“Not today, Satan”… or “Hell yes, Beelzebub”? A divide is occurring in the polarizing realm of devil-rock, as practiced by the self-described “satanic” duo Twin Temple. On Friday, country singer Charley Crockett took to social media to defend his decision to remove the act from his tour dates, even as Jack White stepped in to
“Not today, Satan”… or “Hell yes, Beelzebub”?
A divide is occurring in the polarizing realm of devil-rock, as practiced by the self-described “satanic” duo Twin Temple. On Friday, country singer Charley Crockett took to social media to defend his decision to remove the act from his tour dates, even as Jack White stepped in to offer them a high-profile spot at one of his shows.
White took to Instagram on Friday to make an offer: “Twin Temple, would you like to open my show in Los Angeles on September 29th at the Hollywood Palladium? Let me know. Get in front of me, Satan!” (That joke was a whimsical twist on the title of the White Stripes’ 2005 album, “Get Behind Me Satan,” which was an interpolation of Matthew 16:23.)
Twin Temple responded quickly and enthusiastically to the offer. “Bloody hell… Sir Jack, you have no idea what this means to us,” they responded in their comments. “Long-time fans: ‘Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground’ was one of the first songs I (Alex) learned to play guitar. We were actually planning on coming to this show. It would be one hell of a pleasure to play the devil’s music with you.”
Others joined in with shows of support, seemingly unafraid of getting caught up in spiritual warfare. Long live Anton LaVey! wrote singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, of Rilo Kiley fame, referring to the late founder of the Church of Satan, in her support of the act that performs seemingly tongue-in-cheek hymns like “Lucifer, My Love” and “Let’s Have a Satanic Orgy.”
Meanwhile, Crockett, the acclaimed country indie-traditionalist, didn’t back down after making the call to kick the duo out of opening his shows.
“I won’t settle and I’m not sorry,” Crockett wrote in the caption of what is currently her only photo on Instagram. “There are many things I have done in my life to apologize for, but this is not one of them.”
Crockett’s lengthy message didn’t limit itself too much to the topic of removing Twin Temple from his bill, while he did address opening acts in general, along with spiritual power and “brazen exhibitionists possessed by the desire to be famous and have the adoration of the public.”
Wrote Crockett: “I could wake up at 1pm in the back of that bus and find out the opener doesn’t work for me that night. Tough luck. Life is hard. This isn’t a temp agency. Get to work. Shit, you could get a life-changing job just by standing next to me. That’s magic. I’m not going to advertise my charity here because as soon as you do, it’s nothing but self-promotion,” he said, in which They could have been taken as a response to White’s public announcement of his invitation to the Twin Temple.
From there it became more philosophical. “I’m not left-wing. I’m not right-wing,” Crockett wrote. “I’m on the road, and that’s a hard road to walk. Believe me, the pace would kill you, bronc. I don’t give a damn if you think I’m right or wrong. They say you love your struggle. I say you love the strength the creator gave you to overcome your struggle. Don’t you believe in any kind of spiritual power? I’m sorry to hear that. God is the fabric that binds all of life together. There’s no need to even define or institutionalize it. The entertainment business is full of Shameless exhibitionists possessed by the desire to be famous and have the adoration of the public. I swear they would kill a relative. I see them everywhere. They have been betrayed by many. Always hit by the crack smoke and dying to get ahead. I love what I do and I am grateful for the privilege every minute, and if they all disappear, I will go back to the corner where I started. I have discovered that the only help you get here in this business is when they lower the box.
Reaction to his comments was mixed, with some supporting Crockett’s “backbone” and others saying he was hurting himself by dwelling on the issue. Some expressed mixed loyalty, as Crockett and White have a good overlap between their respective fandoms. Many simply wondered how an act like Twin Temple could have been booked for Crockett’s dates in the first place, and whether it was their responsibility to just grimace and bear it, or not, after they did.
Twin Temple, a husband and wife duo consisting of singer Alexandra James and guitarist Zachary James, broke the news on their social media on Thursday, writing: “Today we were informed that Charley Crockett has decided to remove Twin Temple from his upcoming shows next week due to our satanic imagery. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to perform for you next week as planned. We’re really disappointed because we were looking forward to getting back out there and seeing you, and also what it means in terms of bringing in different types of people and music lovers. music. together… We are grateful for your support, not only of Twin Temple, but more importantly, of artistic freedom.
Crockett seemed taken aback by the pro-Satan nature of the act, which, however humorous, invokes classical totems like pentagrams onstage, a routine that will probably work better when they open for Danzig, as they will in September, than with a crowd full of traditional country fans. “I thought they were like Black Sabbath, but they’re not. Not today, Satan,” Crockett wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone on Thursday. Later, in a since-deleted Instagram post, he added: “Fuck Trump. Fuck Epstein. But say hello to Satan? Not me, Jack.”
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