Friday, October 19, 2007

UPDATED FROM KENT: The return of Rocky Horror

By Sarah Poulton

Dressed in complete drag, local band The Zou will once again awe Youngstown and Kent at next weekend’s Rocky Horror Halloween Party.

The Rocky Horror Halloween show, presented by Valley24.com. will be held at the Green Room in Kent Friday night and at Cedar’s Lounge downtown Youngstown Saturday. Lead vocalist Khaled Tabbara said local band Jones for Revival will open both shows. Tropidelic and The Dr. Teeeth will be performing in Kent, and The Dead Beat Poets will be playing at Cedars.

Tabarra said this is The Zou’s second year doing the show in Kent: “Its kinda like our second favorite place to play, I’d say. It’s a great college town.”

Tabarra said The Zou will start out playing an original set, but will stick to their darker songs like “Nothing Beats a Hanging” and “The Pinebox.” When they come back after a 20-minute break, they will be dressed in full-out drag and cover the Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack.

“We go all out,” Tabarra said. “Traditionally, I get my nails done and shave my legs.”

This will be the fifth year The Zou will host its Rocky Horror Halloween Party. Tabarra said he’s been playing Rocky Horror since he was 14. He and friends would sit around and play the songs. He said he grew up with a real respect for the history of it.

“We’re kind of a theatrical band anyway,” Tabarra said. “This is definitely a part of us. We’re definitely rock ‘n roll, but we all have other interests.”

Tabarra, who’s favorite holiday is Halloween, said even though it’s a lot of hard work, he looks forward to this show every year. He said it’s really a big undertaking because the band has to drop the songs it’s so used to playing and learn 14 new ones.

“What we do is unique,” Tabarra said. “I’ve never heard of any other bands doing this as far as a band covering an entire soundtrack.”

Tabarra said this is different than anything he’s seen in the past because usually, people reenact Rocky Horror. He said many people who have only seen the movie don’t understand how huge this actually is.

“I think it’s going to be pretty damn big,” Tabarra said. “...It’s a cover, it’s not a theatrical representation. This is a fantastic work of music. It’s some amazing ‘70s rock ‘n roll.”

There’s a twist to this year’s show. Tabarra said that after both shows, they’re making a donation to Social Action Republica, a local charity. He said it’s good to see all the people of Youngstown coming together for the show. He described it as a celebration of local artists.

“This really is a lot of Youngstown people doing Youngstown things,” Tabarra said. “It’s a very pro-Yo event.”

The Valley24.com Costume Contest will be held during the 20 minute break. Categories include most original, scariest, sexiest, and the newest category, funniest.

“Every year we get someone on the boarder of creative and hilarious,” Tabbara said.

Winners in every category will get a goodie bag amounting to about $200.

The Zou will also be selling “Don’t Dream It, Be It! The Zou’s Rocky Horror Tribute E.P.” at the show, along with their other CDs. The E.P. was recorded at Ampreon and Tabbara said in order to capture the true effects of the songs, they recorded most of the instruments together.

Tabarra said they also went through all the paperwork and purchased the rights to cover the songs.

“Our main goal is we want people to hear this stuff,” Tabarra said. “That’s why we do it.”

Other event sponsors for the show at Cedar’s Lounge are Youngstown Local Music, Team Rizzo Landscaping, Rusty Waters Apparel, Ohio Vintage, Ampreon Recorder, Cortland Computer and Defend Youngstown.