Fri Aug 5th - The Hellbilly himself, Rob Zombie, brought his "Freaks On Parade" tour to Chicago on Friday night, boasting one of the year's biggest lineups (If you were a numetal fan in the late 1990's-early 2000's), with fellow metal legends Mudvayne, Static-X, and Powerman 5000 tagging along on the 21-date trek across the US. The Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL, about 45 minutes south of Chicago, would be the setting for the evening. The amphitheater, one of the largest music venues in the Chicagoland area, can accommodate up to 28,000 people, with 11,000 reserved seats and 17,000 lawn seats. Even though it was a hot and humid evening, metalheads came out in force for this tour, with what appeared to be a nearly full house.
The parade would begin with Powerman 5000. The band would start the evening with "Footsteps & Voices" from their 2017 album New Wave, followed by "Nobody's Real," "Invade, Destroy, Repeat," and "Horror Show / Seven Nation Army." They received a positive response from the audience, who danced and sang along to their hits including "Bombshell," a personal favorite of mine. I recall hearing it for the first time by loading up NHL Hitz 03 back in the day. After a brief interlude featuring "An Eye Is Upon You," the rest of their set would include "Supernova Goes Pop" and arguably their most popular track, "When Worlds Collide," which should be familiar to any old school gamer who's played Tony Hawks Pro Skater.
Next it would be time for the evil disco. Static-X would take the stage and begin their performance with their hit "Bled For Days" off their debut album "Wisconsin Death Trip" before following up with the self-titled track itself. Currently composed of the 3 original members of the band: bassist Tony Campos, Guitarist Koichi Fukada and drummer Men Jay, the group is led by "Xero". This is my second time seeing the band with Xero as front man, and I would believe Wayne would be proud of the product the band continues to put forth. There is no doubt that Wayne cannot be replaced, but the way they have chosen to honor his memory while focusing solely on the music is something that I believe any fan of the band can appreciate. Xero does an excellent job of mimicking Wayne's classic stage presence, jumping up and down a lot throughout the set, and vocally is so close to Wayne's sound and style that you'd swear he was still here. They'd go on to perform "Sweat of the Bud" and "Love Dump" before dedicating a performance of "Cold" to Wayne and finishing the set with "I'm With Stupid" and "Push It."
Mudvayne, the local legends, would be the next to take the stage. This would be the band's first full tour in 12 years, following their reunion for three special festival performances last year. They would begin with one of their most popular songs, "Dig," from their debut album L.D. 50, followed by "Under My Skin," also from the same album, before a partial version of "Severed," which would lead into "Death Blooms." Even after 12 years away, the band hasn't lost a step, putting on a spectacular performance. Vocalist Chad Gray took full advantage of the ample stage space, running across it and even offstage down a makeshift A/V case staircase onto the railing, screaming right into the faces of the ecstatic fans at the front of the pit barricade. The set would also include "Internal Primates Forever," "Determined," "Not Falling," "Nothing To Gein," and "Dull Boy," before concluding with two of their biggest hits, "World So Cold" and "Happy?"
The night would be capped off by none other than Kingfreak Rob Zombie. I've seen Zombie several times over the years, and you can always count on a good time filled with hits when you go to one of his shows. Tonight would be no exception. Taking the stage to Frank Sinatra's classic track "Chicago," he would begin the set with "The Triumph Of King Freak" and follow with the classic "Superbeast," before being greeted onstage by what appeared to be a 30ft tall walking devil, which drew quite a reaction from the audience and also made for a killer backdrop during "Meet The Creeper." Personally, I love it when bands use stage props like smoke/fire cannons to enhance their stage presence and draw the audience deeper into the performance. The band's set would continue with "Shake Your Ass Smoke Your Grass," "Living Dead Girl," and a throwback to White Zombie's "More Human Than A Human." Throughout the set, John 5 was in classic form, shredding each riff to perfection with Piggy D slapping the bass track after track. The set would continue with "Scum Of The Earth," "Dead City Radio And The New Gods Supertown," "Never Gonna Stop," and "House of 1000 Corpses," before the band ripped into the White Zombie classic "Thunder Kiss '65" with a killer guitar solo featuring AC/DC's iconic "Thunderstruck." The band would also perform a cover of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," which was followed by "Shadow of the Cemetery Man." Before the night was out, Rob would show the audience the trailer for his upcoming adaptation of the classic Munsters. To say the least, the trailer looks intriguing; I'll let you watch it and form your own opinion below. Following the trailer, the band would take the stage for one last performance of their hit "Dragula" before departing to a standing ovation from the thousands in attendance.
With 9 stops remaining, the tour is just over halfway through. With these shows taking place at amphitheaters across the United States, there should be plenty of chances to get tickets if they happen to pass through your area. A lineup like this, full of legendary bands, doesn't come around very often, so don't pass up the opportunity if you can! Following the tour, Rob Zombie will make a few stops at some of the upcoming large four-day festivals, including Louder Than Life and Aftershock. Mudvayne has nothing planned after the tour, so we'll have to wait and see what the band has in store for the future. Static-X will take some time off to prepare for next year's stacked "Rise of The Machine" tour, which has been rescheduled from earlier this year and will feature Fear Factory, Dope, Mushroomhead, Twiztid, and Society 1. You can find those dates here. As for Powerman 5000 they have a few shows slated for the west coast in late October, and to start 2023 will have a handful of shows down under in Australia. I would like to give a big thank you to Live Nation for the opportunity to cover the event and I look forward to returning to Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in the future!
- Nick B.
*Updated Periodically
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