Evil Blizzard are “a singing drummer, 3 bass players, a pig on keys and a filthy guitar player”… what can go wrong…!

Hebden Trades Club, 13th January 

Hailing from Preston, these guys have been around for some years now, and apart from a couple of personnel changes have more or less remained the same lineup – Side on drums/lead vocals, Filthy Dirty on guitar/vocals, Stomper on bass, Prowler on bass, Fleshcrawl (formerly of Hawkwind) on bass (lots of bass!) and Blizz Pig on keys after switching roles from terrorising the crowd with his meat cleavers… They’re currently doing a handful of dates to support the release of their new album Rotting In The Belly Of The Whale – check it out here! https://evil-blizzard.bandcamp.com

Anyone new to the band and unfamiliar with their live performances may have wondered why the band walk on to boos from the sold out Hebden Bridge crowd, but this is the fans sign of affection for the band!  Indeed if you go onto their Facebook fan page the band encourage this and there has always been tongue in cheek winding up between the band members and fans

A couple of pre-gig drinks means we get to have a long-awaited catch up with Stomper and Blizz Pig, and a hug from Fleshcrawl and Paddy from Emmerdale who’s also a big fan!

Evil Blizzard are best described as punky space rock, with all band members masked and ranging from pigs to creepy old man looks they want to know how evil you are, singing about slimy creatures and rotting in the bellies of whales, all while adding a touch of fairground menace to it all. Filthy Dirty plays along with the crowd with his Blizz Baby head theremin, holding it out to the very enthusiastic crowd to have a go, then bounces around the stage doing his trademark out of time hand clapping.  Side is steady as always on drums, channelling his inner Phil Collins singing as he plays, while Stomper holds all the bonkersness together with his 5-string brute of a bass.  Prowler still gives the creeps with his mask, leaning forward to leer at the crowd with his perma-smile… he’s a lovely guy in real life, honest!!

I snapped a pic of the set list but Evil Blizzard being Evil Blizzard this of course isn’t stuck to!  There’s a brief inclusion of an old favourite Whalebomb while Filthy Dirty sorts a technical issue, and as there are 2 members of local indie heroes Embrace in the crowd, they include All You Bad Bad People dedicating it to Rick – who produced Blizzard’s last two albums – and Steve (the song is a take on Embrace’s All You Good Good People).  There’s also a dedication to former Evil Blizzard member Kav whose wife sadly passed away just before Christmas – rest in peace Kaz

They have a very loyal and dedicated crowd, some of whom also always go masked-up and you will often be able to spot the regulars; weird pigs, baby faces, bizarre clowns, and a pink poodle!  So a shout out to Pink Poodle who along with others get on stage with the band for the last song, where he ends up playing Stomper’s bass!

I’m glad we made the last minute decision to go, they rarely disappoint!  Next up for the guys is the Kanteena in Lancaster on the 10th Feb and I wholly recommend going if you can! 

Evil Blizzard are “a singing drummer, 3 bass players, a pig on keys and a filthy guitar player”… what can go wrong…! @ www.rocknews.co.uk

Check out more from Evil Blizzard

http://www.evilblizzard.co.uk/
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