What’s up Rockers.. and Rollers! Brent Porche here…
Our freak flags were flying this past Friday night at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion as the Freaks On Parade tour brought their perfectly chaotic mix of metal & masquerade to Camden, NJ! It truly felt like we were partying like it was 1999 all over again! Kicking off the evening was Powerman 5000, Spider-One and the troupe set the bar extremely high straight out of the gate! They had the vigor of a headlining act, energetically plowing through their biggest hits like ‘Bombshell’ & ‘When World’s Collide’ off of their 1999 hit LP Tonight The Stars Revolt!
Up next, LA Rockers Static-X hit the stage and took the crazy up 3 more notches! This was my first time seeing them live since the passing of Wayne Static, and I have to say.. Xero, who joined the band as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist back in 2019 pays tribute to the late Static-X frontman unbelievably well, Wayne should be and would be proud. ‘Push-It’ and ‘Cold’ were two of my favorites from their setlist Friday night.
By this time the Pit at the FM Center is really starting to fill-in.. up next, MUDVAYNE! It has been over 13 years since Chad Gray and the rest of Mudvayne had done a proper tour.. mainly in part to Chad’s success with Vinnie Paul Abbott and their band HellYeah. First time I saw Mudvayne was at Metallica’s Summer Sanitarium tour at Veteran’s Stadium back in 2003 with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park & the Deftones on the bill. Chad showed no signs of pain or discomfort in his ribcage after falling off the stage in Florida a few nights earlier… while performing ‘Not Falling’ …go figure! Props to their guitarist Greg Tribbitt for rocking that super thick black & red face paint combo with the welder goggles and top hat.. without breaking a sweat.. or smearing it on his face, unlike Chad.
Finally it is time for the headliner, the master of ceremonies, the chief freak on parade and MMRBQ alum Rob Zombie to close out the night. Always a fun show no matter when or where ya see them, Zombie, John 5 and the rest of the creepers did not disappoint once again! Rocking through crowd favorites like White Zombie’s ‘More Human Than Human’ & ‘Thunderkiss ’65’, his solo smash hits like Living Dead Girl & Dragula… and even throwing in a metal rendition of The Beatles ‘Helter Skelter’ before heading into th encore. Part metal show & part horror theater, a live Rob Zombie show should never be missed.. and John 5 is a WIZARD on guitar!
Great to see everyone at the show… whether in the pit or out on the lawn! It had been a while since I had witnessed some circle pit action out there on lawn; it brought me back to the annual Ozzfest’s and other wonderfully frenzied hard rock & metal festivals of years past.
Let’s do it again soon!!
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