SHARKSPAGE

Music capital of the NHL? Faith No More, Metallica, Neil Young… San Jose Sharks fans

METALLICA LEAD SINGER JAMES HETFIELD AT SHARKS WCSF GAME 5

Interesting story from SJsharks.com yesterday, Boyle’s Summer Trips End with Olympic Reunion in Edmonton. In addition to touching on the Canadian Olympian mini-renunion to receive their championship rings, it was also noted that Boyle traveled to New York City to catch the reunion tour of Faith No More. The Bay Area based band split at the height of their fame in the late 90’s, but returned in February 2009 to start a scaled down global tour after over a decade on hiatus.

“They’ve been broken up for 14 years and just got back together for a summer tour and were playing a gig in San Francisco a couple days before the Colorado series,” Dan Boyle told SJsharks.com. Boyle is an avid music aficionado, one who hosted a weekly show called Boyle’s Blue Line on 98 Rock in Tampa Bay before being traded to the Sharks. According to the NHL, it began when he started playing music in the locker room, and lead to the hour long program. In San Jose he got to meet one of his favorite bands Faith No More.

“To make a long story short, Tom Holy (Sharks media relations manager) got a hold of their manager and they pretty much set me up backstage. I met everybody and since have become good friends with a couple of guys.” Boyle mentioned that two of the band members came down for a Colorado game in the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals, and possibly another game against Chicago in the Western Conference Finals.

Dan Boyle also noted that lead singer Mike Patton, born in Eureka California, was scheduled to sing the national anthem prior to a game but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. Patton is an interesting musical figure, one who splintered off into a wide array of different musical projects after Faith No More, some of them compelling, many of them unusual. He co-founded the independent Ipecac Recordings to produce an eclectic mix of bands, he created the background score for the short film (A Perfect Place, 2008) and (Crank High Voltage, 2009), and collaborated with dozens of performers and bands including the East Bay’s Dan the Automator and Jennifer Charles as part of Lovage.

If Patton would have sang the National Anthem prior to the Sharks series clinching Game 5 against Detroit in the WCSF, he would have done so in front of another famed Bay Area native. The lead singer for Metallica, James Hetfield, was spotted in one of his many appearances in the crowd at the Tank. Grammy award winning folk singer Neil Young and his son, a die-hard Sharks fan, are also regulars at HP Pavilion. Even local college bands are getting in the act. The Whiskey Avengers penned the infectious Cheechoo-Tameu ska tune, which may be the best song about hockey in California starring Finnish and Cree-Nation hockey players ever made.

Los Angeles and New York may lead the NHL in star musical fans, but how much credit does a Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber engender (pun intended). For sheer talent and ability to not suck, San Jose may be knocking on Nashville’s door as music capital of the NHL.

One of Sharkspage’s goals for 2010-11 is to get noted East Bay cellist Nathan Chan nominated to play the national anthem at a game. He debuted at Carnegie Hall at 12, was asked by Roberta Flack to play on her album at 13, and released his first CD at 15. Sign him up.

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