I think everyone has a list of things they want to do before they die. And near the top of my list was "see Rob Zombie in concert." A few months ago I accomplished that goal. It's taken me a while to write a report of this experience, but considering today's date is the Number of the Beast, it seems appropriate.

The sold out show was held at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. A relatively new venue, converted from a former movie theater. A nice place, if you can look beyond all the product placements for Nokia and Heineken in the lobby. There are seats in the back in case the person you go with is too tired to stand (ahem) and an open floor if you want to get close. You know where I was.

Dead center and packed like a sardine. Ah, it was fun to be part of the massive moshing organism again. You might have been able to pick me out of the crowd by the "ZOMBIE" baseball shirt I was wearing (jersey number "666", 'natch). Finally an occasion where that wardrobe choice was appropriate! I was pretty tired of being thrown out of church.

One of the openers was Lacuna Coil, a metalish rock group from Italy. They have a cool sound, of which I am now a fan. You haven't seen headbanging until you've witnessed an Italian sextet swing their long hair in perfect synchronicity. Another plus is that they have a female singer. A welcome visual (and sound) during a night of watching sweaty guys on stage.

After a theatrical intro of smoke and video projection, Rob Zombie and company stormed the stage wearing skull face masks. Hell yes. After missing a few chances to see Zombie shows, it was an impressive moment to finally see the man towering right above me.

Being that this show fell on the release date of his new album, we got to hear several of the new tracks. But Zombie made a point to "not bombard you with all new material. We're gonna play a lot of everything. Some new things, sure. Some old things, definitely. Some middle things, what the hell." Most of the hits got played, and even some White Zombie classics like "Thunder Kiss 65" and "Creature of the Wheel."

The stage setup wasn't quite the colorful spectacle of some earlier tours. But still clearly a Zombie show, with devil girls and skulls adorning the place. A towering robot stomped around with the band during "More Human Than Human" and a giant screen projected psychedelic animations and horror movie clips (everything from Frankenstein to Zombie's own The Devil's Rejects).

Rob even let a trio of colorfully dressed performers come on stage to do a dance routine to one of his songs. There was a mixed reaction from the crowd, but it was good for a laugh. Even Rob himself couldn't keep it together enough to sing all the words to that song.

Always the showman, Zombie never disappoints. My only complain is that (like his new album Educated Horses) it seemed too short. I want more. I guess I'll have to wait for a tour to swing by again.

AFTER the concert, I found out that Rob Zombie had been at the Virgin Megastore earlier that day, signing copies of his new CD. This info was right on the front page of his website, so my only excuse for missing this appearance is that I'm an idiot. I guess "personally meet Rob Zombie" gets to stay on my "list of things to do before I die" a little longer.

In case you were wondering what else Mr. Zombie is up to, it's just been announced that he'll be writing a directing a new Halloween film. Not another sequel, but "a bit of a prequel and a remake." I don't know if the original Michael Myers film needs to be remade, but I'll trust it in the hands of Zombie. He even got the blessing of original Halloween's creator John Carpenter. Zombie says, "I take that film very seriously, and I want to make it terrifying again."

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NICOLE JESSE said:

June 11, 2006, 04:12 PM

Don The Idea Guy said:

June 15, 2006, 11:46 AM

shawn said:

June 24, 2006, 05:33 AM

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