South Of Salem & She Burns Red, KK’s Steelmill, 03.11.23
There’s some confusion on the doors at KK’s Steel Mill, as the venue, deep in the industrial landscape of Wolverhampton, plays host to two separate shows. Due to a lack of signage, most attendees joined the queue closest to the car park and expressed great dismay when finally learning that they were in the wrong line, though I’m sure the array of South Of Salem shirts, hoodies and caps on display was a big enough clue. Anyway, doors opened at 7pm and we are offered wristbands allowing us access to the Steel Mill Lounge, we can use the other facilities, how generous, but we’ll only get in to the Lounge when showing the wristband, how very inclusive.
This is South Of Salem’s first headline tour and have chosen to take She Burns Red (8) with them, I recently reviewed their new album Out Of Darkness and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was keen to see how well those tracks play out live; She Burns Red cram as much into their half an hour support slot as is physically possible and it’s highly possible that they played the new album in its entirety, they’ve a great stage presence and a huge amount of energy, the presence of two vocalists, something I hadn’t realised when reviewing the album, allowing a different perspective not found in other bands and despite the sea of the headliners merch facing them, there was plenty of support for the hard rocking quartet, a band definitely on the rise and one to watch out for.
Some slight technical difficulties delay the main event but it’s not long before these are rectified and the now familiar intro music, John Carpenter’s Halloween score, plays out as the band join the stage and Let Us Prey is greeted by an eager audience, fists in the air and the words sung back to the band by fans who have seen this band go from strength to strength over the last few years.
Here tonight we also have the added bonus of tracks taken from the new album Death Of The Party, which will be released in January, including the recently released single Left For Dead, these go down as well anyone could expect despite being new to all but a few of us and Bad Habits (Die Hard) soon has us singing along, we’re also treated to a cover of Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell, a track that has every one singing along. South Of Salem (10) deserve the recognition they’re currently getting, the high energy live performances I’ve seen over the last couple of years are testament to their commitment to the band, to their art and to their ever growing community of fans, lovingly called The Coven, they’ve toured the country and worked hard at getting their brand of Horror infused Goth Rock out there, they’ve toured with W.A.S.P and Wednesday 13; this is a band going places and I cannot recommend them enough.
This is South Of Salem’s first headline tour and have chosen to take She Burns Red (8) with them, I recently reviewed their new album Out Of Darkness and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was keen to see how well those tracks play out live; She Burns Red cram as much into their half an hour support slot as is physically possible and it’s highly possible that they played the new album in its entirety, they’ve a great stage presence and a huge amount of energy, the presence of two vocalists, something I hadn’t realised when reviewing the album, allowing a different perspective not found in other bands and despite the sea of the headliners merch facing them, there was plenty of support for the hard rocking quartet, a band definitely on the rise and one to watch out for.
Some slight technical difficulties delay the main event but it’s not long before these are rectified and the now familiar intro music, John Carpenter’s Halloween score, plays out as the band join the stage and Let Us Prey is greeted by an eager audience, fists in the air and the words sung back to the band by fans who have seen this band go from strength to strength over the last few years.
By now the set list is familiar to all, Pretty Little Nightmare played as an ode to the women in the audience, Made To Be Mine with its crowd participation, vocalist Joey Draper with the crowd in the palm of his hand as he encourages our participation, the ever emotional Demons Are Forever, tracks taken from 2020’s The Sinner Takes It All album, each one a great example of the song writing skills of the band and the showmanship that they each put in, to ensure that we the audience get what we paid for.
Here tonight we also have the added bonus of tracks taken from the new album Death Of The Party, which will be released in January, including the recently released single Left For Dead, these go down as well anyone could expect despite being new to all but a few of us and Bad Habits (Die Hard) soon has us singing along, we’re also treated to a cover of Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell, a track that has every one singing along. South Of Salem (10) deserve the recognition they’re currently getting, the high energy live performances I’ve seen over the last couple of years are testament to their commitment to the band, to their art and to their ever growing community of fans, lovingly called The Coven, they’ve toured the country and worked hard at getting their brand of Horror infused Goth Rock out there, they’ve toured with W.A.S.P and Wednesday 13; this is a band going places and I cannot recommend them enough.
As an encore South Of Salem invited She Burns Red to join them onstage for Cold Day In Hell, a raucous performance of a firm fan favourite ensued and after a heartfelt thanks from Joey on the band’s behalf, to the staff at KK’s and us the audience alongside the opportunity to meet and greet the band at the merch table; it’s been another great performance by the Bournemouth based band and I honestly don’t think that my words here have done them enough justice, you have to see these guys live.