Did you ever catch wind of a tour that you knew you had to attend? Something so exciting that everyone was talking about it? For 2022 I can say without a doubt the Freaks on Parade tour fit into this category. When the Live Nation announcement dropped that Rob Zombie, Mudvayne, Static-X, and Powerman 5000 would be touring together, you could hear jaws drop around the world. Mudvayne had only recently re-formed last year playing a select group of festivals and now they were going out on a full length tour. Static-X had cancelled their headlining 2022 tour and now jumped on this one. It’s been a while since Powerman 5000 toured nationally and Rob Zombie always puts on an entertaining show. I was thrilled to learn I was approved to photo and review the show when they came to the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL on July 26th.
The bad part of traveling out to Tampa for any concert is one simple thing: I-4. Our main highway that runs through Central Florida is just always crowded and that day was no different. I even left earlier than usual just to ensure I’d have enough time to get to the venue. But traffic and torrential rain, the type where you can’t see a foot in front of you, slowed me down significantly. Fortunately, I was able to get to the venue and park before the first artist took the stage. I do love the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre as a venue. It’s large for a large capacity of fans to attend. The staff is really nice and helpful. There’s a lawn area for people to bring their own blankets and chairs and watch the show from there too. And the sound is pretty good on most nights. The fans this evening were decked out in their t-shirts representing their favorite band. But, a lot of fans were decked out in their best goth and punk looks with fishnets galore, black lipstick and painted nails, and more leather than you’d see in a biker gang. These fans were ready to rock that evening.
The first artist on stage was my long-time favorite of mine Powerman 5000. The band formed in 1991 out of Boston, MA. The band released two EPs before releasing their debut album The Blood-Splat Rating System in 1995. They started breakout on the scene performing at Ozzfest in 1996 and appearing in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 as themselves titled “Strike The Match”. And in 1999 the band had their true breakout album with Tonight the Stars Revolt! that had their commercial successful single “When Worlds Collide”. Powerman 5000 would go on to release 8 additional studio albums with their most recent The Noble Rot released in 2020. The band consists of Spider One (vocals), DJ Rattan (drums), Murv3 (bass), Taylor Haycraft (rhythm guitar), and Dan Schiz (lead guitar).
The crowd was huge before Powerman 5000 even took the stage and when they did the roar from the crowd was loud. There were definitely old school fans of the band in attendance and they kicked off the night with “Footsteps and Voices” off New Wave from 2017. If that didn’t get the crowd moving nothing would. A fantastic song with a solid drum rhythm and Spider One speaks or raps his way through the song. It’s seriously catchy and heavy and you could see they came to get this crowd rocking. They followed that with “Nobody’s Real” from Tonight the Stars Revolt! It’s a change of style with more techno than heavy, but this is old-school Powerman 5000 and it’s a fun song. They followed up with “Invade, Destroy, Repeat” from Builders of the Future from 2014.
Powerman 5000 was truly rocking the stage that evening. DJ Rattan was driving the songs with such perfect timing and animation as he performed. Taylor was grooving into the rhythms and making his way all over the stage as he played. Murv3 is one of my favorites though. His facial expressions are awesome and he mimics the robot dance as he plays sometimes contorted in odd positions still strumming away on the bass. While stoic on stage, his personality shines through. Dan who is the newest member was very focused on his guitar playing, which sounded perfect. But, Spider One was the driving force getting Powerman 5000 back into the limelight. His vocals were great, his expressions were awesome, and that man can get a crowd rocking. And of course, they closed out their set with “When World’s Collide” which had the crowd bouncing.
You can find all of Powerman 5000’s music and merch over at https://powerman5000.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- Footsteps and Voices
- Nobody’s Real
- Invade, Destroy, Repeat
- Hey, That’s Right!
- Bombshell
- Supernova Goes Pop
- When World’s Collide
Static-X the heavy metal band from Los Angeles, CA was next to the stage. The band formed back in 1994. It would be a few years before they would sign with Warner Brothers Records and release their debut album Wisconsin Death Trip which would hit Platinum. The band would release 5 more albums until their lead vocalist Wayne Static passed away in 2014. The band decided to disband after his death. In 2018, the 3 remaining members of Static-X decided to reform and continue making music. Static-X recently released Project: Regeneration Vol. 1 in July 2020. The band consists of Xer0 (vocals, rhythm guitar), Tony Campos (bass), Koichi Fukuda (lead guitar), and Ken Jay (drums).
This would be the first time I had the chance to see Static-X live. I was looking forward to catching them during the headlining tour, but that got pushed to 2023. So I was excited to see them perform that night and apparently the fans at the amphitheatre were too. The moment they stepped on stage the crowd once again roared in approval. The band looked thrilled to be back on stage and ready to continue the party. They opened with “Bled For Days” from their debut album Wisconsin Death Trip. The heavy bass, drums, and guitar reverberated through our bodies as they threw down on stage. Xer0’s vocals were hauntingly very close to Wayne’s. If you closed your eyes you probably would think it was Wayne on stage. They followed up in old-school Static-X with the title track “Wisconsin Death Trip”. The song has a cadence similar to “Bled For Days” with Xer0 belting away into the mic. And they continued from their debut album with “Sweat of the Bud”.
All of the songs Static-X performed that night except “Cold” from Machine in 2001 came off their debut album. It was a great setlist to hear them perform their old-school songs for the crowd and Static-X sounded so good! Tony was banging his head in synch with the music. Ken was having a blast ripping away at the drums and keep up that pace is not an easy feat for any drummer. Ken was phenomenal! Koichi also seemed to be enjoying himself playing those riffs and making a show for the crowd. The only criticism I had was with Xer0. Vocally and musically he was awesome. He kept the pace of the song and sang those lyrics with passion and power. But, he seemed very stiff behind the mic with very little motion. Granted, he’s playing as he performs so he could only step away during no vocals. And when he did he was bouncing around on the stage. As a whole, Static-X performed beautifully closing their set with “Push It”.
You can find Static-X music and merch at https://static-x.org/. Their setlist that night was:
- Bled For Days
- Wisconsin Death Trip
- Sweat of the Bud
- Love Dump
- Cold
- I’m With Stupid
- Push It
After Static-X finished their set, you could feel the anticipation building and even the media photographers were feeling that anticipation. The fans had nearly sold out the amphitheatre that night and my guess is the majority of people were looking forward to the next performer. All of the photographers were talking about the opportunity to photograph the next artist, the heavy metal band known as Mudvayne. Mudvayne was formed in 1996 coming out of Peoria, Illinois. They would release their first album L.D. 50 in 2000. The album would hit the #1 spot on Billboard’s Heatseeker’s Chart and would get certified Gold with 500,000 album sales. Their next album in 2002 The End of All Things to Come would have similar success and had the singles “Not Falling” and “World So Cold”. Lost and Found in 2005 would once again be a successful album for the band hitting #2 on the Billboard 200 Chart. Their most popular single on that album was “Happy?”. The band would release 2 additional albums before going on hiatus in 2010. The band came back from hiatus in 2021 performing at Danny Wimmer Presents festivals before touring for the first time in 12 years in the Freaks on Parade tour. Mudvayne is Chad Gray (vocals), Greg Tribbett (guitar), Ryan Martinie (bass), Matthew McDonough (drums), and joining them touring musician Marcus Rafferty (guitar, backing vocals).
The stage was covered with a drop sheet with Mudvayne’s logo on the front. The moment the band started into “Dig” from L.D. 50 the sheet dropped down and the crowd exploded into a mix of screams, cheers, and applause. And Mudvayne absolutely let loose from the first song. Ryan was bouncing all over the stage and Chad was so amped up he jumped into the photo pit with the photographers and got up on the barrier in front of the fans. Security held him up from the back, while he held on to a fan’s hand never missing a note to the song. After he hopped back onto the stage and they performed “Under My Skin” from the same album. Hard and heavy, they ripped through the song with Chad leading the ravenous frenzy. They followed that with “-1” also from L.D. 50.
Mudvayne sounded like they never took a hiatus from their performance that evening. They were playing hard on stage. Matthew’s drumming was superb double pedaling hard through songs and beating away at the drums. Marcus was doing a really great job with backing vocals and performing on guitar. Greg was very stoic throughout the performance keeping so calm around the frenzy of the fans. Ryan was the exact opposite running around on stage, jumping, bouncing, and everything else he could think of doing to keep moving. And all the while strumming out those bass notes that are so clearly heard during Mudvayne songs. Chad was the point of focus that night. He cracked white makeup, covered in blood, with his squiggly black lines on his face and his standout blue hair couldn’t be missed. But, his vocals and demeanor on stage showed how much he missed playing with Mudvayne. He looked thrilled. And the setlist was such a great selection like “Dull Boy” and “World So Cold”. The performance wasn’t without its hiccups as Chad literally fell off-stage while performing “Not Falling”. You can’t make this stuff up. They closed their setlist with “Happy?”, which Chad struggled a little through but finished off strong. It was a very memorable and phenomenal performance that evening.
You can find Mudvayne’s music and merch at http://mudvayneofficial.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- Dig
- Under My Skin
- -1
- Severed
- Death Blooms
- Internal Primates Forever
- Determined
- Not Falling
- Nothing To Gein
- Dull Boy
- World So Cold
- Happy?
Finally, our headliner Rob Zombie was ready to take the stage. His musical career started off in 1985 with the band White Zombie. They released their first album in 1987 titled Soul Crusher and followed up with 3 more studio albums before disbanding in 1998. Rob Zombie was already working on a solo album before the breakup and released his debut Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International in 1998. The album was a huge hit with singles of “Dragula” and “Living Dead Girl” released from it. It ended up reaching #5 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum 3 times over (3,000,000 album sales). His 2001 follow up album The Sinister Urge would have similar success and released singles “Scum of the Earth” and “Feel So Numb”. Rob Zombie would release 5 more studio albums with his latest The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy released in March 2021. Rob Zombie isn’t just a successful musician, he is also an accomplished movie director with films House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween, Halloween II, and his upcoming movie The Munsters. Rob Zombie’s band consists of himself (vocals), John 5 (guitar), Piggy D. (bass), and Ginger Fish (drums).
Before Rob Zombie took the stage, the lights dimmed and the theme song from Leave It To Beaver played with a picture of Wally Beaver, actor Tony Dow, after it was announced he had passed away. Unfortunately, the information was premature as he was still alive at the time of the show, but died the following day in hospice on July 27th. A backing track played and then one by one the members of Rob Zombie stepped onto the stage. Rob appeared at the top of this massive tombstone with a skull on the front with the word “Zombie” etched into the front. The band kicked off the show with “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)” from The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. The song has this gypsy music style start and then drops hard and heavy into Rob Zombie belting lyrics into the mic. The Tampa attendees were certainly loving every minute of it early on. They followed with “Superbeast” from Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International. It’s another hard and heavy song with a techno-vibe backing it. The band was moving on stage and the crowd was along there with them. “Meet The Creeper” was next also from Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International. This is where the band was really having fun with this massive devil figure stepping out on stage and walking around while the band performed around it. There are no other words for it but truly awesome.
There are two major factors that make Rob Zombie’s live performances so good. First, is the band itself. Ginger Fish is a hell of a drummer and you can hear it in his work. Sadly, for the media he was so far back on the stage that we couldn’t see him to get photos. Piggy D. is a great bassist and loves to give the crowd these evil-looking faces. He entertains the crowd on stage all night long. John 5 is exactly the same. He is a phenomenal guitarist that can shred with the best of them. He may even be the best guitarist touring today. But, John 5 also likes to make it creepy and weird. He drools onto the stage and knows how to let go of this one long massive string that’ll probably creep you out. And of course, Rob Zombie himself is a pure entertainer. Whether it be his jumps during his set, his poses, or just his leading the crowd, you always get a fun time when Rob Zombie is performing. Second, it’s Rob Zombie’s stage production. Massive figures on the stage, huge stage props, and the lighting all puts it together to a show never to forget.
Rob was very interactive with the crowd that evening, especially talking about how hot it was in Florida that evening. He also was very gracious asking the crowd to give applause to his stage crew for doing everything they do, to all the bands on the tour, and to the fans themselves for coming out to see them all. He engaged them to cheer, clap, and sing along through an awesome set list that evening that included “Living Dead Girl”, “More Human Than Human” by White Zombie, “Scum of the Earth”, an awesome guitar solo from John 5 that led into the opening of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, which led into White Zombie’s “Thunder Kiss ’65” and closing the show out with “Dragula”. The attendees that night were also treated to seeing the trailer for Rob Zombie’s new movie The Munsters based off the television show. Overall, phenomenal performance from Rob Zombie and the crowd’s cheers when they wrapped up said it all.
You can find Rob Zombie’s music and merch at https://robzombie.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)
- Superbeast
- Meet The Creeper
- Shake Your Ass Smoke Your Grass
- Living Dead Girl
- More Human Than Human (White Zombie song)
- Scum of the Earth
- Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown
- Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
- Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.
- House of 1000 Corpses
- John 5 Guitar Solo
- Thunder Kiss ’65 (White Zombie song)
- Shadow of the Cemetery Man
- Dragula
The Freaks on Parade Tour is just an excellent night of great music from legendary bands who came ready to rock. It just might be my #1 tour of the year. If you have the opportunity to see this show, do it. Don’t miss out on this truly fun show!
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