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ARTIST: Wednesday 13 with Suicide City, Nu Word Disorder & Lucifur at Work DATE: May 8, 2008 VENUE: The Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA REVIEWER: Lynn Malpass
My introduction to Wednesday 13 came about by accidentm last year. I was at a show to see The 69 Eyes, during their "Angels Love Devils" tour. I got to see the show at the TLA here in Philly; W13 was the main support that night. Though I enjoyed the "Helsinki Vampires" (69 Eyes) very much, I ended up walking away at the end of the night arguing with my concert-going friend, an avid fan of the Eyes, because I thought Wednesday 13 put on a better show. I knew nothing of the band: I didn't know their songs, didn't know how many albums they'd put out, and didn't know "they" are really a "he," (and various guest musicians who tour with him.) But from the four bands I saw that night, Wednesday 13 stood out in my mind as the best live performance, much to the annoyance of my friend.
Since then, every time that friend and I mention either band, we get into the same debate. While their musical styles are a slightly similar, and The Eyes might have a leg up on melodic, ballad-style songs, W13 is still my choice to rock out to. I had been recently looking into some of his music, familiarizing myself more with the artist, when once again, also by accident (or luck, I should say), I had the opportunity to see Wednesday 13, this time at the Trocadero. I came away standing by my initial opinion.
The show at the Trocadero came at the very beginning of W13's SkeleTour '08 (which technically started on June 12th in the UK), supporting his brand new release, Skeletons. On tour with Wednesday this time was former Murderdolls bandmate Acey Slade (a huge hit with the crowd, who seemed really stoked to see him), and J-sin Trioxin, both on guitars, Nate Manor on bass, and Johnny Chops on drums. Despite the fact that Wednesday tends to tour with different members in his support band at different times, the ensemble sounded great, as if they had been playing together for years. The last time I saw them, it was Wednesday 13 backed by some other musicians; this time it was "Wednesday 13 The Band." I say this not to detract from Wednesday himself, but rather to suggests that he chose an excellent backing lineup for this tour.
After making myself more familiar with W13's previous albums (like last year's Fang Bang, and Transylvania 90210 before that), I noticed right away that Skeletons has a much more mature sound. More developed and complete, a little less tongue-in-cheek perhaps, it supports the quotes I've read which describe it as a much more personal, in-depth album. It's a little less "make up" - and I say that in more ways than one, as Wednesday seems to have shed most of his - and a lot more quality in-your-face punk-rock music. I was curious to see how this was going to play out on stage, and I was not the least bit disappointed.
The support bands were plentiful, and pretty decent at that. Opening the show was a band called Lucifer At Work, or LAW as they apparently go by, and I had a hell of a time trying to find them on the web (which does not bode well for a young band looking to "make it," in case anyone's paying attention.) Their MySpace is under their full name, and the website under something totally different, yet they advertise everywhere else as the acronym only. Somebody has not passed Music Industry 101, which states that you have a precious few seconds for a potential fan to locate your information before getting bored and moving on to the next band on which to spend money.
What makes this a particular shame is that they were really good! They have a very unique style: a little punk-ish, a little grungy, a little alternative, but more importantly, different. They have a bit of a 'gypsy' sound, and remind me of some of my favorite Silverchair and Dissociatives tracks, or even perhaps Voltaire (when he's actually playing with his band), mixed with somebody more heavy. The fact that the band has a violin really adds to their sound, yet they come off remarkably differently than the last two bands with violins I've heard recently. A suggestion to the band? Fix your web addresses; maybe then you'll have more than 1,500 MySpace friends, and you might get more of a fan response. A suggestion to readers? Catch these guys if you can. They're worth it.
Next was a glam-metal/metalcore band called Nü World Disorder, from Northampton, PA. Their stuff was a little rough around the edges, but they have a lot of promise. For being literally "kids" (I believe the lead singer is only 15 or 16), they really have their shit together with a sound, a look, and good stage presence. Granted, they'll need to mature that sound - and the lead singer's voice - as time goes on, but such is the nature of being a new, young band. They've got a whole fan club/groupie following as well, the NüWDists. Cute, in that corny sort of way. But hey, it seems to be working for them, so more power to 'em! These kids must know that in order to succeed today, they're going to have to stand out in the crowd somehow.
Suicide City played next, and they really got the place moving. By this time there was a good crowd, and I could tell people were pretty into this band, which was very reminiscent of old Faith No More. Crazy on stage, they were definitely audience-interactive, even moving out into the crowd at one point, and getting a little bit wild with some acrobatic stage antics. Charismatic lead singer Karl Bernholtz seemed reminiscent of Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach, and Jennifer Arroyo, formerly of Kittie, shredded on bass. They created quite a visual, between the leather, piercings, and the insane treatment of their instruments. Very energetic set with decent tunes. I suggest you check them out. I'm considering trying to catch them again when they come back to the area.
Then finally, Wednesday 13. The band took the stage amidst fog and lights upon an eerie, cemetery-like set, and played a rousing opening: "Home Sweet Homicide," which got everybody jumping from the first note. They plowed on endlessly for the entire set, barely stopping to breathe as they went through songs like "Till Death Do Us Party," "House By The Cemetery," "I Want You Dead," and more. Wednesday did not play guitar this time, but sang, and put on his show to the cheers of the goth kids and metal-heads, all waving their devil horns in time to the music. The crowd participated in favorites like "Rambo," when Wednesday appeared on stage with a fake machine gun, and "I Like to Say Fuck," complete with the "FUCK" umbrella opening and closing on cue to, you guessed it, saying "FUCK!" There was a blow-up boy doll on stage, and a zombie (during "I Walked With A Zombie," of course), and let's not forget the W13 cover of Tom Petty's "Running Down A Dream."
Naturally there were songs from the latest release, too, including the title track, "Skeletons," which, while it slowed things down a little bit, showed that the artists could do more than just pumped-up, loud, and aggressive tunes. They also played "Gimmie Gimmie Bloodshed," "Not Another Teenage Anthem," and "Scream, Baby Scream," from the new album, to name a few.
All in all, a really great show, and longer than I initially expected. The band played for a good hour and a half before bidding everyone good night and then coming out for photos and whatnot. And yes, still more enjoyable than The 69 Eyes, at least to me. I'm sure you can imagine the debate in the car on the way home. But yet who gets his picture with Wednesday? Yeah, my friend. Not me. Oh well. I got a cute one with Acey, and one with Johnny Chops.
Currently, Wednesday 13 are finishing off their SkeleTour dates in Europe. They'll be touring in the US again, supporting Type-O Negative, from July 1st through the 5th, and then continuing with a bunch more US dates before once again heading overseas to the UK. And there's already been a special Halloween show announced, which will feature guests Hanoi Rocks, so you fans abroad won't want to miss that! There's a lot happening for W13 right now - including some really nice merch being unveiled in conjunction with Hot Topic - so I suggest that you check out Wednesday 13's official MySpace page at www.myspace.com/officialwednesday13, and of course get to a show when Wednesday and his band hit your town this summer! A fun night will ensue, I promise!
