DEAD MAN'S WHISKEY @THE UNDERWORLD, LONDON

November 16th was a very special evening for Dead Man's Whiskey fans as the band brought their last show under its current lineup home to Camden's famous Underworld.

After 9 years, frontman Nico Rogers has made the decision to step down from touring due to worsening health, one that must not have come easy and definitely a choice no rockstar ever wants to make during their career. From "standing on stages that a younger Nico dreamed he might get to grace" the band have continued to go from strength-to-strength, notably playing Download Festival in 2019, heading to Miami to play the legendary Kiss Cruise, and hitting number 10 in the UK Rock charts in 2023 with their acclaimed album in The Storm. Last night's show at the Underworld was the time to celebrate these successes, with the band's closest family, friends, and long-time fans, paying the love and appreciation back one final time.

Opening the night was Gallow's Circus, a blues-stained heavy rock band from Kent, who take inspiration from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Stone Cherry, and Thin Lizzy. With the first support dropping out on the day, Gallow's Circus opened to a slightly emptier crowd, however which quickly filled up as they laid down their dirty riffs and catchy vocal melodies. Amongst their robust rhythm's, the band padded out the extended 50 minute set with a cover of Cream's Sunshine of Your Love, showcasing their roots and indvidual musical talents.

With the crowd now packed out and eagerly awaiting, you could really feel how much love was in the air for these five Londoners. Opening their homecoming show, an emotional Nico dedicated the night to both his fellow bandmates and "those who couldn't make it" playing twice as loud for this, the song Who I Am was a fitting choice. War Machine gave the band a chance to put their emotions to one side and laugh together once more as they blended the grooves off-the-cuff with classics such as Dead or Alive, Ramble On, and even Never Gonna Give You Up.

Through songs like Do or Die, you could really tell how much Nico was soaking up the moment for one last time. Their 1 hour 40 minute set was a real showcase of the Dead Man's Whiskey catalogue, playing a breadth of heavy riffs, athemic choruses and stadium sized power ballads. Pearl Jam's Alive made its way in as Nico played homage to his favourite band with a resemblant Eddie Vedder tribute.

After numerous ovations and "Nico" chants throughout the set, the encore featured Masquerade, lead single from In The Storm which has recieved extensive airplay on Planet Rock Radio, and ended with a very emotional rendition of Make You Proud. In Nico's farewell statement, he confirmed "It doesn't end with me though. The boys have my blessing to take our songs and find new life in them." the band will be making a post on their social media about the application process for this, and in the meantime, hopefuly artists can send their application to info@deadmanswhiskey.co.uk

Dead Man's Whiskey are:

Billy Kons - Lead Guitar

Elliot D'Alvarez - Rhythm Guitar

James Titley - Bass

Charle Gray - Drums

Review written by James Nash

Images captured by Kit Foster