LIVE at The Astoria in London
May 24th, 2007
With special guests
Octavia Sperati
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SET LIST 24th
MOMENT ENCORE XODUS
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Feel free to
snag any pictures you want! Just understand I was in the
balcony and not in the mad mash on the floor, since I break rather easily...
so there were no close-ups.
It had been 11
years ago on this date that the Fields of the Nephilim last played
at the Astoria. Now, the property on which the Astoria sits is part of an
extensive
rebuilding and renovations project taking place in London town. The Astoria
Theatre
is soon slated to meet the wrecking-ball. It's not a particularly comely old
piece of
architecture, but it has character like the battle-scarred veteran of many
long wars.
If those walls could tell the tales of all that has happened there.... One
can only
imagine, knowing the bands that have played there.
On Thursday,
May 24th, 2007, The Nephilim were there to bid the grand old girl
farewell in a gig that will not soon be forgotten. It was most definitely
a "You had
to be there" sorta fing. I took a few moments to absorb it all before
the crowds
of people wandered in. Somewhere in the dark, Richard Stanley and his assistants,
Mssrs. Imo Horn and Nikolai Galitzine were ready and waiting to film the
awesome aural adventure.
I watched the
stage, looking for signs of life, and then they came -
Octavia Sperati, the metal lasses from Norway who were to open the
show. The ladies and their roadies bustled around in the twilight on
stage getting ready for their big moment while the first waves of Neph
fans began to stake their claims to their own little plot of Paradise
Regained. I could see them already layering themselves against the
bulwark of the stage, eager to be as close as close to the Man and
the new band. People were still coming in as Octavia Sperati played
their set. Not being familiar with their music I can't say much about
what songs they played. Their sound was a bit off, the singer being
drowned out by the instruments oftentimes...which was too bad,
because she has a voice that approaches operatic tones. They were
quite good. The crowd was appreciative but, I sensed, not as
enthusiastic as they would later become. But that's to be expected, when
you have a building full of people who came to see The Nephilim. The Chord
of Souls who'd gathered here this night were more than ready to get on
with the main attraction. We'd come from far and wide for one thing and
one thing only...to experience The Nephilim ~ the incomparable Mr.
McCoy and whoever it was that showed up on stage with him.
THE SET
I'm sure many
entertained thoughts about what would be the opening
number, but when the stage filled with roiling clouds of purple fog and
the powerful, mesmeric notes of The 24th Moment you had to think...
"What else?" Chills ran through me as the disembodied Watcher's
voice
seemed to emerge from the fog itself and waft out over the audience,
seeping into the very walls. "One moment, and I'd return forever...."
Yes, that was it! This was it! It was all coming together, and the
people cheered.
The droning soundscape
at the end of The 24th Moment bled into the
opening of Shroud, the first song from Mourning Sun, the album
released in late 2005. The mysterious 'ghost' musicians had taken their
places on stage. Once again, the dark echo of McCoy's velvet whispers
caressed our ears and slithered around us. Could this get any better?
And we knew beyond words that it would as McCoy appeared on stage
and Straight to the Light strummed into our consciousnesses.
The fog exploded
with white light and there he was, the one we'd all been
waiting to see. Yes! Mourning Sun was definitely going to be 'on-tap' tonight.
But then, just so we didn't get too smug about what we thought we were
going to hear, the band lit into Penetration, followed by Dawnrazor.
It was
a tribute to the past glories of both FotN and The Nephilim,
gratefully received.
The temperatures
were rising fast. The air was thickening, congealing
into a sense of something almost tribal as the shirts came off down on
the floor and the pyramid builders started doing their thing. It was quickly
becoming a great syzygic orgy of sweat and sound that had yet to reach
it's climax. No one person there was alone as the strains of Moonchild
took it down a notch - but not too far. Just enough to take a moment
to remind ones self to breathe and soak it all in.
Zoon III brought
the energy levels back up on high, slowly building once
again. They played hard and loud and McCoy moved back and forth across
the stage, sometimes coming to stand on the far left, his eyes glowing
eerily in the dark clouds of dry ice.
Then the lights
went down and the fog turned blue. There was thunder and
the sound of rain. We were back to a song from Mourning Sun with the
beautiful Le Veilleur Silencieux (aka Requiem Xiii-33). Time
to breathe again
and slide into a moment of warm oblivion. When he sang "Do you know,
things to come...?" did we understand what would happen next?
The hall seemed
to grow appreciably hotter as Xiberia kicked in, thundering
through the seats and the walls like an onslaught of Scythian horsemen coming
to grab us all by the throat and rattle us down to our very souls. It was
awesome
in the extreme, readily displaying the fresh new power of The Nephilim reincarnate.
They were back and rockin' our socks off, along with several other articles
of clothing.
As you can see
from the picture above, the floor was packed tight as a tin
of sardines still warm and wriggling...a fresh offering to the new metal 'gods'
who seemed quantitatively energized by the fans' more than appreciative
reception. Hovering over it all, in the corners, in the kleigs and catwalks,
behind
us, above us and all around, watching through our eyes and hearing through
our
ears, the Master of Metal Nephilim himself gave a great grin and tossed back
his
natty red dreds in laughter.
And the band played on,
treating us to the haunting and powerful Last Exit
for the Lost - the song that solidified my love for the Nephilim so long
ago. It was
like coming home to a place where the walls and layout were familiar, but
the
decor was decidedly post-apopalyptic metal like something out of Richard
Stanley's
"Hardware". Yet, like a fine damascene blade the lovely marbelizing
of sound and
driving crescendoes were far from lost - only embellished to a fine and deadly
glint.
Sadly, the set came to
what seemed a premature ending - for we could have
listened all night long. The stage went dark and the band left for the wings.
The
Astoria rocked with applause, whistles, and cheers for a good three minutes
that seemed like an eternity. If the volume of the noise was any indicator,
the gig
was an overwhelming success. Everyone was loving it and we all wanted MORE!
And more we got....
THE ENCORE
McCoy returned to the
stage sans the leather vest and black shirt, wearing a white
shirt and suspenders...reminiscent of the old days. The band took their places
and
rekindled the energetic flame with an intro embodying all the delicious metal
elements of Zoon. YUM! We were treated to a balls-out, arse-kicking
rendition
of Xodus which got things rolling once again.
McCoy had carried around his mic stand, leaned on it, shouted and crooned
into it all night...just as if he'd never put it down. I understand he asked
the
crowd down front what they wanted to hear. One response was Love Under
Will and so it was. By now we were totally giddy with delight, the heat
and
the energy. Apparently, so was McCoy, as he took a moment (no doubt) to wipe
the sweat from his brow.
At last, we were treated
to the epic eponymous ending of the latest
album, Mourning Sun. We listened and watched, hanging on every sound
and gesture as a new Heaven and a new Earth were laid open for our
hungry, yearning souls. We had come to be part of a new beginning
to the ongoing saga of the Nephilim. We had seen the ghosts of today,
yesterday and tomorrow all in the here/now and it was more than good.
It is a night and an event that will be remembered by all who were in
attendance for the rest of our lives.
From the echoes of Zoon which made no pretentions to be 'the old Nephilim'
sound McCoy has gotten his wish to take it to the limit of hardening the band
and their sound. It is now a vorpal blade quenched in the sweat of a thousand
plus souls, and it will endure. There are those who lament the loss of the
past
but it's time to move on with this rather shiney new and fresh sound, for
change is the only constant in this ever-expanding universe and world. It
is a metamorphosis and a shedding of the old skin - rebirth to the band we
all know and love, The Nephilim.
I don't know how correct
this is, but I have here a listing of the band members
for the evening, courtesy of The Watchman at the NFD board:
Carl Mc Coy - VOCALS
Gizz Butt - GUITAR
Steve Fox-Harris GUITAR
Gavin King - BASS
Lee Newell - DRUMS
Mark Tinley - KEYBOARDS
James Dunkley - FOH (Lighting and Sound)
Forever Remain!
Review and photos by Dragon. I don't care if you quote me...just give me credit.