Memorial Day Weekend: Horror, Effects Pedals

Two Petri Dish Entries in a week? Jeez, you'd think it was Horrorpalooza season.

Actually, it sort of feels that way. Crypticon, Seattle's first-ever honest-to-gore horror movie convention, storms the Sea-Tac Doubletree Inn this weekend. In an earthshakingly surprising development, yours truly will be there with bells (or maybe rattling dungeon chains) on.

There's a pretty terrific line-up of celebrity guests scheduled, including cast members from the original Friday the 13th, Rob Zombie's well-received Halloween remake, The Devil's Rejects, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (super-huzzah!). And the scheduled events sound like a kick and a half: If doing an acting workshop alongside Bill Johnson (Leatherface from TCM2) doesn't float your boat most mightily, you've stumbled into the wrong Blog by mistake, Biff. This is the very first horror convention in this area, friends and neighbors, so you best get out and support it if'n you want more.

Crypticon effectively displaces the massive Gorge Sasquatch Music Fest from the list of activities on the old fridge To-Do board. But I could give a hang less, especially since Swervedriver will be in town for the first time in almost a decade.

I've loudly sung the praises of this band (and lead singer Adam Franklin's fine solo work) already, so I won't get too verbose now. Suffice it to say, this British quartet bring the space-travel rock and roll--with hooks and volume to match their effects pedals--and word on the street is that they're tearing it up live.

And sadly, playing live will probably be the only way they can make money off of their music. Most of the Swervedriver catalogue went completely out of print years ago, and in a Seattle Weekly interview Franklin points up the fact that Universal Music (the corporate megalith currently holding the Swervies' recorded output in its iron-gloved mitts) doesn't have any financial incentive to re-issue the band's material. It's a suckworthy situation for the band, and yet one more example of how media conglomeration crushes artists without even trying. This is Swervedriver's first appearance in town in a decade, friends and neighbors, and you'd best get out and support it if'n you want more.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Re-Issued Audio Yummies: Easybeats, ELO, and Divinyls

An Interview with Joe Dallesandro

Character Actor Heaven: Hollywood Collectors Show, Feb 2005