One thing I’ve noticed at concerts big or small that disgruntles me a bit (and without question at Cooper and Zombie’s show) is the good hunk of the crowd, especially those closer to the stage, busting out their phones or cameras to snap pictures or get videos. I can understand the desire of wanting memories of the concert to look back upon, but there comes a point where it conflicts with being able to soak in the atmosphere of the concert and the feelings you get when witnessing a grandiose display of stage pageantry and booming live music. How much time do some of these people actually spend watching the concert through a tiny phone screen rather than actually witnessing it through their own eyes?
Zombie rolled on through his set, delivering “Living Dead Girl,” lights in a frantic fury fog drenching the stage and classic horror imagery setting the backdrop the majority of the time. I’ve witnessed some large stage productions but Zombie definitely has an apt way of appealing to just about every bodily sense. Surging video that could cause some to have a seizure, you can feel the heat from the constant pyrotechnics if you’re close enough or if you’re further back you can just feel the bass from the loud drum beating or even the bass guitar pulsating in your chest. The highly loved hit “More Human Than Human,” that still gets plenty of play on the radio, lead a huge robotic type monster dancing to the highly beat oriented tune. Zombie’s voice throughout the set felt a bit ragged, but not enough to decrease the level of showmanship and overall sound of his band and himself. There was a fairly useless extended drum solo in the middle of the set. Yeah, Jordison is decent but being witness to some amazing drummers, (Hooglan, Nicholas Barker, Sandoval, Lombardo, the list goes on), it seemed lacking. Then again extended solos are entertaining in the fact that many live acts just don’t include them anymore. John 5 had a lengthy guitar solo that led to Zombie running through the audience giving fans a treat, which ended with him playing the Star Spangled Banner with his teeth. Zombie punched out hit tunes and new ones one after another, “Supercharger Heaven,” had some awesome anime imagery, “Sick Bubblegum,” led way to audience chants of “Rock Motherfucker, Rock Motherfucker,” “Mars Needs Women,” introduced another classically sci-fi themed robot running amok on stage. “Werewolf Women of the SS” featured a video introduction that included the full faux trailer Zombie did for the Grindhouse double feature films from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Zombie ended his already bombastically over the top set with “Dragula” and “House of 1000 Corpses.”
Both Cooper and Zombie had methods to their stage shows, with each song playing into the theme of multiple songs. Zombie’s all guns blazing, over the top method did a good job at overshadowing Cooper’s antics which some might call dated, but I just call them damned awesome. Whatever the case or your opinion, the show wasn’t a competition butan offering of fun horror and darkened tunes for everyone. It was a show experience that’s completely unforgettable.
