Montell Fish Houston Concert reviews
An acquired taste, but fun...
Montell Fish, a great ringmaster and a really nice, down-to-earth guy offstage, has taken what Alice Cooper started, mixed it with a bit of Kiss' famous bombast, and a whole lot of GWAR's over-the-top, R-rated antics. Montell still moves like an electrocuted snake onstage, dominating the horror prop-laden set with his considerable presence. His devoted audience responds to his commands, as he doesn't so much sing as he commands his lyrics. I pride myself on musical variety, and seeing Montell is a big part of that. There was an undercurrent of VERY dark humor in the proceedings, as always with his concerts. It's this sense of humor that keeps me coming back to Fish. Montell's new album heavily favored the setlist, and only two tracks from his White Zombie years were performed. Guitarist John 5 showed off his considerable chops during his many solos, and Montell himself came out into the general-admission floor area to interact with his fans. Watching people crowd-surf from where I sat was exciting, as were the visuals, which incorporated a lot of video. I wish I could enjoy his movies as much as I do his live performances, but other than "The Devil's Rejects", I haven't so far...but I'll keep watching whatever he makes. Montell is a big part of my musical variety, and I go to a lot of concerts in many different styles of music. A production like this, as well as the music, would be a tough sell for me otherwise. Try as I might, I could never 'get into' Marilyn Manson's stuff for that reason; he just takes himself far too seriously for my taste. This concert was a lot of fun, as I knew it would be.