The Deadfire Halloween Party was definitely a fun way to cross into Halloween. McMontage, Deadfire and The Height of Abuse all delivered, showing how Scottish rockers party.
McMontage
Formed with three members of The Ruckus and friends, McMontage showed off a set of 80's classics that got everybody singing along. The cheesy, fun vibe that came from this band was definitely helped by the colourful costumes that all the members were wearing. The theatrical presence that took place on stage was a great way to get the party started as I don't think there was a single person that wasn't dancing along with the 80's songs at least once. Covers such as 'Ghostbusters', 'The Final Countdown' and 'Everybody (Backstreets Back)' were definite crowd pleasers.
Deadfire
Second band of the night were heavy, sleazy blues rockers Deadfire. I have to say these guys really know how to put on a show. The Halloween theme fit this loud group as larger than life frontman seemed very at home being carried on stage in a coffin. Deadfire seem to be one of those crazy kind of bands where you don't really know what's gonna happen next and the energy that comes from this is next level. These guys stand out as my favourite from the night. I didn't know any of their set bar the Tenacious D cover yet I still found myself unable to stand still. The rest of the crowd seemed fully immersed into the show and the frontman made sure to be connecting with the audience spending almost as much time down with us in the crowd as he did on the stage. Musically these guys kind of make me think of a more punk early days Metallica with a splash of blues riffs thrown in. I strongly recommend checking them out and if you're in the area go see them play. They're live set can not be compared to the recordings as that energy can't be bottled.
Recommended song to check out: Crazy Ones
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The Height of Abuse
Rounding off the night was hard rock/metal tribute band The Height of Abuse. With frontman seemingly dressed as Papa Emeritus (Tobias Forge) it was appropriate that they entered with a cover of Ghost's 'Square Hammer'. This catchy cover felt edgier than the original and the darker tone fit perfectly with the theme of the night. The Height of Abuse performed many well known tracks for people to party along with by original artists such as Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden and squeezing in Metallica's epic 'Seek and Destroy' right at the end. As much as these guys didn't feel like they had the same high energy or unpredictability as the previous two bands it was fun to just be able to sing along with some well known songs that were performed with passion. My personal favourite from The Height of Abuse was the cover of Guns N Roses 'Mr Brownstone' as I feel they absolutely nailed this and it suited their sound perfectly. During the set in true rock n roll fashion there was a couple of "stage crashers" during the set and this was joked about and didn't take away at all from the performance as they stayed on stage dancing along with the hits. Overall the best way I could describe The Height of Abuse is a group of guys who are very comfortable doing what they love and giving a good show while they're at it.
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Upcoming gigs
13th November - The Ruckus plus Virtues and Audiocicks - Krakatoa, Aberdeen
25th November - The Rhubarb/ Harley & The Wolf/ Deadfire/ The End of Everything - The 13th Note, Glasgow