At the start of November 2008, we got an e-mail informing us that one of our all-time heroes was gonna be hitting the stage in central Europe later in the month...

The man in question is JEFF MANTAS. In between sessions with his new band DRYLL, he had accepted an invitation from his friends in LAST ONE DYING to join them as guest guitarist on their tour. Fuckin' Hell Yeah!! First time I met MANTAS was at VENOM's 1990 concert in the Marquee, London. And the last time we met was backstage at Wacken 2000, where we spent a fantastic evening with JEFF and the rest of the VENOM lads and crew. So, after 8 years, it was with great excitement that we started planning our daytrip to Stuttgart in Germany.

I left home at 1.30pm and picked up Mrs Hydra from her workplace, before collecting 2 of the Evil Istein Legions: Weird Al and Normal Lungi. A few hundred yards after leaving castle Al, we are sitting in the middle of a motorway traffic jam. No worries, we are early and the banter is good, as we blast VENOM's WELCOME TO HELL and BLACK METAL outta the stereo. Flash forward a few hours and then we are proper worried! Traffic jam after traffic jam means that as we are entering Stuttgart, what should have been a three hour trip had already taken six hours, and we were still nowhere near the venue. We stopped at a car park to check maps, etc. Had a quick beer and a smoke, and we all agreed that we were gonna miss the actual concert, and consoled ourselves that we would at least see MANTAS after the show...

However, it obviously was not only the BLACK METAL God who was in Stuttgart that night, other Gods or Dark Forces had decided we were gonna see this concert! After parking up the car and sprinting into the venue, we were greeted with the sight of the LAST ONE DYING stage being prepared, they were just about to start their show!! Fuck Yeah!!! All the stress of the journey disappeared immediately, and the smiles returned to the faces of us Hydra's and both Mr Weird and Mr Normal too.

We spotted JEFF behind the curtain stage-left, and managed to say a quick HELLo to the great man before the gig got going. We had been exchanging text messages with JEFF throughout the day, mainly to inform him exactly which traffic jam we were now stuck in! So he knew we had made it at last!

Just time to grab a very well deserved cold beer, and we take up our vantage point next to the stage. JEFF had already informed us that LAST ONE DYING would first perform 4 songs, then MANTAS would join in for the rest of the set. While we must admit that we were not aware of this band until very recently, we were pleasantly surprised by the songs we heard on their MySpace page (see link at the bottom of this page), and they sounded very good live too. During these first four songs, I was having a sneaky look at the tracklist for the concert, and my eyes were drawn to track number nine...... Fuckin' Hell Fuckin' Yeah, there is gonna be a VENOM classic performed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, after LAST ONE DYING had performed these four songs, our big moment had arrived. JEFF MANTAS strolls to the centre of the stage, and dive-bombs his guitar and launches the next song. Three more songs are performed, and everything is sounding real good. Sweat and smiles fill the stage, everyone up there is having a great time, and the songs are very well received by the audience too. So that was eight songs so far...

Song nine was going to be BLACK METAL. Indeed, the VENOM classic which was penned by MANTAS back in 1982 and has influenced the whole extreme music scene ever since... and I'm gonna witness it from a few feet away!! It just does not get any better than this!!

After closely watching the first few legendary chords being performed by the mighty MANTAS, instinct takes over and all I can do is Freak like hell! Fuckin' awesome, JEFF and the LAST ONE DYING guys performed the song with the precision and heavyness that this classic song demands. LAY DOWN YOUR SOUL TO THE GODS ROCK'N'ROLL - I most certainly have, for many many years... and I most certainly will for many more!!!! As the last chord is struck, a quick glance is exchanged between JEFF and me, and we're both sporting those little smiles that said we both really enjoyed what we had just heard. Hell Yeah!!!!

Another quick beer while enjoying the last few songs of the set, clicking furiously on our camera to get an many photos as possible of this awesome event! JEFF sounded and looked sensational onstage, that classic MANTAS stance, guitar pointing skywards, intertwined with his legendary dive-bombs... and it is very obvious that he is enjoying it immensely!!

The band say goodnight, and the audience shows a great appreciation of the excellent concert. As admitted earlier, we would have not been in Stuttgart but for the MANTAS factor. But we were genuinely impressed with LAST ONE DYING, good songs performed excellently, and a very lively on-stage show. We will definitely be attending another concert by LAST ONE DYING if they perform anywhere near to where we live. You should too!

Grab another beer and outside for a smoke. JEFF joins us, so we get to exchange proper HELLo's and congratulate him on his and the bands performance. Over an hour zoomed by, as we shared some VENOM memories together, and discussed all things past, present and future. A very interesting and funny discussion!

Unfortunately for JEFF, his work for the evening was far from over! I did mention to JEFF earlier in the week that I might bring a few things to get autographed, so he probably had a fair idea of what was coming... If our entire V collection were to be autographed, it would take a week (at least!). So I thought I had better show mercy to those hands that created the greatest music ever made by taking only a few items. Erm....

While Mrs H unpacked our stuff, Alex and Lungi got their stuff signed.... and then all the photo requests meant JEFF was running all over the place! Good job he stays in top physical shape! It must have taken at least an hour to sign all our stuff. As each single or album was signed, there was always a little story or interesting fact discussed..... as an old VENOM-head, always nice to learn something new about your favourite band! It was fascinating watching MANTAS looking through the stuff too, it obviously brought back some nice memories for the man. We did feel a bit guilty about bringing so much stuff for signing, but JEFF signed every single item. He seemed to enjoy it almost as much as we did! Mucho respect, Dude!!!!

One final item to be signed, a requested autograph for our Daughter. No problem, and a very proud and happy little Lady now has a framed autograph of the mighty JEFF MANTAS hanging in her bedroom! Hell Yeah indeed!!!

As you can imagine, it was getting seriously late now, so it was about time we let JEFF and all the LAST ONE DYING Dudes get going on their travels. After saying farewell to everyone from LOD, a final photo of the evening for us Hydra's with JEFF. It was such an honour to spend such a wonderful evening with a true Metal Legend, and also a very cool person indeed. One of our greatest ever Metal nights ever. Bow down to the mighty JEFF MANTAS!!!!!!!

As I drove all the way to Stuttgart, Mrs H and Alex shared the drive home. Thankfully not much traffic, and we reached home approaching 6am. Just two hours sleep for Mrs H before work. Poor ol' Alex was worse - just a quick shower and straight off to work for him. Having made sure that I did not have to work on Friday, I was thinking of them as I lay snoring till late afternoon. Ha! It's only Rock'n'Roll, guys!