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Murderdolls 05/19/03 @ the Troubadour Witness to the mayhem and visions of the chaos by Caren Spitler Don't be afraid of… 'Things that go fu*k in the night.' This was the last stop on US soil for our favorite graveyard fiends, the Murderdolls. They've just had their last two shows for the year (before heading abroad). The Troubadour's famous "Monsters Sound" night lived up to its name when they let Wednesday 13, Joey Jordison, Acey Slade, Eric Griffin, and Ben Graves turn the place in to an asylum. This band's attitude shoves the finger at the conventions of what music is supposed to be (or as Wednesday would say, "middle-finger, double-fisted.") Forget your rules and restrictions. They take the music seriously but with a sense of humor about the world's absurdity. They revel in celebration of the circus of taboo (in words), but are a thunderous, rumbling anarchic force (in deeds). When they are on stage it's hard to tell which end is up. Like flies to fresh meat, they don’t sit still or land in one place for long. Could it be cordless equipment was invented for bands like them? The show was like taking brief mental snapshots that speed past you in a blur of motion. While these guys frantically work the stage, they play to thrill your mind |
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Some people find it hard to take them seriously while they are singing gruesome tunes of romanticizing a corpse, or teen zombies. It's refreshing to find a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. It's only music, after all. While they have fun with the play on words, the music is anything but child's play. Handling their instruments with agility and expertise. Much more than just musical masturbation, they mean business when they play. From start to finish it was a great show. They played 13 songs leading up to the in-your-face final - a new tune simply titled "FUCK." Murderdolls' set included " Twist My Sister," "Grave Robbing U.S.A." and "Dead in Hollywood." Acey's and Joey's acrid, blistering guitar tones come alive on top of the low howl of Eric's bass and the roar of Ben on the drums. The songs are tight and the musicianship is so good, what Wednesday 13 is singing about is almost irrelevant , ALMOST. He has enough tricks up his sleeves to suck you into his world, and before you know it you acquiesce to fright night lullabies. He sounded good enough to eat on " Love at First Fright." The timber of his throaty guttural vocals has a dangerous sex appeal. Even as he describes what he'd like to do to his bride "Well I’d rather cut you than the wedding cake" in "Die My Bride" You just can't help but succumb. |
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| Wednesday swaggers around the stage with the weight of his apathetic disgust, while singing over-the-top anthems captured in visions of horror from a TV screen. Mr. 13 was all dolled up in his eerily enigmatic appeal and a strong stage presence as they played "Dressed to Depress." "One foot in the gutter, the other’s in the grave" sings to a gothic gloom-and-doom disenfranchised youth culture. Drunk on loathing more for humanity than loathing of himself, he epitomizes the word "intense" on stage. Calling names and pushing buttons is his lyrical domain. He uses vocals as a weapon singing "I'm a hooker, I'm your priest, I'm you brand new disease, I'm Satan with distortion, your overdue abortion" in the tune "People Hate Me," while the room sang along to every word. |
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You can write them off as a gimmick, they very well could be. But what they do, they do well, with power and integrity. They are unapologetic about what anyone might think. In the meantime, those who are brave enough to check them out find there is more to Murderdolls than what meets the eye. This is a great live band that knows how to put on one hell of a show! Guaranteed to THRILL! Until 2004 we won't be hearing much from them here in the US. But stay tuned, they have some other things in store for us, of that you can be sure. Keep track of the murderous rampage at murderdolls.com |
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