Fields of the Nephilim // Review

 

Venue: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, UK Support from: Inkubus Sukkubus Date: 12 July 2008

 

 

 

The Nephs, as those of us back in the day used to call them, have always been a little odd. From their initial appearance covered in flour to lead singer Carl McCoy's fifteen year hiatus, they have always attracted a cult following. Back in the mid to late 80s goth went goff. The Sisters of Mercy imploded into their dry ice and po-faced goths stopped shuffling to Siouxsie, Bauhaus and The Skeletal Family and started to mosh drunkenly and build towers to the likes of The Mission and The Nephs. Dusted cowboy hats could be seen hitching up and down the motorways, kitbags in tow, sometimes fighting with the clog wearing New Model Army fans on the way. The Nephs following, named The Bonanzas, managed to mosh and party to the first two albums Dawnrazor and The Nephilim. Then things started getting a bit weird. The band started producing twenty three hour long (well it felt like that) 'epics', went arty farty and band members legged it, leaving the contact lensed McCoy to carry on the Nephilim legacy. There were different incarnations by him and other ex-members including the not very well received Nefilim. Most fans decided it had all gone belly up and got jobs.

At regular intervals along the way there have been rumours that the great man would return, and their website regularly counted down and missed returns. Then last year, after about a fifteen-year gap, he finally did it. A massively awaited sold out gig at the Astoria, followed up with a slot at Ville Valo's HellDone Festival at New Year at the legendary Tavastia in Helsinki supporting big fans HIM, plus a handful of other shows. No one knew who else was in the band and it didn't matter. It was McCoy, looking and sounding the same, and it was great to have them back.

The expectations were high at Shepherd's Bush for the two hyped up dates and the atmosphere was charged as the dry ice started and the band wandered on to play the intro; the distinctive Nephs guitar sound making a welcome return to the live stage again. I got a shiver down my spine. The dry ice poured through the beautiful lights and the silhouettes could be made out, so easily recognisable as Fields of the Nephilim. McCoy took to the stage and nothing appeared to have changed. They were all still kitted out in flour-covered leather, complete with cowboy hats, and went into the opening tracks Shroud and Straight to the Light. Nothing too overwhelming yet and warming up, but the next track was a wonderful surprise. The incredibly old Trees Come Down from the 1985 Burning the Fields EP. Not many people have seen this live. It brought back good memories of the first time I ever saw them, supporting the Rose of Avalanche at Leeds Warehouse over twenty one years ago, and how much I hated them! Hard to believe they turned into one of the best live bands around within a couple of years that I loved so much.

Endemoniada from the second album was up next and things were starting to go really well, it was huge and epic and made moved me like it had when they first released The Nephilim album. The mosh pit in Shepherd's Bush was happily bouncing around, human pyramids and towers appearing, along with a sooty hand puppet who looked like it hadn’t been washed since about 1987 and inflatable fish. Anyone who expects a Fields of the Nephilim gig to be full of silent goths is in the wrong place, they have always had a rough mosh pit, but the guys in there look after each other and those around them on the whole.

But then things went downhill for me personally. I know many huge Nephilim fans loved the songs that followed, but I thought it was a weak set and quite frankly the rest of the show was a bit of a let down for me. On the plus side McCoy was totally on form, his voice as good as it’s ever been. In the last twenty years and about fifty Fields of the Nephilim shows that I've been at I've only ever heard McCoy say "thank you, goodnight" and just once, Chord of Souls. Normally I would berate someone in a live review for lack of interaction with the crowd. But this is the enigmatic McCoy. He doesn't need to say a word. It wouldn't be right if he did. He just stands and stares, with his coloured contact lenses glaring out from below the dusty hat, and he has a stage presence bands today can only dream of.

Psychonaut pulled it back at the end and the crowd went nuts; this is the Nephilim at their best live for me. There's a time and a place for their other amazing longer experimental and quite beautiful songs, but it's not necessarily in this sort of live setting, and it's certainly not for me. Then they went and ruined it by coming back on to From the Fire. Why oh why oh why do so many bands do this? You've built your crowd up into frenzy, they're willing you back on to take it up some more and leave them breathless and what do you do? Drag it right back down with slow stuff. Anticlimax city. And as if that wasn't bad enough, they do it again with the second encore. I sat shaking my head in despair. It's not that they're not great songs, it was just the order. And lack of other great ones.

They were so close, they had it... and then they lost it. Could have been contenders. One of my favourite bands for many years, but nothing from the Dawnrazor album, not one track? I don't understand. None of my favourites from the second album either. I personally felt totally robbed and frustrated. When Moonchild stands out in the set and sounds great you know you're in trouble. We used to go to bar and joke around when they played this commercial hit single years ago. Now we're pleased to hear it.

Sometimes the myth is actually bigger than the legend. McCoy sometimes delivers all you remember of The Nephilim at their best, sometimes he leaves you frustrated that it's not as it was, or indeed as it could be. If there had just been an extra two or three songs from the first two albums and more up tempo encores I would have come away from this gig wanting to see them again. As it is I feel like every time I go see them now it will be a gamble... and I'm not sure I'm willing to gamble a lot of money every time they play in the hope of getting that one amazing night where they lift me out of myself like they used to.

 

 

 

Review by Lynn Wyeth

Set List

 

Shroud
Straight to the Light
Trees Come Down
For Her Light
Endemoniada
Penetration
Wail of Sumer
And There Will Your Heart Be Also
Shine
Psychonaut

From the Fire
Moonchild

 

Mourning Sun

 

 

Photos From the Show

 

Not available

 

 

 

Other Reviews

 

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