Photo by Carrie Zukoski
Doyle.
Even though you had to go out into the foggy, damp, wet St. Louis last night to get to The Firebird, once you were inside that grey feeling and chill immediately evaporated. That's what happens when you enter the supercharged realm of superfans. These superfans were here to see Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (who was actually here rather recently, supporting GWAR).
Naturally one saw tons of Misfits hoodies and T-shirts (and some faceprint, too) as well as a smattering of T-shirts dedicated to other black metal acts. One delightful and surprising wardrobe standout: a "Donzig" hoodie, apparently manufactured by Strange Donuts at some point, worn by a fan who brought vegan donuts to Doyle.
St. Louis' Bassamp & Dano opened the show. Not only did they fashion a beer bong out of the body of a pink plastic flamingo, but they had a guy on stage handing out baloney sandwiches to the crowd. Despite the antics, they play good old-fashioned, super loud rock and roll, and generally just have a good time on stage.
Next up was Nethersphere from Central, Illinois, who self-describe as "deep-fried Southern black metal." Started in the fall of 2014, "Nethersphere has quickly established itself as a regionally touring three-piece powerhouse with an original take on the ideas of black metal, Southern sludge and death metal." As you may have already guessed, these guys had a pretty straightforward stage present. Nethersphere was followed by Cycle of Ruin, St. Louis purveyors of serious metal. Or as they put it: "100% American Made Thrash/Melodic Death Metal."
Then....finally: Doyle. If you want a taste of what this show was like, check out this short clip on Facebook. It's some impressive stage gymnastics, not from Doyle, but from lead singer (and former Cancerslug member) Alex Story. You'll also get a snippet of audio, which will verify this section from Doyle's Facebook page: "DOYLE cranks out music as scary as the Misfits, as doom laden as Black Sabbath, and has the same hard-hitting in your face style of metal as Motorhead or Slayer." Needless to say, Doyle did not disappoint the fans (or superfans!) in the room, even though some of them had seen the band twice in less than six months. And if you're one of those people, you know "this next song is a love song. You can dance to it."
Bassamp & Dano
1 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
2 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
3 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
4 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
5 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
6 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
7 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
8 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
9 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
10 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
11 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
Nethersphere
1 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
2 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
3 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
4 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
5 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
6 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
7 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
8 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
9 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
10 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
11 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
12 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
13 of 13
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
Cycle of Ruin
1 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
2 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
3 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
4 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
5 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
6 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
7 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
8 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
9 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
10 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
11 of 11
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
Doyle
1 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
2 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
3 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
4 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
5 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
6 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
7 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
8 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
9 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
10 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
11 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
12 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
13 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
14 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
15 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
16 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
17 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
18 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
19 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
20 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
21 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
22 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
23 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
24 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
25 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
26 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
27 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
28 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
29 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
30 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
31 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
32 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
33 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
34 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
35 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
36 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
37 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
38 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
39 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
40 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
41 of 41
Photos by Carrie Zukoski
