Metal Meltdown

This past Thursday I had the pleasure to witness the genesis of an event that just might save heavy metal in Manhattan and Brooklyn: Metal Meltdown. Ok, "save" might be a bit of an exaggeration; it's not like there's been a dearth of metal shows coming to NYC from the outside world, but you certainly don't go from a West Village or Red Hook practice space to BB Kings in one shot - a local scene that doesn't involve a run up to Westchester or out to Jersey is necessary. The point of the Metal Meltdown concert series is to restore that scene (or create it anew - and there's an important distinction there) in NYC, because (according to the group's MySpace page): "the scene was like this back in the day. METAL MELTDOWN is all about taking the power of Metal we all love, and giving everyone a stage and a fully stocked bar."

Here's why the concept excites me: besides making think of the Priest song of the same name every time I read the title, I've always harbored a secret desire to be a part of a scene. My problem is that I needed some sort of outside reason to go find one to join; something like writing about music to provide an impetus. I also needed a scene I wanted to a part of - I went to enough indie rock shows after I first to moved to Brooklyn three years ago to know that I wasn't a hipster. Metal Meltdown is an opportunity for me to see a bunch of (potentially) good metal bands on the cheap and feel like I'm helping to create something cool.

It also didn't hurt that I had a kickass time at the first show, which was refreshingly heavy on prog and power metal, with all of the wow-factor that sweeping picks, guitar duets and screaming falsetto can bring. I'm not sure if the organizers are planning on keeping the (hopefully monthly) shows at Don Hill's, or how they'll be choosing future band lists, but I applaud their all of their efforts.