HANZEL UND GRETYL, BELLA MORTE, WYKKED WYTCH

With last night's Six feet Under show still ringing my ears, I find myself and my best friend and assistant photographer, Donna, once again training under the Hudson, back to NYC. This time a little farther downtown to The Knitting Factory. Amazingly enough, I've never been there in my 27 years of going to shows in the city. Tonight would be a couple of old favorites from just around the block for their Oktotenfest 2006 Uber Death Party and I looked forward to a great night with Vas and The Kaiser and some heavy ass shiiiiaatt from Hanzel Und Gretyl.

Being short on time we took the subway downtown instead of walking and arrived towards the end of Dark Eden's set, a local opener for the show. A big thanks to Shannon at Metropolis Records for hookin' me up with guest list. I was amazed how small the place was and anticipated an awesome roof rattling show. Dark Eden seemed pretty cool. Their drummer didn't show up or something, but they played on anyway. They have a hot girl on keyboards and a singer who looks like Nick Fiend (Alien Sex Fiend), so it was enjoyable. I really love these small places and I knew we'd be getting awesome pics in here. No barriers, no bouncers. Wykked Wytch came on next and yeah, they were freakin' wicked. American Black Metal from Miami. There was barely enough room for them on stage, having six members. Brutal female vocals and plenty of corpse paint to go around, they kicked some wicked butt! Screaming vox, shredding guitars, eerie keys and a scary ass vampiric bass player made for a brutal set of American Black Metal. Bella Morte was next and I wasn't very familiar with them, but they were more of a good time rock'n'roll band. Jammin' guitars and bass, a hand held keyboard, a crazy singer and a punky look made for a good fun set. The place was filling up and they got quite a good reception and kicked some butt.

The Uber Death party kicked in to full gear when Hanzel Und Gretyl hit the stage. They were minus bass player Anna K. but the trio fronted by Kaiser Von loopy and Vas Kallas blew off the roof from the onset. I was right in front and the first thing The Kaiser did was high five me and hand me a beer. They pounded out all my favorites. Vas kicked ass and was hot as ever in her normal black leather mini with fish nets and garders and the big Nazi arm band and The Kaiser sporting his Nazi helmet with the big gold eagle on top and huge black boots was in great form. That ever present perfect smile on his face throughout. Osterman on drums is a huge figure and blew out the walls in this tiny place. They did an awesome set with all my favorites. “Transplutonian Annihilation”, “Disko Fire Sheiss Messiah” “Kaiser Von Shizer”. “Third Reich From The Sun” removed the freakin' roof!! It sure was freakin' Uber!! “We Shall Purify”, “Let The Planets Burn”. The awesome new one, “Fukken Uber Death Party” was amazing ending the whole thing with The Reverend and Gia from Dark eden joining them onstage while Von Loopy left the stage to catch a wave and surf the crowd. It was an awesome party and I hope to get back to The Knitting Factory more often.

Be sure to check out the gallery for amazing pics of all the bands.