Days of Lore

MUSIC FROM THE DEVIL When I was about 8 or 9, I received a copy of KISS’ Music From The Elder for my birthday. The album is considered by many in the KISS Army (now a bunch of fat, middle-aged dope-smokers who churn out thousands of dollars for KISS dolls and KISS condoms) to be the band’s worst for its forays into rock opera. Anyway, I loved it—still do (Hey, Lou Reed co-wrote a few of the songs so it can’t be all that bad).

But my biggest memory of the record is when one of the neighbor kids (Sean Soderland I believe was his name) told me that KISS was satanic and that he wanted to look over the record to see if there were any hidden messages from the almighty Lucifer. How did he know all this? Catholic school, of course.

The record opens up like a book and on the inside is a picture of an ancient wooden table surrounded by large, intricately carved wooden chairs. So for about a half-hour, my friend pored over the photo with a cheap plastic magnifying glass. And you know what he found? Not a Goddamn thing.

Why do I tell you this? Well, I found a posting on Chicolist from “Nells” about a Web site called Jesus is Savior.com dedicated to calling out bands like Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles and the aforementioned KISS for doing the devil’s work through their music.

So, I click on it and up comes this bizarre, ominous, synth-heavy music that sounds scarier than any Slayer song I’ve ever listened to. The site is loaded full of links, quotes (taken out of context) and lyrics (taken out of context) from musicians espousing their “dedication” to Beelzebub. But what sold me on the whole concept were these menacing lyrics from everybody’s favorite Satan-worshipper, Bon Jovi:

“When I was just a boy THE DEVIL TOOK MY HAND Took me from my home He made me a man … I’m going DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN On the homebound train.”

Religious kooks are funny indeed. For a good laugh, check it out at: www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/devils_music_no_effect.htm.

SPEAKING OF GOD AND MUSIC We here at the CN&R heard from a reliable source that locals-make-good Number One Gun were calling it quits. Not true. I called NOG bassist Trevor Sellers and he told me that although the band members were considering breaking up at one time, that they’re just taking some time off to regroup.

Sellers, who was considering going out on tour with locals The Americas during NOG’s down time, will now go out with former Tooth & Nail band Waking Ashland. He said there will be less touring in NOG’s future but that the band looks to put out a new record by the end of the year with a tour to follow.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST I went to the Birds Of Fire/La Dolce Vita tour kickoff show at The Crux Artist Collective on Sunday. It turned out to be a kick-ass show and a kick-ass venue. The Cruxters built a 3-foot-tall stage the day before the show and throughout the evening several members of the packed crowd commented on what a cool space it was.

That said, Christine Fulton, the Crux’s lovely director, confirmed that plans to move to a larger warehouse downtown are no longer moving forward. Fulton said the a last-minute raise in rent and the move-in date being pushed back were the reasons for pulling out of the deal.

So the Crux is staying put, as is the stage. And based on Sunday’s show—good crowd, no problems, great music—Fulton said she will welcome local bands for future shows.

“Everyone was just bad-ass,” Fulton said. “Everyone was cool.”