Wednesday 13, Wellington NZ, 2018

Wednesday 13 performing live in Wellington, New Zealand, 2018. Image by Radar Photography.

Wednesday 13
29th April 2018
Valhalla, Wellington, New Zealand

Review by Lady Stab. Photography by Reef Reid.

It may have been a Sunday night in Wellington but thanks to Wednesday 13 and his Condolences tour; the audience that had packed into Valhalla were completely and utterly blown away. The night started with a few beers while watching the hordes begin to arrive in their very cool outfits. Over the years I have seen some pretty awesome stuff at events, but tonight the audience really outdid themselves, with many just having a lot of fun with the idea of dressing up. One fellow was even running around in Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 get up; an obvious homage to one of Wednesday 13’s earlier projects.

While the night already consisted of a stellar international double bill, it also included not one but two local bands as well; Go On Dying and Heathen Collective up first for the night. Go On Dying easily set the tone for the evening through familiar riffs and vocals where the influence of bands like Murderdolls and other associated side projects of Wednesday 13 could be heard. It was then the turn of Heathen Collective to storm the stage; frontman Aaron Gunn both well known and loved by the locals for his usual cheekiness and drunken stage antics which pulled laughter from all who were present. While Valhalla is not a new stomping ground for either band they still fully engaged the audience and succeeded in getting everyone into just the right mood for what was to follow.

By this point it would be safe to say that everyone was pretty amped. As the set was changed over more banners were added to the stage, the lights darkening and smoke seeping in in preparation for Davey Suicide. Hailing from “Unholywood, Killafornia” every member of the self-proclaimed gutter goth rock band seemed to emerge from the darkness as each of their instruments came in; Davey himself launching himself from out of the blackness as the vocals began. Initially I had my doubts about Davey Suicide as their music videos left a lot to be desired. However once they took the stage they not only stood and delivered but they continually connected with the audience throughout the set, raising the energy in the room to the point that everyone was singing along and getting well into it. This was their first time in NZ and as support for the Condolences tour I don’t think you could have had a better pairing. From their sound through to how they both held and presented themselves on stage was just downright wicked.

Following the outstanding set from Davey Suicide soon came the band that so many – including myself – had come to see; Wednesday 13. With a career as long and varied as a spider’s web, Wednesday 13 is a force to be reckoned with; besides fronting bands such as the aforementioned Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, Maniac Spider Trash and of course the infamous Murderdolls he also has a total of seven solo studio albums. Usually stalking the streets of Hollywood, California, tonight Wednesday 13 stepped out onto the stage, his hair blowing out behind him as if he truly was flying with the night especially during the track ‘What The Night Brings’. The guitars and bass melded together to create a deliciously super creepy mood, perfect for this brand of horror shock music that we were being baptised with.

For those of you that have never seen Wednesday 13 before, it’s as much about the visual persona as it is about the music; Wednesday 13 always the king of costumes that help to create that ghoulish atmosphere that he is so well loved for. With almost each spooky number there was a change of outfit; most notably Wednesday 13 tonight had two different devil masks, one black and one white. Following the first few songs he donned the black, turning himself into an otherworldly creature. When he changed into the white one it was worn with a full priests outfit, Wednesday 13 clutching a bible and waving it in front of the audience as he sang the title track of his latest album ‘Condolences’.

But Wednesday wasn’t done yet; pulling from his love of all things gory he later emerged in a butcher’s apron with a second face covered in blood attached to the back of his head…the audience lapping it up. While the show unsurprisingly covered a lot of his new material, classics such as ‘I Walked With A Zombie’ and ‘Haunt Me’ were lovingly delivered to wrap up the night in style. Hell we even got a Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 track! ‘R.A.M.B.O.’ – by Wednesday 13’s own admittance in a recent interview one of the two dumbest tracks he’s ever written – seeing many of his old school fans go absolutely crazy!

By the end of the evening the pit was full of completely entranced corpses who happily screeched along to every song; the end of the set seeing them baying for an encore like wolves at the moon. However all good things must come to an end and tonight was no different; a fantastic night with great music and good people all held in the perfect venue for an event such as this. Wednesday 13’s victims still buzzing as they poured out of the doors of Valhalla to drag their worm-ridden corpses back home…

Wednesday 13:
Davey Suicide:
The Heathen Collective:

Were you there at Valhalla to witness this intimate horror punk show? Or have you seen Wednesday 13 perform somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Wednesday 13 Setlist:
  1. What The Night Brings
  2. Bloodsucker Motherfucker
  3. Scream Baby Scream
  4. Keep Watching The Skies
  5. Blood Sick
  6. Cadaverous
  7. Serpent Society
  8. Vincent Price
  9. Prey For Me
  10. R.A.M.B.O.
  11. I Want You Dead
  12. Condolences
  13. Dixie Dead
  14. Gimmie Bloodshed
  15. Till Death Do Us Party
  16. Calling All Corpses
  17. I Walked With A Zombie
  18. I Love To Say Fuck
  19. Bad Things

Condolences [Black & Red Vinyl] *


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