Wednesday 13 Performing Murderdolls enticed the crowd out on Wednesday 7th of February in Perth, The Rosemount Hotel packed from the barrier at the front of the stage to the merch desk at the back with excited fans. The murmurs around the venue indicated not many had any idea who to expect as support, with no indication on the Facebook event page or signage around the venue. Some thought Infected Rain would be supporting as the Facebook Event Poster indicated them, Gemini Syndrome and Black Satellite. I did a little digging and found they weren’t appearing in Australia. The Rosemount Hotel Facebook page posted The Murderdbirds were to support with set times, and with more digging I found the support for the Australian shows, confirming Infected Rain would not be in Australia. These posts went unnoticed by most with the common query of who would be the surprise support band.
Although most of us had never heard of The Murderdbirds, the 3 piece hail from Perth and their Psychobilly-influenced Horror Punk Rock was a worthy fit. The drummer wore a tie-dye shirt and blonde wig, contrasted by his bandmates in all black. The vocalist and guitarist brought a classic rockabilly style and the double bass is a favourite of mine so I quite enjoyed what that brought to the band and their distinctive sound. It seems they were active from 2015-2019 but I couldn’t find they’re newer songs they played, like the last 2 of the night, Zombie Queen and Wolfman which were the biggest hits full of campy horror vibes and a great way to lead into the Murderdolls albums.
The stage pulsated red, highlighting the Wednesday 13 backdrop and the opening notes of The World According To Revenge blasted through The Rosemount Hotel. The full room roared as the band filed on stage. Wednesday 13 strutted out with his mighty presence and began the show with high energy and high kicks, whipping around the microphone stand and leading into Chapel of Blood. A pleasant mix from both albums, Beyond The Valley of The Murderdolls and Women and Children Last, The Goths, Metalheads and Horror Fiends sang along to every song, knowing all the catchy gruesome lyrics and enjoying the catchy horror rock beats.
Remembering their lost brother, Joey Jordison who passed in July 2021, Wednesday 13 acknowledged him several times and regaled us with tales of past tours together. “I hope you guys like songs about Necrophilia” he smirked as we cheered and they soared into Graverobbing USA, then Die My Bride before a few more songs from the last album had the crowd going wild. Mike Dupke played an epic drum solo before the band filed back on stage for a crowd favourite, People Hate Me. A happy surprise for me was when they played Welcome To The Strange, giving me Freddy VS Jason flashbacks. Dawn of the Dead received another almighty uproar and for me, a highlight was Nowhere. It’s just so fun how can you not love it!
The night was drawing to a close but energy levels were still high as Wednesday encouraged us to sing along to Summertime Suicide which we happily did, but after that the lights dimmed and the band left the stage. We knew that couldn’t be it, we chanted for the encore and they did not disappoint. Out came Mr MotherF*cker in a new black and red jacket from Kylla Custom Rockwear with studs and a huge Wednesday 1
3 back patch. They belted out White Wedding before Wednesday brought out his umbrella with a giant middle finger on it and had us chanting FUCK to prepare for I Love To Say Fuck, another catchy tune you can’t help but sing! Ending the night with the classic Dead In Hollywood, the band departed and slowly the energy faded away with the venue emptying out leaving nothing but a sticky residue and echoes in our memories of another fabulous performance by Wednesday 13 and his team.
Photographs and review by Misty Shadow by Shadow-World Photography.
The Murderdbirds:
