« Back to blog

WEDNESDAY 13 AND MICHAEL MONROE @ ELECTRIC BALLROOM

This is a gig review I wrote and never uploaded back in December before my hiatus. I just found it! So here it is. 

 

 

WEDNESDAY 13 & MICHAEL MONROE @ THE ELECTRIC BALLROOM, DEC. 2ND

With Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe at their side, horrorpunk legends Wednesday 13 make a storming return to the greatest rock venues of Britain, for a series of absolutely terrifying gigs that make for a night you'll take to the grave.

Opening with Finnish glam metal upstarts Crashdiet and the legendary Michael Monroe, the night started on a high. Punks and rockers alike crammed into Camden's Electric Ballroom for a barrage of audio excellence. Entering the crowd one song into Michael Monroe's set was enough to feel just how charged up the audience was, sending old fans and new into a head-banging frenzy. They played the heaviest tracks from 2011's fantastic comeback  Sensory Overdrive, and a series of classic singles slowly but surely building up to an entirely unexpected dose of nostalgia. After a solemn few words in Razzle's memory, Michael launched into some Hanoi Rocks classics, performed with just as much passion as he did back in Hanoi's heyday. It's intense, there's simply no other word for it. After all - how many bands these days whip out a smooth saxophone or harmonica solo mid-track? 

Hearing Motorvatin' and Back To Mystery City live these days is a dream come true, make no mistake. The thirty years between Michael and Hanoi Rocks' debut have not dulled the Scandinavian sleaze-king's musical god status, in fact, he's become even more furious in his older years. He's still at the top of his game, with no sign of slowing. The night had already peaked, surely Wednesday 13 would find this blistering act near impossible to follow?

At least a quarter of the crowd left when Michael did, but those who remained were going to be hard to impress after such a stunning performance. Wednesday 13 strode out onstage with trademark arrogance and set about doing their very best to do so. Despite some brilliant growled renditions of Bad Things, Morgue than Words, and a few singles from the 2011 album, it just didn't stand up to the energy of their opening act. Wednesday 13 are morbidly charming, infinitely charismatic and flawless in their performance, but it just did not impress in comparison to the act before them. Wednesday himself has more stage presence than Marilyn Manson, but even then not half as much as Monroe.

 If the band had a less established glam or punk act before them, or certainly one without the raw, sleazy power of Hanoi Rocks' frontman, they would have stolen the night. Even so they were definitely a compliment to a very, very memorable gig, and a show I'd go and see time and time again -  it just seemed that the headlining act and the supporting act got swapped around somehow, and that's unfortunate.

-SZ