Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
On a dark stormy night on Thursday, the seventh day of November, King Diamond’s black mass was held at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre. Everything about that evening set such a precedence for the show, from the dark gloomy weather, to the name and overall aesthetic of the venue, everything about that evening alined perfectly .
Opening the evening, Portland newcomers Idle Hands took to the stage for their first ever Brooklyn show, unfortunately the bands set began in front of an almost empty theatre as concert goers were still making their way into the theatre. With their take on a gothic infused classic metal sound that easily won over the crowd as they began to fill-in from the halls of the theatre. As the band cut through their set of tracks compiled from their debut album, “Mana’. Considering the short time Idle Hands has been together as a band, their stage presence in front of the much larger crowd they are used to playing in front of was as comfortable looking as one of a group of veterans. By the end of their set it would be easy to say that Idle Hands won over the crowd making some new fans and was a perfect balance setting the tone for was in-store for the rest of the evening.
The British doom rockers, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats took to the stage in the main support spot, this was an easy fit for Uncle Acid, just like King Diamond, Uncle Acid are also well known for their horror story album concepts. By now the theatre was packed with the sold out crowd, and with their signature psychedelic B movie horror images projecting behind them, they quickly set the crowd into a trance as the band ripped through a quick set of 8 songs, half of which were from their 2012 release ‘Blood Lust’. Opening their set with the heavy fan fav “I’ll Cut You Down” the band hit the gas with relentless riffs and never looked back. The highlight of set for me was definitely hearing Uncle Acid rip into “Death’s Door” and the more heavier set closer “13 Candles”. Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats are by far one of those bands you must experience live. I’ll go on record to safely say that the crowd of the more core metal heads who came out strictly to see the King were not disappointed by Uncle Acid as sea of nodding heads stood in a trance.
Its been four long years since the “Abigail In Cocert 2015 Tour” and King Diamond fans have been starving, finally the hour everyone had been so anxiously awaiting had fell upon us, as door number 9 of the institute open, a hooded servant wheeled King Diamond out onto the stage on a stretcher to the eerie intro of “St. Lucifer’s Hospital’, as the band, drummer Matt Thompson, guitarist Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg along with longtime original guitarist Andy LaRocque emerged from the dark and down the stairs, the stage set, that of a two story old and haunting mental hospital resembling the artwork of ‘The Institute’, the upcoming album from King Diamond, the concept is of a horrific tale about a girl institutionalized and tormented by the demons in her mind. Tearing right into the night with sets opener “The Candle”, the black mass was under way and fans of the King couldn’t be anymore happier. Needless to say, the King was amazing, hitting every high note there was to offer and harmonizing with backup singer Livia Zita. The theatrical performance the King is so notably know for, saw two hooded servants rolling out the coffin of the stillborn baby Abigail for the King to perform the ritualistic murder of Abigail’s spirit during “Funeral”. Keeping with the classics, fans got a back to back dose of ‘Abigail with “Arrival” and “A Mansion In Darkness”. Include in the classic set of hits was “Halloween”, although it was a week after the holiday, and noted by the King that they were a little late, it received an ovation from fans as if it actually was Halloween night. Through out the set a female would continuously reappear and quickly disappear dancing in and out from the dark and dense fog, at times portraying different characters like a nun, and once the patient of ‘The Institute’ during the performance of King Diamond‘s recently released new single “Masquerade Of Madness”. What would a King Diamond show be without an appearance by Grandma and that silly wheelchair for “Welcome Home”.
The evening ended with a touching tribute, as King Diamond dedicated the set closer “Black Horsemen” to his former Mercyful Fate/King Diamond bandmate, the late bassist Timi Hansen, who sadly passed away earlier in the week after a long battle with cancer. Hansen played bass for Mercyful Fate from 1981-1985 and again in 1992-1993, Hansen also played with King Diamond on both ‘Fatal Portrait and ‘Abigail’. The “Black Horsemen” road into the night triumphantly in honor of bassist’s Timi “Grabber” Hansen’s legacy.
As if King Diamond‘s theatrical stage performance wasn’t enough to blow your mind, most notably that evening, was how incredibly strong and tight sounding the entire band was, that had the hungry crowd demanding “more,more,more!”, but there could be no better way to end a perfect show, as King Diamond would exit back through the Institute door he was first wheeled out of to only peek his head back out one last time to bid his final farewell to the crowd for now.
The setlist for the night was full of classic hits from King Diamond‘s post-2000 albums, except of coarse his newest offering “Masquerade of Madness” which seem to fit perfectly amongst the sounds of the classics. With ‘The Institute’ soon to be released we can only hope for another taste of the King live again in the near future, till then we shall cherish this incredible evening with the King and raise a toast to Timi Hansen.
King Diamond Setlist:
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The Wizard (Uriah Heep song)
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St. Lucifer’s Hospital (intro)
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The Candle
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Behind These Walls
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Funeral
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Arrival
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A Mansion in Darkness
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Let It Be Done
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Voodoo
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Halloween
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Masquerade of Madness
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Out from the Asylum
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Welcome Home
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The Invisible Guests
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Sleepless Nights
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The Lake
Encore: -
Burn
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Black Horsemen
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Something Weird (outro)
