The Nocturnal Affair / The Soap Girls / Wednesday 13

Manchester O2 Ritz

5^th November 2025

Review and photos by Phil Ingham

With the ghost of Halloween still lingering on the streets of Manchester, it is an appropriate time to watch the man too ghoul for school, Wednesday 13. The former Murderdolls frontman, touring on the back of the 2025 album ‘Mid Death Crisis’, is guaranteed to bring a rock and roll fright night fitting for spooky season.

Before the main event, we are treated to a brief but memorable set from Vegas rockers The Nocturnal Affair. Fronted by the impressive Brendan Shane, the band delivers a slice of heavy rock, with a faint whiff of the grime of industrial metal.

Shane is impossible to ignore stage-front, with a stage presence matching his impressive vocals. Around him, his hirsute band create quite the backdrop, windmilling hair and solid guitar-hero stances at every opportunity.

After a set filled with crushing riffage, the band surprised everyone by finishing with a rocked-up version of the 90s dance hit ‘What is Love’. Judging by the crowd’s enthusiastic reaction, the unexpected choice was very well received.

This is a band on the rise, and one to keep an eye on.

Next up, The Soap Girls took the stage. Wearing sparkly shorts, knee-high boots, and face glitter, they looked like they had walked straight out of Creamfields festival. Appearances are deceptive, and the Debray sisters wowed with a hard-hitting set of punk rock bangers that had the crowd with them from the first song.

Camille frequently caught the eye with her impressive half-bassist/half-contortionist routine, and Noemi’s guitar, raw and insistent, dragged the audience along with every punchy, grungy number.

Despite having an aesthetic style that contrasts markedly with the main act, The Soap Girls delivered a high-energy, fun set that suitably energised the crowd, as any good support act should do.

Although there is plenty of space in the Ritz when Wednesday 13 enters the stage, looking resplendent in a Dracula-esque cloak and corpse paint, you can sense that those who are here are excited for a night of shock and roll.

The band launched into a high-octane start with ‘Look What the Bats Dragged In’ and didn’t slow down the pace by following up with ‘Too Fast for Blood’ and ‘Rotting Away’, the latter being the first of three tracks from the latest album.

The crowd may be fewer in number than the band would like, but the energy, movement and noise could be that of a capacity crowd. There is a genuine sense of connection between artist and adoring audience.

Wednesday 13’s performance at times walks a line perilously close to being derivative of Alice Cooper, the original king of shock rock. However, the energy he brings and enjoyment he conveys combine to make a performance so damn fun that he always stays on the right side of homage rather than imitation.

‘I Want You… Dead’ and ‘The Ghost of Vincent Price’ come next, from the 2005 album ‘Transylvania 90210’, and it is this album that dominates the setlist. You can see why from the reaction of the fans; it is clearly a favourite.

The jackhammer guitar of ‘When the Devil Commands’ eventually results in an orchestrated group hailing of Satan by the grinning frontman, tongue firmly planted in cheek throughout.

Wednesday 13 then treated us to a Murderdolls classic, ‘Summertime Suicide’. It is a song that, with singalong chorus and bouncy guitar, could be a feel-good anthem – if it wasn’t for Wednesday 13 snarling his way through lyrics that are far darker than the upbeat tune suggests.

The punk-inspired ‘197666’ upped the pace again, before another of the newer tracks ‘In Misery’.

During ‘Haunt Me’, the band fully embraced the Halloween season, with Wednesday 13 tossing treats into the audience from a glowing pumpkin. It’s a thumping number which has the crowd bouncing, possibly due to the sugar high from the sweets being thrown out into the venue.

The high tempo continued as the band weaved through the Wednesday 13 back catalogue with ‘Good Day to Be a Bad Guy’, ‘No Apologies’ and ‘From Here to the Hearse’, which saw Wednesday 13 take up a guitar and join the riffage.

‘Nowhere’ from Murderdolls’ ‘Women and Children Last’ album got the crowd moving. With a couple of memorable mid-song solos, this was a real set highlight.

The main set ended, and the encore segment began, with two huge hits from their 2005 album. ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ and ‘Bad Things’ are two pieces of classic Wednesday 13 hard rock, and both got the reception you might expect from the baying masses.

The night drew to a joyful, sweary climax, with Wednesday 13 leading the audience in what could easily have been a Guinness World Record attempt for the most F-bombs in one song, with ‘I Love To Say Fuck’. It is a closing song which originally began as a Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 track (another of Wednesday 13’s former bands) but is now well established as a current setlist staple.

There are no surprises in terms of what Wednesday 13 and his band bring to the party. But what you do get is a band that is musically tight, playing high-energy shock rock and roll music which would appeal to fans of the likes of Alice Cooper, W.A.S.P. and Marilyn Manson and beyond.

Before leaving the stage, Wednesday 13 reminded us that the band would be appearing at Bloodstock Festival in 2026, promising the “biggest and baddest show” in their history. I am glad I already have my ticket secured. It looks set to be a hell of a time.

Setlist: