HAIL! Checks In From Lebanon

November 19, 2009

The all-star band HAIL! — comprised of bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH, F5),guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA),Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ICED EARTH) and newly announced sticksman Paul Bostaph (TESTAMENT, SLAYER, EXODUS) — will be the first metal band to ever play live in Lebanon. On November 20, HAIL! will perform at the historic concert at Hektic Hall in the capital city of Beirut.

The band has issued the following update:

"We're here! After several months of planning and 25-hour flights, we arrived in Lebanon last night. Long flights but we made it and everybody is in good spirits. Our hosts from RockRing, Roy Naufal and Maher Mardini, were very excited to greet us and I'm not sure they actually thought we were real. LOL! It took a lot of work to pull this all together and it's proof that when everybody works together as a team, good things result.

The hotel is really nice, large suites overlooking downtown and the ocean. The layout of the coastline is very similar to Santa Monica/Malibu [California].

"We went out to dinner with our 'entourage' and had a nice meal and nice conversation as we were warmly welcomed with open arms. After dinner, we went to a small rock bar and the drinking continued. After a few rounds, we moved to another bar and did some shots of Jagermeister and more beers.

"It was great to have Paul out with us — he's obviously a ridonkulous drummer and a great guy. He understands our HAIL! mentality and fit in immediately.

"Welcome aboard, mate!

"We got a 3:00 a.m. tour of the city and coast and (after a brief yack stop for one of our local friends, LOL) we got back to the hotel where Andreas and I chilled on the balcony with some more beers until about 5:00. Beautiful evening.

"On the flight over, I got to watch the IRON MAIDEN 'Flight 666' DVD (thanks, David!) and MAIDEN is just sick! They have conquered the world doing things their own way and they remain the blueprint of success and the epitome of credibility.

"Thank you for being the backbone of all metal. Your relentless hard work, unwavering purpose and enormous success is a true testament to the way it should be. It is our honor to pay tribute to you. Without IRON MAIDEN, none of us would be here."

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