This Song Is For the Ladies

"This song is for the ladies," Corpsegrinder advised the audience. "It's called 'Stripped, Raped and Strangled'."

I laughed so hard that many of the pierced and tattooed people surrounding me undoubtedly wanted to crack my skull.

They probably thought I was laughing at Cannibal Corpse. I was. But I was also laughing with them. The death metal band's set at Tuesday's Mayhem Festival was one of my favorite performances of the year. Here's my glowing review.

What on earth is wrong with me? I recognize that it's unconscionable to endorse such ugly and hateful concepts. Needless to say, I strenuously oppose violence. But that doesn't change the fact that horrific things constantly occur in my city and around the world.

Extreme sounds, whether they're emitted by Cannibal Corpse or Ornette Coleman, serve to acknowledge difficult aspects of the world around me. I'm receptive to those truths.

That doesn't mean that I don't also embrace the beautiful and the lightweight. Tonight, in fact, I'll attend a show by Loren Pickford (see below), Keith Anderson, and/or the double bill of Ratt and Extreme. I'll have a good time at whichever gig I choose- even if I don't hear a single song about evisceration.

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Supe Granda is surely one of the most popular guys in the Midwest. Everybody loves him, myself included. Here's a nice essay about (the original) OMD in No Depression.

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Kansas City Click: Loren Pickford will play all original music Thursday at the Blue Room.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)