London
1 November 2025
And they’ve brought some friends along for the ride. First up is the Heathen Apostles — unfortunately due to a seemingly interminable bus diversion, I only catch the tail end of their set, but what I see is great fun. They describe themselves as “gothic Americana”, which seems like an appropriate choice to support the Nephilim, who I seem to recall describing themselves in an ’80s interview as “cowboy metal” (mind you, that was before they got big and became one of the touchstones for gothic rock).
Double bass, violin, you know the deal, but simultaneously darker and more, well, party music. They put me slightly in mind of The Cowmen, though you’d certainly never mistake the two. I’ve never heard of them before, but will definitely be checking them out again, especially if I find myself organising a Halloween hoedown next year. Then it’s Claytown Troupe, who somehow I have also never seen before, despite them having shared a bill with most of my favourite bands back in the day (as did Balaam And The Angel, who have been supporting on various other dates this tour). So my main memory of them is seeing their name while poring over the gig listings in the music papers (remember them? I miss them). And they’re good! More to the “rock” end of “gothic rock”, there’s still plenty of the G-word evident. When frontman Christian Riou says “yeah”, it’s more of an Ian Astbury “yeah” than an Andrew Eldritch “yeah”, put it that way. There’s definitely an American (rock, rather than country) vibe to their sound, and there’s nowt wrong with that. And then it’s time for the mighty Fields Of The Nephilim. Forty years on, and with just Carl McCoy and Tony remaining from the classic Dawnrazor lineup, they somehow still haven’t changed. Guitarist Gav King (also of Conflict — RIP Colin) kicks us off with — of course — with their classic Ennio Morricone cover “Harmonica Man” (aka “Man With A Harmonica”), and there’s no denying the primal power of that initial “DERR… DERRR… DERRR… dum diddle diddle DERR… DERRR… DERRR-DERRR”. Well, I mean, there probably is if you make the foolish error of trying to write it down in words; I’ll concede that didn’t really capture the majesty of the affair.I think I probably said this last time I wrote about The Sisters Of Mercy, but it’s only fair I say it here too — despite always being spoken of together, despite having defined between them what it was to be gothic rock for half of the ’80s and most of the ’90s (until the merger with industrial metal really took over the whole scene), despite BOTH WEARING HATS — they are now very much at opposite ends of the live experience.
With the Sisters, you might get some new songs, but while they may be awesome on any given night, there’s also a decent chance they’ll be terrible. Whereas with the Nephs, you know you definitely won’t be getting any surprises, but you’re guaranteed a great show. And with gig prices these days, the safe bet is often the best. Also the Nephs still wear the hats, which is nice. Carl McCoy is still one of the all-time great frontmen. Even though his stage activity, as always, largely consists of hunching and taking a few steps backwards and forwards, he still has every bit of stage presence and charisma as he did when he was forty years younger (well, I can vouch for thirty-five of them at least). And one of the all-time great goth voices, which he has also somehow managed to retain for four decades despite the fact it must play merry hell on the throat. One can only suspect some sort of Faustian shenanigans have taken place for him to still be able to sing all these songs.And if these days they are basically a legacy band? Who gives a shit. What a fucking legacy. Of course we get all the greats. “Preacher Man”, “Moonchild”, “The Watchmen” and naturally “Dawnrazor”. The main set ends with the epic prog majesty of “Psychonaut”, before they come back on for two encores: “Last Exit For The Lost” (of course) and “Mourning Sun”.
Personally I’d have switched the running order for those two- – “Last Exit” is the PERFECT song to end a show with — but that’s really my only quibble, other than the set could maybe have been a couple of songs longer. But these are the sort of criticisms anyone would be happy to provoke. Always leave ‘em wanting more, and all that. And then it’s off into the night, having proved they’re still the best at what they do, and what they do is fantastic. And if they’re not gonna write any more songs? Fine. I’ll keep showing up to hear the old ones. Forever remain!-Words: Justin Farrington-
-Pictures: Dave Pettit-
