This past week there was a horrific tragedy in RI, where 97 people were killed in a fire. Metal band Great White set off pyrotechnics during the first song in the show. The device, from what I understand was a homemade pipe with flash powder and gunpowder mixed together, a device smaller than a human fist. The club was small. Not equipped with a professional to set off the devices, the homemade device set off sparks and quickly turned the one story wood building into an inferno. The exits weren’t as accessible as the front door, which in the ensuing panic, became choked with people trying to escape. The club burned to the ground in less than 10 minutes. Some fans said that at first they thought it was part of the show, so no one thought that anything was wrong. But as the fire caught the roof over the stage, everyone realized that the club was on fire and started the mad scramble of people trying to save their lives.

Great White is metal, I don’t give a hoot what anyone thinks, and I know metal when I hear it. My perfectly trained ear for genuine old school metal has developed over the years by a friend of mine. She claims it was all me but she’s wrong. It was all her. Always, in my mind, all about HER. She could do no wrong in my eyes. She still can’t screw anything up; I don’t know how she does it. We would go to many shows all metal, all things non-metal sucked and we were metal girls to the end. We saw Motley Crue, The Scorpions, Tesla, Cinderella, Poison, Def Leppard and yes, Great White. The list is long and with every ticket stub we became a little more cool, a little more aloof. We were metal connoisseurs and would never accept cheap imitations. Slammed in front of the stages, pushed by hundreds if not thousands of people, screaming my head off, and waiting for the lights to go out is a memory burned into my brain. The next day’s bruises were badges of honor to all things metal. There are so many concert memories that I could fill a book. As time has passed from the 80’s until today, we have expanded the scope and listen to things not metal. It’s the grow and evolve thing, it kind of sucks. But it has always been about the music. We both cried the first time we saw U2, I touched Dave Navarro’s arm at Jane’s Addiction. I’ve met Glenn Danzig and Iced Earth. We saw Rob Zombie on my last birthday. We saw Social Distortion on 9-10-02. I’ll never forget being passed out cold on the couch on 9-11 and the phone waking me up at 7:32 am with my friend Layne screaming into my hung over ears to turn on the TV.” Turn it on, Anna, Oh My God…” She was sobbing uncontrollably. 9-11 has damaged my thought process to the point that when I get home from a show now, I sleep on the couch waiting to turn on CNN the minute I wake up. And the fire in RI is the saddest thing to happen to the metal community in a long time. There have been many concert disasters, but this one sparks a sharp pain in my heart. I can hardly think about it without a profound sorrow, sorrow that comes from the heart of an old school girl such as myself. I imagine many fans feel the same way.

But there is no comfort. No amount of tears will bring them back. I will cover this case on our site, but it won’t be quick or pretty. I have met some amazing people out of this horror and heard great new music.

It will take months for all the fact-findings to come in, and Great White and the club’s owners have been called to testify in front of a Grand Jury. I’m sure there will be more lawsuits than I have had hot dinners, from the families, against the club owners and probably Great White, as well. Their guitarist, Ty Longley was one of those killed, and many others that just loved metal, went to the club to rock and lost their lives. A very popular, widely loved and respected DJ Mike Gonzales AKA Dr. Metal from the station WHJY 94.1 died there Dan AKA Damimal from the band, Letdown, knew Mike and spoke highly of his dedication to the scene and the genre. Music, and metal in particular, has helped me tremendously, as I’m sure many of us have. I have a terminal illness and the music takes me away from all that. My favorite bands these days are Marilyn Manson and Sublime. The passing of our metal brothers and sisters has touched off an investigation, so hopefully this thing will never happen again. We can only pray that no more of our brethren will lose their lives for the music we have loved and lost, for the rest of our lives.