It is a crisp evening in Bristol. Autumn is definitely here. Inside this legendary venue, the early birds are supping a pint and chatting or perusing the glorious items available on the merch tables. There is plenty of excitement when Orange Goblin are in town. For Bristol, it has been nearly a decade since the band last played the city, celebrating their 20th anniversary at the sadly defunct and much-missed Bierkeller.
Orange Goblin – Conan
The Fleece, Bristol – 10 October 2024
Words And Photography: Paul Hutchings
It is unsurprising then that this show is one of several on this Orange Goblin tour that has sold out weeks in advance, not only because the band’s live shows are usually fantastic, but also because in Science, Not Fiction, Orange Goblin has released their best album for many years.
It is many degrees warmer than when we entered the venue two hours earlier. Orange Goblin’s intro rolls, the band enter the high stage, and we strap in for 90 minutes of wild Heavy Metal. We are not disappointed.
You may have read about frontman Ben Ward’s decision to stop drinking alcohol a couple of years ago. It is a decision that has proved a wise one, for the man mountain is in incredible form. Gone is the beer gut, as well as the long locks. He later refers to himself as having the look of a Polish bouncer, much to the crowd’s amusement.
Ward looks healthier than I have ever seen him, bedecked in his Black City Records tee, and his vocal performance is the best in over 20 years of OG shows I have attended. He is still the giant at the front of the stage, urging the party, giving the thumbs up, and first bumping with the front row. But he is hitting those notes with ease and holding them without any issue.
No evangelistic scoring here. I am nursing a mild hangover as I write this, but is self-evident that it is working for the big man, and that is brilliant for all. 
It is a ferocious Orange Goblin set, drawing, as Ward tells us, from the whole catalogue to celebrate nearly 30 years of Orange Fucking Goblin Baby. They burst the first of several blood vessels with the powerful drive of Cemetery Rats, one of five from the new album, before heading back to the early days and Scorpionica and Saruman’s Wish, the band’s early stoner style beefed up these days.
The band have played The Fleece three times before, and Ward is well versed at leaning over the front rows whilst hanging on to the famous pillars. He gets a bird’s eye view of the swirling pit that has intensified since its inception during the Conan set. We even get an overexcited crowd surfer, who appears then disappears into the melee.
It is an Orange Goblin gig, and these guys are masters of building the tempo. The slower Heavy Lies the Crown is majestic, whilst the driving Devil’s Whip stirs the pit into wilder ecstasy.
The older music always gets lapped up, and rare outings for Whiskey Leech, with a nod to guitarist Joe Hoare’s fondness of the liquor and Hot Magic Red Planet from the Big Black, are the choice cuts. But the new tunes sit neatly into the set, with The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine and that first single, (Not) Rocket Science particularly impressive. 
Alongside Ward, Hoare remains the trusty and totally underrated guitarist whose fretwork always impresses. He is backed by third founding member Chris Turner, whose performance is as solid as ever. Another drummer who seems to show no signs of aging, he is another who is probably better now than ever.
And then there is Harry, the ‘new boy’, even though Mr Armstrong has already played many gigs with the band since he joined in 2021. The Blind River frontman is a whirlwind of hair and flying fingers, his dedication to the low end unwavering. He has brought something extra to the band, and they are full of smiles from start to finish. 
No messing about at the end though. Ward tells us they are not a band to go off and come back on again, and as Orange Goblin launch into their final trio of Quincy The Pigboy, (Not) Rocket Science and Red Tide Rising, the heads are banging and fists pumping for the final time.
This tour has been a massive triumph, and it is well deserved. There is no finer Heavy Metal band that I would rather see live than these guys.
And with this revitalised approach, the 30th anniversary could be even more exciting than we anticipated. 
Conan
It is five minutes to eight as Conan strap on the instruments and prepare. The stage is bathed in blue light, something that adds to the atmosphere and intensity that the Liverpool outfit create. As Jon Davis launches the first thunderous riff and we dive into Equilibrium Of Mankind, the whole room slowly begins to nod to the band’s Caveman Battle Doom.
It is a new lineup, with the departure of Chris Fielding in 2023, seeing the arrival of David Ryley on bass. Ryley, the former Fudge Tunnel bassist, is lost in his own world for the entire set. He is headbanging, screaming his backing vocals, and generally focused on nothing else but those pounding bass lines that anchor Conan’s bludgeoning riffage.
Whether you are a fan of this intense aural assault or not, there is always something hypnotic about this band. Davis screeches and roars with a venom that verges on unsettling, but between songs, he is a gentle and grateful frontman, thanking the responsive crowd and acknowledging the early pit monsters who are throwing themselves with scant regard to the solid pillars in the venue.
The flow of pummelling riffs is relentless for the 45 minutes the band are on stage. The setlist is a fine mix of songs from their discography, including new song Inviciblade from the recent DIY Series Issue 1. The appearance of Satsumo from 2010’s Horseback Battle Hammer draws a shriek of delight from one excited fan at the front, prompting him to dive into the pit frenzy with such gusto that he really deserves a round of applause from those around him.
For those sporting the Conan shirts, and there are a few, this is another chance to enjoy some deeper cuts, and for those first-timers, it is the ideal opportunity to encounter another UK band with no pretension.
Conan do what they do, and they do it bloody well.
