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Candy Spooky Theater: My first contest & my fave Bday gift! |
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So, it's Monday, the 21st, the day after my birthday. I still can't believe I'm 21. Anyway, after a day of hard work helping the enviorenmental company who's changing the oil tank in my building, I'm beat, tired, stinky and covered in God-knows-what. Well, as I'm helping these guys pack it all away, I get a text message.
"Who the hell could that be?" I say to myself. I pop open my phone and low and behold, it's my friend Dayna. Her text is simple but implies so much. "Do you have any plans tonight?" ...Well...not really, except for possibly watching the season finale of HEROES...but, hey, lemme see what's up with her. So I text back, wondering what it is she wants. She tells me that she's going to a concert for a band and she doesn't wanna go alone. She'll even pay for my ticket if I go.
Well...she is a good friend and I've never been to a concert before...so I ask who it is. Turns out it's a Jrock band called Candy Spooky Theater. I raise an eyebrow. "Never heard of em...but it's a jrock band, so let me confirm some stuff, and I'll see if I can go."
So, after a few minutes of confirming things are copasetic with my family, I'm in the clear. She says replies happily and tells me to be ready by 5pm. I comply by hurriedly walking my dog, taking a shower, and gettting dressed.
What to wear, anyway? I'm not really emo or goth or any of that stuff, but, according to Dayna, there's gonna be a lot of Gothic Lolitas there...Hmm... a big black guy amongst a whole bunch of gothic lolitas. Gotta make do with what I got.
Jeans...Boots...A chuck Norris tshirt, a green camo hoody and a bad a** dragon claw necklace. I'm set to bust skulls open with my eyebalss if I have to.
So I meet up with Dayna a bit before 5pm and wait a couple of minutes for her to finish up. She's really styled up. Fishnets, a black tank top, sunglasses, equistrian rider boots and mock rider pants. very cool.
We head out, the goth in horse riding pants and the animator-in-training in a chuck norris shirt. I grab a snack, we snag metro cards, and in a few minutes, we're on the 1 train heading downtown to Canal Street. We chat on the train for a while about random things like SATs and weird friends and school and movies. By the time our stop comes up, we're in a state of pre-stokedom. After a quick, and slighlty embarressing search for a bank of america, we head past Canal street and head for none other than the Knitting Factory.
The line is huge! but fortunately, not everyone on line is here for Candy Spooky Theater. They're also there for some...random group called Rocket Summer...whatever. Anyway, we get online and wait...wait,,,wait...and while we're waiting, we make a few new friends and make fun of some people walking back and forth, including a couple that looked like a leftover member of an old Industrial group called Orgy and that all girl goth group Kitten. After about...an hour...the line moved forward quite quickly, as the rocket summer crowd went in and our crowd started to move in slowly. on the way in to the club, I notice a cane on the floor with a silver skeleton hand. very bad@$$! I have to take it!
I stride in like a pimp and dayna purchases our tickets for us. We wait a bit longer online and I grab some free condoms. hey, they're free, why not? I also talk to cutie named Julie who's from Montreal. She said she saw the previous show last night at Cambridge and said it was awesome, except for the opening act, which was horrendous.
We soon make our way in. An open space with an open bar and an undefined pit. It's all good. My new friends, Dayna and I move as close as possible to the stage. We're facing stage left right next to the speakers. We talk more, share some laughs, and soon, the opening act comes on.
They're called Ghost Orgy. Their name says it all: they are a group of forgotten people who will be forgotten about once again. And not necesarrily because they suck as whole. No...it's mostly due to the psychotic lead singer who's a confused Phillipina. She literally comes across as someone who's struggled so hard to try to make her dreams come true but to make ends meet at the same time that she's taken on, but not limited to, the following quick cash with sex implied jobs: stripper, dominatrix, airline hostess, bar tender and go go girl.
After 7 songs by them, they make their way off stage. a waiting period commences. then Roger, a man who's helped sponsor the tour and been on the road with Candy Spooky Theater, came on stage. He reminded me of a cross between the crow (sans make up) and Aragon from LotR. Very cool. After a quick, powerful announcement of each of the band members, followed by the quintessential Nightmare Before Christmas musical intro, the band came on.
Now, with the exception of a quick auiditory preview Dayna gave me just before we left, I had no idea what to expect. So when they came on stage and slowly worked into their opening song, I was stoked.
For those not in the know, Candy Spooky Theater is a 3 person rock act. The Lead Singer goes by the name of Jack Spooky! Clearly inspired by Jack Skellington and Marilyn Manson. His moves on stage range from robotic to spastic to even convulsive.
Then there's Peggy. Peggy's reminiscent of a Rag Doll. A beautiful, dark ragdoll left in an attic to dust lightly, only to come to life at night and have mostly innocent, Tim Burton style fun.
Last but not, least, there's Zull. Like a beautiflu Porcelain doll who moves like a wind up, gear controlled ballerina, Zull is incredibly delicate and beautiful.
The concert ensues. The band methodically goes from low tempo, to hard to low to hard again as the audience rocks out, moshes, and tries numerous times to group, touch and love up on the band as they play to the crowd, teasingly coming forth to the edge of the stage and into the pit. I was one of the lucky few who got to touch Jack and Zull on numerous occassions. Some of the audience was posessive, though. One black girl in particular held on to Jack for an uncomfortable length of time...awkward.
Between songs, Jack rewarded the crowed with silliness from little acts with puppets (from puppet master, at that) whispering little things like "baka" and "herro! It's a preasure to meet you", to a prewritten speach by Jack that went something like this.
"Thank you for coming to see us. We Rove NEW YORK CITY! We wirr kirr you. Ret's arr get crazy!"
It was a blast. By 930, it was all over. But a bunch of hardcore fans started an Encore chanting session. They say stubborness is a fault, and yet, it was due to that stubborness that, as far as I know, we were the only city on the tour to get an encore! the Encore lasted about 20 minutes and was followed up by merchandise selling (which would've sold out completely had the roadies not set aside a few boxes of stuff to take to the final show in Maryland), and an autographing session. It was during this time that I got to know some more people and get some numbers from some really cute girls.
Well, after the autographing session, which was awesome cause I got all three members to sign my cd and write congratulations for turning 21, my friends and I headed out, grabbed some snacks, and made went our seperate ways. Dayna convinced me to stay after the show so we could see the band one last time.
We waited for an hour, playing silly games and meeting people who worked for Purple Sky magazine (one of whom is an old college friend I hadn't seen in a while. So long, that she actually looked at me like I was the ghost of Christmas past). After a while, Zull and Peggy came out. We thanked them for the concert. Peggy, sweet as always, greeted us with a big smile and a few thank yous. Zull half smiled and waved.
Then just as everyone had left and the club was about to close for the night, Jack Spooky came out. We said thank you to him, only to get a WTF look from him, as in "WTF...why don't you kids go home already? the show's over." It was hilarious.
And so, just as quickly as the fun began, it had ended. My friend Dayna and I took the train back home, talking about everything from the concert, to phobias, movies, snack food and wrestling along the way. Eventually (as in around 1.30 am) we made it back home.
I walked home triumphantly, cane still in hand, and greeted my father before going to sleep for a meager 3 hours before having to wake up again. Surprisingly, though, I wasn't cranky throughout the day. My ears were still ringing a bit, but the whole experience of making new friends, being at the concert, and screaming and moshing my heart out had a very therapuetic effect on me. It was very cleansing and cathartic. I can honestly say I've never been this happy in my life.
So, in closing, I want to say thank you to everyone who was there at the Knitting Factory, fan, roadie, group member or otherwise, for making it a memorable night. And also, for those fans of Candy Spooky Theater who arn't aware of it or couldn't make it, two comments in closing.
1) candy spooky theater is one of the few bands I've heard that sounds better live than on CD.
2) this tour, as small as it was, was pivotal, because Zull will be leaving the band after this. on friendly terms, fortunately, but none the less, he is leaving.
Anyway, thanks again to anyone who was there, and if anyone here on Tokyopop was there at knitting factory or at any of the other performances, and wants to keep in touch or hang out, drop me a line. I'm more than happy to make new friends
Zull!
more ZULL!
Peggy and Jack Spookie!
Jack Spookie!
those are the band members. btw, a friend put up video of the concert on youtube.
simply search "Candy Spooky Theater knittingfactory" and enjoy the clips!
Marc_Spector · Wed May 23, 2007 @ 09:22pm · 2 Comments |
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