Surveying the scene at the Heavy Metal Swap Meet

“He died in Sweden; I’m so sorry,” says a man named Daniel who’s checking out my Cliff Burton tattoo. Though Daniel hails from Sweden himself, I doubt he had anything to do with Metallica’s tour bus flipping over and crushing bassist Burton in 1986. I tell him so, and suggest that he should instead be apologizing for purchasing the rare Eric Carr solo vinyl that features the deceased drummer in full KISS make up on the cover — in the style of the original records — which I wanted for myself at this Heavy Metal Swap Meet. He laughs, not the least bit sorry, and hands the vendor cash for the record I had been eyeballing for over half an hour. That’s how it’s been today; banter at Protector Brewery’s Miralani Drive location has preempted quite a few of my purchases.

Live music augments the atmosphere at this gathering of fans eager to celebrate all things metal, both old and new. The band Alchemy plays a set, sporting matching shirts imprinted with their band logo — gotta rep the brand, after all. Their influences scream vintage British metal, but their energy overcomes any feeling of being derivative. I’m grateful to hear something fresh, something that requires active listening, a conscious effort to achieve something like meditative focus. Metal was my first love, and I still listen to a lot of it. (People around me listen to it as well, whether they like it or not, because maximum is the only acceptable volume.) I love it, but vast experience has its downside: I can pick out a familiar chord progression or a band’s chief influences within seconds, Sometimes, that closes my mind to a band’s potential.

Events like this help to open my mind up again — not because they’re so “metal,” but because they break through my somewhat jaded mindset and remind me why I fell in love with the music to begin with. There’s something satisfying about metal’s literacy and intelligence getting dismissed by outsiders. I enjoy my own lack of fucks to give about someone rolling their eyes at a Slayer T-shirt, just like I enjoy an instant bond with another someone yelling the band’s name while flashing the devil horn salute. Walking through the venue in a slow circle, I notice the sub-genres within the community all peacefully, if noisily, co-existing: death metal, power metal, doom, and every other adjectival splinter one can think of. But, even as the scene is subdivided, it also feels more tolerant overall than when I was inducted into it a few decades ago.

Back then, someone like Taylor Swift would never have been discussed in the same breath as Iron Maiden. But here, today, the loyalty of both artists’ fans and their desire to do it their way get mentioned more than once. Among my many wandering conversations: Russ Stefanovich, guitarist for Coven 6669 (who play a solid set), tells me I have a twin in Seattle, and I tell him my twin is a lucky guy. We discuss the possibility of using the resemblance for shenanigans. For instance, I could walk up to a table at Mr. G’s Salsa and just begin eating off someone’s plate while he films it and tags his friends on social media. But then, given Seattle’s association with Twin Peaks, I begin to wonder: is Stefanovich’s friend the doppelganger, or am I? Or is there a third? Our conversation is cut off by fans with stacks of records for him to sign, and I am left to myself.

I check out Medieval Steel, a power metal band that delivers classic twin leads and soaring vocals. Nothing I haven’t heard before, but I appreciate the dedication, and this swap meet milieu gives the sound a new life. All this generosity of spirit helps me appreciate headline act Night Demon. I’m notoriously impatient with opening bands, an agitation that’s commensurate with my interest in the headliner, and the last time I saw Night Demon, they were opening for In Flames. It’s just possible I didn’t give them a fair shake because, in my circus brain, they were making me wait for the Swedish melodic masters. This afternoon, they’re killing it.

As I leave, I reflect on an earlier conversation I had with festival founder Brian Parker. After I congratulated him on the success and longevity of the Metal Swap Meet, the ever-positive, ever-humble Parker told me, “It’s good to see people enjoying it. Whether we expand or contract, as long as people want to come, we’ll keep doing it.”