For those of you who don’t know, I grew up a hardcore metalhead (a lover of heavy metal music, not a metallurgist). The early 80s (when I was a teenager) brought on the dawn of thrash metal acts Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and so many others. It was a good time to be a metalhead for sure. That said, my fellow metalhead buddy Jose and I purchased tickets to see our very first show – Megadeth at the Ritz in NYC (now Webster Hall) in February of 1987.
Opening for Megadeth was a band we were equally excited to see, having just released their debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver” (the album is considered a thrash metal masterpiece and the remastered 20th Anniversary Special Edition from 2006 still gets regular play while at the gym or driving). The band was Flotsam and Jetsam and they ended up being the very first live metal act I’d ever seen. They killed it that night. It was a night I’ll never forget. Nuff said.
Fast forward some 32 years and last week, I noticed on Facebook that Flotsam and Jetsam were performing live at, of all places, O’Malley’s Sports Bar(!) in Margate, Florida – about 11 minutes from where I live. Could this be? These pioneers of Thrash Metal are booked in a sports bar on a Wednesday night? Upon further investigation, it was confirmed. And $15 dollars later, I had my ticket in hand and was on my way to see the very first band I’d ever seen live.
Needless to say, the sparse crowd at O’Malley’s was a long way from the packed house at the Ritz in 87 but one thing was the same – the band killed it. And grizzled lead singer Eric “A.K.” Knutson (the only original member of this new lineup) was in fine form. I was there with my Pentax K-1 and a few good lenses (Pentax 24-70mm, f/2.8, Pentax 43mm f/1.9 Limited, Pentax-F 135mm f/2.8 and the Irix 15mm f/2.4). Here are a few photographs – you can view the FULL GALLERY HERE.
Lead singer Eric “A.K.”
Guitarist Michael Gilbert
Guitarist Steve Conley
Bassist Michael Spencer
Drummer Ken Mary
Flotsam and Jetsam are currently on tour (dates HERE) – catch them at a city near you. You won’t be disappointed…
