It’s hard to believe that last year’s show at the BroFest NWOBHM Festival was their first ever appearance on stage in Newcastle in a career spanning over 35 years. Striking while the iron was hot, Demon returned for a headlining show at the fable Rockbar Trillians.
With a set built around their classic The Unexpected Guest, singer and founder member Dave Hill entered the stage dressed in full demonic garb including a well creepy mask. Demon were always on the theatrical side and Hill was in his element as he lifted off the mask for the start of Night Of The Demon followed by Into The Nightmare from their highly rated debut album.
Total Possession and The Spell followed from the The Unexpected Guest and the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that this was not a straight run through a classic album in the usual sense but, as Hill explained prior to the show, was are reordering of the songs to suit the ebbs and flows of a live performance and it certainly worked well.
Dave Hill exuded charisma throughout, really getting into the parts with Sign of Madman eliciting some suitably insane facial expressions while simultaneously packing a musical punch. Hill’s commanding voice bringing to mind Joe Cocker in his prime but with more depth and melody.
Following an extended ending to Victim of Fortune, Hill returned besuited with a bowler hat for a dynamic run through The Plague and Nowhere To Run, both from the classic The Plague masterpiece, an album that saw Demon taking huge strides forward both musically and lyrically.
Life On The Wire, the only song from outside their first three albums was stunning, a real dramatic tour de force with Hill’s vocals really making their presence felt. For those who think of Demon only as an occult obsessed NWOBHM band really need to explore their mid to late period work to discover some serious gems such as Remembrance Day, Hold On To The Dream and Life in Berlin from their latest album Cemetery Junction.
The towering chorus of Deliver Us From Evil preceded the timeless Don’t Break The Circle as Demon completed a triumphant first headlining show in Newcastle. With a live album in the pipeline and work on a new studio record in the works, the future is looking bright for one of the UK most underrated and classiest bands.
Review and Photos By Mick Burgess
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