Murderdolls Black Veil Brides Defiled at HMV Forum Review

Murderdolls, Black Veil Brides, Defiled played at London HMV Forum in February 2011.
A line of black clad, make up caked, goth punks and punkesses stretched down the block beside and behind the London HMV Forum (and rather ironically, right behind a church, creating an interesting contrast, especially as the light from inside made the heavenly scenes on the stain glass windows glow as soft organ music wafted out). The backside of the Forum, however, was a dark, gritty, beer drenched mess and felt like the devil himself had done the decorating. Once inside, the crowd and the music to be played was again contrasted by how utterly beautiful the grand old theatre is, with gorgeous relief sculptures and a giant, intricately designed dome that at one time, surely would have housed an impressive chandelier. I took my seat in the upper level, on a comfortable red velvet bench. Red velvet bench? This was the most posh metal show I had ever been to.
The crowd was surprisingly young, it seemed. It didn’t become apparent until later that they were there mostly to see the second band, the atrociously horrible Black Veil Brides. But first, the UK band Defiled took the stage and they were….okay. There was nothing especially ground breaking about them. They took the now over killed and bland emo-core style and combined it with a watered down industrial tinge to create yet another forgettable band. Their overly tattooed look and the growl of the lead singer gave them a bit more of an edge and street punk feel, but this is mostly superficial, and in the end, Defiled was nothing to write home about. The most memorable part of their set was when the lead singer said “Show me your tits!” to the crowd of mostly 15 year old girls who were squashed in front of the stage. That was just wrong on so many levels.
Next up, the afore mentioned Black Veil Brides, who seemed to have a legion of fans and even a KISS style “Army”. The screaming girls seemed to adore them, for some reason. They truly were terrible. There isn’t a lot of good that can be said about “BVB” in terms of their talent. The singer’s voice (it’s not even worth researching what the guy’s name is) was dull, flat and not overly strong. The musicianship was lacklustre at best. It was almost as if they had taken lessons up to a certain point then ran out of money because they spent all of their allowance on makeup and hairspray instead. And prettied up they were. They seemed to borrowed styles from Motley Crue, Marilyn Manson and Cher, sporting big, black hair, make up, tight jeans, spikes, and lots and lots of shiny things, oh my! Their image seemed to impress the young crowd, but in reality was rather ridiculous and hokey. Their lanky frames looked weighed down by all the crap they wore, and they came across like kids out for Halloween as opposed to a serious band. Yet, they were adored! Their attitude was a further turn off, when they blasted critics by saying they don’t care what they think, which was pretty obvious anyway. If they care what critics think they would have learned to play their instruments. The highlight of their show was when they left the stage.
The preparations for the headliners were underway as the crowd seemed to thin out a tad. How many of the younger kids were there just to see “BVB”? Too many. And they would miss out on an incredible show by a band with real talent. The Murderdolls were impressive. In the past, they have dressed more colourful than the greys and blacks that they donned for this show, reflecting the relative darkness of their new album. But, it was still fun. They don’t take themselves too seriously, even though they are seriously good at what they do, and that is put on a show. Not just a concert, but a show. Short bursts of entertainment, fun lyrics about death, murder, the devil, and of course the word Fuck, and a high energy stage presence by a band that has it together? Fantastic stuff. The titles of the songs alone are enough to put a sadistic smile on a face: People Hate Me, Die My Bride, 197666, Chapel of Blood. As usual when a good band is on stage, the time seems to evaporate. How many times did we hear the word motherfucker? I couldn’t even begin to guess. Of course, there was the obligatory tribute to deceased Slipknot bassist Paul Grey that seems to go along with any Slipknot related project. This put a spotlight clearly on Slipknot drummer and Murderdolls guitarist Joey Jordison, who, up until then blended in seamlessly with the rest of the band, despite his relative superstar status. Their ovation was a fun, dark campy rollick through “Motherfucker, I Don’t Care”, with showman extraordinaire and lead singer Wednesday 13 twirling a black umbrella around daintily with the word Fuck written on it with bright orange tape. And so ended a truly enjoyable performance by a truly underrated band who truly should have picked anyone else to open for them.