Rob Zombie
Copenhell - 2019
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
The final day of Copenhell was drawing nearer its end. Sure, there were a few hours and bands to go, but nevertheless the festival wanted to make sure it was going out with a bang - and what better way to do so, than to get Rob Zombie back on the stage?
“What time is it? Does that sun ever set? Is it eternal daylight here?”
- Rob Zombie (vocals)
Rob Zombie made his second appearance at Copenhell, and with his last visit in 2017 garnering much praise from this site (and others), we weren’t going to miss this for anything! Luckily, the band’s main stage performance wasn’t overlapping with any other concerts anyway, so it wasn’t a problem however you look at it.
Well, we were expecting a party, and a party was what we got! The band opened the show with American Witch from the 2006 album Educated Horses, a song that reminded me of the good old White Zombie track Electric Head, Part 1 (The Agony) - I don’t know, it just has a similar feel to it. Anyway, great way to get going, especially now that the band hadn’t released a new album since the last time - Rob Zombie (the man) had however been busy with his film career, releasing 3 From Hell, the highly anticipated continuation of the adventures of the Firefly clan (House Of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects).
You couldn’t tell that the band hadn’t been active though, as it was full on party from the get go. Zombie went straight to the crowd, using the security fence to walk from one side to the other, and all the way around the long catwalk in the middle, shaking hands and knuckles as he went. No wonder the crowd was so willing, when he lead them into a question and reply chant with “Wanna fuckin’ party?” “Yeah!”.
As per usual, he was great at engaging the crowd throughout. Is he the best live frontman out there? I don’t know, but he certainly ranks among the top men. Top men.
He isn’t alone in the delivery though, as anyone familiar with the band should know. I mean, Zombie is super charismatic, but more than in many other bands, he doesn’t carry the weight of entertainment alone, as the rest of the band is also completely on board. There are so many instrument changes, costumes changes, face changes, and other visual treats - not to mention that they are all first rate performers as well. For one thing, John 5 had a lie down towards the end of Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O., and when the “get up” chant started, it was now “get up John 5” - John 5 got a huge smile on his face, and obviously enjoyed the attention.
John 5 also delivered one heck of a guitar solo later on. Quite bizarre in places, and overall highly varied, which is how we like them, but then again, we all know John 5 is a highly accomplished guitarist with a broad spectrum of styles to choose from.
The band played mainly Rob Zombie songs of course, but not surprisingly, there was a good take of White Zombie covers thrown in for good measure, although maybe not as many as one would have expected. Other than these though, the band gave us some stuff from completely unrelated artists as well, such as a The Beatles cover, as well as a mash-up of songs, where White Zombie’s Thunder Kiss ‘65 served as the backbone and was added on by Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop, Metallica’s Enter Sandman, and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out.
“Oh fuck, is that a U.F.O.? No, just a seagull.”
- Rob Zombie (vocals)
Rob Zombie, both the band and the artist, was every bit as entertaining as we had hoped for, and more than delivering a kick-ass party towards the end of the festival, they once again managed to be one of the most entertaining shows in total of that same festival.
A great time was had by all, and we can only wait with anticipation for Copenhell to book the band again in the future.
Setlist:
American Witch
Superbeast
Living Dead Girl
More Human Than Human (White Zombie cover)
In The Age Of The Consecrated Vampire We All Get High
Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
Helter Skelter (The Beatles cover)
Get Your Boots On! That’s The End Of Rock And Roll
Meet The Creeper
Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O.
House Of 1000 Corpses
Solo (John 5)
Thunder Kiss ‘65 / Blitzkrieg Bop / Enter Sandman / School’s Out
(White Zombie / Ramones / Metallica / Alice Cooper cover)
Dragula
“What time is it? Does that sun ever set? Is it eternal daylight here?”
- Rob Zombie (vocals)
Rob Zombie made his second appearance at Copenhell, and with his last visit in 2017 garnering much praise from this site (and others), we weren’t going to miss this for anything! Luckily, the band’s main stage performance wasn’t overlapping with any other concerts anyway, so it wasn’t a problem however you look at it.
Well, we were expecting a party, and a party was what we got! The band opened the show with American Witch from the 2006 album Educated Horses, a song that reminded me of the good old White Zombie track Electric Head, Part 1 (The Agony) - I don’t know, it just has a similar feel to it. Anyway, great way to get going, especially now that the band hadn’t released a new album since the last time - Rob Zombie (the man) had however been busy with his film career, releasing 3 From Hell, the highly anticipated continuation of the adventures of the Firefly clan (House Of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects).
You couldn’t tell that the band hadn’t been active though, as it was full on party from the get go. Zombie went straight to the crowd, using the security fence to walk from one side to the other, and all the way around the long catwalk in the middle, shaking hands and knuckles as he went. No wonder the crowd was so willing, when he lead them into a question and reply chant with “Wanna fuckin’ party?” “Yeah!”.
As per usual, he was great at engaging the crowd throughout. Is he the best live frontman out there? I don’t know, but he certainly ranks among the top men. Top men.
He isn’t alone in the delivery though, as anyone familiar with the band should know. I mean, Zombie is super charismatic, but more than in many other bands, he doesn’t carry the weight of entertainment alone, as the rest of the band is also completely on board. There are so many instrument changes, costumes changes, face changes, and other visual treats - not to mention that they are all first rate performers as well. For one thing, John 5 had a lie down towards the end of Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O., and when the “get up” chant started, it was now “get up John 5” - John 5 got a huge smile on his face, and obviously enjoyed the attention.
John 5 also delivered one heck of a guitar solo later on. Quite bizarre in places, and overall highly varied, which is how we like them, but then again, we all know John 5 is a highly accomplished guitarist with a broad spectrum of styles to choose from.
The band played mainly Rob Zombie songs of course, but not surprisingly, there was a good take of White Zombie covers thrown in for good measure, although maybe not as many as one would have expected. Other than these though, the band gave us some stuff from completely unrelated artists as well, such as a The Beatles cover, as well as a mash-up of songs, where White Zombie’s Thunder Kiss ‘65 served as the backbone and was added on by Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop, Metallica’s Enter Sandman, and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out.
“Oh fuck, is that a U.F.O.? No, just a seagull.”
- Rob Zombie (vocals)
Rob Zombie, both the band and the artist, was every bit as entertaining as we had hoped for, and more than delivering a kick-ass party towards the end of the festival, they once again managed to be one of the most entertaining shows in total of that same festival.
A great time was had by all, and we can only wait with anticipation for Copenhell to book the band again in the future.
Setlist:
American Witch
Superbeast
Living Dead Girl
More Human Than Human (White Zombie cover)
In The Age Of The Consecrated Vampire We All Get High
Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
Helter Skelter (The Beatles cover)
Get Your Boots On! That’s The End Of Rock And Roll
Meet The Creeper
Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O.
House Of 1000 Corpses
Solo (John 5)
Thunder Kiss ‘65 / Blitzkrieg Bop / Enter Sandman / School’s Out
(White Zombie / Ramones / Metallica / Alice Cooper cover)
Dragula
Rob Zombie
