Samples

Satan Takes a Holiday
Knowing they were about to embark on a 10-week European tour with Unsane, someone should have given the members of Neurosis a copy of "Satan's Cheerleaders," SPIN's recent article on the metal scene in Norway. I mean, how were Neurosis to guess that when they pulled into the sleepy little town of Flekkefjord, they would be regarded as potential church-burning devils? According to co-manager Kevin Wortis, the bands were booked at the Trellebakken by a large youth group in Norway that didn't really know anything about their music. "Picture Neurosis and the Unsane being the featured entertainment at a Boy Scouts of America meeting," Wortis says.

The young crowd went, er, insane, during Unsane, moshing while slightly unsettled adults looked on. It was not until Neurosis actually hit the stage with its video collage of post-apocalyptic imagery that the youth leaders lost heart, pulling the plug before even the first song had ended. Neurosis refused to continue without the visual effects, and soon the word "Satanists" was bandied about. "Seeing Neurosis for the first time might be kind of a terrifying experience," admits the band's publicist, Jeff Wagner, "but they're not Satanists." Although the Flekkefjord townspeople practically chased the band out of town with pitchforks, a hasty retreat was made impossible when the transmission on the Neu-rosis tour bus dropped out in the middle of the road. Still, Neurosis plans to play Scandinavia again in the very near future. As Wortis says, at least the kids loved it!

Athletic Cups
And we thought the 500 Club opened early. Last Saturday, the Mad Dog in the Fog threw its doors open at 6 o'clock in the morning in anticipation of the World Cup game between Manchester United and Liverpool. Many avid soccer fans, among them Elvis Costello and Ray Davies, were seated at a table, pint-in-hand, by 6:15. Five minutes into the game, the Dog had reached capacity. While over 200 people chanted and cheered their team inside, some 50 or more blokes stuck outside bought six-packs from corner stores and pressed against the glass to get a view of the television screens.

"We got several complaints about noise," says Mad Dog owner Steve Sparks, but it was really such a nice little scene. Like last year -- when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page hit the Dog to view the game -- the soccerphiles didn't pay the rock stars in their midst any mind until after the game. Davies' and Costello's "hasty" retreat was muddled by a tardy driver, which allowed for a few impromptu photo-ops, including a picture-perfect moment between Costello and fellow-Liverpool fan, 4-month-old Allen Jesus Haskayne. In case you're wondering, Manchester won.

By Silke Tudor