Kreator / Coroner - 1989

 

Kreator / Coroner

     1989, September 03 - Kreator - Coroner - Infernal Majesty.

     Germany's Kreator came through Toronto in the fall of 1989 during their 'Extreme Aggression Tour'.  This was the second date on the North American tour only months after the album was released.

     I had seen them perform in August of the previous year at the Concert Hall show with Holy Terror.  Both bands opening for D.R.I. - Dirty Rotten Imbeciles.  The guys in Holy Terror were super cool and hooked me up with a backstage pass.  I recall even managing to set up an interview for a friend for the following show at Peabody's in Cleveland.

     While backstage at The Concert Hall show, in broken English I got a chance to chat with Kreator singer Mille Petrozza for a bit after their set.  I sort of really started liking what they were doing musically during that time period. 

     I don't recall much else from that show besides being asked to help keep the crowd off the stage during D.R.I.'s set.  I was really small back in those days, so I'm not sure why someone asked me.  D.R.I. shows are always pretty nuts so I guess any help was better than none.  I just happened to be there at the time.

     I was looking forward to checking out Kreator again, this time with the Swiss band Coroner opening.

     The Apocalypse Club was a tiny space.  Way too small to be hosting such a popular band.  The club had very low clearance with water pipes hanging on the ceiling used from the building above.  The bands performed on a not so high stage, so if you were at the back of the club you couldn't even see the artists.

     They did have some good sound that night, however I remember the place being way over crowed.  Likely illegal fire regulation kind of crowded.  To keep the insanity from the mosh pit away from the bands I think they had set up some sort of crowd control fencing in front of the stage.

Credit: Darah Hayes, 1980's Belleville promoter

     Kim Erskine

     "...I was just thinking about that show!  Tammy Tennant and I went to see Sons Of Ishmael and Guilt Parade in some small town [Belleville] the night before and then stayed in the basement of one of the band's parents' houses, then we somehow hitched a ride to Toronto the next day and met you there.  …You only had one ticket so don't think we ended up going in.  We hung around the club outside all night.  Some random guy gave us a joint that smelled like burning plastic and made us both sick.  WTF were we thinking?  We might have come back to Peterborough with you..." 

     I do recall some Peterborough friends hanging outside panhandling.  Maybe Dianne Hart-Maxwell was there as well?, as she and Tammy Tennant were always connected.  Total dick move on my part leaving the girls all outside.  Although... Kreator at the small Apocalypse Club, would have totally sold out and there wouldn't have been the slightest chance in hell I would be able to get tickets for anyone else to get in.

Infernal Majesty

     I don't remember much of Infernal Majesty playing that night.  They were a Toronto band that later moved out to British Columbia.  They seemed to be caught between the two worlds of heavy and thrash metal.  I remember some of my Cleaveland friends were huge fans of the 1987 'None Shall Defy' album and couldn't get enough of them.  Although I owned that album they seemed to pretty much pass right over my radar.  The September previous to this Apocalypse show, a girlfriend and myself had been invited to an after party at their practice spot.  Much of that night unfortunately was a drunken blur.

     Coroner was from Zurich Switzerland.  Originally Celtic Frost's road crew.  The band never really did that well, outside of Europe.  Very talented musicians, although I don't recall them being a stand out band that night.  A little progressive or avant-garde for my raw tastes.  Meh!  Similarities between their 'Masked Jackal' video and this tour date have been compared.  Their 1991 cover of the Beatles 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' is interesting and worth checking out.

     By the time Kreator hit the Apocalypse Club that night it was sweaty, hot and way overcrowded.  It didn't matter where you stood in the club, you were forever in the pit.  The more intense the music got the whole room just swayed back and forth like ocean waves crashing during a nasty storm.  The band was performing on a small raiser so I tried pushing my way up front to see them play.  That was a huge mistake...

     Ottawa Metal

     "...Kreator Extreme Aggression tour...  The inside of the Apocalypse club was one of the crowdest & sickest ever shows to be put on, too bad there is not footage, just memories.  Drew Masters was the promoter, thanks Drew..."

     Everyone was thrashing their heads to the speed of the music.  Long hair whipping in my face throughout.  People constantly use my head or shoulders as leverage on their travels as they crowd surf past overhead.  Crammed in so tight if my arms were at my side it felt like I was holding hands with the dude next to me.  If I put them in front of me I would get hit from behind and they would end up stuck to some guys sweat soaked back.  The pipes hanging from the ceiling were put to good use to help the denim clad metalheads pull themselves up on top of the audience.

     I was panicking...

     I got trapped in the crowd for Kreator's entire set.  If I tried to leave to get out of the mass of people I couldn't move in any direction.  I would just get pushed back to the spot that I originally stood.  I didn't like the feeling.  With the panic came an asthma attack.  I couldn't breathe...  I was doing my best trying to remain calm.  I kept telling myself that it will all be over soon.  Reassuring my mind that I've been in much bigger and larger pits than this.  If I were to die it would have to be a better band than Kreator.

     I just stood there in the mass, body limp all drenched in sweat letting the crowd and the tempo of the band decide my fate.  I was tossed and thrown around the audience like a rag doll.

     Thankfully Kreator's set that night was extremely short.  By the time they were ripping into 'Flag of Hate / Tormentor' I knew it was almost over...

     Afterwards...  As the club lights came up, and the steam of the heat, smell of shitty home grown weed and the stench of spilled beer poured out of the bar.  My crushing adventure and flash of death had been long forgotten.  I was chatting up similar minds and planning on doing it all over again in the days to follow.  It was all just another metal weekend in the late 80s...