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After a quickfire UK outing during the Summer daylight, The Duke of Spook is back on familiar territory with a tour that falls during the spooky season. Where it seems all is well with the undead world now that Wednesday 13 is out of the sun and holding court in the perpetual darkness of the UK post the clocks going back and Daylight Saving Time ending. Yeah, outdoor festival appearances are fine and dandy, but to fully appreciate the Wednesday 13 vibe, it has to be when the year is drawing to an end, and it has to be in the darkness of a packed-out club. In tonight’s case, extra points are awarded for being at a downstairs pit-of-hell venue.
Always touring, Wednesday 13 constantly mixes up the setlist to keep the fans coming back in their droves year after year. Last time around, it was a “Performing Murderdolls” tour in honour of the band that featured Wednesday 13 alongside the much-missed Joey Jordison; tonight, it’s the “Mid Death Crisis Tour”, named after the killer new album that landed in April 2025, meaning several changes to the set from last time around.
Amidst a wall of red lights, flashing strobes, and straving spotlights, Wednesday 13 is last to take to the stage after his stellar bunch of musicians have taken their places. Dressed all in black (save for a neat red necktie) and sporting a long Dracula cape with the collar turned up, the artist formally known as Joseph Poole prowls the lip of the stage, flapping his cape like a bat in flight, and bursts headfirst into what else but ‘Look What the Bats Dragged In’. Thick, heavy hits from Mike Dupke on drums, and some gnarly lead guitar from Ashes help make it an explosive intro.
There is zero chit-chat during a Wednesday 13 show, with the mainman staying in character for the entirety of the show. So this means that there is very little pause for a breath, with one song storming into the next. ‘Bats…’ leads into ‘Too Fast for Blood’, and the sheer bounce of the song has the floor rumbling and leads to the surreal sight of a diminutive fan heading to the bar, stopping and turning, and then bouncing like Tigger all the way through a crowd that parts in appreciation of her style and all-around coolness. An hour later, she is still bouncing with the biggest smile anyone could ever imagine.
‘Rotting Away’ is the first of the new material aired, and is ultra-catchy with a chorus that begs to be screamed. Mike Dupke obviously fancies an early night as he is doing his damnest to bring the roof in (his drum solo later in the set is the perfect example of how to keep an audience onboard during a drum solo), especially on ‘I Want You…Dead’, which comes with a few false endings to keep the crowd on their toes. Later in the set, ‘When The Devil Commands’, ‘In Misery’, and ‘No Apologies’ all highlight that, decades on, Wednesday 13 is still capable of writing new material that consistently hits the mark.
Having recently undertaken the “Performing Murderdolls” tour, tonight’s set is less cover-centric but still features nods to the past with roaring versions of ‘Summertime Suicide’ and ‘Nowhere’ from Murderdolls, and the Frankenstein Drag Queen from Planet 13 nugget ‘197666’, and it’s great to see so many in the crowd who wouldn’t have been around when these songs were first despatched on an unsuspecting audience.
Wednesday 13 material makes up the bulk of the set, and so much of it is memorable; with the midsection combination of ‘In Misery’, ‘Haunt Me’, ‘Good Day to be A Bad Guy’, ‘No Apologies’, and a stonking version of ‘From Here to the Hearse’ particularly standing out. Of course, then there are the heavy hitters like ‘I Walked With a Zombie’ and ‘Bad Things’, which Wed13 would be strung up if he didn’t play.
Insert a macabre-filled pun here about how bloody marvellous this show was, or better still, catch Wednesday 13 when they return to the UK to headline the Sophie Lancaster stage at Bloodstock on Friday, August 7, 2026, as well as headlining at Firevolt Festival in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The Duke of Spook in sunny Stockport? Who woulda thunk it. Antipodean Wednesday 13 fans, brace yourselves, though, as you guys are up next.
Find WEDNESDAY 13 Online:
https://officialwednesday13.com/
Photo Credit: Anabel DFlux
Review – Dave
