Wednesday was a great day for local metalheads as the mighty FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH invaded the Handlebar and brought their allies in SHADOWS FALL, GOD FORBID and 2 CENTS and effectively sold out the place!

Earlier in the day, I had the privilege of having their bassist Matt and drummer Jeremy takeover the studio during the Ride at Five and play some rather unique songs that you would not normally hear on this station to say the very least!  If you missed it, here’s the video:

ffdp in studio

I managed to get to the show and find a parking spot before 2 CENTS took the stage and put on a very impressive show for a new band!  GOD FORBID followed and gave the TRUE meaning of Black Metal!  SHADOWS FALL fell in next as they were my favorites in the show as I have been a fan for some time now.

But I have to say, even though FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH are only on their second album, it wasn’t “Hard to See” how they have not only successfully landed a headlining tour leading some heavy hitting metal veterans but even managed to sell out shows along the way as their presence live is something one can’t just “Walk Away” from because it’s “Never Enough” no matter how bad “The Bleeding” gets from the monster-sized mosh pits!  I actually didn’t intend to get all cheesy, but once I got started I had to just let it fly!

In summary, GREAT SHOW and I have a new SHADOWS FALL tee to sport!

Well I am finally starting to pick up the pieces from 2009 and I am feverishly rebuilding my empire for the new year!  Thursday I got my renter’s insurance check in the mail so on Friday I went and picked up a new PS3, Blu-ray remote and HDMI cable to replace the ones that were stolen during the break-in last month.

After work that night I went to the Handlebar to catch NOXIOUS’ return to the Upstate with special guests KELEN HELLER and DOGFIGHT.  I ended up tuckering out rather early that night since I had to head up to NC first thing Saturday.  P1 QuickKart31 had not only invited me up to catch another night of SWA (Southern Wrestling Association) but also to fix my Jeep Compass which had several war wounds from being both scraped and keyed in late ‘09.

When I got into town, he met me and led me to his dad’s shop, 3D Kustoms and Restorations in Ellenboro, NC to drop my car off.  QuickKart and I then ran to grab some lunch and went to the Forest City National Guard Armory where I ’helped’ set up the ring for that night’s wrestling event.  By the time we got back to the shop, my car was done but still drying so I rode with QuickKart back to the armory so he could get ready for his THREE matches that night – ALL of which he won (under the name Kendall Slayer) with one of the matches being the main event cage match!

After the event was over, everyone gathered at the wrestler Wicked’s house for some after party drinks and continued mayhem as I got fairly tanked (yes, that’s me holding the belt and drinking pineapple juice and vodka out of a HUGE Mason jar)!

I ended up catching a ride with QuickKart’s two brothers Mark and Justin and crashed at their place after making a much needed stop at Waffle House!

The next morning I caught a ride with their dad, Will who did most of the awesome work on my car and rode with him back to the shop to pick up my car and head back home to catch the last two playoff games of the weekend.  I kept up with the first two by checking the scores on my BlackBerry and was pleased to see New Orleans venture on to the NFC Championship as they will be taking on Minnesota who slaughtered Dallas!  I was disappointed that Baltimore got taken out by Indianapolis and that my Super Bowl pick San Diego lost to the New York Jets.  This weekend should be great as I am torn between the Vikings and the Saints for the NFC title.

Monday morning I went to the dentist to have him look at what seemed to be a piece of tooth protruding from my gum where my last pulled wisdom tooth was.  As it turns out, it was actually my jaw which had healed with an angular rough edge that was cutting through my gum so he grinded it down and smoothed it out a bit.

After leaving the dentist’s office I went to the doctor to get a physical and have them look at my suspected herniated area.  Indeed, I have a hernia so I will be making an appointment with a surgeon in the near future to get that taken car of (JOY!).  Since I had breakfast that morning, the doctor told me to return the next morning after fasting for at least 12 hours so I could get some bloodwork done.  She did, however, have me go ahead and get a Tetanus shot (I HATE those!  My arm STILL hurts!).

After getting my physical, I treated myself to a movie and let my curiosity get the better of me as I broke down and went to go see Avatar and see what all the hype was about.  And I’ve gotta say I was actually quite impressed!  I admit the plot wasn’t entirely original as our webmistress, Tracy pointed out, it’s basically FernGulley: The Last Rainforest just live action and on another planet.  And just like Aliens (which James Cameron also directed) this one features Sigourney Weaver as a strong-willed protagonist facing off against a greedy corporation and working with futuristic Marines one of whom is a badass Hispanic tomboy.  But, despite the film’s lack of originality, it’s eye candy is spectacular and almost worth the hype if you go see it in 3D at a movie theater.

Avatar  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m

Yesterday morning I got up early and went straight to the doctor to get my bloodwork done then came home and showered and got ready for work.  At about one (my usual lunchtime) I had my replacement TV delievered to my apartment so I took a few minutes to get it set back up and hook my PS3 up to it and made sure everything worked fine. 

Now my living room is at least functional as it once was before my apartment was broken into….and my car looks like it did the day I bought it (or it WILL after I give it a BATH)!

After getting off work Friday night I went home and grabbed a bite to eat to save my broke ass some money and then headed out to the Handlebar to catch TREND KILL OMEGA, GHOST IN THE MACHINE and WAITING FOR AIR.  When I got there I found out that, instead of three bands, six bands were playing as the openers SHARP SHOOTER had already played.  WAITING FOR AIR was next followed by SECOND TO NONE and FROM TOMORROW.  GHOST IN THE MACHINE took the stage next and then TKO wrapped up the show.

I had fun with a bunch of local musicians and then joined Mark and Eddie from KELEN HELLER at IHOP for a late night bite which Mark’s girlfriend graciously treated my underfunded self to.

The rest of the weekend I stayed at home watching the NFL Wild Card games as New York defeated Cincinnati which will send the Jets into San Diego to face the Chargers this Sunday.  Unfortunately I had to witness Dallas dominate Philadelphia but the Cowboys will surely not fare quite as well when they face the Vikings in Minnesota this Sunday….or so I hope not!

Sunday’s games went much more to my liking as it turned out to be the Day of the Bird as Baltimore pummeled the Patriots IN New England allowing the Ravens to advance on to face the Colts in Indianapolis this Saturday.  I just hope they can keep up Poe’s poetic prose and send a message to the former undefeated AFC team, “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’”!

You couldn’t get any more of a knockdown-dragout fight than watching the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers go back and forth during the second half of the game as neither team’s defense could stop the other team’s offense.  Then Arizona missed what would have been the game-winning field goal and then lost the coin toss at the beginning of overtime.  Things were not going well for the Cards when, all of a sudden, the Packers’ had the ball pop up and into the hands of Arizona defensive linebacker Karlos Dansby who ran 17 yards to score the winning touchdown and solidified a date with the Saints in New Orleans on Saturday.

I can’t wait for THIS weekend!

With 2009 and the rest of the first decade of the new millenium behind me, I sail into the new year and new decade with fresh ideas and a new outlook on life.  The past ten years of my life weren’t exactly wasted but I spent most of them reaching my career goals and taking any quick fix I could get along the way.  Even after finally acheiving full time status in radio, I have found that I still sought after numerous cheap thrills and instant gratifications which have left me rather empty.  Plus this past year put me through a great number of things I never ever wanted to experience like being arrested, totaling a car, scraping a brand new car and then having it keyed and having my apartment broken into.

Even though most of these experiences were not my fault, I’ve come to realize that I could use a change in my life.  Granted I am still going to be me and, for the most part, I like who I am.  I may not be the nicest person you will ever meet, but chances are you know where you stand with me because I tell it like it is and I take no crap from anyone.  However, I am open to smoothing out the edges of my personality and learning not to let things get to me as much as they do.  And don’t get me started on all the botched relationships, romances and affairs of the past decade!  I have been wanting to put my love life to rest for some time now and I think now is the best time to make that official and learn to be happy just being myself by myself.

Much of this decision, of course, stems from my beliefs as a Christian, my faith and values which I have all but abandoned.  Don’t worry, I don’t intend on going all holy roller or anything but I would love to devote myself much more to Jesus Christ and His teachings and remain pure in a lot of my ‘extracurricular activities’.  I know it seems like a contradiction in this line of work, but I see it perfectly acceptable to be a gritty rocker and still have a strong sense of values.  And I’m not alone as there are others I work with on the rock floor of the building that are not only believers as well but even attend the same church as I do.

And I still intend on furthering my conquest for world domination as I continue to push my star higher and make it shine brighter so more can experience that which is Twisted Todd.  Exactly what all that entails, I am not entirely sure of yet but, rest assured, it will rock and it will kicketh much ass!  And I would really love for it to involve performing music once again!

Before coming to work last Tuesday I stopped by MY toy store Best Buy and picked up a copy of the movie I thought was the best film to come out this year, Inglourious Basterds the new film by Quentin Tarantino.  The cast, the acting and the script are all superb and Brad Pitt is a riot as Lt. Aldo Raine who leads a band of mostly Jewish Americans into Nazi-occupied France to do one thing and one thing only: KILL NAZIS!

Inglourious Basterds  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

I managed to watch the entire film and a few special features that night before going to bed.  I fully intended to watch the rest of the special features when I got home Wednesday night however, upon arriving, I first noticed my doormat was pushed all the way up to the doorway (I always pull it back an inch or so when I leave) and then I noticed that the front casing of my deadbolt had been chiseled off.  Needless to say that the lock was already opened when I slid my key in and, lo and behold, I found someone had jacked my apartment.  My 40″ LCD TV was gone as well as my PS3 and numerous PS3 games and DVD and Blu-ray movies – including Inglourious Basterds!

After the initial shock wore off and a few minutes of kicking and screaming, I called 911 and filed a police report.  An officer soon arrived followed a bit later by a forensics officer who dusted my apartment for fingerprints as one of my maintenance guys replaced the locks.

The next day I had my checks cancelled to be on the safe side and filed a report with my insurance company.  Keep in mind I still have an applicable $500 deductible and my rates may still go up in June even though this was not my fault in the slightest.

Friday night we had both the Rise Guys Big Ass P1 Christmas Party and the Entercom Company Christmas Party both of which I attended considering it’s no fun being a hermit cooped up in my apartment without my TV and PS3.  The Rise Guys Big Ass P1 Christmas Party was being held in my hometown of Simpsonville at the Zone Sports Bar and Grille and the place was packed!  I had fun hanging with the Original P1 Lauren and P1 Big Counsy and had a paper tube fight with Fat Boy which I unanimously won and earned some much needed stress relief.

During the course of the evening, our transmitter, which sits atop of a big ass mountain in North Carolina, went out due to the perilous winter weather in the area.  The conditions were so severe that our engineering team couldn’t even reach the transmitter until Sunday morning managing to keep us off the air for a whopping 41 hours!

The weather was bad enough locally that a tree fell on Roper Mountain Road and knocked out the power up and down the street….which I live on.  So I ran home after the Rise Guys Big Ass P1 Christmas Party to change into something a little nicer and more business casual for the Entercom Company Christmas Party and did so in the dark.  The power was restored by the time I got home later that night but went off for a while longer during the early morning hours.

I had a great time at the company Christmas party hanging with Intern Tyler, Diesel and some of our lovely promotions staff….and the free food and booze helped a lot too!  We basically shut the place down that night and still tried to find a place in downtown to continue the festivities.  When we found nothing else to do, those of us left parted ways and went home.  Some of us had to sober up just a bit first….

Saturday I ventured out to the deadly malls and other stores of holiday frenzy to do what little shopping my broke and burglarized ass could afford.  I also managed to take in a movie in an attemt to boost my own morale and revive any amount of Christmas Spirit I could muster.  I went and saw The Blind Side, the football biopic with Sandra Bullock.  The film was very heartwarming and inspirational which I definitely needed to lift my spirits.

The Blind Side  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Sunday I went to church for the first time in forever (maybe to try and win favor with the Lord – LOL!) and then went to borrow a small TV/DVD combo from my best friend’s parents who’ve been like a second family to me.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get my digital antenna to work on the set so I didn’t get to watch football but at least got to watch some movies and relax a bit.

I got my renters insurance forms in the mail Monday and filled them out first thing yesterday morning and faxed them to my claim representative.  Now I just gotta wait for the check and try to get as much replaced as possible since I will be receiving $500 less than what my stuff was worth because of the deductible.  Sucks.

Today I wrapped up the 12 Days of Axemas from noon until 2 at First Cash Pawn on Rutherford St in Greenville.  The turnout was great but I had to rush back to the station to be on the air at 2!

Right now I’m trying to wrap up all my work and take the day off tomorrow for Christmas Eve and then come back and do my shift on Christmas Day.

Even though this year has been a rough one for me having had some legal woes, totaling a car, having my new one keyed and then my apartment broken into, I am remaining optimistic that 2010 will be a much better year kicking off a brand new decade.

I want to take a minute to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed and Happy New Year in 2010!

It seems everyone I know who lives out of town came to Greenville for a visit this past weekend!  My cousin Tonya came in from Portland, OR, my best friend Kenny came in from Atlanta to play a show and my ex-girlfriend Rebecca came in from Savannah, GA to pay her respects to a high school friend of hers who passed away in a tragic accident.  Rebecca and I had been on shaky ground for the past couple of weeks due to an incident where she had an ‘episode’ to put it lightly.  She came by and gave me my Christmas presents early and managed to make peace between us although our relationship is still fairly strained.

We did manage to coexist long enough to go pick my cousin up from my aunt and uncle’s house and go to Gumby’s to see Kenny play with his new project KENNY B & THE FRIZZ.  Opening the show was HEART MACHINE who put on a fairly energetic set before Kenny and the boys took the stage.  They played some MARTIANS SEE RED (Kenny’s former band) tunes as well as some new songs plus an acoustic version of the mellow portions of QUEEN’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” where Kenny demonstrated his truly incredible voice.

After their set, some of the members of HEART MACHINE returned to the stage donning Santa outfits and performed under the moniker BAD SANTAS as they ‘punked’ out some Christmas classics such as “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.  It was great but I had to take off during their set since I had to work the next morning.

I dropped Tonya off and got Rebecca back to her car just in time for Kenny to show up with his bandmates to crash at my place.  A couple of them had to leave at six so they barely got in a good nap.  Kenny and his drummer Troy (a former roommate of mine) got up and hit the road when I did the next morning.

After getting off the air Saturday, I came home and laid low for the remainder of the weekend watching football and the second season of My Name is Earl which Rebecca got me for Christmas.

Ok, I didn’t realize it was the anniversary of the Day That Will Live in Infamy until a few minutes ago, but I am honoring the tragedy of Pearl Harbor in my own way….by playing video games!

Alright, just hear me out!  Friday when I got off work I decided to go get a new video game for my PS3 since it’s been a few weeks since I beat Lego Batman.  So I went to my favorite toy store, Best Buy and went through all their PS3 games priced under $30 since I can’t justify spending 60 bucks on a damn video game.  I had been longing to play a good flying fighter game and, lo and behold, I found Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII for just $19.99!  Perfect!

So, needless to say, I spent my entire weekend at home watching TV and playing Blazing Angels.  One of the levels I got to play yesterday was called “Day of Infamy” where you are defending the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor from Japanese dive bombers and fighter planes.  The mission is difficult but exhilarating!  I guess I missed the exact date mentioned when the mission started, but was glad to see I had conquered it the day before the anniversary!  Can you say rematch tonight?!

Back in April, TRAPT and RED came to town with a then little known band called HALESTORM.  I had the privilege to meet them that day before their show (which was amazing, by the way) and they were so gracious and appreciative of the station and their fans.  Two days ago they returned as a band that is ten times bigger than they were eight months ago but just as gracious and humble as before.

When they got upstairs to soundcheck for the P1 Lounge, Arejay rounded the corner first and immediately upon seeing me yelled “It’s Twisted Todd!”.  Needless to say this really flattered me that he recognized and remembered me after being all over the place with many huge bands the past eight months.  Lzzy was just as humble as anyone could be despite being notorious for being a smokin’ hot leader of a very successful new band.  They were all so kind to not only the staff but to the listeners that came in for their acoustic performance which they did not hold back on as you’ll see on the video:

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After the performance they signed autographs and posed for pictures with all the staff and listeners.

When I got to the show, I found Lzzy and Arejay’s mom and tour manager, Beth to map out the announcing schedule for the evening.  She allowed me to hang out for a few minutes on their RV which was a treat!

Their set was just as amazing as I had remembered it being eight months ago when they were still the up and coming openers.

After the show, fans lined up to meet the band and get pictures and autographs at their merch table.  Eight months ago, the band just hung out outside to meet the handful of people that would recognize the opening band.  It’s amazing to me how far they’ve come in so little time and how their attitudes have not changed a bit.

After the venue cleared out, the band gave me a T-shirt and a pair of wristbands (which I am sporting right now) and let me and a friend hang out on their RV for a little while with members from the other bands ARANDA and SILVERSTONE.

It was a fantastic day that I hope to repeat soon!  I know HALESTORM will continue to succeed yet not forget where they came from and who they met along the way….

I, like most people, had quite my fill of turkey, dressing and everything in between this Thanksgiving.  I spent the day at my aunt and uncle’s house on my mother’s side, ate and watched football.  We drew names towards the end of the day to see who buys gifts for who since the economy has been a crunch on all of us.

Rebecca and I intended on doing some Christmas shopping first thing on the morning of Black Friday but opted to sleep in instead as we had tickets for the early show to see TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA.  She met me at my apartment along with my brother and my stepdad and we carpooled to the show.

When we got to the show I went and picked up our VIP passes so we could go backstage after the show.  The show was, once again, phenomenal and included some material from their new non-holiday album Night Castle.

When the show was over, we made our way down to the floor and over to the mixer and soundboard to meet with Kenny Kaplan, their tour manager.  He took us backstage where we passed some of the lovely ladies of TSO including Anna Phoebe, their badass smokin’ hot violinist.  We got to meet Alex Skolnick, the guitarist from TESTAMENT who also tours with TSO each year and the guy I’ve wanted to meet for YEARS!  He was very gracious to talk with us for a few minutes, sign our tickets and VIP badges and even take a few pictures.

As we were leaving, we stopped by the merch table to scout out some nifty souvenirs.  I ended up grabbing up a long sleeve Night Castle tour T-shirt.

After getting back to my apartment, we took separate cars to go grab some dinner from Oriental House and then Rebecca and I went to Best Buy for some shopping although I ended up not buying anything.

As for the rest of my weekend, well that’s another story for another day….

Although I had originally told myself to hold out on buying Star Trek on Blu-ray, I found myself heading to Best Buy after work last Tuesday.  I could not resist owning and watching this summer’s biggest action blockbuster on my PS3/Blu-ray player with HDMI cable connected to my Toshiba LCD TV!  B’dis good!

Star Trek  \m/  \m/  \m/  \m/

Friday night after work I went to go pick up Moon, a friend of mine from Columbia who was in town visiting his dad, and went out to Ground Zero for a benefit show with EVERY MANS ENEMY.  Neither of us were feeling great as both of us were having ‘digestive issues’ so we stopped and picked up anti-diarrhea medicine which seemed to settle us both.

We got to the show a little after nine and PARALLEL THEORY was already on stage followed by CHIVALRY featuring former members of EVERY MANS ENEMY.  Next was OBC (ORDER BY CORRUPTION) and then FROM TOMORROW featuring Epps, formerly of HEADSNAP.  EVERY MANS ENEMY went on last to close out the night and help with some of the prize drawings for the benefit.

It was great getting to see some people I haven’t seen in a while since I haven’t been to GZ in quite some time.  Moon spent most of the night getting hammered since I was the good ol’ DD and ended the evening talking to ‘Ralph’ in the GZ bathroom.  I had to go in and guide him out to the car where his empty Walgreens plastic bag awaited him so he blow more chunks on our way back to his dad’s house.  To his credit, he managed not to get a single drop of vomit in my car.  Kudos!

I didn’t get home and in my bed until around 4 a.m. so, needless to say, I was a little less-than-perky getting up five hours later to come in and do an on-air shift.  Quite a few people told me I sounded hungover even though I had only had a shot of Jager(meister) and a Captain (Morgan’s) and Coke earlier the night before.  I was just exhausted and I was hoarse from having to scream in everyone’s ear every time I tried to talk to someone during the show.

When I got off at 2, I went home and ordered some pizza from Wedgy’s and had P1 All Day Toker deliver.  I don’t think I opened my door once the rest of the weekend….