Rock & Shock Part II - The Music

Well, hopefully everyone has had the opportunity to read my mega-blog covering the exhibit floor and all the cool movie and television personalities that I encountered at the recent Rock & Shock Horror & Music Festival. If not, check out "Rock & Shock Goes Old School" below. In this second installmetn, I will be covering the music side of the event.

Murderdolls Interview

On Saturday, October 16th the primary show for the Rock & Shock was a stop on the "Holloween Hutinany" Tour featuring the Murderdolls, Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. (More on the show in a moment). Prior to the start of the concert, I had a chance to sit down with Wednesday 13 of the Murderdolls to talk to him about their second CD release "Women and Children Last", his personal horror film and cultural influences and the bands' experiences on the road with Cooper and Zombie. A huge thanks to our very own JPNor for manning the video cameras and mic's and for pulling together this piece in the editing room. Check it out.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfOXl4nssOU[/youtube]

The Concert

Unfortunately, due to press restrictions, we were not granted access to record video or photography during the concert. However, I was able to score a ticket for review and all I can say is that if you love Halloween and are a fan of horror film inspired hard rock music, then this was the show for you.

The evening's festivities began with the Murderdolls. Having never seen this band live, I was not sure what to expect. Based on their early work via the first CD "In the Valley of the Murderdolls" and various videos available online, my anticipation was metered by the oddball haircuts, makeup and retro punk leanings that I had seen to date. However, after listening to the new CD several times and speaking with Wednesday 13 prior to the show, I was cautiously optomistic about what I might encounter. My open minded approach was rewarded with a crisp, hard hitting set. Though the makeup and stage lighting were still there, it seemed to me like the Muderdolls had matured quite a bit, relying more on the power of the songs and less on the distractions of an expansive stage show. Given what was to follow with Cooper and Zombie, I think this approach was spot on, as no one could hope to out-shine the spectacle that those two bring to the stage. Sparse on the gimickry, the Murderdolls set to it by jumping right into the music with crunching guitarwork from both Joey Jordison & Roman Surman, backed by the strong rhythm section of Jack Tankersley on bass and Racci Shay on drums. Wednesday's stage presence exhibited a level of ease that is typically absent from contempory hard rock lead men. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying his time up on the stage and his banter wasn't bogged down with too much rock star tripe. Simple, focused and to the point would be a great way to describe both Wednesday 13's approach to the stage and the band's set. Though I was a bit dissapointed that the set did not include the anthemic "Summertime Suicide" (check it out, you will be singing along with the chorus on the very first listen), I was impressed with the Murderdoll's tight stage presence and even tighter musicianship. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this outfit and look forward to their third CD release if and when it comes down the pike.

The folks over at They Wil Rock You were able to capture some photos from the Murderdolls set. Check them out here.

After the Murderdolls left the stage, I was wondering who would take the middle set. With both Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie having established long-standing reputations for putting on expansive and heavily theaterical stage shows, it was difficult to imagine either artist serving as a "warm-up" act to the other. Shortly into the intermission, the question was answered by a large banner which was raised before the stage, depicting a skull obviously meant to represent Uncle Alice in all his creepy glory. I had the opportunity to see Alice Cooper headline a show in Florida back in the early 90's and have never been the same. With the sole exception of KISS, I had never seen a stage show quite like that. The highlight of the evening was when Alice's head was removed by a guilitine and then held up to the mic so that it could continue singing. Given that experience, the bar was set high for this show. And once again, I was not dissapointed. As the lights finally went down, the guitar riff from "School's Out" brought the crowd to an instant roar. Cooper appeared on stage, cane in hand, top hat set on his head and in true form vocally. During his set, Alice rewarded his "old school" fans like me with classics such as "Under My Wheels", "18", "Welcome to My Nightmare" and a reserved yet erily effective redention of "The Ballad of Dwight Fry." The stage show itself was pure vintage Alice as well. During the show, our master of ceremonies was hung, impaled with a 6' long hypodermic, restrained in a straight jacket and, of course, beheaded by a guilitine (sans singing head sadly). The show continued well beyond the 90 minute mark and the encore included a second playthrough of school's out, as well as the 90's anthem "Poison". By the time the curtain went down, I found myself grinning from ear to ear and in rapt anticipation wondering how in the hell Zombie planned to follow that.

I was able to locate this youtube video of Cooper's Opening salvo from another stop on his "Theater of Death" Tour. The stage set up is pretty much the same as we saw last week.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmjBN1v27AY&feature=related[/youtube]

Rob Zombie, king of the 90's horror music revival via his band White Zombie and nouveau horror film director, would not be outshined, even by someone with the creds and stage chops of Alice Cooper. It was obvious that the audience was in for something special as large shadows loomed behind the 30' curtain that blocked our view of the stage as roadies scurried about and set up for the headlining set. Up to this point in my musical wanderings, I had seen Rob Zombie perform live twice, but both shows were of the "Jeans and T-shirt" variety. Having been impreseed with his stage presence, even in the absence of any theatrics, I was very much looking forward to getting the full "Rob Zombie Experience". Down go the lights, up goes the curtain and I was immediately overwhelmed by everything that was onstage. A very large Robot stood center stage, fire burst forth from torches at the back of the set and a half dozen video screens burst to life with classic horror movie footage. Key guitar chords and then flashpots burst into action as Zombie Emerged from the belly of the robot in full Halloween garb sporting a complete facemask and an articulated skeletal left arm. Throughout the set, Zobmie's energy was through the roof as he danced and cavorted around the stage, interacting with the crowd on all sides of the barrier. In case anyone is under the impression that Zombie's concert was all show and no substance, rest assured that the music did much more that act as a backdrop for the freakshow. Zombie's music, whether circa 1990 or 2010 has always been about bone-crunching guitarwork underneath gutteral vocals, with a bit of techno-dance-funk thrown in to keep people moving (Thunderkiss '69 anyone?). After the band left the stage for the first time, the crowd seemed a bit sedate and I was concerned that we would not see an encore. However, Zombie came back out to tell the crowd that the "authorities" told him he had to shut down the show or be fined $10,000 as "security" stood off to the side feigning serious discussion. He told the crowd that they had better get his money's worth and the band launched into "More Human Than Inhuman." Though these theatrics were obviously staged, the crowd ate it up and went completely nuts. All in all, the set was amazing, topping off one of the better multi-band concerts that I have seen in some time. I left the DCU Center with a smile on my face and sweat caked under my clothes, satisfied by the Halloween Hutinany that I had just witnessed.

This picture was taken from Rob Zombie's Web Site

SWAG & More From the 2old2play Pop-culture Series

In case you did not get a chance to check out my previous blog regarding the Rock & Shock Horror & Music Festival, check out the SWAG that I brought back for you, my loyal blog readers. Just post a reply here or in after that blog to enter to win some goodies from the event.

Also, thanks once again to brntguy, we now have a new video intro for the 2old2play Pop-Culture Series. So stay tuned as we bring you more stories of music, movies, comic books and who-knows-what-else. IF you have suggestions for events or pop-culture related subjects you would like us to cover, let me know.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5qrDNLYR9c[/youtube]