Gig Review: Black Spiders / Bunker 9 (+ She Burns Red) – The Asylum, Birmingham (5th March 2023)

It’s been quite some time since we’ve had the opportunity to raise our middle fingers to the heavens and declare: “Fuck you, Black Spiders!” With an album released during lockdown and some solid touring under their belts since coming out of lockdown/reforming, this was a gig that was, frankly, long overdue because somehow, I’ve missed them at every opportunity. But thankfully, I’ve finally been able to remedy it.   

Now, on account of this tour featuring local support and Gary doing his excellent-as-ever photo duties in Edinburgh, I managed to twist his arm to put together some words for She Burns Red as it seemed unfair to get some great snaps but not discuss their performance. So I’ll let Gary take it away… 

She Burns Red © Gary Cooper
She Burns Red © Gary Cooper

Tonight’s openers are a band that just gets better and better and I think tonight was possibly the best I have seen Scottish rockers She Burns Red, led by the red-striped demon that is James McCulloch. How he never knocks himself out in Bannerman’s, I don’t know, as he just misses the vaulted ceiling with every jump. The band blaze through a blistering set with the majority being 2020’s excellent Take Back Tomorrow EP with “Gone” being a firm favourite – just a blistering piece of rock and roll. They add in “Tell Me How it Ends” as an extra to avoid getting a telling off again from the merchandise ladies for not playing it the night before.

We also have single “Rise and Fall” with some tasty vocals from Andy; a fabulous track. Also tonight we have the new single “Out of Darkness”, a nice slower paced burner of a song. This is a band that can rock with the best of them and tone it down again but still manage to rock out. This is a band destined for bigger stages, they certainly need one after tonight’s very tight squeeze with two drum kits on stage. The band have huge catchy tunes and a very talented and entertaining bunch, go catch them when you can as they never disappoint.

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Birmingham openers Bunker 9 seem to have brought quite a few fans along tonight, judging by the number of people singing along to their songs with the odd shirt dotted throughout the crowd for good measure. By the time they take to the stage, The Asylum’s smaller room is looking pretty packed and they make the most of their time. Delivering big, beefy hard rock, it’s a great fit for tonight’s headliners, played by a bunch of enthusiastic young people.

She Burns Red © Gary Cooper
She Burns Red © Gary Cooper

With a doom-y/stoner-based opener, it’s a slow burn which allows the band to shuffle up the gears and warm up. Vocable work from the bassist allows the song to take on a more sophisticated element but would be more effective if there was a second set to work in a bit of harmonies. This is also the same bassist who adds backing vocals on the following song which sounds like it could have come from the first two Black Stone Cherry albums (ie when they were good) but is completely lost in the mix – you can see him approach the mic and open his mouth and that’s it but that’s not their fault. Ironically, they then follow this up with an interpretation of the Kentucky band’s “Me and Mary Jane” with the harder-edged vocals turning the implicit wink into an explicit declaration.

Meanwhile, “Going Now” features as the band’s oldest number and shows a dichotomy – it’s the tightest part of the five-piece’s set but is one of their less elaborate tracks. The rest of the set skews a bit heavier with the vocalist adding in the odd bit of harsh vocals and growls. Whilst it’s a touch jarring, he’s effective with it and if he worked on it a bit more, he’d be a solid addition to a far heavier band. However, it’s the final track of their set which gets the loudest cheer due to covering a Velvet Revolver track and if you’re going to finish with one of their songs, it can only be “Slither”. Indeed, as they ensure they end things on a high, it shows the band at their best. Whilst they may be rough around the edges, with some solid, regular gigging and the experience sanding off those rough edges, they’d be a name worth keeping an eye on.

As Black Spiders make their way to the stage and launch into “Fly in the Soup”, they look a little bit different since their farewell tour a number of years ago. Planet Rock’s Wyatt Wendel’s now sits behind the drum kit, there’s a couple of young bucks wrangling the six strings to keep that triple guitar attack present, and mainstays Pete Spiby and Adam Irwin have trimmed their hair (one more than the other). Other than that, it’s business as usual for the hard rock outfit. It’s hard, unpretentious, no-fucks-given rock and roll like only they can deliver.  

Black Spiders © Gary Cooper
Black Spiders © Gary Cooper

Playing as a well-oiled machine like they always have, the quintet are on top form as they hit the halfway point of the tour. Without labouring the point, their comeback is well-warranted. Few bands could deliver this kind of no-nonsense rock and be this effortlessly slick about it. They were always a great unit in the live environment, their “Fuck Off Black Spiders” tour ensured they left on a high, leaving everything they had onstage and with them firmly “back”, it’s definitely not a case of wishing they had remained away. Despite a relatively different line-up since their last tour, with Ozzy Lister having recently called time on his involvement, and Spiby joking this is their “Mark III” line-up, the faces may be different but they remain a potent live act.  

Drawing heavily from 2021’s self-titled album, it blends seamlessly with the older material. The snarling punk-tinged “Stick it to the Man” makes an early appearance, alongside the shit-kicker of “Death Comes Creepin’” and the stoner-infused “Give Em’ What They Want” to match the doom and psychedelic tones of “Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard”. Whilst personal favourite, the epic (in the true sense of the word) “Black Crooked Wings” is missing, it’s not wanting. 

Elsewhere, there’s a couple of teases of what to expect on their upcoming album, Can’t Die, Won’t Die in the upbeat, tongue-in-cheek “Hot Wheels” and “A Rat is a Rat”. Indeed, the latter is Black Spiders turned up to the proverbial eleven, everything which makes them great distilled into one short, sharp burst of unadulterated hard rock. There’s also plenty of old favourites, too with “KISS Tried to Kill Me” and “Blood of the Kings” but they keep most of that for the final run of songs.  

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Black Spiders © Gary Cooper
Black Spiders © Gary Cooper

Indeed, it’s towards the end of the night with the evergreen hard-charging strains of “Stay Down” where the ritual of raising our middle fingers to the band and saying the immortal phrase of “Fuck you, Black Spiders” takes place before they make a bolt for the finish line. “Teenage Knife Gang” is essentially an ode to Motörhead as punk and hard rock meet in a frenetic duel, uncompromising in its viciousness. Then, there’s “What Good’s a Rock Without a Roll?” to finish the night’s proceedings. Fast, furious, chock-full to the brim with riffs, drums which will insist you headbang at such a speed that, if harnessed in the right way, could power a vehicle (and a cheaper alternative to diesel) and some witty lyrics. As one of their standards, it tells you immediately what this band is about. 

Despite the lack of some other favourites like “Balls”, “Just Like a Woman” and “Raised by Wolves”, the big glaring omissions of the night are “St Peter” and “Si, El Diablo”. Whilst they’re two numbers you’d expect the band to play, it feels a little strange for them not to be here. Perhaps they’re just being rested, only to be revived at a later date in order to allow more room for the newer material. Regardless, as each of the five men on stage give it their all, each with their own chance to shine with all of them showmen in their own right without veering into pretention, a perfect reflection of their music. 

Worshipping at the altar of the glory of no-frills rock, Black Spiders are as good as they’ve ever been. Playing a baker’s dozen plus one set of songs, they continue to do what they do best. No prisoners are taken. As the hairy, sweaty hard rock delivered by hairy, sweaty men leaves us all with smiles on our faces as the final notes ring out, they serve as a stark reminder of how great this kind of rock can be when it’s done this well. So, whilst we wait for the new album and presumably a tour where they give it the outing it most likely deserves, all that’s left to be said is “Fuck you, Black Spiders!” 

Photos by Gary Cooper Photography

Black Spiders: facebook | twitter | instagram | spotifyyoutube | patreon | bigcartel

Bunker 9: facebook | twitterinstagram | youtube

She Burns Red: officialfacebook | twitter | instagrambandcamp | soundcloud | spotify

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