It’s Day 33 of the Papa’s Walk Challenge.
The day flew by and by 11:00 PM, I realized I hadn’t gone for a walk. My son (a musician) moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area from Hollywood and is staying with us temporarily. I interrupted his guitar practice to see if he’d accompany me on a “Papa Walk” by the light of the waxing moon (82.57% full). He agreed and we headed out into the cool night air.
As we walked, he talked about the song he’s currently working on for his heavy metal band, Raiju. It’s taken a lot of work, but he said he finally got the timing and speed down.
We talked about some of the heavy metal genres and the summertime venues where fans can see their favorite bands perform including the Summer Slaughter Tour – a venue for extreme heavy metal and death metal music that opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on July 19th.
There’s also the Mayhem Festival (sponsored by Rock Star energy drink) that is touring now. My son’s friends will be performing with their band, Thrown Into Exile, on the Musician’s Institute Stage in Hollywood, California. (Both of my sons graduated from M.I.) The Mayhem Festival features a broad range of metal genres including thrash metal, metalcore, power metal, industrial metal, progressive metal, etc.
And of course, there’s the Warped Tour (sponsored by Vans, the skateboard shoe manufacturer) that is currently touring throughout the U.S. and beyond. The tour originally featured punk music, but has evolved to include hardcore, and metalcore acts as well. My other son’s band, Jameson, played the Warped Tour a few years ago. In addition to music, there are skateboard demonstrations, and lots of vending booths giving it a sort of carnival feel.
WARNING: THERE BE DRAGONS AHEAD. If you click on the links above, you’ll be taken to websites that may feature controversial material that is inappropriate for young children, and may offend those who are sensitive, the faint of heart, the politically correct, those who don’t like metal music and the culture that surrounds it, etc. Click at your own risk.