Vampire's Kiss

Tomorrow evening, Saturday, November 20 I will be doing something I have never attempted before - hosting a rock concert. It is a CD release party for VAMPIRE'S KISS by the legendary Cleveland-area industrial-goth-pop duo QUEUE UP featuring my very good friends Alison Garrigan and Dennis Yurich.

A whole bloody body of Queue Up material has been dug up and compiled onto a new CD called Vampire’s Kiss. Inspired by the b-side track of the same name, the disk contains studio works and performances long gone, but not forgotten. Many of the tracks date back to the mid 1990s when Queue up was touring through the midwest.

The CD contains everything from studio demos to tracks from the stage play “The Vampyres” to classic live performances. To add to the mix are two tracks from the recently revived Queue Up line-up featuring guitarist Dennis Yurich and vocalist Ali Garrigan – a live version of Bauhaus’ “Spirit” and an unplugged version of Souixie and the Banshees’ “Cities in Dust.” The two founding members of Queue-Up bring on a newer, leaner, more visceral incarnation of the darkly enigmatic, Gothic/Industrial band of 15 years ago.

Yes, a track from my play THE VAMPYRES, a critical darling dating back to the late 1990s (no, it's not a critical darling, I was joking, all critics hate that play.) That's how I first got to know Dennis, when he and Ali agreed to create original music for the play. I wrote lyrics which were very wordy and Dennis cut them in half - I mean, he literally cut them in half, removing the second half of every verse which was pretty much a restatement of the phrase which precedes it.

The resulting song, COME (one of two original songs in that play) is featured on the disc, and you can enjoy a live performance of it here:



This video is from the 1997 production of THE VAMPYRES, featuring Adam Hoffman and Maurice Adams on vocals, with a pre-recorded backing track by Queue Up. This is not the recording from the disc, of course.

The boy has asked what this song is about. Inspired by the death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, this song is about a man who defies God by sailing into rough weather, and drowns. However, as we all know, love conquers death and the memory of his love brings him back to life albeit as a bloodthirsty corpse. If that sounds pretentious - WIN!

You can purchase VAMPIRE'S KISS and find more info on tomorrow night's festivities at the Queue Up website.

The event will be held at the Center for Rock Research, 1761 E. 39th St. in Cleveland. There's a $5 cover - seriously, FIVE BUCKS. All Ages, Doors open at 7:30 p.m. BYO.

Also featuring ARROGANT REX and MORTICIA'S CHAIR.