Another week, another Creeper review. You just can’t seem to stop these guys touring! After missing them so often for various reasons I think I’ve now caught them four times in the last year or so, on stages varying in size from Glasgow SWG3 and Hydro (supporting Ice Nine Kills), to Bloodstock’s Ronnie James Dio stage, and tonight in the much more intimate Cathouse.
Opening for them tonight were The Howling, a moderately new band containing former members of As Sirens Fall and James And The Cold Gun. Their debut single, “Little Promises”, was only released in September last year but they have more than enough good material to fill their half hour opening slot. I don’t have more details at the moment, but apparently they only made it to the venue 15 minutes before their set due to some issues on the motorway. However, this didn’t seem to cause them any issues as they put on one hell of a performance and it seemed as if a large proportion of the crowd was already well into them.
They opened with the single, and it was apparent from the off that Creeper was the ideal band for them to be supporting. Their gothic / theatrical imagery and sound is right up the alleyway for fans of the headliner, but with very much their own spin on things. The band themselves are comfortable on stage, the sound did them plenty of favours, and the audience was quite happy to follow any prompts given to them.
For those who didn’t know the band’s handful of songs, there was the usual support artist trick of chucking in a cover and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” was certainly a good choice. Not only did The Howling give us a good version of it, the audience lapped it up. Closing with “The Murder Capital” and “Unholy”, the openers didn’t look like a band who’d had a stressful start to the evening. They said they’d be back and I sincerely hope they stick to that promise (and have better luck with transport next time too!).
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With no mention of transport issues,Creeper launched into their packed set at 9pm with “Mistress of Death”. Thus began the appropriately named “Sangui-Tour” date featuring almost the entirety of the twoSanguivore albums over 90 minutes or so. “Teenage Sacrifice” and “The Abyss”, both from the first album, and “Pavor Nocturnus” fromII were the only songs missing. Interestingly the night opened with the first two songs from the second album, and finished with the first two from the first album.
Regardless of the order, fans will know that both platters are all killer, no filler (in more vampiric ways than one) and we were hit with bloodsoaked hit after hit, Creeper cramming a huge number of songs into a venue not much bigger than my kitchen. Typically, Glasgow decided to start getting warm at the same time as I get rammed into a black coffin, filled to capacity with rampaging goths. I think all there (especially one poor lady I saw having to be moved to the back of the venue) will agree that it was a bit of a sweatbox.
This didn’t stop the action, though. Well warmed up by The Howling, the audience responded to the “open up a space – I want a pit here” demand prior to “Headstones” by somehow actually finding some space to move into the middle of the dancefloor. Throughout the show, arms were waved, people jumped, torches were on display… all the tropes you’d expect from a fun night.
Musically, Creeper were on point as ever. It doesn’t matter if they’re on a festival stage or a comparitive matchbox, they give it their all. As always, master of ceremonies William von Ghould is up front for the majority, but it’s always good to see the whole band being part of the action. It’s so easy to take a charismatic singer, especially one in a themed act, and have them push the band into the background. Creeper definitely are not guilty of this. Hannah Greenwood, as always, has her time in front of the mic as well though her vocals don’t chill (in the good way) any better than in the closing moments of “Black Heaven”.
We even managed a couple of crowdsurfers, both of whom were handed the microphone as they passed by, both of whom screamed out the words to save Mr von Ghould a little work. Kudos to the man himself for trusting the fans not to break the mic, though his micstand apparently didn’t fare so well!
Despite the heat and the generous (by today’s standards) set length, there was no sign of either the audience or the band wilting. “More Than Death” is always an incredible song live, and rounded off the main set, before the aforementioned first-album pairing was played as our encore.
Creeper are a superb band, and very much one enjoyed best live. The sheer number of dates they’ve played over the last couple of years will have a lot to do with this – practice makes perfect and all that. Their hard work is paying off, and the choice to downsize venues for this tour (I believe they sold out SWG3 on their last tour, and it holds a lot more than the Catty) is a curious one but says a lot about them valuing music and atmosphere over simply going bigger for the sake of it.
Keep on creeping, guys, and we’ll keep on coming to see you!
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Pics byAC Photography
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