Takin' A Ride

Celtic Frost and Voivod came to town in June of 1986 to play at the Jackie Robinson YMCA in San Diego. It was an interesting night. A bunch of hooligans broke into the show and tried to start some crap and eventually succeeded. Snake from Voivod was basically attacked from the audience when some of the guys tried to punch him in the face in the middle of their set. He playfully dodged them and messed with them. I would’ve been pissed, but he took it in good stride.

Celtic Frost didn’t fare so well. During the middle of their set, the hooligans basically got behind the stage and started to wreak havoc. Tom stopped the show and then there was a basically a mini-riot while people threw things. Show over. This happened at many shows in San Diego back in the ’80s. I remember talking to him after the show and he was really pissed and sad that this all happened. Here’s what Tom had to say about it in his book:

From Tom G Warrior’s book, Are You Morbid? page 161:

If we weren’t pre-occupied with so many other things, especially tonight in San Diego, we’d probably wonder where Tim and road manager Bill find the resources for stunts such as flying in groupies and hosting shady parties. As it happens, we run into enough furore on our own. As we reach the sixth song, a riot begins when a few anti-socials hit people with baseball bats. We turn to our crew to alert them, but it has already spread to the backstage area. All hell breaks loose, and some crew members take up bats as well. There’s no chance of finishing the show. The crew huddles us to the safety of the dressing rooms until the hall is cleared. As we’re waiting, one of the locals confesses that this isn’t the first time, and that most bands avoid the venue. Thanks for the advance warning! A few idiots succeed in ruining the show for all of the paying fans who have waited to see a band from Switzerland they don’t get to catch just every day!

Before the show, I was able to get this interview with Tom. One thing of note, when he was talking about influences, he mentioned The Cure, which at the time I thought was incredibly weird. Of course after all the albums and projects Tom Warrior has put out since 1986, NOW it seems appropriate. But at the time I thought it to be very odd. So I gave a look of surprise, and Tom kind of read it the wrong way and laid into me about how all kinds of music has a place.

I mentioned this to Tom when I met him again at a signing before Celtic Frost played the House Of Blues in 2006. I told him I was just surprised at the Cure reference, not disgusted. He laughed apologetically and said “Ha! I was very young then.” Then after a pause and a sigh “And now I am old”.

Here’s the interview (which I know someone recorded on video somewhere):