Wednesday 13 / Corporation / Sheffield

Aug 1

Aug 1 Wednesday 13 / Corporation / Sheffield

This is one I was looking forward to. I first saw Wednesday 13 back in 2019, when he toured with Static-X, Dope and Soil around the time of the release of his incredible album “Necrophaze”. This time, it’s a tyrip up to Corporation in Sheffield to catch the ‘Summer Blood Tour’ in support of the latest album “Med Death Crisis”.

And tonight has a packed line up, starting off with the Nocturnal Affair. From Las Vegas, Nevada the dark rockers are the brainchild of singer/songwriter Brendan Shane. Their style has evolved around some crushing and melancholic riffs, reminiscent of the likes of some of the darker alt music scene such as Type O Negative and Nine Inch Nails.

They released their debut single Down in November 2021 and released their debut album “(Meta)Morphosis”, which was produced by Grammy-nominated Disturbed bassist, John Moyer.

And they didn’t disappoint, delivering a powerful and high energy set right from the off, Brendan expertly avoiding banging his head on the beams as he stood on the monitors riling up the crowd as much as he could. A short support set, but it ends on a high with a magnificent cover version of the Haddaway hit What Is Love. Thoroughly enjoyable and as entertaining as ever.

Next up are Fearless Vampire Killers (FVK) a five-piece theatrical alternative rock band formed in 2008 from Beccles. The band’s name come from the 1967 Roman Polanski comedy horror film ‘The Fearless Vampire Killers’.

A band very much in the vein of the likes of Ice Nine Kills, they delivered a set packed with fan favourites such as Necromania from 2012’s “Militia of the Lost” and Say What you Want from Me from 2014’s “Unbreakable Hearts”. I was disappointed that their latest release Time Misunderstood wasn’t included in the setlist, just because it’s the first chance to hear it live, but maybe time was the limiting factor.

As you would expect, the energy levels were high throughout the set, with singer Kier Kemp down on the barrier, singing right up and close with the fans, as they belted the lines back to him. Indeed both Kier and Laurence are great frontmen, working the crowd effortlessly, reminding the crowd in quieter moments that this is the city of steel….. ‘come on!’.

I hadn’t seen them live before, but I really enjoyed tonight’s set, and they’re a band I’ll defo keep my eyes peeled for more live dates in the future.

A longer break now, to clear and prepare the stage for tonight’s headliner. Born Joseph Michael Poole but better known by his stage name Wednesday 13, he was approached by Joey Jordison of Slipknot and asked to join his new horror punk band the Murderdolls, alongside Jordison and Tripp Eisen of Static-X and Dope, Poole became the driving force of the band after he moved from bass guitar to lead vocals. He’s also performed as part of Maniac Spider Trash, Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, Bourbon Crow, and Gunfire 76.

In 2004 the Murderdolls went on a hiatus, and in March, Wednesday 13 headed to the UK on a solo “The Graveyard A Go-Go” tour. Since then, Wednesday 13 has released 14 albums, from his 2005 debut “Transylvania 90210” to 2025’s “Mid Death Crisis”.

Coming out on to the Corporation stage, he turns his back to the crowd and raises his mic stand above his head, as the for notes of Look What the Bats Dragged In ring out. Dressed all in black, Wednesday 13 is an imposing figure, and her commands the stage around him. Ther crowd are loving it, hands raised high and head bou ncing back and forth at the barrier.

The set is a great mix of material from throughout his career, a great balance between his own Wednesday 13 material, such as In Misery from the most recent release “Mid Death Crisis” and I Walked With a Zombie from 2020’s “Bad Things”. But the crowd LOVED the addition of some Murderdolls stuff, Summertime Suicide from 2020’s “White Wedding” and Nowhere from 2010’s “Women and Children Last” going down particularly well with the Sheffield faithful.

And it was great to see a number of tracks from his time with the Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 making an appearance too, such as I Love to Say Fuck from 2010’s “Songs from the Recently Deceased”, perhaps one of the best closing songs I’ve heard

The crowd were loving every second of it, and at one point Wednesday 13 asked the crowd to ‘make some noise for Ozzy’ leading a chant of the legends name following his recent loss. It was a touching moment, and showed just how much the Prince of Darkness meant to everyone on the metal scene.

A great performer, who just oozes on stage persona, the whole band were on fire, especially Troy Doebbler on bass who blasted out some super heavy rhythms and Jack Tankersley master of the blistering riff. I wish there’d been something from the outstanding “Necrophaze”, something like Zodiac or Bring Your Own Blood, but nevertheless, Wednesday 13 delivered a great set, that got a damp Tuesday night Sheffield crowd going, an artist worth seeing again and again.

Setlist

Look What the Bats Dragged In

Too Fast for Blood

Rotting Away

I Want You... Dead

When the Devil Commands

Summertime Suicide (Murderdolls cover)

197666 (Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 cover)

In Misery

Good Day to be A Bad Guy

Die My Bride (Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 cover)

No Apologies