Messed!Up
For a start, let’s make one thing clear. Battlesnake isn’t like any other band out there. Imagine crossing Spinal Tap with the knights of Monty Python’s Holy Grail and cream it up with a bit of Tenacious D. It’s probably the least serious heavy metal band out there, but the most exciting and exhilarating act in the scene right now. I promise, you will leave their shows as a Battlesnake believer; that’s how good they are live.
To be honest, wouldn’t it have been for tonight’s Messed!Up photographer, I wouldn’t have known anything about the band. Battlesnake were on the lineup at last year’s Reeperbahn Festival on the Aussie BBQ Day at Molotow, but I hadn’t planned to turn up until later that day due to other bands – and then the photographer told, ‘It’s Spinal Tap live’, and I was hooked. And it was complete madness live. I didn’t even know where to watch in the end because three band members were at the top of the small bar kiosk, two others were climbing a ladder in the middle of the audience, all while the drummer and frontman were on the stage. Battlesnake won a lot of new fans over during the festival with their insanely metal madness, and now, they’re out touring Europe as a headliner for the first time.
Battlesnake pop up on stage on time, and the first thing to note is that their keytar man, Billy O’Key, isn’t with them. He was one of their amazing characters at RBF last year, playing keytar with angel wings on the back (which he kept even when he undressed and was running around in his underwear). A rumor says he’s to become a dad any day soon and has gone back to Australia. Nevertheless, be-horned frontman Sam Frank revs the crowd up to the rhythms of “Dawn of the Exultants” while reading passages from the Bible, and the rest of the band run around like the energizer bunny on crack. It’s followed by one of the major hits, the menacing and mesmerising “I Am the Vomit”, all thrash metal guitars and sinister vocals with lyrics such as ‘I am the maggot, feeding on your skin’ delivered with ferocious energy. Two songs in and it’s already one of the best shows of the year – and it hadn’t really started yet.
It’s quite clear that most of the people at Molotow tonight discovered the band during one of their support shows over the last two years. They played the support slot for Eagles of Death Metal in Hamburg just a few weeks ago and probably won over some people at that show.
The performance is pure theatre, each band member looking like they’ve come straight from the set of Monty Python’s Holy Grail. And just to remind the audience who’s on stage, every song ends with ‘We are Battlesnake’ with dramatic reverb, a gravel-toned growl and Sam Frank doing satanic horn symbols. And then it freaks out completely. Frank climbs the light rig and starts singing, hanging upside down while bassist Elliot Hitchcock walks through the crowd with guitarist Ben Frank on his shoulders. I mean, their self-awareness and cheeky persona make the performance all the more entertaining, turning what could have been a standard rock show into something uniquely fun.
To be honest, I’m not super familiar with their records, but I like some songs, the above-mentioned ‘I Am The Vomit’ and, in particular, ‘Nightmare King’. But that’s not the reason I’m here – I’m here for entertainment! In this day and age, when too many bands take themselves too seriously and the Spinal Tap sequel is about to be released, we need bands like Battlesnake. It’s good heavy metal that flirts with their homies of AC/DC, but nothing that sticks out. But that doesn’t matter because there are few bands that can entertain their audience as Battlesnake can. Believe me, these lads will play bigger stages and venues soon. I my wildest dream, I see Spinal Tap go on tour next year, bringing Battlesnake as their support. And Tenacious D. And Weird Al Jankovic. I would buy tickets for the whole tour.
Whenever you get a chance to see Battlesnake, just take it. It’s a memory you’ll never forget.
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Photographer: Sophie Dobschall
