Lordi – Corporation, Sheffield, Tuesday, October 22nd, 2018
Set List: Intro: Kiss – God Of Thunder/Sexorcism/Would You Love A Monsterman?/Missing Miss Charlene (with House Of Ghosts chorus in the middle)/Your Tongue's Got The Cat/Drum Solo/Blood Red Sandman/It Snows In Hell/Keyboard Solo/She's A Demon/Naked In My Cellar/Rimskin Assassin/Bass Solo/Hug You Hardcore/The Riff/Guitar Solo/Who's Your Daddy?
Encore: Devil Is A Loser/Hard Rock Hallelujah.
Well I've not seen these Heavy Metal Zombie Monsters since they played in the tent at Download at 2006 and I was blown away by them the... this time 12 years on... they blow up this venue in Sheffield.. well not literally but you get the picture.
We are waiting a bit for them to come on – probably applying every last bit of costume and make-up needed to put on such a spectacle of a show that's in store for us. Anyway, after a while it was time to put your hands together and welcome Mr. Lordi (Vocals), Amen (Guitar), Ox (Bass), Mana (Drums) and Hella (Keyboards) to the stage.
There's a nice spooky haunted house backdrop too that complete with a moving picture, a ghost who flies out into the front row in 'Missing Miss Charlene' and some state of the art lighting adding into the magnificence of scary smoke and Adams family like brilliance – not your usual Monday night out.. or any usual night out for that matter.
Something that really impressed me is that Lordi are not simply a one-hit-wonder novelty band since they've got tons of songs that they ooze out into the audience with splendid hooks, harmonies, powerful arrangements and both brutal and classical like melodics – Monster Metal I guess you could call it if there is such a term.
It's incredible to think how they manage to perform with such precision while wearing those costumes which must make you pretty hot, sweaty and uncomfortable underneath... though rock 'n' roll in general is never about being comfy or pretty for that matter. Lordi don't miss a note at all during the entire concert - no slops or slants, drops or clangers at all – utterly monstrous perfection in every way.
Their topic choices are rather taboo, risque and tongue in cheek and not for the faint-hearted at times – take for example 'Rimskin Assassin' about backdoor activities and I ain't talking houses here... more tea vicar?? This was premiered at Sheffield for our unsaid pleasures and it went down or should I say up great! Mr. Lordi even laughed about the fact that he may forget the words but every one was intact.
They took it back to the good old days of imprisoned dominance with new number 'Naked In My Cellar' that's also a single from the current album 'Sexorcism' – the title track of which started the show. Then what about the sick but humorous 'Your Tongue Has Got The Cat' with marvellous backing vocal sections.
A lot of enjoyable musical moments were buried deep within the depths of the set that included the classic 'Would You Love A Monster Man?' the filthy filled number entitled 'Hug Your Hardcore' – nuff said – nothing to do with happy dance music either!
Nice to see that every member of the band gets their own solo spotlight section that add extra dynamics and fun to an already exceptional concert at Corporation that are not in any way shape or form a bit boring – it's grossly albeit darkly flamboyant firing more sinister sounds to the show.
Mr. Lordi himself is quite a character with his gripping presence, grating vocals and towering stature and comes across really personable and extremely likeable – full of fun and almost humble at times – a quality many frontman of this stature always aught to adopt. He really comes across as one of us – which sounds bizarre to say but so, so true. Good of him to phone everyone's bosses, and teachers to say we wouldn't be in the next day too – hahaha!
He shows who is boss on stage and asks 'Who's Your Daddy?' in the only way he knows how – of course this man is – goes without saying and during the encore tells us the 'Devil Is A Loser' – opening up those epic wings for us all to see with the show coming to an end with the household family favourite 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' complete with cool and black medieval double blade axe in hand.
This has got to be one of the finest shows I have ever seen at Corporation and I would match it next to the likes of the Slash's Snakepit in Dec. 2000 or Anthrax in 2005 – credit to the band for taking the roof off and to the fine team at the club and bands crew for making it all possible!
I was virtually speechless to how good this show was and I have seen many here of grand proportions over the years. This bunch of Finnish Freaks certainly have the wow factor as proven here tonight!
10/10
By Glenn Milligan
