Seriously man, don’t drop me in an area surrounded by fast-food and Mexican restaurants for three days and expect me to lose weight. That aside, the inaugural edition of the Housecore Horror Film+Metalfest was an agile affair. With two concert venues and three screening rooms all within stumbling distance, it sure beats that time when you wanna see this band at NXNE, but they’re playing 17 blocks away from the next band you wanna see, and you can’t run 17 blocks in 25 minutes… some people probably know what I’m talking about. 😉
Anyhoo, the musical offerings in Austin were certainly top-notch, what with double-doses of Goblin and Phil Anselmo (the latter with Down and The Illegals) and a triple shot of Dale Crover, who sat in with Eyehategod and locals Honky on top of his regular Melvins gig. Twas my first time in Texas, so I can’t say I’ve been to the old Emo’s, but the new location is certainly spacious enough for most major concert events. Put it this way–the GWAR goo came just short of hitting the soundboard, which is probably a good thing.
Alas, twas my first time seeing GWAR in 7+ years, though I can’t say they’ve changed much–aside from an updated cast of victims including Queen Elizabeth, Justin Bieber and the new Pope (no, not this one). Most of the other bands I wanted to see were ones I’d seen more recently, although catching EHG with Dale on drums was certainly a special occasion–their first gig since the late Joey LaCaze’s untimely demise.
As for the film program, twas a buncha 35 mm cult classics that stole the show for me, like Deadbeat at Dawn and Cannibal Holocaust. But I was pretty stoked to finally see sludge doc Slow Southern Steel–I gotta say, it’s even better than Such Hawks, Such Hounds! And I can also say I saw Tom Araya’s acting debut; a bit part in a living-dead flick called Zombex set in NOLA and East Texas. Also merging the worlds of metal and horror was Attila Csihar, who did a bizarre, spoken word soundtrack to 20’s silent flick The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Not really my thing, but he got a standing O afterwards.
Overall, I think the idea of merging horror and heavy metal is a great concept. Just a couple months ago, I remember having to choose between a midnight Spanish witch flick at TIFF and the Blood Ceremony CD release party, while wishing the two events could transpire simultaneously. Y’know, like Goblin live-scoring Suspiria, which was definitely a highlight of the Housecore fest.
And it sounds like Anselmo and co. intend to make this an annual thing, though I’m not quite sure if I’ll be there next year. To sum up my conditional attendance in four words: Electric Wizard or bust! 😉
Oh, and click here for pics.
Peace,
Greg
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