Live Review: Wednesday 13 - Blitz, Preston
27th July 2025
Support: The Nocturnal Affair, Fearless Vampire Killers
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Martin Hingley
It’s a sold-out Blitz for former Planet 13 Frankenstein Drag Queen and one-time Murderdoll, Wednesday 13’s debut Preston show. It’s a Sunday night and the venue is hotter than fresh milk and filled to capacity with folk aching to get their freak-on.
All the way from Las Vagas, Nevada, is the first of two supporting acts, The Nocturnal Affair, who play into their Industrial side a little more than they did last time I caught them, opening for Kris Barras in spring ’24. That time, the band included a cover of Sabbath’s N.I.B. and with events having unfolded this week I would have expected them to do so again; alas no, instead they play an energetic set of dirty riffs and uplifting anthems. Singer, Brandon Shane seems genuinely touched by the reception the band receive and close their short, but fun, set with a cover of Haddaway’s What Is Love? which serves to get Preston in fine voice for the demands of the evening.
Taking their name from the Roman Polanski film of 1967, East Sussex quintet Fearless Vampire Killers have been doing their alternative rock thing since their formation in 2008. I had to check the secret archive beneath Razor’s Edge Towers to confirm they were the In This Moment support on the 2015 Black Widow tour, so I had seen them before. They’re not quite as gothic or dark as their name suggests, rather the band thrive on delivering positive, high-tempo good-time tunes in an Alt Rock style. They quickly get the Blitz crowd on side and their limited time on stage is well spent, with Preston more than happy to participate in the show.
It's been twenty-years since the release of Wednesday 13’s debut solo record, Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying and the Dead, during which time Mr 13 has proved himself to be quite the workaholic through the release of Manic Spider Trash, Frankenstein Drag Queens’ and Murderdolls’ albums and a whole discography from Bourbon Crow; not forgetting the ten full-length and five extended plays under his own name over that period.
Tonight’s Summer Blood Storm show demonstrates the consistent quality of the man’s work, stacked heavily with songs from the debut, but also celebrating the faith he has in his latest offering: this year’s Mid Death Crisis.
The show opens with Look What the Bats Dragged In and The Dixie Dread’s Too Fast for Blood. Both linguistic calls back to glam albums of the Eighties but imbued with a Horror Punk vibe. Newbie, Rotting Away has a touch of the Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie about it, but also a hint of European power metal in its choruses.
Oldie I Want You… Dead and new tune, When the Devil Commands sit together and make cosy bedfellows, opening the way for Muderdoll’s Summertime Suicide. It’s clear at this point that we’re watching a much bigger show than the limited stage space will grant, but it’s props to Wednesday and the band that they don’t need to rely on gimmicks to hold an audience in the palm of their hand. I felt to same way when I watched the band at Bloodstock in 2108, an open air set in the early afternoon, when they still managed to enrapture a festival crowd through the sheer power of the music alone.
Frankenstein Drag Queens’ 197666 has a rock n’ roll heart beating away at its core, while another of Mid Death Crisis tracks, In Misery, draws out its opening section, only to blast Preston with a huge, hook-laden arena anthem; for our part, we respond with raised arms and a forest of waving hands. Good Day to Be a Bad Guy is the only foray made to Horrifier tonight, attracting a loud singalong and offers a great excuse for some Sunday night potty-mouthery in the chorus.
A second Frankenstein tune, Die My Bride, sees the band going into a more Zombiefied sound – closer to White than Rob – through the heaviest use of Industrial beats so far. The following drum solo comes with a Spot the Horror Movie reference challenge: Tubular Bells from The Exorcist, soundbites from Army of Darkness, The Shining, Poltergeist and Night of the Living Dead, along with John Carpenter’s Halloween theme.
Upon his return, Wednesday has donned a cowboy hat and takes us cruising down the LA strip for No Apologies – the studio version of which features Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe – and From Here to the Hearse. The second Murderdolls’ tune is Nowhere, which brings with it a lightness and a sense of freedom, and is clearly a firm fan favourite.
But not as much as the debut’s I Walked With a Zombie, Wednesday 13’s Dragula, that wrings the final drops of energy out of the crowd, raising the Blitz’s low ceiling through sheer will and collected voices.
An encore of one last trip to Transylvania 90210 for Bad Things and some more sweary opportunities before rejoining polite society tomorrow morning on Frankenstein Drag Queens’ I Love to Say Fuck close out the evening in a triumphant manner. Draining and sweaty, the show was everything such a show should be: no airs or graces, simply powered by the fuel of rock n’ roll and insisting that a good time is mandatory.
Kudos must go to Madhouse Promotions for getting a band like Wednesday 13 into Preston in the first place. They’ve been tireless in attracting the likes of Vio-Lence, Acid Reign, Wargasm and the legendary Napalm Death – to name but a few - to the city. And with the likes of Gama Bomb and Ward XVI’s Halloween Homecoming lined up for October, it’s finally looking like Preston’s passion for rock and alternative music is being catered to.
Photo credits: Martin Hingley
