GIG REVIEW: Doyle Abominates The Voodoo in Belfast like a Force of Nature

22nd July 2018 admin

Friday 13^th and Doyle hits Voodoo in Belfast!!

Support acts Off the Cross and So long until the Seance delivered their usual performances. At least the performances I have witnessed on the one prior occasion I had seen them.

So Long Until The Seance have a gleeful sense of anarchic fun about them and although I am not familiar enough with their material to actually know any track names I may be moved to rectify this failing in the light of their compelling performance as I have a feeling that I will be seeing them a lot more in the future. Somewhere between Bad News and Abbath I felt. Good fun, not navel gazing and with a tight musical and vocal performance they impressed me no end.

So Long Until The Seance (c) Steven Donnelly

Off The Cross had a grittier edge and again I am not familiar enough to know track names. Again I shall have to address this failing and soon. They were the more aggressive of the two with a Death metal edge tacked onto what seemed Nu metal stylings. Not my cup of tea normally but a well delivered set and convincing enough to make me look more closely at this Dutch bunch.

Off The Cross (c) Steven Donnelly

Everyone was here to see Doyle, right? I was anyway having been a Misfits fan since I was 12, practically when they started, and a fan of Doyle the band since I first heard Abominator days after it was released.

Playing a selection of tracks from Abominator and As we die (the bands recent and excellent second album) from the moment they hit the stage Doyle kept up their relentless assault on the audience.

Abominator kicked things off, roaring round the room, less of the horror punk and more of the horror metal in style, if there is such a thing, Doyle showed off his technical ability more so than I have seen him do before. Powerful riffs supported by the strong vocal lead, rough and ready but straight to the point providing the full impact of this band. Their sound was powerful but well mixed and not distorted as often happens in small venues. The sound guys were on the ball.

Doyle (c) Steven Donnelly

Although I suspect the majority were here to see the living legend it must be said that front man Alex “Wolfman” Story is, in my opinion, the best front man that Doyle has worked with. Period. His vocal style is completely suited to the music and lyrical content.

Although Doyle is undoubtedly the main attraction the Wolfman is the real energy that defines the bands performance. He is a ball of energy on stage and frequently gave the impression that he was about to tear into the crowd living up to his stage name wonderfully.

Looking at the crowd, glaring? With an unfocused and frankly eerie gaze he dreamily informed us that “This next song is a love song, but you can dance to it”. That he told us this after every song, sometimes snarling a comment about people just standing there, made it disconcerting to say the least.

He is a disconcerting man.

I was disconcerted.

And slightly frightened.

I kind of felt bad for just holding up my pillar and watching but in my defence I have a broken vertebrae, not long healed and am much too old and big to dance anyhoo. I just took it all in like a moronic fanboy.

The faux drugged/psychotic act was kept up perfectly, just as Doyle is the unspeaking monster of Shellys fable, Story was a deranged berserker during the songs and dreamy Jim Morrison like dude informing us that the next song is a love song afterwards. Bloody sublime.

Story owned the stage with a performance that Iggy Pop would have been proud of, unhinged (seemingly) and always right up in the faces of the front row. The other name that springs to mind watching him own this tiny club is Henry Rollins but this was not a copy or even a tribute, this was the Wolfman doing his thang and doing it compellingly in my opinion.

Doyle stomped around the rest of the stage hammering the sh*t out of his custom guitars whilst the very solid rhythm section of bassist Brandon Strate and Wade Murff on drums pinned everything down with a ducks-bum tight performance.

For an hour and a half Doyle blasted us with hits of his own, avoiding the option of Misfits numbers. The unique material of Doyles two albums stands out and I would say outstrips a lot of his classic material with the Misfits and that of Cancerslug too where Story was vocalist.

Aggressive and in your face, Doyle made Voodoo theirs. If you missed this you missed something rare. A legend who has transcended his legacy and gone on to something, dare I say, greater?

Story and Doyle together slay and despite what might be viewed as a short set by some standards they are living proof that quality trumps quantity.

Highlights, Cemetery sexxx, Valley of Shadows, Run for your Life, dammit, the whole damned thing. It was a ninety minute highlight.

I hope that they return. And soon.

Review by Dr JP Metal