Can you guess who’s headlining the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver B.C. on Friday September 20? It’s none other than the creepy John 5. The venue is located on 254 East Hastings Street. The doors open at 18:30 and the ticket prices range from $30. The Tour he’s going out on is called Strung Out Tour 2024 and he has 43 upcoming concerts which is honestly very respectable. “Who is he”, you may ask? Well, his real name is John William Lowery and he was born on July 31 1970. He’s an American guitarist. He first took the stage name “John 5” when he left the band “David Lee Roth” and joined Marilyn Manson. He later became a guitarist for the band “Rob Zombie” which really suits his brand and weird style. And in 2022, he toured with Motley Crüe as a guitarist and then got promoted as a full member in 2023 which was huge for him and his career.
Even though he’s a member of that band he’s also a solo artist. He’s recorded ten guitar albums: Vertigo, Songs for Sanity, The devil knows my name, requiem, the art of malice, God told me, careful with that ax, season of the witch, sinner, and invasion. To be honest, I feel like his whole brand is very corny. His style is often very creepy with cakey makeup choices that make him look demonic. The demon brand is also evident in his album names like “the devil knows my name”. That’s a reason why I don’t like rock music much, it’s filled with people who love doing over the top , corny and cringe stunts. I wouldn’t say he looks terrifying but I personally don’t see the appeal of dressing up as a demonic and creepy figure, it kind of makes me laugh and seems like he’s trying too hard to be different when there’s other ways to do that.
His song catalog is pretty creative though and consists of well thought out singles like: Sweet Dreams, The Beautiful people, Kickstart my heart, Tainted love, This is the new sh*t, Wild Side, The Nobodies and Take a picture. Again, it seems like he’s trying too hard with the demon aesthetic like in the music videos and cover arts. But, it’s his brand and if people like it, more power to them.