Type O Negative, Drain, Stuck Mojo
March 21, 1997
Club 6-1-6, Memphis TN

...so there we were, 7:00 PM on a Friday, standing outside of the club, waiting for the doors to open. The guy in front of us was showing his friend his bag of pills and talking about getting messed up. Along the street, parents were stopping to let their 12 to 15-year-old children out of their cars. As soon as the station-wagons and mini-vans pulled away, the kids pulled their smuggled packs of cigarettes out of their pockets and purses and began to puff away rebelliously. Few goths graced this scene. The crowd was mainly middle-aged people [both preppy and metal couples] and plainly dressed teens. As we waited to enter, I noticed Kenny and Johnny of Type O across the street, talking to a photographer. Few other people [if any] noticed them, standing less than 50 feet away from us. I watched them silently, waiting in vain for anyone to yell out their names and cause a panic; however, the 2 TON members re-entered the club without a sound from the people in line.
Inside the club, the bar was rather empty, as the younger kids couldn't buy drinks. Club 6-1-6 is larger than the Emerson in Indianapolis, but fewer people were there. So far, the turnout was disappointing. The DJ cued the Natural Born Killers soundtrack while we waited, which was a nice distraction from the children milling around in the pit. My girlfriend, Lilith, went to buy the Drain cd from the souvenir counter,and warded off the employee's queries about what one wears under a vinyl catsuit. Her answer, coldly: "Buy one, and I'll tell you." Soon afterwards, the familiar sampled synth intro to Drain's set was audible. They played a good set, with the distorted bass and guitar rumbling loudly. The mics seemed to be acting up, however, for in many places the drummer's backup singing was inaudible. Still, she smiled on as she beat out the hard & fast rhythms characteristic of Drain's music. The lead singer, bassist, and guitarist kept hopping up on the 1-foot monitor wall, inches from the crowd. The lead singer proceeded to accidentally pull down one of the lighting cans. Drain played a fine set, though the acoustics were less than perfect. The songs they churned out were Crucified, Smile, I Don't Mind, Stench, Unreal, Serve the Shame, Someone, and Klotera. The audience took a little while to get used to the Swedish-female-metal-foursome, but by the end, the whole floor surged with moshing and the like. At the end of their set, after their guitarist was done crowd surfing, the lead singer proudly proclaimed, "I went to Graceland today!" We got their CD signed by the bassist [she still has that fun dyed bumblebee-pattern in her hair], and she spoke to us in a suprisingly deep Swedish voice. At least this time they seemed sober.
Stuck Mojo, a Memphis local band, took the stage after Drain. We had no idea what kind of music they played, but we soon found out. Vicious [read as: messy], distorted riffs screeched out of the speakers, and there was no doubt left in my mind that Stuck Mojo was a hardcore act, with a sound much like hard acts such as Biohazard and Rage Against the Machine... you get the idea. The guitarist's silly antics and faces were distracting, while the lead singer milled around, shooting off loud, rhyming lyrics about who-knows-what, with occasional back-up yells from the other band members. During this hardcore-chaos, the drummer still managed to keep it all together. The songs had little variety, and, as one of my friends put it, "it sounds like they [Stuck Mojo] just played one long song." End of story. After a small delay filled with Ozzy and Beatles songs, the familiar Type O intro sample of chanting monks and dragging chains filled the air. The stage was dark, but we could see Josh [TON keyboardist] walk on to provide some distorted synth to the noise. Then the other three members of the Drab Four walked on, and they immediately broke into a mix of "Glass Walls of Limbo" and "Prelude to Agony". There was nice screaming through the guitar pickups, but you couldn't hear it that well... The younger ones in the crowd thrashed around to the music, only because it was fast- my friend [A.k.a. my eyes in the pit] was grief-stricken to find that few of the young people on the floor actually recognized or sang along with TON's older material. "Love You to Death" was next, played faster than it sounds on the album, but it was still nice- lots of scrapes on the strings and Peter playing bass with his wine bottle. Peter looked like he was much more into the music than the last time I saw him, though he shot many an exasperated look at the crowd- was it because they weren't singing along, or was he just annoyed? Touring _does_ take a toll on people...
After "Love You to Death", Peter said, "I wrote this next song when my parrot died. Afterwards, I didn't take a shit for two weeks." TON then began to play "Death in the Family". Excited at the prospect of a different song from the Indianapolis set, I listened intently, but became confused as the intro faded, and was replaced by "Unsuccessfully Coping...". They played the whole song, with its infamous chorus of female derrogatory slurs, along with pieces of either "Der Untermensch" or "Zero Tolerance". Though the slow, softer sound of "Death in the Family" would have been nice, it was fun to hear all four guys singing. Speaking of the sound quality of the Type O show, it was _excellent_. All four microphones came through loud and clear, and the synth was strong and quite noticeable in almost every song that they played. The mix was very well balanced, with the guitar and the bass flowing together, the drums loud but not overpowering, and the vocals clear and understandable. I really couldn't have asked for better quality unless I had listened to the actual CD. Kenny had some guitar glitches, which forced him to dash offstage 5 to 7 times during the show, but they were mostly at times where you barely noticed he was gone. I'm told that these technical difficulties started a minor argument between Kenny and Peter... Kenny's jaw still quivered slightly during this performance, and I don't claim to know why. At one point, the TON guitarist went to the front of the stage, and yelled what looked to Lilith like "Come on, you fuckers!" to the crowd...
Peter made only a small handful of comments during this concert; his next one was "If it wasn't for self-pity, I wouldn't have pity at all." Cue the helicopter/voice sample from "...Liberation of Vinnland..." and a Black Sabbath riff. "Hey Bacchus" was next, which sounded great, and as that song faded, Heir Steele began playing a familiar Led Zeppelin bass line; however, unlike the Indianapolis show, this time he played it _right_. "Kill All the White People" was next, always a moshfest, and at the end Peter started talking in a hilarious high-pitched southern accent. Despite the fact that it was a show in Tennessee, the crowd laughed heartily. The next song was the Doors' "Light My Fire", which Peter dedicated to Jim Morrison. The all-too-familiar riff from Iron Butterfly's hit "In a Gadda Da Vida [I can never spell that right] was also heard during TON's rendition of this song, which they cover with eerie grace and skill. Peter's comment at the end of the song: "For those of you who don't like the Doors, this was a perfect chance to use the restroom." His next short speech was "This one is for all the Christian women in Memphis." Of course, "Christian Woman" was next. The crowd knew this one front- to-back, and sang the choruses competently, but my attention was captured by Josh. He bobbed his head of fluffy hair amusingly side to side along with his easy keyboard solo, mocking his own skill- he really looked like he was enjoying himself. I also caught Josh, wearing no black boots like the others but instead in black Converse sneakers, spitting across the stage at Johnny. The TON drummer shot him a look, and he feigned an innocent "oops" look in return. I couldn't help but laugh. During one of the last songs, Josh hit a wrong note in his solo, and started grinning like crazy, rearing his head back, and laughing at his mistake. He also smoked half a cigarette [no hands] during one song, but the most striking action of his that night was when he looked sternly at our section of the crowd, then broke into a smile I've never seen on him before... truly mysterious.
"Wolfmoon" was next, which Type O never seems to be able to play as well as they did on their album. "Too Late/ Frozen" was next, with the "Smoke on the Water" intro and the Jethro Tull "Aqualung" riff in the middle. The snow machines seemed to be pouring out an excessive amount of fluff, as the stage was smaller than the ones that TON was used to. It must have gotten in Mr. Steele's wine too, in the blizzard, but he didn't seem to mind. "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" was next, with the odd squeaking synth intro- Josh really needs to find a better sound for that part. More of the fans recognized that one, and after the cheers died down upon its end, Peter said "Halloween was my favourite holiday as a kid, but with a face like mine, I went trick-or-treating every day of the week!" Thus was the intro to "Black No. 1", and the crowd, quite familiar with that particular work, roared. Some problems with the sound erupted shortly after its start [presumably Kenny's guitar again], however, so Peter filled the lull with the bass line from the Munsters- and the crowd loved it. Surprisingly enough, Kenny sang many of the choruses to "Black No. 1" alone, and he seemed to do just fine. Peter, however, possibly still perturbed by the gear problems, did not change the line "the devil's mark" to "Kenny's mark" as he usually does. Still, the song was performed masterfully. At the end, Peter tore the strings off of his bass, [I've been told that Kenny also followed suit with the barbaric string removals], and with that, Type O ended their Memphis show. Peter's closing remarks? "I hope you liked what you saw, and, if you didn't, I'd give you your money back... but you've already spent it."

The Aftermath:
After the show, the crowd filed out quickly. We talked to the roadie who had aided us so much in our search for our lost keys at the Indianapolis TON show, but he did not even remember that scenario. Oh well. My friend obtained a string that Peter ripped off of his bass- a nice souvenir. We shuffled out to the tour buses, and were surprised to find few others waiting there. We got Drain to sign our CD, and then looked past the single security guard to the TON bus parked far back in the lot. No life was present. We spent our time, then, talking to Ralph, a freelance band photographer. He offered to put us on the guest list for the Little Rock TON show, but [as fate would have it], we had to leave that day to get back to college. Ralph proceeded to tell us about Test Dept., Elvis, Tool, the Rolling Stones, Marilyn Manson [the only show he was mistreated at], Fishbone, and Woodstock.
After Ralph was packed up and gone, we walked back over to look at the distantly parked TON bus. Kenny was out, but he didn't come close to our position, and though Johnny did come out, he spent his time talking to members of Stuck Mojo, while the Mojo's lead singer spun around, yelling incoherently in the parking lot. We waited for quite some time, and then we saw Peter emerge from the bus, wearing a NYC Dept. of Recreation [or was it Sanitation?] shirt. He didn't stay back near the throng of V.I.P.-pass people either- he came right out to meet us. We each got him to sign our ticket stubs, we shook his mighty hand, and he talked about various subjects. I learned that he uses Boss effect footpedals [DS-1 Distorion, Flanger, Chorus, Tremolo, etc.]. I told him that compared to the Indianapolis show, the sound was wonderful, to which he jokingly remarked, "Yeah? Well don't tell my soundman, or he'll want a raise!" Peter then saw Lilith's vinyl catsuit, and he was most impressed with its design.
My friend asked, "What is your secret to songwriting?" Peter replied, "Well, we stay up late, play Beatles' songs backwards, and steal the riffs." Funny, on-stage and off. The next person to talk to him offered up a Drain card for him to sign, and Pete exclaimed, with typical Brooklyn humor, "Drain has postcards?! Those bitches!" He then glanced around, to make sure none of the Swedes were present. Did he fear their wrath? *grins* The last person to talk to Peter was a young woman that proceeded to hang all over him and whisper various and sundry questions [or offers]. The only comment of Peter's that we overheard was "No way", aside from his many gestures that said "NO". My companions proceeded to yell the chorus of insults from "Unsuccessfully Coping..." [Apparently, she hadn't learned anything from the lyrics of that particular song]. And so, successfully resisted by Peter, the southern temptress slithered back into her friends' waiting car. Be it the music scene or real life, it just goes to show that Type O still has problems with the opposite gender... *grin*