JOHN CHRIST

1/14/23

Vintage Vinyl In-store

John Knoll aka John Christ is best known as the long time guitarist for Danzig.  In 1987 Christ joined former Misfits singer Glenn Danzig’s band Samhain.  That same year the band later became “Danzig”.  Christ played guitar with Danzig from 1987 to 1995.  

 Christ performed on the following Danzig records: Danzig, Lucifuge, How the Gods Kill, 4, and Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP.  Christ officially left Danzig on July 5, 1995.  

 During his time with Nine Network John played guitar for artists including Tom Jones and Lou Rawls.  Christ was involved in a serious accident and suffered injuries to his fretting hand in 2004.  John made his return to the stage on November 27, 2009 at Sinix in Essex, Maryland.

 John conducted an in-store performance/meet and greet at Vintage Vinyl in Bel Air, Maryland on January 14, 2023 and fans packed the store to meet the man who helped create one of the best hard rock songs ever, “Mother”.  Ironically, during his onstage performance he did NOT perform said track.

 
Onstage John took requests from fans and pulled out deep cuts like “Tired of Being Alive” and “It’s Coming Down” alongside “Long Way Back From Hell”, “Snakes of Christ”, “I’m The One”, “Devil’s Plaything”, and “Twist of Cain” to name but a few.

 
While warming up John performed a partial cover of “Everlong” by Foo Fighters and a full cover of “Scuttle Buttin” by Stevie Ray Vaughan.  John’s performance of “Devil’s Plaything” included an opening that was NOT performed on the record.  John played the beginning using harmonics on his guitar and it sounded absolutely amazing to hear that Danzig classic reinterpreted in a new way that made it sound better than the original version!

 John told the crowd that this was the first performance on the newly reconstructed BC Rich Bich that he used back in the day with Danzig.  John told the crowd that the guitar needed the original pick ups rewound and that PRS did it for him, as well as several other various upgrades to make the guitar playable again.  John later told the crowd that he always carried his gold pen with him because it was a gift from his sister when he graduated and it was something he liked to have nearby when he played.

John performed onstage for over an hour and then met fans for nearly four hours.  Christ spent time talking with everyone, answering questions, signing anything they asked him to sign, posing for photos, and giving everyone an experience that they will never forget.  John brought a box of rare “Flesh Caffeine” cds with him and sold them for $20.  John told me that he was planning on re-releasing “Flesh Caffeine” on red vinyl later this year and that it would include several new tracks.  Christ stayed at the store until around 7 PM and he ended the evening by picking up a Gibson guitar and playing Ted Nugent riffs.

 In closing, Glenn Danzig needs to reunite with John Christ and make another truly great record.  John is an amazing player and his style is what made the early Danzig records great.  Christ is a versatile player and his tone, style, and ability is criminally underrated.  I mean no offense to Tommy Victor, Todd Youth, or any of the other Danzig guitarists when I say that without John Christ in Danzig the true “Danzig” sound is not there.