I cannot express in words how much Type O Negative’s music has meant to me through the years. Their music helped me deal with some unexpected deaths in my family during my teen years as well as some other trying times during my life and I’ve always been appreciative to them for that.
To this day, I still love their music. Every album is different. No two songs sound the same. I never got sick of seeing them and I can proudly count the number of times I’ve seen Type O Negative perform live in the double digits.
I first saw them open for Danzig in December of 1994 in Fitchburg and was blown away by how sonically powerful they were live. I bought a Bloody Kisses tee at that show with the two ladies on it (You know what cover I’m talking about!) and found that it wasn’t quite appropriate High School attire at the time.
I went to Great Woods the next summer to see Queensryche only because Type O Negative was opening for them and during that day I got to meet the band at an instore signing they did at Newbury Comics in Shrewsbury (Check out my shit-eating grin when meeting Big Pete for the first time!).
I started college in the fall and my first club show was Type O Negative at Axis. A great introduction to the Boston club scene thanks to my favorite band. It was also the first show I realized that ear plugs were a necessary evil. Over the years, I saw them perform at numerous venues over a dozen times. I never saw the same set twice and they were always exciting, engaging, and electric.
One year later, and I still have the sad realization that I will never see them live again or hear any new music because of the death of frontman Peter Steele last year.
Irreplaceable is a word that is thrown around way too often these days but embodies all that Peter was to TON and to the music world. His unmistakable baritone and ear-piercing screech combined with his master bass playing that he made seem so effortless were traits that will never be replicated.
April 14th will forever be the shittiest day of the year. RIP Peter Steele. I still miss you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-v3WnmacAY