White Zombie has played its own brand of grunge-industrial-metal music since 1985 but waited seven years to get signed by a major label. Tuesday night the band members proved their unique blend of music has mass appeal. They sold out Saltair and thanked the Salt Lake fans who helped them propel their latest album, "Astro-Creep: 2000," to the platinum level, meaning it has sold one million units.
"Its real cool selling all those records because the people at the label didn't think we could," said lead singer Rob Zombie. "Thanks for buying the album. Somebody out there must have, because there aren't any left."All of the crowded house were excited to see the living undead perform their thrashing, dark music and none of them left dis-ap-point-ed.
The Zombsters are not strangers to Salt Lake stages. They hit Saltair twice during their 350-show tour supporting their first album, "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol One." Their fans, old and new alike, turned out in force to see them add a wild visual display to their live musical approach.
Packing its own light-show and pyrotechnics, White Zombie wowed its audience with visual events throughout the evening. Two giant torches kept the already warm audience toasty with their 5-foot flames.
Explosions spiced the evening nearly as often as Zombie's abundant profanities. For extra-thrashing tunes such as "Black Sun-shine," flashing strobes froze the front row of moshers in various stop-action poses.
Fitting in nicely with the band's demonic themes was the abundant use of red lights, which cast a sometimes erie glow on the band. As if it had finally achieved its ultimate, the band had its name glowing in blood red, tinging the hanging, undead dummies from their original white to pink.
Keeping its loyal fans in mind, the band produced no shortage of ear-blowing, bone-crunching power chords and double-bass drum assaults. This was a loud show, where even the deaf could have easily felt the music.
Either because they are still somewhat new to the taste of success or because they are genuine, the members of the band tried their best to communicate with individual fans. During all the lulls, which were few, they did their best to toss guitar picks, smile or point to those near the front. While every band does this to some extent, White Zombie made an extra effort.
Because the temperature in sunbaked Saltair is high and the mass of sweating, pressing bodies pushed it even higher, Rob Zombie assaulted the crowd with a watermachine gun to keep them cool. Moshers clamored for his attention, hoping to get even a tiny squirt of cool, refreshing liquid.
The mosh was constantly active, with a group of mostly men bouncing wildly against one another. Crowd surfers were plentiful, keeping security hopping. For its final number before the encores, Zombie asked the crowd for three minutes of total chaos, urging them to jump and mosh until the final note was played. After jamming the single, "More Human Than Human," they moved into the obligatory encore, which featured, among other things, Black Sabbath cover tunes and more mist than any Utah show ever. Even barricade security agents were obscured in the thick, airy powder.
Starting the show for Zombie were veteranrockers The Melvins. They have been around for more than a decade and have inspired such bands as Metallica, Soundgarden and many groups in the Seattle music scene. They know they are a tough sale and were content to play their music without pandering to the crowd.
Babes in Toyland was next. The all-female outfit rode its strong, catchy rhythms, produced by identical bass and drum.