The old MURDERDOLLS tune ‘Die My Bride’ was good to hear mid set, but it’s the more horror flick songs like ‘American Werewolves’ and ‘Happily Ever Cadaver’ that really do the trick for the crowd. As well as the odd illegal substance, WEDNESDAY 13 does have a love for his b-movie horror, and such an addiction inspires the lyrics for many of his songs. Such songs have created a niche in the market for WEDNESDAY 13, with the ‘horror metal’ genre almost single handidly created, after of course, a little direction from ALICE COOPER and KISS.

With a set comfortably covering over an hour, WEDNESDAY 13 had once again proved his worth as a good frontman. OK, his songs are hardly grammy winning material, but they are simple and easy to sing a long to, hence, they work really well in the live environment. This is a band that always play a good set, and will always be regarded as the ultimate hallowe’en partry band.

WEDNESDAY 13 Setlist: I Want You…Dead / My Home Sweet Homicide / House By The Cemetery / American Werewolves / Die My Bride / Happily Ever Cadaver / God Is A Lie / Graverobbing USA / Faith In The Devil / Rambo / 197666 / Curse Of Me / Haunt Me / Mr Motherfucker / Buried By Christmas / Dawn Of The Dead / Bad Things / I Walked With A Zombie / I Love To Say Fuck

Rating: 4.2/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw(click here)

Commented Wednesday 13 “This was a difficult tour to book. We knew that this was going to be the last tour overseas for 2009 so we had to do something special. From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to take out The Chelsea Smiles. Those guys put on such a good rock n roll show and our fans should love them. I had been going back and forth trying to decide on the next band to join us. Our agent mentioned Glamour of the Kill and after checking them out and seeing how good they are doing on their own, without support from any label, I decided they would be the perfect fit”

After this tour, Wednesday 13 will be taking a break from this band to concentrate on his southern project Bourbon Crow. This is a great live band that’s well worth a look. If you missed last years tour then all I have to say is..

R.A.M.B.O.
Blow em up like Rambo!

Wednesday 13, Glamour Of The Kill & The Chelsea Smiles

Mar 20 2009 The Park Peterborough
Mar 21 2009 Rock City Nottingham
Mar 22 2009 Academy 2 Birmingham
Mar 23 2009 Waterfront Norwich
Mar 24 2009 Academy Bristol
Mar 25 2009 Sugarmill Stoke-On-Trent
Mar 26 2009 Club Academy Manchester
Mar 27 2009 The Assembly Leamington Spa
Mar 28 2009 Cockpit Leeds
Mar 29 2009 Corporation Sheffield
Mar 30 2009 Cat House Glasgow
Mar 31 2009 Academy Newcastle
Apr 1 2009 Concorde 2 Brighton
Apr 2 2009 Brook Southampton
Apr 3 2009 Electric Ballroom London

A few hundred fans get hot and sweaty as the band rip through a lengthy setlist packed with raw, raucous, could-be hits, all with anthemic choruses extending an irresistible invitation to raise your fist, and join in. Bone-shaking numbers like ‘Faith in the Devil’ and ‘Not Another Teenage Anthem’ have the crowd whipped up into a stirring atmosphere, somewhat reminiscent of a metal fuelled halloween zombie bash.

WEDNESDAY 13 loves his b-movie horror flicks and his intro tape and interludes sound like they’re from dodgy old scary movie soundtracks, and such films are an obvious influence on his lyrics to such tracks as ‘Happily Ever Cadaver’ and ‘Home Sweet Homicide’. The long-haired, face painted frontman also shows a soft spot for action movies when for the encore he graces the stage wielding a plastic machine gun for a performance of ‘Rambo’ - I wonder whether John J. would approve?

I’ve never been too keen on artists directing their own DVDs, after all, look at the mess Steve Harris has made of some of IRON MAIDEN’s videos and DVD’s in the past. Fortunately, WEDNESDAY 13 does do a better job than Harris. The footage is certainly watchable, even if the cuts are a little too frenetic for my liking, and the switching between the 16:9 and 4:3 formats is a bit bizarre.

The lack of any extras will be a disappointment to the most devoted fans, but there’s no doubt that this DVD goes a long way towards showing why the WEDNESDAY 13 has a such a dedicated following on the live club scene. They are a great live act and this DVD does a good job of bringing a tiny bit of the energy of their show to your living room – although it has to be said, that you can never beat the real thing, so make sure you get yourself a ticket next time WEDNESDAY 13 is terrorising your neighbourhood.

Release Date: 10th November 2008

The songs are very, very simple. There's 11 tracks here, all of which come in under the 5 minute mark. Opener 'Scream Baby Scream' would go down well in a vampire's club (particularly that one at the start of 'Blade'!), and 'Not Another Teenage Anthem' could end up being ermmm, a teenage anthem? On most of the songs, melody has been thrown out of the window. However, 'From Here to the Hearse' and the title track 'Skeletons' are exceptions to that rule and from a musical point of view are probably the best songs on the record.

The songs on 'Skeletons' are enjoyable enough, and should go down a storm on the live scene, especially after a few beers have been sunk. However, if you're looking for a something to occupy your CD player for while, this perhaps isn't the best album to choose. The lack of any depth and with strong melodies thin on the ground, after a few listens, it'll be time to consign this album to the bottom shelf of the CD rack and by the time you play it again, it may well have a coating of dust thicker than WEDNESDAY 13's eye make-up.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

James Allman

Release Date: 12th May 2008