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.

needs to come to light.

I attended the Rob Zombie concert with my brother and his friend. We bought

tickets far in advance which came to be almost $50 a piece, we waited in line

like everyone else.

I met up with a few friends inside, waited for the show to begin, bought

nachos, everything was fine. I was standing talking to a friend close to the

stage, when I suddenly felt two arms wrap around me tightly and lift me off the

ground, I was spun around and halfway set down, as I tried to ask what was

going on and contain my composure, I looked to see two very heavyset men,

leading me out into the hall, and refusing to say anything the entire time,

then straight out the door past the steps all the way to the sidewalk. They

released their grasp, turned and walked off. I turned to two employees standing

right there and asked what happened. They replied they didn’t know and didn’t

care, and told me to leave.

This was witnessed by several people, including clients of mine, because I am a

professional photographer,webmaster and professional musician. This was clearly

a case of mistaken identity(I don’t know how they could mistake my identity, I

stand out in a crowd), or someone lied to the staff and got me thrown out. I

was doing nothing but enjoying the show.

I have photographed the bruise they left on my arm, I didn’t notice it, only

that my arm was sore,this is after 4 days, it still looks this bad.

I’m not exactly sure what to do about this, but I am going to plaster it on the

website I host and several other business related sites. I’ve been getting

email from clients asking what happened,because they saw everything. not only

was it a waste of money, embarrasing, and uncalled for, but it defamed

my character in front of several business partners and clients.

If I can’t get answers from the Shrine mosque, or some type of apology or

refund, I will be contacting local media, and possibly persuing further action.

when some one is to be kicked out, they should at least deserve an answer as to

why, or a chance to explain. The bruising was uncalled for, I didn’t resist,

merely tried to ask questions.

I would rather this be peacefully resolved, but I have a feeling they will blow

me off.

If anyone has further information about the evening please contact us:
darqpress@gmail.com

I have been keeping up with the photography section, and soon I’ll be updating the “favorite haunts” section too…(don’t worry I didn’t forget about you.)

Hit me up at:
darqpress@gmail.com

If you want any of my accounts to request my blogging, microblogging,super size with fries blogging… Drop by and say hi.
Love and sangria,
Lucid s darqly

Even though the movie was a box office disappointment, only grossing $6.8 million it’s opening weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer’s Body (and yes, that may be the straightest thing you’ll ever hear me say). I fully expected another predictable horror flick that takes itself way too seriously and rehashes one of the same old tired plots I’ve seen a thousand times before. I am a horror snob! It’s my favorite genre, but I am so rarely satisfied by Hollywood’s modern offerings. Jennifer’s body is classified by Wikipedia as a “black comedy horror.” The term aptly applies. I love black comedy, but it’s such a razor’s edge for a writer to balance when writing a story that’s both funny and scary that too often the end result is neither funny nor scary, but just 2 hours of awkward and disturbing. I felt like the film’s writer Diablo Cody (writer of Juno!) and director Karyn Kusama pulled off the balancing act masterfully.

The movie grabs your attention right off the bat with talk of demons and a teenage girl beating the living shit out of orderlies in a mental instituton. It’s actually the demonized teenager, Anita “Needy” (Amanda Seyfried) who’s narrating the story from the asylum. As beautiful as Megan Fox is, I was happy to realize she was a major player in someone else’s tale and not the lead character in the film, herself. If you are a fan, however, there’s some pretty hot stuff in this film without seeming like exploitation of her good looks was their only motivation for making it.

Megan’s character, Jennifer, the popular flag girl, takes her long time friend Anita to see Low Shoulder, a struggling Indie band. The band kidnaps Jennifer after the show and sacrifices her to Satan, (using a ritual they found on the internet, ha ha) hoping for a little infernal help to boost their popularity. While the ritual seemed to be a success, the band failed to realize that Jennifer didn’t fit the primary criteria for a virgin sacrifice, yeah, she was so not a virgin. That one small, ovelooked detail caused a succubus to resurrect and inhabit the girl’s corpse. The next day Jennifer’s back at school with a vengeance, literally, needing to feed on flesh to sustain her new she-devil form. Meanwhile, the band capitalizes on a tragic fire that they caused, at the backwoods bar they were playing at that night, by writing a tear-jerker ballad that tops the charts (as an anthem of support for the grieving town).

There are plenty of smart laughs in the film, but not to the point of distraction from the creepy scenario that the storyline plays out in. It actually is kinda scary. My usual spot-on predictions were misdirected by the film’s pleasant unpredictability in spots. The film climaxes (huh, huh, I said climax) with a kick-ass ending that made me almost wish for a sequel!

Jennifer’s Body is worth seeing and so is Megan Fox’s (if you’re into that sort of thing). Color me pleasantly surprised!

And it was made with a flip video. Yeah.