Luau of the Living Dead

Last month, the Voodoo Queen and I went to the "Luau of the Living Dead", the world's first Hawaiian-themed, zombie-celebratin', rockabilly jam! The only thing that could have kept us from attending would have been a shot to the head.

Took a lot of pictures and thought I'd put 'em up here.

Sadly, I got no pictures of the first band, The Devilz in the Detailz, but they were very good. You can hear some of their songs at their MySpace page. Their song Cemetery Street was especially memorable, being a melancholy bit of Goth-pop, very different from the rousing psychobilly and kick-ass surf played by the other bands, The Ubangis and Forbidden 5.

The event was sponsored and hosted by friendly local zombie fanatic "Dr. Pus" (of the podcast "Library of the Living Dead") and the strange but congenial Prof. Emcee Square, Rondo Award-nominated host of the local The It's Alive Show! (And the winner of a Rondo for organizing the 2007 Pittsburgh Zombie walk.) And it all took place at Howlers, a local nightspot whose emblem is "The Gypsy Werewolf."

The place was packed; the event was sold out. I was told that it was one of the most successful shows at the joint. As you can see on the left side of the photo above, even ghosts attended!

This was one of the coolest shows we'd been to-- nowhere else have I seen so much cool stuff raffled off! (Original art, books, dvds, clothing, etc., and all zombie- and horror-related!) And three great bands! But, just as important, the undead hula stylings of the ZOMBIE GIRLZ!

I've never seen cold flesh look so hot! And they were giving free leis, too! GrrRRRRrrr!

When host Dr. Pus (seen in the photos below at far left) invited the crowd to join the gyrating zombie gals in a big dance, several people went up. (I mean went up onstage, though several male patrons may have gone up in other ways when these undulating undead began swaying their hypnotic hips.) I joined in the fun, too! Fortunately, Jane had insisted that she wouldn't carry me into the show, so I was wearing my rusty old prosthetic body. As you can see from the photos, I don't have good control over the thing, and my dancing was rather spastic.


The bands all seemed to be at their best, really ripping it up at full tilt. Bruce Lentz, lead singer the band Forbidden 5 and decomposer of their songs, seemed on the verge of a psychotronic meltdown, as you can see below:

At this point in the set, I thought a blood vessel would begin to throb on his forehead and the head of someone in the audience would explode...


The energetic music was a counterpoint to the mellow-fun vibe of the night. Another exception to the feel-good tone was the comedy set done by Prof. Emcee Square's sidekick, Stiffy the Clown, an edgy and daring insult comic, whose act was something of an intelligent cross between Don Rickles, David Cross, and Andrew Dice Clay. He got laughs, but was edgier than some in the audience wanted, and at one point an empty beer can was thrown at his head. (Don't look at me!) That was the lowest point of the evening. Fortunately, the music was cranked up again and saved the day-- I mean, night!

Here are some photos of the band The Ubangis, followed by pics of the pleasantly plastered putrifying patrons!

They're possessed!

Lead singer and drummer Brian Horrorwitz bangs his box!

Above: Saucy Randy, surf guitarist extraordinaire!

Besides me and Jane, there were other creepy cute couples, as you can see...


Isn't it cute? He's trying to twist her arm off! And below, another zombie shows his love...

I don't think these last two were a couple, but who knows? Nothing would surprise me! But I was surprised to see that zombies drink Pabst! I shouldn't be, I guess-- it certainly is the perfect drink for someone whose tongue is dead!

Host "Dr. Pus"-- in what is laughingly called "real life"-- is a dentist. He shoulda given a business card to this attendee:

Freebies were handed out at the door by this diminutive deadhead who greeted everyone at the door:
Luau-lovin' zombies found unique uses for the severed body parts strewn about!

Jane and I had a great time. I'll end here, and go find new uses for her parts...