Hail Seitan

On Wednesday, I was at Lee's Palace for a mid-week show. In the crowd, there was a lot of piercings, tattoos, lacy goth dresses, and black clothes with pentagrams, Baphomet, and other wholesome symbols. The merch tables were likewise covered with similar t-shirts, jewelry, and posters. But it ended up not much different from a folky night at The Burdock.

The most devilish act was opening band Twin Temple. The two leads were dressed in black with blasphemous red symbols. They blessed the crowd with liquid from chalices taken from their altar, dual inscribed swords, and a quick Black Mass. But don't expect loud, raucous noise from this group. Backed by organ, sax, and drums, the world's first (and probably only) Satanic doo-wop band took the crowd back to the sock-hop era with catchy tunes. But lyrics from numbers like Lucifer My Love, Devil Didn't Make Me Do It, Sex Magick, and Wicked made it clear they were about defying norms and "hex[ing] the patriarchy". Even with an abbreviated set, they finished by anointing eager participants with bloody streaks on their foreheads.

King Dude had the deep, growling vocals of a Metal singer. But he was a story-telling troubadour, even if his love songs were more depressing than usual (and included some Satanic/Hell references). His brother contributed on a sample pad, not so much percussion, but occasional subsonic rumbles. The last part of his set was based on audience choices and ended with Lucifer's The Light of The World and the bluesy I Want to Die At 69.

Amigo The Devil came on stage to Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters. That was a hint that the set, and the performer, will be goofy and funny. Danny Kiranos, the self-described "fat Dave Grohl", had plenty of charming stage presence and banter. But he backed it up with a big voice and guitar. Though some songs were on the jokey side (One Kind of People, Dahmer Does Hollywood), other songs dealt with heavier topics like depression (Cocaine and Abel) and suicide (First Day of The End of My Life). I laughed at I Hope Your Husband Dies including the sing-along intro of Smash Mouth's All-Star, a quick digression to John Mayer's Gravity, and getting the crowd to turn to the back and belt out the chorus at the chatty bar flies. I was on the fence about Perfect Wife with its over-the-top domestic abuse lyrics. Yes, the husband gets his at the end. But the bros near me (who were not demonically attired) sang along just a little too lustily. I'm feeling a Dave Chappell situation with that song. Overall, I can see why Kiranos' murderfolk has a loud, devoted following.