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Volbeat & Black Spiders @ HMV Forum, London |
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Volbeat
Black Spiders
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Hmv Forum, London
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On a night where a number of high profile metal/rock shows are taking place in London, its great to see the HMV packed out long before tonight’s headliners are due to hit the stage. It’s a very diverse audience too, but Volbeat can cater for a lot of tastes whether you are a metalhead, punk, or if 50’s style rockabilly is your thing – there is something here for you.
Black Spiders are the first on stage and even though you have seen them hundreds of times this year supporting every band and their mums, they are still fucking brilliant. “Fuck You, Black Spiders” the audience shout during opener ‘Stay Down’ and for the next 30 minutes the band tear through most of their debut album ‘Sons of the North’ winning over anyone who is not already a fan.
Having played to a packed audience at Islington Academy in 2009 and selling out the Electric Ballroom in 2010, (which was subsequently cancelled), it's great to have Volbeat back in town. After opening up the main stage at Sonisphere and a great show at Download in 2010, it’s no surprise they have been able to pack out the Forum.
‘The Mirror and the Reaper’ blends rockabilly and modern day Metallica-esque metal perfectly and their cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Sad Man’s Tongue’ has everyone singing along. However, a real highlight comes in the form of Napalm Death’s Mark “Barney” Greenway who joins the band to perform vocals on ‘Evelyn’ just as he did on the recorded version. Among snippets of songs they were influenced by – ‘Ace of Spades’ and ‘I Disappear’ to name but two – a set calling upon tracks from all four of their albums seems to fly by and we're into the encore before we know it.
During the finale they call upon the audience to get up on stage to dance and singalong with their “thank you” song simply titled ‘Thanks’. There is no mad rush of crowd surfers however. It’s all been a bit too polite for that, so the people nearest the photo-pit gate are let up on stage for the next 3 minutes. The song is a great way to finish off a great night as the band are still clearly humbled by the attention they are getting. They also get a cover of ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ in there, and for the 2400 people in the forum – Volbeat are the only band they want to be with tonight.
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Reviewed and photgraphed by Daniel Gray
Click here to view full picture set in the gallery:
Volbeat
Black Spiders
Volbeat
Black Spiders
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