Eyeless as a Calling Card?

“I call it a Sludge Opera because the music is thick and lugubrious,” says one-man band Zsa Zsa Gabor (real name Samuel Lopez) of his elaborate sci-fi stage production The Blind Dead. “The opera part comes in because there are different acts. It’s a journey through the inner circles of hell.

“The story involves a violent death clan that massacres a whole village, leaving their victims eyeless as a calling card,” explains Gabor. “In hell, there’s a battle between the eyeless dead and the black gods. The gods, bent on destruction, allow the blind dead to return to the world seeking revenge. The final act is the blind dead, thirsty for blood, taking revenge.”

The Blind Dead: A Sludge Opera will be staged July 11 at the Ché Café. “Although I typically operate solo, the Sludge Opera is a five-person operation,” says Gabor. “I’ll be playing the part of the death clan, and my wife [Mandy Galarza] will be singing the lament and casting the revenge hex. Michael Zimmerman is playing the blood organ, and Art Ulloa will be on drums and percussion. Esteban Flores closes the show as the Blind Dead Chorus.”

Further, says Gabor, “There will be a middle part consisting of guitar-driven feedback, symbolizing the battle in hell, complete with human skull.

“I really can’t compare it to anything. I don’t think anybody would want to compare their work to it, either.”

Wolves in the Throne Room and Minsk also perform.