Freaks Invade Dickies arena and have a Zombie Party

2 weeks ago

*Rob Zombie in Dallas. Photo by Craig Youngblood*

It was a warm Wednesday evening in Fort Worth as thousands of fans descended upon Dickies Arena to witness Rob Zombies Freaks on Parade tour. Everyone knew it would be a huge party and were excited and looking forward to the night’s festivities waiting inside for them. The fans were all making their way to the arena and making their way to the door all around the venue, patiently waiting for their turn to get in there and find their spots for the night to party with all the bands that were here tonight. With such an incredible lineup in sight, fans had to get there early to ensure they didn’t miss a single band set to perform that night. Once inside Dickies Arena, all you saw were fans walking all over the place, stopping to check out the merch and grabbing some drinks and snacks to get started with an insane party that was about to get kicked off. People from all walks of life gathered here tonight with one goal: to watch an incredible show, have fun, leave all their worries at the door, and be in the moment to soak it all in.

First to the stage tonight is the Industrial Music Pioneers Ministry, led by their incredible frontman, Al Jourgensen. As the house lights went down and the stage lights illuminated, the band began taking the stage and getting set to kick off their set for the night. After they were all set, the phenomenal Uncle Al came strolling in and taking a long, hard look at the thousands of fans packed into the arena. As they settled in for a second, Al spoke with the fans, welcomed them, and told them they would kick things off with a song from their latest album, Hopium for the Masses, titled B.D.E, and the fans cheered. A few lines into the opening song, a woman appears from behind the stage, wearing a silver jumpsuit and hat. As she walks to the front of the stage, she starts singing as well, right along Al’s side, and they begin working together on the stage during the song. As they wrap up the first song, Al tells the fans they are going to be singing another new one as they jump straight into Goddamn White Trash, and the arena screams out the opening words of the song behind the singer. All the band members were working the stage, interacting with the fans, and headbanging between hitting their parts of the song and never missing a note. As they worked their way through their setlist for the night, they began hitting their earlier music that many fans held dear to their hearts as their favorite songs for many years. As soon as the drums and opening music kicked off for N.W.O., the fans began screaming and jumping around, thrashing along with the beat. Quickly after that song had ended, the intro to Just One Fix began playing over the speakers, and a deafening roar from the crowd rang out. Following that was the insane scream and thunderous drum strikes that kicked into fast guitar riffs. This song energized the fans; they were all banging and jumping around. The fans continued this through the following songs, with Ministry ending their set with Jesus Built My Hotrod and leaving the fans begging for more.

As the crew readied the stage for the next band to take the stage, the fans took this opportunity to grab food and drinks and hit the merch tables. As many of the fans returned to their spots, they were welcomed with a large curtain covering the stage. Everyone knew who was next and could not wait to see what kind of visual spectacle the incredible Shock Rock pioneer Alice Cooper brought with him for tonight’s viewing pleasures. As the time drew near, two plague doctors appeared on each side of the stage and began walking towards each other, ringing bells, and they continued to opposite sides of the stage. When they completed it and turned around, the curtain dropped to reveal a large wanted and banned curtain in Texas, with Alice Cooper’s shadow standing in the center. Alice drew out his giant sword and came through the curtain. It fell to the ground, and the rest of his band joined him up front. They jumped straight into their night’s opening song, Lock Me Up, and fans applauded at their entrance. Alice and his band immediately began their show and interacted with the fans. Every time you see Alice Cooper play a live show, it is a new experience. They followed that song up with the hit song No More Mr. Nice Guy, and the fans screamed out with cheer and began singing along to every work with him. The band continued going from one side of the stage to the other with incredible showmanship, keeping the fans engaged as they played notes to some of their favorite songs. Alice Cooper always has such a unique and theatrical show from start to finish. You will often see his band just playing and running around, and he suddenly appears with one of his many costume changes for the night. As they worked their way through their set list for the night, they got to Black Widow, a site to see. As Alice Cooper performs, his wife joins him on stage dressed in a Victorian-style dress and hair. As he nears the end, large masked men come out with a guillotine, and she puts him on it and chops off his head. As the blade strikes the back of his neck, his head comes off and rolls down, and she grabs it and presents it to the fans, and they all cheer and scream out. After that performance, they continued working their way through the set and closed out the night with Schools Out for Summer, and everyone in the arena screamed out and sang along with every song and note they played. As Alice and the band bowed and thanked the fans, the crew began working quickly to clear the stage and set up for the King of the Freaks to come up next and close out this insane energy show tonight. This break gave the fans another chance to take breaks and grab some more merch, food, and drinks. As the time got closer to the night’s final show, the fans returned to their spots, and welcoming them was a large black curtain covering the stage.

As the time drew near and the fans were back and settled, the lights went down, and you could feel the anticipation building for the moment we had all been waiting for. As the lights went out and the intro music began playing, light started illuminating from the back of the stage. On many of the screens, you could see videos playing; on the others, large illuminated letters spelling out ZOMBIE were going across them. As the intro finished and rang out, the curtain fell, and the band kicked in. Rob Zombie screamed, “Fort Worth, Come On!” the fans screamed as they played Demon Speeding to kick things off for their set. Rob Zombie stood at the top of the larger-than-left Zombie Skull, rocking back and forth and headbanging as he sang. Rob descended from his large skull and began running around performing for the fans while singing Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown with music videos playing on the screens behind them. His exceptionally talented drummer, Ginger Fish, was up high above the rest of the band on a giant lift while continuing to rain down thunderous beats to keep them all going. When witnessing a Zombie live show, it is always hard to know exactly where to look or watch. There is so much going on with Rob Zombie, who never seems tired or out of energy as he runs around the stage during his performance and changes many costumes. The guitarists Blasko and Riggs took turns going from one side of the stage to the other and jumping up and down off the risers. Taking turns having fun with the fans and keeping them engaged continued throughout the show. Rob Zombie continued working his way through his set list with non-stop action, driving these fans to an incredible experience. When the band kicked off into Superbeast, thousands of fans screamed a loud cheer and whistled. After Superbeast, they continued to work their way into the bottom part of their setlist for the night. Many fans anxiously waited to see if their favorite songs would be on the night’s list. As they were playing one of their songs, The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition), it was tough to know where to watch with all of them on the risers up front. You had fire raining down from above them and fire erupting into the air all around them. You also had videos playing on all the screens around the stage, and Ginger was on his platform, rising into the air. As Rob Zombie introduces the one and only Ginger Fish, he plays a genuinely incredible Drum Solo for the fans. As he finishes his drum solo, the band joins back onto the stage, and Rob starts addressing the crowd about it being close to Halloween. He said they unfortunately won’t be here on that special day, so he thought it would be a good time to do away with having a rock concert and have a party. He asked what could get them in the mood, began naming all the normal ones, and then said he knew of one they would like. He said what about the one and only Blacula and then started the super high-energy grooving song, The Satanic Rites of Blacula, and the crowd began dancing and jumping around. From there, they went into More Human than Human, and Rob said let’s get this place jumping. As Rob and the band started jumping around, all the fans began jumping in the pit and up in the stands, and you could feel it shaking all over the arena. They followed that up with one for the ladies with Living Dead Girl that all the fans were screaming and jumping into each other. Rob was dancing all over the stage, and giant balloons began falling from the sky above the stage, being bounced around the crowd. As they were preparing to finish up their set with the next couple of songs, Rob began talking with the crowd. He says there is a wide-open floor up front and asked if we could put away our phones for just a couple of minutes to enjoy the show and rock out. Let’s do as we used to do before phones and headbang so much that your neck will be sore the next day. Those will be your memories, and you will keep them with you in your brain. Everyone screamed out and he asked if we were ready to do that, have some fun, and be in the moment. They all screamed that we could do that, and he jumped off into Thunder Kiss ’65, and the roof erupted with all the cheers and screams as they opening chords of the song were struck. The fans joined along as Rob sang and headbanged with his band, and all you could see was people’s heads and hair whipping around all over the place. As they finished that song and the fans tried to catch their breath from that one, they opened up their closing song, Dragula, and everyone yelled out. With everyone singing along, Rob and the band continued to give their all until the song’s last note was played, and the fans ate all of it up until they thanked them and walked off the stage.

You could tell that the fans still wanted more, even after that incredible show that they had just witnessed from the start until the end. I think many of them could have easily stayed there and listened to these guys play until late into the night. There is always so much to see and take in when you get to go to a Rob Zombie show; between all the stuff playing on the screens and fire going off above and below them all around the stage, you never know where or what will happen next. These shows are truly super high energy and will leave you buzzing for weeks following when you allow yourself to be in the moment of the show and soak it all in. I am already looking forward to the next time the Freaks on Parade show rolls through town again. If you have never been able to witness one of these shows, I suggest you go check them out the next time they are in your town or area.