ROB ZOMBIE’s return to the UK after a 12-year hiatus has been met with a ticket-buying frenzy from his rabid fanbase. As a result, Manchester’s show has been moved up to the Apollo, having sold out the original venue in a matter of hours. All tickets sold for the Academy are now valid for the Apollo. This will be the only show to move, but tickets for all other shows are nearly sold out, so don’t delay in picking yours up.
Rob and his band, featuring John 5 (guitar), Piggy D (bass) and Joey Jordison (drums) play a string of six dates this coming February, finally bringing their visually-arresting, high-octane, pyro-laden, monster stage show to UK shores.
Rob is looking forward to the visit, saying “ I am thrilled to be finally heading back to the UK. I have been away far too long, but trust me it will be worth the wait. The band is in top form and completely ready to destroy.”
Tickets, priced £26.50 regionally and £29.50 in London (subject to booking fee), are on sale now from box offices, all usual agents and online at link and link. Credit card booking phone lines are detailed above.
Support comes from Skindred and Rob Zombie’s Roadrunner UK labelmates, Revoker.
Having sold over fifteen million CDs worldwide to date, the demons were unleashed on current album ‘Hellbilly Deluxe 2..’, which comes a dozen years after its predecessor, ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’, the album that established Zombie as a solo artist following the demise of his colossally successful previous band, White Zombie. ‘Hellbilly Deluxe 2..’ picks up where the last one left off a decade ago, but is Rob Zombie in 2010: leaner and meaner, with the same appreciation and snarl for all things dark and a little bit dastardly. It’s no simple task to record a companion-style follow-up 10 years down the line, but Rob Zombie makes it look and sound easy. “This was one of the least stressful records I’ve ever made. The songs fell together in record time” says Zombie. “For some reason the best songs always come easy.”
Not content to merely hijack the planet with his delightfully nefarious tunes, Rob Zombie, wearing his auteur’s hat, directed the second flick in the legendary franchise, ‘Halloween 2’, which emerged last year. It was his fifth time writing and directing a feature film. Zombie had also interpreted John Carpenter’s original cult horror ‘Halloween’ in 2007 and that film debuted at No. 1 at the US Box Office, shattering Labor Day weekend records. His previous films include 2004’s essential ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ and 2005’s critically acclaimed ‘The Devil’s Rejects’.
Zombie also wrapped production on his animated, R-rated feature, ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’, and also guest-directed a season-closing episode of the hit TV series, ‘CSI: Miami’, which gets its UK broadcast next week, 26th October via Channel 5 . Rob’s next movie project, “Lords of Salem” has just been announced and goes into production next year.
In addition to the album, the “Mars Needs Women” EP is available from today at all good digital stores. The title track is vintage Zombie, featuring ass-moving grooves, piled on top of a storm of chunky riffs. Also included in the package are ‘What? (The Naughty Cheerleader Mix)’, ‘Jesus Frankenstein (Halfway To Hell And Loving It Mix)’ and ‘Sick Bubblegum (Men Or Monsters…Or Both? Mix).
Having co-headlined this Summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival and currently closing out the Halloween Hootenanny tour, which is levelling amphitheatres across the States right now, UK fans can be assured the full Zombie spectacular is coming their way. Don’t waste any time picking up your tickets because they’ll not hang around for long.
Full dates rack up as follows:
Wed 16th Feb – LONDON O2 Academy Brixton (0844 477 2000)
Thu 17th Feb – MANCHESTER O2 Apollo (0161 832 1111)
Fri 18th Feb – NEWCASTLE O2 Academy (0844 477 2000)
Sun 20th Feb – GLASGOW O2 Academy (0844 477 2000)
Mon 21st Feb – LEEDS O2 Academy (0844 477 2000)
Tue 22nd Feb – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy (0844 477 2000)
The few remaining tickets are onsale now from link (subject to booking fee)