Photo by Greg Cristman
Gregory R. Cristman

King Diamond played Best Buy Theater w/ Jess & the Ancient Ones (pics, videos, setlist)

photos by Greg Cristman

King Diamond @ Best Buy Theater – 10/14/14
King Diamond
King Diamond

Watching King Diamond’s band as a whole is such an amazing experience and they proved to be without a doubt one of the greatest metal bands around. In the past they just seemed to be great to me but on this night, they were unfuckingbelievable. King Diamond delivered such a solid, precise performance while not losing any kind of fluid feel or passion. Drummer Matt Thompson is without a doubt one of metal’s greatest drummers and why he isn’t more known in the metal world is something that is beyond me. We really need to work on that.

The guitar team of Andy LaRoque and Mike Wead have solidified themselves as one of my all-time favorite guitar teams as they ripped notes out of the fucking air and at times seemed to telepathically communicate with each other playing so precisely without stepping on each other. I also have to give props to King’s lovely wife Livia Zita for doing an amazing job on backing vocals. What I loved so much about this is that in a time where bands are using pre-recorded tracks to duplicate doubled vocals, King Diamond chooses to recreate it live and I consider that way more effective and magical that coping out and using tracks.

King Diamond’s setlist pulled from some his most iconic releases such as “Abagail”, “Fatal Portrait”, and “Them” but “Conspiracy” was the most popular draw boasting five songs including “At the Graves” which I considered to be the absolutely highlight of the night as I nearly threw my fucking back out thrashing around like a spastic child air guitaring and headbanging. No King Diamond show would be complete without a nod to his legendary past band Mercyful Fate and he did so with a one/two punch of “Evil” and the everlasting classic “Come to the Sabbath.” I really loved hearing these songs and it reminded me just what a catalyst Mercyful Fate was for the greatness of King Diamond that we were seeing this very night. [The Great Southern Brainfart]

Metal legend King Diamond kicked off his North American tour last week and made his way to NYC for a show at Best Buy Theater last night (10/14) with Jess and the Ancient Ones. The above review is from the tour’s first night in Atlanta, and NYC got the same setlist which reached back to the early days of Mercyful Fate all the way up through the newest King Diamond album, 2007’s GIve Me Your Soul…Please. King was in his usual black and white face makeup, and sang with his mic was mounted on a cross. The band was backed by light-up crosses, had two staircases on stage, and were caged in by bars for part of their set. Though King didn’t have a new album to support on this tour, he has a best-of called Dreams of Horror coming out on November 11 via Metal Blade.

The tour continues in Worcester on Thursday (10/16) and hits Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest next month. Check out more pictures, videos and King Diamond’s full setlist from last night, below…

Jess And The Ancient Ones

Jess And The Ancient Ones
Jess And The Ancient Ones
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King Diamond

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KIng Diamond – “Come to the Sabbath” at Best Buy Theater – 10/14/14

King Diamond – “Evil” at Best Buy Theater – 10/14/14

King Diamond – “Welcome Home” at Best Buy Theater – 10/14/14

SETLIST:
The Candle
Sleepless Nights
Welcome Home
Never Ending Hill
Let It Be Done
The Puppet Master
At the Graves
Tea / Digging Graves / A Visit from the Dead
Evil (Mercyful Fate cover)
Come to the Sabbath (Mercyful Fate cover)
Shapes of Black
Eye of the Witch
Cremation
The Family Ghost
Black Horsemen
Insanity