A tie-in between a German writer's return trip to Cleveland (Iron Ingo, from Metal-Rules.de) and Auburn Records magnet Bill Peters commemorating 26 years in the business, resulted in the FREE all-day Iron Ingo Indoor Air festival, held at the Beachland Ballroom on December 11th. Most of the eleven acts are already part of the Auburn roster, a few are going on three decades as such. Beginning at 4pm, each act was afforded 30 minutes, with just 15 minute changeovers between bands! There was also a pair of appearances by the Cleveland Burlesque troupe, girls offering some bump and grind tease set to metal music.

Hats off to Peters for not only arranging the event, but investing his own money to make it happen, to say nothing of the 24 hour day he saddled himself with, overseeing the nuts n' bolts of the operation, from live recordings (video and audio) to catering, backline rental/delivery and all the pre-event publicity in the local media. The day after the show, he’d be the one to take hundreds of pounds of donated food to the Cleveland Food Bank. He’s always been that way. Might be why Auburn, a small label has not only survived, but frequently gets bands on major German metal fests. Aside from Metal Blade, there’s no longer a running American based/owned metal label! Cleveland, you REALLY don’t know what you’ve got. Appreciate!

The sounds of air raid siren and dive bombers signaled GROUND ZERO taking off to the twin leads of ‘This Means War’, complete with synchronized stage movements from the trio across the front of the stage. A definite Judas Priest undercurrent is evident in their crunchy, mid-tempo traditional fare (‘Demolish’, ‘Mass Chaos’, ‘TKO 123’), mixed with lesser utilized American influences, like Iced Earth. Only the ‘Frozen Christ’ finale broke from this mold, stylistically, as well as sonically.

Next up, those PBR swilling, wah wah pedal stomping bearded wonders, VENOMIN JAMES. A lo-fi rumble, ala stoner, but with much more groove, I could almost see these notes, a shimmering mirage. Despite the musical lethargy, they play in spasmodic/hypnotic movements around the stage. Utilizing instrumental passages, the sludge is made all the more effective by injections of uptempo rhythms (like Candlemass, Trouble or St. Vitus before them). Somehow I feel the live vibe is where VJ thrives.

Despite an unlimited in-and-out policy throughout the entire 9+ hour event, noticed lots of “greybeards” in attendance, the only under 21s apparently there with mom & dad, who were the real fans. Would have thought a few more youngsters would have ditched the I-pod, to experience what a real rock n roll show is like (and for free?). Speaking of the younger set, by comparison ETERNAL LEGACY were the kids of this metal crowd. Saw them during the summer, as they played in German, including a stop at Wacken, where their brand of dual guitar melodic thrash is always welcome. A long way and completely different circumstances from those overseas triumphs, the guitar brothers Vaneck (Jason doubling on vocals + Shaun, lead) utilized this opportunity to debut new material.

Speaking of breaking in new songs the legendary DESTRUCTOR showcased no less than five (!) newbies. Like several of the bands on the bill, these vintage Cleveland thrashers have played Europe, but even there, probably weren’t finished by 7pm. Guitarist Pat Rabid still sports the same Anvil/Saxon cutoff denim from the 80s, albeit now atop his leather jacket, while vocalist/guitarist Dave Overkill wore a red button-down dress shirt beneath a leather vest. ‘Heavy Metal For Life’ is a pounding number where the titular phrase is all but the only lyrics. An instrumental (may eventually have lyrics) ‘Evil Winds’ sounds thrashy, bordering of death, with some serious soloing, and led directly into ‘Smash Your Skulls’ (alongside ‘Precision Devastation’, the only oldie in the batch tonight). ‘Metal Spike Deep’, dedicated to posers, was a speedy, twin lead affair with a dirty (no, damn filthy) guitar tone, yet groove. Start to finish, ‘Keep The Faith’ rips, atop Overkill's yelping vox. Now get in studio and bang this stuff out!

The resurrected H.A.T.E. (not to be confused with the similarly punctuated Polish death metallers) were one of the few bands I’d not seen before, but have seen vocalist (left handed guitarist) Greg Wagner front BREAKER, as well as some of his post-80s endeavors. Their long overdue Inject The Infection debut is scheduled to be released any day now (on Auburn) featuring power metal tunes from back-in-the-day as well as grittier, more modern output. Live, it’s hard to envision how that voice comes out of such a wiry fellow. ‘Here Comes The Pain’, ‘Twist Of Hate’ and the forthcoming title track all standing out to these ears.

SOULLESS features vocalist Jim Lippucci, he of the self deprecating wit, which is quite a thing for a frontman with a prosthetic leg! Backstage, he let Iron Ingo pose for photos where the German appeared to be biting the disembodied man-made limb. Takes a special kind of guy to be able to laugh at yourself (embrace the situation) so easily/publicly. For instance, onstage, they offered the crowd diversity, with their death metal styling, in between Lippucci zinging one-liners like the following ‘sales pitch’: “We can really use your money. My unemployment is up. Besides, I need a new X-box.” Love that Cleveland sense of humor. They ended with their calling card, an uncharacteristic cover of Rainbow’s ‘Kill The King’.

BREAKER, once again (still?) fronted by Wagner is comprised of original members Mark Klein (drums) and Don Depew (guitar). Their short set offered a career retrospective, from first single ‘Blood Money’, to ‘Lie To Me’, ‘Black Light Arc’, breathing new life into ‘Luck & Gasoline’ and their trademark, ‘Ten Seconds In’. Classics all around.

With high pitched vocals, the Maiden inspired five-piece LICK THE BLADE followed the lead of others this day, opting to use the half hour timeslot to try out new material, like ‘The Blessing’. Like many, I was eager to witness BLACK DEATH. Back in the 80s the band lived up to their name, an all African American outfit playing traditional heavy metal (not some watered down LA style), fronted by the off-the-rails antics of Siki Spacek, a crossing guard who carried his guitar everywhere! It was not uncommon to see the headbanded, spandex wearing madman, his guitar slung over his shoulder with a chain (instead of guitar strap) riding the RTA (city subway system). He lived and was METAL! Well the new incarnation features Greg Hicks (guitar) as the only original (and now black) member, lead vocals now done by a female, Sandy Kruger. Truthfully, without Siki (who showed up in the audience, guitar in tow!) and 4/5 of the band being white, they should be called “The Ghost Of Black Death” or some such passing reference to history. That said, the band is very good, with thrashy, high end vocals, but not Black Death.

After a second ‘showing’ of strippers: really girls (?), ‘She’s Got The Jack’, it was time for SHOK PARIS. Remaining mainstays Ken Erb (guitar) and shades wearing, bandana wearing singer Vic Hix (voice) have written a slew of material (aired one in Germany, at Headbangers Open Air, this summer), so they too decided to rehearsed some songs destined for Decharge Electrique, including ‘Hell Game’ and ‘Then Music Takes You Away’, amongst golden oldies like ‘Hot On Your Heels’, ‘Burn It Down’, ‘Go For The Throat’ and ‘Run But Don’t Hide’. There’s discussion of a return engagement to Europe, so if you get the chance, check out one of the 80s underrated gems.

The evening drew to a close with the tribute band Maiden Voyage performing Iron Ingo’s favorite album, Number Of The Beast, in its entirety. During the the song 'Iron Maiden', a masked Eddie (the Iron Maiden mascot), dressed in a Santa suit, distributed wrapped gifts (t-shirts and CDs) to the boys and girls (including the “naughty” burlesque stars). Eventually, the mask was removed, revealing master of ceremonies Ingo (all the more appropriate, since the German’s face was superimposed on the Derek Riggs album artwork in promotional posters for the day’s event). A fine capper for the show.

Additional photos can be seen here.