BloodLust!

BLOODYMINDED
19 NOVEMBER 2005
Behind The Green Door
Detroit
with:
Wolf Eyes
Luasa Raelon
Cleanse

01. “A SONG FOR LISANNE, A YOUNG MODEL”
02. “LAKE STREET”
03. “ANGEL OF DARKNESS”
04. “AS IF”
05. “PRO-ANA”
06. “PRO-MIA”
07. “MIND THE GAP”
08. “TROPHY”
09. “GENITAL PANIC”
10. (PROVISIONALLY TITLED) “VISITING AN EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL – AIDS WARD”
11. “YOU SUFFER” (NAPALM DEATH)
12. “BECOMING AN ANIMAL” (ENSEMBLE SACRES GARCONS)
13. “CHALK EATER”
14. “PORN LORDS”
15. “TEN SUICIDES”

BLOODYMINDED
Ed Knigge - Synth + Vocals
Pieter Schoolwerth - Synth
Mark Solotroff - Vocals + Synth

Where to even start on this one?

Friday night... after blowing the correct exit a couple of times, we roll into Detroit in our rental, a 2005 Ford Mustang. Suitably BLOODYMINDED enough, if we were a two-piece, that is. Yes, it has a back seat, but it does not have space in front of the back seat for the legs of the people sitting back there, particularly when the people in front are 6’ 2” and 6’ 4”. Well, after running our gear up to BTGD, somehow we squeeze Draheim into the back and we try to head right to the Royal Oak Music Theatre, thinking that we were going to miss the beginning of Bauhaus. Miraculously, even after a false start, we get there, and the show is delayed. We quickly hooked up inside the cool, old theater with Grey and Beth, Liz, Dilloway, Connelly, and Olson. What an insane crew to see Bauhaus with! The show was that much better with all of the carrying on in the bat pit. Awesome!

With a slightly extended crew, we moved onto the legendary Leland City Club at the Ramada hotel in (old) downtown Detroit. The process of getting into this way-more “industrial” than “gothic” freak show is pretty odd. I will mention that we all had to check our cellphones before entering. Why? The club is a kind of cheesy goth/industial garden of earthly delights that quickly manages to strip you of any dignity that you entered with. It is cavernous (maybe 10,000 square feet), it is scuzzed-out, and it simply does not make sense that it is in the old Ramada. I believe that we closed it, though…

Saturday. Slow start. We went to the Russell Street Deli where I had amazing green eggs and ham (pesto-green). We stopped at King books, which was too much for me that day. Showtime Stagewear… talking with an amazing bullshitter about snuff films, etc. We then went to Hamtramck for tasty Indian food. Along with a band traveling in a Mustang, think twice about eating lamb vindaloo before a show. Back to BTGD with stock of alcohol… time to set-up and psych-up. Pieter DJ’d until Connelly got started. “Scatology,” “This Last Night in Sodom,” “Life at the Top” comp… Cool how Grey’s vinyl crossed-over so nicely for us. Connelly followed by mixing up his punk and psych with just the right amount of Bauhaus, Joy Division, New Order, etc. Excellent.

The show… A nice crowd was rolling in. Guitar-slinger Grey got his Cleanse set underway. Hood up. He killed us with four songs, including both the “A” and “B” sides of his new BloodLust! 7-inch, which we will not discuss right now. My third Cleanse set. Killer. David Reed was up next, and this Luasa Raelon set was very different from the others that I have seen/heard. Using what seemed to be a more stripped down set-up, including a Roland MC-202 that we should have kidnapped, his sound was right in line with what I liked so much about his mega-CD, “The Poison City.” He mixed classic deep and dark L.R. style with appropriate sci-fi, “Blade Runner”-esque touches. Great late-night, dark room sounds. We should have had him play again when we were going to sleep at 6:00 AM. It would have been soooo soothing. We were up next, and we tried to bring the best of both worlds… actually charging through a solid set-list, mixed with No Fun Fest style presentation. I think that we did it, okay. Highlights included Pieter dangling from an I-Beam 20-feet above the audience, and then dropping. A major confetti shower from the loft-level. Ed, finally shirtless. Grey giving me another “I believe I can fly” moment. Total darkness. True fear. Lowlights: another wrecked Roland MC-202… fuck! Moving on let me simply say that the Wolf Eyes set was the harshest, heaviest, and most intense thing that I have ever seen and heard from them. There were no calmer, atmospheric creep passages and there was no breathing room. They just came out and pummeled the crowd into submission. Yeah, right, the room needed even more broken glass. Holy shit, what a night.

But wait, there’s more. Seems some folks wanted to go to City Club… and we were coaxed into a return trip. When your dignity is already running low, the only way to fully extinguish it is to go to City Club with some different people. Feeling no pain… especially the gnarly welts that Grey had gifted my back. Lo and behold, we closed it again, and moved onto a Coney place for late-night/early-morning sustenance. Back to BTGD… thankfully, David Reed had swept the shattered glass, bottle caps, and cigarette butts from a section of the floor where we could throw down our air mattresses… what a sweetie! We threw on some low-volume Bauhaus to crash to, and then it was Sunday morning… waking up to David sneaking out early, and slowly, very slowly, pulling it together to head back to Chicago for one last night out before Pieter flew back to NYC.

Thanks to Pieter, for coming in for this one; Grey and Charlie, for their hospitality and for their great patience with us, and for hosting such a big one at BTGD; Aaron, for hanging out so much with us – a great time!; Olson, Nate, and Connelly, for the amazing set, and the cool time all weekend - and for the copies of the mysterious lathe-cut bootleg that Nate found; Tara, Tovah, and Erika; David Reed, for the amazing set, and for making it out to City Club on Saturday; Ryan Rotbrain, for hanging out all night, including a trip to City Club; Gary and Lindsay, for the great late-night antics at City Club and at the Coney joint – Gary, I hope your jaw heals quickly… sorry!; Leif (any photos to share?); kung-fu girl (?); Anti-Christ Deb; Daniela at City Club; Dan at Showtime; the guardian of the erotic art book room at King; Who else? I know there should be more… sorry, still trying to make sense of it all…