Blossom Music Center played host to a spectacular night of “Freaks on Parade” starring Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry and Cleveland’s own Filter.
After departing Nine Inch Nails, Bay Village native Richard Patrick formed Filter. The band kicked off their 30-minute set with “You Walk Away,” before rolling into “Jurassitol,” “Obliteration,” “Take a Picture,” “Welcome to the Fold” and, finally, “Hey Man Nice Shot.”
Next up was Ministry, led by Al Jourgensen. The band delivered a relentless 40-minute set of iconic classics. From the moment the band took the stage, the crowd was treated to an unrelenting sonic assault. The 8-song set opened with B.D.E. and rocked through killer versions of “Goddamn White Trash,” “Just Stop Oil,” “Alert Level,” “N.W.O.,” “Just One Fix,” “Thieves” and “Jesus Built My Hotrod.”
Next up was Alice Cooper and his exceptional – and dark – stage show. Cooper’s 16-song set opened with “Lock me Up” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and wrapped up some 90 minutes later with “School’s Out.” Along the way, the crowd was treated to a live snake, a Marie Antoinette-meets-the-guillotine scene, and plenty of shock-rock singalongs.
At this point in the night – after Filter, Ministry and Alice Cooper – there was still so much more to come thanks to Rob Zombie. The 15-song set kicked off in dramatic fashion, with a black curtain dropping to the stage to reveal Zombie perched atop a soaring platform. Halloween-like images played out on monitors showing images of skeletons, graveyard images, and horror movies clips.
Songs played include “Demon Speeding,” “Super-Charger Heaven” and crowd favorite “Feel So Numb.” The show was pure chaos and insanity at its best, with songs like “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a UFO” and “The Satanic Rites of Blacula” inspiring rousing sing-alongs.
