There are a few different ways that people like to spend their Sunday evenings. Some of those people like to have a nice quiet relaxing evening after a long hard week and maybe just chill out in front of the television. Some like to spend some quality time with family. Some might even like to go to church. Me? I get to spend mine at Voodoo in Belfast with old school thrash metal legends supported by the new school of thrash.
First on this evening’s line-up are self professed War/Jazz metallers Acid Age. A band I have to admit, even though they have been on the scene for six years, I had never heard of before this weekend.
Acid Age took to the stage for a thirty minute set, with their job to warm up the crowd for this evening’s festivities and as far as I was concerned they certainly accomplished this mission.
Playing a blistering set with some great old school meets new school thrash I was highly entertained by the three piece band.
Jake Martin on bass definitely showed that he was more than capable on the four string. Drummer Aran Howe totally held up his end with some great drumming behind the kit and guitarist/vocalist Jude Milk totally entertained with his vocals, guitar playing as well as stage presence, which he has in abundance.
A good solid opening act and a band I certainly wouldn’t mind catching live again.
Second on the bill are Belfast thrashers Scimitar. A band who are certainly not new to the scene and have been around for the better part of eight years and have two E.P’s and an album under their belt.
Though, for a band that has been around for this length of time, this will be only the second time that I’ve managed to catch them live. The first time being around a year and a half ago and just like my first time seeing them, I was not disappointed.
With a set that had very little talking between songs, these guys were all business and thrashed their asses, as well as the crowds asses off for the next thirty plus minutes.
The band sounded tight, everything was on point and the audience certainly enjoyed what they had seen and heard.
Next up were the headliners for the evening. Legendary British thrashers Acid Reign.
A band that even though they started back in 1985, have technically only really been active for around ten years. In 1991, due to an ailing UK thrash scene, the band decided to call it a day. In 2015 vocalist Howard H Smith assembled a new line-up and resurrected the band after a 24 year hiatus.
A return, or should I say reboot, which has proven to be successful, with two singles, an album of new material and a headlining slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage at Bloodstock 2016.
This is a band that I haven’t seen live for thirty years and except for frontman H, is a completely different line-up, so to be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect.
What came next was the most fun I have had at a gig in a long, long time. Between a set that consisted of old songs and new offerings, as well as some humour thrown in between, I, like many others at Voodoo were certainly kept entertained throughout the entire set.
One of the humorous moments of the night was when singer ‘H’ talked about how support band Acid Age were unable to make the gig the evening before. He discussed that they had car trouble and that it resulted in the car bursting into flames. As ‘H’ said, the people in Belfast certainly know a thing or two about burnt out cars.
Part of the way through the evening frontman ‘H’ climbed down from the stage and pulled two tables over to the middle of the room, about eight feet or so from the stage. He then climbed onto the table and performed the next song there while thrash fans danced around the tables that he stood on and the disco ball above him was lit up. Now that’s something you don’t see often at a gig.
Acid Reign certainly kept the crowd entertained with not only their music, but also their antics and humour which certainly added to their performance and made for an even more entertaining show and one that I would certainly go back to again in a heartbeat.
Preview & Photography by David Stewart for MPM
