Mushroomhead Halloween 

10-27-2012

The hype surrounding the annual "World Famous" Mushroomhead Halloween show is very strong. If you are a fan of the band you already know that. If you are in a band that has been on it, you know that it can give your band some recognition that you normally wouldn't have. Yes, you have to sell tickets. And yes, the more tickets you sell, the better time slot you have. In this day and age, where the majority of people do not go to live shows, getting on a show with a guaranteed fan base, is really good exposure, especially for relatively unknown bands.

For my band Kharmuh (www.facebook.com/KharmuhOfficialPage), this was the case this passed Saturday, October 27, 2012. The day, for my drummer Jay and I, started at about 8:00 a.m. And to say that it was a typical day would be a complete lie. First thing we did was purchase blank CD-R's and sleeves to put them in so we could have fresh pressed copies of our newly released demo. Then we came back to my place to drop about twenty off for my fiancee' to burn some as well, to bring to her job at Forsaken Haunted House (www.forsakenhaunt.com), where my bassist David works. 

Then we packed up my gear and went back to Jay's house, where we were going to burn as my copies of our demo before heading over to the one singer's house and get ready for final preparation for the show. The previous forty eight hours for my co-lead vocalist Chris? was insane. He spent the entire time running tickets, literally around the entire state and into Pennsylvania. My other co-lead vocalist Brittney was also diagnosed with bronchitis that morning.

Back to the CD burning. Once we got back to Jay's we started up burning, only to realize we had purchased DVD-R's. Once you burn music onto a DVD-R you can only play it on your computer. As a bit of a marketing ploy, my fiancee' wrote on the twenty discs she burned "Only plays in your computer", and ironically she sold a total of ten CD's over two days. So, after a quick deliberation, Jay and I loaded his van with his gear and mine, went to the bank, then to Walmart to purchase actual CD-R's, then to Chris'.

As soon as we entered Chris' garage we started burning CD's. In less than an hour we had burned sixty five CD's. Chris had left with a friend to drop off yet more tickets. Upon his return, we did a quick last minute check on what we needed to bring. Then we headed out to the show in three different cars. David and his girlfriend Alex, our photographer in one, Chris and his friend Stryker in another, and Jay and I in the van with most of the equipment. Our other guitarist, Greg and singer, Brittney, would be showing up a little later.

The drive wasn't that bad, minus the rain and the atypical people not knowing how to drive in the rain. So we arrived at The Agora Theater and Ballroom at approximately 5:15 p.m. Somewhere in the drive, we lost track of Chris and Stryker, so we had to wait for a little over half the money to check in. I received a call from the promoter of the show, and he wanted us to check in with what we had. After Chris showed up, we went and checked in the other part of the money. 

Then we got told our spot on the show. We were the last local band on the Agora Theater stage right before the co-headliner Unsaid Fate and then Mushroomhead. The best spot any local band could get. And we are virtually unknown. This is what I have been my entire musical career for. Between all six of us in the band we have close to eighty year experience. And this by far the most all of us have paid

A big pet peeve of mine is waiting. And we had to wait almost four hours before we played. This one time was well worth it. We were about to play before 3800 people. That many people were about to hear our music for the first time. Not bad for a sextet of unknowns.

As we were waiting, Jay and Chris went to pick up more CD-R's. When they got back, we took care of the money. Something else that needs to be stated is that our bassist prior to David, a person we shall refer to as B-C, had 10 tickets to this show. After we kicked him out of the band, he never returned them and subsequently ended up in jail due to an aggravated theft charge. The remaining band members chipped in the $250 for those tickets. So what I did was give each member of the band that put in towards the tickets, exactly what they put in. 

We also actually made money for the show, but I had to get change for three $100 bills. Everyone was okay with receiving it on Wednesday. Okay, now it's about an hour before we were scheduled to be onstage. Both Jay and I are burning CD's via our laptops, in his van about 100 feet from the venue. When we were about to go on, we went over to the load in door, We were told that they were about an hour behind. so we were going to go on technically when we were told we would be getting offstage. Even better. They were going to be more people in there watching us.

Show time. We had everything ready to go right on stage and with a little bit more setting up ready to play. We get onstage in record time. Set up with a quick soundcheck. Now it's time!

I start up the intro to our first song, the self titled "Kharmuh". After 2 bars, the rest of the band helps me with the build up and we're off. From the very moment the song really kicks in, until the end of our set, we had a circle pit. The entire time. Our second song, a nice little ditty I wrote titled "This Is War" was second in our set. Chris and Britt had the entire crowd chanting," THIS IS WAR.....THIS IS WAR". An amazing feeling to say the least. 

Our first single, "One Lost Day", was next. This song, when it started, people didn't know what to think. We were one of the only bands to use the thinner strings on our guitars, let alone were were using 7 string guitars. This song has everything and then some to offer to the listening/viewing public. It has a beautiful melody sung by Brittney, a spoken/rap section done by Chris, clean guitars in the beginning, heavy guitars at the end, and a nice groove between the bass and drums.

After we unloaded, Greg, Jay, and I were talking and mutually agreed that the crowd "didn't dislike" us. From my point of view, we killed the stage and showed everyone that while we are a relatively unknown band, we are a force to be reckoned with. And at the rate we are going, we're going to show Cleveland that this scene goes very deep.

Jude P. Misura