By Audrey Fergel
The music pounded loudly over the speakers with heavy metal music amping up the crowd in anticipation for the concert to begin. The lights were dim and surprisingly not many people were there. The Danzig concert held in Fargo, ND, at the Venue in the Hub opened with four speed metal bands. There was an open floor for those wanting to do some head banging and partake in the mosh pit. The seating was up a long flight of stairs in a semi-circle overlooking the open floor and stage. Only those over twenty-one were allowed in the balcony area since there were several bars in that area.
The first band Withered appeared to be a band starting out. Their music was garage band quality and there was no set design at all. They only played for about a half of an hour. After a quick set change, Toxic Holocaust took the stage. Their musical sound was overall pretty good, very much like early Megadeth. Marduk came on next with purple, green, and orange lights flashing and face-paint. They seemed to really get the crowd going with special sound effects prior to each song, in a Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie fashion. The crowd started to get larger as people started arriving for the main show. The fourth and final band before Danzig (the main attraction), Possessed took stage and put on a great show. The back drop of a pentagram on fire was emphasized by smoke and purple lights flashing. The musical sound was great provoking a mosh pit to start on the floor and it seemed that anyone with long hair was flinging it around. The lead singer was a great front man, seemingly undeterred by being confined to a wheelchair.
After Possessed had finished their set, the stage became extremely busy and everything was cleared to make room for Danzig’s set-up. First, came out the two Devil skull sculptures with the drum set on a raised stage in the middle. Purple lights were placed to highlight the sculptures with a red flashing light to make them look as though they were changing shape. Multiple colored lights flashed as the road crew tested and finished the set-up. They finished up and the crowd waited in anticipation for Danzig to take the stage. All evening the Venue slowly filled and the balcony area had become packed and the open floor area was full as well. Then the wait began. The set-up took about a half an hour and everyone expected that the band would come out shortly after. Twenty more minutes passed and a chant began to encourage the band to come out. Fifteen more minutes passed and the whole crowds’ tension could be felt, since most of us listened to the rare interview done on 98.7 with Glenn Danzig and knew that Danzig had cancelled last minute in Minneapolis the night before. Another quieter chant started on the floor, but no one in the balcony area joined in this time. The crowd seemed tense and many seemed about ready to leave after waiting for almost an hour. Then finally Danzig appeared and everyone went crazy. The lights flashed and smoke rose on the stage. Danzig started with songs off their latest album “Dethred Sabouth”. They went on to play for over an hour and a half and ended by singing one of their most popular songs, “Mother.” That seemed to wrap up the show, but after some more chanting the crowd managed to call Danzig back out for two more songs (Dirty Black Summer, and Twist of Cain).
Picture off Glenn Danzig's public website.
All in all, the concert was a great show. Each band increasingly became better from the sound to the setting. It seemed that the intention was to build up to the big finish. However, this music is not for everyone. It is very hard metal music and anyone that is not open to experiencing different kinds of music would definitely not want to attend this show. But if you enjoy many different genres of music it is a good listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment