Type O Negative - The Avalon (Los Angeles, CA) - Friday April 17, 2007

by Suzanne Baran
15 May 2007

There you are in the middle of a sweltering Hollywood sky on a Friday night. You pay $20 to park after spending $43 on a ticket for a band you loved as a teenager. TYPE O NEGATIVE may not be as popular as they were in their heyday, but they can still perform as well as if not better than a host of nouveau-metal bands plaguing our airwaves.

The boys from Brooklyn are older and wiser, but still rock just as hard. They haven’t sold out to the mainstream; they maintain their long locks and tight pants. The stage was decorated in coordinating neon green tape and matching guitars. Roadies assembled lit jade green signs with words such as “Boo,” “Applause,” “Intermission” and “You suck.” Each sign was flashed at different points throughout the show.

The overpowering speakers blasted “The Chicken Dance”—of all things. You read correctly. My friend remarked, “Is this so when they come on stage their songs will sound even sweeter?” After “Chicken Dance,” the all-too familiar jingle from the film BORAT followed—the Kazakhstan theme song. With that, the band assumed their places on stage.

Gargantuan lead singer/bassist PETER STEELE is a rare treat to behold—standing at 6 feet 7 inches. Even from my perch on the balcony, the top of his head seemed to reach my feet. I saw him last during the “October Rust” tour. But this time, in such a small venue, he was larger than life—like some goth Barbie in a miniature dollhouse. To me, Steele’s stature and voice are iconic. (He’s this dark anti-hero of Goth metal who lives with his mother in Brooklyn.) He faced the crowd and said, “We apologize for what you are about to hear.”

Unfortunately, since the volume was turned up far too high, Steele’s vocals were fuzzy and muffled. This didn’t bode well for a band whose claim to fame is its resonant, vivid, and unique vocal styling. If the Avalon and other venues would just turn down the volume, audiences could benefit from the already far-too-loud/louder vocals of a metal band. It’s just common sense.

Mostly the band played songs from their album “Dead Again” released in March. One song I truly enjoy that they played from that LP is “Halloween in Heaven.” The lyrics are gimmicky but easy to chant; like an anthem of sorts. The latter half of the song’s lyrics is repeated: “Christmas in Hell!” This is precisely how I feel about the holiday because it’s become so commercialized.

At one point during the show, Steele pointed to a rowdy fan in the faux mosh pit and said, “Hey you paid to get in. We didn’t have to pay.” The quips didn’t end there. Later on he said, “The only thing that’s wrong about you is your Dad didn’t pull out nine months earlier!” Despite the verbal sparring, he thanked the crowd: “We couldn’t have done this for 17 years without you.”

Toward the end of the show, fans threw spools of bathroom tissue rolls into the crowd and on stage. This reminded me of the “October Rust” tour in 1996, at Roseland on 52nd Street in New York City. That appropriately timed tour coincided with Halloween.

The crowd seemed much thinner this time around, though. Type O shows drew swarms of fans back in the day. This didn’t diminish my pleasure, however.

The greatest thrill of the evening was the last song played: The classic yet extended version of “Black No. 1.” I got up and ran down to the second tier, stood above Steele and gyrated with all my being to the familiar beats. The song is literally 14 years old. I would have paid $43 to hear that tune alone. The lyric, “Loving you was like loving the dead” had captured my heart as a teen and sealed my fate as a Type O fan. To be reminded of that time was beyond exhilarating. I felt reborn.

Filed under concerts hard rock