Dope hit the stage 45 minutes after the doors open and much like frontman Edsal Dope states onstage, it really is weird for them to be the first band on the bill. Initially there were some significant sound problems particularly with the mic’s, however there was plenty interaction back and forth with the band and the crowd. There is no real oomph in the set until “Bring It On” with thunderous blasts of “Fuck Tomorrow” ringing across the room. After that it was business as usual the room absolutely exploded to “Die Motherfucker Die” it's as though a completely different crowd took over; got some pits going, got plenty of energy on display, after this the set felt like it ended too quickly for me, I wanted a bit more but I was very pleased with what they did give us.
Wednesday 13 is on top form tonight with his costumes, glow in the dark body paints, horror stage props and there was even lights on the microphone which he used to illuminate his face at opportune moments. At one point the motherfucker was eating and throwing “worms” out at us, just generally trippy as shit which is what we love this guy for. In terms of setlist I’ve waited a very long time to see this, I’ve even seen Murderdolls play but never got around to catching his main project, though there was minimal crowd reaction to what was going on I really thoroughly enjoyed the set and I feel that people were completely mesmerised by what was going on. Only bad part from my perspective is there was no older stuff, their older stuff - particularly the first 2 albums - is in my opinion the best funky horror shit in the universe, nothing prior to Dixie Dead got chance to see the light of day however I was more than pleased that he still closes with “I love to say Fuck” because that is just iconic.
SOiL I was expecting a diminished response much like the last time I saw them but oh no the whole place absolutely erupted with energy and it never gave up once the whole set, all absolute bangers the guys needn’t even speak at their shows because they have the tracks that live can certainly speak for themselves. During their mini encore where they left us believing they weren’t going to play Iconic track “Halo”, the band re-emerges onstage without their charismatic frontman who emerges in the centre of the crowd with his mic and plays the whole song from there. Absolute quality from one of the first bands I ever saw live.
Static-X are about to give us the answer to the question; is doing this in good taste or has this been a horrible mistake? The answer is a swift no, this has not been a mistake at all, throughout the set it was precise, tasteful and very provocative to the memory of our dearly departed brother Wayne Static.They blasted through the Wisconsin Death Trip album and some classics on the end such as “Behemoth”, “Start a War” and “Destroy All” but then they heavily leant on the Machine album which was a great move for them with the pure bangers they had on that album; “Cold”, “Get To The Gone”, “This is Not” and of course “Black and White”. It was a great piece of nostalgia and an amazing tribute to our dearly departed brother.
Dope 3.5/5
Wednesday 13 4/5
Soil 4.5/5
Static-X 4/5
Review By James Webb |
Tony Campos
Ryan McCombs
Wednesday 13 
Edsel Dope