Wednesday 13, Sister & Skarlett riot – Rock City, Nottingham – 9th March 2013

skarlettBeing a Saturday the venue had a club night planned for after the gig, so, tonight’s gig started early – doors at 6.30 and the first band on stage just 15 minutes later.

First up tonight were Skarlett Riot, a young band who had been due to play the after show gig but instead got moved to open for Wednesday 13 on the main stage.  They’re a very young band, and other than a performance at the Download Festival, this is probably their biggest show so far, but you wouldn’t know it watching them – there’s no sign of nerves.  They put in a great performance and singer Skarlett does a great job of getting the crowd involved.  Tonight’s set is made up of songs from the bands forthcoming debut album which is due out in a couple of weeks time.  Songs such as ‘Villain’, ‘Rock and roll queen’ and ‘Riot’ go down well with the crowd.

sisterNext up come Swedish band Sister.  Heavy rock with punk and sleaze influences, this is absolutely great stuff.  It’s my first time seeing them live, and they’re very impressive.  The singer charges around the stage never staying still even for a second.  The guitarist and bassist move around too, swapping places and moving around, putting in a great high energy performance.  They go down very well with the crowd and are clearly a popular choice for supporting Wednesday 13.  This is a band I definitely want to see again, and with a new album planned for later this year then that’s something I’ll look forward to.

Sister setlist:

Body Blow
The unlucky minority
Hated
Spit on me
Motherfuckers (like you)
Bullshit & Backstabbing
Slay yourself
Too bad for you

 

weds13Finally came tonight’s headliner, Wednesday 13.  The screens at the back are emblazoned with Wednesday 13 and a Ramones style logo bearing the legend “I wanna be cremated” – a nice play on words given the Ramones song ‘I wanna be sedated’.  Other than the backdrop and the fabric screens, the only extra thing on the stage is a large step at the front of the stage for Wednesday 13 to stand on and tower over the crowd.  Really then this is a no-gimmick show reliant purely on the performance of the band and their music.
Wow – it’s clear to see why Wednesday 13 doesn’t need to rely on gimmicks – this is impressive stuff.  A wall of sound from the guitars, bass and drums hits straight away and then the vocals come in.  This is really good heavy music that owes a bit to influences including Alice Cooper songs with great choruses, The Ramones, and WASP.  It’s much heavier than most Alice Cooper material (Alice’s Brutal Planet album being the closest comparison).
Wednesday 13 is a great frontman and has the crowd completely under his spell, singing along, raising their arms in the air, throwing the horns and cheering on demand.
During the encore when Wednesday 13 played ‘I love to say fuck’, one fan opened an umbrella and waved it around – taped on it were the letters FUCK, and after some waving it around, threw it on stage where Wednesday 13 picked it up and spent the rest of the song spinning it around, swinging it around and generally performing and posing with it – I’m sure that fan will have been over the moon with that.
This was my first time seeing Wednesday 13 – previously I only knew a few of his songs and had never quite got round to going to one of his gigs.  What a mistake – I’ll definitely be making sure I don’t miss his tours in future – I’d expected his gigs to be good, but I hadn’t expected them to be this impressive.  A great live band that is definitely worth going to see.

Wednesday 13 setlist:

Bloodsucker
House by the cemetery
Get your grave on
Curse the living
God is a lie
Hail Ming
The ghost of Vincent Price
Rot for me
Put your death mask on
Dixie Dead
All American massacre
I want you dead
Till death do us party
Too fast for blood
Rambo
I walked with a Zombie

Encore:
Scream baby scream
I love to say Fuck
Bad things

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.