Party is the word as Rock City Nottingham bows out of 2025 with probably its most bizarre booking of the year. Whether it be genetically enhanced crab-lords or phallus-wielding TV legends, this Christmas bonanza with Evil Scarecrow and Raised By Owls is plenty more than you bargained for.
Evil Scarecrow – Raised By Owls
Rock City, Nottingham – 21 December 2025
Words And Photography: Matt Pratt
Entering the stage, you would think the headliners, Evil Scarecrow, had got their holidays mixed up. Looking like they were fresh off a psychological horror set, the uninitiated could be fooled into thinking this would be a nightmare before Christmas, but a far jollier night awaits.
The bar for silliness is set early as the prospect of a free DVD tantalises. A lucky audience member is offered a chance at the coveted prize with the simple task of catching a fly with a pair of chopsticks.
Not to worry, the task is greatly simplified as the cropsticks are about eight feet in length and the fly is being generously flown. For his efforts, he received a personalised copy of a Crochet tutorial video, which will doubtlessly be treasured for generations.
The show cannot last longer than a serious minute without falling into chaotic antics, more like a pantomime than a Heavy Metal affair.
Appearances from Link, a tentacled hen, a humanoid Flux Capacitor and of course the legendary Crabulon, make you feel as though you cannot afford to blink out of fear of missing anything. The level of production matches that of a touring stage show, let alone a niche band that cannot boast the riches of pop music fame.
While you might not see Evil Scarecrow topping the UK charts this Christmas, you would not feel that was the case in the room tonight. For every bit of wild, celebratory energy emitted from the stage, a boisterous response is reflected back from the crowd who are out in force for their festive celebrations.
Not only loud in voice but proud in attire too, one particular fan preempted the question of egg? Boldly calling back with her egg costume, which earned her a personalised copy of a Dirty Dancing DVD.
You could have booked any of the world’s leading talent for this evening’s show, and I am not sure any of them would have fulfilled the brief as magnificently as Evil Scarecrow.
There may not have been timeless singalong classics (other than a stunning rendition of Little Donkey), but an undeniable evening of uninterrupted entertainment, more than you could wish to kick off Christmas week.
Raised By Owls
If you are a Metal fan, even if you are unfamiliar with the music of Raised By Owls, you have probably bumped into them on social media. The crafty local band have whipped up a storm within the online heavy music community with their comedy content, often featuring lead vocalist Sam Strachan’s mother.
Unfortunately, Sam’s mum could not join them this evening, much to the disappointment of the crowd, but the comedy has arrived in force.
It is hard to determine whether the warm-up show is paying homage or parodying the ’90s with cheesy gameshow tasks and even an appearance from the iconic Mr Blobby, twirling dildos in an act that would seem bizarre if it were not so in-fitting with the tone of the evening.
The humorous songs of subjects such as Ainsley Harriott’s meat, Metal fashion mistakes and the latest Ross Kemp documentaries have the crowd chuckling from start to finish with as much laughter as headbanging.
Few support bands can expect as good a reception as Raised By Owls have found tonight, and you would not expect any disappointment if we were offered another hour of the openers.
We may find next Christmas that it is they who close out the year of music on Nottingham’s favoured stage.
