After a rocking programme of live goodies at McHugh’s Barrel Venue over the Christmas period, excitement is mounting for one of the hardy annuals of the Drogheda festive season when local heroes, Metallitia, return to provide the icing on the New Year cake with another much anticipated hometown gig on this coming Saturday night, 4th of January.
One thing is certain, when Metallitia takes to the stage at any venue, the atmosphere tends to be among the loudest and most raucous to be seen and heard anywhere on this island. As soon as the strains of Ennio Morricone’s famous “The Ecstacy of Gold” sound out – the theme music from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” – which the band has used as intro music for nearly all of their existence, the audience knows another night of magic and mayhem is on the cards.
Metallitia’s set motors along for over two hours with a greatest hits and classic album tracks show, featuring classic gems like ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘Fade to Black’, ‘Battery’, ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘One’, ‘Creeping Death’, ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Am I Evil’, ‘Blackened’ and finishing off with ‘Seek & Destroy’. The poster for the gig says it all: “Master of Tributes” They certainly are!
Metallitia have been a fixture on the national scene both before and after they won RTE’s inaugural Reality Rock Show, Karl Spain Wants To Rock, run over 5 weeks on RTE 2 back in 2010, which saw them rewarded with a place on the headlining bill for Europe’s top tribute festival, Glastonbudget, near Leicester in England. They also created a little bit of history as the first and only non-Thin Lizzy tribute act to play the annual Vibe for Philo commemorative event in Dublin, staged every January. METALLITIA also gained respect for themselves as backing band for legendary ex-Iron Maiden frontman, the late Paul Di’Anno, on his two solo Irish tours.
The line-up features the irrepressible “Flash” on vocals and guitar, legendary cider entrepreneur Richie McScrumpy on lead guitar, well-known highwayman Paddy Snivel on bass guitar and percussive maestro Jimmy Brennan on drums.
Support on the night will be provided by new metal boys on the block, Deithesis, who are purveyors of the finest thrash, doom and power metal. The band have recently completed and released their debut album, Equilibrium, on Sliptrick Records and combine a mixture of exuberant youth and wizened experience in their line-up of Darren Duffy and John Rankin on guitars, Ken Bell on bass, Darragh Skelly on drums, topped off by the towering presence of one Allan “Hotspur” Clarke on vocals…
Doors are at 8pm and advance tickets are selling well on Ticketstop so the word is out, folks – miss this one at your peril!
