Some would say that this is perhaps too dramatic a title for a metal band’s concert, in the middle of the summer heat, in the middle of Belgrade. That someone has obviously never met Cradle of Filth as befits, he looks down on their music, a Dani Filtha he probably considers too theatrical a character. That someone is certainly not right on any point – Cradle of Filth has long proven that the band is worthy of the attention and passionate love of their fans, their music is undoubtedly only theirs and you can’t confuse them with someone else when you hear them. And Dani? Dani was always theatrical just as needed, and charismatic enough to attract people KST bastion last night it was as much a woman’s world as a man’s.
But let’s start from the beginning, as befits. Some of us remember the emergence of this band from the beginning of the nineties (we know, it was a really long time ago). They might not have been able to reach most of us right away with their first full-length from 1994.The Principle of Evil Made Flesh,” but we are certainly already with “Dusk… and Her Embrace“from 1996 and following”Cruelty and the Beast” knew that we had something special in our hands (and Walkmans). Does anyone remember the “Beauty in Darkness” compilation?
It will also happen that we saw them for the first time in Belgrade only in 2009, when they had a joint concert with Moonspell (as it turns out, somewhat more frequent visitors to our country) with support in the form of Turisas. Since then, it could be said freely – who waits and waits, so finally in 2024 we got another chance to host these troubadours of dark vampiric erotica.
As in the good old days, the majority of the audience arrived at the doors of KST much earlier in the hope that they would manage to get straight to the front row upon entering the garden. Neither the heat nor the lack of fresh breeze bothered the sold-out venue, because we were all focused on one thing – the outline of the band emerging from the fog (this is absolutely an allusion to “Her Ghost in the Fog“). Exactly at 10 p.m., the intro heats up, the stage becomes less and less visible from the smoke machine and one by one the band members go on stage, accompanied by the thunderous screams of the audience. Dani comes out last, with a very theatrical performance, and we didn’t expect anything less, covered from head to toe in a cloak that he throws and shows us in all his darkness.
The set list was just right – it cannot be said that we were deprived of songs from older releases, including the title track with “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh,” as well as for their now timeless hits like “Nymphetamine (Fix)” i “Her Ghost in the Fog“. There were also newer songs, and flip-flop, CoF sound great, and look like a moving show of vampiric dark pleasures. On top of everything, Dani, who is also the only original member of the line-up, rules the stage sovereignly like the King of Darkness eager for your screams, both from fear and supreme pleasure. And we reciprocated in our own way.
Without further ado, you probably already know the band’s history well, and the gallery from the concert is here for those who either couldn’t attend, or want to remember what it was like to be part of the dark theater. And for all those ill-wishers who once when CoF signed to Sony before the release of “Damnation and a Day” said that they sold out, we have only one thing to say – never doubt that they stayed true to themselves and their spirit, and that’s why they kept the audience. The evening with them in the hot garden of KST will stay with all of us for a long time, and we can only hope that it won’t be long until their next visit to Serbia.
Photo gallery – Cradle of Filth – Belgrade
Source: balkanrock.com
