Albuquerque could not have been a better send-off. There were almost 200 in attendance, on a Monday night no less, and it was one of the best audiences of the tour. There is no greater sense of validation than to play your music and have an entire room headbanging in unison. The rest of the show was excellent as well, with each band garnering cheers and horns held high. Goatwhore laid down a massive set, which was punctuated by the requisite end of the tour prank. Blake, Sanguine, The Carcass, and I entombed Ben in silly string on Goatwhore's last song. The crowd loved it, and the ever-professional Ben didn't miss a beat and kept on screaming while looking like the bride of Swamp Thing (NOTE: if you were at this show and have pictures, please contact us). He is a wily bastard, though, and apparently got wind of our plot beforehand. After our set he managed to break into our van, thanks in part to us foolishly leaving a window cracked, and spent half an hour rifling through our gear looking for the string cans. When he could not find them, he took our guitars and hid them in his trailer instead. Sanguine and I realized this at the end of the night when we noticed the large unoccupied space in the back of our van. We didn't panic, but we walked in and out of the club for a few minutes in confusion while trying to locate the missing cases. Ben finally came laughing and admonishing us that we shouldn't leave our windows open. Lesson learned - Ben Goatwhore is not someone with whom to mess. It was worth it any case.
1349's set was the final, fatal blow that signalled the end of the tour like a massive black flag. They were clearly enjoying the response, as Ravn was more outgoing with the audience than usual and the entire unit played especially hard. They also made a good show of ignoring the gay beefcake photos that Chris taped to their monitors. Averse Sefira and Nachtmystium were out in force in the pit and occasionally on the heads and shoulders of the crowd. And then it was over. The Hellfire Revival Tour (as I've chosen to call it) is now at a close, and we are sad to see it go. We couldn't have asked for a better maiden voyage of the US - a proper Black Metal tour, and a successful one at that. Everyone involved agrees that we couldn't have had a better lineup in terms of bands and the people behind them. We will be fortunate to have a strong dynamic like this again, though we will make a point of playing with all three bands whenever a new opportunity arises.
So for now we bid farewell to the Numbers, the Whores, and the Mysties, and in the meantime we will be grateful for the experience and the new alliances. As for this blog, it will remain intact with new entries attached to events of interest surrounding Averse Sefira. Keep watching.
Thanks to everyone who attended the shows and made this tour such a triumph. We will meet again.
