After nearly an hour of heavy chords and Halloween cheers, the band packed it in as the familiar blacks-and-greens of TON’s stage set-up began to become more and more visible. Featuring Type O Negative’s Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly, a briefly-masked Hank Hell on bass, and Matt Brown on guitar, the band wasted no time in launching into a strong set of their dirty, doom-inflected hard rock. After a brief break, Brooklyn’s Seventh Void took to the stage. Opener Hazzard were more or less winding down their set as we finally settled in with our first of a few seemingly watered-down drinks. Sure enough, arriving at the theater shortly after 8 PM (and after making our way through the metal detector at the front door), we were still in time to see two and half acts and an on-stage costume contest before Type O Negative was to take the stage at 11 PM. We’d been told that Harpo’s had a reputation for starting things early and presenting a long roster of local acts. It was a show that has had people murmuring that it was one of the best in the band’s more recent history, and that enthusiasm is not misplaced. However, far from being a harrowing experience, the trip was not only a chance to see the downtown core of Detroit and some of its history for ourselves, but also an occasion that granted us the opportunity to see an excellent performance from self-deprecating and gothic metal giants Type O Negative. In the weeks before the concert, we’d been collectively warned by more than a few people to be careful in the city. Awakened in the middle of the night by controlled and repeated bursts of machine gun fire on Devil’s Night, my fellow concert-goers and I had to assume it was just the movie set doing its thing at particularly odd hours. There could be perhaps no better place to see such a band as in a city that has taken enough hard economic blows that it both resembles a scaled-down version of Gotham City and serves as the perfect shooting site for the upcoming remake of Red Dawn. Type O Negative at Harpo’s Concert Theater in Detroit on Halloween night. Should we be worried?”Īnother pause from the desk manager, then: She looked up at us from behind the front desk. Review By Jonathan Smith, Photos by Adam Wills
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |