Send More Paramedics, Possessor, Prolapse AD
The Dome
London, UK
October 31, 2021
Let me kick this piece off with a little bit of backstory...
On Halloween 2020, mid pandemic, zombiecore thrash metal legends Send More Paramedics posted a single poster on their site. Simply showing a decomposing hand reaching up from the grave with the words Halloween 2021 written along the bottom. This got fans of the band intrigued and before long rumours of a possible reanimation were circulating. After leaving us speculating for a few months it was announced that Send More Paramedics will be exhumed from their graves to perform a handful of live shows to mark 20 years of the bands reanimation and subsequent first gig concluding on Oct 31, 2021. They would be playing the venue BOOM! in Leeds on Fri 29th and Sat 30th Oct finishing at The Boston Music Rooms in London on Sun 31st. Tickets went on sale in spring this year and due to an overwhelming demand another date, Thurs 28th, was added to the venue in Leeds and the London venue was upgraded to The Dome in Tufnell Park. We, the fans were working ourselves into a frenzy to see the undead four piece live for one last feast before we all got too old to be thrashing about in the pit! So much so I don't think the band themselves realised just how much they had been missed as rumour has it they couldn't quite believe how quickly the dates had sold out. Send More Paramedics originally called time on their career back in 2007, reforming briefly in 2014 for a couple of record company anniversary shows, again in Leeds and London, so it had been a good 7 years since they last played together as a band. I suppose that's nothing compared to the fact that their last studio album The Awakening was released 15 years ago. In between releasing the tickets for this year’s anniversary shows and the gigs themselves SMP completely surprised us all by popping into the studio and recording a brand new album! The Final Feast was self-released on their Bandcamp page in September of this year and gave us 9 new tracks to devour, dissect and familiarise ourselves with in time for the upcoming shows.
The build up to these shows had been growing and before we knew it the dates were upon us. As the first 3 shows took place at the same venue they decided to mix things up by having different support acts every night. They were joined by Block Out The Sun (metalcore), Disstraxx (punk), Eye To Eye (melodic punk), Slimelord (doom metal), Pest Control (crossover thrash), and Video Nasties (horror-based black ‘n’ roll) for the Leeds dates and Possessor (metal) and Prolapse AD (thrash) for the London show.
Early reports of the Leeds dates were incredibly exciting, especially for myself as I was only attending the London Halloween show. This was to be my first live gig for over a year due to Covid and all the restrictions. Even though things had lifted a bit over here in the UK I was reluctant to go to any shows prior to this as I wanted my first show back to be a big one! I was not disappointed! One of the things I love about this band is the fact they dress up like the living dead and encourage their fans to do the same. Pretty much every SMP show I have attended I have zombied up proudly and this was no exception. In fact a good 75% of the crowd had dressed up for this last show. The Dome as a venue is pretty spacious for a mid-sized building (but unfortunately cursed with a high ceiling for reasons we will come to later), however they took the necessary precautions for the current situation which was reassuring.
The atmosphere was one of excitement and nervous anticipation but the swift arrival of the first act, Kent based 4 piece Prolapse AD soon got the crowd going. Their thrash/death metal with a comedic twist was a cheerful start to the evening. With politically charged song titles like "Dump Trump" and "Pigfucker" making way for other fun titles such as "Black N Decker Pussy Wrecker" complete with a visual aide in the form of a dildo attached to an electric drill (Drilldo??!!) just in case you were unsure of the songs content. Ending their set with the hilarious and very catchy "Digging Up Your Mother". They were a great band to kick the nights entertainment off with. Given a little time to digest Prolapse AD 's impressive stage presence and fast paced set it was time for the second support act. London based sludge/stoner/thrash metal band Possessor took to the stage. This 3-piece band had embraced the fact the it was Halloween with singer/guitarist wearing a glow in the dark skeleton top and their bassist wearing a very fetching floaty dress, which I must say really brought out the colour of his eyes! They produced a varied and tight set of experimental/melodic metal reminiscent of Mastodon. Song titles include "Coffin Fit" and "Notting Hell". Their banter in between songs started off a little awkward but they got more talkative towards the end with the guitarist handing over his instrument to the audience to finish off their last song.
The time had come for the main event and soon the stage darkened as 3 silhouettes twitched and shuffled their way onto the stage. As "A Crushing Tide" from disc 2 of The Awakening (2006) crackled over the PA, El Diablo took up position behind the drums, Medico grabbed his guitar and X.Undead donned his bass... but where was B'Hellmouth? This question was soon answered as the unmistakable lament of "Braiiinnnnnssss!" was soon heard over the chatter of the crowd and the towering figure of the vocalist came lumbering through the crowd drawn toward the stage. Having found what he was looking for balanced on the drum riser, he grabs the severed head (prop of course) and chows down on some fresh brains before kicking off with crowd pleasing familiar opener "The Hordes". The set from there just nailed it the whole way through. Kind of split into 2 parts the main bulk of the set was a great mix of top tracks from their 3 studio albums: A Feast For The Fallen (2002), The Hallowed And The Heathen (2004) and The Awakening as well as a couple from the newly released The Final Feast (2021), and some well worn live favourites. Anthemic classics "Blood Fever", "Burning The Body" and "Send More Paramedics" were interspersed with the pure thrash speed of "Cannibal", "Nothing Tastes Like This" and "The Unclean". From The Final Feast they chose "Totenkopf" and "Human Capital" which fitted in perfectly well with the older songs and got a great response from the crowd. Ending that part of the set with the hugely popular circle pit inducing anthem from the Tales Told By Dead Men (2005) split EP, "Zombie Versus Shark".
Then, as this Halloween celebrates 20 years of the band and how it all started from one 5-track demo they recorded way back in 2001 they decided to play the first demo in its entirety: "245 Trioxin", "The Pain Of Being Dead", "Redneck Holiday", "Kingdom Of The Undead", and "Zombified" were old school SMP at their finest. Their final track of the night was always going to be their main anthem "Zombie Crew" from "The Hallowed And The Heathen", this has been the song to end the majority of their shows over the years and it was no different for their final show.
This was an insanely good set list incorporating their standout songs from a vast back catalogue of contenders; it had everything we, the crowd wanted. The added bonus of the new tracks was a great addition to the shows as we will never get to hear these tracks live ever. Adding these 2 new tracks into the set was hugely appreciated by the fans. The band themselves seemed on top form and in good spirits, if that is indeed possible from members of the undead. Having only had 2 practise sessions as a full band in preparation for these 4 shows and then playing 4 shows back-to-back when you haven't done it for years is a brave thing to attempt -- so much could have gone wrong, but it didn't. They nailed it and looked like they were having so much fun in the process. Dogged by a few sound issues to start with, the sound person seemed to have trouble with the bass and vocals on the odd occasion but eventually managed a balance by midway through. I personally think this was due to the height of the ceiling in the building causing these issues. There were some bum notes -- forgotten lyrics and dodgy timing from the band -- but given what I just said about them only having had a couple of practises beforehand this was to be expected. They were few and far between and they dealt with it in their usual professional manner. As always. SMP were very interactive with the crowd, had great zombie related banter in between songs, and encouraged circle pits, with B'Hellmouth often offering up his mic to the hordes to scream along, as well as jumping into the pit himself and crowd surfing. This final show at The Dome was a sellout and the gig was livestreamed across the internet so fans across the world could also witness the final throes of the undead.
Send More Paramedics have come and gone a few times over these last 2 decades and I really feel that this will indeed be the last time that we will see them live. Although this is a sad thing to say out loud they have left us with an epic and lasting back catalogue of insane zombie thrash that I will continue to revisit until my hearing gives out. There was no feeling of sadness when they finished "Zombie Crew," just a great feeling of belonging and honour to have been there with them one last time. Their 20-year milestone has been well truly been celebrated in sincere zombie style and now they shuffle back from whence they came. Be that in the ground or forced back into their metal canisters and barricaded back in their bunker no one truly knows all I know is that their loyal fans will never forget them and in true Bub (Day Of The Dead, 1985) style... we salute you!
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Editor's note: Read our 2021 interview with B'Hellmouth.
