[Massachusetts metallers Shadows Fall have just completed an exhausting run of shows on the far side of the globe in Australia, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Each day this week vocalist Brian Fair will be recapping stories from the road in a guest-blog for MetalSucks. The fourth and final entry follows; be sure to read Brian’s entries about the Australian, Korean and Japanese tour stops. -Ed.]

We had never been to the Philippines before and honestly had no idea what to expect. There was no way we could have been prepared for the reception we were about to receive. The second we got off the plane, we knew this was going to be something special. We were greeted at the gate by an army of photographers from all the local newspapers and magazines. We were then whisked through immigration and customs and taken to a special VIP lounge where we discovered that we were on the front page of the local paper!! Unreal. After battling through the insane traffic of Manila, we headed to a local radio station to help promote the show. This was going to be the first metal show in the Philippines in years so the anticipation was incredibly high. We headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest and recovery and also to prepare for our trip to the beach the next day. Since we had two days off before the show, Vernon the promoter had set it up so we could head to the island paradise of Boracay to enjoy two days on the white sand beaches.

We hoped on a tiny ass propeller plane, then an even tinier boat, then finally a crazy truck to make it out to this remote slice of heaven. It really just doesn’t get any better than this. After two incredible days, we headed back to Manila to get ready for the show. As we walked into the venue, we noticed something incredible. Vernon and his crew had constructed a 30 foot replica of the “Rootman” from the album artwork from Threads Of Life, complete with moving arms and lazers shooting out of it’s chest!!!!

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[Massachusetts metallers Shadows Fall have just completed an exhausting run of shows on the far side of the globe in Australia, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Each day this week vocalist Brian Fair will be recapping stories from the road in a guest-blog for MetalSucks. The third entry follows; be sure to read Brian's entries about the Australian and Korean tour stops. -Ed.]

Back to Japan. The land of Godzilla, Hello Kitty and some of the greatest metal fans in the world. We were very excited to be part of a four day tour with our good friends in Arch Enemy and Job For A Cowboy. For those of you who don’t know, Arch Enemy are heavy metal gods in Japan and we can’t thank them enough for allowing us to join them and play in front of their rabid fans. All of the shows were packed and absolutely incredible. This was by far the most energetic and physical audience we have ever played in front of in Japan. The response to the new songs from Threads Of Life complete with crazy sing-alongs and general insanity of the crowds blew us away. It had been two and a half years since our last trip to Japan and the welcome we received was overwhelming. On our final night, we headed to our favorite bar in Japan, the infamous Rock Rock bar in Osaka. We all knew we had to wake up at 5AM for our trip to the Philippines, but that didn’t stop us from slamming beers and shots with Arch Enemy and JFAC ’til the sun came up. Thank God the flight was only three hours.

- Brian Fair (Shadows Fall)

[Stay tuned for the update from the Philippines tomorrow...]

[Shadows Fall on MySpace]
[Shadows Fall Official Website]

[Massachusetts metallers (and perennial MetalSucks faves) Shadows Fall have just completed an exhausting run of shows on the far side of the globe in Australia, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Each day this week vocalist Brian Fair will be recapping stories from the road in a guest-blog for MetalSucks. The second entry follows; be sure to read yesterday's entry about the Australian tour stop. -Ed.]

Right after the final Soundwave show in Perth, we headed right to the airport to begin a long trip to Seoul, Korea for a headlining show. This would be our second time playing in Korea and our anticipation of a killer show was very high. The fans in Korea welcomed us with a very loud reaction and lots of energy. We responded with a marathon set that included some songs from Of One Blood that we had not played in years and “Stormwinds” from Threads Of Life that had never been played live before. After the set, we headed to an amazing rock bar for a meet and greet with a ton of kids from the show. The Jager was flowing like water and people started getting quite loose. Jason took over the DJ booth and kept the hits from the 80′s rolling. The bar had a stage with a full backline set up and it was only a matter of time before a drunken karaoke session broke out. Nothing says party like a Jager soaked Men At Work sing along. A big thank you to Kevin Kim and everyone at Dope Entertainment.

Everyone had a blast until we realized we had to be up at 6AM for our flight to Japan. Ouch.

-Brian Fair (Shadows Fall)

[Stay tuned for Japan shenanigans tomorrow...]

[Boston-area metallers (and perennial MetalSucks faves) Shadows Fall have just completed an exhausting run of shows on the far side of the globe in Australia, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Each day this week vocalist Brian Fair will be recapping stories from the road in a guest-blog for MetalSucks. The first entry follows. Enjoy. -Ed.]

Wow. 15 flights in 21 days. The best word to describe our Australia and Asia tour would have to be whirlwind. Early mornings, airport breakfasts, incredible shows and brutal hangovers. I can’t wait to do it all again!!!

Australia has always been one of my favorite places on this earth to visit and our run on the Soundwave festival was no exception. The weather was perfect, the beers were strong and the crowds were ready for some real metal. The shows felt more like a class reunion of bands we have toured with throughout the years than a festival half-way across the globe. We had a blast partying with our boys in Killswitch Engage, From Autumn To Ashes, Divine Heresy, As I Lay Dying, Thursday, Still Remains and many more. The crowds over at the metal stage were absolutely insane!! They were loud enough to drown out the sappy sounds creeping over from all the emo stages that surrounded us and let people know that metal was alive and well in the land of Oz. These kids were going off from the first band to the last with some serious circle pit action and other assorted insanity. One kid even climbed a tree for a better view until the branch he was on snapped off and he dropped twenty plus feet to the ground!!! Another highlight was watching Tommy Vext of Divine Heresy doing his best Fred Durst at Woodstock impression and riding a piece of plywood on top of the crowd until his heavy ass split the wood in two!! A big “fuck you” to the kid in the crowd that hit Nick from As I Lay Dying in the head with an empty whiskey bottle. Thankfully the crowd responded with a little “dance floor justice” and made sure that he did not get away unpunished.

All in all, it was an amazing trip that already has me looking forward to heading back to Australia.

- Brian Fair (Shadows Fall)

[Shadows Fall on MySpace]
[Shadows Fall Official Website]