Rob Zombie Interview by Michael Mullenix “I never felt like I had a hometown gig, but if I ever did it would be Hollywood.” Rob Zombie’s words echoed in my head Saturday night as he took center stage at the Hollywood Palladium. Sometimes a great plan just comes together and when it does, it’s sheer perfection! Throughout the city and beyond, throughout the country, bands of all varieties were celebrating the Autumn Harvest Festival with concerts in their own way. But I ask you, could anything be more perfect than seeing Rob Zombie ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT? Flashback to the previous Tuesday, 10:00am waiting for the teleconference with Mr. Zombie. With a crash-course introduction on how the morning would proceed, members of the press (yours truly included) were given the chance to discuss Rob Zombie’s upcoming tour, album, and movie plans. It’s been years since Zombie’s last album and it’s easy to lose sight of the fact he’s released two films (and one cartoon) in the meantime. We find ourselves now on the cusp of the release of Hellbilly Deluxe 2, the sequel to his solo career debut. “I’ve had the idea for many, many years [to do a sequel] thinking it would be cool to go back and do that, people do it with everything else but not with records so much. But I wasn’t going to call it that unless it seems like it makes sense. So even though this idea has been in my head for 3 years, it wasn’t until we were finished with the record and listened to it, thought about it for a long time that I decided to title it [Hellbilly Deluxe 2]… when we were done it really felt like the perfect companion piece to the first record.” Back in the present, the Palladium was covered with Halloween decorations. Days earlier Rob explained how the Los Angeles show was going to stand out. “The LA show is very different than all the other shows on the tour. It’s like the extra show. I hired my art director from Halloween, well all my movies, and he’s art directing the entire Palladium. What we’re doing is a scene from Halloween 2. For those that have seen it, [the scene] is a rock concert that the girls go to, a Halloween rock concert and we’re recreating that live. Besides me playing, I also have the fake band I created for the movie, and the fake horror movie host in the same spirit he played in the movie. And believe it or not, LA was the one city that granted us a permit to do fire, that’s the one city getting a big fire display.” Opening up for Rob was a brilliant display of talent of the Rockabilly/Psychobilly variety. In the direct support slot were the Neckromantix, a three-piece band with painted faces and a stand up Coffin Bass. Painting a horror theme over their unique blend of Punk and Rockabilly, the band was in full swing and instigated the first couple of mosh pits to form in the crowd that evening. Needless to say, it was an appropriate fit on Halloween night. The opening band was Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures who were last seen in Rob Zombie’s latest film, Halloween 2. “When it came time to do Halloween 2, I knew I wanted to have this rock concert party, and I wanted to create this band that really fits it,” explains Zombie. “I could see the type of band I wanted, so I contacted Jesse in LA, who was playing with Social Distortion, and said I have this idea for this band Captain Clegg and The Night Creatures, do you want to be part of this, write the songs for it? He totally got it and jumped right in. They wrote an entire album’s worth of material for the movie and three or four songs are actually in the movie. It’s kind of like the Monkees; what started as a fun idea has now become a real band and he’s out on tour and takes it very seriously. The character has become the reality.” Saturday night, house lights go down for the last time and playing on the big screen … is a scene from the Great Pumpkin Peanuts cartoon. You have to hand it to him; part of what makes Zombie so unique is the sense of humor that permeates everything he does. The cartoon clip ends and the band takes the stage, wasting no time going into "Channel X." The rest of his set list was one memorable hit after the next, sweeping through his entire solo discography playing through "American Witch," "Never Gonna Stop," "Scum Of The Earth," and "Living Dead Girl," mixed with White Zombie classics like "Thunder Kiss '65" and "More Human Than Human."
The tour also marks the first live performances of the songs off his new album including "What, Sick Bubble-gum," and "Werewolf Women of the SS." Rob Zombie’s set was lit up with enormous monitors and projectors playing the band’s music videos and accompanying images behind them. Jackolanterns graced the sides of the stage, and the pyrotechnics were set up around the amps and drum kit. The audience, most of who were in full costume, enhanced the atmosphere of the show. When’s the last time you’ve seen Ronald McDonald and Gumby in a mosh pit? The evening drew to a close and the last encore of the night was "Dragula." This song has served as a battle cry for over 10 years, marking the beginning of Zombie’s solo career… still funny to think it’s about the Munster’s car. Like I said, Rob Zombie on Halloween night, a perfect plan for a perfect evening.
Check out our videos from the show: