It wouldn’t be spooky season without Creeper playing at least one show during the Halloween period. For the last few years, they’ve made it their mission play at least one show in the month of October, this year bestowing four dates upon us across the country. Tonight is Manchester’s turn, and judging by the sea of black and white painted faces at the barriers tonight, the crowd are champing at the bit for an evening of gore and horny Dracula music.
First up is Atlantan four-piece Starbenders. Heavily influenced both audibly and visually by the glam rock of the ‘70s, singer Kimi Shelter, clad in leather and velvet, croons her way through the bands short but sweet opening set. It’s early, and the crowd is still pretty sparse due to the queues outside, but those who are in the room give the band a warm welcome, waving their arms as they cheer and singing along. Never was there a crowd more willing to indulge Shelter when she asks them to take part in a “whimsy pit,” a softer, more lighthearted version of the mosh pits we’ve all come to know, love and fear. ‘Chantilly Boy’ comes with one caveat; she implores us to always let our freak flags fly, and the crowd are only too happy to oblige. Shelter takes the opportunity to share the joke she’s been telling every night so far this tour (“I’d say you all look dead out there, but you’d take that as a compliment”). After a mere thirty minutes, Starbenders end with the aptly named ‘Saturday’, with the words “I dream of you on a Saturday night” echoing out across the crowd.
Hailing from Venezuela, France and New Zealand respectively, Calva Louise are up next. By far the heaviest band on the stage tonight, the three piece make their way through a fusion of genres, from post hardcore to electronic infused rock. ‘El Umbral’ is one of two songs sung in singer Jess Allanic’s mother tongue of Spanish, the other being their latest single ‘La Promesa’, which she dedicates to her home country of Venezuela and the tragedies it’s faced this year. She’s ridiculously multi talented, not only moving between playing both keys and guitar, but seamlessly transitioning from soft, melodic vocals one minute to throat ripping screams the next. Backlit by a neon sign of their logo, Ben Parker beats the drums like his life depends on it. Though the audience were a little slower to warm to the main support than they did the openers, there’s a sea of heads banging along by the time they end with ‘Oportunista’.
Despite the fact they don’t take to the stage for another half an hour, the Creeper show begins as soon as Calva Louise leave the stage. As the crew set up a huge white drop curtain that will soon become a spectacle in itself, a ‘radio station’ plays over the speakers, the DJ spinning the likes of Rocky Horror, Meatloaf, Judas Priest and Ozzy to get the show on the road. He takes a call from Darcia, everyone’s favourite vampire familiar, and she tells us all to be on the lookout for a dangerous figure, a woman in a hood and leather gloves, and we must report to security as she’s armed and dangerous.
As the DJ announces the band that have “come all the way from the mouths of hell,” a spotlit shadow appears behind the curtain. Introducing himself as the ‘Official Live Events Censor’, the shadow declares this show has now been rated “U for Universal.” The crowd boos as he tells us there won’t be any raunchy or sexual content, no senseless gore or violence, and certainly no sacred blasphemy. The boos quickly turn to cheers as another shadowy figure appears behind him; The Mistress of Death, clad in an executioners hood and wielding a battle axe. The lights turn the curtain blood red, the Mistress strikes, and the censor is no more.
The curtain drops, revealing the band as they launch into ‘Blood Magick (It’s a Ritual)’. With their trademark black and white face paint and blood staining their mouths, the band dominate the stage, with frontman Will Gould strutting round the stage, staring down the audience. Guitarists Ian Miles and Lawrie Pattison play off against each other perfectly, their joint solos on ‘Lovers Led Astray’ taking centre stage as they leap onto the risers to blast them out. Tonight’s setlist is comprised of the best tracks plucked from the bands last two albums, ‘Sanguivore’ and ‘Sanguivore II’, with the likes of ‘Parasite’ and ‘Headstones’ leading the charge.
Things quieten a little with ‘The Ballad of Spook and Mercy’, as Gould’s deep commanding voice rings out over the room, painting pictures with his words, before crescendoing into the climactic chorus. Another figure appears on the stage, this time to hand Gould a black telephone so he can receive a call from Darcia, imploring him to be on the lookout for a dangerous figure in the crowd, before promptly hanging up. He takes to the throne to ponder the danger as the rest of the band launch into ‘Black House’, with Gould remaining on the throne, all the while singing the lyrics into the handset.
It’s not just Gould that gets to revel in the theatrics tonight. After ‘Teenage Sacrifice’, a casket is wheeled onstage by two women in matching leotards and signature Creeper make up. They stand guard either end of the casket, as the lid is lifted amidst a sea of smoke, and Hannah Hermione emerges, flail in hand, to rip her way through ‘Razor Wire’. It’s a joy to see Hermione come out from behind the keys more often, and we can only hope there’s more opportunities in future songs for her to grace the front of the stage. After almost an hour, it’s time for their set to come to an end. Gould thanks us for engaging in this communion with them, and rewards us with the much lauded ‘More Than Death’, before ‘Cry To Heaven’ closes out their set, giving the crowd the opportunity to sing along one last time.
Creeper have truly cemented themselves as one of the best live bands in the UK right now. Their onstage phantasmagoria, gore and beheadings could very easily come across as a gimmick, and yet it never feels cheesy. They’re paying homage to the likes of Alice Cooper and 80’s horror, and they do it with conviction. As the rest of the band leave the stage, Gould is finally captured by the Mistress of Death, and she drags him over to the guillotine that’s now been wheeled onstage. Flanked by the aforementioned pallbearers, Gould’s head is forced into the lunette as the Mistress brandishes her axe menacingly and cries “Off with their heads!” The rope is cut, the blade drops, and Gould is brutally beheaded. The audience is left speechless regardless of whether this is the first time they’ve seen this part of the show or not, as we all try to work out how, moments later, Gould reappears for the encore with his neck unscathed.
The encores have varied this tour, with the band playing different ones each night. Tonight we’re treated to a mix from their back catalogue with ‘Annabelle’, ‘VCR’ and ‘Down Below’. The only constant has been their final song of each show, in the form of the beloved ‘Misery’. Roses are held aloft as tears flow freely, streaking the white paint that adorns so many faces in the crowd tonight as they take their last opportunity of the evening to sing along with them.
Creeper are a self professed cult. Their fans are self professed cult members. And thankfully, there’s no sign of them being deprogrammed anytime soon.
EMMA STONE
