Many good times have been had at Corporation, and as an alternative venue, I can’t massively fault it. It’s gritty, it’s got a variety of stage sizes and it’s only a 20-minute walk from station. That’s why I spent my Tuesday night there, seeing Wednesday 13 on his most recent UK tour, along with Nocturnal Affair and Fearless Vampire Killers.
The night was so eager to begin, that I got into Corp halfway through Nocturnal Affair’s set. Not knowing their songs, it would’ve been easy for me to feel a little lost. Luckily, they were really good hype-men.
Despite me being towards the back, and a little late to the party, they made it easy to let go and have fun. They were full of energy, interacting with the crowd and each other. Coming all the way from Las Vegas, they brought along a flashy, jaw-dropping show with the grand finale of covering Haddaway’s What Is Love. I never thought I would see that played live, let alone with two men flipping their hair so synchronised that the frontman was bordered by two perfect spirals. It persuaded me to listen to more, and I’ll be keeping my eye out to see them again.
To be completely transparent, Fearless Vampire Killers is the band I’ve been obsessed with since my pre-teens. This means I’ll forgive them for being 15 minutes late to the stage, and possibly then cutting songs out of the set. The run-time said 8, but it was quarter past when we were graced with their tunes. It was a surprising setlist, forgetting well-known singles for tracks such as Necromania, Say What you Want from Me and Always Forgive. I suspect if tracks were removed to save time, they would’ve been the newer releases anyway, like Time Misunderstood and Back From the Void. I at least expected Something Terminal! I had spent some time learning them to be ready…
Fangirl rants aside. If FVK weren’t great artists and performers, I wouldn’t have stuck around for 13 years. You can always expect high-energy performances from Fearless Vampire Killers. In fact, chaos might the world. Bums wiggling in your face, bassists flying around, and at a regular show (but not this one) fans heckling.
Kier and Laurence are both great frontmen, that make sure that the crowd is involved with each song. Singing along, raising their hands (with closed fists) and affirmations, like “You are the steel city, you are made of steel, come on!”. I always look forward to seeing them again. I should be grateful that after so long, they’re still able to surprise me.
Now, the main event. Mr Wednesday 13. I hadn’t listened to him before, but I am hooked now. A classic, old-school goth metal artist. He reminded me of Rob Zombie, or Alice Cooper with his cool presence, yet dynamic performance.
He played his originals, such as Look What the Bat Dragged In, In Misery and I Walked With a Zombie. He treated his fans to Summertime Suicide and Nowhere by Murderdolls, and 197666 and I Love to Say Fuck, by Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13. I didn’t realise he was part of these bands, but I think it’s a lot of fun that he’s mixed his projects together to give his fans as much of a good time as possible.
He had us raising our horns up and chanting along and declaring that we should “make some noise for Ozzy!” following the Prince of Darkness’ death last week.
Again, even from the back, I really enjoyed it. Although, apart from a few crazy individuals, I did feel the crowd weren’t as involved as they could be. Each artist had their work cut out, and they did well. I personally had a great night and would see all three bands again. Hopefully soon, too.
