On the most sacred night of the year for horror fans, freaks and practitioners of all things dark The Blue Note in Harrison, Ohio hosted a gathering of very living humans, some looking more decomposed than others. Costumes ranged from funny to frightening from rotting flesh, to cadaver blue. With face painted femmes walking amok to screaming victims and the masked stalkers that help keep coffins occupied in a venue suspiciously resembling a former house of the dead.
It was an evening custom made for a venue with walls that screamed postmortem.
Twas the opening night of the Famous Monsters Tour with horror drenched instrumentalist John 5 at the helm. Along for the national ride was the loud witchy charm of Wednesday 13 and the Hellzapoppin carnival sideshow guilty of at least a few sins. With carnal performances of wicked tricks and stunts both painful to perform and hard to watch. The human anatomy just wasn’t meant for certain things to be possible.
Things started early with some of Cincinnati and Dayton’s best talent keeping the walls shaking. Before The Day opened with the dark industrial nightmares of Cincinnati’s Automatic Evolution. The hypnotic voices continued with the riffs of Crooked Rook with the clean harmonic vox and growls of 6 Hours To Kill finishing the lot.
Before The Day
In the main room the crowd waited for the HellzaPoppin to begin. They’ve toured the world, appeared in videos, Ripley’s, and set world records playing with everyone from Slayer to Snoop Dog including the blackest of the black, Danzig. The performances brought out the unique, twisted and often painful talents of its performers. Making the crowd grimace, wince and faint along side applause, gritting teeth and cheers. Hosted by Bryce ‘The Govna’ Graves, Nik Sin, The Lizard Man, Short E Dangerously and Eric Ross performed stunts that should never be tried at home, or anywhere else. It’s a show you just can’t look away from.
The Govna
Graves warmed up the room with some early fire swallowing. Dangerously showed what was capable with only two hands and a big cowboy hat with handstands and balancing on one hand for his first performance.
The sharp tongued escapist Nik Sin appeared with some razor thin blades to chew on and internally decorate for public inspection.
Nik Sin
Dangerously returned to up the ante with some grizzly glass walking and a holy sh- elevated jump into the jagged menagerie set ablaze by Graves, worthy of an ECW chant.
Eric Ross performed with pins and steel rods showcasing thoroughly durable Teflon skin without bloodshed or splatter.
Short E. Dangerously
Graves returned showing what and where an electric drill was never meant for. The 100% tattooed Lizard Man came out to demonstrate literal tongue twisters and oral maneuvers making the ladies envious and the gents jealous following with some good old fashioned twisted steel through the nostrils overshadowing everyone with mere piercings, finishing with some very careful sword swallowing with trained professional removal. Never put a sharp sword down your throat, he said with a wink.
The Lizard Man
Wednesday 13, the abandoned orphaned offspring of Alice Cooper and Captain Howdy spread their disease across the stage, contaminating song by song. Deathly pale and proud vocalist Wednesday screeched out horrific tunes about zombies, death and grave robbing showcasing killer props straight out of a witches and serial killers toy box. While the phantom painted players gave ghoulish symphony. It was modus operandi for any show but especially tailored for Samhain. Adorning skeletal suits, a witch’s casting attire, horned masks, a mean looking pitchfork and Exorcist III decapitation scissors. They even threw in some fan favorite murder music.
Wednesday 13
The Lonely Road to Hell opened red bringing out the dead with “Too Fast for Blood.” All the creatures screamed, as the pace slowed to a snake’s spell-casting crawl as “Serpent Society” creeped and slithered through the speakers. Wednesday prayed for everyone with a two faced grin as dual masked personalities came out, watching the crowd front and behind.
Roman Surman
It was an unholy night by conservative standards ritualistically stained with cinematic “Bloodshed” but sacred to monsters, spirits and undead “Bloodsuckers” as he returned outfitted to carve up carnage. As “Skeletons” were rapid fire resurrected with wicked necromancy.
The sharp scissors came out looking for soft, willing necks to separate showing what was good for Gein was good for the cadaver with some patriotic grave robbing. “Die my Bride” came to cut and shred with sharp steel intentions, finishing with whatever conjuring’s the night might bring.
Ian Ross and John 5
Almost mime like in performance, John 5 communicated with facials and hand gestures most of the show only going to the mic twice for short speeches. It was a mini-horror movie set, stage show come to life with props, costume characters and two screens flashing strobe like, horror scenes, cartoons, and cult film images. Kinda like if grindhouse movies were shown at Chuck E. Cheese or the creepy clowns ball pit. Zombie-like, accented with 5’s personal inflatable attractions and circus touches. Bassist Ian Ross played his ass off, proving a perfect counterpart to 5’s fretting with drummer Logan Nix giving every tune a strong costumed backbone. For this show, every night’s Halloween.
Performing with masks and multi-guitars, he showed how much can be said and communicated without words. Letting the music, environment and performance speak the loudest. Half-Frankenstein from the neck up and mad scientist from guitar neck and down. Decked in white robe-like furs, pointy stars adorning black leather pants gave off a not yet winged angelic look of a celestial being unsure whether to fall or ascend.
A true performer resembling Tourist Trap, Norman Bates and death itself at times, gave the music center stage with multiple-sized guitars, even a banjo. The only thing missing was a double-neck. Some might’ve argued it would’ve added to the mystique if he’d played the whole show without a word.
It was Vaudeville, with six string experimentation starting with the guitars electric creation of “Making Monsters.” “Flight of the Vulcan Kelly” upped the pace, spreading wings and note span, tenfold.
The funky lock and load grooved riffs of “Rifle” began bringing the crowd to excited attention as he hit extended, intricate motions and maneuvers. “Hell Haw” brought a country swinging, blues groove to the stage conjuring up memories of Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl for audiences old enough to remember.
The devil knows his way around the tritone and the demonic feedback drag claiming his victims.
It was time for a heavy crunching tribute to the evil ideas put into costumes with “Season of the Witch.” They played a funk influenced driven jam for all the crazies in the crowd adding a tribute to the Black Album, and the mighty Met as the “Sandman” came with the crowd collectively doing Hetfield.
He got everyone involved with a nice medley of rock classics, ‘80s throwbacks, metal anthems and whatever he felt like playing from Rush to the military march of “The Beautiful People,” leaving the audience in the throes of feedback.
Images by Mike Ritchie
