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Jason Mayoh
Graphic Design
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I remember when I was about 15 or so, my friends and I went down to Rocky Point. We were all pretty pumped for a day of amusement rides and an outdoor grunge fiesta. A Nirvana tribute band called Stained was playing that afternoon at the outdoor stage near the house of horrors. I was heavily into Nirvana at the time, and Mr. Cobain was probably only a few months gone at this point.  I didn't get a chance to see the real thing, so in my teenage mind, Stained might be the closest thing. Around mid-afternoon, a small crowd gathered around the stage. We all cheered as we heard the pounding snare drum intro to the classic Nirvana song "Breed".  Four average looking metal dudes took the stage and started to well,uh- rock I guess. (When I say average metal dudes, they looked along the lines of Bruce Kulick/Carmen Appice-you know the type.) The "Breed" intro went on for quite sometime, and my friends and I started to question what the hell “Stained” was up to. And then, from the curtain behind the stage, we saw our beloved Kurt peek through! He was back from the grave to take us to Nirvana, and chose Rocky Point as his launching pad. Then we noticed something wasn’t quite right. This Kurt dressed the part, with a ragged green sweater and ripped jeans and he also had the dark rimmed Buddy Holly glasses ala In Bloom era , but he had cut the front of his hair chin length like Kurt’s, but the back of his hair was in a ponytail, and was very long. I smelled something fishy, and it wasn't the salt water breeze or the clamcakes and chowder. The band ripped through four or five more Nirvana tunes, then they went into the anti-rape song "Polly", as I watched a girl get groped while crowd surfing in front of me. From that point on I sensed some serious bad vibes ( in a very brown acidy/Altamont-esque way) crashing down upon me. Then Kurt spoke to us- “How y'all doinggg???-You  ready to paaaarrrttaayy!!!???-Yeah-allrightt!!! You guys like Poison? Warrant? Ratt?
"We’re really a hair metal band from Ohio called Kidd Wikkid, and we're gonna play some of our own songs now!!! " Needless to say I was highly disappointed in their original material. I walked away in sadness, longing for the dank musty aroma of the house of horrors to raise my teen spirits.
Jason Mayoh works behind the scenes for movies and television, and is currently working on a Rocky Point Park comic book along with several other Rhode Island based artists. His artwork can be seen in several local publications including FIB Comics #1 and the TAPS Paramagazine.
Favorite Ride: House of Horrors