Acid Reign – Voodoo Belfast – Sunday 8th December 2019

The Voodoo in Belfast is the type of venue that seems tailor made for a band like UK thrashers Acid Reign [10], it’s up close and personal and leaves no one in the crowd with a space to hide. As an added bonus, there’s no barrier at the front so any would be stage divers and rambunctious revellers are more than welcome to join in the action….but more of that in a bit!

Taking the stage to “TAOE” and tearing straight into “The New Low”, it quickly becomes apparent that the assembled mob of UK thrash happy kids are in for a fuckin’ treat. Tearing through steel plated classics like “The Fear”, “Motherly Love” and “Humanoia” it’s clear to all present that the band are on formidable form with guitarists Paul Chanter and Cooky throwing out their ferocious riffs with gleeful abandon. The old classics are all well and good but it’s new album, The Age Of Entitlement, that’s currently in people’s minds and, understandably, the bulk of AR’s set comes from their outstanding new album and “#NewAgeNarcissist”, “Within The Woods” and “Ripped Apart” go down an absolute treat and are clearly thrash anthems in the making.

As always, frontman ‘H’, is an absolute whirlwind of energy. Whether he’s literally bouncing off the walls at the side of the stage, delivering his lines perched upon a barstool – while a few hardy souls form a circle pit around him – or referring to the first stage dive of the night as “a half arsed Sunday night stage dive”, and scoring it an 8 for effort and 2 for execution, he’s as affable and as exuberant as he ever was. That said, for all the giggle-worthy nonsense going on, none of it detracts from the music. In times like these we need bands like Acid Reign more than ever, it’s not easy to deliver a serious message and put a smile on your face…..but that’s exactly what Acid Reign do, time after time.

Not only have Acid Reign delivered one of the finest albums of the year but they’ve also delivered the gig of the year!