With Kris Barras Band making an arena rock statement at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, the atmosphere and excitement were enhanced by the addition of The Nocturnal Affair and South Of Salem to the bill.
South Of Salem – The Nocturnal Affair
KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton – 13 April 2024
Words And Photography: John Inglis
This was a night of new music for me as I was checking out three bands. Two are relatively unknown to me and definitely not on my radar. But looking around the crowd before doors opening it became apparent their fans came in droves, with their Tee’s and hoodies emblazoned with the bands names and some in makeup. 
The Nocturnal Affair
First up, from Las Vegas, The Nocturnal Affair are, in their words, “an alternative dark rock project. They are fronted by Brendan Shane, whose vocals are quite dark but very melodic at times, which is an unusual thing to witness.
They made a few singles from 2016 until eventually putting out the album (Meta) Morphosis. Their music is quite infectious. You can hear with some of the songs they tip their hats to Type O Negative and HIM, which is a good thing for old-school goth lovers. 
The twin guitars of Andy Ingraham and Dru Lappin are the key to this band’s melodic, catchy tunes, and with the low-sounding rumble of Michael James’ bass and the drums of Raistlin ‘RJ’ Hamman, this makes for a true in-your-face deep dark sound. 
The Wolverhampton faithful at KK’s Steel Mill gave the Vegas dark Mettalers a great welcome. The Nocturnal Affair kicked out a great set with some high-energy songs like Unwound and the low synth sound of A Thousand Ways To Die. 
With some heavy guitars, including a rendition of Sabbath’s N.I.B, you could see the crowd sang along willingly, it was lifting Brendan up to the task quite well. The last track was a bit of a not-so-palatable tune among many, What Is Love by Haddaway from 1993. 
Although they heavied it up a bit, I don’t think it suited the setlist. Get rid of that one boys! On the whole, I would like to see them again because they are a tight, polished band with great vocals and dark hooks that are quite catchy. I hope they come back.
South Of Salem
A short interval and I get myself a cuppa from Phil in the tea area, and I see people making sure their makeup was on point for South Of Salem. 
Most folks think of Bournemouth as a nice weekend away, sand, sea, tea and cakes by the seafront. You wouldn’t think it, but that’s where these guys from South Of Salem are from.
Formed in 2018, their music is in league with Mötley Crüe, Alice In Chains, and HIM, with good energy and great heavy riffing alongside some superb wide-range vocal gymnastics. Slap all that in a bucket, mix it up and you get South Of Salem. With a little bit of horror-esque powder sprinkled on top, too, it’s a magic potion.
Kicking off with Vultures from the latest album, Death Of The Party, the superb heavy twin riffing from Kodi Kasper and Fish MacDonald sets the tone for tonight’s madness. They move into Static from the same album with some great double bass drum bombs.
Full steam ahead with these guys. There’s no stopping ’em, especially Kodi jumping off everything he stands on for more than 20 seconds. Let Us Prey and Made To Be Mine were banged out in flawless fashion from the 2020 album The Sinner Takes It All, with girls from the crowd holding their tee’s up high showing the band they are indeed sinners.
Flying back into the new album again with Hellbound Heart and Left For Dead with some fantastic gritty cutting vocals from Joey, showing that he keeps up with the best of ’em.
Cold Day In Hell brings some nice twin guitar melodies, a very Avenged Sevenfold influence here but what a banger of a song. Ending out the night thanking the SoS faithful with Jet Black Eyes, another nod to HIM here with some really nice changes with the chorus. The crowd sings every word, which is really good to see.
We didn’t get graced with the presence of the horror cheerleaders at KK’s Steel Mill, which was a shame, but South Of Salem band pushed out some fantastic energy, always changing each others places on stage giving the crowd what they needed to see.
Off stage, they came to have photos taken with loads, and I mean loads of fans. These guys have gained some great momentum and built up a loyal following and are gaining more as they head forward on the touring circuit. 
