31 October 2002, Clear Lake, Iowa, US

Posted by MetalMark on 01 November 2002 11:27 AM

Started out by getting to the Surf Ballroom just in time for soundcheck. Then right after, I sat down to interview Tommy for my radio show and then shot breeze for a little while prior to the show.

Prong went on at 9 pm and played 17 songs. Although there were issues with the monitors and Tommy couldn't hear his vocals on stage, the show went on. Not a very big crowd, but those that were there were way into it.

Since it was Halloween, people showed up in costume and there were some pretty good ones. Tommy even came out with an alien mask and wore it for the entire duration of "Dark Signs", the opening track! Jagermeister has a hand in the tour, so there were free "Jag" visors, t-shirts, keychains and glo-buttons to be had...since they were free they went quick!

I picked up "100% Live" at the show and all member signed it after the show. One thing about the live album. Prong's new label, Locomotive, is based in Spain. The way I had it explained to me is that the cds were held up at customs and that is why so many people are having difficulty finding it in the States. So Kevin, the manager of the venue also owns a record store and managed to sucure 50 pieces of the new cd to sell at the show.

Anyway, all the guys are very nice and Tommy and Monte both told me the new studio album should be out in April. Monty told me to expect a raw, heavy and fast album with multiple breakdown parts. From the sounds of it, there will be approximately 13 songs on the new album. Tommy also gave me some song titles. In addition to the ones he revealed the last time we talked (Assurances, Letter To A Friend, Entrance To The Eclipse, and, of course, Initiation) Detached and Hidden Agenda are a couple of other new songs.

All in all a great show, everybody that was there had a blast and the band were in great spirits. Today the band had a 13 hour drive from Clear Lake to Detroit...so look out Motor City, the mighty Prong is going to crush you next!

The show was great fun and if you get a chance to see Prong live don't pass it up!

Mark Skaar.