CREEPER PERFORMING AT LONDON’S KOKO

★★★★★ (5/5)

CREEPER PERFORMING AT LONDON’S KOKO
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI

Here’s the deal – Creeper are currently the greatest band in the scene, no objections accepted. With their theatricality, old-school Americana-meets-80s-horror aesthetic, clean vocals and a stage presence that can shake an entire venue to its core, it is difficult to find flaws or criticisms for a band that shook Wembley Arena only a few months back. So when Creeper promise a one-off set at Camden’s iconic KOKO, performing ‘Sanguivore’ in its entirety and promising a special surprise, there is again no reason to say no.

Starting off the night (or the evening) early, Lowen took the stage at 7pm sharp. Having supported Zakk Sabbath in their UK tour, the band have been gaining a lot of traction lately due to the uniqueness of their music and set. They are spread on the stage as the eerie vocals come on under heavy and doom rhythms, and a C-shaped dagger glows in the red lights. Lowen’s sound is an acquired taste, but it fits perfectly with the theatricality of the night. Despite their performance being short, it was impactful and sharp, with intense drumming and basslines framing the otherworldly vocals that seem like a prayer or a curse to an unknown deity. As the last notes linger in the air before the main act, I can definitely see a few people becoming new fans of Lowen’s music.

A Creeper set is not just music, it’s an experience. It is a snippet from an old horror film, a tale of vampire lovers consuming each other until death and beyond, a sacrifice in an old chapel. It does not start with music – it starts with fans flooding Camden in ghoul makeup, Bloody Mary cocktails, Creeper charcoal pizza, flash tattoos and a masked figure resembling like the Black Death warning us ‘The End is Nigh’. Darcia comes on stage and plays a videotape in an old TV, referencing iconic Scooby Doo films and explaining what the set will entail. As the TV screen rolls off the stage, the band is on wearing their signature makeup, the cathedral lights are on, and the music starts. ‘Further Than Forever’ is one of the band’s most famous songs, spanning 9-minutes long but feeling like seconds. The venue is full of energy, the crowd is going wild and ‘Sanguivore’ begins.

I am definitely biased in saying that this album is one of the band’s best work. Whilst their previous albums are more Bowie-meets-Ice Nine Kills, ‘Sanguivore’ is an album that feels like a ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ type of record. Creeper have a lot of theatricality on stage that matches the vibes of the music, and every song flows seamlessly, going into ‘Cry for Heaven’, ‘Sacred Blasphemy’ and then the slower ‘The Ballad Of Spook & Mercy’. It is a tale of love, death, devotion and everything in between, and it is perfectly told through the music.

Whilst the album was released a year and a half ago, the fans are already citing word for word. Crowd-surfing picks up as ‘Teenage Sacrifice’ and ‘Black Heaven’ come on, while a more heartfelt moment of tearful faces comes in full swing when ‘More Than Death’ is performed – a song that the band do not perform live that often. Creeper also keeps engaging with the crowd through the set, often leaving the audience to fill the lyrics. But even though the album is finished, this is definitely not the end. The band comes back on stage bathed in light to perform some more of their most iconic songs – ‘Down Below’, ‘Suzanne’ (with a very special guest joining), ‘Midnight’ as a duet with Will and Hannah, ‘Ghosts Over Calvary’ and finally, crowd favourites ‘Cyanide’ and ‘Annabelle’, where the energy picks up so much the whole venue feels like it’s moving.

Finally, the set ends with ‘Misery’, sang almost exclusively by the crowd as the band sits in awe. Admitting that they release music not knowing how it will be perceived and having a sold out venue sing back every single lyric definitely felt very fulfilling and you could see the band almost unable to grasp the waves they have made. But alas, we were not gathered in Camden just to watch them perform an album live. As the set ends, a masked and muscly executioner comes on stage and the curtain drops, giving its place to a projection. The ‘Sanguivore’ videotape comes out of the TV, replaced by another one titled ‘???????’, making the crowd roar. Then a small teaser of an 80s slasher-like film comes on, staring the very same executioner, teasing the band’s newest album that comes to supersede ‘Sanguivore’. To say that all of us have our eyes peeled for this would be an understatement.