Live Review: Napalm Death - The Tivoli, Buckley
12th March 2022
Support: Raging Speedhorn, Damim
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
It’s always good to stretch you legs, travel the country and visit a venue you’ve never been to before, and what better time to do it then when Napalm Death and Raging Speedhorn are touring!
Buckley, not far from Chester just across the border in Wales, is the location for our travels tonight. An old cinema, The Tivoli, which is allegedly haunted, is the venue for tonight’s show. The seats and screen long gone, the room now converted into a classic concert venue provides the perfect surroundings for a show.
Opening the show are London based progressive death metallers Damim. Having graced the stage at Bloodstocks past, the band have put the hours in on the road building their reputation. Fronted by former Akercocke member Nathanael Underwood, their set runs at a blistering pace, face, aggressive riffs and technical brilliant batter the fans in the room early doors.
As the room fills up it’s Corby bruisers Raging Speedhorn who take control of this show. One of the hardest working bands in the country their energy (powered by our good friend alcohol) knows no bounds. Now their latest album ‘Hard To Kill’ is embedded in the general consciousness their set list has developed to the point the old and the new songs meld perfectly together in the live arena.
Opening up with ‘Motorhead’ and ‘Redweed’ the pit in Buckley finally get moving, and no sooner do they get moving than Frank finds himself on his back (no gin involved this time) comically falling down mid song. But the show goes on, and Frank returns to his feet.
‘Hand of God’ leads us into ‘Voodoo Man’ and Dan is in the crowd, getting in their faces and whipping up a frenzy. The set perfectly sums up Speedhorns career ‘Doom Machine’ plays into ‘Supercud’ which in turns leads us to ‘Brutality’. As ever, Speedhorn were on form, this is a band who knows how to entertain and we’ll be back in this venue in a few short months to see them play again, supporting Sepultura!
It's a tough act to follow, but Napalm Death have been around long enough to pull it off! The legendary masters of grind had to pull out of their February full European tour, but hastily arranged this little jaunt around the country in some locations they wouldn’t normally travel to. Thus the crowd are frothing at the mouth at anticipation of such a band playing in their humble little town.
Opening up with ‘Unchallenged Hate’ and ‘Fuck the Factoid’ Barney is his usual whirlwind self on stage, arms and legs flailing as he batters the crowd with his vocal assault. Another comedy moment for the evening comes as the band start ‘Backlash Just Because’ whilst Shane is happily playing something else. After a few false starts and many laughs, things get going again and the assault continues.
The band mix in some new songs along with their traditional set list pleasers and it’s a ix that gets the fans going. The pit opens up as the band plays on. The classic’s, however, are saved until the end. ‘You Suffer’ always brings a smile to even the most miserable face whilst we raise our middle finger and shout ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’ during the set closer.
All photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
