Danzig and Paradise Lost on the same bill? How could I not make the trip to dirty London for this! They're two of my favourite bands, and both masters of their genres. I've seen Danzig a couple of times before, the last being in 2013 in Wolverhampton. It was his 25th anniversary tour and he brought Doyle on-stage to blast through some Misfits songs.
 |
| Paradise Lost (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
I've seen Paradise Lost so many times over the years, I've actually lost count, but always enjoy seeing them. I don't think they've ever done a bad gig. I'm not a massive fan of their latest record, Medusa (read my review here), but I knew that their set would be packed full of classics.
Paradise Lost were awesome as always. Opening with the slow and melancholy No Hope In Sight, they played a good mix of songs from their back catalogue including The Enemy, Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us, As I Die, Embers Fire, and their version of Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy, which has grown in popularity over the years (I'd still like Paradise Lost to do an official release of their early B-Sides and bonus tracks - maybe one day?). They finished their set with the ridiculously catchy Goth classic Say Just Words. I was a little surprised that they didn't include anything from their classic Draconian Times album, but they have so many strong songs that it really didn't matter. After all, when a band with so many records in their repertoire has to work out a 45-minute set-list, they can't please everyone. They had a pretty damn good try though.
I've just found out that at the Glasgow show the night before, Paradise Lost played The Last Time from Draconian Times as their final song, with the rest of the set-list being the same. Clearly their set at the London show was cut short. Given the long wait between the two bands, I don't see why they weren't allowed to play their last song as it blatantly wouldn't have made any difference to the running of the show.
 |
| Danzig (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
Danzig opened with SkinCarver from the Circle of Snakes album, which he's kicked off his set with for quite some time. It's not a bad song, but far from his best, and I've always considered it an odd choice as a set-opener. Aside from the occasional new song such as Devil On Hwy 9 from his latest album Black Laden Crown (read my review here), tonight's show was all about the classics from his first three records.
As soon as the band started to play Twist of Cain, the audience lit up. I love the more recent records, but I think it's safe to say that Danzig I, II, and III are three of the best albums ever made, and the crowd's reaction to the songs from that era showed that I'm not alone in believing that. Tonight, we were treated to classics like Dirty Black Summer, Am I Demon, How The Gods Kill, Do You Wear The Mark, and of course, the song that broke Danzig as a solo artist, Mother. The band returned to the stage to play She Rides and Long Way Back From Hell as an encore.
Tonight's show was another fine performance from Glenn Danzig and his band. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. I'm hoping that at some point in my lifetime we get a new Misfits album and a new Danzig album that matches the quality of the first three. Who knows what'll happen?
 |
| (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
No comments
Post a Comment