Cradle of Filth have been around since the nineties. They were and are a huge sensation all over the world. In September 2017 they released their latest album “Cryptoriana”, which led to a European tour, taking a stop in Helsinki on 7 March 2018 at Nosturi. During the tour Moonspell has been accompanying them as a support act, unfortunately for many fans Moonspell was not booked as a support band in Finland. The audience did seem sad about that, when Cradle of Filth entered the stage I heard some fans shouting “Boo. We want Moonspell”. Well, I find that a bit of a shame, because let’s get this straight, it’s not really Cradle of Filth’s fault, in fact they seemed to be saddened by the situation.
Anyhow the venue was quite packed, probably very closed to being sold out. Which is why for most of the show, I couldn’t see a thing. So I’m basing this review kind of mostly on sound, up until the point that I could finally see something and of course for during the three songs I was able to take photos. Surprisingly there was kind of a mixed crowd present at the show, I thought a lot of youngsters would be present, but however it seemed to be mostly those who kind of grew up with them during their teenage years – like myself. I personally had never seen them play live though, although I vaguely remember seeing them partly at a festival.
The band started off with “Gilded Cunt”, a song from their 2004 album “Nymphetamine”. And already the atmosphere is great. People are screaming a long with Dani Filth and are really active. A strong start followed up by “Beneath The Howling Stars” a classic Cradle of Filth song taken from their album “Cruelty And The Beast”. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting as many old songs as they did, but I was quite happy about it. I have quite lost touch with the band and don’t know much about their new material, but the setlist was loaded with classic Cradle of Filth songs and actually not too many songs from their newest album “Cryptoriana”.
I particularly like the stage persona of guitarist Richard Shaw, who often looks like he’s part of a pietà from the renaissance while playing guitar, but then once in a while cuts loose from this peaceful persona, and totally goes wild by headbanging or quickly going about in circles, almost like a dog chasing its tail. Keyboardist and vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft has an enchanting operatic voice, which sounds even better live than on the studio albums. It’s also great that the female vocals are thus not played on tape, as is often the case with bands like this.
After the first three songs it was time for me to swim against the stream and try to make my way into the ocean of a crowd. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be possible. Too much people. Because of that, I ended up going upstairs, trying to secure myself a place. Still couldn’t see a thing, so that kind of ruined the atmosphere, as I didn’t feel as if I was “part of the gig” anymore. Luckily during the middle of the show I gained a full view over the stage again. I could finally start enjoying the gig again and taste what being a part of the evening feels like.
From the new album the band played “Hearbreak and Seance” as a first track. The audience seemed to know the song already quite well and it was very well received. After that it was time for “Bathory Aria”, also from “Cruelty And The Beast”. This really got the crowd excited, while at first I thought they were a relatively peaceful, some fans started to give themselves, headbang and raise their fists into the air. In general everyone seemed to have a good time. “You Will Know The Lion By His Claw”, also a new song was a great song for the band to leave the stage a first time. During my time in the photo pit I immediately noticed that the drummer is stuck behind a wall of glass. I wondering if they somehow had to detain him. But I could imagine for the reasons behind that decision while hearing “You Will Know The Lion By His Claw”. That guy definitely was going crazy while blasting away. What an energy. The band came back with the instrumental track “A Bruise upon the Silent Moon” playing, and fans were really excited for them to come back. The instrumental track got taken over by “The Promise of Fever”.
After that it was time for the radio version of “Nymphetamine”, unfortunately they don’t play the complete version live, but of course we take what we can get. However, unfortunately Dani Filth was experiencing some technical problems with his microphone during the first verse. We couldn’t hear him singing, but that got solved as quick as possible. It’s during these times that you notice professionalism, as you just have to go on with the show. The evening ended with “From The Cradle to Enslave”.
Although it truly was a great show, personally I would have expected a bit much more “show” element into the performance. I would have never expected a band like Cradle of Filth to have a minimal show. The lighting for a photographer was also not the best, a lot of backlights, barely front lighting, but they surely were very atmospheric for the audience and after all that’s what counts.
Setlist
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Ave Satani (tape)
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Gilded Cunt
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Beneath the Howling Stars
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Blackest Magick in Practice
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Heartbreak and Seance
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Bathory Aria: Benighted Like Usher / A Murder of Ravens in Fugue / Eyes That Witnessed Madness
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Dusk and Her Embrace
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The Death of Love
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You Will Know the Lion by His Claw
Encore -
A Bruise Upon the Silent Moon (tape)
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The Promise of Fever
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Nymphetamine (Fix)
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Her Ghost in the Fog
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Born in a Burial Gown
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From the Cradle to Enslave
