Lewisham Hotel

LEWISHAM HOTEL

JESUS CHRIST (GG ALLIN 'COMING OF CHRIST' TRIBUTE SHOW)

CUNT BUTCHER

28 November 2010

I must admit, I was a little nervous at the thought of Sundays 'Coming Of Christ' gig. There has been a lot of hype in previous weeks and the more I researched the legend of GG Allin, the more intrigued I became. I read stories of a stage show so brutal and shocking that you wouldn't believe your eyes.

Plenty of hate mail was sent to the venue in an attempt to get the gig cancelled. From all the blood dripping posters hung around the pub I'm not surprised that there was a complaint or two. Many of the emails sent were from Christians that were outraged by the anti Christian overtones of the band. This wasn't surprising, but I was surprised by the large number of emails sent.

Here's just a taste of the disgust by the general public for this event:

On arrival I was expecting at least a few religious nuts with placards and rehearsed chants but they were nowhere to be seen. I was kind of disappointed to be honest, mostly because these people didn't have the guts to come down and meet their enemy face to face. I'd like to have seen the faces of these passionate people instead of seeing words on a computer screen.

Anyway, enough about the hype lets talk about the show. 7pm rolled around and I was ready for openers Wesley Willis Experience. As they were a no show I don't have much to say about them, but that did give me even more of an excuse to hit the bar and get in the right frame of mind for what I was about to witness.

Cunt Butcher decided to kick off their set (if you can call it that) about two hours after the doors opened so everyone was ready to be entertained. Unfortunately, we were stuck with what can only be described as a poor band rehearsal. Excuses were made that the drummer was new but in my opinion there are no excuses in metal. You either rock or suck so shut up and play.

Front man, 'Carcass Butcher', should really have placed another ad when his drummer turned up because I have never seen playing this poor onstage. Even the few parts he did know how to play were played sloppily and it was embarrassing to watch.

'Carcass' strummed and plucked his bass the best he could with shoddy beats behind him and showed little musicianship himself. Rarely hitting notes properly and not seeming to be able to sing and play at the same time.

I didn't get this band at all but a lot of people around me seemed to really enjoy it. I'm not sure whether being so rough around the edges was intentional but they seemed to be just a boozed up couple of blokes having a laugh.

The audience lapped up the banter between 'songs', which included random statements of sexual violence and anti Christian slurs. And I could have seen where they were coming from if they had the musical substance to back it up but they just didn't. 'Carcass' said it best himself, "we're just trying to make fifteen minutes of material last for forty five".

Cunt Butcher ended with their spin on Avril Lavigne's 'Boyfriend' cleverly converted to 'Fuck You Girlfriend'.

After that I thought, "how could the night get any worse?"

Well it got much worse, but in a completely different way. For those of you that are unaware of 'GG Allin', he was one of the most fucked up performers of all time. And Australia's Jesus Christ are keeping his memory alive with this tribute performance to the late singer.

'Metal Matt' bravely took to the microphone for the show, which involved him being completely naked throughout. This was quite shocking for a few minutes until he settled into the persona and really let rip with the Allin antics. You soon forgot he was naked when he chomped down a dead mouse thrown on stage by an over excited fan. And this was just the tip of the iceberg.

While everyone's eyes were transfixed on Matt there was actually a band playing behind him of which I had to keep reminding myself. They provided a basic backing track to the mayhem and carnage being created. On bass was 'Carcass Butcher from 'Cunt Butcher' who seemed more at ease playing slower and more structured songs. Axe man 'Snake Sixx' played the best of his ability while dodging flying phlegm and smashing glass. His solos were the stand out musical moments of this gig. And finally 'Chewy' on drums who was a welcome breath of fresh air after the previous sticks man. He held a good strong punk beat and had some interesting rolls and added to the stage presence donning a Mexican wrestling mask.

There was a strong sense of danger when these guys played. Having the nude singer jump into the crowd at every opportunity to fight with the audience was disturbing to say the least. Many people were glad to slam him into walls and push him over, even smash beer glasses over his head. It was basically like a scene from 'Passion of the Christ' where us, the audience, were witnessing how much pain and suffering one man could take. This was then taken one step further with self-harm being inflicted with broken glass and smashing the microphone into his head. This self-abuse soon turned to inserting objects into his ass including drumsticks and broom handles.

I really don't understand the appeal of this kind of show. I am very much into the rock and metal scene and embrace all genres but this was baffling. The music wasn't particularly great either, although played well and tight was ruined by a very bad singer that only got hired because he didn't mind having a shit on stage. Yes, I said shit! He also performed a large chunk of one song lying down on the stage pissing all over himself.

I would have commented more on the music in this review but when your eyes are given such a feast it's hard for your ears to keep up.

Mystic Metal Live Review by Drew Ther © 30 November 2010

All pictures by Tanya C. and Drew Ther

Editing and Layout by Déa di Morté