Rock N Roll Experience - BLS / Sanctity 3/24/07

The crowd was basically a very standard, blue collar, working class kinda crowd...the bulk of the crowd was older, & I joked that I would imagine ALOT of these people would also be seen at a Lynyrd Skynyrd show, & after I said that, I swear to god, I saw a lady wearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt! I was actually surprised at just how many BLS vest's I saw...it was amazing that so many people made their own BLS vests as a tribute to Zakk Wylde. I saw at the merch booth that you could buy the official BLS patch set for $75...that was actually higher than a BLS hoodie, but I guess the diehard BLS freaks wouldn't care for the cost as long as they got it!

Sanctity opened the show at 9:30 PM & they played close to an hour set that was fast & powerful! The band reminds me of all the great old school thrash acts, particularly old Testament & old Megadeth, but some of the latter may have to do with Jared MacEachern's long red locks, & while I'm on that matter, I noticed that he has really long hair on top, & the hair underneath is short, so if you see the band play live, look at the singer's hair when he headbangs..it's kinda weird looking, & he has a cool sense of humor onstage too..he is noticably joking around with the band members & they all seem to be having alot of fun & I believe the smiles you see on stage are from being genuinly happy!

After about an hour of down time, there was a giant BLS curtain that was dropped over the stage so you couldn't see the BLS set-up, & then the lights went down & all hell broke loose as the "Pub IS Open" sign was switched on, & the Doom Crew stormed the stage! Zakk came out with a bliistering whale from his guitar, & the band immediatley went into a tuned down, destructive sounding riff that set off the show. I was actually surprised that there was a strict NO CAMERA policy for this show, so I was only one of 2 people allowed to take any pics this night! Highlights of the BLS set included "In This River" which unveiled huge Dimebag banners on both stacks of amps, & the unplugged set that Zakk did was impressive & included "Diary of a Madman". During Zakk's guitar solo, he played the guitar solo from "Heartbreaker" by Led Zeppelin, as well as "The Star Spangeld Banner" which would have made Jimi Hendrix proud, & excerpts from the live version of "Suicide Solution".

Zakk talked alot to the crowd, he brought some young fans onstage to help him ge the crowd going, & of course, Rita, Dime's gf was there on the side of the stage, & the thing that I can always tell you about Zakk Wylde is that no matter where or when you see him play, he ALWAY'S bleeds from his heart when he plays guitar..it's the most purest, natural & beautiful thing in the world to see & hear him play! At the end of the bands set, Zakk jumped off the stage & shook hands, hugged fans, & thanked everyone for coming while "You are So Beautiful" played in the background. Overall, it was an amazing night for rock n roll!

I actually had the opportunity to interview Sanctity drummer Jeremy London before the show, & as dumb luck would have it, I had total equipment failure..my tape recorder totally died on me, but luckily my camera can record audio, so I had to think fast & did a brief intereview & here's how it went!

Rock N Roll Experience: How's the B;acl Label Society tour been so far?

Jeremy: The tour's been good, the shows have been good, the bands cool..I mean everybody...pretty much every tour we've been on, every band has been really awesome & real supportive & stuff, because we're brand new, & some of the crowds have been a little rough..the worst was in Springfield, Virginia

Rock N Roll Experience: At Jaxx?

Jeremy: Yeah, at Jaxx, I mean we would get done with a song, I mean we're a metal band, we're just a straight up like thrash metal band, & like we would get done with a song & it was like crickets...you could hear crickets & it was just so...I mean we've never encountered that before & we were like...usually some people would like us or something, but there it was just like NOTHING & we were like Holy God! But, that was the only show like that, I mean every other show has been really good

Rock N Roll Experience: What's your favorite song to play live?

Jeremy: Probably "Road to Bloodshed", which is the title track off the new abum

Rock N Roll Experience: How true are the lyrics in Bloodshed..are they autiographical or made up?

Jeremy: Actually, that song is more religious based, like there have been more crimes committed in the name of God than there had been for anything else & that includes war & that includes anything & that's basically what the song is about..you claim that you're of God & whatever, & like we're not a christian band, but religion plays a big part in the world, I mean 75% of the population believes in something, & even though we may not share the same views or whatever, the song is about how you should kill people or start or wage war in the name of God

Rock N Roll Experience: Speaking of a Holy War...are you huys big Megadeth fans?

Jeremy: Yes we are big Megadeth fans...we get that comparison alot..we actually get Testament more than Megadeth..we get Megadeth obviously because of Jared's hair..it's red!

Rock N Roll Experience: How come there's no keyboards in your music?

Jeremy: We actually talked about that a long time ago & it was just something that none of us were really sure about & it just wasn't us. I'mm a big Children of Bodom fan..I like Bodom alot & Alexi is one of the best performer's ever...all of those guys are so cool & so great...we had the pleasure of touring with them & alot of bad things happened to us actually. On the first day, we are from North Carolina & we drove from North Carolina up to Philly, which was the first day of the tour & we stayed at a hotel & waited for the tour & Zeff goes outside to get a change of clothes out of the van & the van & the trailer were gone..first day of tour & it was ridiculous..someone stole the van & the trailer & we had to go through this big bunch of bull crap...we had to rent an RV to tour in, because we were like, fuck it, we are doing this tour, because it was important to us & it was very important that we did that tour, like we had to gain those fans, & God..it was just a big mess & it took us several months to get back on our feet after that..we got done on December 23rd & we didn't get all the equipment we needed until the day before we left.

Rock N Roll Experience: Did you eventually get your equipment back?

Jeremy: No. We got our van & Trailer back...they found the van & trailer, but everything else was gone. We actually just found..Zeff had gotten this custom made Jackson..it was a lefty..hes left handed, so it's hard to find good guitars for him, but we found this lefty Randy Rhoads tiger striped guitar, I mean it's like full on Bengle Tiger & it's sick & it was stolen & he didn't even get to play a show with it! We found it on ebay about a month ago..somebody had sold it to somebody else & then they had put it on ebay & we found it & we got it back.

Rock N Roll Experience: Did you have to buy it or they gave it back?

Jeremy: Oh no, we had the police & everything involved..they actually have somebody in custody..it was a big pain in the ass!

Rock N Roll Experience: Are there KISS fans in the band, because I noticed in pictures that Jared plays an Ibanez Iceman & that's usually associated with Paul Stanley from KISS.

Jeremy: Actually, there was an Ibanez Iceman ha ha, it's gone now because it was stolen, but yeah, we are KISS fans, but like KISS are a rock n roll band & I wouldn't say none of us listen to rock n roll, but we don't really try to put it in, like I mean we are fans, but Jared just loved the way it looks, but he has an endorsement with LTD now, so he plays the Explorer now.

Rock N Roll Experience: Do you have any plans to re-release your first 2 records now that you're signed to a label?

Jeremy: Actually, I don't know..we never really talked about it. We have one album that we recorded when we were in highschool...Zeff & I were in highschool & we were Seniors & Jared is a year older than us & he was in college & that was with our original bass player, & then we had an EP that we put out called the bedroom sessions & that's because we recorded it in Zeff's bedroom, but that things all over the internet...it's pretty crazy actually, how many kids have that thing...I don't know where they found it, I don't know who had it, but I don't know...sure, if the label would do that...the first album is pretty basic, it's kinda more..I don't wanna say Ozzy sounding, but it's like that style of metal & we've grown alot since then! We've went from Ozzy type stuff to...we started listening to In Flames & this was in like early 2000 & we were like man, this is way heavier & we just kinda wanted to be more brutal & we liked that Swedish thrash so we kinda took what we were doing before & added a more Scandanavian sound & then we were that type of band for 4 or 5 years until we met Matt Heafy (Trivium) & we went into the studio & did our first tracks with Jason & when we did Zeppo we really re-invented our sound..we were all happy with our sound, but like it had been done so many times before & that scene was..I don't wanna say dying, because those bands aren't dying, the bands like In Flames, Soilwork, The Haunted..all those bands..they are going to continue maintaining that sound, but as far as newer bands really breaking out in the scene, I just don't see it happening & it's not like a money thing, it's like a consciencous desicion from all of us to change...this is the direction we wanna go in now & we went back to our roots & listened to Testament & all I LOVE the "Legacy"..it's one of my favorite Testament albums..I love that, & Chuck Billy's vocals, I mean that guy can do it all..he can scream, he can sing, he can do the gruff stuff, so I mean obviously he's an influence for Jared..White Zombie is also a big influence for Jared, which comes across sometimes, I mean the way Jared sings, I don't wanna say he imitates, because you can't imitate Rob Zombie's voice, but he uses some of the same qualities in his voice that's almost guteral sometimes

Rock N Roll Experience: Have you had the chance to hang out with Zakk Wylde yet?

Jeremy: No actually..we havn't met him yet. We've been out almost 2 weeks so far & I hope we get to, I mean the guy is super busy & I understand, I mean he's a guitar icon, I mean if I were at that level I probably wouldn't hang out either...you get mobbed by kids, people that work at venues wanna set there & talk to you for hours & that's not a bad thing, I mean you always have to stay in touch with your fans.

April 24th the Santity cd is out in stores, so make sure you pick it up! I'd like to thank the band for being so cool & down to earth & also a huge thanks to Roadrunner for their help!