(Live Review) KING DIAMOND / OVERKILL / NIGHT DEMON - Chicago, IL (11/8/24)
By
The Beard & Little Johnny
Good day friends, fans, and followers, tonight your reviewing heroes The Beard and Little Johnny will be covering show #69 and bands #226-228 as we head down the homestretch of our 2024 season. This evening, we will be accompanied by the Beard's personal security force Greg (the big buffet) Hulke as we hit the heart of downtown Chicago for long time horror concept album master King Diamond with support from Overkill and Night Demon.
In a genuinely surprise venue choice, King Diamond performed at the Chicago Theater. This place seldom hosts metal bands, but what better place for seeing the theatrical flamboyance of the King. All of us were seated on the lower balcony with excellent stage views. Chicago Theater has good sound and lighting, and we were excited to see what the King had in store for this year’s production titled St. Lucifer’s Hospital.
NIGHT DEMON
First though, for the third time this year, the Beard checked out the three-piece Iron Maiden like stylings of California band Night Demon.
Of the three times I have seen Night Demon this year, Chicago Theater provided the best sound and lighting. However, since they were the first of a three-act evening it was also their shortest set. Night Demon presented a lot of rock star posing, but after the poor sound at Milwaukee Metalfest it was nice to finally hear this band sounding good. The Beard especially loved “Ritual” and “Chalice.” Plus, for their self-titled closer number, ("Night Demon"), they actually got down in the theater audience to play which Little Johnny absolutely loved.
This was Night Demons’ best set of the year and the Beard awarded an 87/100.
OVERKILL
Next up, and also from California, were the forty-year west coast thrash legends Overkill as they hit the stage behind their twentieth album, 2023’s Scorched.
Overkill are a great old school thrash band and sixty-five-year-old original singer Bobby Blitz Ellsworth tore it up. High energy from start to finish by every member of Overkill. Johnny went crazy moshing in his chair and on “Elimination” the Beard even joined the lad in some old school type headbanging. (Ed: Sitting down natch.) This was a tight, hot set straight through and Blitz still has that perfect west coast thrash vocal sound.
The Beard will crack a cold one for Overkill with an exceedingly high 93/100.
Anything to add Johnny? “Way to go Beard, you actually rocked for once. I will get you some Advil when we get home.”
KING DIAMOND
King Diamond live
Headlining was Denmark’s own iconic Kim Bendrix Peterson better known as King Diamond, who has been bringing us horror story concept albums for almost fifty years whether through his prog/black metal act Mercyful Fate or his more gothic horror solo act.
At almost seventy, the King retains his unique high falsetto voice that has him on many metal singer Mount Rushmore’s (including the Beards.) A special guest on this tour was vocalist and keyboardist Amalie Brauun, a fellow Dane who sings and performs under the moniker Myrkur, (an act that mixes black metal with folk and pagan music.)
As always when it is a King Diamond show, theatricality is paramount, and the stage was set up like a spooky gothic mansion diorama where we (the audience) were looking in throughout the show.
The King, clad in cape and top hat with his always identifiable corpse paint made his entrance to the opening of his most iconic album Abigail with “Funeral/Arrival” before being joined by the rest of the band for “A Mansion in Darkness.” The crowd pop was huge once King demonstrated that even at 68 his falsetto remains intact as he screeched through the song.
Next up the iconic hit “Halloween” from his first solo release “Fatal Portrait”, and then the title track from “Voodoo” complete with King's own hoodoo stick and bone/cross microphone. There is just something about King Diamond fully made up and intoning “Drink drink the chicken’s blood”, that perfectly elicits a visual sense of darkened bayous in some deep shadow soaked Louisianan swamp.
“Spider Lilly” would be our first taste of something from the upcoming new album “The Institute” due out in 2025. Then it was back to “Sleepless Nights” from Conspiracy and no King Diamond set can happen without “Welcome Home” from Them. Of course, the Chicago Coven faithful screamed out “GRANDMAAAA!!!!” with enthusiastic adulation.
King was very personable this evening and in good spirits and humor as he joked with some of the front row people who knew and screamed out every line to every song. It had to be very satisfying to have people that intensely into what you do.
Not to be forgotten in all the theatrics were the band themselves. As always, the guitar work of Andy LaRocque, (who has been with King’s solo operation since 1985), was great and newer members Mike Weed (guitars since 2000), Matt Thompson (drums since 2000), and bassist Pontas Egberg (2014) kept it a metal show. Myrkur's additions (from a floor above on keys and vocals) enhanced the fullness of the songs like a great orchestra fills in a symphony.
Admittedly, the Beard has never been that enamored of “The Invisible Guests” from Them, but right after that, King ran through his first solo album ghost story “The Candle” from Fatal Portrait, and I loved hearing that. Next would come two more tastes of the upcoming new album “The Institute” including “Masquerade of Madness”, and the effects laden “Electro Therapy” where King electro shocked a woman enclosed in a see-through coffin to wonderful spooky effect saying after the number, “You can remove the body…er…patient. She’s MUCH calmer now.”
Two more numbers would close the main set. “Eye of the Witch” from the album of the same name was never his biggest seller, but the title track is a regular in his set list. “Burn” also from Eye of the Witch was a fitting up-tempo closer before King returned with the expected encore “Abigail.”
The Beard could drone on indefinitely at all the reasons King Diamond is the absolute best in the world at what he does, but I have done so over and over throughout my reviewing career for years and years. I have also had the opportunity to meet the man behind the corpse pain on one occasion and he is really quite an ordinary gentleman.
Much like Alice Cooper is a character from the moment he gets on the stage until he turns back into Vincent Furnier upon exiting it, King Diamond is similar, and although much has been made over the decades concerning King's following of Satanism as a religion, (throughout the years he has steadfastly retained his views,) he also has regularly stated that it is impossible to either prove or disprove the existence of any deity and that the term Satanism should be taken as more a philosophy than an actual religion.
As far as the Beard is concerned, he can believe whatever he wants, I am just interested in his music, his haunted concept albums, and his wonderful live performances. I love King Diamond in the same way I love Alice Cooper, and as always this was a potential show of the year for me. I am awarding King Diamond a 98/100 with the horns held proud and high.
This concluded show #69 of this year and another wonderful evening of metal music. Remember to catch our weekly reviews each Wednesday at your home for metal The Mighty Decibel at www.themightydecibel.com.
Check out all the wonderful King Diamond videos, (along with Overkill and Night Demon) on TikTok by searching thebeard0728, and check out tons of photos, more material, along with all our non-metal reviews, by friending, and following Mark McQueen on Facebook,
Until next time this is the Beard and Little Johnny saying, “Live Life” “Stay Heavy” and “Horns Up.”
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