Hell on High Heels (part duex)
Monday, January 15, 2007 at 10:00AM When we last left, the fearless twosome were on a never ending quest for glam.
Now, back to regular programming:
Instead of Vains of Jenna, Drugstore Valentine took to the stage. The Akron-bred, Cincinnati based group wasn't nearly as bad as their predecessors, and that's saying a lot. Their lead singer played dress-up, wearing a fur coat on stage just like Kid Rock. Old Kenny Ozz (he's the infamous lead singer) wasn't afraid of moving, and he liked crowd interaction. He jumped on the bar, ran around the room. He probably can't afford a gym membership. Drugstore Valentine is an odd mix of "music," and they were trying to be a little glam. To bad they fell short of the goal. A highlight of their show was a Poison cover of I Hate Every Bone In Your Body (But Mine). Too bad our friend Ozz doesn't sound (or look) anything like Bret Michaels.
It was during the intermission that we noticed the boys in Vains of Jenna milling around the club. They looked uncomfortable, but not nervous. They were probably afraid the crowd would attack them if they sang songs with intelligible lyrics. As the bassist, JP White walked by us, Heather grabbed his arm and asked when they were playing. He laughed -er - cackled and said "Next, ladies. Next, after these people." And the flipped his arm toward the stage. I laughed, for I'd just had another postmodern moment at the expense of glam.
My boy JP was wrong.
After Drugstore Valentine, it was time for a holiday, a Pagan Holiday (1313) evidently. The Cincinnati based band has a fairly local following, and a huge chunk of the crowd was there to see the horror metal band. Just like the other bands, I thought these guys were pretty vile, but I have a specific beef with Pagan Holiday 1313: they like to rip off Motley Crue. As anyone who reads this blog knows, Motley Crue - especially Nikki Sixx - is sacred territory in my book. Bassist Mike Pagan bears an odd resemblance to Nikki Sixx (except he's about 100 pounds heavier). Pagan rips off Nikki's hair, eyeliner, stage mannerisms, he even had on a MC Shout at the Devil shirt! To put the final nail in the coffin, Pagan spit blood during their "show." Please. Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue have been spitting blood at shows for two decades. Give me a break. It might not be such an insult if the band sounded 1 percent as good as the Crue. Sadly, Pagan Holiday 1313 is an abortion of music. It's a good thing I'm all about choice.
At one point we left the club and went to the bar next door. It was just too much bad for two good girls to take. I mean, bad.
And then, to the victor goes the spoils. It was time. Vains of Jenna finally took the stage at 12:45 A.M., more than five hours after we originally entered the club.
After waiting so long, risking life and limb for glam, we pushed our way to the front row and waited, and we were not disappointed. When Vains of Jenna finally started their show, Heather and I were thisclose to the action. Our new friend JP posed for pictures, and generally the young Swedes just rocked, hard. Unfortunately, they didn't perform the title song off their debut album Lit Up/Let Down, which also happens to be my favorite VOJ track. They played through all their fast songs with a frenetic energy the goth crowd seemed to actually enjoy. If the boys had attempted the slower Lit Up/Let Down, beer bottles probably would have been hurled toward the stage, and since I was basically on the stage I'm glad there was none of that. Their portion of the evening was fun, and people were actually smiling.
After the performance, Heather and I decided to look at the merchandise table. As we were browsing the customary concert swag, I inquired about the price of a shirt to the man sitting at the booth. He blinked and said he was just watching the booth. I blinked back. Was I speaking Greek? Apparently, Vains of Jenna sell their own merchandise, and sure enough lead singer Lizzy Devine trotted over to the little table to shirts and photos. I bought a shirt for a very reasonable $15 and Heather a necklace for $10. When I handed over my cash, poor Lizzy looked like he was going to cry. "Thanks for buying this. We really need it," he said. The band kept their money in a jar. On top of the jar was a yellow sticky note that read "We need gas money." Every member of the band is heinously thin. I hope their little indie label gave them a big enough advance that covers a stop at McDonalds once a day.
After this, we were out. Called a cab, skipped the headliner Wednesday 13. Of course, we had to wait more than 30 minutes for a cab. During our wait, we we're fortunate enough to witness a full on domestic dispute outside the club. As we stood just outside the club door, Wednesday 13 took the stage and played a song that sounded very familiar to me. During the bridge, it hit me: Wednesday 13 blatantly and unabashedly ripped off Shout at the Devil, (the song, not the entire album). These people are bigger Crue heads than me! As I voiced my disgust over the finding to Heather, the domestic dispute stopped and starred at me. Apparently, it's sacrilegious to speak ill of Wednesday 13. Whatever.
During the never ending wait for a cab, two members of Vains of Jenna trotted out, walked up the street, and then returned. They milled around us for a while, both Heather and I were on respective cell phones, trying to get a cab, desperate to get away from the Jerry Springer scene unfolding around us. Finally, they gave up and went inside. I suppose had I not been on my phone, I'd have an interview with the band to post here. The world may never know.
Tomorrow, some comments from Heather, a special contributor to Bring Back Glam!
Reader Comments (10)
I really respect what you all do here on the online mag, but in MY opinion you all need to check your facts, be less critical of your surroundings, and actually enjoy the show instead of being so cynical all the time. And just so your not confused by this, im not pissed off or ranting, im just offering an opinion and a rebutal to your comments. I am known as "glam rock" Kenny and love the glam more than maybe even you all, but lets face it... If we dont support bands like Wednesday 13, who has glam roots, glam will surely die forever.. Motley Crue aint getting no younger, Poison aint so pretty anymore, and were never gonna get "big hair" on MTV again. So yeah, be less critical and enjoy a show. Cheers~~~~~Kenny Ozz~~~Drugstore Valentine... Feel free to email me or find us on myspace...
Maybe if you up the dosage on the prozac you'll be able to have a better time when you go out?? I mean hell, you take the time to get all pretty and go out to see your GLAM bands.......why not at least TRY to enjoy yourself???
So, the singer for Only Flesh acted as if he were on coke...okay...and I guess you failed to notice the obscene amount of drugs the man "near and dear to your heart" did, huh? In case you're not bright enough to realize whom I'm talking about, that would be Nikki Sixx. You see, I also am a huge fan of Motely Crue and I happen to like the fact that a whole new generation of bands are influenced by them. Which brings me to my next point...and apparently, the point of several others that have already responded...
You claim you love glam rock so much, you seem not to know shit about it, as pointed out by Kenny Oz in the numerous facts you seemed to have overlooked. Not to mention, the majority of your criticism was about everyone's appearance and not much about the actual music...yet we're not seeing a picture of you on here, princess...
If you had paid attention, Only Flesh ended their set with a cover of Quiet Riot's Metal Health. A song, just in case you've never heard before, opened the doorway for glam rock in the 80's. Mike Pagan's Shout At The Devil shirt was also a welcomed sight. See, I actually like more than two bands. It excites me to be able to go to a club and see these bands instead of grunge and the sweater-wearing alternative scene. The 90's destroyed the fun and image that was glam rock.
You seem to have an issue with all of the bands that played, minus VOJ, without even having the IQ to understand what was happening right in front of you. Wednesday 13 was in a glam band, for Christ's sake... You claim that you would like to work for Metal Edge Magazine...what would they say about a comment such as, "To put the final nail in the coffin, Pagan spit blood during their 'show.' Please. Nikki Sixx and Motley Crue have been spitting blood at shows for two decades. Give me a break.?" Do you not realize how ignorant this makes you sound? Have you not ever heard of a band called Kiss??? A band that obviously influenced Motley Crue at the beginning of their career. And I'd also like to point out, that no one in Pagan spit blood, like Gene Simmons, circa 1975, but were merely wearing it. Pagan's blood-covered image comes from Kiss, Samhain, Alice Cooper, Impaler, and NUMEROUS other bands and horror films just as much as it came from Motley Crue...
As far as Kenny's fur coat making him look like Kid Rock, where the hell do you think Kid Rock got it from?? Ever heard of Steven Tyler, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dave Lee Roth, Ozzy...just to name a few here... And where do you get off talking about anyone's weight? Who the [...] are you to judge? Have you seen Vince Neil or Taime Downe from Faster Pussycat, lately?? And I am, by no means, putting these guys down, as I happen to prefer men that do not look like strung out heroin junkies, but they are a little "healthier" than they used to be.
Your slamming of the bands that night is absurd, due to the fact that they are all HUGELY influenced by glam. Seems to me that your supposed "obsession" with glam must be a new trend. And I say this because, to me, your putting down the very music, image, and environment the glam scene embraced. Only a stuck up, prissy, boy-band-loving, TRL-watching poser would have the audacity to believe the crap in your review.
As "Rocket Queen" said, Motley Crue was not and will not ever be the only band to have big hair and wear eyeliner. Perhaps, you should read the old Metal Edge...not the current issue with Nickelback on the cover.
I hope Sammi Curr invites YOU to the woodshop of your highschool...66 Crush!
I also saw them in Columbus with Poison and was proud to be one of the handful of people up and rocking out with them.
However, it would be nice if you could check your facts and history of Glam metal before you go spouting off and making all women, who love glam & metal, sound like the idiot you obviously are.
As for Weds 13... well if you dont know I'm not going to waste my time telling you.