When it comes to live shows, Nekrogoblikon is definitely a band that never disappoints so we had high hopes going into their headline performance at Manchester at Satan’s Hollow – and what a night it was!
Joining Nekrogoblikon on their UK jaunt was The Bastard Sons, a band who I was already familiar with after being very impressed by their debut album, and even though they weren’t firing from all cylinders due to frontman JJ having lost his voice, they soldiered on regardless which was great to see. It was indeed a mighty performance from them despite this, and The Bastard Sons gave an energetic and inspired show from start to finish, with plenty of movement about the circular stage and a particular highlight of the set was the performance of their single Release The Hounds.
The last time I saw Nekrogoblikon, it was in a support slot on the Kerrang tour so I was very interested to see what they brought to a headline show and needless to say, they didn’t disappoint. The venue of Satan’s Hollow features a circular stage in the middle of the room, with the crowd able to watch the band from any angle of the room, and Nekrogoblikon made exceptional use of the entire space of the stage (and bassist Sack frequently ventured out into the crowd to play from there), and it was great to witness and be a part of!
Opening their set with Full Body Explosion, it wasn’t long before their famous goblin, aka John Goblikon, joined the six-piece onstage to rapturous cheers, and he was soon climbing up the platforms next to the stage and crowd surfing about the venue, much to the delight of the crowd. In fact, there was just a great feeling all round, and it was clear that everyone in the room, both on the stage and off, were having an absolute blast – you could tell how much fun Nekrogoblikon were having from the expressions on their faces, and every song was received by the crowd with cheers and excitement, with several contained mosh pits round the stage, which was something that was built on as the night went on.
Although the set leant quite heavily on their newest album Heavy Meta, there was also room in the set for some of their older songs too, such as the awesome Bears, Prince Of The Land Of Stench (which was dedicated to the goblin king himself, David Bowie) and of course No One Survives – it was a good balance between old and new.
As the night progressed, it was soon demanded by the band that there should be a circle pit going around the stage, and eventually with John leading the way, their wish was granted and it was rather humourous to watch – it wasn’t something I’d personally witnessed at Satan’s Hollow before, but it was a great idea to say the least.
Soon the set was reaching its conclusion, and with two songs left to play – Let’s Get Fucked and Giraffes certain members of the crowd were chanting for the track Friends In Space, but Nekrogoblikon stuck with the original set (much to my delight, as I’d already seen Friends In Space live but not Let’s Get Fucked!) and the night ended with guitarist Goldberg actually leaving the stage and joining the circle pit that was once more going round the stage, all whilst still playing the ending of Giraffes!
All in all, a fantastic night – Nekrogoblikon delivered in every way and I’ve never witnessed a gig quite like that one in Satan’s! Kudos to whoever booked the tour because Nekrogoblikon were the perfect fit for the venue.
10/10
