Stairway to Kevin:
Rock & Shock’s Leader is at the Helm of Horror
By Elizabeth Meyer

Kevin Barbare, WAAF’s Man of a Thousand Voices, is a horror fan. No, strike that ~ Kevin Barbare is a horror fiend. You need only look at the list of horror celebrities he’s scared up for his third annual Rock & Shock horror convention for proof of his devotion to the genre. Hell, he even plays in a shock band called The Deadites, too. So come October 13, Barbare is going to be in his glory amongst, as the R & S site proudly proclaims, all the “Music, Monsters, and Mayhem” descending upon downtown Worcester…and lucky for us, we’re all invited.

So how did Barbare come to be the Herald of Horror?

“I had been going to all these horror conventions since high school,” he says of the convention’s origins, “and I happened to be at one in New Jersey about four years ago. I met a WAAF listener there, and he asked me why I don’t do one in Massachusetts, so I figured if people from Massachusetts were traveling all the way to New Jersey to meet their favorite stars, then one back home could work.”

Barbare’s connections at radio heavyweight WAAF afforded him the kind of platform necessary to reach the listeners that would make up the core of his audience, making the inclusion of dark rock acts a natural, too.

“One of the advantages of working for a radio station,” he explains, “is that through that channel we are legitimized more in the eyes of the studios, the guests and the audience. Otherwise, we might be looked at in the same light as a ‘Star Trek’ convention. Instead, they treat us more like a Fangoria Weekend of Horrors.”

Barbare and his team of dedicated professionals use scientific and non-scientific ways of choosing guests.

“I first ask myself, ‘Who was I excited to meet for the first time?’,” he explains. “We also take surveys and do Internet research as to what is selling and what is coming out in theaters and on DVD. We also try to cluster stars from the same film, like how we’re having Sid [Haig] and Bill [Moseley] from The Devil’s Rejects back by popular demand.” (Zombie maestro George Romero is back too.)

Rock & Shock is also different from other conventions in the way it treats its guests.

“I met with all these people, and heard their complaints about the way they were treated at other shows,” Barbare says. “I paired it with a list of positives, and tried to eliminate as many of the negatives as possible. Even in the first year, the word-of-mouth among celebs and vendors was very good, which is why we can continue to get such good names.”

This year’s Rock & Shock happens in Worcester at The DCU Center [formerly the Worcester Centrum] and The Palladium. For more info ~ including an up-to-the-minute list of guests, musical acts, vendors and tattoo artists, hit www.RockAndShock.com.

Freak Facts

A Sneak Peak at Some of This Year’s Musical and Monstrous Guests

George A. Romero – Known as “The Father of Modern Horror;” Director of the 1968 indie smash Night Of The Living Dead and three sequels; nearly all his films are shot in his adopted hometown of Pittsburgh

Jeffrey Combs – Has played H.P. Lovecraft’s mad Dr. Herbert West in three Re-Animator films; recently seen on USA’s hit sci-fi series “The 4400;” appeared regularly in three different TV incarnations of “Star Trek”

GWAR – Name is an acronym that stands for “God What an Awful Racket;” group members include Oderus Urungus (vocals), Balsac the Jaws of Death (guitar), and Jizmak the Gusher (drums); their 1993 long-form video Phallus In Wonderland was nominated for a Grammy; does not eat puppies

Sid Haig – Has been acting for nearly 50 years, though most fans will know him as the charismatic psychopath Captain Spaulding from Rob Zombie’s recent House Of 1,000 Corpses and its sequel, The Devil’s Rejects; is an ordained minister who will actually marry two people (in character) at this year’s Rock & Shock

Soilwork – Hails from Helsingborg, Sweden; performs in the Gothenberg metal/melodic death metal/melodeath style, which features more melodic guitar riffs and “clean” singing as opposed to “death grunting;” Will Smith is reportedly a fan of the band

Doug Bradley – British actor who plays “Pinhead” in the Hellraiser movies; co-founded the progressive theatre group “Dog Company” with buddy Clive Barker in the 1970s; will renew the wedding vows of two attendees at this year’s Rock & Shock

Kari Wuhrer -The perky co-host of the hit ‘80s MTV game show “Remote Control;” had what she calls an “unboob job” in 2002; earlier this year sued ABC for terminating her contract on “General Hospital;” starred in the Sci-Fi Channel hit “Sliders” from 1997-2000; recent addition to the lineup in the ongoing Hellraiser franchise; released a CD, Shiny, in 1999

Norma Jean – Is a Christian “metalcore” band (a mix between heavy metal and hardcore punk); formed in Georgia in 1997 as “Luti-Kriss,” changing their name to avoid confusion with rapper Ludacris; often compared to bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, only with more love for the Baby Jesus