Type O Negative Entertainment Art Metro Chicago, Ill. April 9, 2007

After all these years, Type O Negative has kept their sense of humor. What other band would have a sign that lights up, saying, “You Suck!” or “Boo!” Even if Steele and the boys gave a bad show they would have the crowd in the palm of their hands.

The crowd clearly worships Type O Negative, they consistently chanted their name whenever and knew lyrics to almost every song. Hell, Steele could have stood up there reading from the phone book and they’d still have savored every moment. In turn, it was the crowd that took what was just a good show and made it great.

Steele lurched about on stage and sang with that haunting, smooth voice, but other than making a lot of hand gestures and of course splashing wine, he didn’t do much to draw fans into the show, not that he had to.

Kenny Hickey did an admirable job on guitar, but seemed to be glued to his corner of the stage even though he had plenty of room to thrash around.

At the back, Josh Silver wailed away at the keyboard and Johnny Kelly bashed at his drums, both showing remarkable stamina. Still, they obviously had to stay at their instruments, so without Steele and Hickey providing it, there wasn’t that much movement onstage. Because of that it seemed that nothing really sparked to turn the evening into a truly great performance.

The music remained sharp though, switching from heightened gothic tones to all out rocking. However, after years of performing, it must be second nature for Type O Negative to play that well. From the lack of energy flowing up on stage, it appeared they were just going through the motions.

As the show went on, Steele showed more signs of life. He bantered with the crowd, saying he liked Chicago better than Brooklyn because they spoke better English and had finer looking women. I’m sure he tells Milwaukee he loves their cheese and women, but at least that’s a start.

By the show’s end, his bandmates looked like they could have gone on for another hour, especially Hickey, so maybe he was right to conserve his energy. Patches of sweat, however, had stained Steele’s shirt and he lumbered offstage, obviously exhausted.

It was probably just an off night, still, Type O Negative had a new album to promote and a crowd that adored them. During the encore, Steele even acknowledged, as most bands do, that without the fans there is no Type O Negative. Definitely on a night like this, Type O Negative needed them and they knew it.

Steele even shouted out to the Chicago crowd, “Thank you, Detroit! No, I mean Los Angeles!” Don’t worry. He really loves you guys too.

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