QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali has confirmed the passing of the group’s singer, Kevin DuBrow, at the age of 52.
This sucks. They were one of the first bands I ever saw in concert. In October of ’83, I saw them open for Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden. Make all the hair metal jokes you want but once you got past “Cum on Feel the Noize” they were actually a pretty good band.
Here are some reasons why Peter Steele has attained almost god-like status with me.
Reason #1:
“I believe that the true definition of a rock band is to upset people and that’s the reason rock became rock in the late 50’s, because the country was pretty right-wing. So when rock came out—being left-wing—that upset people. I will admit to being slightly right-wing. I consider myself to be a conscientious conservative. I am pro-police, pro-government, and pro-parent. Because the country has shifted so far to the left that even if you are mid-wing, still you are upsetting people. So, all these trendoid rock bands are just preaching to the choir. I have, in the past, gone out of my way to upset people and fortunately it worked. That’s why I can say Carnivore and Type O Negative are true rock bands, because your parents aren’t going to like this music. And if they do like it you better find different parents.”
Reason #2:
“I went to confession for the first time in 30 years. And the priest was very happy that I had come back to church and stuff. I didn’t go into each and every sin otherwise he would have to take two weeks vacation (laughs). I said ‘Father I did wrong and I want to apologize to God for my behavior and I’m going to try for it to not happen again.’ It’s better to pay in this life then in the afterlife. So he said “well, make a large donation to your favorite charity, which I did. I’m not going to tell you which charity it was or how much, because that really started me thinking about these so-called charitable people. Charity should be anonymous. If you’re going to get a pat on the back for doing…”Oh, you’re such a great guy. You gave five million dollars—even though you have 50 billion—to South Africa. You’re a great fuckin’ guy.”
And reason #3:
I had gone to see Deep Purple, Scorpions, and Ronnie James Dio at the PNC shithole of fuck, New Jersey. Whatever it is. They were all really cool. Ronnie’s a great fuckin’ guy.
Thanks to KNAC for the best Peter Steele interview I’ve ever read.
I can finally cross one off the list of bands I need to see before I die. I’ve seen Black Sabbath and Dio, and last night Type O Negative was added to the list.
Charlotte, NC does not normally attract the best metal bands since they get no radio play so Type O coming to the area was something of a miracle for me. And they did not disappoint.
They opened up with “Magical Mystery Tour” by the Beatles. They also played songs from every album. The one that surprised me the most was “Anesthesia” from Life is Killing me as that’s one of my favorite Type O songs of all time. From the new album, they played “Profits of Doom” and “These Three Things”.
My only small disappointment was that their set seemed kind of short to me. I would hazard a guess that they played 90 minutes at most. It could just be that I’m not used to small club shows and that there were two opening acts.
Now if only Iced Earth would come to Charlotte.
With all the strife and turmoil that has been going on in the Middle East, I have come up with the solution. There is only one man with the wisdom and presence to bring peace to the region. That man’s name is Ronnie James Dio.
I know what you’re thinking? What can a musician do to solve the Middle East crisis? Dio is not just a musician, he is a god among men. For instance, he speaks to the heart of the Iranian people…
Iranian teens speak love, life and… metal:
Mani is a 16-year old student from Karaj, just west of Tehran. He plays football as a centre forward and trains every day after school with his coach.
When I ask him about his dreams he explains he wants to play in Europe.
He says Iran has some very talented players, but that they don?t play well together, thus scuppering the country’s chances of international success.
Mani’s other passion is music.
“I love rock and metal music. Ronnie James Dio is my favourite singer,” he beams.
Still not convinced? Read the words of a noted political pundit…
When I think of peace and good will in this part of the world, I am reminded of what rock star legend Ronnie James Dio once said. He said “where good thrives, evil survives.” This is very well described in Middle East politics and society. As long as evil lives, so will war and death. Only when sin is defeated by the return of Christ our Lord will these things be destroyed.
So Ronnie James Dio could be the harbinger for the second coming.
So now I appeal to Mr. Dio to be that Holy Diver and to Stand Up and Shout for world peace before the chains are on, and we’re all the last in line.
If you were offended by this, I have three words for ya. Lighten up, Francis.
Anyway, I caught the Fozzy show in Charlotte last night. For those of you that don’t know, Fozzy is a band fronted by WWF wrestler Chris Jericho. They do mostly covers of heavy metal classics. So we got to the club around 8. It was an all-ages show and they meant it. They had underage kids who were obviously WWF fans and people in their 30s like me who are classic metal fans. Some of the people in their 30s though were dressed like it was 1985. Even if I could still fit into my skin-tight snakeskin pants, I wouldn’t wear them today.
Sat at a table up in the balcony. I’m too old to be down on the floor anymore. But that didn’t stop me from having an obstructed view. People kept standing in front of me all night long. Once the show started I had a pretty good view.
The opening act was a band from South Carolina called Thread. They were pretty good if you’re into Creed type rock. The lead singer needs some work, though. His voice was great, but his moves were stiff on stage. He kind of danced like Elaine on Seinfeld. And his attire was very un-rockstar-like. They left the stage at about 9:45.
I went back downstairs and bought myself a Fozzy “We are huge rock stars” T-shirt. Fozzy took the stage at 10:30 and opened with a blistering version of Judas Priest’s “Freewheel Burning”. They did songs from their first CD like Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry, Dio’s Stand up and Shout and Krokus’ Eat the Rich. And they did songs off the new CD like Accept’s Balls to the Wall. They also did some songs that aren’t on either CD like “Wrathchild” from Iron Maiden, “TNT” by ACDC, and Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law”. I would say there were about a good 100 people in the club. Most of them up near the stage.
Halfway through the set WWF wrestlers Matt Hardy and Lita showed up. The fans, for the most part, left them alone or treated them with respect. You go Charlotte.
Of course, there was the one really drunk guy who was thrashing about like he was having a seizure, but he was “dancing”. He ended up knocking drinks out of people’s hands. He’s lucky he didn’t get the crap beaten out of him.
During a break in the act, one of the guitarists says “jelly donuts” for no apparent reason. That became a running gag for the rest of the night. At points, even the crowd was chanting “JEL-LY DO-NUTS”.
They closed out with Motley Crue’s “Livewire” at which point a mosh pit was formed in which their pig-like mascot Arthur started moshing too. They came back for an encore and did one of their originals “To Kill a Stranger” and then closed everything with the best version of the Scorpion’s “Rock You Like a Hurricane” I’ve ever heard. During that entire song, Matt Hardy kept making gestures like the wrestler named The Hurricane. WWF fans will get that and think that’s funny.
We didn’t stick around to try to get autographs or anything because it was midnight and I had to work today. But I did buy the new CD on the way out from Arthur himself. I may have gotten some of the song orders screwed up, but I’m doing this off the top of my head. It was a kick-ass show. I felt like it was 1985 again. I was banging my head and pumping my fist all night. This is how rock shows should be. If you get the rare opportunity to go see Fozzy in your town, don’t pass up the chance. You can check out their website at FozzyRock.com.