M'Lou Elkins
The air reeked of Satan as the Danzig tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of the release of his debut album hit the Dallas/Fort Worth area on Friday, September 1st.
Decked out in their trademark black hoods and leather jackets, Midnight started the night off with their super angry and fast-paced black metal.
Next up was Twin Temple, the California-based husband/wife duo who call their music “satanic doo-wop,” and unintentional hilarity ensued. After a set that was entirely too long, vocalist Alexandra James, who was very accurately described as “Amy Winehouse’s satanic cousin” by the guy sitting next to me in the audience, along with guitarist Zachary James, force-fed us their big finale: some sort of pretentious satanic ceremony that involved spitting fake blood onto the unsuspecting faces of audience members and masturbating a small (really small) sword. Twin Temple says that the central message of their songs is inclusion…so at least there’s that?
In keeping with the night’s satanic theme, Polish band Behemoth took the stage and performed a set full of spooky incantations, shouts of “Hail, Satan,” burning of incense, and surprise – more spitting of fake blood by vocalist Nergal. They played some of their oldest, most blasphemous tunes, including “Ov Fire and the Void,” and ended their set with “O Father O Satan O Sun!”
FINALLY, Glenn Danzig, of Misfits and Samhain fame, materialized on stage with his band amidst the glow of red stage lights, over-sized gargoyles and a cheezy horned skull set piece, and launched into “Twist of Cain.” Danzig took a moment to brag to the crowd that he ”sings for real!” “I’m up here singing for real….Danzig ain’t no motherfuckin puppet show mother fuckers,” he exclaimed. Fans cheered at his proclamation. To his credit, even at 68 years old, the guy still has some pipes on him and sounds good and all. But I still found myself laughing and saying to my friend, “Dude, just shut the fuck up!”
Photographers weren’t allowed, since Glenn Danzig is a performer known for being a difficult man-baby and a little uptight, and security was on-hand in the crowd to enforce the singer’s strict no-photos rule. Whatever, here are some cell pics I took.
In addition to performing the whole debut album, which included the career-defining track “Mother,” Danzig performed other hits such as “How the Gods Kill” and “Her Black Wings.” He occasionally asked the audience what they wanted to hear, and in a surprisingly non-asshole move – he actually played most of the songs shouted out by the crowd.
You, too, can have a fun, satanic-themed night out… Danzig is on the road opening portals to hell in a music venue near you through September 22nd.
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