Orange Goblin
15th April 2024
Mothership, Auckland, New Zealand
Review by Sarah Kidd with photography by Benn West.
It may have taken them almost thirty years to do it, but Orange Goblin finally made their way down to New Zealand last night to play the first of three massive shows across Aotearoa!
Formed in London in 1995 (originally under the name Our Haunted Kingdom, but that changed to Orange Goblin after about a year), Orange Goblin have been blazing a trail across the metal scene ever since. Often referred to as Stoner Rock – and to be fair their first three albums did lean heavily that way – the now four piece are the epitome of all that is good, capturing everything from Stoner, Doom, Heavy, through to touches of old school punk and Motorhead styled choruses.
In other words, this is one of those bands, that if ever given the opportunity to see live, you should grab it with both hands and run…
To begin the night however, a New Plymouth three piece that while only forming four years ago, have a sound and stage presence well beyond their years. Comprising of Jason Karam on bass and vocals, Adam Colless on guitar and vocals and Mark Thomas on drums. Infinity Ritual is a band that are going places and fast.
They tout themselves as a “Groove Metal wall of noise with a good dose of rock, doom and stoner” and they aren’t kidding; from the moment the boys arrived, the riffs came through thick and low hung, a sultry swagger to the bass lines that soon had heads in the front row nodding in time. With two EP’s under their hat, Infinity Ritual had a range of material to choose from and they gave the audience a serious taste of what they could do musically, Colless impressing with his vocals, while the chugging rhythmic stylings of Karam would then lead into mouth-watering solos from Colless, especially on tracks such as ‘Earthdriver’.
A completely well chosen, and epic opener for the evening – keep an eye on Infinity Ritual, they are destined for larger things.
Second act of the night was Pieces of Molly, a name that many people would have heard around town since the unholy union between Motӧrhead and AC/DC birthed its lovechild onto the streets of Christchurch.
Changing tempo from the phenomenal Infinity Ritual before them, Pieces of Molly were all dirty rock n roll at high speed. Led by Ewen Glasgow, whose vocals are just the perfect mix of sex and gravel that is required for their particular sound, the rest of the band comprises of Doug Stewart on Bass, Sam Kubiak on guitar and Kurt Fleming on drums, who certainly makes sure that the kit is given a good workout.
Tracks such as ‘I Don’t Wanna’ (great music video for that one), had everything you could want from a “high-octane” rock n’ roll band; anthemic choruses that gave the fans a chance to chant along with them and of course a whole lot of hair whipping, guitar solos and symbol crashing! By now the room was starting to fill out nicely for the headliner, and Pieces of Molly not only laid down a damn good performance, but they also set the energy level for the rest of the evening.
By the time Orange Goblin arrived, Mothership was packed; if you haven’t already checked out this amazing venue for a metal show, ensure that you do so at the next available opportunity. While their name may not be the first you think of when it comes to shows such as these, Mothership is an excellent venue for genres of the heavier persuasion!
Now a four piece (well actually since 2004), Orange Goblin have created quite the career and following for themselves. With no less than nine studio albums under their belt and almost half a dozen EP’s.
As Ben Ward stepped onto the stage, there was an audible gasp that rippled through the crowd. Ward is a man that you cannot miss; besides the standard black clothing – including a nice Dissection t-shirt – and tattooed arms, he also stands at six foot five, which makes him the focal point of any show!
Luckily, he also happens to be one of world’s most affable front men, his demeanour one of pure joy as he raised his fists and got the audience to do the same, his handshakes and thumbs ups to those in the front rows making it feel as if you knew the man personally.
Flanked by Joe Hoare on guitar in a crisp white Ramones shirt and fairly recent addition to the band, bassist Harry Armstrong (who replaced Martyn Millard, a founding member and brother in arms), Chris Turner on drums was almost completely hidden from anyone standing directly in front of Ward.
Introducing the band as “Orange Fucking Goblin” before apologising for taking over twenty years to visit New Zealand “but you know, we been busy and it’s a long way to walk!” was such a quintessentially English greeting, that you could easily have believed you were in a small London pub.
Beginning with ‘Solarisphere,’ the fans were soon completely invested as the magical concoction of stoner infused blues with decidedly doom metal undertones weaved itself a web and pulled everyone in closer, Ward looking both surprised and yet simultaneously delighted at how many were singing along to the words of the song.
Whoops of excitement almost drowned Ward out as the first track finished, Ward joking that despite it being Monday, everyone was going to get drunk, rock out and have a bloody good night, and that if you didn’t make it into work the next day that was ok, because Orange Goblin said it was! The English humour continuing to shine through.
‘The Filthy & The Few’ quickly churned up the mosh pit, the band feeding off the fan’s enthusiasm as they threw themselves about with glee, fists raised high in the air as they chanted the chorus in unison. Featured on the 2012, ‘A Eulogy for the Damned’ album, you could hear the evolution in sound from the opening track to here – Eulogy seeing the band continue to infuse elements of punk and rock into their sound which they had begun to do a couple of records earlier.
‘Saruman’s Wish’, ‘Made of Rats’ and ‘Aquatic Fanatic’ kept the crowd on their toes, grins plastered across sweaty faces, Ward still looking slightly perplexed yet simultaneously ecstatic – later admitting in that booming, husky voice of his that they had no idea what to expect on a Monday night and how they were absolutely blown away by the reception that they received.
At one point the lights across the entire venue went out; on any other night the music would have stopped, people would have been looking around like lost children; but everyone was so invested in what was going on right in front of them, Orange Goblin delivering a live performance worthy of all the accolades that not a single second of momentum was lost!
Instead, everyone kept doing exactly what they were doing, in the dark with a few pinpoints of light coming through. While it only lasted a matter of moments, it was one of the best demonstrations of the power of live music that most people could wish to see.
Orange Goblin were determined to deliver a set that hopefully gave everyone what they wanted – a pretty lofty task when you have nine albums already out and a tenth – yes that’s right there is new Orange Goblin music – on the way. But with tracks such as ‘The Man Who Invented Time’ with that stunning intro from Turner and Hoare, as well as ‘Sons of Salem’ and ‘Renegade’ that tasted like a Lemmy, (Jack and Coke) – Ward dedicating the track to Kilmister who they consider a god and a hero – there really were no complaints to be had!
By now the room was positively vibrating, this is what live music is all about, the dynamism, the camaraderie between fans as well as with the band itself, Hoare thanking one gentleman for bringing them cold beers while they were on and stating that he would have to return the favour once they were off.
“Any gas left in the tank?” Ward enquired as he once again raised his fists and showed them to the audience, rousing them to continue to keep the pit moving; “(Not) Rocket Science’ giving them all a taste of the new album, which by the sound of the one new track we got will indeed be epic; leaning more into a fast paced hard rock sound, the song easily got heads nodding as Ward powered through the lyrics before Hoare tore up the stage with a lightning solo.
Explaining that there would be no walk off stage, encore bullshit, Ward asked the fans if they still wanted a few more, the resounding bellows of yes giving him the answer he needed, as the band kicked into ‘The Devil’s Whip’ and ‘Time Travelling Blues’ before ‘Scorpionica’ almost finished them, the mosh pit just now one continuing surge of bodies that undulated under its own rapture. Most in attendance had only ever dreamed of seeing Orange Goblin live, and to now have them here and this close was indeed a dream come true.
The boys could easily have played for another hour if not more and not a soul would have complained, but you can’t always get what you want, the show coming to a spectacular close with ‘Red Tide Rising’.
There is a reason that Orange Goblin have continued to garner critical acclaim over the years and have featured at festivals such as Hellfest and Bloodstock; not only have they somehow figured out how to continuously shapeshift their sound without ever losing their true core, but they are also just damn nice guys.
Orange Goblin:
Pieces Of Molly:
Infinity Ritual:
Were you there at Mothership for this superb metal gig? Or have you seen Orange Goblin perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Solarisphere
- The Filthy & The Few
- Saruman’s Wish
- Made of Rats
- Aquatic Fanatic
- The Man Who Invented Time
- Sons of Salem
- Renegade
- Your World Will Hate This
- Some You Win, Some You Lose
- (Not) Rocket Science
- They Come Back (Harvest of Skulls)
- The Devil’s Whip
- Time Travelling Blues
- Scorpionica
- Quincy the Pigboy
- Red Tide Rising
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.
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Great concert ,good venue as well.