Here’s the story of the first time I went to see Hatebreed.

It was a show in Portland Maine at Zootz. I had to borrow my step father’s Ford Explorer to drive into the “big city.” I babied his car. I didn’t want him to have any reason to not let me go back there ever again.

If you ever went to Zootz, you may recall the sketchy parking lot that was next door to Zootz. It was down this alley and was semi-behind Zootz. You had to squeeze down this alley and then squeeze through a narrow metal “bridge” to the lot. I wanted to park OFF the street in order to keep the car “safer.” Of course, I ended up not being able to make that sketchy corner and left a good 3″ long scratch in the side of my step-father’s car. OOOOOFFFFFF

Then in the gig, it was smokey as shit. I had just made the switch from glasses to contacts that day, and the smoke killed me. At one point during Hatebreed, one of my contacts popped out, but somehow, magically, I managed to catch it. No idea how. Magic.

At this gig, especially in Maine, the way to dance was to create a huge circle, where one dude would get in the middle and show off his fancy ninja skills. Lots of kicking, spinning and the like. I recall specifically one dude getting in “the pit” with a broken arm. He was in cast and was literally killing people with it. Punching the crowd. Kicking and spinning. It was wild.

Great show. I was definitely stoked on it.

This jacket was probably sold at the gig. I didn’t buy any merch that night.