Sandstone to Slipknot - Part 1
- Lo Me
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 18
Nath and I have both been lifelong metal fans and early on during the Covid days, we watched a lot of bands playing, and streaming the performances remotely. We watched countless 'Isolation' sessions by Brazilian metal band Sepultura amongst many others.
In April 2021 we arrived in Winton and began our opal journey, we decided to send Sepultura some sandstone matrix pendants and loose stones, just as an appreciation for the Iso sessions.
Fast forward to December 2023 and we made it to Brisbane after driving 1500km, for the Good Things Festival. As well as attending the festival day, Sepultura were playing a sideshow the following night and we had tickets to the gig as well as the opportunity for a meet and greet with the band. As usual Nath had organised gifts for the band, just a way to say thanks for making it all the way to Australia from Brazil to tour. Nath has been friends with bassist Paulo Xisto Jnr for years, so it was great to see them meet up in person for the first time.
We booked the festival tickets as Sepultura were on the lineup as well as some other bands we wanted to see. We had a wicked day, catching Slaughter to Prevail, Stand Atlantic and Corey Taylor's sets. In addition to the Sunday festival, Sepultura were playing a sideshow the following evening which we had tickets for. While having a pre-gig drink outside we met the lead singer of Sepultura's support band, Hidden Intent, awesome humble guy, thought we were nuts opal mining in the outback and driving 2 days to get to the show...but their set...they absolutely smashed it!
We had arranged a meet and greet and were excited to have new opal gifts for the band. Amongst the stones, Nath also gifted guitarist Andreas Kisser a T shirt from New Zealand which Andreas continues to wear. Whilst we were chatting to drummer Eloy Casagrande, we gifted him a beautiful blue boulder opal ring for his wife Ariane. The ring was such a tiny size, it was hard to move, so as Ariane is a talented plastic surgeon in Brazil and is such a petite little woman, we wanted her to have it. He was so moved, that Brazilian emotion is so strong, he went back stage and came back with a battered and shattered drumstick. Eloy had signed it to Nathan with his autograph and explained that it was the stick he played the set at Good Things with the day earlier. Keeping in mind Sepultura only played eight songs...eight!
What was even more amazing to us, once Eloy realised we had sent him the little fairystone over a year earlier with a card wishing him love and luck on his travels, he said it had travelled with him in his tour bag since he received it. To say we were lost for words is an understatement!
Shortly after our return to Winton, Sepultura announced their retirement after 40 years as well as a tour to say farewell, the 'Life Through Death' tour. We considered ourselves so lucky to have had the chance to see them at their last ever Australian show and stayed in touch with Eloy and Ariane. He sent a photo of the ring on her finger when he had returned home to Brazil.
On February 5 2024, just a couple of months before Sepultura's final tour, they announced Eloy had left the band...
...part 2 coming soon!
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