Factory, and Chimaira were in concert tonight.  Click on the Jagermeister MusicTour banner at the top-right of the screen to see my complete coverage (concert reviews, photos, Guitar Picks).  In addition (on May 13), In Flames, Killswitch Engage, and As I Lay Dying also were in concert.

* As I Lay Dying - black on green - logo & Mardi Gras mask w/tribal & InTuneGP [f] - blank [b]
* As I Lay Dying - black on green - silhouette of woman & logo & InTuneGP [f] - blank [b]
* Killswitch Engage - white on black - logo & www.killswitchengage.com [f] - logo in skull/wings symbol [b] (teardrop)
* Killswitch Engage - white on shiny black (thick) - logo & www.killswitchengage.com [f] - logo in skull/wings symbol [b]
* Killswitch Engage - white on chalky black - logo & www.killswitchengage.com [f] - Jagermeister logo [b]
* Fear Factory - red on chalky black - FF (Archetype) logo & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Christian sig [b]
* Slipknot - black on white - Slipknot 'S' symbol [f] - blank [b]

May 9,2004:

GWAR, Bad Acid Trip, and Watch Them Die were in concert tonight.  I caught most of Bad Acid Trip, who were already onstage. They were as weird live as I expected they would be.  I have no idea what songs they played because I don't know their album well enough yet... but it was good, like Mindless Self Indulgence meets System of a Down.  Watch Them Die is up next and they just obliterate the place.  They are so brutal live, with the double screaming vocal team of Pat and the guitar player.  They played a great set of material from their record and got a monstrous crowd reaction.  Finally, GWAR! There is no way to describe the chaos of a GWAR show without just plain seeing a GWAR show.  I'll just leave it at this: my arms were purple and green, my face had purple spots on it, my hair was a knotted wreck, my black tshirt was soaked, and I was ready for more!  GWAR has custom Guitar Picks.

* GWAR black on orange
     FRONT - Eyeball w/wings, skull/crossbones GWAR logo & InTuneGP
     BACK - Flattus Maximus mask
* GWAR black on yellow
     FRONT - Eyeball w/wings, skull/crossbones GWAR logo & InTuneGP 
     BACK - Balsac mask 
* GWAR - black on green
     FRONT - Eyeball w/wings, skull/crossbones GWAR logo & InTuneGP
     BACK - Beefcake the Mighty mask

May 6, 2004:

Death Angel was in concert tonight.  Great show; this was the CD Release Party for their new CD.  They must have played like 17 songs, both old and new, ending with Seemingly Endless Time and, or course, Kill as One.  Death Angel has custom Guitar Picks.

* Death Angel - black on green - logo [f] - Rob Cavestany & smiley face w/cigarette vertical sig [b]
* Death Angel - black on green - logo [f] - blank [b]

May 5, 2004:

Hatebreed, Damageplan, Drowning Pool, and Unearth were in concert tonight.  All four bands have custom Guitar Picks (listed at end of this review).

After many SF shows where they are the first band on the tour (um, they are first on this tour too lol), I finally got to see a full Unearth set!  Good set, although they don't deserve to be playing on The Fillmore stage.  That's not meant to be taken as in a bad way, I would just rather see them at The Pound where the kids can stage dive and there is no barricade and where it's just pure chaos.  I skipped Drowning Pool to catch a meal at the Thai place across the street.  Damageplan's bus just happened to be parked in front of the restaurant so I grabbed a table with a plain view of the bus door.  While I was eating, out walks Vinnie Paul... but he was too quick, and out-of-range before I could put my fork down and run outside to get my Damageplan disc signed... so I waited more intently for Dimebag, because I had a feeling that he was on there... and 10 minutes later, out he comes, and I was able to stop him for an autograph and a Guitar Pick.  Oddly enough, he gave me a Black Label Society Guitar Pick.  On my way back to The Fillmore, I catch a glance of Zakk Wylde walking down the sidewalk to the backstage entrance of The Fillmore! WHAT?!  What the hell is Zakk Wylde doing here?!  Turns out that Zakk was at the Damageplan show in LA the night before and decided that he wanted to go to San Francisco with the band!  No wonder I got a Black Label Society Guitar Pick earlier....

Zakk comes onstage and introduces Damageplan, causing mass hysteria to all the kids that were like 'holy shit, Zakk Wylde is here!'  Damageplan has soooo damn much equipment on the stage, it's kind of led me to wonder why they just didn't headline the show.  Yeah, Jamey is the host of Headbanger's Ball, so it's really his tour, but I mean, even during Hatebreed, the Damageplan equipment overshadowed Hatebreed.  Damageplan plays a good portion of their record, in which Zakk played a solo on Reborn, then also did some other guitar solo stuff with Dimebag, then they end their hour-long set with a 1-2 punch: PANTERA songs!  Walk and A New Level. 

Here's where it gets really fucking good: during Walk, Zakk comes over to stage right, where I am standing in the very front.  He reaches down and starts pulling people ONSTAGE!  I frantically get my hand up and after he pulls up one other person, I make contact and don't let go until I've been pulled ONSTAGE!  In total, about 5 or 6 people from the crowd were pulled onto the stage!  So we all grabbed the mic stands and sang the chorus of Walk and then Dime went into his guitar solo and we were all surrounding him, just going nuts... it was surreal. I had my camera in my hand the whole time, but I was so 'in the moment' that it didn't even fucking dawn on me to take it out for an onstage picture.  DAMMIT!  Oh well, I know I was up there, that's all that matters... so now I can say that I played at The Fillmore hahaha... after the guitar solo, there was more chorus action, this time we were all on Dimebag's mic, and this time, I am grabbed by the neck by Jimi Dunlop (Guitar Pick manufacturer) and pushed to the microphone for the remainder of RE... SPECT ...WALK... WHAT DA YA SAY! ... then I stagedived (haha), which is a no-no at The Fillmore.  I didn't have much of a choice though, because the guy who was telling me to get off the stage was pointing me in the direction of diving, instead of in the direction of the stairs at the side of the stage... that was fun, though, and I didn't get kicked out (well, I do work there after all! hahah).  After all that was over and I recovered from what just happened, I realized that it was kind of awkward being up onstage.  But it was still fucking pretty surreal!  In fact, it took me a full two minutes to even realize that A New Level was the next song being played; I was just in a fucking daze!  Back to reality, Hatebreed played an hour-long set of stuff from all their discs. They kicked some ass, even though Jamey had to stop the show because of fights in the pit. 

Wow, shows over, it's time to go home... or is it... on my way out the door, a fellow Fillmore employee who just happened to grow up in Connecticut with Hatebreed told me that I should stay for the aftershow.  HELL YEAH!  He walked me up the backstage stairs where I encountered the line for the Damageplan autograph signing.  So I hung out on line so I can get the rest of my Damageplan disc signed.  15 minutes later, there they were: Dimebag, Bobzilla, Pat, and Vinnie, all sitting at a table ready to sign autographs!  Zakk was also supposed to be there, but he was pretty wasted that he got escorted back to the tour bus.  So I got my Damageplan disc signed, and I got a picture with the whole band! 

* Damageplan - white, red, black on green
     FRONT - DAMAGEPLAN (red) & skull/crossbones (blk) & NFP (tiny letters) in diamond (wh)
     BACK - DAMAGEPLAN logo (wh) & Dimebag sig (red) & 'D' Dunlop Tortex (wh)
* Damageplan - yellow, red, black on green
     FRONT - DAMAGEPLAN (blk) & skull/crossbones (red) & NFP (tiny letters) in diamond (yel)
     BACK - DAMAGEPLAN logo (yel) & Dimebag sig (blk) & 'D' Dunlop Tortex (yel)
* Damageplan - white, red, black on black
     FRONT - DAMAGEPLAN (red) & skull/crossbones (blk) & NFP (tiny letters) in diamond (wh)
     BACK - DAMAGEPLAN logo (wh) & Dimebag sig (red) & 'D' Dunlop Tortex (wh)
* Damageplan - yellow, gray, black on blue - bass
     FRONT - DAMAGEPLAN (blk) & skull/crossbones (gray) & NFP (tiny letters) in diamond (yel)
     BACK - DAMAGEPLAN logo (yel) & Bob Zilla sig (wh) & 'D' Dunlop Tortex (yel)
* Damageplan - orange, white, black on white
     FRONT - DAMAGEPLAN (wh) & skull/crossbones (blk) & NFP (tiny letters) in diamond (or)
     BACK - MXR logo & jimdunlop.com
* Unearth - black on blue - logo [f] - Eat A Dick [b]
* Drowning Pool - white on chalky black - DP logo & DROWNING POOL & Dunlop Tortex [f] - Jagermeister logo [b]
* Hatebreed - black on blue - logo & Tortex [f] - Chris Beattie sig [b] - bass
* Hatebreed - red on chalky black - logo & Tortex [f] - Sean Martin sig [b]

May 1, 2004:

Morbid Angel, Satyricon, Suffocation, and Premonitions of War was in concert tonight.  Premonitions of War kicked off the show to a 1/2 full (but growing) house.  Having never seen them live before, I thought they sounded good, but honestly were a little out-of-place with the death metal crowd.  Satyricon took to the stage next and performed an awesome 30 minute set, including three from their new disc Volcano: Possessed, Repined Bastard Nation, and Fuel For Hatred.  No disrespect to Suffocation, but Satyricon should have had the main support slot and the 45 minute set that accompanies that slot.  Satyr said that they will be back at the end of the summer for a headlining tour, and I cannot wait!  Next up was Suffocation; the "legendary death metal innovators" are back and in fine form!  I don't really know much about this band in the first place, but they sounded great, playing old and new alike.  I still say they should have played before Satyricon.  Finally, Morbid Angel takes to the stage, and I found a spot exactly where I wanted to be: in front of stage left to watch Trey's amazing abuse of the 6- and 7-string guitar!  Simply amazing.... I don't even remember what their setlist was comprised of, I wasn't paying attention!  Morbid Angel is the only band on the tour to have custom Guitar Picks.

* Morbid Angel - green on pink - Piranha & CHEWING INC. [f] - Trey Azagthoth sig [b]
* Morbid Angel - black on green (bass)
     FRONT - Picture of guy playing guitar w/arm upward w/metal horns
     BACK - Steve Tucker sig & InTuneGP

April 15, 2004:

The Offspring, International Noise Conspiracy, and theSTART were in concert tonight.  I worked the show and was assigned to one of the very best places in the house... the barricade!  Although I don't get to see much of the show because my back is to the stage for most of it, I enjoy working in the barricade.  Of course I got to hear the whole show, and I must say that The Offspring sounded really good.  Being in the barricade also made it slightly easy to obtain Guitar Picks.  theSTART and International Noise Conspiracy did not have custom Guitar Picks, but The Offspring did.  I didn't see many Guitar Picks thrown offstage during the show, and at the end of the show, 2 landed inside the barricade, and I got them both :)  (they are available for trade, as I already had this one).

* The Offspring - black on yellow - skull symbol w/flames on top inside circle [f] - blank [b]
* The Offspring - black on yellow - skull symbol w/glasses w/flames on top inside circle [f] - blank [b]

March 30, 2004:

On my last day in Florida, I saw the first installment of the Jagermeister Spring Tour, featuring Slipknot, Fear Factory and Chimaira, at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando.  Upon checking the will-call window, besides my ticket, there was also a Slipknot VIP wristband and a Slipknot photo pass (actually, I requested for the photo pass, but the wristband was a total surprise)!  I will have those pictures up shortly.  For a full concert review, photos, and Guitar Picks, click here.

March 21, 2004:

Allister was in concert tonight.  There was three other bands too, but the whole show really isn't worth much review space, since it wasn't good at all.  Allister has custom Guitar Picks.

* Allister - white on chalky black - Allister logo & Tortex [f] - Kyle [b]
* Allister - black on yellow - Allister logo & Tortex [f] - Tim [b]

March 12, 2004:

Ima Robot was in concert tonight.  I had no idea what to expect as I have never heard of this band before.  I guess they are kind of popular, because the venue was near-sold-out and I read a bunch of news items on Ima Robot's website about them being on David Letterman, MTV, Fuse and Rolling Stone.  At first, I thought they were a bit weird, but a few songs later, I was enjoying the show... in addition, they have custom Guitar Picks!

* Ima Robot - black on blue - 'I' logo & Tortex [f] - JMJ (gothic font) [b]
* Ima Robot - black on green - 'I' logo & Tortex [f] - TA (gothic font) [b]

March 11, 2004:

Exodus was in concert tonight (this show was their CD release party for 'Tempo of the Damned')!  After an hour delay, Exodus hit the stage at 10:30 and played 22 songs!  They played all 11 new songs, 10 classic Exodus tracks, and a cover of AC/DC 'Dirty Deeds'.  This was the most amazing Exodus concert I have ever seen (and the longest!).  They do not yet have custom Guitar Picks; my understanding is that they are waiting for Dunlop to fulfill their order.  I gave my card to one of the guitar techs and I can only hope that he checks out the site and mails me a couple of new customs when they get them...

March 9, 2004:

Skid Row was in concert tonight.  They were good live, although I felt Johnny Solinger wasn't as good with the classic songs; he doesn't have the vocal range of Sebastian Bach, and seemed more comfortable with performing the new songs, probably because he had a part in writing those.  Scotti Hill had a wide variety of Guitar Picks (although not nearly as many as from their July 6, 2003 summer show!), Snake has only one style of Guitar Pick, and Rachel has three.  Scotti threw out a bunch of Guitar Picks throughout the show; before he would hand someone a pick, he would bite it... I thought this to be a little strange, but it seemed to work with his off-the-wall stage persona... I have a few Skid Row picks for trade.

* Skid Row - gold on white - THICKSKIN JULY 22 (2 lines, printed) [f] - Ernie Ball logo [b]
* Skid Row - gold on black - THICKSKIN JULY 22 (2 lines, printed) [f] - Ernie Ball logo [b]
* Skid Row - gold on black - SCOTTI HILL (2 lines, printed) [f] - Ernie Ball logo [b]
* Skid Row - white on chalky black - coiled snake [f] - Peavey logo & Snake sig [b]
* Skid Row - black on white - two racing flags [f] - RACHEL BOLAN (2 lines, font) [b]
* Skid Row - maroon on white - two racing flags [f] - RACHEL BOLAN (2 lines, font) [b]

March 3, 2004:

Ratdog was in concert tonight at the legendary Fillmore.  Ratdog is Bob Weir's (from The Dead) band.  I guess I can appreciate the improvisational aspect of this music, but as I am not a hippie, I am not a fan of Ratdog.  I did manage to score a handful of Ratdog and The Dead Guitar Picks though. 

* The Dead - red on lt. silver/white pearloid
     FRONT - The Dead logo & sun w/lightning bolt
     BACK - A Very DEAD New Year's Eve!! Oakland Coliseum 30-31 December 2003
* The Dead - silver on black/blue pearloid
     FRONT - The Dead logo & sun w/lightning bolt
     BACK - A Very DEAD New Year's Eve!! Oakland Coliseum 30-31 December 2003
* The Dead - gold on black (red print on back)
     FRONT - The Dead logo & sun w/lightning bolt
     BACK - A Very DEAD New Year's Eve!! Oakland Coliseum 30-31 December 2003
* The Dead - gold on black (blue print on back)
     FRONT - The Dead logo & sun w/lightning bolt
     BACK - A Very DEAD New Year's Eve!! Oakland Coliseum 30-31 December 2003
* Ratdog - gold on blk/blue pearloid - MARK KARAN [f] - Pyramid logo & PYRAMID HEAVY [b]

February 21, 2004:

Keb' Mo' was in concert tonight at the legendary Fillmore.  Great blues concert (although I only saw an hour of it).  Keb' Mo' has custom Guitar Picks.

* Keb' Mo' - lt. gray on black - KebMo.com (vert.) & NEW ALBUM JANUARY 2004 [f] - blank [b]
* Keb' Mo' - gold on white pearloid - Keb' Mo' sig [f] - Jim Dunlop --- U-S-A --- H [b]
* Keb' Mo' - gold on tortoise shell - Keb' Mo' sig [f] - Jim Dunlop --- U-S-A --- H [b]
* Keb' Mo' - gold on tortoise shell - Clayton Gibb sig [f] - Jim Dunlop --- U-S-A --- XH [b]

February 3, 2004:

Just added my entire collection of 16 DOWN Guitar Picks!!  Yes, I realize updates are slow, but I swear that one day/week/year, I will have this site completely updated!!

January 4, 2004:

Just added 15 new SLAYER Guitar Picks!!  See the second page for all new Kerry King Guitar Picks!

December 25, 2003:

Okay, one last quick update before 2004...

December 13, 2003:

Sorry for the lack of concert updates, I always used to put my concert reviews and Guitar Pick offerings here.  But I have been busy with other things and am mainly in the process of scanning a ton of new Guitar Picks, and making sure that all of the current pages are of this new design (they are all not setup yet). 

November 15, 2003:

Wow, has it been a month already since I last updated this page!  I finally have another batch of new pages and Guitar Picks!

October 18, 2003:

G'damn, I can't remember the last time I sat down here and actually scanned some Guitar Picks. 

Now I know why ... because it takes for-fucking-ever to do!  These 10 pages took me hours.  I had to scan the Guitar Picks, clean up the scans, search the Internet for band logos, and create the pages.  Enjoy!

October 11, 2003:

Wow, been a long time since I updated this page.  Been to busy to update it!

Anyway, here is a picture of me and Gene Simmons.  Gene did a book signing in San Francisco today.  The guitar that I am holding is autographed by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Singer, and was signed 11 years ago.  I won that guitar on a radio station (98ROCK, Tampa) contest.  Actually, I won tickets to the concert (Revenge tour) and a pre-show party and the guitar was a raffle drawing, and I picked the winning raffle ticket!    

September 10, 2003

September 9, 2003:

September 5, 2003:

August 30, 2003:

Click here to see the pictures from the Maiden show (8/28) at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA.  I took these, with a 3x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, from about 10 rows back.  They aren't that great, but ... I still have approximately 110 pictures from the Maiden show (8/29) at Chronicle Pavilion, which are 10x better, because I took them from the FRONT ROW :)

The Chronicle Pavilion pictures will be up soon; I will also have my show reviews done soon ...

August 20, 2003:

Once again, I have decided to redesign the website!!  I hope that you find this new design pleasant.  Please email me at alanr666@yahoo.com with any suggestions or comments.  Please note that most of the pages are not of the new design yet ... it will take me a little time to do the rest, but it will get done soon!  Also, new Guitar Picks will begin to get scanned again!  I have been slacking in that department.

August 15, 2003:

Taproot, S.T.U.N., and The Revolution Smile were in concert tonight.  There is a good reason why I missed this show, and the Pick opportunities that went with it (all three bands have custom Guitar Picks).  As I am just about to head out to the venue from my friend's place, I put the key in the car door, and it snaps.  Lucky for me, the key didn't break in the ignition!  Okay, no big deal, I have a spare at home, so I walked a bit and cabbed it the rest of the way back to my place, got my spare key, rode my bike back to my car, and all is well.  Problem is it is now too damn late to even bother with the concert (by this time, Taproot was probably already on stage) ... so I missed it :(

August 12, 2003:

Old Man Gloom and Scissorfight were in concert tonight.  Old Man Gloom rules!  This was the first time that I saw both Old Man Gloom and Scissorfight.  I wasn't so thrilled with Scissorfight.  That white-trash element, a la Nashville Pussy, really isn't my thing.  Apparently, most of the crowd felt the same way, because the place thinned out after Old Man Gloom!

* Scissorfight - gold on tortoise shell - Scissorfight & Geezum H. Crow & Monster truck [f] - blank [b]

August 10, 2003:

Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Deftones, and Mudvayne were in concert today.  I did not go.  $75 is a lotta friggin' cabbage for this show. 

August 8, 2003:

Atreyu, God Forbid, Darkest Hour, and underOATH were in concert tonight.  Awesome show!  I spoke with God Forbid and Atreyu, each who said they were interested in getting custom Guitar Picks.  Darkest Hour already has.

July 31, 2003:

Opeth and Porcupine Tree were in concert tonight.  It was simply amazing to watch Opeth play for 90 minutes and play not one death metal track.  I was hoping that they would break out of the mellow mold for one lousy song, but it never happened.  They are great musicians, but I think that the death metal stuff showcases their playing ability better than the mellow stuff.  Martin (bass) was going off on the bass though; Martin (drums) was equally as good, but for Peter and Michael (guitar), the mellow music was less solos and more chords, which is the opposite of what I like to see!  After a whirlwind 90 minute Opeth set, I was already ready to go home, but wait, there is another 90 minutes of Porcupine Tree!  After about 15 minutes, though, I was finished!  Great musicians and all, but I might have stayed if The Fillmore had set up some seats!  I couldn't stand still any longer, and nobody was really moving to the music, so I had to call it a night.

* Opeth - white on black - 'O' logo & Dunlop Tortex (2 lines) [f] - Michael Akerfeldt sig [b]
* Opeth - white on black - 'O' logo & Dunlop Tortex (2 lines) [f] - Peter Lindgren sig [b]

July 26, 2003:

Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Fates Warning were in concert tonight.  I was nowhere close enough to get any Guitar Picks, and I didn't really even bother to attempt to try to get any.  A friend acquired some for me recently and it turns out that Queensryche is using the old Empire Guitar Picks.  My friend got 2 Fates Warning Guitar Picks for me as well.  I think Jon Petrucci actually has Dream Theater Guitar Picks on this tour!  He had a mic stand full of them!  I know for a fact that he uses Dunlop Jazz III, so he probably has these just for throwing out to the crowd.  Cool show overall.  Fates Warning was okay.  Next up was Dream Theater; they played for an hour and I recognized one whole song.  Queensryche headlined and played way too many tracks from the new record; I didn't recognize the first three songs!  For the encore, Dream Theater and Queensryche did 2 or 3 songs together, ending with a The Who cover song.

July 23, 2003:

Himsa, The Agony Scene, As I Lay Dying, and Eightfold Path were in concert tonight.  This concert also happen to fall on my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me!  Eightfold Path is a local Bay Area band.  They sound really good, and the guitar player was wearing an IN FLAMES t-shirt, so if anything, they have good taste!  As I Lay Dying, The Agony Scene, and Himsa all had great sets as well.  Himsa used to have custom Guitar Picks but do not currently.  The guitar player said that they might in the future.

July 20, 2003:

Crisis and Dysrhythmia were in concert tonight.  Dysrhythmia's bass player should've got the Metallica gig, he's more animated than even Robert Trujillo!  Dysrhythmia is a 3-piece instrumental band, and all three of them are great musicians.  The aforementioned bass player has a 6-string bass and he's just fucking crazy, all over that stage!  The music has lots of tempo changes and crazy timings, and the drummer was fantastic, keeping the groove going for their 30 minute set.  Just when you thought Brian Fair of Shadow's Fall had the longest dreadlocks in \m/etal, go take a look at Karyn Crisis!, She now has dreadlocks that go down to her ankles, and Karyn is a short woman too, these dreadlocks are probably 5 feet long!  Anyways ... Crisis was amazing, I am glad that they are making a comeback!  It's been like 5 or 6 years since I've seen them and Afzaal (guitar) even recognized me.  That was cool, because I met him a few times in 1997 on their tour with Pro-Pain.  No one had custom Guitar Picks, but I am hoping that Crisis gets some made in the near future.

July 15. 2003:

Reeves Gabrels was gracious enough to send over a package of several of his custom Guitar Picks.  I met Reeves in 2000 at a guitar clinic in Tampa, FL; at the time, I think I might have given him my card and he never sent any Guitar Picks.  Luckily, his management company just happened to be surfing by and noticed that my Reeves Gabrels webpage is empty.  Now, not only do I have a set of the Guitar Picks for myself, but also have several to trade.

Reeves Gabrels - white on chalky black - REEVES GABRELS (big letters) [f] - THE SACRED SQUALL (big letters) [b]
Reeves Gabrels - black on white - REEVES GABRELS (type) [f] - blank [b]
Reeves Gabrels - white on chalky purple - REEVES GABRELS (big letters) [f] - Jim Dunlop USA (cursive logo) [b]
Reeves Gabrels - black on chalky purple - REEVES GABRELS (type) [f] - Tortex 'turtle' 1.14mm [b]
Reeves Gabrels - white on purple - REEVES GABRELS (type) [f] - D'Addario Heavy 043" (D'Addario totally rubbed off) [b]

July 12, 2003:

The Warped Tour was here today.  I think last year was better.  There just was not really not as many bands that I wanted to see this year.  I spent more time wandering around and hearing the bands from a distance rather than watching them.  There were fewer stages this year.  Gone was the Drive-Thru Records stage, which was a good stage last year, showcasing many of their up-n-coming bands like The Movielife and Finch.  The volume on the Volcom and Maurice stages was so low that you literally had to be standing directly in front to hear anything.  I saw Vendetta Red, From Autumn to Ashes, and Avenged Sevenfold here.  The two main stages had Rancid, Less Than Jake, Pennywise, Andrew W.K., Poison the Well, Body Count (special unannounced guest), Glassjaw, Dropkick Murphys, The Used, The Ataris, and Sum 41. 

Speaking of Sum 41, it was good to run into David Brownsound again.  He remembered me from the last time we met.  I gave him another package of some of my doubles, and he told me that he is not really a collector (although I have heard otherwise).  But I hooked him up anyway, and he hooked me up in return, not only with picks, but with allowing me to watch their set from onstage!  

Mainstage bands that I asked who did not have custom Guitar Picks included The Used, Pennywise, Poison the Well, and Rancid.  The guitar tech for The Ataris is a fucking dick.  I asked him for a Guitar Pick and he gave me this weird look and said that he didn't have any to give me.  15 minutes later, I look on his guitar rig and he has three cases full of picks.  Other than that, everyone I asked (Andrew W.K., Less Than Jake, Sum 41, Body Count) were all nice enough to hook me up with at least one Guitar Pick. 

* Andrew W.K. - black on purple - A.W.K. & sig (?) & BASS [f] - FENDER (bass amplification) logo & www.fender.com [b]  
* Less Than Jake - black on orange - logo & Tortex [f] - blank [b]
* Sum 41 - white on black - logo [f] - picture of ice cream cone & CONE [b]
* Sum 41 - white on charcoal chalky black - BROWNSOUNDS' GETTIN HITCHED TOUR '03 [f] - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENN
   & two stick figure drawings [b] 
* Sum 41 - white on charcoal chalky black - Sum 41 logo & two stick figures, one with an ax and the other beheaded & 'Gator Grip'
   [f] - SIR CAPTAIN DAVID BROWNSOUND 1ST AIRBORNE REGIMENT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION [b]
* Sum 41 - yellow, red, white, black on see-thru yellowish - SUM41 & skull w/wings & ULTEX [f] -BIZZY & guy w/square glasses
   saying "sounds gooooooood" [b]
* Body Count - white on blue - logo [f] - ERNIE-C [b]
* Body Count - black on see-thru yellow(?) - logo & ERNIE-C & Dunlop logo [f] - drawing of cross with B.M.V., MOOSE, R.I.P.
   (Beatmaster V (drum) died of leukemia, Mooseman (bass) was shot and killed in S. Central LA)
* Body Count - black on white - logo & D-ROC & Dunlop logo [f] - drawing of cross with B.M.V., MOOSE, R.I.P. 
   (Beatmaster V (drum) died of leukemia, Mooseman (bass) was shot and killed in S. Central LA)

July 8, 2003:

Ozzfest 2003 was in concert today.  It was a hell of a long day.  I managed to bother many of the 2nd stage guitar techs and got a handful of Guitar Picks.  I also managed to sneak into the Main Stage backstage area with my Ozzfest 2002 pass :)  but I was not able to find anyone to ask for Guitar Picks.  I never actually saw any guitar rigs backstage, I saw mainly drum risers.  I think that all of the guitar rigs were in a roped off area close to the stage so the set changes could go faster.  It would take up too much space to give a play-by-play review of Ozzfest, so I won't.  It was a long, hot, \m/etal-filled day; that's all you need to know!

Chevelle, Cradle of Filth, Depswa, Disturbed, Endo, Grade 8, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Memento, Nothingface, Ozzy Osbourne, Shadows Fall, Sworn Enemy, Twisted Method, Unloco, Voivod all have custom Guitar Picks.  Motograter, Hotwire, and Revolution Smile do not have custom Guitar Picks. 

Here is the list of Guitar Picks that I acquired at Ozzfest 2003. 

* Shadows Fall - black on yellow - logo (outlined) - Ozzfest 2003 block logo & InTuneGP
* Shadows Fall - black on purple - logo (outlined) - Ozzfest 2003 block logo & InTuneGP
* Twisted Method - black on orange - logo & symbol - Sick Andy sig & InTuneGP
* Twisted Method - black on orange - logo & Sick Andy sig - Ozzfest 2003 block logo & InTuneGP
* Sworn Enemy - black on blue - logo & sig (?) - Ozzfest 2003 block logo & InTuneGP
* Sworn Enemy - black on yellow - logo & diff sig (?) - Ozzfest 2003 block logo & InTuneGP
* Voivod - black on green - logo & Tortex - Piggy - bass pick
* Memento - white on black - 'M' in circle - blank
* Nothingface - gold on black - devil head symbol - blank
* Killswitch Engage - white on chalky black - logo in skull/wings drawing - logo & www.killswitchengage.com

July 7, 2003:

Adema and E.Town Concrete were in concert tonight.  Adema is apparently not as popular as they were last year, when they had a main stage slot at Ozzfest 2002.  The show pulled in about 75-100 people, and Adema was okay.  E.Town Concrete was cool, quite different from Adema, and they had a good crowd of fans (most of who left after seeing E.Town Concrete). Adema did not have any new Guitar Picks, and E.Town Concrete has two.

* E.Town Concrete - black on green - logo [f] - sig (?) [b]
* E.Town Concrete - black on yellow - logo [f] - diff sig (?) [b]

July 6, 2003:

Poison, Vince Neil, and Skid Row were in concert tonight.  I had fantastic access to the show, but Guitar Picks were still a bit difficult for me to come by.  I had an interview with Dave "Snake" Sabo for my college radio station.  I was on the bus for 20 minutes or so; we talked about Skid Row, Zakk Wylde, and the band's disappointment in the new Metallica CD, among other general interview-type topics.  Skid Row was good live, although I felt Johnny Solinger wasn't as good with the classic songs; he seemed more comfortable with performing the new song, probably because he had a part in writing that one.  Scotti Hill has a rainbow array of picks that I didn't get, but I saw them on his guitar rig ... bunch of different colors and text (see list below; I got one of each of the text).  I saw Rachel's picks on a few of his basses, but was unable to grab on when the gear was being put away ... I can't describe them, but one was black on white, another was red on white (I think).  I asked Scotti, Snake, and Rachel for Guitar Picks after the show, and no one had any with them.  

I saw bits and pieces of Vince Neil's set because the Skid Row interview was at the same time.  He did mostly Motley Crue songs (of course!).  Vince Neil's band has Jason Hook (Bulletboys, Mandy Moore) on guitar. I found a Vince Neil Guitar Pick after the show, but was unable to get anything during his set. I wasn't around at the end of his set when they tore down the rig, I was on Skid Row's bus interviewing Snake, so I missed any pick opportunities there.

Poison ended out the night, showing their 2003 version of 1989, meaning that guitar solos, drum solos, and all their '80's classics were to be seen and heard tonight!  My friend who I was at the show with ran into Poison's stage manager, who he knows.  So after the show, we kicked it in the crew bus, drank a beer, and heard an hour's worth of Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, and Michael Anthony stories (the stage manager has worked fo