Creeper Deliver Gothic glamour, Vampires and Horror Punk to The Shepherds Bush Empire!

Written by Louise Phillips on November 20, 2023

Creeper Deliver Gothic glamour, Vampires and Horror Punk to The Shepherds Bush Empire!

Creeper are undoubtedly one of the most exciting bands on the rock scene right now! Whilst clearly inspired by the likes of Nick Cave and Ozzy Osbourne, they are absolutely unique, fresh and vibrant. Like some sort of coven of vampires, with all the cool of the Damned, yet the gothic drama and fun of Rocky Horror’s Frank’n’furter combined with the bad ass attitude of James Dean! It’s no coincidence that they leave the stage to the Rocky Horror song, ‘Science Fiction’!

With Will Gould on Vocals, Ian Miles on Guitar. Sina Nemati on guitar, Sean Scott on bass guitar, Hannah Greenwood on keyboards and Jake Fogarty on drums, Creeper are a force of nature from the dark side, their show an eclectic and beautiful journey on a ghost train full of theatrical twists and turns, exquisitely crafted songs with clever and sometimes naughty lyrics and choruses catchy as hell, the kind of songs that I defy you not to sing all the way home!

A special mention has to go to ‘Save Face’ who along with ‘The Nightmares’ were the support bands for the night!! Save Face’s explosive performance was insanely good as vocalist Tyler Povanda, whipped the crowd into an excited frenzy! The American rockers took to the stage in matching red jumpsuits, looking like they were part of a great escape from Rikers. Their music had the urgency and chaos of a band on the run whilst raging with the energy of a wrongful conviction! Certainly one to watch!

Since their triumphant performance at this years’ Download Festival, Creepers popularity has soared and it’s easy to see why! They are tight as tight and visually stunning, bathed in a sea of red light, all wearing their matching signature biker jackets, fake blood streaked across their faces, like the love children of the Elvis Presley and Elvira Mistress of the Dark! But it’s not all about the theatrics as fabulous as they may be! Their music is vibrant, fresh and thrilling!! Their opening track, ‘Further Than Forever’ from their latest album ‘Sanguivore’ is like a rock Phantom of the Opera with balls, all searing vocals, thumping drums and crunching guitars, pure magic that Meatloaf would have been proud of! Which other band could get away with the unforgettable lyrics, “I’m Jesus in a strip club getting head?!”

‘Teenage Sacrifice’ where front man Will Gould strutted around the stage like some kind of sexy Dracula, with all the effortless cool of David Bowie was an absolute triumph, with beautiful harmonies and haunting guitars, Creeper were on fire and to say that the audience were getting into it was an understatement! Creepers fans are evangelical about their band, everywhere you looked there were people with fake blood on their faces in homage to their idols. Whilst Gould is a formidable frontman, Creeper are so much more than that! They moved together as if in some carefully choreographed dance, bouncing off each other, each and every one of them incredibly talented musicians giving everything to their audience!

‘Cyanide’ was absolutely beautiful and captivating and had the crowd literally screaming for more! ‘Annabelle’ was unforgettable with its seamlessly blended vocals and heavy guitars! And there was no let up! Creepers energy was relentless as they went full throttle for more than two hours, playing nineteen! Yes, nineteen of their most loved tracks! This is a band who pride themselves on coming up with the goods and giving the fans what they came for!! And tonight was no exception! Their final track of their incredible set was ‘Misery’, tender and stunning in every sense, all teenage angst, blood and tears, during which there was this incredible moment where the audience serenaded Gould and he stopped singing to take it all, visibly overcome with emotion. It was a spine-tingling moment of the sheer beauty of connection between a band and their fans! Absolutely magnificent!!

But as Creeper left the stage, their fans didn’t need to be disappointed as mere moments later, they returned to the stage with the phenomenal, ‘Cry to Heaven’, a song so brilliant, Ozzy himself would have been proud to call it his own!!

This is a band so good, they’re worth missing your last train home for! So, if you haven’t yet come over to the dark side and joined the Creeper cult, then you’re really missing out on something ghoulishly good!

Creepercult.com

Words and photos by Louise Phillips

Setlist:

Further Than Forever

Room 309

Teenage Sacrifice

Black Rain

Sacred Blasphemy

VCR

The Ballad of Spook & Mercy

Black Heaven

Crickets