By Monk and The Dark Queen
Long term ÜR readers will remember that, once upon a time, myself and DQ practically lived in Belfast’s historic slimer, often attending gigs with such regularity that the staff offered to provide us with camp beds. But, that was before the world got all Covidicated, with the result that we have darkened its door only once in just shy of 23 long months; in fact it had been almost three months to the day since we had last taken up residence in our spiritual second home – but, to be honest, from our feet sticking to the floor almost as soon as we walked through the door on this blustery Saturday afternoon, to the smell of stale sweat and piss emanating from the men’s toilets, it was as if we had never been away…
Opening this impressive three band bill, Wild Heat are ‘Running The Red Light’ right from the off, and the healthy (both numbers-wise and medically) crowd can’t get enough of their ‘Filthy Love’. The quintet are tighter than a nun’s fanny (to quote DQ) in every department, and another example of how hungry bands are to get back under the lights. They also show that they’ve been using their time in lockdown productively, unveiling a brace of new songs, led by the ‘Dead Ringer’-style mood setter of ‘Long Gone’, which couples nicely with the chuggerific ‘Hypnotized’, which has nearly everyone in the room just that. A powerful and impressive return to action, and a performance which bodes well for their imminent second album.
Belfast’s resident band of SLUTS take to the stage slightly late because of technical issues with Tommy’s guitar – and their problems don’t end there! With the back of the stage swathed in alternating lilac and blue “mood lighting”, the most prominent feature at the front is Tommy’s luminous lime-coloured leggings, with almost everything else immersed in darkness, not even the guys’ white face paint discernable in the gloom. The sound mix is also, uncharacteristically, all over the place, with Mike’s vocals almost lost for the majority of the performance and Tommy’s guitar sounding harsh and grating.
Nevertheless, the band deliver a tight and energetic set, their gothic-noir brand of horror punk coming across with their usual sense of enjoyment and tongue-in-cheek humour combined with massive melodies and searing solos from Mr Debauchery. Set highlights are the huge singalongs of ‘Carol Ann’ and ‘Dead Boys’, while ‘Prom Night’ once again proves itself to be a power pop dance anthem, before the band close out their set by placing ‘The Hex’ on us (and hopefully that uncooperative lighting rig!).
Before too long it’s time for another swelling organ (intro, that is, you dirty minded bastids) and it’s a case of “long time no see Limelight” as Conjuring Fate blow the cobwebs off their two-plus year absence from this stage. As the band immediately take us a trip back in time with a visit to the ‘House On The Haunted Hill’, Tommy sounds like he’s struggling a bit, as his vocals are a tad gruffer than normal: but, we are in the midst of cold and ‘flu season, and the frontman is a true trooper, not letting any health issues stand in the way of delivering another uncompromisingly excellent performance.
As the twin guitar harmonics of Phil and Karl bounce and soar around the venue, Steve and Niall once again prove they are one of the best rhythm sections in the business, underpinning the overall sound with aplomb, panache and, above all, power. Playing with an energy akin to uncoupling a power tower in the middle of a housing estate, the guys are tighter than a tightrope walker’s butt cheeks (and, no, that’s not another DQ attribution), and exuding a sense of fun and enjoyment that transfers to the audience quicker than a hiccough.
In keeping with the occasion, this is very much a “best of Conjuring Fate” set, with the tracklist focussing on the big pops, the singalong anthems, from the aforementioned opener through ‘Burn The Witch’ (surprisingly played out of sequence) to ‘Night Of The Knives’, ‘Dr Frankenstein’ and ‘Daughter Of The Everglades’, the latter of which sees Tommy taking to the pit (not for the last time) for a bit of a “fanboy” moment…
After dedicating ‘Trust No One’ to his 80-year old dad, Tommy declares that he for one is “not ready to go home yet” as the band scrape close to the looming curfew (yes, the nightclubs are back in action as well and we have to make way for the non-drinking spides who will follow us) with a stirring rendition of ‘Backwoods Witch’, which rounds off a hungry set by a hungry band for hungry fans…
Yes, it’s good to be back “home” \m/
- PHOTO CREDIT: All photos © The Dark Queen/Über Rock. You can view our full gallery of photographs HERE.
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