Everyone likes a double act, it doesn’t have to be music.
Han & Chewie, Bert & Ernie, Batman & Robin, we all love them, but today we had a corker in the form of Bournemouth’s finest, South of Salem, and the Helsinki Vampires themselves, The 69 Eyes.
The venue for this soiree is the underrated La Belle Angele in Edinburgh that is virtually full by the time that South of Salem hit the stage
They open up with ‘Let it Prey’ from their debut album, and it’s pretty obvious that frontman Joey Draper has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand and the energy is flowing from the stage like a wind turbine is a hurricane.
The horror rockers blend their melodic hooks & riffs with a theatrical show that is very engaging to the crowd, and I’ve certainly never seen a set that consists of twin coffin lids with pink LEDs on them
Some people have labelled them Gothic but I certainly wouldn’t (especially based on the act to follow) as their songs are far too catchy. The musicianship, especially the guitar solos is top notch.
The chemistry between guitarists Denis Sheriff and Ed Van Egan shines, which is even more impressive given the latter has only played a handful of shows since joining the band the previous month.
Given such macabre themes the band are a happy bunch and there’s a genuine feel good vibe across the whole of their hour long set, including the obligatory sing along with the crowd
They manage to squeeze in eleven songs into their hour long slot, with the highlights being ‘Jet Black Eyes’, ‘Hell bound Heart’, and a cracking acoustic version of ‘Villain’
The set ends to rapturous applause, and as the lights go up, the crowd seem well fed from their musical first course
Just when you thought that the crowd were only there for South of Salem, there’s a massive welcome for the goth gods themselves, The 69 Eyes
The self styled Helsinki Vampires rarely venture to these shores, and to find them playing for the first time in Scotland is a pleasure for the crowd, whose numbers of Goths seemed to have increased exponentially in the break between the two bands
They ooze cool as they strut their way onto the stage and greet us with their opener ‘Devils’ from the album of the same name. Although their goth image is legendary, there is a hint of glam to their performance, with their frontman Jyrki 69 (Jyrki Pekka Emil Linnankiv) the conductor supreme. He treads the boards like a cross between Mick Jagger and Type O Negative’s Peter Steele
The band have had only one personnel change 36 year and 13 album history and it shows as their show is polished with the band tighter than two coats of paint.
Eight albums are represented in the set and it’s a very polished performance that makes me wonder why they haven’t ventured outside playing London in so many years
Guitarists Timo Tapio Pitkänen and Pasi Moilanen are more openly outgoing and playful than the ice cool lead singer, but that doesn’t depart from the overall veneer of goth coolness that envelopes the show
The sound is excellent and the crowd are passionate, singing every lyric of every song and loving that Jykri repeatedly refers to them as ‘The Edinburgh Vampires’
It is impossible to pick out a standout song, but all the fan faves are there such as ‘Feel Berlin’, ‘Never Say Die’, ‘Brandon Lee’ and the perennial set closer ‘Lost Boys’
As their fourteen song set comes to an end, the crowd make their feelings known with rapturous applause, and this makes me wonder why for a band as good as they are, they have chosen to not grace us with their presence more often over the years
Please come back soon!
Review & Photographs by Gavin Lowrey
