Since the Venue hosts a torrent of local and national music acts, it adapts its ambiance to fit a variety of styles. One night, a local rock band like Digital Summer might blow out the joint with its melodic sound, and the next, hip-hop legends like Snoop Dogg or De La Soul might smoke the mic with their furious styles. The billiards area houses three championship-size pool tables, and the balcony overlooking the courtyard functions as a VIP area, complete with a private big-screen TV and fireplace.
My ears still ringing from the kick-ass sound platform, I smile as I recall the sights and sounds of the evening. An appropriate kick-off, E-bomb from Phoenix opened, bringing their eclectic industrial sound and character to a boil in short order, instantly transforming the sedate heavy goth zombie fetish laden crowd to a uniform writhing mass while Casket Cosmetics and Rocky Horror officianados transformed mundane party-goers into more suitably grotesque characters for a small fee if they didn't walk in the door looking that way already.
In between sets, the Coffin Draggers of Arizona Derby Dame fame hosted a brain eating contest, awarding the fastest cranium consumer a token prize, but moreso, noteriety for being the most voracious zombie there.
After a set by Alter der Ruine from Tucson, Pain Solution from Norway took center stage to perform with sharp things...slicing through vegetables with machettes before standing on them barefoot, then moving on to pierce, tongue, brows, cheeks, forearms and abs with sharpened six-inch long rods, only to follow up with taking cash tips from the audience and stapling them to his abdomin, legs, pecks then finally directly to his skull until nicely (albiet painfully) covered with greenbacks.
FunkerVogt from Germany would take the stage to cap off the music portion of the night with awesomely pounding euro industrial sound that would inevitably bring the closest thing to a mosh-pit to the crowd, with it's make up of better and better costuming and skin accelerating through the night.
Finally, Life Suspended would take the stage to display the cutting edge of tattoos and piercings by being hoisted aloft by strategically placed hooks through their skin alone following a brief skit involving witch doctory and, of course, blood, in an ongoing theme all night long.
Hats off to Horns and Halos for producing this targeted insanity, in what is probably the best place for it...Venue of Scottsdale.
Sadly I must return back to 'normal' life tomorrow, but I can rest assured that shows like this will return for the zombie in me, and you, even if you don't know there IS one yet.
Now if I can just get the blood out of my clothing, and off the earpiece of my phone... hmmmm.
Review by Tim Gilman
Overall:
E-40 "The ambassador of the Yay Official Birthday Concert": w/special guest Central Products, Rodbell, Hannibal Leq..Saturday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m., all ages, 21+ to drink, $20, Venue of Scottsdale, 7117 E. 3rd Ave., Scottsdale, 1(877)840-0457, ticketforce.com, purpleleafent.com.
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