Rob Zombie brought his rock and roll circus to Virginia in support of his new album, The Lunar Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A great night was had by all!
Rob Zombie – Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA
Words and Photography: Mike Sprouse
On a summer Saturday night, the pavilion house lights dimmed, and the sounds of Dr Hook’s Cover Of The Rolling Stone rang out through the PA system, followed by the Expanding The Head of Zed.
Then multiple massive video screens lit up, their imagery backlighting Rob who appeared high up on a giant t-shaped riser with the word ZOMBIE emblazoned across the front, just in case anyone forgot who they were there to see.
The band launched into The Triumph Of King Freak, a song from the newly released album The Lunar Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy (gotta love Rob’s album titles), with John 5 standing stage right, playing a guitar decorated with artwork of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The rock and roll circus had begun.
Throughout the night, Rob and the band visited albums from various points in his long career, playing songs like Thunder Kiss ’65 and Living Dead Girl to House of 1000 Corpses. The new song, Shake Your Ass/Smoke Your Grass was very well received, as was More Human Than Human and Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy).
This was an intense 15-song set with video footage enhancing the thunderous audio every step of the way.
The Lunar Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy is Rob Zombie’s first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart in the US in the first week of its release.
During the song Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O., the video screens were flashing snippets from the video, even including the parts with the aliens “flashing” their bits, much to everyone’s amusement.
Late in the evening, the band left the stage after running through another new track, Shadow Of The Cemetery Man (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition).
What followed next was the video screens playing the trailer for Rob’s new movie, The Munsters. The movie is a true passion project for Rob, who is a giant lifelong fan of the old black and white TV show.
Once the movie trailer finished, the eerie sounds of the intro to Dragula assaulted the fan’s ears as the band returned to the stage. The song kicked in, and the crowd sang enthusiastically with Rob through the whole song. It closed the night’s festivities on a real high note.
If you have a chance to see any of the remaining shows of the Freaks On Parade tour, especially Rob’s set with its giant red devil and mike stands in the shape of Nosferatu, I highly recommend going for a fun night of creepy, loud rock and roll.
Rob Zombie’s elaborate shock rock theatrical experience is a must-see.
