As possibly the most feted faces on the British underground rock/metal scene Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats arrive under a weight of expectation.
After a series of support slots for the godfathers of metal themselves Black Sabbath, this is the quartet’s largest tour to date, taking their gloomy psychedelic-doom rock to their widest audiences yet.
First though the rather wonderfully named Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell deliver a noisy set of leather clad rock and roll.
It’s not terribly sophisticated but they make a joyous racket and the small crowd who’ve made it down by half seven seem duly entertained.
The second support act, Black Moth, are a female-fronted hard rock band from Leeds, their singer Harriet Bevan has a touch of the artful cool of Aubrey Plaza, matched to a powerful vocal reminiscent of Janis Joplin and she leads her band through an impressive support set.
Preparing to release their second album, the five-piece are on devastating form, threatening to undermine the headliners with a set that delivers soaring choruses and devastating garage-blues mixed with thundering Led Zeppelin riffs.
Moody single ‘Blackbirds Fall’ has the grandeur of Black Sabbath and a monumental chorus, cementing Black Moth as ones to watch and Leeds as one of the most exciting crucibles of music in the British Isles right now.
Finally the lights dim to a flicker and a Hammer horror march strikes up, props are due to Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats for taking their retro doom rock and playing it remarkably straight.
Black Sabbath and Judas Priest might have terrified parents back in the seventies but outside extreme fringes modern metal manages to be fairly unthreatening nowadays, with their long lank hair and horror movie sound effects no one told Uncle Acid though, as they rip up the stage like it’s 1972.
There’s a theatricality tonight that was missing during their high profile but rather static support slot with Black Sabbath in December with Kevin Starrs throwing himself into his guitar solos as if he’s afraid Tony Iommi is coming to get him any second.
Their witches’ brew is a steaming stew of monstrous breakdowns and galloping riffage from the two guitarists, most notably on the pitch perfect black mass of ‘Thirteen Candles’ and the tough as nails closer ‘Desert Ceremony’.
They nod reverently to their predecessors on the gothic ‘Paint it Black’-style ‘Crystal Spiders’ and crib from Deep Purple on the biblical ‘I’ll Cut You Down’ and while there is little revolutionary about Uncle Acid’s sound, they’re so pin sharp in their homage that you’re mostly inclined to forgive the lack of originality.
Words: Max Sefton
Photos: Michael Gallacher
