Orange Goblin & Conan @ Gorilla, Manchester, 8th October 2024

It has been quite a journey for support band Conan since I saw their first ever gig at The Star & Garter back in 2010 supporting Stoke legends Charger. They’ve had several different lineups, numerous tours and graced some big stages, in fact the last time I saw them was supporting Max & Iggor Cavalera across the road at The Ritz in December 2019, so it was good to see them again in a smaller venue.

As they casually walked through the crowd in the Gorilla venue with guitarist and vocalist Jon Davis sporting a Blind Monarch t-shirt, you could sense that this was going to be a good night out, well if you could see through the blue smoky haze that greeted you as you walked up the stairs into the venue. ‘Good to see you all’ as the noise begins, lots of feedback, crashing cymbals, as they start with Equilibrium Of Mankind.

It’s great to see David Ryley of Fudge Tunnel fame playing the bass, mainly because I never got to see him live in Fudge Tunnel, but his bass sound, whilst holding it so low to the ground throughout the set, makes the floor rumble. ‘Cheers Manchester’ before they head onto Prosper On The Path, as a small mosh pit forms at the front. ‘We are Conan from Liverpool, Nottingham and Dublin’ and play, what was for me, the highlight of their set, Satsumo as Davis congratulates someone in the crowd on their recent engagement.

The heaviness is coming through loud and clear, with Johnny King on drums, doing his bit across the set. They dig deep on the slow parts, and the crowd are appreciative. With the video screen displaying all sorts of craziness behind them, they play Levitation Hoax, the excellent Ritual Of Anonymity and Volt Thrower followed by the customary ‘nice one’ from Davis after each song. As their set comes to an end, Foehammer heralds another mosh pit and with the final song Invinciblade, they have warmed up the crowd beautifully for the main attraction.

After the release of their 10th studio album Science, Not Fiction the opportunity to see Orange Goblin live is not one that you turn down, even though I didn’t feel like leaving my house for the hour trek up to Manchester. With some smooth jazz playing in the background, the crew member flashed his torch to the sound desk, and we were off. As they walk on stage, big applause erupts around Gorilla, with the biggest noise awaiting the gladiatorial entrance of man mountain himself, Ben Ward, ‘Manchester, how we doing? It’s good to be back.’

As the rumbling bass of Harry Armstrong kicks off Cemetery Rats and with the words ‘let’s go fucking crazy’ ringing in their ears, the crowd does exactly that. It’s a frenetic start to the set, with people smiling and enjoying seeing Orange Goblin live on stage again. And then it hits me, that riff from the sumptuous Scorpionica which gets me each and every time I hear it. It’s a thing of beauty from Joe Hoare and sounds so damn good live.

‘Tuesday night and look at all you beautiful people. You treat us like royalty each time we come to Manchester. It’ll be 30 years next year, so this tour is a celebration and we’ll be playing songs from the old catalogue, like this one from our debut album in 1997’ as they plough into the groovy Saruman’s Wish with ease, like they’ve never been away. ‘Say hello to Joey’s new guitar’ and is his best Bob Mortimer voice, ‘it’s a beauty’ quips Ward before they play another old song, Hot Magic, Red Planet and it reminds everyone of an old classic number.

‘This is from 10 years ago, actually it was its birthday yesterday, and this is our best version of being Manowar’ as the epic Heavy Lies The Crown thunders across the PA. ‘We released a new album in July, so we are trying out some new songs on this tour’ proceeds Fury Of A Patient Man which has that distinction Orange Goblin feel to it, and when it ends, Ward gives a thumbs up to the crowd, almost to ask, was that OK? Next up is the song of the night for me, a classic number from A Eulogy for the Damned called The Filthy & The Few which gets the crowd into a bit of a frenzy. Going deeper into their catalogue next, they pull out Snail Hook which is a groovy, bluesy little number, with a touch of madness about it and as we get the ‘Orange fucking Goblin baby’ chant from Ward, the crowd happily repeat.

The Devil’s Whip delivers that trademark OG ferocity, as we are asked to ‘put on our dancing shoes’ for another oldie, Whiskey Leech. As master of ceremonies, Ward commands the stage as he asks us to ‘make some noise’ for bass player Armstrong, as he kicks off the heavy intro for The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine which goes down a storm, alongside another new one, Ascend The Negative.

‘We aren’t one of those pretentious rock bands who do encores as we want to give you value for money and play three more songs instead of two, so let’s go batshit crazy’ and bathed in red light Quincy The Pigboy is fired up and we get the first stage intruder, who Ward just shuffles back into the crowd.

Then we get the first single from their latest album, (Not) Rocket Science which sounds so much better live than the rather clean production version than is on the record. It’s got an amazing groove, and the heavier bass sound gives it that dirty vibe that truly represents the band. ‘What can I say, I hope you enjoyed yourself, and had a good fucking time, so now it’s time to lose your fucking mind’ and Red Tide Rising pours out of the speakers and has the whole crowd involved.

It’s been a ride through their nearly 30 year career, and although they have left out many of my own favourite songs like Some You Win, Some You Lose, They Come Back and You’re Not the One, they have embedded some older songs that haven’t been played for a while, which can only be a good thing, but, primarily, it’s so good to have them back playing live again.

Orange fucking Goblin baby!!!

Orange Goblin

Conan

Scribed by: Matthew Williams
Photos by: Lee Edwards