For the second year in a row, local Toronto band Devilwitch put on another Halloween bash, but this year, they had local talent to support this phenomenal night featuring some of the very best in Ontario. An advanced sellout, even though free of charge, 350+ members of the community had to confirm attendance through ticketweb to secure entry. Much like last year, this year’s show was upstairs at the El Mocambo, a very legendary Toronto venue that is very close to celebrating their 80th year as a venue in 2028.
DEATH CLUB
Definitely a stern name for a band that just has fun on stage. Every single member of the band was sporting a different costume on stage, which however brought the noise to get the venue warmed up for the other bands to come. Death Club brings such a sound and depth you need to experience live. This band got a lot of reaction from the small crowd filling in, and the banter back towards the band was hilarious and left them speechless in-between songs. Freddy Kruger (Dana), Madonna (Chelsea), and Luigi (Adam) rounded out the dress-up visuals of Death Club for this Halloween performance. Playing a short and fierce 30-minute set supporting the sophomore album Betrayal, Death Club wasn’t able to play everything on that album with the time constraints; however, they threw in a Sepultura cover to end the performance off and absolutely nailed this cover. Even though the venue was slowly filling up even after a doors delay, hitting the cover at the end was the smart play because it caused lots of movement and headbanging from both people who dressed up and didn’t dress up, and also a lot of vocal appreciation towards the band from the crowd.
Setlist
‘Home’, ‘Dear Love’, ‘In My Defense’, ‘Feel Me Broken’, ‘Murder You’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura Cover)’
ZIGSEVEN
I will say this to anyone who listens: the pedigree of ZigSeven is “bananas”! Taking band members from different bands to form ZigSeven in it’s third performance ever was absolutely magical. The Freddy Krueger clad in four pieces (say that four times fast), dressed up in uniform for this Halloween bash; it didn’t last long once the band got warmed up, but looked great in photos. Speaking of looking great, the band had a cacophony of videos playing in the background, from slasher films to set the theme for the night to the eponymous Zigseven logo. By the time this band was two songs deep into the set, a majority of the floor in front of the stage was literally bouncing up and down with the movement and dancing from attendees’. Towards the end of the set, they had a guest vocalist join them on stage, and I had a moment of laughter because security didn’t know how to handle that situation but backed off immediately once the guest vocalist grabbed the microphone—a lesson for them, I suppose. Admirably as well, the band’s vocalist Eric announced that one of the songs was made on the way over to the venue. Seriously awesome, endless talent, setting themselves apart from everyone and anyone else. I don’t know which genre to throw Zigseven in, but you would be hard pressed to not be able for them to fit in on a metal bill. I know I mentioned third performance ever; I need to see this band again, and so do you!
Setlist
‘Grip’, ‘This Tune’, ‘Like It Or Not’, ‘Nothing From Me’, ‘Home’, ‘Dogs Day’, ‘Lockjaw (with Dave Sousa of AWD)’, ‘Mean Machine’
THUNDEROR
Time to travel back to the 80’s with Thunderor. This Toronto-based trio really goes out of their way to pay homage to what has come before them while polishing it up to resonate with the now times we are in. With a drum kit like no other, JJ came right out of the gate, making use of the elaborate and extensive kit that was put up specifically for this performance. The band invited up Mike to assist playing a Thin Lizzy song, and if you walked into the room not knowing Mike was asked to tag team guitar duties, you would never know. The performance was great, but felt like five-minutes. Even though it was another thirty-minute set, Thunderor fires on all cylinders, and they do the music justice; they are just really rad live!
Setlist
‘Fire It Up’, ‘One Chance’, ‘Dangerous Times’Thunderor’, ‘Emerald (Thin Lizzy cover w/ Mike Carbone), ‘Get ‘Em Counted’
DEVILWITCH
After all that talent to this point, Devilwitch is the final course for this line-up. I’ve seen Devilwitch many times, and this was easily the best performance out of anytime seeing them, and that’s saying a lot. It’s been a who’s who for who this band has opened for, played alongside, and what’s to come in the future. The amount of talent and respect amongst these musicians is crazy and next level. Trading off spots during songs where the focus is on one or two musicians is fascinating to see live without communication and zero hiccups. Mike is nothing short of a guitar virtuoso and killer at improvisation on demand; he can play any style and makes it look so easy; it seriously feels like traveling through the various eras of guitar playing by just watching Mike play on stage going through this set. Very quickly Mike name dropped his band member Anthony for flipping the bill for this show on this night, and as much as the crowd responded in a loud and deafening cheer, even louder once Mike told us we are all family tonight. Head banging, mosh pits, and even a back flip off stage (security again, freaked out over this), this performance, at almost 2 hours long, was a roller coaster of music, from rock to metal to heavy metal, and even a guest appearance by Cheme Monsta for a couple songs. For the amount of times I’ve seen Devilwitch, they always have tricks up their collective sleeves and make me never want to miss a show from them. Lightning struck twice because I can’t stress this enough; it was phenomenal and free! “You all having a good time? That’s all I give a damn about.” Mike Carbone.
Setlist
Act 1
‘AFI/Beauty Of Brutal’, ‘Burnout’, ‘Fog In Brain’, ‘Punk’, ‘Candle’, ‘Keys Solo’, ‘All The World Wept’, ‘Per Cardina’, ‘Beware’, ‘I Don’t Mind Dying/Morticia’
Act 2
‘Scarecrow’, ‘Living Nightmare (w/ Cheme Monsta)’, ‘False & Rotten (w/ Cheme Monsta)’, ‘Gutter Baller’, ‘Demon’s/Bass Trip’, ‘Guitar Solo’, ‘No Sheraton’, ‘Dirty Witch’, ‘T2 – END’
CONCLUSION
Free. This show was Free. For the second year in a row, 350+ people committed to seeing metal on a Saturday in October. Will there be a third year? too early to tell, but I question how the Devilwitch crew will top this night if they go for a third year. This show for so many reasons will be in my top ten for 2024 shows. I would have paid to see this line-up at this legendary venue, and I’m sure I am not the only one who resonates with this. Shout out to Devilwitch for putting a show of this calibre on, the staff of el Mocambo, and the many heroes behind the scenes that the general public doesn’t hear about. Two special shout outs to the DJ (Alex Fazio), who absolutely kept the floor moving and grooving in between changeovers, and the lovely ladies Paige Turner and Starlotte Satine, who did a live burlesque performance in between Zigseven and Thunderor complete with t-shirt and Halloween candy throwing. Any single one of these bands would be killer openers for any metal touring artist making a stop in Toronto and/or Ontario, a really enjoyable night out with four killer bands. A beautiful night under the palms, with four killer bands who for one night had a very hot and passionate crowd showering them with Halloween love.
October 19th, 2024 @ EL Mocambo (Toronto, ON)
Images By: Miles George
Words By: Miles George