Wednesday 13, Witchgrinder @ The Metro Theatre, Sydney (31/10/2013)
If you were looking for the ultimate spooky Halloween experience, I hope you managed to find your way to the Metro Theatre last night to witness one of the leaders in horror punk give his all.
Wednesday 13 has three shows in Australia as a layover between his US and European tours. He landed into Sydney just in time to deliver his signature brand of grave-robbing rock n roll on Halloween night.
Witchgrinder warmed up the stage delivering a set of industrial metal, their newly released album The Demon Calling which has earned them title of “industrial metal heavyweights” in the Australian metal scene.
Between the two acts there was a general vibe of disinterest in the venue as elaborately dressed fans milled about waiting for their hero to take to the stage. I was feeling severely underdressed and wishing I had partaken in the dress-up tradition that came along with this show. The casual vibe changed quickly as the venue filled up and the time for Wednesdays set to begin closed in.
The crowd chanted in unison as Wednesday and his band exploded into I want you dead in full face paint. The band provided a solid sound that you could feel in your chest as Wednesday delivered the lyrics, not that he needed to as the audience provided full backup for the vocals and at some points took the song away from the singer.
After the introduction song the enthusiasm was kept mostly to his dedicated fan base that was positioned right up the front. They kept a constant fist pump going throughout the entire performance. Wednesday’s energy never dropped, keeping up the passion and flicking his hair to a standard that would rival Willow Smith.
When he announced that he “went walking with a zombie” the Wednesday fan girls that had taken up residence near me went wild. As so subtly suggested by his pre song banter the band started up the face paced I Walked With A Zombie. The audience erupted into a mass sing-a-long, with the crowd dancing and creating what seemed like the peak of the show.
The stage plunged into darkness and Wednesday left the stage for probably the longest period of time before an encore I have ever witnessed. People started to leave but finally they were back up on stage proclaiming “We’re not done with you motherfuckers yet.”
The first song on their return was average, which left me thinking it would have been better placed in the middle of the set as it wasn’t producing the kind of reaction you would seek in an encore.
Finally he outro’d to two songs by exhibiting a bit of a love hate relationship for the fans. Just after proclaiming his love for them he shouted “I want bad things to happen to you”! He then asked the crowd to get really “badass” and give him the bird as he screamed “I like to say fuck”. The peak moment of the performance had been redefined by these two songs.
Overall, the performance was full of energy and crowd involvement. If you follow the metal music scene, Wednesday 13 is an entertaining and energetic evening for you to enjoy.
Gabrielle Wills
Wednesday 13 has three shows in Australia as a layover between his US and European tours. He landed into Sydney just in time to deliver his signature brand of grave-robbing rock n roll on Halloween night.
Witchgrinder warmed up the stage delivering a set of industrial metal, their newly released album The Demon Calling which has earned them title of “industrial metal heavyweights” in the Australian metal scene.
Between the two acts there was a general vibe of disinterest in the venue as elaborately dressed fans milled about waiting for their hero to take to the stage. I was feeling severely underdressed and wishing I had partaken in the dress-up tradition that came along with this show. The casual vibe changed quickly as the venue filled up and the time for Wednesdays set to begin closed in.
The crowd chanted in unison as Wednesday and his band exploded into I want you dead in full face paint. The band provided a solid sound that you could feel in your chest as Wednesday delivered the lyrics, not that he needed to as the audience provided full backup for the vocals and at some points took the song away from the singer.
After the introduction song the enthusiasm was kept mostly to his dedicated fan base that was positioned right up the front. They kept a constant fist pump going throughout the entire performance. Wednesday’s energy never dropped, keeping up the passion and flicking his hair to a standard that would rival Willow Smith.
When he announced that he “went walking with a zombie” the Wednesday fan girls that had taken up residence near me went wild. As so subtly suggested by his pre song banter the band started up the face paced I Walked With A Zombie. The audience erupted into a mass sing-a-long, with the crowd dancing and creating what seemed like the peak of the show.
The stage plunged into darkness and Wednesday left the stage for probably the longest period of time before an encore I have ever witnessed. People started to leave but finally they were back up on stage proclaiming “We’re not done with you motherfuckers yet.”
The first song on their return was average, which left me thinking it would have been better placed in the middle of the set as it wasn’t producing the kind of reaction you would seek in an encore.
Finally he outro’d to two songs by exhibiting a bit of a love hate relationship for the fans. Just after proclaiming his love for them he shouted “I want bad things to happen to you”! He then asked the crowd to get really “badass” and give him the bird as he screamed “I like to say fuck”. The peak moment of the performance had been redefined by these two songs.
Overall, the performance was full of energy and crowd involvement. If you follow the metal music scene, Wednesday 13 is an entertaining and energetic evening for you to enjoy.
Gabrielle Wills