It all started with a wish in the dark..I told a co-worker, “I’m going to see Alice Cooper in concert this year even if I have to travel a long distance to do it! He’s not getting any younger you know?” But the “Prince of Darkness” heard my pleas and low and behold he came to me! I only had to travel a distance of 5 miles! The show really wasn’t well publicized, I heard about it through customers who were buying a Rob Zombie CD from my job (and there was great rejoicing). Not only was the crowned king of shock rock coming to town, but he was bringing one of my favorite of his modern minions with him, Rob Zombie!

I got my ticket the day they went on sale and held onto it for almost two months til the blessed day arrived! I took off work, so my brother, Lucid, and one of my besties, Julie, and I could get good and shnockered at Billiards next door to the venue, before the show. Mission fucking accomplished!! We were good and wasted (but not without a designated driver arranged, Springfield P.D.). Then there was alcohol in the venue too (among other things, Springfield P.D.)!!

Without further adue, Alice opened the show wearing his signature “Welcome to My Nightmare” attire, (white sparkly tux coat with top hat and cane) belting out the lyrics to his infamous “School’s Out!” I was astonished how many theatrical tricks he can still pull out of the old hat!! He strangled a sexy nurse whose zombie corpse later took revenge, hanging him from the gallows. He was beheaded and pierced through with swords in a magician’s cabinet! Nobody dies like Alice!! It was an amazing experience just to be in the same room with a rock n’ roll icon and feel the energy he still exudes after all these years. His voice is just as powerful and mesmerizing as ever!

Rob Zombie came on like a juggernaut, pulling out all the stops! His portion of the show was a barrage of old horror movie clips, bosomy women and giant robots, a veritable feast for the senses. I had a near joy-gasm when I recognized the intro to my favorite Zombie tune, “Dragula.”

One of darqpress’ models was pulled onto the stage with a friend and talked out of her top! I missed it going to the lobby on a beer run, priorities, hee hee. Rob Zombie came out into the audience and walked right past Julie and I, close enough to have touched him (he’s lucky we didn’t notice, cause Jules would’ve done more than touch him haha). They also recorded some footage at the show for a music video for his new song “Mars Needs Women.” A giant robot with bugged out eyes rolled onto the stage thrusting his pelvis to which Rob shouted, “this robot will fuck anything!”

Zombie’s performance was outlandish and awesome as expected! He closed the show with his own version of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and a ton of feathers dumped on us from above (thank God they weren’t preceded by gallons of hot tar)! Trying to sum up the phenomenal close of the show to my co-workers the next day, remembering the flashing pentagrams, moshers flailing and feathers flying everywhere, I could only describe it as “a huge satanic pillow fight!”

My only complaint had nothing to do with the show itself, but rather the venue. I cringed when I found out it was going to be held at the Shrine Mosque because the sound is always a little muddy, its like an oversized highschool gymnasium, and in my experience, at least a few members of the staff are always rude. My brother was accosted by security and bodily carried out early in the show, we still don’t know what for and no explaination was offered. The summation of the treatment I’ve come to expect there occurred on our way out, one of the guys working the door actually laughed out loud when a man’s wheelchair overturned and dumped him on his face on the way down the ramp of the building. I told him he was a soulless asshole for laughing at that, but he continued cracking up about it, instead of offering to help, (while show goers hoisted the guy up and righted him in his chair). All in all, I’d say a big thumbs up to the Gruesome Twosome tour and a big thumbs down to the venue.

The Brother’s Darqly have been examining the career of this intriguing little super-starlet for a while now. Ever since we began to see her twisted antics at live appearances on awards shows coupled with her outlandish sense of style. At first listen she could easily be overlooked as another pop princess, but there is a truly artistic heart beating beneath that glittery chest, a slightly dark heart at that! When I heard her collaberative effort with Marilyn Manson (a killer remix of the song Love Game) and watched her bleed out at the end of a live performance at the MTV video music awards from a giant chandalier staged to look like it fell on her, I knew she was a kindred spirit.

A friend and I braved the treacherous ice and snow to make the 4 hour trek to St. Louis to see Lady GaGa live Thursday night (he won VIP tickets from Power 96.5 and asked me to go with him).

I fell in love with the opening band, Semi Precious Weapons, they were irreverant and crude. I can only describe their lead singer as Iggy Pop, Ziggy Stardust, Eddie Izzard and a dash of Cruella DeVille. Their glam/punk persona commanded attention when they took the stage. They beat us all into submission with their crass lyrics and manic sound (just the way I like it). They reminded me of some of the great bands that 1st gave punk it’s wings.

Jason Derulo’s smooth, sultery R & B vocals filled the elegant Fox Theater next. I was impressed to learn that he’s been performing since he was 5 and wrote his 1st song at age 8! His hopeful message in song reminded me that maybe love is worth the risk and if love doesn’t blossom, at least you got laid and there aint nothin’ wrong with that. His slick dance moves made the girls (and some of the boys) swoon. Remember, the poor guy was swimming in a sea of gays. While he didn’t seem uncomfortable, he never missed an opportunity to remind the audience how straight he is (can you blame him?), but he did throw us a bone when he ripped his shirt off at the end! Usher would’ve been proud!

It was time for Lady Gaga! The moment of truth had arrived..I may have had an ulterior motive for coming to the show..I was determined to settle the hermaphrodite rumors once and for all (yes, that’s a joke)! However, her opening number featured an array of beautiful male and female dancers dressed in androgynous body stockings that made it look like they had no genetalia. At the close of the song she was kind enough to dispell all the myths by informing us that she is, in fact, endowed with an incredibly large cock! Then she proceeded to feign stroking it!! The crowd roared with laughter and applause.

The show was packed with glitter and gizmos, seemingly holographic imagery and an almost performance-art style that would make Andy Warhol shed a complimentary tear. There were costumes a drag queen would die for and seamless choreography, sweaty hot dancing girls and boys (did I mention the boys?) To sum up the theatrics, I felt like I’d died and gone to Barbarella! It was glorious!

Mid-show, GaGa sat down to play a smoldering baby grand that looked like a war torn piece of wreckage – the Frankenstein of pianos (It’s what other pianos have bad dreams about). But when she began to play, the irony of bringing forth such beautiful music from something so ugly, subtly drove home the tour’s message about false perceptions and it also removed all doubt that this is a gifted musician before you.

There was a lot of playful banter with the crowd, but she did have some empowering things to say to her adoring fans. She encouraged them not to be crushed by the criticism of small minds that can’t see them for who they really are (which is kind of the theme of her Monster Ball tour). I was moved by her genuine affection for them and her compassion for people in general (She is currently teaming up with Virgin mobile to find housing for homeless people in the U.S.).

The infamous reverend blah blah and his Kansas based gestapo had every intention of raining fire and brimstone on the St. Louis show because of GaGa’s enormous popularity in the homosexual community and what he considers to be her general ungodliness. However, God apparently canceled their scheduled protest on account of snow! (If they can’t stand the cold, I can think of somewhere warmer they can go). I found her sense of humor and cheeky way of dealing with her critics endearing. Make no mistake, the Lady is not afraid to show her teeth! The moral of this story “darqlings” is that Lady GaGa may not have a penis, but she’s definitely got a set of monster balls and I give her props for that! If you can’t afford to catch this tour, sell a kidney! It’s worth it!

Thanks Dennis and Power 96.5 for an evening to remember!

“Terr and Psychals Sessions”  the first official EP is available now, and we are wrapping up studio work on the full length LP right now.

It’s truly an honor to be distributed alongside some of our favorite projects like:

Godhead

Celldweller

The Dreaming

Blue Stahli

Look for more updates very soon.

Don’t forget, you can remix xXRx for a limited time, you can get the files right here on darqpress in the remixes section.

Also, check us out on Myspace

After Halloween: Resurrection was released, I had given up on the Halloween franchise. What used to be a carefully shot, expertly timed thrill had been reduced to a laughable parody worthy of a Golden Raspberry Award. Upon hearing of Rob Zombie’s plans to remake the franchise in his image, I was startled. At the time, I hadn’t seen House of 1,000 Corpses or The Devil’s Rejects, so the only exposure I had to Mr. Zombie was his music. I found it difficult to translate the imagery and atmosphere of his music into film, let alone a character I was as familiar with as Michael Myers. I was understandably skeptical until I saw the teaser. The tone of the trailer was familiar, accurate, but most importantly, good! I began to think that if anyone could revitalize Haddonfield, it was this Robert Zombie fellow.

And then, I saw the movie.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween is easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. The focus on young Michael was distracting, as was the casting. It also sucked away everything creepy about the character…it gave him a (bad) reason to return as a hulking psycho killer. I couldn’t help feeling as if this whole film was Rob Zombie’s shameless attempt at some sort of catharsis, inserting himself into the movie as young Michael just to vent his own childhood rage. It felt cheap and flavorless. To be quite honest, I could go on for hours about how terrible this movie was. Lucky for you, however, this is not a review of Halloween.

The trailer for Halloween II debuted on the Internet. Instead of approaching the feature and advertising surrounding it with cautious optimism as I had the first, I dismissed it entirely. I was convinced it would be utter trash. However, as a horror fan, I was essentially obligated to give it a shot. What I saw proved my suspicions incorrect and I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong.

Halloween II begins in a hospital, the setting for the original Halloween II produced by John Carpenter. After some startling imagery (and stunning use of the Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin”), our protagonist Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) wakes up, proving the first few minutes to be a dream. This clever fake-out serves as both a successor and an homage to the style and tone of the original sequel, while seemingly pointing out that this is NOT a remake of the previous film entitled Halloween II. From here on out, it’s clear that the story of Michael Myers (Tyler Mane and Chase Wright Vanek) is moving in a brand new direction clear of rehashed and reused material.

The film goes on to establish how Michael’s night of terror has affected the survivors. Returning characters are scarred, both physically and mentally. Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is no longer the vigilante psychiatrist fearlessly chasing after Michael to save Laurie’s life, we’ve known for years. Instead, he has capitalized on his involvement in the tragedy at Haddonfield by writing a book exploiting the privacy of those involved. In this book, Loomis has published a little-known secret about the Myers case: the fact that Laurie Strode is the younger sister of Michael Myers.

Inevitably, nearly a year after the events of the previous Halloween night, Laurie Strode reads the book and finds out who she really is. This triggers her own Michael-esque descent into madness, quietly offering to the viewer that perhaps this madness is a family trait.

The only aspect of this film that rubs me the wrong way is the involvement of Michael’s mother as a hallucination. It allowed for a very clever depiction of Michael as a confused child lumbering around in an adult’s body, but the desperate need to please “Mommy” was far too reminiscent of Jason Vorhees. It was almost tacky, however it was justified in the film’s final scene.

In short, this movie worked. The difference between this movie and Zombie’s original Halloween is nearly as drastic as the difference between his first two movies. Nothing was rushed, everything seemed meticulously planned. It was very tight, very cohesive, very sound…expertly edited! The cinematography was beautiful, the dialog far less campy, the acting very natural, and the emotion very real. I can’t say enough good about this movie and it just goes to show that any franchise can be saved if enough care is put into it.

Here’s hoping the same goes for Freddy!

Tim Burton’s latest offering, as producer, is a total thrill ride! It’s a must see for all you little “darqlings” out there! 9 is a feast for the eyes, as well as, the imagination. It was written and directed by Shane Acker and gathers an all-star cast of voice talent: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer & Jennifer Connelly to name a few.

The film is not merely an eye-popping assault on the senses, it also packs a powerful moral punch wrapped in a dizzying array of spectacular characters and nightmarish creatures. However, the message of the film speaks without coming accross as preachy and without suffering any loss of plot. The story line is emotionally charged and refreshingly difficult to predict (though, of course, yours truly figured it out just in time for the crescendo ending).

I enjoyed the use of mystical symbolism that closely associated the main characters, 9 dolls affectionately known by the films creator as “stitchpunks,” with the aspects of the soul on the kabbalistic tree of life (don’t know if the association was purposeful or coincidental, but it was a fascinating comparison for me, nevertheless). One of the stitchpunks, “6,” reminded me of a Jewish Kabbalist. The material he’s made from even resembles the attire of a Jew from a WWII concentration camp and he encourages the others to return to “the source” (Kabbalah?). “6″ wears a symbolic key around his neck and seems to understand the mysteries that “1″ (who obviously represents the church by his papal dress, shuns as dark and forbidden science. The film does appear to wield some heavy handed commentary on the failures and abuses of Christianity (which I thoroughly appreciated).

The dank and dismal, post-apocalyptic setting made me feel right at home. 9 is adequately dark and even scary in parts (enough so that I wouldn’t recommend it for small children – unless they’re a Darqly or an Addams’ child). OK, I may have jumped once or twice, but don’t tell a soul! It is an animated film for adults! Cheers! I hope there are plenty more to follow.

I was also deliberate about seeing the film at 9-ish on 09/09/09. I give 9 three thumbs up; it made me feel like a twisted child again.

Darqpress was invited to photoraph a recent hair show at The System, a Paul Mithcell salon in Springfield, Missouri. We owe a debt of thanks to our friend Nigel Lee for arranging the opportunity and answering a plethora of questions for us. It was an enjoyable experience overall, (besides being literally grabbed by a couple of neanderthal audience members because I stepped in their way while filming the show – “Cool your jets boys it’s not a tractor pull and nobody handles me like that without buying me a drink first!”)

A couple of social misfits were no reflection on a totally stunning hair show, though. The theme was: “Avant Garden,” a clever theme, utilizing nature’s palette as the backdrop for such a refreshing and edgy production. The musical tone was set by one of Black Box Revue’s skillful DJs. I learned later that most of the models were not proffesionals, but you never would’ve known it by the way they handled themselves on the runway. The hairstyles definitely reflected the competence and talent of Paul Mitchell’s up and coming hair care prodigies. Look out world! Here they come!

I am thrilled to see “big city” hairstyle and fashion finally making its way to the Ozarks, (hopefully it won’t take millions of years for our ettiquette to catch up). Muah! Here are a few pics taken by the other brother darqly, Lucid and Josh (who had his modeling debut in the show)! 

Paul Mitchell Avant Garden Gallery

by Lucid S.Darqly

From what I can remember, it was a great day….

I could probably stop the article there, seeing as no art was seen at darqpress’s last outing for artwalk. It was the 1st artwalk of summer, and we started it in gala fashion, 2 for 1 beers and half price appetizers(huge servings) at trollys.

Four pints, some hot wings, and southern quesadillas later, we stumble our way to the square. Something was askew, the square was packed, vendors,norml, bands, and norml were all present. We took plenty of bad photographs of what I’m sure were good people, and handed out 75 cards, before nightfall(blew our whole load,of cards I mean).

The festivities begin(again), back to trollys, level 2 this time, just for the atmosphere, and because Black Box Revue wasn’t open yet.

Ok, so we should have learned our lessons from artwalk past, don’t start drinking and expect to see any galleries, once you barhop, you don’t stop. Seeing as artwalk has only happened twice for me, but it’s always a great night either way, and I’m sure there was some great art on exhibition… now, things get blurry.

Enter Black Box Revue, the weekly electronic show held at the outland, which usually packs with extremely nice, fun loving, individuals. This week featured Ssion, and the usual slew of local dj’s. I will mention here, it was lovetrons birthday, and I did manage to get him a meeting with johan, because his 8 bit sounds belong at BBR, much more than they do where I saw him the week prior… opening for mid-life crisis metal bands, doing mostly cover songs, he’s just too talented for that.*shameless plug* He recently remixed The Bothers Darqly, I think mostly out of gratitude for the evening.

To backtrack for a moment, there was a huge line around the building for the show upstairs at The Ballroom, and I would write about that show, but the promoter was less than friendly(nothing to do with the Ballroom itself), so instead of free coverage, and photography, we just got invited in for a bit for free,who needs promoters?

Here’s where things get tricky, I remember sitting at a booth, talking with Fenominon and St. Thomas, and being approached by a million poeple I haven’t seen in months. Walking past someone twice my size, hearing a rude comment, and taking them somewhere quiet to dissolve the rumors. Headed to the afterparty, stopped at walmart, drunkenly decided to walk home from there(bad choice).

Thats about all I can recall…. only way to celebrate two months of sobriety.

For a few more images from the evening go to the GALLERY

REMIX darqpress page

We will post our favorite mixes on the artist myspace pages, and on our darqpress myspace page…

Currently we have two kits available from The Brothers Darqly and two kits from xXRx…we will change them out from time to time. Soon we will have contests for remixing, video, and writing.

Lucid S. Darqly