Frost and Fire IV

Stop me if you’ve heard this one
before: NIGHT DEMON plays a
festival in their hometown, a festival
they themselves organize, in front of
a ravenous audience consisting of
their family and friends from both
Southern California and all around
the world. What exactly do you think
is going to happen? The same thing
that happens every single year when
Night Demon plays Frost and Fire.
They blow the roof off the place.
They find another gear you never
knew they had. They take no
prisoners. They remind you why
you love this band and these people,
and why you traveled so far to be
here in the first place. It was a simply
world-class performance in front of
perhaps the largest, most rabid
audience of the entire weekend.
The opening four-cut salvo of
“Welcome to the Night” into “Full
Speed Ahead” into “Maiden Hell”
into “Dawn Rider” (complete with
Motorhead tribute in the form of the
beginning of “Overkill” before
switching over to “Dawn Rider”) is
simply untouchable, all sweat and
fire and speed and blood and guts.
The middle part of the set is where
the dynamics come out, with more
brooding tracks like “Howling Man”
and “Stranger in the Room” (which
Jarvis Leatherby dedicated to “the
one person who isn’t having fun” at
Frost and Fire, a twist on his usual
dedication of the song to the one guy
in the back who doesn’t own
Darkness Remains) alongside
burners like “Hallowed Ground” and
“Screams in the Night.”
Before “Life on the Run,” the band
paused for Jarvis to pay tribute to
the late Mark “The Shark” Shelton,
which he did in such a heartfelt
manner that I don’t think there was a
dry eye in the house, and not from
sweat either. I had the distinct honor
of reprising the role of Rocky the
mascot during “The Chalice” this
evening, which is noteworthy only
because I damn near missed my cue
as certain notorious band members,
who shall remain nameless, were
insisting on multiple photo ops with
Rocky before he went on stage,
haha.
The Scorpions cover “In Trance” is
now so masterfully done by Night
Demon that it is absolutely a work of
beauty, a guaranteed shiver-downthe-spine
moment and a true
highlight of the set. All too soon it
was time for “Night Demon,” with
Jarvis, Armand and Dusty sprinting
to the finish line of what was simply a
steamroller performance, a lesson in
precision and power, muscle and
might, and wild-eyed, barely
controlled chaos. This is what
heavy metal’s all about. I couldn’t
have been more proud.
Setlist: Welcome to the Night, Full
Speed Ahead, Maiden Hell, Dawn
Rider, Howling Man, Hallowed
Ground, Life on the Run, Stranger in
the Room, Screams in the Night, The
Chalice, In Trance, Night Demon.