Sunday, March 3rd and Fuzz Club graced itself in black lace and lit the candelabras in honor of the Gothic cinematic terror that Cradle of Filth emanates. But the night was young and three more acts were ready to hit the stage before the legendary British act.
Drift, Sick N’ Beautiful and Wednesday 13 appeared with different musical propositions but with one common element. Their visual challenging performances. Drift was a late addition to the tour. The band hails from Los Angeles and roams the fields of industrial and electronic music with the image being a post-apocalyptic cross between Mad Max and the iconic Eurovision performance of S.A.G.A.P.O. by Michalis Rakintzis. Nothing fancy but and overall pleasing act that paved the way for the more uplifting Sick N’ Beautiful from Italy.
The band belongs to the Frontiers Records roster and definitely has a soft spot for Rob Zombie, In this Moment and green fluorescent. Singer – temptress Herma is undoubtedly the main figure owning a dynamic set of pipes while shifting between costumes as part of the act. She did reveal though that the band didn’t use its effects in their entirety for safety reasons. I wonder what she meant by that and what eye candy we missed…
Without any delays it was time for my personal highlight of the evening. Wednesday 13 or Joseph Michael Poole if you prefer, brought on stage the authentic American punk horror atmosphere that reeked of moisture, excavated soil and cheap make-up. The set included songs from Murderdolls and Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13. I was lucky enough to watch him perform in an Orlando FL bar while opening for The 69 Eyes back in 2020. The set was solely Wednesday 13 material and the act was dark and intimidating. This time the mood was set for party and we didn’t mind at all. He set the mode to “Necroglam” and it was like as if The Misfits geared up to Dig Up Her Bones but exhumed the remains of Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns and Pretty Boy Floyd instead. A great deal of the crowd was there for him so the overall reception and reactions were more than welcoming. Joey Jordison was mentioned several times as expected since the performance was kinda dedicated to him. Time flew by and in a blink of an eye the crew hit the stage preparing Fuzz for a different kind of horror…
The Fate of the World on Our Shoulders through the speakers and Dani obscured by a shroud, impatiently swaying like a boxer waiting at the corner of the ring. He kicked off a bit blunt vocal-wise while the sound guy struggled a bit with the mix. Fortunately, Dani warmed up eventually and the sound improved. The band set off to grace us with a selection that honored 30 years of Filth discography with Existence is Futile getting a slightly bigger portion of the pie. Club shows such as this are definitely their thing. The crowd is mostly loyal fans of the band and the sound is more focused. So between their last performance in 2022 and this one, Fuzz is the undisputed winner.
We also must give credit to Made of Stone Productions for flawlessly pulling off a demanding show while honoring the timetable.
Konstantinos Kounadinis
Photos: Yiannis Dolas
