WEDNESDAY 13 & SIGN
LEEDS COCKPIT, 17/05/08
I had heard no mention of the support bands who would be playing this tour, and therefore had no idea what time to expect any life on the stage. After heading over for a sensible 8:00(ish) I arrived just as local female fronted outfit, Esoteric, were ending their set. After just enough time to sink down a quick beer I ventured into the main room to check out the main support band (Who I later discovered are an Icelandic act called Sign). With a cover of Skid Row’s ‘Youth Gone Wild’ you get a fairly good idea of where this band take much of their inspiration from, although these seem to join the rising trend of bands who could indolently be described as the “Motley Crue for the My Chemical Romance generation”. Displaying vocals as gender-defiantly sweet as his mascara and glitter daubed face, front man Zolberg may have initially left me somewhat confounded, but he certainly grabbed the attention of the ladies (and quite possibly a few of the lads) in the house this evening, as he was met with shouts of “Take yer shirt off”. The rest of the band appeared slightly less ostentatious as a trio of guitarists banged their heads and chugged out tracks like ‘ When Demons Win’ and the rather catchy ‘Thank God For Silence’. While not to the tastes of everyone in the audience, it’s not too difficult to predict where these guys are heading.
With the crowd warmed up it was time for the headliners to take to the stage. The venue was somewhat fuller than I had expected this evening, and the diversity of the audience proves that Wednesday 13 is one of those artists able to offer something to kids, old rockers and everyone in-between. Coming out to an enthusiastic chant of “Wednesday”, the band began with the unlikely opener of ‘Gimme Bloodshed’, which perhaps even more surprisingly, had the crowd relaying the words back at the stage and banging their heads. The new album “Skeletons” may have only been out for just short of a week but you’d be forgiven for thinking tonight that these tracks were as well known as his more tried and tested songs as the crowd react with fervour to the lively ‘Here to the Hearse’ and ‘Not Another Teenage Anthem’ before bringing it down with the heavy but disconsolate title track ‘Skeletons’. Wednesday manages to put on a show that is thoroughly entertaining. He knows how to get the crowd going and the assortment of stage props are enough to give Alice Cooper a bit of a run for his money, although equally engaging are the guitarists, as Acey Slade fearlessly jumps up onto the speaker stacks and swings his guitar around like a maniac. The band played a crowd pleasing set, ploughing through fan favourites like ‘I want you DEAD’, ‘House By The Cemetery’, ‘Happily Ever Cadaver’ and Murderdolls track ‘197666’, before dedicating a finale of ‘Bad things’ to us all in the audience tonight.
An early curfew to clear the venue ready for the club night is always a good thing for those of us who have to make last trains home, but tonight I got exactly what I was hoping for. While I wouldn’t consider myself a massive fan of Wednesday 13, his horror themed glam metal anthems transfer fantastically into the live arena as they put 100% into making the shows as entertaining as possible.
Luci Herbert
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