I couldn’t go to see Zombichrist and not dress like a zombie. So I threw on some makeup and scared some neighbors on my way out and some tourists on my way into DNA Lounge.
Everything Goes Cold started as soon as I had perched myself in the balcony. They sounded ok….neither offensive nor mind blowing. The highlight was when the drummer and keyboardist both broke out into the robot mid song.
There was a lot on that stage…
After meeting one of my twitter followers and a fellow zombie, Informatik took the stage. I realize that they had some technical difficulties- but I was really bored by this set. Also, the lead singer broke out a cowbell for one song….and you just can’t use a cowbell while trying to be serious. Blame Christopher Walken.
This was my second time this year seeing Combichrist at DNA Lounge, and my third time seeing drummer Joe Letz. While I’m not the biggest fan of their music, their live shows aren’t to be missed. They break stuff, they’re belligerent, all the irresponsible things most musicians have lost now that they just say no.
They come out on stage looking half dead; half on purpose (zombie makeup), half unintentional (road weary). The crowd goes wild as these tattooed zombies pulsate to their music. Andy stomps back and forth along the stage, stopping often to shake his head, bulge his eyes, and grimace. Joe furiously, chaotically, and psychotically beats the drums, often tilting pieces, throwing drumsticks away, and pouring water onto the drum heads in the midst of everything. Z_Marr is fit and in a zone; he throttles back and forth but never loses control. Trevor, the percussionist, punishes his set, often stepping onto the drum heads to gain leverage for even more annihilation.
There are some visuals on display on the smallish screen behind the band. The crowd is very into the set. Andy comments on how SF was home to one of the first Combichrist shows back in the day when he didn’t have a backing band.
The band leaves and quickly returns to the loud crowd, eventually playing the loudly vocalized request ‘This Shit Will Fuck You Up’. Andy lifts a little girl on stage- one that had given the band a baggie full of chocolate chip cookies that they all ate one of on stage- to sing the title of the song. She was probably about 10 years only, dealing out a two expletive song title…mom clapped with joy. A bit into the song Andy picks her up by one hand and sets her in the crowd, where she surfs a little and is safely taken back to mom. Hmmmmm….that’s the second time a small child has done that here this year…
They leave and come back out again, and Andy lets us know that it is Joey’s birthday. To celebrate, Joey must get on his knees as Andy pours a significant amount of a bottle of vodka down his throat. He’s given another drink as well, to which he nearly throws up, then stumbles around, sits at his drums, and starts playing even more furiously than before.
At the end of the final song, WTFIWWY, the guys throw around their equipment, mostly spearheaded by Joey. Leaving nothing unturned, Joey goes to the mic, “we’re going to come back for one more song”. And people stood there waiting, even though the equipment looked like it had exploded.
That was a fun one.
I bought a very cool limited, hand numbered, signed by the band poster. It’s one of my better ones for sure.
As I was walking out the door, the lead singer from the first band was laying on his side on the ground with a few other people, puking his guts out. The vomit was streaming down the sidewalk. Everyone just stood there smoking like nothing was going on. That’s exactly how you end a good club evening. This shit will fuck you up.
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HELLO. i am the vocalist from everything goes cold.
1. yeah, forgetting to eat dinner + a ton of white russians + being in the general presence of combichrist == this shit will indeed fuck one up.
2. while last night's show came out better than i would have expected given the circumstances, i'd encourage you to check out our recordings and/or come see us at the deviant nation masked soiree on november 13. we put on a great show when we get a sound check and enough space to move more than one foot in any direction, i swear! also, combichrist is pretty stiff competition. in the absence of babyland, i'd say they now put on by far the best show in industrial music, and last night was no exception.
3. we actually weren't the first band of the night, we were the second. the first was demodulate, who were on very early.
anyhow thanks for coming and crap!
it'd be rad to hear us do what?
This is just guess, because I do not remember typing that and I, sort of, passed out before I finished saying whatever it was I was going to say. However, I really like your old song "You Make Me Feel Like Morrissey"
;-D