The ESP Guitar Company

Editorʼs note: we know the 2008 New England Metal & Hardcore Festival happened at the end of April, and here we are in August reporting about it. Apparently, our roving reporter missed his flight back, and then tried hitchhiking, but was too scary looking after partying for three straight days to get picked up. After jumping a few freight trains and swimming across some rivers and hiking over the Rockies and crawling through the desert, he finally made it back to LA with his battered report clutched in his near-dead fist. We gave him an extra hour for lunch and then told him to get his lazy ass back to work. But here is his tale...

Wednesday April 23, 2008:
As the early arrivals start to get in on Wednesday for set up, stage gear and label people start hitting the hotel bars early, but there is no place like the Irish Times for some chowder and good local New England draught. Besides, the Irish Times is almost like the arrival terminal at any airport. Waiting for someone to get in, go to the Times.

This year was the tenth anniversary for Metal Fest; Scott Lee and Mass Concerts have put together an outstanding line up for this milestone of Metal. Friday will feature bands from Gigantour, but for ESP it was all about Children of Bodom. Alexi and the guys were in great form, and the new songs brought the house down. Fridayʼs festivities will also include a COB record release party at the Times; this was a great opportunity for all who helped make the new album a smashing success. One party in particular would be Paul Conroy, and the Ferret team. Thanks, you liver killers!

Thursday April 24, 2008:
Uh... donʼt remember much about this day. And I have a headache. And I canʼt find my keys.

Friday April 25, 2008:
The first ever Metal Summit was held on Friday, and featured many great people and fans all in one room. The panel was made up of some serious heavyweights in the world of metal; take a look at the list:

Brian Slagel, Chairman/CEO of Metal Blade Records (Moderator)
Vaughn Lewis, Co Owner of Strong Management
Jesse Brust, Owner of 518 Prints and All in Merch
Matt Pike, Owner/Agent of The Kenmore Agency
Mike Gitter, Senior Director of A&R of Roadrunner Records
Allen Steelgrave - Director of Marketing/Artist Relations ESP Guitars
Izzy Zivkovic, Founder/CEO of Split Media
Scott Lee, Mass Concerts
Liz Ciavarella, Editor in Chief of Metal Maniacs

I was very happy to see everyoneʼs interest in what is happening with todayʼs ever change world of music. There were great Qʼs and not so Great Qʼs. OK, who was the one who asked about my last name? Thanks.

Later that day was the party for C.O.B., and I still donʼt know how those guys can get through a huge party like that, have drinks with everyone, and then do a show. But they did!!! Alexi and the guys are champs for sure, When C.O.B. hit the stage, all hell broke loose with a total explosion of sound coming from the stage. Fans started crowd surfing, being tossed to the front of the stage like rag dolls, only to work their way back into the mayhem, to get tossed into the front again. It was like watching a ride at Disney, with the same kids getting on, again, and again.

Blooddrunk: I think says it all. The new album is awesome, and the live show was even better. If you havenʼt seen it, you need to -- they killed it. Afterwards, Alexi and the guys wound down a bit, had some beers, and got ready for their signing downstairs. We managed to get them through the crowd of people waiting to meet Alexi, Roope, and Henkka. I always love seeing the stuff fans bring to give the bands; everything from shirts, to hand-made drawings, and more. There was even a prosthetic leg thrown on the table to be signed. Havenʼt seen that one before!

Saturday April 26, 2008:
What would Metalfest be without a few visits from other endorsees that did not play the show (like Doc and Dallas from God Forbid)? We also have some great interviews to show you from a few other ESP artists, including Jon Donais from Shadows Fall.

Great moment: the ESP, EMG, and Randall multi-artist photo shoot. Want to know what is Metal cool? Seeing so many players with their ESPʼs and LTDʼs in hand for a phenomenal group shoot. I wonʼt tell you who was in, but I can show you a sneak peek. A huge crowd gathered outside to see what was going on... lots of camera phones trying to get that one good shot in, in addition to camera crews, and just fans having a good time. These are definitely some of the coolest moments of my gig. Arranging everyone to get together is not easy, but well worth it.

Back inside Saturday, we still had many bands to see and many beers to drink; this was a big day for ESP, as we had a good number of bands on the bill. We had From a Second Story Window and First Blood on stage two, and ESP bands on most of the main stage; Dimmu Borgir (Best Stage show, and saving DLʼs ass with a back up), Shadows Fall (Shredding), Behemoth (killer), Keep of Kalesin (new bad asses in Metal), Acacia Strain (DL needs a BACK UP NOW!!!!!), As Blood Runs Black (good job guys, donʼt drop that cable from your teeth), Animosity (sick bass player). Thatʼs just to name a few, so with this crazy bunch, it all starts when the show is over. As each band comes off stage, they want to have a beer or two with you, but when you have as many bands as ESP does on this, I would have been hammered by dinner; and that was still a long way away. By evening, people were all over the place... in the venue, on the street, and across the street at the Times. Meanwhile we still had signings to do with Dimmu (Galder, Shagrath, and Silenoz), Behemoth (Nergal, Seth, and Orion), and Jon Donais from Shadows Fall. All the signings went smoothly, and had some good comedy moments with crazy fans, all while a show was raging in the background. Thatʼs
cool too…

Sunday April 27, 2008:
Sunday was anything but restful; those hung-over faces in the lobby of the hotel said it all. All those smiley faces, and loud and proud party goers from last night, were now faces of death, and the day was just beginning. Iʼm sure no one had any regrets the next day, right? So we threw our quickly packed-bags in the truck, and we headed to the Palladium again. There is this big ball of hot fire following us to the venue! Oh wait, itʼs the Sun. Now it comes out, figures.

Second stage was a winner on Sunday, with ESP bands like: Dead to Fall, Since the Flood, Full Blown Chaos, and Shai Hulud. And despite the hangovers and feeling like something the cat dragged in (and probably looking that way too), the 2008 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival was a huge success, and we canʼt wait for next year! Now I just have to catch my flight, and Iʼll be home soon, Iʼm sure.the year and beyond. For more info, keep your eyes on our MySpace page (MySpace.com/espcustomguitars) as well as espguitars.com! Rock on!

Roope Latvala points at the camera while Alexi Laiho's eyes are mellowly Satani

The Bodom guys trip out on some original artwork from a fan

Signing glossy 8x10s, clothing items, and various body parts are all in a day's work

ESP's Allen Steelgrave spends some quality time with Henkka Blacksmith and Alexi Laiho at Metalfest

Alexi's hands only know three things: playing guitar, flashing the horns, and flipping you off