Being extremely fond of KING DIAMOND (read: massive fangirl) I was very excited when King announced that he would be performing his 1987 album, Abigail, in full on his US tour. I waited patiently knowing that it was only a matter of time before he would bring the full stage show to Europe and the UK. When I say waited patiently, what I really mean is sat checking tour announcements every hour or so, like an obsessive compulsion. Finally the announcement came through, one UK date, London. Logistics be damned, I was going to London to see the King!
It has to be tough being the support act for any show as highly anticipated as this one, no matter what they do on stage they can be sure that it will pale in comparison to the show King has planned tonight. NWOBHM band ANGEL WITCH is tonight’s openers. Formed in London in 1977, the band represents metal in its purest form. Although straight-up, no nonsense metal is never a bad thing, tonight our tastes are for the more diabolical and dramatic. Throughout the set the crowd politely nods along. Some highlights included; ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ from their latest album ‘As Above, So Below’ (2012), ‘Atlantis’ from their 1980 album ‘Angel Witch’ as well as the anthemic title track, which really got the crowd singing along and saw the night’s first crowd surfer.
Tonight ANGEL WITCH are allowed a slither of stage to perform on, the rest is screened off using a curtain emblazoned with the band’s seated Baphomet logo. Throughout heavy metal history bands have invoked Satan to add edginess to their image. From Sabbath to Slayer, Behemoth to Burzum, but only KING DIAMOND has the Anton LaVey satanic seal of approval. LaVey (founder of the Church of Satan) was not a fan of metal’s appropriation of satanic symbolism but King’s sincere satanic principles won him over.
We wait for what seems like forever, but was more like 20 minutes, to find out what lurks behind the curtain. When it’s removed it reveals a haunted house interior, two flights of stairs, a raised platform, complete with gothic mirrors and inverted crosses. The lights go down, the intro track to the 1988 album ‘Them’ plays in and Grandma in her wheelchair emerges on to the stage.
“Grandmaaa, welcome home! You’ve been gone for far too long!”
(Welcome Home, Them: 1988)
King himself enters the stage, as large as life in his hat and black frock-coat. His face is painted in a style more akin to those ‘Abigail’ days; white with a black eye-mask design, black paint running down his chin. Holding his distinctive bone-cross microphone he helps his Grandma out of her chair.
With each new track the stage setting changes, different backdrops come down to signify changes in tracks as King takes us through some of highlights from his long and illustrious career. A huge glowing Sigil of Baphomet rises up from behind the platform for ‘Halloween’:
“Every night to me is Halloween
Like an ancient scene
You know just what I mean”
(Halloween, Fatal Portrait: 1986)
We’re treated to two Mercyful Fate tracks; ‘Melissa’ and ‘Come to the Sabbath’. Both, predictably, go down particularly well with the crowd, who haven’t stopped screaming along throughout the performance. Each track isn’t just performed but acted out. Dressed in white, Melissa is burned at the stake by a priest before our very eyes.
The stage goes dark; King turns his back to the crowd and the introduction to his 1987 masterpiece plays in. Two robed figures carry a child-sized coffin emblazoned with the name ‘ABIGAIL’ on to the stage. King proceeds to thrust a knife through the child’s mouth.
Abigail is a classic gothic horror. It tells the story of a young couple, Miriam and Jonathan, who inherit a mansion, to find it is haunted by a family ghost. The ghost shows Jonathan the corpse of an unborn child, Abigail. He tells Jonathan that Miriam is carrying the spirit of Abigail and the only way to stop the demon child being reborn is to push Miriam down the stairs. Unfortunately, things don’t work out and Jonathan himself ends up being pushed down the stairs and Abigail gets her rebirth.
“I am alive inside Your Wife
Miriam’s dead, I am her head…soon I’ll be free!”
(Abigail, Abigail: 1987)
The whole show is everything anyone could hope for and a whole lot more! Everything is choreographed and performed to perfection. The guitars wail as does King’s trademark falsetto. It’s hard to believe that the man turned 60 exactly a week before tonight’s show; he gives us his all and at the same time makes it seem effortless.
There’s no encore but King spends a long time thanking the audience, so long that he appears to thank us all individually. All the while the crowd continues to scream and cheer. We stagger out into the night, still in awe of what we have just witnessed. King will be dancing around my mind for weeks to come.
Setlist
Out from the Asylum
Welcome Home
Sleepless Nights
Halloween
Eye of the Witch
Melissa (Mercyful Fate)
Come to Sabbath (Mercyful Fate)
Them
The Funeral
The Arrival
A Mansion in Darkness
The Family Ghost
The 7th July 1777
Omens
The Possession
Abigail
The Black Horseman
Review by Rebecca Collins
