Wednesday 13's Valentine's Massacre Down Under: The VM Tour Diary!

After a 5 year wait between Australian tours, the king of horror punk Wednesday 13 returned to our country on the 11th of February for a short 3 show tour.

The Valentine's Massacre Down Under Tour saw the downfall of 3 of Australia's biggest cities, with Wednesday and the guys defiling the countryside, starting in Sydney before heading to Brisbane and Melbourne.

Going against the grain and arriving at Sydney's Metro Theatre at the bright and early time of 8am, it was clear we were in for an interesting day as Sydney's vast gothic community was already present in the city.

While the sun managed to keep the local vampires off the street until around 11am, the alley beside the venue began to fill and by midday, there was already a decent crowd awaiting the arrival of one of the true legends of horror rock.

The balloon of excitement surrounding the eager fans patiently waiting the start of the long awaited tour began to inflate at around 2:30pm, when a white van slowly proceeded down the alley and came to a stop at the rear entrance to the venue. Completely hidden by the dark tinted windows, it was clear that the man everyone had come to see was the dark shadow inhabiting the vehicle, and after a long 3 minutes, the door was slid ajar and out stepped Nate Manor, J-Sin Trioxin and Jonny Chops. Wednesday's band of ghouls unloaded their guitars as the man of the moment waited patiently in the van before emerging to say a quick 'hello' to his fans and then disappearing through the back door.

As is the case with most large shows in today's day and age, Wednesday 13 hosted a short Meet and Greet in each city at 5pm, and as the time got nearer, the line grew longer and eventually the lucky few were taken inside to meet the biggest horror punk quartet since The Misfits.

The unparalleled level of anticipation again increased as word passed out from the venue that 2 of Sydney's leading rock bands were supporting in the form of Familia and Mz Ann Thropik. The opening of the doors at around 8pm, induced a small stampede of people trying to be first to get up the stairs and into the auditorium. 

Opening the tour was Familia. After supporting Deathstars at their show at the Manning Bar a few short months previous to the Wednesday 13 tour, we knew we were in for a treat with this band. Familia played a 20 minute set which was packed with the energetic drive that one can expect from a show of this magnitude.

From impressive interplay between guitarists Oli Mistry and Dolan Reskov, as well as a solid performance from the ever-impressive bassist Simon Thompson, combined with the forever entertaining vocalist Ash Rothschild who has made his mark on the Sydney music scene with his consistently upbeat performances and very casual yet compelling stage presence at every outing, Familia were definitely the best way to kick off the tour.

Second in line was the prime of Australian Goth/rock, Mz Ann Thropik. At every show that this band plays, there is always a decent showing of dedicated fans, and this show was no different. From the moment Mz Ann Thropik bassist Brad Fitter started sound check, right down to the last beat of their set, they were welcomed with the utmost of sincerity and appreciation from Wednesday 13's crowd.

Mz Ann Thropik played an incredible 8 song set which occupied the better part of 40 minutes. While impressing crowds all around the country over the last few years, this show saw Mz Ann Thropik completely out do themselves in every aspect of the live performance. Combing all of their arsenal of onstage theatrics, including an amazingly energetic performance from lead singer Mzzy, who has established herself as one of Australia's most prominent front women, throat splitting screams from bassist Brad, spine tingling solos from guitarist Matt, and the consistent drive from the back of the stage from drummer Peter Marks. The highlight of the set was quite clearly the exceptional 'Rule Of Three' which, as always, instills the greatest level of crowd interaction.

Soon enough, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived and Jonny Chops took his seat behind the kit to a wall of deafening noise. Jonny was soon followed by Nate Manor and J-Sin Trioxin before the emergence of Wednesday 13, who's presence brought about a short moment of complete ecstasy from the near capacity venue.

Opening the set was 'I Want You...Dead!', Wednesday's set throughout the entire tour showcased work from all 3 of his solo albums as well as The Frankenstein Drag Queens favourites 'I Love To Say Fuck' and 'Rambo' and the Murderdolls sing-a-long '197666'.

Wednesday played a 17 track set which went through his albums in sequence, from Transylvania 90210, Fang Bang and the latest album Skeletons, taking up the 14 track main set. The encore consisted of the aforementioned FDQ and Murderdolls tracks, with the show rounding out with the hugely popular 'I Love To Say Fuck', which had every fist in the venue in the air and every voice screaming one cohesive word which I will leave up to your imagination. ["Fuuuck" ED.] 

The Sydney crowd left the venue in complete elation. Unfortunately I didn't hang around for the post show antics. I was off for an hour and a half sleep before flying out to Brisbane for the next show, early the next morning.

Arriving at Club 299 in Brisbane again at 8am, I wasn't surprised to see most of the city already out and about on their daily duties. But after the day before in Sydney, it was surprising to not see any of Queensland's vampiric community make an appearance until midday, this may be due to the warm weather in Brisbane; which really made the lack of sleep the night before hit me hard, luckily enough the concrete out the front of the venue was cold and shaded, therefore acting as a temporary bed. 

As was the case in Sydney, by the time 5pm hit and the doors opened for the Meet and Greet, there was a vast crowd outside the front of the venue. Walking up to the top story of Club 299, you could feel the anticipation from the other 20 people around me. And soon enough, we all were blessed with a short 10 minutes with the guys from Wednesday 13.

The only support act of the night was Brisbane's own extreme metal act Devilution. This quintet played a full 20 minute set of hard thrash metal which one didn't quite expect from a Wednesday 13 show. With constant growls and fast fingered solos, Devilution crushed any doubts about the quality in Brisbane's heavy metal scene. While the band didn't quite fit into a glam/rock show which is Wednesday 13, they played some quality tracks which captured the entire crowd and didn't let them go until they'd left the stage.

While the Sydney show was amazing and brought together 2 of Australia's most enticing Goth/rock bands, the Brisbane show was absolutely epic for a whole different reason. The crowd in Brisbane was insane! Club 299 is a very small venue and didn't seem to be prepared for what took place when Wednesday 13 took to the stage. With no barrier, the crowd surged forward from the very back of the venue with the emergence of Wednesday and many people were crushed against the stage.

Wednesday 13 carried on with the same set list as we experienced the night before, opening with 'I Want You...Dead!' and carrying through 'Look What The Bats Dragged In', 'I Walked With A Zombie' and 'Bad Things' before Wednesday was forced to stop the show. For a man who has been making fun of blood and death in humorous fashion for a majority of his career, Wednesday showed that there is a gentle side to his angry demeanor and asked the crowd to "Take 3 steps back! People up the front are getting fucking crushed!"

With some of the pressure taken off the security guards, who really worked hard for their money that night, Wednesday flew straight back into his set and the rest of the show went off without a hitch. The show in Brisbane on February 12th also marked the birthday of Wednesday 13's drummer Jonny Chops, and I was lucky enough to wish Mr. Chops a very happy birthday after the show.

I flew into Melbourne at 9am the next morning, was at the HiFi by 9:30am, and it was completely evident that Melbourne was going to make this a night to remember. 

The same night Wednesday 13 played in Australia's music capital, Australian rockers AC/DC and American country/pop artist Taylor Swift both played the Melbourne legs of their respective tours, so the city was full of music lovers of all sorts. But it wasn't hard to pick out the large amount of Wednesday 13 fans, which were plaguing the city and were filled with suspense for the night ahead.

Melbourne surprised me that day. The creativity of so many of its residents is like nothing I have ever seen before. While lining up outside the HiFi at about 1pm, an obvious ghoul scout stalked around the corner and sat outside the venue with me for the rest of the afternoon.

Special mention must go to Jareth Bullivant. Jareth had spent 3 weeks creating an incredibly artistic banner for Wednesday which we spent most of the afternoon getting the occupants of Melbourne to sign and gave it to Wednesday during the show. It was a highlight of our tour and was certainly also a highlight of Wednesday's time in Australia, as he was kind enough to tell us after the show.

Finally as Swanston Street overflowed with the darkness of Melbourne's gothic community, the doors opened and we yet again flooded into the venue for the last, and most anticipated show of the tour.

The night exploded with Melbourne based Goth/metal act Catwitch. I'd never heard of this band before but they totally blew my mind! From the moment their lead singer Kieran O'Reilly cursed the stage with his presence, we knew that this band was something special. The aggressive growls and deep screams which ignited the microphone were completely different to anything we'd seen so far on the Valentine's Massacre Down Under tour. With pounding guitars and fluent keys, this band had everything which you hope for in an opening act. Elegant bassist Telle was also worth watching with an impressive array of bass lines filling the 25 minute set, unfortunately she stood back and let the overshadowing figure of O'Reilly dominate the entire bands stage presence. 

Up next was Adelaide band Diamond Sins. This was another band that I was unfamiliar with, and yet another band which made a massive impression on me. Diamond Sins are a very young glam/rock band, but within the first song, it was quite clear why they were chosen as the last support act on Wednesday's tour.

With vocals which are highly reminiscent to that of The Misfits shouted at you through singer Davey Damaged, intricate and flowing guitar solos bursting your ears thanks to guitarist Terradaktyl and a very punk rock bassist in Taylor Chains; whose stage presence is nothing short of inspiring. These guys are without doubt the revival of Australian glam rock. With influences like Hanoi Rocks, L.A. Guns and New York Dolls, and a sound which rivals all of the above, this is definitely a band to watch out for!

It was 11pm by the time the lights dimmed for the last time on the tour, and the excitement was at such explosive levels that it could be felt out on the street.

Again, the venue exploded as Jonny Chops took his place behind the kit, J-Sin Trioxin tore across the stage to take his spot and Nate Manor strapped on his bass and waited for the arrival of the man everyone had paid their money to see. After a long intro, Wednesday finally came down from the stairs at the side of the stage and the show yet again exploded with 'I Want You...Dead!'.

Wednesday 13 carried out the same set list as the other 2 shows which again worked through songs from all 3 solo albums, including 'My Home Sweet Homicide', 'Haunt Me', 'Till Death Do Us Party', 'Skeletons' and 'From Here To The Hearse', before embarking on the same 3 song encore. But this didn't matter as his onstage antics are nothing short of mesmerizing.

It was nearly 1am by the time the Murderdolls' classic 'I Love To Say Fuck' once again had every hand in the venue nearly wiping out the person in front of them and the crowd was once again chanting that one beloved 4 letter word.

All in all, this was an amazing, party-packed 3 days. With Wednesday's new project Gunfire 76 having taken off in the United States, its hard to know when we'll be once again tormented by Wednesday and his band of social misfits, but what we can be sure of is that when they do come back to Australia, it will once again be a tour of epic proportions.