Orange Goblin @ the Waterfront
Goblin brought the whole place to its knees
If Friday night was all about the new, with young Americans Crobot, then Saturday night was all about homegrown classics, as we went to the Waterfront to see Orange Goblin, as the stoner/doom legends set about celebrating 20 years of the finest, sludgiest metal ever produced from this fair isle. Not-for-long unsigned fellow stoner-rockers White Rhino, and retro-tinged, heavy rock ‘n’ rollers, Gentlemans Pistols, provided tonight’s support.
For the uninitiated, Gentlemans Pistols features James Atkinson on vocals/guitar (ex Voorhees) and Bill Steer (Carcass) on lead guitar. Yup. That’s right. Their guitarist is Leeds’ very own guitar hero and purveyor of metal mayhem, Bill Fucking Steer from Carcass! I know what you’re thinking, how big are the fucking balls on Orange Goblin, right? I mean, if it was me – and even if I was as good as Goblin – celebrating a 20 year career by getting a band to open for me featuring a guy whose been a legend in the scene for 30 years is a gutsy move. Because they were good. Very good. I bumped into fellow outliner Stu at the gig, who was so excited about Pistols that he was doubling up with another gig just so he could see them. So, for more on Gentlemans Pistols, watch his space (http://www.outlineonline.co.uk/music/live-reviews/gentlemans-pistols-the-waterfront), but for now, let’s just say that the set the bar high, and move on.
Turns out Orange Goblin knew what they were doing the whole time, because regardless of how good a support lineup they had, no one does what Goblin do quite as well as Goblin does. What they did was tear it up through two decades of hits, featuring classics from the beginning such as Saruman’s Wish and Shine, right through to more recent material such as The Fog and Heavy Lies the Crown. Which is exactly what you would expect from an anniversary tour. What was less expected is how well these songs stack up together, highlighting that in 20 years, whilst their sound may have grown to include faster, almost punkier tunes like Devil’s Whip, Goblin have been incessant in their ability to write head-banging riffs and fire them flaming into an audience like a groovy, dirty trebuchet. Frontman Ben Ward (a man who is as lovely as he is huge and scary) led the crowd up the mountain and back down again like a Tolkien general before crowd favourite Red Tide Rising metaphorically brought the whole place to its knees.
Orange Goblin proved tonight that you don’t just stick around in music for 20 years without consistently coming up with the goods, both in terms of material and ability. Tonight they proved that they’ve spent two decades becoming one of the best bands still on the circuit. And they’re only getting better.
9/10
