Stuck Mojo – Underworld 2008/2

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Stuck Mojo last visited the UK on a shambolic co-headlining tour with Ektomorf. Not for Mojo, but for the Hungarians, who ended up playing to empty rooms on most nights after refusing to let Mojo headline as previously agreed.

This tour had its share of calamity when it was originally announced Stuck Mojo would be supporting Danish rising stars Volbeat, only for Volbeat to claim no knowledge of the tour. Mojo did go on to support them in mainland Europe, but the Danes were never confirmed for the UK.

But the final result was a headlining tour for Mojo which made up for the unfortunate events of the March tour. And joining them for the whole trek were two bands from Peterborough in Death Valley Piledriver (DVP) and Vendetta. DVP went on first, delivering a crushing mix of southern Pantera-ish riffs and thrash elements to very successful effect. Playing all five tracks from their excellent new demo EP Branded, plus a cover of Pantera’s 18s, they were an instant hit with the Mojo faithful. Vendetta effectively bridged the gap between DVP and Stuck Mojo. Their tracks adopted a similar southern-influenced groove to DVP, but with rap vocals closer to Mojo. With a ton of attitude and some great songs they completed what was probably the best support package Mojo have had since returning from the wilderness in 2005.

Watching the evolution of a Stuck Mojo without long-time vocalist Bonz has been very interesting. When they came through in March new front-man Lord Nelson took a background role to founder Rich Ward, who did most of the interaction with the audience. This time, Nelson stepped up to address the fans a lot more often, and looked a lot more comfortable fronting the band.

Still promoting their ‘comeback’ album Southern Born Killers (despite new album The Great Revival being finished at this point, with a December release set) they played a very similar set to the one in March, sadly including no new songs, and no different ones from the last album. What would have been the best thing to do, if songs from the forthcoming disc hadn’t been rehearsed yet, would have been to play one of the three new songs added to the Napalm Records release of Southern Born Killers (the original was independently issued), to at least give those who came along in March something different.

They were able to add some extra songs to the previous setlist, given their longer set, with Raise The Deadman, Pigwalk and Trick all returning for the first time since 2005 and That’s When I Burn being included this time (with guest vocals from ForeverNever’s Renny Carroll) where it was missed off on the London date before.

Nevertheless, their performance was superb, with the usual crowd-on-the-stage, band-in-the-crowd antics and immeasurable energy. With the new album coming there’s sure to be more touring from Stuck Mojo in 2009, hopefully with an all-new setlist. It would also be good to see them get some high-profile festival slots with the new material. With the amount of energy and interaction they put into their shows they’re tailor-made for a festival crowd.

“ immeasurable energy ”

Death Valley Piledriver Setlist: The Blood / Completion / 18s / Proof / End of Days / DVP

Vendetta Setlist: Vindictive Bitch (??) / Rest In Peace (??) / Jesus / No Surrender / Determination / Chinese Whispers / Horns Up

Stuck Mojo Setlist: Not Promised Tomorrow / Enemy Territory / 2 Minutes of Death / Open Season / Metal Is Dead / That’s When I Burn / (Here Comes The) Monster / Twisted / Raise The Deadman / Rising / Throw The Switch / Southern Pride / Trick / Pigwalk

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Heavy Metal (Extreme Vocals), Rap/Crossover, Death Valley Piledriver, Stuck Mojo, Vendetta