The Nightmare Returns! Wednesday 13 Live in London!

Grave, Grunge and Glory! The Unholy Trinity of Wednesday 13, The SoapGirls and The Nocturnal Affair Bring The Anarchy to the Islington Assembly Hall, London!

On Tuesday, 4th November, the air outside the Islington Assembly Hall was heavy with a venomous anticipation, thick with the scent of the damp chill of the November night, the resonant wood of the old hall, and the charged electricity of a thousand expectant bodies. This was not merely a concert; it was a ritual of exquisite darkness, drawing a dedicated congregation to witness a trinity of rock. The night promised the brooding gothic elegance of The Nocturnal Affair, the raw, glorious anarchy of The SoapGirls, and the grand, blood-splattered spectacle of horror-punk icons, Wednesday 13. On this cold November night, the ornate venue became a cathedral for the macabre, hosting forces that, while distinct, were united by an intense, emotional ferocity. The cumulative effect was a stunning display of deep conviction, fierce independence, and genre mastery, proving that rock and roll, at its darkest core, remains eternally vital.

Setting the Shadowed Scene: The Nocturnal Affair

Kicking off the evening as the house lights dimmed to a mournful, smoky blue were Las Vegas’s own, The Nocturnal Affair. Having already established their fierce chemistry with the headliner during their second tour alongside Wednesday 13 in the last year, they stepped onto the stage with an understated visual aesthetic but a sound that was immediately explosive. The band demonstrated they were a force of haunted conviction. Their sound, a cinematic dark rock that pulls equally from the crushing grooves of modern metal and the elegant despair of gothic rock as they instantly seized the audience’s deep attention.

Vocalist Brendan Shane is a magnetic, commanding presence. Clad in a simple t-shirt and black jeans, his visual focus was all raw, stripped-down rock energy, letting the profound emotional weight of his delivery provide the drama. His voice is a deep, resonant instrument, moving seamlessly from a rich baritone to a soaring, emotive cry that cut through the Islington air like a blade. They opened with the pulverizing “It’s No Good,” its heavy, chugging riff setting a relentless, melancholic pace. The band’s musicianship was formidably tight, a testament to relentless touring, creating seamless layers of intricate, textural melancholy that felt both vast and intimate.

The crucial moment of release came near the end of their segment with their now-signature, reimagined cover of Haddaway’s dance anthem, “What Is Love.” This was no throwaway joke. The band transformed the track into a brooding, anthemic confession, stripping away the club beats and replacing them with pounding industrial shimmer. The crowd instantly erupted, a spontaneous, unified chorus of voices confirming the band’s ability to turn pop familiarity into dark-rock catharsis. The Nocturnal Affair seized total command of the stage, converting curious observers into dedicated acolytes with a shocking surge of raw, untamed conviction that was both sophisticated and dynamically fierce.

Anarchy and Attitude: The SoapGirls

Following the gothic exuberance of the opener, the stage was immediately seized by The SoapGirls, and the energy in the room levitated to the next level of rebel intensity! Hailing from Cape Town, the fierce sibling duo, Mille (bass) and Mie (guitar/vocals) blinded the crowd with an electric surge of rebellion. Despite playing the set with a stand-in drummer, their two-piece core delivered their punk rock with absolute flawless musical delivery, generating an immediate frenzy of excitement.

The SoapGirls are true punks in every sense, embracing the ethos of confrontation, DIY spirit, and absolute, uncompromising self-expression. Their performance is fiercely political, tearing into social complacency with tracks like “Bad Bitch” and “Society’s Junk.” Mille’s bass lines thumped with a primal intensity that pulsated through the venue, while Mie’s guitar work was sharp, chaotic, and distorted with purpose. They are a necessary disruption, never afraid to walk where angels fear to tread, using their music and sexuality to challenge social norms and provoke conversations on issues often deemed too messy for rock and roll.

 

Their power lies not just in the sonic assault, but in the potent, defiant subtext of their sisterhood, standing as a united, glitter-bombed middle finger to rock’s status status quo. Their segment was highly interactive and visceral. Midway through a blistering track, Mie, the singer/guitarist, dramatically bent backward while soloing, dropping to the floor, a moment of pure, dangerous, show-stopping rock extravagance that was met with the absolute joy of the packed Islington crowd. The fearless connection with the audience, maintaining a fierce, almost confrontational intimacy with the crowd established them as a necessary, a vibrant jolt of electricity, preparing the crowd for the theatrical headliner with a potent shot of rebellious adrenaline.

The Monarch of the Macabre: Wednesday 13

As the stage was obscured by dense smoke and an inferno of red light, the anticipation reached its peak, thick and suffocating. When the house lights died, and the master of horror-punk, Joseph Poole, exploded onto the stage, he was already in full regalia, a towering, dominant figure of magnificent dread.

Wednesday 13’s appearance is one of rock’s most beguiling paradoxes: he seems ageless, a perfectly preserved creature of the night who has perpetually outrun the decay he sings about. Dressed in the iconic flowing cape that blends Victorian ghoul with punk aggression, he embodies a timeless darkness, a man perpetually at war with the light, and eternally revered for it. This isn’t just a gig; it’s a terrifying communion between an artist and his adoring, cult-like following.

The show was structured not just as a concert, but as a journey through his eternal dark side, a devastating retrospective of horror-punk’s most beloved villain. The set opened with a shattering declaration of his undead gospel: the immediate, fierce energy of “Look What The Bats Dragged In,” a track that instantly demanded total devotion.

The Summoning and the Slaughter

The initial segment was a barrage of aggression and theatrical murder. The momentum was immediately cemented by “Too Fast for Blood” before delving into the current era with the grinding, unsettling groove of “Rotting Away.” The atmosphere was thick with cinematic dread as Wednesday delivered the visceral, B-movie brutality of “I Want You… Dead.” This act peaked with the gothic elegance of “The Ghost of Vincent Price,” a heavy, theatrical salute that proved his ability to blend genuine theatricality with crushing rock. The tension ratcheted up further with the powerful, commandingly heavy track “When the Devil Commands,” setting a relentless, unforgiving pace.

Covenants of Chaos and Grief

This mid-set passage was reserved for deep emotional cuts and tributes to his history. The first surge of collective nostalgia came with the Murderdolls track “Summertime Suicide,” a melancholy, desperate punk anthem that turned the room into a unified, screaming choir! It was a tender, painful salute to shared grief. Without a moment to catch their breath, the crowd was dragged back to the sleaze with the ferocious Frankenstein Drag Queens cover, “197666,” a raw, unhinged blast of pure, unapologetic punk rock. This historical journey culminated in his own massive anthem, “There’s No Such Thing as Monsters,” a roar of self-affirmation that became a moment of shared, dark catharsis for the entire room.

The Final Descent

The path to the encore was paved with heavy, relentless despair. Tracks like “In Misery” and the moody, atmospheric weight of “Haunt Me” pulled the collective mood into a realm of gothic confrontation. Wednesday 13 then provided a dose of his characteristic, self-referential fun with the infectious aggression of “Good Day to be a Bad Guy” and the unapologetic snarl of “No Apologies.” The emotional descent was completed by the crushing inevitability of “From Here to the Hearse” and the second, deeper Murderdolls cut, “Nowhere,” a devastating track that felt like the final breath of a doomed romance. He closed the main set with the essential anthem “I Walked with a Zombie,” leaving the crowd gasping for air.

The Ultimate Reckoning

The spectacle returned with a blinding flash for the encore. The band tore back onto the stage, throwing down the frenetic, beloved track “Bad Things.” The chaos was then turned up to eleven as he incited glorious mayhem with the second Frankenstein Drag Queens cover, the fan-favorite “I Love to Say Fuck”, a moment of communal, joyous vulgarity. The final, mind-bending choice was the explosive cover of the KISS anthem, “God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II,” delivered not as a tribute, but as a righteous, deafening declaration that this horror-punk spectacle, and the dark covenant between artist and fans, will never die.

This powerful, unforgettable closing segment was a reminder of the deep, shared history and enduring legacy Wednesday 13 has built with his fans, a legacy rooted in shared love for the weird, the monstrous, and the deeply authentic.

A Perfect Unholy Trinity

The night at Islington Assembly Hall was a resounding success precisely because of the clever emotional juxtaposition of the three instigators of chaos. The Nocturnal Affair provided the elegant, heavy atmosphere; The Soap Girls delivered the raw, necessary shock of unfiltered punk energy; and Wednesday 13 capped it all off with his world-class, ageless theatrical showmanship. It was a perfectly paced evening that offered something for every shadow-dweller within the broader rock spectrum. On this cold November evening, the Islington Assembly Hall hosted a community united by a love for loud guitars, the dark and macabre, and a rock and roll spectacle that, mercifully, refuses to die.

Review and photos by Louise Phillips Music Photography

All photos are owned by Louise Phillips Music Photography and cannot be shared without consent

Photos of Wednesday 13

Photos of The SoapGirls

Photos of The Nocturnal Affair