NIGHT DEMONThe previous times I have covered King Diamond here in Denver were at the Fillmore Auditorium, a sweet venue with a capacity of 3600. This time though, he chose a different venue, the Mission Ballroom with a capacity of 4000 but has a much larger stage and is licensed for pyro. But there would be no pyro this night. Kicking the night off and I mean kickin it off was Night Demon. The threesome of Jarvis Leatherby, Armand John Anthony, and Brian Wilson exploded into their first song, “Outsider” that sent sound waves throughout the venue and didn’t let up through their set. The crowd was into them right from the start and a small pit opened up. The continued through their powerful set with, “The Howling Man” and finished their short but strong set with a cover of Black Sabbath’s, “War Pigs”. My all time favorite band is Black Sabbath and Night Demon did a great cover of the song. Night Demon members: Jarvis Leatherby – lead vocals, bass (2011–present) Armand John Anthony – guitars, backing vocals (2016–present) Brian Wilson – drums (2023–present) Setlist: Outsider Screams in the Night Obsidian The Howling Man Ritual The Chalice War Pigs @Cover OVER KILLIf Night Demon didn't have everyone's heart rate pounding, that was about to change. Thrash metalers OverKill took to the stage and opened their heart pounding set with, “Scorched” and the onslaught of metal continued. In no time a pit opened up and a few brave crowd surfers made their way across the crowd to the barrier where the security guys helped them down and sent them back into the crowd. Lead singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth urged the crowd on as his powerful vocals rang throughout the Mission Ballroom. Their short set but killer set ended with “Fuck You” a cover from (The Subhumans) Overkill members: Carlo "D.D." Verni – bass, backing vocals (1980–present) Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth – lead vocals (1980–present) Dave Linsk – lead guitar, backing vocals (1999–present) Derek Tailer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–present) Jeramie Kling – drums (2024–present; touring) Setlist: Scorched Rotten to the Core Bring Me the Night Hello From the Gutter The Surgeon Ironbound Elimination Fuck You @Cover KING DIAMONDA tape of “Funeral” signaled the beginning of King Diamonds theatrical show and when the curtain dropped there stood King behind a coffin holding a doll in one hand and a knife in the other. Abigail was thrown into the coffin which was then moved off stage the song “Arrival” opened the show. The stage clouded in heavy fog and strong lighting coming from every direction as King poured out his unique vocals and the powerful sound from each of the band members resinated out over the crowd. When the first song ended, a deafening roar from the crowd had me turning around and watching the crowd with their hands in the air cheering and howling. Joining King Diamond on this tour was guest vocalist and keyboardist Myrkur who was standing high up next to the staircase. Throughout the set of music were classic’s like, “Halloween” from 1986, “Sleepless Nights” from 1989 and “The Candle” from 1986. The stage presence of Andy LaRocque, Mike Wead, and Pontus Egberg, was amazing to watch as each one moved about the stage interacting with each and the crowd while showing off their awesome skills. Along with the classic songs two new songs were part of the set from King’s new upcoming album, The Institute to be released in 2025. “Spider Lilly” and “Electro Therapy” had the crowd cheering wildly for these new songs. Topping off this amazing night was “Abigail” a personal favorite and the crowd roared in appreciation of the awesome show as the band said goodnight. King Diamond - lead vocals Andy LaRocque - guitar Mike Wead - guitar Pontus Egberg - bass Matt Thompson - drum Special Guest - Myrkur Setlist: Funeral @Tape Arrival A Mansion in Darkness 1987 Halloween 1986 Voodoo "Them" @Tape Spider Lilly 2024 Two Little Girls @Tape Sleepless Nights 1989 Out From the Asylum @Tape 1988 Welcome Home The Invisible Guests The Candle 1986 Masquerade of Madness Electro Therapy 2024 Eye of the Witch Burn Abigail Insanity @Tape WASPWASP rolled though the Chicagoland area on their ALBUM ONE ALIVE WORLD TOUR for two nights at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles,IL on November 8th and 9th. Friday the 8th was SOLD OUT. I attended Saturday's show on the 9th. Both shows as well as the tour feature Armored Saint as support. WASP was playing their self-titled record released in 1984 in its entirety. They came out and hit us with a 3 song combo of "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", and "The Flame". They kept the energy up with other songs then closed out their set with "On Your Knees" "Tormentor" and "The Torture Never Stops". After a brief interlude they roared back to the stage doing a mashup of "Inside The Electric Circus/I Don't Need No Doctor/Scream Until You Like It." As their encore was finishing up they ended their amazing 15 song set with "Wild Child" and "Blind In Texas". If this tour is coming to your town or anywhere nearby don't sleep on it and go relive some 80's metal in all its glory. Remaining tour dates below. Tickets available at https://www.waspnation.com/tour 11/11 Toronto, ON History 11/13 Montreal, QC MTELUS 11/14 Quebec City, QC Theatre Capitole 11/15 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre 11/16 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom At Manhattan Center 11/17 Philadelphia, PA Franklin Music Hall 11/19 Cleveland, OH The Agora Theater 11/20 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE 11/21 Stroudsburg, PA The Sherman Theater 11/22 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore 11/23 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore 11/24 Orlando, FL The Plaza Live 11/26 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium 11/27 Atlanta, GA The Eastern 11/29 Houston, TX House Of Blues 11/30 San Antonio, TX Aztec Theatre 12/01 Dallas, TX The Factory in Deep Ellum 12/03 Little Rock, AR The Hall 12/04 Wichita, KS The Cotillion 12/06 Albuquerque, NM REVEL 12/07 Tempe, AZ The Marquee Theatre 12/09 Tucson, AZ The Rialto Theatre 12/10 San Diego, CA House Of Blues 12/11 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort and Casino 12/12 Las Vegas, NV Brooklyn Bowl 12/13 San Francisco, CA The Warfield 12/14 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium " CRYPTAFor the second night in a row, I was covering another tour of hardcore metal with Hatebreed, Carcass, Harm's Way, and Crypta in a packed house. Starting off this evening was Crypta, an all female death metal band from Brazil. I was excited to cover their show for the first time. Crypta opened their set with “The Aftermath” from their most recent album, 2023’s Shades of Sorrow and the band had the crowd moving, arms in the air and head banging. Lead vocalist and bassist Fernanda Lira poured out her hard core vocals and urged the crowd to keep moving. It didn’t take long for a mosh pit to open up. The ladies moved about interacting with each other and pouding out their ruthless and heavy sound while interacting with the crowd as well. Crypta finished their short but powerful set with, “From the Ashes” from their 2021 debut album, Echoes of the Soul. The ladies definitely set the tone for this night of hardcore metal. The crowd gave the band a roaring cheering thank you and by the expressions on the ladies faces, they were very grateful. Crypta members: Fernanda Lira – bass, vocals (2019–present) Luana Dametto – drums (2019–present) Tainá Bergamaschi – rhythm/lead guitar (2020–present) Jéssica di Falchi – rhythm/lead guitar (2022–present) Setlist: The Aftermath The Other Side of Anger Lord of Ruins The Outsider Trial of Traitors Under the Black Wings From the Ashes HARMS WAYWith a quick turn over by a very efficient crew, it was time for Harm’s Way a hardcore punk/metalcore band from Chicago. They wasted no time in keeping the hardcore tone going strong as they opened their set with “Sadist Guilt” from their 2023 album Common Suffering as front man James Pligge jumped about the stage along with his band members as he poured out his aggressive hardcore vocals. By now the mosh pit was going strong as Harm’s Way was moving and jumping around on stage. The band kept the energy level high just as Crypta before them as they finished their set with “Infestation” from their 2015 album Rust. A great start for this night! Harm's Way members: James Pligge – lead vocals (2006–present) Bo Lueders – guitars (2006–present) Christopher Mills – drums (2006–present) Nick Gauthier – guitars (2017–present) Casey Soyk – bass (2017–present) Setlist: Sadist Guilt Human Carrying Capacity Terrorizer Become a Machine Hollow Cry Devour Call My Name Infestation CARCASSNext up was Carcass, an extreme/melodic death metal band from England and they continued this night of aggressive hardcore metal opening their set with “Buried Dreams” from their 1993 album Heartwork. The mosh pit reopened as Carcass powered through their set of songs moving back and forth through time with, “No Love Lost” from 2013, 1996’s “Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody / Death Certificate” and 2021’s “Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in B)”. Carcass kept the energy high and by the time they finished their set with the popular classic, “Heartwork” from 1993 you would think people would be exhausted by now, ha, not even. Carcass members: Bill Steer – guitar, vocals (1985–1996, 2007–present)[87] Jeff Walker – bass, vocals (1985–1996, 2007–present) Daniel Wilding – drums, backing vocals (2012–present) James 'Nip' Blackford - guitar (2021–present) Setlist: Buried Dreams Kelly's Meat Emporium Incarnated Solvent Abuse No Love Lost Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody / Death Certificate Dance of Ixtab (Psychopomp & Circumstance March No. 1 in B) Genital Grinder Exhume to Consume Corporal Jigsore Quandary Heartwork HATEBREEDFor the 4th time the very efficient crew turned over the stage in a timely manner, my hats off to them for working so hard and keeping the night on track time wise. Just when you thought the night couldn’t get any crazier, it was time for Hatebreed celebrating 30 years of ass kicking metalcore. A film started with various people from other metal bands congratulating the band for their 30 anniversary, including, Randy Blythe, Ice-T, Gary Holt and many others. With that the band stormed onto the stage opening their set with “To the Threshold” from their 2006 album, Supremacy and the onslaught of hardcore metal exploded as the mosh pit was the biggest of the night and I had to watchout for the crowd surfers coming over into the pit one after another. Lead vocalist Jamey Jasta poured out his brutal vocals and moved about the stage with his band members. It was down right crazy on the floor as well on stage as Hatebreed moved through their set of 21 songs. A timeline of songs from 1996’s “Smash Your Enemies”, “Looking Down the Barrel of Today” from 2016, 2003’s “Live for This”. Jamey talked with the crowd saying how much they appreciated everyone being here in the middle of week and the energy coming from them. As the lights danced through the fog the movement of the crowd did not stop until after the last song which was “I Will Be Heard” from 2002. What a night, these 4 bands poured out their hearts and souls into their music and everyone there knows it and loves them for it. Hatebreed members: Jamey Jasta – lead vocals (1994–present) Chris Beattie – bass (1994–present) Matt Byrne – drums (2001–present) Frank Novinec – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2006–present) Wayne Lozinak – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–1996, 2009–present) Setlist: To the Threshold Empty Promises A Stroke of Red Live for This Perseverance Defeatist A Call for Blood A Lesson Lived Is a Lesson Learned Driven by Suffering Looking Down the Barrel of Today Destroy Everything Before Dishonor Doomsayer This Is Now Smash Your Enemies Proven Last Breath |
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