Live Review: Black Spiders @ The House of Vans, London (15/06/17)

It’s with a heavy heart that Black Spiders roll into London for the very last time. An unexpected final show for the city. Tickets were free as part of a ballot with the show taking place at The House of Vans.

With the show being on a first come/first served basis it’s a bit disheartening to see only a handful of people waiting with 20 minutes left until the doors open. However as the time approaches the queue begins to get longer & longer. A lot of people have turned up to see off Black Spiders.

About 15 minutes after doors finally open (over 20 minutes later) support band Black Moth take to the stage & proceed to deafen anyone within a quarter mile radius. That’s not a joke, the volume is so high that it is nearly uncomfortable at times & makes their bland sound mush together until it’s nearly unlistenable.

Their hard rock patter would be perfectly fine if it wasn’t so obnoxiously loud. On this showing they’re unlikely to have won many new fans.

Thankfully that problem doesn’t exist for Black Spiders who come out on full throttle. The band is filled with energy & for much of the lengthy set that level of bounce doesn’t falter. Every big hitting Black Spiders song is aired tonight to rapturous reaction (even if the place is half-full). Songs like Balls, KISS Tried to Kill Me, Trouble, St. Peter, What Good’s a Rock Without a Roll? & Blood of the Kings sound great, the acoustics of the venue really helping them sound even larger.

With the band literally about to wrap up for good you might expect the guys to be a bit muted on stage but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is an air of confidence about them. It makes you forget that this will be the last time almost everybody in the room will see them play.

Normally considered a bit of faux-pas, the sea of Black Spiders shirts (including frontman Pete Spiby who pokes fun at himself for wearing his own merch) is less self-serving & more of a tribute to conquering heroes. That’s what Black Spiders have done tonight, conquered London for the last time & they will be missed.

A rousing & emotional Stay Down ends a lengthy set & it is here that the reality of this being Black Spiders last ever London show sets in. Screaming “fuck you, Black Spiders” has become a staple of their shows & during this song in particular. It’s when frontman, Pete asks the crowd to instead scream “fuck off, Black Spiders” that the reality hits home.

Black Spiders are done but at least they went out on a serious high.

Overall 9/10