Paul's tattoo

Ok so this isn’t a picture of me with a band but this is one of my favorite photos ever. Not just because of the shot but because of the circumstances surrounding it. In 1996 (or maybe ’97) it was announced that the original line up of Black Sabbath were going to be hitting the road again, kicking the whole thing off in Phoenix Arizona. These two guys I used to hang around with had a grandmother in Phoenix so we decided to fly out there, stay with her for free and go to the show. Phoenix is hot, hot and uncomfortable and there’s very little to do. The three of us were staying with a grandmother so it wasn’t like we could do much at her house either. At first we got a kick out of driving to the Mall, being a city boy Malls are always fun to go to. You walk around in the climate control and watch all the “Happy Consumers” putter around in a capitalistic frenzy. That quickly got boring so we headed up to the big Meteor Crater to get a really good view of what a huge hole in the ground looks like. At the crater the three of us proved how big of dorks we were by pretending to be Jeff Bridges in Starman before retiring back to their Grandmother’s house for dinner. The next night was the show so we piled into the car and headed out. This was a big time event because it wasn’t just Sabbath but also Pantera, Megadeth and a couple of other bands whose names I can't remember. The facility itself was huge and we got rushed in the back because a friend of ours knew the bouncers there. The first big surprise of the night was that the bouncers had also gotten in a large batch of their extremely hot stripper friends. You have to love bouncers and security guys simply on the fact that they always know strippers and strippers who are off duty are pretty excited to just not be half naked. These girls were not only very friendly but also very inebriated so they were all about being overly affectionate. Don’t get me wrong, nobody was banging in the bathroom but it was still a good time and these girls were hot!! We sat through Pantera which was difficult due to the fact that Phil wouldn’t stop giving speeches for more than half of the set. The stage was kind of far away but I could’ve sworn I saw Dimebag roll his eyes. After Pantera, Megadeth took the stage and that was cool because Dave and the band did what seemed like a greatest hits list. Megadeth ended and the stage started getting set for Sabbath. Suddenly, across the way I saw this bright tattoo that looked oddly familiar. I started moving towards it, noticing that it was a complete back piece and that the center of it was a man with his fist raised above his head and what looked like a sword. As I got closer to the tattoo I couldn’t believe my eyes at what was taking shape. Somebody, some actual human being decided to get the entire cover of Manowar’s album “Kings Of Metal” on their back. It was incredible, it was the entire cover and such detail that whoever had it done must’ve been at it for months. This was dedication, this was somebody who worshiped Manowar and I just couldn’t believe this was actually happening. What happened next was a complete surprise. I figured I had to talk tot he guy who had this tattoo, if only to ask him why. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t there to laugh, I love Manowar but that was usually met with ridicule. Here was a guy who obviously loved Manowar to and way, way more than I did. When I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around I was taken aback. I figured it would be some pasty white metalhead kid but instead is was an older Mexican guy with short hair. I told him I thought his tattoo as amazing and he said “Thank you, thank you very much.” Now it wasn’t his response that surprised me but the fact that he sounded exactly like Elvis Presley. I was standing in front of a man with a giant Manowar tattoo who was talking to me like Elvis Presley, I began to think I was having an acid flashback. I got my bearings back and asked him if I can take a picture of the back piece. He smiled and said “Of course man, we’re all brothers of metal.” So I snapped the photo, thanked him and went back to strippers and Sabbath. The rest of the night was awesome, Sabbath kicked much ass and I even got most of the direct attention from one of the pretty blond strippers. After the show I tossed the disposable camera into my bag and forgot about it. Several months later I re-discovered it and got the photos developed, when I saw this photo I freaked because I’d forgotten all about the tattoo. So that’s my Manowar tattoo story, I still can’t believe it really happened.