| Voltaire written By Lynn |
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| x41/2 |
ARTIST: Voltaire
DATE: August 5,
2007
VENUE: Grape
Street Pub,
Philadelphia, PA
DATE: August 5,
2007
VENUE: Grape
Street Pub,
Philadelphia, PA
| Back in August, I had been out to see Vera Mesmer and his band perform at the Grape Street Pub, a local Philly venue that hosts a lot of local music, but every once in a while has great national bands come through. They get a little bit of every type of music you could imagine, too, which is nice, although the times that I'd been there previously, it had mostly been the same kinds of more popular punk and rock music. Imagine my pleasant surprise then, when upon showing up and seeing what bands were playing that night along with Vera Mesmer, I realized that it was a "goth night" of sorts, as the bands on the roster included Tempting Fate, a Philly goth-punk outfit as well as Mesmer, with his stately, renaissance-goth look and feel. The biggest surprise of all for the evening, however, was that the infamous Voltaire was playing; my friend and I had just been talking about when we'd get to see Voltaire in the area, because he (my friend) really wanted to see him play, and for me to see him as well. So lo and behold, my trip planned to get some pictures to accompany our interview of one band had the pleasure of giving me an opportunity to see an icon of the gothic community in action, and I just have to say that Voltaire is every bit of what everyone says he is. His myspace calls him a "gothic renaissance man with a gypsy pirate band," and after seeing singer/songwriter Voltaire perform live, I couldn't agree more. I know a lot of people, when they hear the word "goth", are usually thinking black clothes and hair, pale skin, thick eyeliner and moon boots; scary vampires, maybe even electronica or metal music; all those stereotypical things that are, sure, very goth. But what a lot of people don't realize is that the same as the punk genre (of music and culture), goth is a state of mind and preference, more than anything. Okay, sure, there are a lot of people who live up to the stereotype, but equally, there are plenty that don't. I bring all this up because to meet Voltaire on the street, or in my case, by the merch tables, he looks like any other guy about town who happens to be dressed in black. He likes black, so he said later during his set. So he wears it. He likes to associate with the gothic community... so he does. And his music, which is more like folk music than any other music I've ever heard classified as "goth," is what he wants to play - stories and rhymes, most about the everyday life of the everyday Joe, or about subjects that we all face day to day, but maybe with a bit of a darker and comic slant to them. Voltaire writes about being evil and being a #1 Fan, and he even writes about what it would be like to be a goth, but in the end it's all sung tongue-in-cheek, much to the pleasure and amusement of his audiences. He writes about all those things we think about doing, but don't, because of needing to feel socially accepted, so a lot of his lyrics are quite amusing, to say the least. If a performer can keep a group of people interested and responsive with simply an acoustic guitar and his witty lyrics, well as far as I'm concerned, he's got something there and Voltaire seems to be able to do just that. It's humorous though, the number of homosexual references that Voltaire does make, presumably to either get people wondering, or go along with the whole idea that today "it's cool to be gay." I really had a great time watching Voltaire's performance. I had only heard some of his songs off a few of his CDs, but it seems to me that unless you see him performing live, whether it's he and the whole band, or just the man and his guitar, there's a lot you miss out on. The live performance is incredibly entertaining, so I definitely recommend that when you get a chance, you go! Voltaire is playing shows around the US this fall, as well as making appearances at such notable events as Dracula's Ball in Philadelphia, on Halloween, Philcon on November 17th, the Osaka Hotwheels Convention in Tokyo on November 23rd & 24th (you know, for all you die-hard Hotwheels fans that have been saving all year for that trip), and at the NY Anime Fest on November 7th. Touring seems to be in his blood, so I suspect that there will be plenty of opportunities to see him live into the coming year as well. Check out his website, or his MySpace for more information, or to read up on his other projects, including his comic books and animations. |
The audience that night as Voltaire took the small, spotlit stage varied;
there were kids there in their teens, as well as people in their 40s and
maybe 50s, and they all sang along, knowing the words to all the
songs. Voltaire led and encouraged everyone to sing, sometimes even
stopping himself so the audience could sing the lyrics by themselves.
It reminded me of a giant campfire sing-along more than a concert, a
big group of friends having gotten together to play some music and
sing some favorite songs, and I found that atmosphere to be really
quite nice. With the aide of his new friends, Voltaire played through a
number of favorites including Ex-Lover's Lovers, When You're Evil
and Zombie Prostitute, as well as Brains, which is one of the theme
songs for Cartoon Network's 'The Grimm Adventures of Billy and
Mandy," written and performed by Voltaire for the show, and
Goodnight, Demonslayer, the lullaby he wrote specifically for his son,
whom Voltaire describes as being somewhat of a 'junior goth'. In
between songs, we were treated to stories and anecdotes of his life,
including the fact that he's from New Jersey (not New York, as
everyone suspects, though he does live there now) which was
followed by a hilarious rendition of the song Bomb New Jersey, that his
son was suspended in first grade for writing a paper on how the
Germans, during World War II "were not prepared," (which we later
learned had to do with the fact that they didn't have any winter
clothing) and how his grandmother, who couldn't grasp the "goth
thing," used to associate it with satan worshiping and complain to him
that it was evil.
Voltaire is also very quick with a gay joke (totally meant in fun, just
like everything else he jokes about), as well as to assure everyone that
"although his son takes fencing lessons, the boy is not gay."
there were kids there in their teens, as well as people in their 40s and
maybe 50s, and they all sang along, knowing the words to all the
songs. Voltaire led and encouraged everyone to sing, sometimes even
stopping himself so the audience could sing the lyrics by themselves.
It reminded me of a giant campfire sing-along more than a concert, a
big group of friends having gotten together to play some music and
sing some favorite songs, and I found that atmosphere to be really
quite nice. With the aide of his new friends, Voltaire played through a
number of favorites including Ex-Lover's Lovers, When You're Evil
and Zombie Prostitute, as well as Brains, which is one of the theme
songs for Cartoon Network's 'The Grimm Adventures of Billy and
Mandy," written and performed by Voltaire for the show, and
Goodnight, Demonslayer, the lullaby he wrote specifically for his son,
whom Voltaire describes as being somewhat of a 'junior goth'. In
between songs, we were treated to stories and anecdotes of his life,
including the fact that he's from New Jersey (not New York, as
everyone suspects, though he does live there now) which was
followed by a hilarious rendition of the song Bomb New Jersey, that his
son was suspended in first grade for writing a paper on how the
Germans, during World War II "were not prepared," (which we later
learned had to do with the fact that they didn't have any winter
clothing) and how his grandmother, who couldn't grasp the "goth
thing," used to associate it with satan worshiping and complain to him
that it was evil.
Voltaire is also very quick with a gay joke (totally meant in fun, just
like everything else he jokes about), as well as to assure everyone that
"although his son takes fencing lessons, the boy is not gay."
