Festival of Horror – Long Live My Superbeast

Hey yeah! I haven’t written about a concert in a long time! I haven’t been to one since before COVID-19, hell, even when concerts slowly started to return at times, I still did not go because I didn’t want to subject myself to crowds until it died down as well as cancellations due to restrictions. Then my chance finally came when Rob Zombie decided after a massive success of his tour last year, he was doing it again but this time with, Alice Cooper.

I was bummed because there were no Canadian dates last year but this year there was at least Toronto so I immediately booked time off to see them and tickets were secured!

It’s my first time seeing Rob and my second time seeing Alice. The opening acts were not too bad either! What also felt great was that it was the first concert I got to entirely by myself without my parents having to help before and after. It’s a good thing I decided to get my driver’s license. I drove to the station and caught the train to get there just as the doors at the venue were opening. It was a steamy hot day but I didn’t give a damn, I’d rather deal with the heat than the freezing cold!

I managed to snag some sweet merchandise such as a classic Rob Zombie tour shirt to add to my collection, a hoodie (just in time for fall!), and a new patch for my vest. If I were a bigger Alice Cooper fan, I would have gotten some stuff from him too but I think after last night, I’m starting to love him more, I just need to dive into his discography so I’ll snag some merchandise from him later!

I wore my Living Dead Girl shirt and one time ran into another girl who was also wearing the same one so we laughed and fist-bumped. I told her how whenever I’m at concerts, it makes me so happy and energized to be surrounded by people with the same music tastes as me, but whenever I say, go for a walk on a regular day in a band shirt, I feel like I’m the only Metalhead in town! Like seriously, where are you guys at? I saw two Zombie fans while I was waiting for my friend at the train station but still. She said she felt the same way, it’s frustrating isn’t it?

Filter really worked up the crowd and the only song I really remember the most was “Take a Picture” although I’m pretty sure there was another one that energized me more, I wanted to save all my energy for Rob and Alice but hey, they still put on a great show!

When Ministry hit the stage, they were pretty heavy stuff. The singer Al, looks like Rob in his White Zombie days, then again, my friends have told me that Rob was inspired by Ministry. There were two songs that stuck with me: Supernaut and Goddamn White Trash. Talk about heavy stuff! I could have sworn I saw my friend falling asleep during their set though.

That’s what I love about concerts, not only do you get to see the act you came for but you might just discover something new as well!

Alice Cooper, might I just say, he never fails to impress me, he always puts on a great show. The first time I saw him was with Motley Crue years ago and I can confirm that his show was better than Crue’s! Very theatrical, and I just love men with long hair and top hats! He did a lot of songs that got me pumped like “No More Mr. Nice Guy,”, “I’m Eighteen,” and “Hey Stoopid,”

I also found “Lost in America” to be quite catchy, and when my favourite song “Poison” came on I lost my mind and I loved the purple and green lights that came with it on the stage! Toward the end of his set, he made me laugh when he said he’d do one more song before his little brother comes on stage. Awwww he’s calling Rob his brother, how sweet! Then of course came “School’s Out,” which everyone loves. I have such fond memories with that song when my brother played it on Guitar Hero III and in high school, the last day of the second semester before finals that song would play on the intercom to make us all get to class! Well done Alice!

You know what I love about concerts? It’s the whole anticipation and then final surprise as the lights go out and then I go fucking nuts knowing the act I’ve been waiting for hits the stage. The curtain dropped and I screamed at the top of my lungs seeing Rob on his platform as he came down starting his set with “The Triumph of the King Freak” which sounds absolutely badass live as I remember when I reviewed the album it’s on, I said the song is great except one part, but hey I take back some things I said.

By the time he got into “Feel So Numb,” I was jumping and dancing nonstop (I felt like the only one in the crowd, at least where my seat was) doing just that, it made me sweat like crazy but I didn’t give a shit. Heat doesn’t stop me from moving to live music! Damn Rob, where did you get those sparkly pants!? He certainly loves to wear clothes on stage that look great to move in! He also even took a moment between songs to talk about the success of Hellbilly Deluxe and get the crowd pumped another time and it worked out great!

I feel like I was trying too hard to get some decent photos and ended up deleting half of them after the show, sometimes I ask why do I even bother? I always talk about living in the moment but I’ll take like one or two and then put it in my pocket for the rest of the song or even the rest of the set! I tell ya, the stage setup for Rob was badass with all the pyro and props, especially during “Superbeast” which also got me singing and screaming and I kept jumping nonstop during the chorus every time that “HEY YEAH!” as you would expect, I did after all, say that one would be amazing live!

He also did “House of 1000 Corpses” which I did not expect and it’s the darkest song from The Sinister Urge album but it definitely was awesome to hear! Then later came “Living Dead Girl” which had me screaming the most when I wasn’t trying to sing along, at this point, you might be asking how many times did I scream: “I LOVE YOU ROB ZOMBIE!!” between songs, well the answer is, enough to make you rich if you had a dollar for the number of times I did! It’s still my all-time favourite song by him and I really began to feel the sweat coming afterward!

He also did two White Zombie songs which were “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65” The latter I enjoyed more and my friend teases me about that one, don’t ask me why, but it does have to do with my crush on Rob! That’s all I will say. To conclude the night he made me laugh when he asked how we managed the heat. I yelled back saying it didn’t bother me and then he started saying that we should put our phones away. I mean yeah I take some photos, then put it away, and groove for the rest of the song, but some people were filming entire fucking songs, like okay then, you do you, but still, really guys?

Then he finished up with “Dragula” and even though my vocal cords were already strained and my body was sweating from so much jumping, dancing, and even imitating Rob at certain times, (seriously, I wish I had my own little platform when I’m at concerts because I don’t have enough room!) I didn’t let it stop me from doing my thing one last time, I mean it’s “Dragula”! I have to!

He introduced his bandmates and thanked us all, I shouted I love him one last time before heading home and made it there safely. I didn’t get to sleep until 1:30am but I was sleeping with a happy heart. What a night! What a show! I was really hoping he’d do “Shake Your Ass/Smoke Your Grass” because I am addicted to that song but oh well, can’t complain when I was totally blown away! I should really rest my voice for the rest of the day! People can always tell when I’ve been screaming nonstop from being at a concert or an amusement park.

Love you Rob, thanks for the great show! 💖

👽Emily