NIGHT DEMON Showcase Entire Recorded Repertoire In Cleveland
June 10, 2015, 8 years ago
Welcomed to their second home, the Ventura, CA trio came back to Northeast Ohio as conquering heroes, taking over the WJCU airwaves for three hours Friday, June 5th, then headlining the Agora on Saturday night, alongside local legends Shok Paris, Destructor and relative newcomers Deadiron (who will play Wacken this August). Night Demon has been to Europe, NYC and toured extensively everywhere in between, yet they chose Cleveland for an 11 camera shoot (courtesy of Vidz-r-us.com, check 'em out) which captured the band playing every song they've recorded (18 in all!), including a trio of cover tunes.
Soon after the opening 'Screams In The Night' and the evening's motto, 'Full Speed Ahead', sweat was noticeably dripping from frontman Jarvis Leatherby, running down his elbow as he played his blue bass. He said little, preferring to keep up the frenetic pace as he headbanged wildly and played off bearded/long haired guitarist Brent Woodward. Diamond Head's 'Lightning To The Nations' was up early, quicker than the original. Speaking of speed, it was followed by 'Ritual'. The title track for Curse Of The Damned provides a bit of a respite, the artwork hanging from a banner behind drummer Dusty Squires: the silhouette of the axe murderer highlighted in neon blue, his eyes illuminated in red. 'Killer' was just that, heading into their rendition of Riot's 'Road Racin'. The proper set closed with 'Th Chalice', complete with appearance from Rocky, the skull-faced mascot, brandishing said drinking vessel. Would have been enough, had the show ended there, but Night Demon returned for a three song encore, which included a cover of Jaguar's 'Axe Crazy', before ending the evening with their signature tune. Throughout the night and afterwards, the guys were approachable, mingling with the crowd, making new friends. The future of metal is old school, named Night Demon.
(Photo: Jon Lichtenberg)
Shok Paris were supporting the release of the original, Auburn Records recordings for Steel & Stralight, the guitars more prominent than the version IRS released, back in the 80s. Vic Hix (vocals) and Ken Erb( guitar) still have the goods and this evening, they were joined by Breaker guitarist Don Depew, filling in on bass (with a broken hand!), filling in for Ed Stephens, who was out on tour with Ringworm. Original bassist Kel Berkshire was also in the house, just in case. No worries, as staples like 'On Your Feet', Go Down Fighting' and 'Chosen Ones' still win new fans with each airing.
Opening with 'Sonic Bullet', Destructor, fresh from their Defenders Of The Old festival date, were in lethal form.Cleveland's answer to Nefilheim sees Dave Overkill, bending over backwards and falling to his knees, between singing and playing guitar. They worked in newer material like 'World Of War' and 'Keep The Faith', as well as Maximum Destruction tracks 'Pounding Evil' and set closing 'Take Command'.
Deadiron are a mix of high octane traditional metal (fronted by ex-punk rocker Alexander Van Ness, now sporting a lengthy mane which he pin-wheels throughout the set) and proto-thrash. This was my second time witnessing the twin guitar quintet, now adding material from their newly issued sophomore effort, Into The Fray, which shoud hold them in good stead overseas.
Photos from the show have been posted by Cleveland Scene and can be viewed at this location.
