Gig Review: Rob Zombie – O2 Academy, Glasgow (13th June 2019)

It has been several years since this writer has had such a privilege of seeing one of the best stage shows in metal over the past two decades. After three runs of the Twins of Evil tour with Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie returns to the music capital of Scotland on the eve of their long anticipated Download performance (now a long-standing tradition). Due to a far smaller stage than usual, there wasn’t room for dancing robots or demons, but that didn’t seem to make much difference to the fact that Rob Zombie never disappoints. They could very well have played an acoustic set in the smallest of bars and still would’ve had enough groove and energy to start a riot.

Bursting out from the crypt with “Meet The Creeper”, it’s impossible to ignore how much presence and positive vibes the four piece are emanating from the stage. The great thing about their set is that there is a decent balance of old school White Zombie, newer tracks like “Get High” and “Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O” and of course, the classics like “Superbeast”.

The whole band seemed to have permanent, beaming grins for the whole show and it’s infectious – and we can’t help but mention the fact that Mr Zombie wearing a t-shirt with Mrs Zombie’s face on it is so sweet and so un-rock n’ roll that is somehow super rock n’ roll.

Unfortunately around the halfway mark, Rob had to stop everyone halfway through “Thunderkiss ‘65” to ask the ignorant few to get off their Instagram and stop ruining it for everyone else. Herein lies the highly contentious debate of whether phones should be allowed at concerts. At the very least, they were polite about it and understood that the fans may want to share the experience with others but were quick to point out that this means you aren’t really focusing on having fun. Others like Rob Halford, infamously, have been far less courteous when it comes to fans watching their entire sets through a glowing rectangular brick.

There were unexpected covers of both classic Ramones and Alice Cooper bangers; unexpected, but awesome, before finishing with the de rigeur sneak peek trailer promoting the new Zombie-brand horror flick, “Helter Skelter” and the age old tradition of ending with “Dragula”. It’s impossible to be left disappointed after a Rob Zombie set, and honestly would we expect anything less than killer from the king of spectacular horror shows?

Rob Zombie: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube

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