Corrosion of Conformity, Ghost'n Goblins & Diesel King - The Underworld, Camden, London - 26th April 2011

Considering Corrosion of Conformity have been one of my all time favourite bands since "Blind" came out in 1991 and seeing them live for the first time in 1992 supporting Soungarden at The Forum, or Town & Country Club as it was known then, to say I was excited was a massive understatement. I think I must have worn out my COC CD's at least three times over the years. I mean, who of our metal generation doesn't absolutely worship "Deliverence" and "Wiseblood"? I know it was a tour for the old stuff but that shit kicks some serious ass too. I also realised that Pepper wasn't playing but that certainly didn't dampen my spirits. So when the tour was announced in January I made the necessary phone calls to those that I knew would be as psyched as I was to see COC again and in such a small venue (The Underworld). Five of us were expected to go but at the last minute I was disappointed to find that everyone in my group had to bail. As it turned out my trusty friend Steve (the bloomin' nutter) was up for it even though he hadn't had much exposure to COC. So we met at the Worlds End (again) and had a couple of pints (we have to stop going here because it's massively over priced and frankly, not that great) until one of Steve's friends was joining us. To my surprise Steve's mate turned out to be Donny from Nebukadnezza (check them out they're brilliant) who I'd met last year at The Unicorn when Damnas were supporting Gama Bomb.

Diesel King

We wandered down to catch the last half of the final song that Diesel King were playing, which was a shame because they sounded like they were a better than average band. Check them out on facebook, decent doomy stuff.

Ghost'n Goblins

Second band on stage was Ghost'n Goblins. These guys are seriously fun. Fun is most definitely the best way to describe them. Their singer, Tony, is a rock star, no doubt about it. He has the air and presence of a young Dave Grohl about him. They are a very tight unit and exceptionally calm and confident on stage. In fact they look like they are enjoying what they do so much you could almost imagine that this is the first time they'd ever played, and that certainly rubs off on the audience. An extremely solid performance by an energetic, happy and boisterous band. I would definitely recomend them.

Corrosion of Conformity

The moment I'd been waiting for all year was finally here (check out this great youtube channel - xholixima - for some excellent video of the gig). I was excited for Steve to see what I'd been blabbering on about all night. Fuck me it was even better than I could possibly have expected. The pit was absolutely insane. It was awe-inspiring to see Woody, Reed and Mike up so close. This is the smallest venue I'd ever seen them in and it just made it even cooler. We went bonkers in the pit and dived our nuts off. The vibe in the place was so genial it's hard to explain. Even though the pit was as brutal as it was I can't remember such a friendly bunch of people to get into this sort of situation with. Thankfully the set was extended, I think almost two hours of incredible COC magic. I could have stayed there all night. Afterwards Steve had to agree that this was one of the best gigs ever. We made some new friends (I think it would have been impossible not to - a big hello to the crazy nutjobs from Finland) and a great new memory. Thanks to Donny and Steve for joining me last night, you guys made the night even more formidable than it already was, so props to you both. Tuesday nights simply don't get better than that. And for the record, COC can do just fine without Pepper.


Boojay