You could easily separate those leaving Pride from those going to Danzig as I walked along Van Ness.
Once in line, I robotically told security as I let them examine my things ‘no, I don’t have any gum or pens or food’ when the guy looked at me and said, ‘I know, I’ve seen you here a lot before’. Sobs. Not for much longer. Then he explained to me that artist rules tonight meant that absolutely no cameras were allowed and if I wanted to use my cell phone I had to go into the lobby. In fact, there were signs posted everywhere.
Actually I lied. I stuck sticks of contraband gum in my bra. Such a rebelle, I am.
Will call revealed that my name wasn’t on the list for the second time this weekend. As I text my contact and wait in the corner for a response, the will call guy starts to feel bad for me and decides to just take my name and let me in. Being sick facilitates my damsel in distress face.
However, I’ve already missed Toxic Holocaust, who I like a lot. Grrrr.
All Shall Perish, from Oakland, come out growls blazing. While I immediately decide it’s not necessarily my kind of metal, I latch onto the drummer, Adam Pierce, right away. Apparently he is very new. Anyway, new drum talent to keep an eye on. There was this guy on the opposite end of the rail from me that was just going INSANE…he knew every squeal and looked like he was going to pop screaming along down there. I think I watched him as much as everyone on stage.
Setup for Danzig involves a lot of really stressed out looking people, many rolls of various colors of electrical tape, and security meetings galore. I roll my eyes. Part of why I think I’ve never been able to really get into Danzig is because his reputation preceded him. I mean really, is being a camera nazi the way to go these days? It’s silly. I watch the oversized setlists posted on the walls in large print and watch everyone spoil the surprise by reading it.
But then the lights go down and each member dramatically comes on stage- Glenn last of course- and he’s bouncing around like a madman. It’s my first time seeing him, and honestly I’d have to say it felt similar to when I saw Prince.
Let me explain. Both are highly caricatured individuals who when you finally see them in the flesh it’s like your eyes won’t match the image in your head and the real person together properly. Also, both are undoubtedly amazing performers. And last but not least, both have some sort of ability to make a certain segment of women want to tear their clothes off, and this is something that I’ve never understood even after much contemplation.
Where I’m standing, Danzig’s powerful vocals aren’t reflected well in the PA, but the guy behind me seems to think he can fill in just fine. The crowd is going insane, and this is magnified as Glenn constantly walks close to the edge of the stage and touches their hands and gives them water. Everyone is singing along; crowdsurfers are flying over the rail, and more often than not, someone is getting busted with a camera.
I don’t think I had ever seen Tommy Victor play guitar before, and I thought he was quite good. In fact I would often have to focus on him as Glenn kept spitting up these disgusting gobs of phlegm and it was just pure gross. It also just pissed me off every time he would spot a camera and alert his crew so that they could go chase down the person. He wasn’t subtle about it at all.
Highlights for me were ‘Twist of Cain’, ‘Her Black Wings’, ‘Thirteen’, ‘Bringer of Death’. As soon as I heard the first few chords of ‘Mother’, I bailed. Not only am I still sick of that song from the ’90s, but it doesn’t sit right with me right now with everything that is going on in my life. As I carved my way out of the crowd, the people looked at me like I must be crazy, leaving during his biggest hit.
Tell your children not to walk my way….
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Danzig is such a lame guy but damn do I love his live shows. I actually haven't seen Danzig since their "How The Gods Kill" tour. I will never understand these camera nazi artists. Some of these people should be happy that anyone would be willing to take the time to photograph them. Anyways, great review of this show!