On a wet and blustery evening in Islington, London, the rock and metal faithful braved the weather to take part in a spectacular night of music. Not only was there a member of metal royalty in the house, but he brought his new super-group Deadland Ritual along with him for their UK debut.
The boys from Gin Annie opened a night that’ll go down in the musical history books. Putting on a headline performance, this band more than proved to the crowd why they were chosen to support Deadland Ritual on multiple dates. Premiering a new track, the band put on a rapid fire set that clearly recruited them a whole new legion of fans.
A very tight quintet, the lads from Wolverhampton have the swagger and attitude of a band fresh off the Sunset Strip in the late 80s, with a modern edge that is bound to appeal to rockers of all ages. Dave Foster has the stage presence of someone who’s been doing this all their life, and it’s clear the entire band is having fun on stage. As their set came to a close, the crowd were singing along loudly to ‘Born to Rock & Roll’, a rock anthem destined for the arenas. Great chemistry, presence, and talent. These guys are going to go far.
The Pete Way band were up next doing a number of classics including a number from his UFO days. The rather merry Way managed to belt out an ace performance despite it being one of the more eccentric performances of the night. Telling stories between songs, Way endeared himself to the crowd. Throughout the set, there was a lot of banter on stage between Pete and the band. Having managed to belt out a cracking cover of Zepp’s ‘Rock n Roll’, Way introduced the band and finished up with UFO’s ‘Too Hot To Handle’ and ‘Doctor Doctor’, which whipped the crowd up into a frenzy before the main event.
As the main event unfolded, Deadland Ritual took the stage in a shock of light and smoke and broke into Sabbath’s ‘Symptom of the Universe’, and their own track ‘Dimas’, before rounding up with ‘Neon Knights’. Geezer was in fine form, Steve Stevens was on point with the guitar, and Matt Sorum was on fire on the drums. The energetic front man had a lot to live up to fronting such a lineup, but he managed to pull it off.
Debuting a number of their own songs throughout the blistering and bombastic set, they also played through a number of covers from Black Sabbath, Velvet Revolver and Billy Idol. Some of the highlights of the set included ‘Slither’, ‘Sweet Leaf’, and ‘Rebel Yell’. The electrifying set also included solos by Steve Stevens and Geezer Butler, before the night was rounded out with ‘NIB’, ‘Down In Flames’, and finally ‘War Pigs’. As the night came to a close it was clear that Deadland Ritual are an incredibly tight and well put together band. Do yourself a favour and get out there and see this band as soon as you can!
Deadland Ritual Setlist
Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath cover)
Dimas
Neon Knights (Black Sabbath cover)
City of Night
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
Fade and Disappear
Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
Walls
Guitar Solo (Steve Stevens)
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol cover)
Broken and Bruised
Dead Before Sunrise
Bass Solo (Geezer Butler)
N.I.B. (Black Sabbath cover)
Down in Flames
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Written by: Erik De’Viking
My Global Mind – UK Editor
Erik De’Viking is a London based freelance music journalist. His musical interests include music in all its forms, and he is constantly on the lookout for new bands and genres to discover and later preach about to the masses.
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