Live Review: Midnight Juggernauts, Kirin J Callinan, Fascinator

Psychedelic side project of Children Collide's Johnny Mackay, Fascinator, was nothing short of eccentric as he took to the stage at The Metro. Dressed in what appeared to be a glittery dressing gown, flanked by three stoic characters with tinsel covering their eyes and baseball caps with spooky eyeballs attached, Mackay pumped through his experimental electro numbers whilst the three sat in utter silence before jumping up to unleash their dance moves for the final track.

In stark contrast, cool cat Kirin J Callinan, also flanked by two silent partners, this time dressed head to toe in black with matching headsets and sunglasses, looked quite the '80s new romantic in a long shirt and sunglasses, with dramatic movements to match. Callinan's showmanship and booming voice reigned supreme as he rocked out through the dark, crashing sounds of Embracism, Come On USA and Stretch It Out.

The mixed-ages crowd, disappointingly only half filling the venue, cheered as ethereal white lights welcomed Midnight Juggernauts to the stage, looking like hipster wizards with long flowing shirts, scruffy hair and huge grins at being back on stage for their latest tour. The gradually building instrumental intro from new track, Melodiya, started off the set, singer Vincent Vendetta captivating the crowd with his expressive moves and theatrical voice.

Acknowledging the crowd of new and older fans that had been waiting for a new album for so long, the band treated them to some classics including Shadows, Road To Recovery from first album, Dystopia, which got everyone up and moving. More tracks from new album, Uncanny Valley, were well received for their first public outing, including Memorium and Deep Blue Lines, before a slightly drawn-out outfit change (“I feel like Lady Gaga!” said Vendetta) into old Russian military outfits, saw them return for new hit single, Ballad Of The War Machine.

A few technical issues plagued the latter half of the set, but hit, Into The Galaxy, made everyone forget about that, until Vendetta missed his cue twice for finisher, Vital Signs, although nobody seemed to mind as he laughed it off. Another brief outfit change back to the original look for the encore and the Juggernauts finished off with bass-heavy new track, Streets Of Babylon, before classic, 45 and Rising, ended things with an epic drum crashing finish. Great to see the guys back in form and so excited to be back on stage.