Type O Negative
Boston, 29/10/95

by Rosemary K. Ledesma

Hi. even though it's quite foolish of me to be up this late when I have a test in a few hours, I thought i'd write this out while everything's still fresh in my mind. Warning, extremely detailed; I always write like this.

I showed up wicked early for the show. this wasn't really intentional; I completely forgot about daylight savings time. this lead unfortunately to my having to listen to the idle banter of two incredibly insipid groupiechix behind me seemingly eternally, but it did pay off in the end. 'Oh my gawd, I am sooo nervous, my pulse is racing...(etc, etc, etc)' I resolved never to be a groupie and cranked up my walkman. Later my ears were assualted with: 'Oh my gawd is that him?? Pete?! I think I need a change of underwears! Oh gawd! Pete!!' and the fellow in question strolled up the street with a couple of chix in arm.

'Hi guys' he said cheerily, and walked up to the club doors, calling, 'Hey, can i get in for free??' as he went in. He had on the ususal: black jeans and an olive drab tee. His hair was pulled back into a pony tail and he had on a hat reminiscent of a policeman's cap or military general's, olive drab with a black brim.

I settled down again for a miserable wait, but he returned after a while. 'Just thought I'd talk to you guys for a while, sign some stuff...' He was quickly swamped. I slipped in a 'Peter?' and handed him a black sheet of paper and a silver pen. 'Oh,' he said at the interesting implements, and scratched out his name. 'Nice nails,' he said, and my day was instantly made. 'Thanks! they glow in the dark!' 'Really?' he said, bemused. (I had my nails, wicked long, painted black with a glow-in-the-dark stripe down each nail) I backed away grinning, satisfied and trying not to seem too groupie-ish. My friends showed up right then. I had a neat idea, however. I went back to have Pete sign my trechcoat. 'Hm, could you also sign my lapel?' 'Sure,' he agreed, and as he fingered it I reconsidered, 'Hm, maybe better sign the breast, more room.' 'Oh,' he said clearly embarrassed. He peeked under my coat to see where he'd be leaning on. 'You won't call the police or nothin', heh' he said as he signed the breast of my jacket. He was very pleasant, in my opinion. I felt strangely -positive- after meeting him. Hehe.

So, he left after some more signing/chatting, and I waited, now at least accompanied by my friends, who were sympathetic as I rolled my eyes at the groupie-banter. I entered the club and waited around. Lycia took the stage. They were boring, in between yawns I wondered if some of my favorite bands had had a start this humble. It was just a guy with a guitar and a girl with a keyboard, vocals completely drowned out with surging noise, no movement, no props. That ended, more wait, then Electric Hellfire Club took the stage. the usual satanic props on stage. the music was pretty interesting (I have 2 EHC albums). The interesting bit happened when the lead singer left the stage and then reappeared wearing a satanic version of liturgical robes (in red with all the crosses inverted) and a bishop hat in red with inverted crosses and red horns sprouting from it, carrying a bible hanging from a red velvet noose. He tore up the bible and threw pages at the audience, while singing, 'god is dead...SATAN LIVES!' etc.

More wait, then Type O mounted the stage. Pete had his hair down now, and nice it was indeed. (from what I remember) Blood & Fire came first, followed by 'I don't know what you guys call it, but I call it Pain.' Then, 'I was inspired to write this song after eating some bad halloween candy. This one was written by Mr. Young before all of you were even a thought in your father's libido...it's called Cinnamon Girl.'
'I was raised a catholic, which makes me feel justified in playing this song for you, since I strongly disagree with what the roman church has done...Christian Woman. If y'all know the words, sing along, you can cover over my mistakes. Just follow the bouncing ----' I think he said either 'nads' or 'ass'. At some point he thanked those who had talked to him in front of the club, and later commented, 'No, I can't give you any free wine, cuz I'm a republican!' 'this next song is essentially about being stuck in a relationship. You can't get out, and you can't stay, so you end up Frozen.' And this is the real shocker:
'Most of you guys won't recognize this one...I figured most of you didn't recognize Mr. Young's Cinnamon Girl, but perhaps you'll find it interesting. it's called Pictures of Matchstick Men' I couldn't believe it! It was awesome. It took me by complete surprise! I wish I could have talked to Pete THEN and not before the show, because I could have commented on that.

'Due to some time limitations (my lithium is about to run out) we can only play 1 more song. What do you want to hear? No,I can't play Black Number 1 for you, we're not good enough for that...I'll have to give you Black Number 2...'
'Because of time limitations we need to get off the stage right now, there's something going on right after us. But Massachusetts state law allows me to give out one pumpkin per night so which one is it going to be? pumpkin number 1? pumpkin number 2? pumpkin number 3? or pumpkin number 4? Looks like number 3. good choice that one looks exactly like my left testicle.' He threw a very big pumpkin into the center of the audience. I think it was foam but I'm not sure. 'Oh, you broke it,' he said.

I was very pleased with the songs performed, and I loved how talkative Pete was, before and after the show. having a good day perhaps? My friends complained that Pete was poorly miked, that they couldn't hear the vocals well, but I was fine where I was standing. My friend found a Type O guitar pick which he was very happy about since he plays bass. I purchased a hammergear pin that i'm already rather fond of, and I have the two signatures.

I had on my Brooklyn t-shirt, too bad I didn't point it out ot Pete, we could have talked about our mutual birthing/stomping ground. Didn't see anyone from the list, though I had my eyes peeled for a red-haired asian. Well,I had a great night! and a great weekend! just wish my problems weren't lying in wait for me when I returned....

Rosemary, beset by negativity

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