Lordi / Sick N' Beautiful - SWG3, Glasgow 6th March 2025

It would be easy to place Lordi in the one hit wonder category but if you strip away all the stage sets, costumes, props and theatrics in the end you are left with a band with a thirty year history and a host of catchy sing along rock and metal songs. 

Indeed the band had already recorded 2 albums before they hit the big time with that defining Eurovision victory. This tour in support of their nineteenth studio album will take in much of Europe before a break and then a run of shows in September in Germany and Spain.  

Opening tonight are Rome based Sick N' Beautiful who return to Scotland after appearing with Wednesday 13 eighteen months ago. Akin to Lordi the band are all costumed and masked apart from singer Herma whose flawless vocals split the air throughout their set and who would give Tarja Turunen a run for her money. Opening with new song Human is Overrated there is nods to Marilyn Manson and Lacuna Coil. The thunderous cover of the Kiss song God of Thunder is very apt as the hall fills up and the crowd sing along with the classic. The bands 8 song set is well received and with their 4th album Horror Vacui due for release from Frontiers later this month named after a Latin term meaning fear of empty spaces on this performance I don't think they will be playing to many of them. 

The stage is now set for the “monsters” of rock and the Finnish legends hit the stage to new song Legends are Made of Cliches the fun begins, Mr Lordi controls the crowd with a waive of his large taloned hands. The songs just draw you in and you can't help but join in and sing along, we go back to the early 2000's for Girls go Chopping and the unbelievably catchy Who's your Daddy.

 

Mr Lordi entertains the crowd between songs and jokes with the crowd that tonight's tight curfew time curtails his ability to interact but as a self confessed fat bastard he needs a breather much to the amusement of those present . As with all Lordi shows there is a fair share of props to go along with the show and those in the front rows are giving a good soaking from Mr Lordis large axe at one point followed by a large guitar shaped chainsaw making an appearance. The pace mellows for a brief moment for the almost ballad esque Call of the Wedding. The two singles from the new album Limited Deadition follow and are pure melodic metal classics in the making. Retropolis and Hellizabeth are full of hooks and great choruses and sure to be live favourites for a long time to come. The band all have short solos to allow for costume changes and there are small theatrical interludes that all seem to play around the torture of some pour soul. The strangely alluring Hella even leaves her keyboard for a moment to behead a figure much to the delight of those present. 

The clock is turned right back now for songs from the bands first two albums, notably heavier in sound, Blood Red Sandman, Would You Love a Monsterman and Devil Is a Loser pave the way to the final song of the night, Mr Lordi has joked throughout that apart from the first few rows this is what everyone is here for but I think he does himself a disservice there. Its hard to believe its been nineteen years since Lordi turned the Eurovision Song Contest on its head in a brief shining moment for a a contest that has become more political than musical in recent years. The victory though shot the band to stardom and Hard Rock Hallelujah is a staple rock anthem now. The crowd pump their first and Mr Lordi leads the sing along as confetti canons fill the air and then with the curfew time being met spot on its all over although it would take some time to clear with hall with the length of queue at the merch stand. The new album Limited Deadition is available now on RPM records and is worthy of inclusion in any rock n metal collection.