Gig Review: MICHALE GRAVES + SO LONG UNTIL THE SEANCE (S.L.U.T.S) + LESBIAN BED DEATH at Rebellion, Manchester (UK) 05/02/2018

Michale Graves 2018 Poster Rebellion Manchester

I don't normally review gigs where my band is on the line-up, but I thought I'd make an exception this time as I felt inspired to write a few words about this one.

First up was my band Lesbian Bed Death. I like to think that I'd never be twattish enough to review my own band, so I'll just share my experiences. We hit the stage at a sober 7:30pm, and I'd say that the venue was about half full at this time. The sound was exceptionally good, both onstage and off, which I felt really helped us to perform. That's actually a big deal. I've played many small clubs, and the sound at Rebellion is always excellent, making it a pleasure to see bands there as a punter, and also to play as an artist. I felt that we played a tight set, and a lot of people seemed to enjoy what we did. We sold a few T-Shirts and had some nice chats with people, so overall, it was a successful night for us.

Lesbian Bed Death at Rebellion, Manchester

Lesbian Bed Death (Photo by GazNeon from Mayhem Radio)

Lesbian Bed Death L-R Dani, Sienna Venom, Aaron Samedi

Next up were Belfast's So Long Until The Séance, or S.L.U.T.S for short. They were dressed in full-on Horror-Punk attire, with touches of Glam-Metal, like the bastard offspring of Steel Panther and Beetlejuice. Their singer sounded a lot like Wednesday13, but occasionally sings with a cleaner vocal and sounded great. In the Horror-Punk scene, there are predominantly two types of bands. The ones trying to look and sound as much like The Misfits as possible, and the ones who are simply Wednesday13 clones. Whilst S.L.U.T.S are clearly influenced by both, musically they have so much more than that going on, including some splats of Glam reminiscent of Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, and some awesome lead guitar work thrown into the mix. They were a lot of fun to watch and I really enjoyed their set. They were also nice guys too! I'd definitely go to see them again if the opportunity arose.

So Long Until The Seance with Sienna Venom

So Long Until The Séance and Sienna Venom (Lesbian Bed Death)

Headliner Michale Graves hit the stage to a hero's welcome. He opened with his solo track Bedlam, which was cool, but I have to be honest here. The vast majority of people who turned up tonight came to the show to hear him sing the songs from his stint in The Misfits. Michale clearly knew this, and gave the audience what they wanted. He played a few songs from his solo records, but for the most part, the set was packed with all of the finest moments from the Misfits' albums American Psycho and Famous Monsters, including Scream, Descending Angel, Saturday Night, Crimson Ghost, Helena, and was closed with the undeniably brilliant and timeless Dig Up Her Bones.

At the end of the show, Michale announced that he was going to do a free meet and greet at the merch stall, and wanted to meet absolutely everyone. He was happy to sign everything they'd brought and have photos taken. I'd say that almost the entire audience took him up on this, and he was meeting fans for well over an hour at the end of the night. He struck me as a genuinely humble man who truly appreciates his fans, and was willing to go that extra mile for everyone.

I love the two albums he recorded with The Misfits, but I never got to see that line-up play live, so this show was particularly special for me. It's also worth noting that for this tour, his bass player was Argyle, lead singer of Argyle Goolsby and the Roving Midnight. I wasn't aware of the band at the time, but I've since checked them out on YouTube, and they're awesome too!

All in all, it was a great night, both as a performer and a fan. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday.