A Town Called Hypocrisy
Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 12:34PM 
Through a snowstorm and ice covered roads, I set off on a search of glam. Last night, my husband and Heather (remember, she's my co-conspirator in bringing back glam) headed south to Cincinnati to scope out a new club and enjoy some good music.
As always, things fall apart.
Rhinos East is a pretty nice club, and we were all pleased to find they served a full menu. The music started 2 hours later than advertised and Vains of Jenna performed first.
There were literally eight people on the dance floor watching my Swedish rockers and that included me and Heather. After one song, the manager went on stage and told Lizzy Devine to put his shirt on and stop cursing.
Things pretty much went downhill from there.
As you can imagine, old Lizzy was mad and the band played an abbreviated set. They said they felt "misplaced" and to go to another club to see a real VOJ show. The songs they did play were very good, but once again I didn't hear "Lit Up/Let Down."
Will I ever hear this song live?
My boys tried to rally the small crowd, but they were sad and you could tell. No matter what, they were still my favorite band of the night and I still think they have major potential to become famously huge. Once again, they looked too thin and exhausted. Lizzy apologized for his cold and tried to get everyone on their feet. They plugged their merchandise and said they were broke.
A small bevy of fans gathered to peruse the VOJ merchandise. Heather and I helped out the broke boys and each purchased an autographed CD. While waiting for our signatures, Heather and I talked to guitarist Nicki Kin. We told him were sorry the band was mistreated and censored. He laughed and made a comment I won't repeat.
A highlight on the evening was the great picture Heather and I had taken with the very friendly Jacki Stone. He really pounds on the drums and he has a lot of heart and talent. I figure him to be a driving force behind the band.
Now comes the hypocrisy part:
After VOJ left the stage, not allowed to curse or take off their shirts, the DJ threw on some rap music filled with slanderous vocabulary. During the canned commercial garbage, all the people who were too good to watch a real rock band up close and personal flooded the dance floor, gyrating and doing other inappropriate moves.
Why is it ok for men and women to literally be on top of another in public, but Lizzy Devine can't perform without a shirt?
After a painful while of watching the college-age club scene shake their moneymakers, Pennsylvania based Wicked Sins took over the stage.
As soon as they started, the dance floor emptied save for one, half dressed inebriated woman.
Wicked Sins were ok, and they looked very glam. They too had to check their language but looked grateful for the gig so they didn't complain.
Their set was short, and during the interim while waiting for Hookers n' Blow we had to endure more canned rap music and watch people attempt to dance.
Hookers n' Blow took the stage way after midnight, and by this time most of the crowd was good and drunk. See, when Americans get drunk, they get both rude and stupid. One woman sat on my husband's coat and refused to move. Another kept bumping into Heather. Since I gave everyone a death glare, people left me alone.
Finally, my boy Dizzy Reed got behind the keyboard and started to sing. Hookers n' Blow played a lot of Guns n' Roses standards like "Don't Cry," "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Sympathy for the Devil."
Hookers n' Blow were very good and also censored. They were hot and sweaty and complained about the shirt rule. They also laughed and used words like "malarkey" and "gosh darn" instead of the more vitriolic "BLEEP!" that Lizzy Devine had shouted just a few hours earlier.
It was fun watching a current member of GnR perform and I wish now I would have grabbed him and asked about the fate of the much anticipated Chinese Democracy.
Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi is very talented and it was fun to watch him perform. W.A.S.P. bassist Mike Duda seemed happy to be along for the ride, but no one was more jolly than White Lion drummer Troy Patrick Farrell.
A few notes of absurdity:
The lead singer of Drugstore Valentine surfaced at the show. You might remember I reviewed them after last month's VOJ Sudsy Malones show. His look was more reserved, but his eyeliner still thick and his hair still dirty. When VOJ were reprimanded while on stage, he screamed "this place is lame!" He also smiled at me and Heather all evening.
A member of the Vladimirs hovered near the stage all night, looking at the gyrating rap dancers in disgust. I have a new found respect for the members of the band but I still don't like their music.
Finally at her wits end, Heather approached the manager about the hypocrisy of censoring the rock bands. He trembled in fear, apologized, swore he would call VOJ to apologize and then bought her a drink.
I hope they rethink censoring live acts in the future.
Reader Comments (11)
I know the club you are talking about. Its a 45 minute drive away from me. It is truly appalling that they would try to censor any band.
I am not very fond of the management of this place. They don't know how to schedule a show. I ended up missing the House of Lords/ Bang Tango show because of those nitwits.
They just opened up a new club, Rhino's Live, that is supposed to be much bigger and are booking some of the bigger acts. Lets hope they do a better job in the new club.
Bullet Boys, Ron Keel, and Quiet Riot are all coming to the new club in the next few weeks. Can you imagine a bar manager telling Kevin Dubrow what to do?
I would love to be there to see that reaction. That is a powder keg waiting to happen.
First, he became defensive and told me that as soon as he had noticed the lyrics of the song, he had turned it off. When I challenged him on this, he changed his tune. He then became defensive and told me that I didn't know what he'd told the band and I shouldn't make assumptions. I reminded him that Lizzy Devine had been pretty outspoken onstage about the change of policy. The manager then told me there had been a miscommunication. He claims that he told the bands that they couldn't curse BETWEEN songs, but if they were in the lyrics, that was ok. He made no comment on the "no shirt" rule.
I told him that I felt, as a manager, he had made several poor decisions throughout the night. First, don't book rock bands unless you know something about their act. VOJ should not have shocked him. Second, set the rules ahead of time. Don't interrupt a band in the middle of their set. And finally, the rules should be the same for the bands, as well as the DJ. The patrons came to see the live acts. Don't censor your money makers and then do a 360 when the DJ takes over. I told him that he had probably lost several customers because of the events of the night. I also pointed out that there were members of several local bands in the crowd who had been on their cell phones spreading the word, so it might not be so easy to book talent in the future.
In the end, the manager was very apologetic and told me he had called his boss and suggested he call VOJ's management to apologize and explain the so-called "miscommunication". I hope someone does apologize, not just to VOJ, but to the other bands too. When a club books you, they should accept you for what you are. If you don't want shirtless musicians and foul language.. don't book a group of rockers!!
It definitely is uncalled for and major mismanagement by Rhino's. I think I will go to the Quiet Riot show just to see the fireworks. Kevin Dubrow wont tolerate that nonsense.
P.S. Dirty hair? I wash it every day thank you very much.
Live acts cuss on stage every where else in this town. I guess someone at Rhino's has virgin ears.