I'll admit it, I have been out of the 'going to gigs' mentality for some years. Other than the superb visit of Californian psychobilly masters Rezurex to this pirate city earlier in the year and seeing Wednesday 13 and South of Salem on a boat, it's mostly been a couple of black metal bands or a couple of blokes in the corner of a pub that has populated my gig experience for well over a decade. But there was a time - many moons ago - when 200 gigs+ a year was not uncommon, and nightly adventures on the streets of Bristol checking out some amazing bands were always exciting. Well, 2026 is here and I'm trying to get back in the swing of things - and what better way to kick that off in proper style than the visit of a legendary US horror punk band and a pair of the best the UK scene has to offer.
Dan at We Are Horror Records has flown the flag higher, and with somewhat more force, than anyone else in the UK over the last couple of years, so when he informed me of this upcoming tour of The Order of the Fly it was obligatory that I had to attend. Imagine my delight, then, when a Bristol date was announced. In the late August sun, I traversed the mean streets of Bristol and made my way to the Exchange - a venue that, despite being too before, I seemed to have no memory of, possibly due to my state of disrepair on previous visits. After finding my way to the bar (and the toilet, importantly) and resisting the urge to spend money in Specialist Subject records upstairs (where I sold about a hundred vinyls too a few months back), it was time to indulge in a couple of jugs of the Devil's apples and settle in for a great night of horror punk. One thing I will mention - my indulgence at the teat of Satan (...Thatchers Gold, to be precise) meant I took precisely two photos of the gig. One will be on this post - the rest will be logos and flyers only. Next time I will abstain and take more (absolutely not a guarantee).
First up was the bin men from South Wales - Garbage Day Massacre. Mixing the Misfits with your local friendly rubbish collectors may not seem an obvious stylistic choice, but this hi-vis wearing band of miscreants are every bit as good live as they are on record. Rattling through their previous releases (including the excellent Return of the Living Dead and Toxie Town), adding in a couple of new songs (to me, at least) and a cover whilst occasionally dipping into their bin full of human body parts, this was a short and sweet set of high octane, energetic and fun horror punk. Class way of starting the night off!
Next up was the spooky, synthy gothic horror punk pop of das Ghoul. I will not hide the fact that I hold the band up as one of my very favourites currently - every release is chock-full of spine-tingling gothic horror masterpieces and it is criminal that the band does not get more recognition. Would their live set dispel some of the mysterious aura of the band in my mind? Would it hell. A set full of absolute classics taken from across their past library (the incredible Pandora's Vinyl Curse for instance, saw me singing along with a wide smile on my face) hit all the right notes. Something about seeing a band who should be playing in a Victorian-era pub under a blanket of fog and with the patrons sipping absinthe and smoking cigars, in a basement on Old Market in Bristol just hit right. Some new songs appeared in the set, and had the same quality and brilliance of past releases - making the future months for the band a very exciting one indeed. Quite frankly, this is a band that brings something fresh to the sound of horror punk - whimsical, steampunk-like feel mixed with a love of gothic Victoriana, ghosts in attics, glowing grandmas and a very British sort of vibe.
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| Genuinely, I cannot take good photos. I had a pint of Thatchers in one hand, unfortunately this limited my agility and, seemingly, vision. |
After the Welsh and the English took their horror punk shots, it was time for the Californians The Order of the Fly to hit the stage. Bedecked in some suitably fitting face paint and attire, it was like ushering in some monstrous force from across the great wide sea - and force is the right word. Celebrating a quarter century of existence on their Order of Decay tour, the band mix traditional horror punk melody with a hard hitting So-Cal hardcore edge, some crunching metal and some spooky synth they took the admittedly small Exchange basement stage by storm. You want energy from your favourite horror punk bands, and The Order of the Fly have that in abundance - despite what must have been quite a trek down from Glasgow the night before to the West Country. They bounded through their most popular songs with the sort of passion only a band thoroughly enjoying their vacation to the UK could do - the fast paced 'Rot', the immensely enjoyable apocalyptic 'Children of Nuclear Armageddon' which I had to sing along too, as well as new songs (Autumnal is superb) and one hell of a fine cover of a Misfits classic. Whilst the horror punk crowd in Bristol on this sunny Friday evening wasn't exactly the largest (although we have to remember just how much of a niche, of a niche, the genre is) those in attendance were treated to a performance for the ages. The band were awesome, and nice people too which is never a bad thing, and their Bristol excursion went down very well indeed.
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| Not a shot from Bristol... but what a band (and special appearance from Dan from We Are Horror Records!) |
Let's hope this is not the last international horror punk band to come down here to the wilds of the West, and I for one am looking forward to The Order of the Fly returning to these shores in the future. Massive credit to Dan at We Are Horror Records for putting on the show, and indeed the entire 25 years of Decay tour.
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| My haul from the gig! |
