On May 19, Rob Zombie is releasing his first ever live concert DVD/Blu-Ray, The Zombie Horror Picture Show. He’s been on a spring US tour to support this, mainly playing smaller venues than they normally do. As the tour reaches the end, of the last stops was Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence.

The opening “act,” Disco Death Rock, was a DJ wearing a mask and running music off of a MacBook. The music played was a great selection of heavy metal hits, but this DJ added no performance that made this any better than a CD being played over the PA. Some DJs get really into it and move along to the music. While there was some occasional movement, I would have been surprised if he was actually browsing Facebook on his computer. I’m sure having a DJ instead of an opening band is to save costs for these smaller venues, but I say just let the music play without the underwhelming show. Soon enough, however, Zombie took the stage in front of a sold out Providence crowd. They kicked off the set with a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band,” and then straight into “Superbeast,” off of Rob’s 1998 solo debut, Hellbilly Deluxe.

Setlist

We’re an American Band

Superbeast

Meet the Creeper

Living Dead Girl

Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown

More Human Than Human

Sick Bubble-Gum

Pussy Liquor

Trade in Your Guns for a Coffin

Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)

Am I Evil? Thunder Kiss ’65

School’s Out

—

The Lords of Salem

Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga

Dragula

A handful of songs off of Zombie’s most recent album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, were mixed into the setlist, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of the album, they mixed seamlessly into the set. The set also included standard White Zombie hits “More Human than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65.” This was a great show to see at Lupo’s. All the other times I’ve seen Rob have been at the Tweeter/Comcast/Xfinity center. Due to the size of the venues on the tour, there’s much less stage production, (i.e. no pyrotechnics, giant robots, etc.), but they still put on a large show.

In recent years, I’ve heard some live performances where vocally, Rob has left me disappointed. I was worried that without the big stage show, he’d have nothing to hide behind, but I was very impressed at how good he sounded. The band was really tight… guitarist John 5, bass player Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish all played great.

Rob Zombie John 5 Piggy D Ginger Fish Rob Zombie John 5 Rob Zombie Rob Zombie Rob Zombie Piggy D Rob Zombie Piggy D Rob Zombie Ginger Fish Rob Zombie Rob Zombie