Death Angel

Grade 10 was underway and it was a warm, beautiful fall season. While on lunch one day at my frequent food spot Pizzaville, I over heard a few of the older thrasher guys talking about a concert that was happening that week. Bay Area thrashers Death Angel were playing Toronto! Up to this point in my life I had never been to a real concert with the exception of seeing a few old, boring bands with my folks as well as seeing Kim Mitchell perform at Canada's Wonderland, my sister brought me to that one. During grade school and middle school my sister had attended a lot of cool concerts like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, & Helix, just to name a few.

I was always begging my mother to let me attend said concerts with my sister, but mama always refused as they seemed to land on school nights and she was concerned I wouldn't get up in the morning...please! Looking back now I can only assume my over protective mother was once again trying to shield me from the evils of heavy metal and the drug usage associated with such concerts. Now that I was a man (15) the time had come for me to finally attend a concert. I caught wind of the Death Angel show on a Monday and the gig was only two days away!

Seeing as it was on a Wednesday night I was almost certain my mother wouldn't let me attend but I asked her anyways and much to my surprise and amazement she actually said yes! I was shocked and dumbfounded over how quickly she made her decision. I couldn't wait to get back to school the next day and share my success story with my friends. Come Tuesday morning I was spreading the word to my pals, who were all equally excited as I was. They all vowed to return home that day and convince their parents to let them attend.

Wednesday morning came and I eagerly rushed off to a school to see what the verdict would be in regards to my friends going. A few of them got the yes, a few got the no. There was one "no" however that was the biggest disappointment of all, my best friend Jerry. Since Jer was held back a year in grade two, he was actually the only one of us who was 16, which he had turned in October. Jerry even got his 365 AND license all on the day of his 16th birthday. Unfortunately his folks felt Toronto was much too dangerous of a place for a kid his age to venture off to on a school night as a new driver. Even when we went shopping their during the day on weekends his Dad was always convinced we would be robbed and killed by Skinheads.

With no ride to the concert my chances were looking slim and my mind was filling with doubt. I only had one last chance and option...to ask the older thrashers if I could go with them. When the lunch bell rang I sprinted down to Pizzaville to ask the big question. Once again I was shot down. They already had 6 guys going down in a car that comfortably seated five. I understood but I was deflated, depressed, and devastated that my folks had finally given me permission to goto my first concert yet I couldn't go...

The only thing that could have cheered me up at that moment would have been the ability to look into the future and see that I would in fact get to a Death Angel concert almost exactly one year later...