Heavy Metal Makes the World a Better Place

Last night my fearsome crew and I loaded into our dragonboat and set sail for metal.

It has always been my opinion that metal is best when it comes with a wink. There was a long period of time where metal got kinda, well, serious. And it was good music but, to paraphrase David Lee Roth, eventually it's got to be Miller Time.

And in honor of Miller Time, we went to see Korpiklaani - beer-loving folk metal from Finland.

If that doesn't sound like fun to you, I probably don't want to know you.

Anyhow, we were in for a real treat, because playing with Korpiklaani were a host of other, equally awesome bands. Like Swashbuckle. Did you know there is such a thing as Pirate Metal? Because I didn't. If you did know, and didn't tell me, might I suggest you keep that to yourself?

Check it:

And then, it got better! Because TYR came on. And if there's one thing I like more than Pirate Metal, it's Viking metal. Which leads me into a brief tangent: when Irondad came to Phoenix, he mentioned that when he'd described me as a Viking, he'd meant it with the utmost respect. And I wondered to myself, is there any other way I could have taken it?

Where was I? Oh, right, TYR. TYR is AWESOME:

Moving on, Korpiklaani finally went on around 10:30, and they were absolutely awesome! I wanted to give all of those crazy Finns a big Viking hug, and the rest of the crowd seemed to feel the same way.

This was possibly the coolest concert I've been to in Phoenix, just because the level of positive energy was so high all night. Even the pit was good-natured - the one fight that broke out was broken up lickety-split and everyone got along again. The guys fighting didn't even get thrown out!

So, Korpiklaani:

After all that awesome metal, we staggered back to the dragonboat, bloodied, bruised and ready for their next visit!

Today, I am one sore Viking. Good thing for vacation time.