By: T.I.

If you were one of the forlorn few caught standing outside the Whisky A Go Go Halloween night lusting for tickets to the (sold out) Danzig show, I send you my sympathy. Indeed, there was not a more appropriate way to usher in the Black New Year. Danzig was booked at the Whisky as "Black Acid Devil," although they did not play that song. And inside the club, the witching hour rapidly approached for a crowd who waited approximately 45 minutes for Danzig to take the stage after Spineshank and 57 Crown finished their sets. All of us were eagerly anticipating the chance to usher in the New Year with Glenn Danzig and his new band members.

There was a rush of excitement throughout the crowd when the lights dimmed and the booming sounds of new guitar player Dave greeted us. The only light available was from 4 jack-o-lanterns that were placed about the stage. The first climax of the evening was when Glenn Danzig emerged from the shadows in beatific form. The band looked fantastic. For the curious, Glenn wore a mesh black top with a proud, shining, silver pentagram peeking from beneath and his standard black jeans. To put it simply, Glenn looked "yummylicious." Joey Castillo grimaced from behind his drum set. The bass player, Rob, had a devil lock. And the guitarist, Dave, pounded out tune after tune.

Danzig opened with the pulsating rhythm of "Long Way Back From Hell" which effectively whipped the crowd into a bacchanalian frenzy. "7th house" culminated with Glenn throwing a fully lit jack-o-lantern into the crowd. The set included songs from each of the Danzig albums and one Misfits song. The Whisky's "no crowd surfing" policy was disregarded by the fans as bodies and jack-o-lanterns flew about the pit. The pit was especially lively during songs such as "Twist of Cain," "Snakes of Christ," "Dirty Black Summer," "Bringer of Death," and "Sacrifice." The latest formation of Danzig presented a tight, powerful sound. Much to the crowd's delight, Danzig led us through a fabulous live rendition of "Can't Speak" that was far superior to any previous attempts at performing this song live.

After approximately 50 minutes of playing, Danzig exited the stage. The tumultuous crowd chanted, "Danzig, Danzig, Danzig" in such a fantastic fury that Glenn was back onstage for an encore in less than 3 minutes time. The crowd howled when the guys reappeared. Glenn said that the band would "play one more song" which was generous considering that one or more of them had the flu. Glenn then said that the last song "Ain't gonna be mother" which brought forth a roar of appreciation from a crowd who has been beaten raw by that song in the past few years.

Instead, Glenn had a much more delicious treat in store for the crowd. Many of us could not believe our ears when we recognized the thunderous, dark rhythm of "Halloween" was the last song of the evening. Soon the entire crowd was screaming the Latin phraseologies that start the song. Glenn's mic had some difficulties on "Halloween". The mic began fading in and out at the start of the song and went out entirely on some parts. However, no one seemed to take notice of that; we were screaming the lyrics so powerfully that Glenn's mic would have been rendered useless anyhow.

At the close of the show, we emerged from the Whisky with bits of pumpkin stuck in our hair and our bodies aching from incessant thrashing in the pit. We left the Whisky with the new covenant in mind, our dark desires satiated, and fully prepared to greet the Black New Year with triple strength.

THE END