Many an international metal act has graced our shores this year courtesy of Witchdoctor Productions, and the last of them for 2015 was Washington’s The Darkest Hour.

Originally scheduled to play Cape Town first, an incident at last month’s Finntroll gig prompted the promoters to change venues and dates. As a result the band played Durban and Joburg respectively so while we couldn’t boast hosting their first show on African soil we had the honour of witnessing their final one of the year and their 20th anniversary tour.

The date and venue change was a definite setback and unfortunately only the first of several problems on the night. Flight delays further augmented the show time from 6:30 to 8:30pm. I arrived at around 8:15 and was ushered into the bar along with the other punters while the soundcheck ran overtime in the fully-lit main band area. It was all pretty strange.

When the bar doors finally opened and the lights dimmed it was just after 9 and opening act Bulletscript kicked things off. I’m not sure if the last minute venue changes were to blame but from a media-coverage point of view I was not impressed with the way things were going – as is standard procedure with internationals, photographers weren’t allowed flash but unlike the last Witchdoctor show I’d covered at Assembly (the epic Eluveitie) we weren’t granted pit access and the lighting on stage was terrible and what meagre visibility there was was further obscured by the overzealous smoke machine. Basically the conditions made it impossible to shoot by the rules and frankly the strobes on stage were way more hectic than camera flashes.

I was a bit too distracted by all this to give Bulletscript a fair listen but they did a good job of warming up the crowd.

Up next were Zombies Ate My Girlfriend who replaced The Drift after the venue/time change. The lighting improved a little but still wasn’t great, but I always find Zombies entertaining so faired a little better during their set.

The vibe was undeniably weird though. Taking a break from the sparse but aggressive crowd I sat on a couch and was asked by my neighbour if I was alright. I said I was just tired and she agreed, saying I was the 5th person to say that to her tonight. She also lamented that she had work in the morning and that all the good merch sold out in Joburg. I know it’s the holiday season and appreciate the logistical troubles but regardless a metal gig late on a Sunday night isn’t ideal…

It was after 11 when The Darkest Hour finally appeared. Their previously covered banner behind the drums came with some much needed additional lighting and the sound felt like it got a 50% boost in volume and clarity. The energy in the room also shifted; the band felt a lot more animated and interacted with the crowd more than the opening acts though to be fair they were the main attraction and the crowd treated them thusly.

I couldn’t help wondering if it would’ve been better to have had no supporting acts, as with the Eluveitie and Finntroll shows. Both those shows ran very punctually, were well attended and had great sound and lighting; for me very little about The Darkest Hour show felt international and I mean no disrespect to our local guys but, as often unfortunately happens, it definitely felt like less care was given to them by all concerned which was a real shame.

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Darkest Hour  |  Witchdoctor Productions  |  Zombies ate my girlfriend  |  Bulletscript