Doo-wop isn’t usually a genre you’d expect metal fans to care about. But after their debut album got all kinds of attention, Twin Temple have become metal fans doo-wop band of choice. Now Twin Temple aren’t exactly your standard doo-wop band, the band describe it themselves as Satanic doo-wop. This isnt just a gimmick to them though, as satanism is a huge part of the duos life. Now they bring their black mass to a sold out show in London for the second time.
Opening for them were The Violent Hearts (6), who do a solid job warming up the crowd tonight. Their goth rock is decent but doesn’t exactly wow anyone tonight. I think it’s just a case of tonights crowd being so invested in the headliner that the response to the support never really extends beyond polite. The Violent Hearts certainly show potential but tonight certainly isn’t their most impactful show.
As Twin Temple (8) take to the stage with their first ritualistic performance of the night they are greeted like heroes. Despite playing in such a small venue they go all out with the theatrics. The whole performance feels like some occult ritual, only soundtracked by smooth doo-wop. All this satanic theatrics would mean less in the live environment if the songs themselves weren’t good. Fortunately Twin Temple can already pack their set with several catchy tunes that people already love singing along to. And their backing band are all fantastic at what they do
The real star is Alexandra James whose vocal performance is outstanding. She has such a fantastic range and her voice is perfectly suited to these songs. Her performance on stage is brilliant too as she is fully committed to leading like this is a satanic sermon. They even pull a fan on stage at one point to lead him down the left hand path. They also inject everything with a real feminist message which makes it very empowering.
Now there’s a certain amount of camp and silliness you have to embrace with Twin Temple but if you can get over that, they are one of the most unique and entertaining bands around. Their stock seems to be on the rise and if they carry on like they are, it won’t be too long before they start filling much bigger venues.
