Photos by Dustin Schneider, Words by Susie Ramone.
Rob Zombie and friends made Dickies Arena in Fort Worth Texas stop 20 of their 21-city Freaks on Parade Tour. From start to finish the energy was so high any fan in the stadium would have never known that any of the bands were at the tail end of a whirlwind month-long tour.
Little brother of Rob Zombie – Spider One – and his band Powerman 5000 kicked off the night right with Footsteps and Voices; amped it up a notch with Horror Show (which includes their cover of 7 Nation Army); and then left the crowd hyped by closing out their eight-song set with When Worlds Collide. I have enjoyed this band in all its iterations and finally seeing them live did not disappoint.
Static-X, who dubs their music Evil Disco, was up next. Other than the frontman, XeroX, getting the name of the city he was in wrong over and over again – this was a solid set. I’ve not listened to much of Static-X, so this was my first significant exposure to them. Their seven-song set made me sad that I hadn’t paid them much attention before last night. Xer0 was a solid entertainer, hidden behind a Wayne Static mask, and had the whole crowd singing along to all their songs, including everyone’s favorites Love Dump and Push It.
After a little over a decade, crowd favorite Mudvayne made a return to Fort Worth as co-headliners of the tour. The crowd lost their minds when the band came out in their iconic LD 50-era makeup. Chad Grey, in his signature overalls, started off the set amongst the crowd for Dig. They ripped through so many favorites – Under My Skin, Death Blooms, closed with Happy?, and included a tribute to Dime Bag Darrel – a snippet from Cowboys From Hell. The pit was big, the music was loud, and it was just what everyone had hoped for with the return of one of their favorite math metal bands.
Closing out the night was Rob Zombie. He started off on top of a giant crypt facade, had to talk to the audience about putting their phones away, and ended with everyone’s favorite sing-a-long, Dragula. Included in the set were so many classics – Living Dead Girl, Superbesat, Never Gonna Stop, and Shake Your Ass-Smoke Your Grass to name a few. We were also treated to our favorite White Zombie songs – More Human Than Human and Thunder Kiss ’65 – which opened with such an epic guitar solo from John 5 that I don’t think any of us wanted it to ever end. It was ah-mazing!
What a spectacular night of music in our funky little town. I’m so happy I was able to enjoy it with good friends, old and new. Now, on to the next one!
Rob Zombie
Mudvayne
Static-X
