Rob Zombie, Kentish Town Forum, gig review: The Zombie Horror Picture Show comes to London Town

The astro creep brings his unique carnival of horrors to London for his final show of 2016

Rob Zombie performs at the Kentish Town Forum, London, 17th October 2016 (Ed Jacobs)

Stroll nonchalantly into any dark, underground, sweat-drenched, sticky-floored metal club around the world and one thing can be guaranteed; the moment the DJ spins some Rob Zombie, people will flock to the dance floor like kids to a candy store. To this day, no one has managed to match Mr. Zombie’s formula for stomp-laden, groove anthems; music made for the sole purpose of shaking your ass and shedding your clothes.

It wasn’t so long ago when a visit from Zombie and his ever-rotating line up of not-so-merry-men was a rarity on England’s shores, with the band playing a mere three dates in the UK prior to 2011. Since then however, the Zombie has seen fit to make five trips to this green and pleasant land, including appearances at Bloodstock and Download festivals, a mesmerising, robot-stomping, pyro-laden headline show at Brixton Academy, as well as an arena tour with fellow macabre goth icon Marilyn Manson (whose band Zombie appears to have incestuously pilfered guitarist John 5 and drummer Ginger Fish from). As such, Rob Zombie and his travelling horror sideshow coming to town might not quite seem the event it was at that spectacular Brixton Academy show 5 years ago, but he’s still enough of a draw to sell out this 2,300 capacity venue in practically no time at all, with fans queuing up in feverish anticipation hours before doors open.

(Ed Jacobs (Ed Jacobs)

Bounding on to the stage dressed like a demented 70’s space cowboy, Zombie and his cohorts storm straight into a one-two punch of Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown and Superbeast, which sets the tone perfectly for the whole evening. Tonight the production is a little sparser than what we’ve become accustomed to, with nary a gigantic robot nor roof-shaking pyrotechnic in sight. The focus tonight is very much on the music and it’s left to Zombie’s immense back-catalogue to provide the spectacle. With groovy, hip-shaking, stompers Living Dead Girl, Scum of the Earth and Demonoid Phenomenon chucked out recklessly early in the set, the very foundations of this 1930’s art-deco building threaten to crumble to the ground at the hands of the sweaty, baying throng.

Playing in front of a fantastically vivid monochrome backdrop of the original King Kong, Zombie's love for horror schlock is clearly unabated. Any concessions to production mainly come down to an assortment of costume changes (gas masks, bat-wings, tasselled jackets) and a varied array of visually spell-binding guitars, including one made-up almost entirely of LED lights and another with an embedded LCD screen beneath the strings playing a selection of cartoons. The biggest cheer of the night is reserved for Sheri Moon, Zombie’s wife and regular acting scream queen, who, by way of introduction to Everybody’s F**king in a U.F.O, throws a couple of inflatable aliens out into the crowd.

(Ed Jacobs (Ed Jacobs)

A large portion of tonight’s set list is culled from debut Hellbilly Deluxe, unsurprising considering those songs instantly cemented themselves as floor-filling rock club classics, still sounding as vibrant and fresh today as they did back in 1998. But, graciously, almost as many songs are played from his latest studio album, the spectacularly titled The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy, a strong contender for the man’s best record since the release of that electrifying debut. As any sane person with a working set of ears will attest, the two White Zombie ‘covers’ the band throw in are highlights of the set, even if Monsieur Zombie must surely be sick to death of playing them by now. More Human Than Human simply sounds monstrous and the covers of The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop and Alice Cooper’s School’s Out thrown out during an extended Thunderkiss ’65 are a great way to pay homage to the artists that inspired the myth, the legend, the Zombie.

Rob Zombie’s musical output may have more or less consisted of re-writing the same 4/4 stomp schlock rock anthem dozens of times over but when the songs are as hip-shakingly, undeniably cool as this, it's difficult to deny him the power of his catalogue. It’s testament to his career that he’s managed to remain such a vital part of the rock scene and continue to make asses shake the world over; long may his reign as King Astro Creep continue.