Wrathchild, Dublin Castle, London, April 2025, Review and Photographs by Dawn Osborne

The day began earlier for me than usual as I met Rocky Shades of Wrathchild at around 5pm at the Dublin Castle pub for an interview. (Hilarious as usual see my interview with him on You Tube or in the next issue of Fireworks Magazine). It was a great privilege to see the sound check and witness him putting together his new Confetti Bazooka gun, and a little unnerving to find out he would be testing it tonight for the first time. He has also apparently screwed his gun shaped microphone tighter together to stop it falling apart and tied its holster to his waist belt that continually reads in red LED lights “Rocky Shades Wrathchild” to prevent the holster sliding down his leg, hopefully future proofing against Spinal Tap moments. The PA sounds very loud, but fear not Rocky’s strong melodic voice can be heard clearly about the din, even before sound levels were properly calibrated.

Opening band The Threats are very young, probably in their twenties and still all sporting short hair as if still at school. If I tell you that their final song was ‘Sabotage’ by The Beastie Boys you’ll get an idea of where they were going. Actually their set started off with hints of Sex Pistols era old school Punk with hints of Motorhead guitars-wise, moving to getting close to incorporating a tiny bit of hip hop influence and got near to Nu-Metal by the end. One common theme that ran through the set was they are very, very angry, doing more than one primal scream and are vocally a melody-free zone. The frontman admirably seeks to challenge and engage the crowd through, pointing at them, and is not afraid to make eye contact. They have pulled a few people exclusively there to see them, who dance along and appear familiar with their material.

Wrathchild have so many big songs they can afford to be profligate with a few right at the beginning. Launching straight in up to their metaphoric gonads they begin with ‘Stakk Attack’ and Rocky sets off the red confetti bazooka gun with everything going to plan. Shades is so entertaining he has no fear of someone hearing their favourite song and going home. You do not leave a Wrathchild gig early, period! During ‘Too Wild To Tame’ and ‘The Biz Suxx’ there is already one wild-eyed stick-thin blonde taking up a space of about six feet square flailing her limbs. Clearly a big fan of the band she actually heckles Shades in the break shouting “Stop Talking”. Presumably she was impatient to hear more music. Luckily for everyone else at the front she peaks early and shortly afterwards vanished, not before an unflappable Shades introducing the next song, the first from the new EP ‘Call Of The Wild’ as “dedicated to people like her”.

Pointing out that it’s 41 years since the release of ‘Stakk Attakk’ Shades introduces the melodic ‘Sweet Surrender’. There’s much hilarity about the fact that I can read the set list upside down, but the band can’t “He’s short sighted, I’m long sighted and they can’t read”. Considering the small venue the band sound technically excellent. ‘Trash Queen’, another biggie, is introduced next as “Wrath Royalty”. Shades is by now thoroughly enjoying himself and gets the audience singing along to the chorus by extending out his mike. Pointing out that it was played at every gig 1983 to 1991, but noting that now due to health and safety rules spray crème and scantily clad ladies no longer feature in the song, he further explains it is now shorter and faster, as the band launch into ‘Cock Rock Shock’.

‘Sad Enuf 2 Care’ from the new EP is next and it’s a song that really shows that, despite all the Hard Rock bombast, Shades can really sing and his voice remains undimmed after all the years of debauchery. It’s back to the beginning for a short burst of ‘Shokker’ and we stay in the eighties for the band’s only ballad ‘Long Way 2 Go’ precursored by a story about Lemmy’s opinion on live ballads “why would I send them asleep when I have just woken them up” with Rocky apparently retorting “why invent the world’s fastest sports car and give it square wheels”. There is no let up in energy and the band transition seamlessly into the title track of the new EP “Still Here In The Freak Show”.

Before he got the rights to the Wrathchild trade mark Shades & Co. went briefly by the name of Wildside Riot and he dedicated one of those songs ‘My Woman’ to his wife “even though the lyrics of this song are not that nice, but because of the title”. Not forgetting his band, Rocky introduced them all before one of the band’s most famous and entertaining songs ‘Nukklear Rokket’ got everyone singing and dancing.

‘Come Over’ is the final song from the four track EP and Shades tells the crowd, that if they see him in the bar don’t be shy come over and chat, throwing in that he does not believe in charging for meet and greets. Rocky starts to shimmy dance as he feeds off the heightened energy of the crowd. ‘Kick Down The Walls’ got a group of old school fans at the front singing every word and raising their arms in festival-bliss-mode-homage.

As an encore and just for a bit of fun, the band finish with Punk classics  ‘Pretty Vacant’ and ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, which reinforces the big party atmosphere. Afterwards Shades gets changed out of his sweaty stage clothes at the side of the stage while hugging and reminiscing with long time fans. Always entertaining! One day people will understand how lucky we were to be at such gigs. There will never be a Rocky Shades hologram. Quite simply without his spirit the experience can never be reproduced!

Dawn Osborne