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This is our last song of the night”, announces Nick nearing the end of the set. It is met with boos from a crowd wishing to hear more. The band finish off with “The Last Time” from which many people consider to be their best album, “Draconian Times”. The guys may not be the most energetic live performers (I’d imagine if you went to one of their rehearsals they would act in a similar fashion as they do on stage), but it is a more downbeat heavier art-form, and when it comes to the music, Paradise Lost never let us down. Very enjoyable set slightly impaired by a not so great sound. The last time I saw Danzig, indeed the last time the band played Scotland, was way way back in 1992 on the “How The Gods Kill” tour, 26 years ago! I have to admit that I wondered if, being away so long, he’d manage to pull a crowd. However the show tonight, which has a capacity of over 2000, looks almost full. I also wondered how Glenn Danzig, now in his 60’s, would fare in terms of vocal performance and energy. Any worries I had about the man himself were immediately dispelled when the band kicked off with “SkinCarver”, the only track from the 2004 “Circle Of Snakes” album that was played tonight. Glenn came running on, punching the air, and bounding around the stage resembling an angry gorilla looking for a fight. He managed to keep this explosive energy up right up until the end of the evening. Bassist Steve Zing (ex-Samhain) and guitarist Tommy Victor (from Prong) jump around the stage miraculously managing not to bump into Glenn while doing so. Tommy looks like he’s having a great time with a manic smile permanently across his face. While the next 2 tracks, “Eyes Ripping Fire” and “Devil On Hwy 9”, come from the latest album “Black Laden Crown”, it’s unsurprising that the bulk of the set-list tonight comes from the first three Danzig albums. “It’s the 30th anniversary of Danzig…. we’ll do a bunch of Danzig 1, Danzig 2, and Danzig 3 and then just freestyle it from there” announces Glenn. This is music to my ears, literally, as after the first four Danzig albums, my interest waned and the quality of the albums just wasn’t up there with the earlier recordings. When the unmistakable evil-sounding riff from “Twist Of Cain” fills the hall, the crowd surfing starts and the enthusiasm from the crowd ramps up a gear. The guys run through all the old favourites from “Her Black Wings”, “How The Gods Kill”, “Dirty Black Summer”, and of course the classic “Mother”, before they exit the stage for an encore of “She Rides”, and “Do You Wear The Mark”. It’s a great set, but I would have liked to have heard “Long Way Back From Hell” and “Snakes Of Christ”… but then you can’t please everyone. For any doubters out there, Danzig proved tonight that he still has the voice, intensity, and stamina to put on a great show. It was a great night of classic tracks that I haven’t heard live in a very, very long time. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 26 years before we see Danzig in Glasgow again. Review: Martin Patterson]]>
