KAZR’s Last Damn Party of the Year 12/31/2002; Stone Sour, Murder Dolls, downthesun

Lazer 103.3’s Last Damn Party of the Year
December 31st, 2002
STONESOUR
murderdolls
downthesun

Seven Flags Event Center
Clive, Iowa
Door’s @ 8:30pm
Tickets 35$

Sadly, I arrived late and missed the majority of downthesun‘s New Year’s Eve performance.  The final song’s performance, “Wonderful Life,” wasn’t wasted on the crowd however.  Downthesun only set the foundation of the energy that would be built on that night.
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The
murderdolls took the stage around 9:30pm, after half an hour of sitcom and movie theme songs (Addam’s Family, Bat-Man television series, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.)  The Gothic-punk-glam band didn’t waste anytime whipping the crowd into a frenzy.  Acey Slade’s energy carried over from his days with DOPE and greatly helped the stage show.

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The band’s set, over an hour long, featured nearly every track from
Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls, included a new track, The Devil Made Me Do It (and I’ll Do It Again) and a Misfit’s Cover (Devil’s Whore House).  The performance of the Misfit’s cover was the first time the song had been performed live.  It seems the Midwest is a favorite place for bands to test new tracks.  Grave Robbing USA featured Wednesday 13 marching around the stage, a gravedigger’s shovel attached to his microphone.
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During the chorus of People Hate Me, Wednesday 13 brushed his teeth with an oversized toothbrush, spitting a mixture of toothpaste and water into the crowd and onto the security guards.  Towards the end of the set, a fan had thrown a nearly full bottle of water onto the stage and hit Wednesday 13 in square in the face.  Even though threats were thrown from the stage, it was the crowd that finally ended the “pussy’s” two minutes of fame and threw the kid out.  Recovering quickly, the crowd was led in chanting “FUCK.”  “I Love To Say Fuck’s” set had Wednesday 13 chasing Joey (1), wearing what looked like
Marilyn Manson’s anti-police cap, around the stage under a huge, black, open umbrella prancing around like a demonic Mary Poppins.  And the umbrella?  Painted on the umbrella was F. U. C. K.
And what of Des Moines home-town-heroes?
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Has the entire music industry gone to hell?  According to Corey Taylor of
STONESOUR it has, and they are here to change that.  Sick of the music industry thinking fans are idiots, STONESOUR has vowed to take a stand and bring back metal music.  Taylor seemed honestly worried the crowd wasn’t having fun and during breaks in the set continually asked “How is everyone?”  “Are you having fun?”
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STONESOUR also performed a new, non-album track.  “Rules of Evidence” is rarely performed life.  The always emotional track “Bother” had set the entire venue ablaze in lighters.  And a the stroke of midnight?  The band refused to play the typical New Year’s song, instead imbibing Jack Daniel’s.  We were promised STONESOUR would be back to perform for their hometown.