On an otherwise dreary rainy night in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, shock rockers, Wednesday 13 made their presence known at the Sherman Theater. The band’s faithful arrived in make-up and goth outfits to celebrate songs from their 20+ year career.
Wednesday 13 is currently on tour promoting their ninth and most deadly studio album, “Horrifer,” due out October 7th, with a 39-date trek across North America. The tour dubbed “20 Years of Fear, Part 2” tour conjures images of malevolent and irreverent behaviors but vividly depicts the sentiment of what fans could expect. As the first chord of “Bloodsucker Mother F*#ker” rang out and the smoke started to lift, Troy Doebbler [bass], Jack Tankersley [guitar] and Roman Surman [lead guitar], and Jonny Chops [drums] materialized from the haze next to their amps and drum kit in. A ghoulish Wednesday 13 appeared out of the shadows; arms stretched wide in full make-up, wearing black leather pants, platform boots, and a denim vest with a striking thin red tie. A horrific foreboding look of things to come.
As expected, Wednesday 13 showcased their extraordinary music catalog in the span of 75 minutes. Among the 15-song set list were classics including “Look What the Bats Dragged In,” “Scream Baby Scream,” and “I Walked with a Zombie,” as well as a nice mix of new songs off “Horrifer,” including “Insides Out,” “Good Day to Be a Bad Guy,” and “You’re so Hideous.” They even included three The Murderdolls songs, which were dedicated to Joey Jordison “Die My Bride,” “Graverobbing USA,” and “Nowhere.” Fans who never had the opportunity to see The Murderdolls felt as if they had died and gone to Hell. Regardless of when the songs were written, they still sounded like a cohesive unit tied together with their heavy riffs and tremendous melody. I asked Wednesday 13 post-show about the importance of melody in all his songs, and he replied, “I think that’s the main ingredient of what people like about me. I hit on things that remind people of the 80s, but it’s not. You may hear aspects from the hair metal era because that’s part of my influences, but we don’t portray ourselves like that. We come off as a much heavier version. Poison looked like girls, and we look like nightmares [laughing].”
Like a well-oiled machine, each member worked in perfect harmony with the other. They ran the stage, interacted with the audience, and sang all the background vocals like a truly high-performing band.
Wednesday 13 truly seems to love performing all for his fans. It’s a testament to the strength of the rocker and his catalog. He is the stained, bloodied, and soiled fabric of American Rock n’ Roll, and he loves it. All evening he had the frenzied crowd right in the palm of his hand all night and then proceeded to tighten his grip on the show’s closer, “I Love to Say F*#k,” while carrying a black umbrella with an imprint of a middle finger! It’s all done in great fun…I hope!”
The band had the fans standing on their feet all night, and the applause that followed every song was clearly heartfelt. Any fan in attendance will tell you Wednesday 13 still embraces that raw grittiness and punk-glam appeal he did 20 years ago. He and his band-mates are tremendous performers who continuously give their audience 110%.
Tickets and VIP packages for their shows can be purchased HERE.
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