Review: Lordi, Bierkeller

There’s a storm brewing outside, but the panto season has started early inside the Bierkeller. Among Eurovision enthusiasts, if such there be, latex-swathed Lordi are renowned for giving the notoriously dull contest its Boaty McBoatface moment. In a rare display of inspirational European unity, audiences rose up across national boundaries to forge a mighty revolution against the Boom-Bing-a-Bong school of songwriting, permitting the heavy metal Finns to pave the way for bearded ladies and the like.

That was ten years ago, and if Lordi were a confected novelty act their career would have died before the smirk had left Wogan’s face. But they’d actually been going since 1992, building a solid fanbase that was supercharged by Hard Rock Hallelujah and remains impressively loyal to this day. So here we are at 10.15pm on a Saturday night in a Bierkeller filled with impatient punters chanting the band’s name as the lights finally go down and the intro tape of Kiss’s God of Thunder blasts through the speakers (they’ve never been shy about admitting their influences).

Mr. Lordi and chums then lumber on and kick off with Lets Go Slaughter He-Man (I Wanna Be the Beast-Man in the Masters of the Universe), which proves to be as cumbersome as the title of the new album from which it’s taken, Monstereophonic (Theaterror vs Demonarchy). Oddly enough, they play only three songs from this tonight, and the other two are the best ones.

There are plenty of theatrics and walk-on characters from the off – y’know: beheadings, dancing skeletons, puppets, and so on – along with mercifully brief solo spots for virtually every member of the band. These are less of an indulgence than an opportunity for costume changes and, presumably, some much needed cooling down.

It’s bassist OX who seems to have drawn the short straw with what appears to be the heaviest costume and full face mask, while Amen’s mummy outfit affords him the most freedom of movement to bound around the stage. (Fascinating trivia fact: the chap inside the OX minotaur outfit is of Egyptian descent – his real name is Samer el Nahhal – so perhaps he has a stronger claim on being Amen.)

Such is the nature of the Bierkeller stage that most of the audience get to see little of drummer Mana and keyboard player Hella – resplendent in her ‘Scarbie’ make-up – who are tucked away at the back, while hulking great band mastermind Mr. Lordi frequently bashes his plastic battleaxe against the low ceiling.

His gruff, heavily accented vocals remain an acquired taste, but the between-song banter reveals him to be an agreeably droll fella – which is just as well, as it’s hard to resist a smirk during some of the more preposterous songs, such as cannibal anthem Babez for Breakfast. Interestingly, this is a set tailored for long-term fans, of whom there appear to be plenty in attendance (shame so many of them chose to experience the entire show through their smartphones, mind). The rarely played Hellbender Turbulence is greeted with delight, as is Icon of Dominance – an unusually complex song by Lordi standards that provides Hella with a rare keyboard showcase.

But it’s the big dumb singalongs with mighty riffs and huge choruses at which Lordi excel, and there’s no shortage of them, including the aptly titled The Riff, Blood Red Sandman and, inevitably, Hard Rock Hallelujah. The ambiguously titled Down with the Devil from the new album (I’m not going to type out the title again) demonstrates that they can still hack these out with aplomb. Naturally, Mr. Lordi celebrates by vanquishing a bishop who’s wielding a smoking crucifix.

He unfurls his wings for traditional set-closer Devil Is a Loser, as we all chant: “The Devil is a loser/And he’s my bitch“. Then it’s out with the full pyro arsenal for encores Who’s Your Daddy? and Would You Love a Monsterman? By the end of the show, we’ve been assaulted by a streamer gun, glitter bombs and a gargantuan smoke cannon that threatens to engulf the ‘keller in fug. Who needs bloody Aladdin, eh?

All photos by Mike Evans

Read more: Metal & Prog picks: November 2016