On August 15th, we set off on one of the greatest World Tours’ of all time. To say it was legendary would be an understatement. Here’s a recap of the 4-day tour with Occultist that changed our lives forever…
Our first stop was The Milestone in Charlotte, North Carolina. We arrived at the venue just before dusk. Occultist was already there hanging out in an empty gravel parking lot behind the Milestone. We shared stories of the epic drive from Richmond to Charlotte before scoping out the inside of the venue.
We walked into The MIlestone to find a medium-sized stage area with stickers covering every inch of the walls. This venue has a long history of shows that date back to the 80s. Apparently Nirvana, Bad Brains, and countless other well-known bands had performed there back when they were not so well-known. Maybe in 200 years, someone will find the tiny Humungus sticker we left on the wall and take take a picture next to it. Here’s a picture of Robby admiring the framed Bad Brains tag on the wall.
Needless to say, the show was monumental for everyone involved. Local thrash metal band, Nemesis opened the show with an incredible display of supersonic shredding. Next up, Occultist crushed the crowd with an overwhelming amount of heaviness. We performed third, with a hole lot of new songs. Here’s a glimpse of the setlist and view from the stage.
Our good friends in Axattck from Columbia, SC wrapped up the show. They ended with a thrash metal version of “Bark at the moon” played at double speed. It was unexpected and awesome. After the show, Humungus and Occultist went to a friends house around 3 am and partied till the sun came up. Here’s a picture of everyone feeling great. By great I mean exhausted and hungry.
Next stop on the map was Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia has always been good to Humungus and this show was no different. We arrived at The Artbar hours before the show. We had time to sit in the parking lot and discuss how awesome the show was going to be. As you can see in the picture below, we’re having a great time.
Our good friends in Deathstill opened the show as local thrashers began to pour into the doors. Occultist performed after them and brought the heaviness once again. At that point of the night, everyone seemed very eager to see us perform. It had been several years since our last time in Columbia but it was clear we hadn’t been forgotten. The room quickly filled as we rolled full stacks on to the stage.
Once again, Axattack closed the show and we got to experience “Bark at the moon” played at 250bpm. This night was extra special since it was Jim Reeds’ Birthday (Guitarist in Occultist). The celebrate, we drank beers in the parking lot with a ton of cool locals who attended the show. Later on, that night around 3 am we headed to Peytons’ (Guitarist of Deathstill) house for more late-night shenanigans. There’s no photo evidence of the shenanigans but I assure you it happened.
Next stop, The Jinx 912 in Savannah, Georgia. But not before getting biscuits and gravy at Bojangles. After bojangling the gravy train we hit the road for a short 2-hour drive to Savannah, GA. We arrived at the Jinx with several hours to kill before showtime. A few relatives drove up to Savannah from Florida to see us perform. Wayne’s (Bassist) dad drove up from Jacksonville, FL and Peyton’s (Guitarist) mom and brother drove up from Miami, FL. Everyone was ready to thrash and get slaushed in the streets of Savannah.
The Jinx is located on a popular street in oldtown Savanah. The doors are open to anyone walking by that wants to see the show. A shit-kickin’ country band performed for a few hours until the sun went down. The show officially started when JD Pinkus from “The butthole Surfers” began handing out mushrooms to people in the audience. He then played banjo in front of two projectors while psychedelic visuals illuminated the wall behind him. He was extremely entertaining.
Then Occultist claimed the stage with the around of heaviness. On this night we were the headline act and we ended up doing two encores. Here’s a video of the first song of our set. It’s titled “Iron Shod Hoof of Battle and it’s available on Bandcamp.
The show in Savannah was a huge success. We saw a ton of familiar faces and we’re looking forward to doing it again in the future. After the show met up with our good friend Scary and went to his house/new home studio and drooled over all his awesome music equipment.
The final destination of our world tour was Suck Bang Blow in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We arrive at what could only be described as a redneck biker bar next to da beach. It was difficult to determine if we were in heaven or hell.
The venue was enormous with an indoor stage, outdoor stage, rooftop deck with stripper cages, and a parking lot full of classic cars.
The only thing missing was people. The sound guy, who looked like Willie Nelsons older brother, seemed uninterested in heavy metal music. The staff members and regulars at the bar seemed equally unimpressed. That didn’t matter to us. We still put on a show as though millions of fans were cheering us on. Here are two videos from the show filmed by John Bliss, the guitarist in Occultist. Thanks for capturing this unforgettable experience at the world-famous “Suck Bang Blow”. It certainly did suck and the night ended with blow.
To wrap up the tour with Occultist everyone got on stage for a hardstyle group photo. It took what felt like 10 years to gather everyone on stage for one last picture before parting ways forever.
After the show, we stayed at a friends Air B&B condo that overlooked the beach. We stayed up all night which made the drive home long and exhausting. Before leaving Myrtle Beach, we had to get a picture in front of a giant shark we discovered the night before. After snapping a few photos we hit the road back to our hometown, Richmond, VA.
After a long drive back to our rehearsal space in Richmond, VA, we snapped one last group photo before parting ways. We had a blast seeing familiar faces and making new friends on the road. We’re excited to do it again and we appreciate everyone who has helped and continues to help us out along the way.