Iron Maiden t-shirt. Beer in hand. Representing Metal well.
MY VACATION
By Daniel Dystyler
Last year, I had the opportunity to spend a week in the USA and upon my return I wrote a text called The Infiltrators , which we published here on the Power Trio Blog, presenting the idea that we are a kind of (not so) secret society, that recognizes each other on the streets, that identifies with and shares some values very different from what the vast majority of society in general defends.
We are and always will be a "Minority."
We are and always will be "Outsiders."
We are not and never will be "Mainstream."
But in the last year, I've started to notice something. A very clear movement. Slow, but constant. Inexorable. Irreversible.
The growth and popularization of Metal is undeniable.
As if the avalanche of Metal shows happening in the country and the world wasn't enough, in Brazil we will have a Rock In Rio in the coming months that, while on the one hand it brings (as it always has since the 1st edition in 1985) artists that have nothing to do with rock, on the other hand, in its 2013 version, surely brings the heaviest lineup in history with Iron Maiden , Metallica , Slayer , Sepultura , Rob Zombie, Helloween with Kai Hansen, Andre Matos with Viper, Sebastian Bach, Destruction with Krisiun, Alice In Chains, Ghost BC, Avenged Sevenfold among others.
And right after these bands perform in Rio (and some of them in other cities), we'll have Black Sabbath , with Ozzy, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler together in Brazil for the first time. Megadeth !
And then, when nobody else has the energy (and/or money) to keep up with the marathon of shows (which by this point will have put Metal in all media, even the most powerful and traditional ones), the following week, after a 15-year hiatus, we will have the return of Monsters Of Rock for the first time over 2 days, bringing bands from the new generation (Slipknot, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, Gojira, Hellyeah) and big names in Hard Rock (Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Ratt, Buckcherry, Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche and Dokken).
And it's not just about the shows... We're everywhere.
We're in Disney-Pixar and DreamWorks cartoons. Just to give one example, the movie "Megamind" features Highway To Hell, Back In Black, Crazy Train, and Welcome To The Jungle!!!
We are seeing Heavy Metal books being published in Portuguese in quantities never seen before in the country.
We are in the midst of new album releases, such as "13," the new Black Sabbath album that reached number one in sales in the US for the first time in history!!!
We're even featured on Fantástico on Rede Globo .
WE ARE EVERYWHERE!!!
Proof of this is that I just got back from Germany and the Czech Republic where I had the chance to spend 8 days. It was quite quick, but during that time, I discovered that yes, we really are everywhere, as shown in the photos below that I took during those 8 days.
We are on the sidewalks of the Munich Olympic Stadium where the 1972 Olympics were held:
We're featured in advertisements for upcoming concerts all over the world (Volbeat in Germany, for example. Iron Maiden in the Czech Republic and a Black Sabbath cover band in Prague):
We're at the exhibition located atop the Munich Tower, almost 200 meters above the ground:
Autographs from Metallica, signed posters of Green Day, Marilyn Manson, and Nirvana, a guitar from Zakk Wylde, a bass from Gene Simmons, posters of Iron Maiden and Kiss, among many other objects, including a drum set with the phrase "For Those About To Rock"!
We're at the Hard Rock Cafe in Prague, which has a really cool collection of heavy metal memorabilia, including instruments from Gene and Paul of Kiss:
Nicko's drumhead, autographed by all the Iron Maidens:
The Iron Maiden concert poster with Dio and Motörhead:
The original painting that was used for the cover of AC/DC's Ball Breaker:
Michael Wilton's guitar from Queensrÿche:
And from Scott Ian of Anthrax:
And photos of Led Zeppelin when they were young and handsome:
WE ARE LITERALLY EVERYWHERE!!!
The video we made in honor of the WikiBrothers when we reached the incredible milestone of half a million Headbangers on Facebook says something like this: They tried to exclude us. Now, we will conquer .
And we really will go!!!
The photo at the beginning of the text shows me trying to represent the movement well. It's always been like this, for over 30 years: Iron Maiden t-shirt. Beer in hand. Representing.
If a metal t-shirt and a beer in hand represent it well, I think my 8 days of vacation were pretty representative!!!
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