PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Last Wednesday saw the annual arrival of Halloween, one of my favourite holidays, so once again I happened upon Camden Town for a spot of gig’age. Now this being the night when the veil is at its thinnest and the ghouls, monsters and freaks come out to play, one might be apprehensive about staying out late, but fear not! Because help was on hand in the form of Fearless Vampire Killers…..they kill vampires….and they are fearless! Or, they are London based rock metal band with a very interesting twist to their songs.
As that there were only two bands on this evening, I was a little concerned by the lack of crowd on the floor for the first part. However, given that Fearless Vampire killers were not due on stage until 8pm, there was plenty of time for it to pack out. Which it did, and when the band came on stage it felt like I’d slept through most of the gig and woke up as the headliner came on so loud were the screams. I had a great view from way up high and even from up there you could feel the atmosphere of excitement from those on the floor. It made me want to join in a scream like a lunatic, though I had no idea what I was screaming at or about, but it just felt like the thing to do. I didn’t, I had a beer instead and settled in a good spot to watch what could possibly be causing nothing short of Beatles like mania.
Well, as I said the cause of all this was Fearless Vampire Killers who offer a great deal of choice and influence in their songs. Listening to the first couple I was…..well….confused. There is so much fused into their songs that I my brain couldn’t categorise what it was hearing. But the crowd were absolutely loving it. Throughout their set (and single songs) I head rock, metal, pop, funk, death style vocals, everything. The band they most reminded me of was My Chemical Romance, which is true, but I also fear saying it as that is not just what they are. They clearly know a lot about many genres and so should not be pigeon holed into one.
There was a lot on offer during their 45 minute set, including swapping singers which again showed the different styles. The change in singer brought harder and more straight forward songs and clearly enjoying being in charge Kier led the crowd through many a jumping number, pits and mania. Now I know I said there was a lot of variance in their songs, but despite this no one could have been prepared for what came next. Yes, you guessed, it…..a metal cover of Club Tropicana by Wham….which I can’t really describe clearly enough for those of you that weren’t but I shall try; it began with death metal style vocals, switching to singing and a more truer to the original style, moving onto a pace that compels you to jump along, switching back to the beginning and starting the cycle again. It was definitely unexpected, but just hearing that they gained a fan in me for sure. Who else would think to cover that song in that way – nice work.
Websites
http://fearlessvampirekillers.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/wearefearlessvampirekillers?fref=ts
As there were only two bands in this evening, there was a decent break before Wednesday 13 took to the stage and this allowed plenty of opportunity to watch my fellow gig goers and I have to take my hat off to them as they certainly made the effort for Halloween. There were outfits a plenty and you couldn’t have chosen a more suitable setting for a Halloween gig. It seems that everyone present had been looking forward to this evening and this gig for quite some time and this was now the culmination of all the build-up. I have to stop here and mention one gig goer dressed it seemed as the mad hatter, complete with over large top hat who was going for it the entire gig. I have never witnessed a top hat in a mosh pit before, and I never thought it would manage to stay on his head, but he and his outfit kept going the entire gig. It was great to watch and I choose you as the symbol of madness for the evening. If I had a top hat as fine as yours I would take it off to you. \m/
But moving on, as time does, and soon the lights dim to announce the arrival of the headliner for this evening; Wednesday 13. If I thought Fearless Vampire Killers brought Beatles mania to Camden, then I have no description for the shear wall of noise that assaulted my ears the moment he stepped onto the stage. I was quite high up and it felt like I was standing in the pit it was that loud. This man was clearly god like to those watching and as soon as he started to sing, the crowd became a sea of movement; jumping, pits, dancing, arms waving, screaming – it was both insane and beautiful to watch. The absolute sheer focus of those present towards the stage was immense, and not just the focus of people watching a band and really enjoying it, but it felt that it went much deeper than that. This is a man that is clearly loved by his fans.
Due back to the UK in March 2013 I definitely recommend that you grab yourself a ticket for one of his shows and prepare to be entertained. Clearly influenced by Alice Cooper (complete with his own cane) Wednesday 13 entertained the crowd at a consistently high level throughout his set. I love Alice Cooper and so was very happy indeed with the comparison between the two. There may only be one Alice Cooper, but so there is also only one Wednesday 13. This show was being filmed for a DVD and it will make excellent viewing both from the stage and the crowd point of view.
I have seen so many bands this year and watched with amazement at the sheer entertainment value some bands can offer and the excitement and joy of many a crowd, but I can honestly say that I have not seen a crowd go this nuts in a very long time, and as the set went on they seemed to get more and more excited. Though let’s not forget those gig goers who were on the upper levels at Koko that evening as they were also just as pleased to be there watching the show and were joining in the moving about (though minus the pits naturally) with the rest of the crowd. In fact I have to apologise here as I didn’t spend perhaps as much time as I should have watching the stage as I was enchanted by people watching. It was totally enthralling to see the effect Wednesday 13 had on the crowd as a whole and also watching individuals throughout the venue. They were 100% in the moment; they were focused, jumping about like mad things, singing along, raising their arms in time to the music and generally showing a rare level of adoration. It was just brilliant to watch! I also enjoyed the interaction between Wednesday 13 and the band who each played a great set. Introducing each member in turn towards the end, there was clearly a good rapport between them.
When Wednesday 13 left the stage the crowd gave loud chants of ‘Wednesday! Wednesday!’ and were rewarded with a kick-ass encore that had everyone body jumping about and singing along. Yes, I know I said that the crowd had already been doing this, but if it is possible (and it seems if was) the crowd amped this up to an even greater degree.
There was so much to enjoy in this set, but my favourites for the evening were ‘Bad Things’, ‘I Wanna Be Cremated’ and ‘I Love To Say fuck’, not only for the songs (which I love) but also for the crowd’s reaction to them. I enjoyed watching both bands and will be on the look out for tickets to their next gigs for sure, as well as expanding my song collection to include albums from both bands. I would happily do this night all over again, though with one big difference – I’d make sure I was in front of the stage as there was definitely magic in the air that night and if I could do it all over again, I’d want to be in the middle of it.
Set List
Rot For Me
Halloween 13-13
Calling All Corpses
Scream Baby Scream
M.F.T.W.
Gimme Gimme Bloodshed
Home Sweet Homicide
House By the Cemetery
All American Massacre
Haunt Me
I want You…Dead
I Wanna Be Cremated
Put Your Death Mask On
Till Death Do Us Part
Candle For The Devil
I Walked With A Zombie
Encore
Rambo
I Love To Say Fuck
Bad Things
Websites
http://www.facebook.com/officialwednesday13?fref=ts
