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This year, Nash decided to take the Halloween show to an audience that would seem a natural, but in fact is often too young to know about the early Goth influences Nash has had on such groups as Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails. Nash is taking his act back to the pale white underbelly of modern music, the dark side of Hell itself, to Toronto's best Goth club, The Vatikan: a sanctuary of heavy music and tattooed flesh. There is more coloured ink in this room than a Kodak convention. Nash's pal Ratch is once again doing the door, a job he has held sacred for 12 Halloween shows and still counting. Being a retired biker, Ratch is right at home in this crowd, and he and Nash share their ritual Jack Daniel's toast before opening the doors. The Vatikan does not have live music on a regular basis, but there is a large stage and a great sound system so the show is an easy set up. Alex, the house sound tech, has everything together quickly and Nash relaxes with plenty of time before the show. Tonight's show is being co-presented by Rue Morgue Magazine, Canada's premier horror culture publication. It is an honour for Cut-Throat to be working with Rod, Marco, and all the Rue Crew. They have never seen a Nash show. As the crowd begins to filter in, there are a few familiar faces in the room, but it is mainly a Vatikan and Rue Morgue crowd and they seem eager for the performance. Chris Alexander's Annihilator opens the show with a spooky set of deafening synth horror music, a one-man Goblin meets T-Dream. What a suitable warm-up for Nash the Slash. Nash performs over an hour of pure Thrash, with an encore of Baba O'Riley. The sold-out crowd loves every nuance, every subtle video and blatant musical gesture. Britney Spears plays along to the perverse lyrics of Swing-Shift while the film Tetsuo underscores Tension perfectly. As usual, Grinder destroys all pretext of a rock show and thrills the BDSM bunch in the front row. As Nash unwinds in the dressing room, he gets a surprise visit from his old friends Kevin and The Great Bob. Not only are these two very talented musicians, (Kevin plays keyboards with The Barenaked Ladies and Bob is the greatest drummer this side of Gene Krupa) but they are two of the funniest guys Nash has ever met. Nash recorded and performed with Kevin and Bob when they were in a local group called The Look People. After many a ribald anecdote, Kevin and Bob bugger off to some other events in town. Nash will be seeing more of these guys soon. I'm glad not to attend these scary performances. I get creeped out by your human activity known as Halloween. One year, I attacked the opening act in the dressing room 'cause he freaked me out. His name was Corpusse, and he still remembers me too! Now I stay away from these Halloween gigs and let Nash tell me all about it later, although he does tend to get dramatic when he says to me 'and then the power went BLOOWIEEE!' and he grabs my nose. I hate it when Nash is still in Halloween spooky mode. However, for Nash the whole evening has been a triumphant ritual, a Halloween event that included sacraments, virgin sacrifices and resurrection of lost souls. Thanks to Johnny and Lance for making The Vatikan a new home for Nash to stash his coffin. Digger |
