Gig review: SOUTH OF SALEM – The Tivoli, Buckley, North Wales, 9 February 2024

South Of Salem could be construed as “old school” in 2024. Admittedly there’s nothing cutting edge in their Goth-inspired metal delivery but – by goodness – they deliver.

We’ve been exposed to a series of singles from the band in 2023 trailing their second album, and in our review we stated: “ultimately it’s the strength of the songs that win out. SoS have demonstrated with their second album that they understand the need to keep things short and to the point.”

Drawing upon both their debut (for most of the first half), and naturally their latest album, the band rattled through an hour long set – sadly, I assume, a privilege punters won’t get on their forthcoming tour with Kris Barras.

The chief crunch (and I mean glossy crunch) comes from guitarists Kodi and Fish who lend the band an appealing underpinning heavy riffery. Frontman Joey Draper adds an air of menace and drama to proceedings and constantly engaging the audience.

The contrast between the debut album ‘The Sinner Takes It All’ and the latest is marked with several earlier tracks sounding more like they were conceived on Sunset Strip whilst the cover of ‘Rebel Yell’ brought their punk overtones to the surface.

As the band got into the new album, songs like ‘Static’ and ‘Vultures’ emphasised the new offering’s great immediacy but it was ‘A Life Worth Dying For’ that reiterated just how tuneful this band can sound and for me it was a set highlight which may have even topped my album favourite ‘Left For Dead’.

Like the album, the pace of the gig rarely slowed but the band did demonstrate on ‘Demons Are Forever’ (from ‘Sinner’) they can slow things down with the same panache.

Rallying with ‘Pretty Little Nightmare’ and ‘Left For Dead’ they encored with a satisfying ‘Jet Black Eyes ‘.

The band will be able to command larger stages in April when they tour with Barras – what a great combination of riffmongery that will be!

This looked and sounded like a great gig and a band with a future. The cheerleader ladies, used sparingly, were also a cheerful and welcome bonus for ageing rockers who could further salivate when they appeared on the merch stall.

A complete night out I’d say.

Review and photos by David Randall

With thanks to Roki at The Tivoli

Album review (‘Death of The Party’, 2024 – plus UK tour dates)
Album review (‘The Sinner Takes It All’, 2020)

Upcoming Shows at The Tivoli (www.tivolivenue.com)

February 10 She Burns Red – Saturday 10th February 2024
February 16 Dressed to Kill (Kiss Tribute) – Friday 16th February 2024
February 17 Roxette UK – Saturday 17th February 2024
February 24 Neville Staple – CANCELLED
February 25 FOZZY – Sunday 25th February 2024

March 02 Mothership (Led Zep Tribute)
March 08 Punk Rock Factory
March 09 Enuff Z’nuff
March 15 Burn (Deep Purple tribute)
March 16 The Hot One Two
March 22 Sons of Liberty
March 23 Dizzy Lizzy (Thin Lizzy tribute)
April 05 One Night in Nashville
April 12 Mainly Madness
April 20 Morderstein (Rammstein tribute)
April 26 CJ Wildheart

May 03 AC/DC UK (Tribute)
May 04 Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart
May 09 Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons
May 17 Moving Pictures (Rush tribute)
May 18 The Men They Couldn’t Hang
June 01 Pinked Floyd
June 08 The Style Councillers (tribute)
June 14 Endorphinmachine (Prince tribute)
June 21 Creedence Clearwater Review (tribute)

July 06 King King
July 12 Fleetwood Bac
July 13 Ultimate Leppard (tribute)
July 19 Tigertailz

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)