Orange Goblin at the Gramercy Theatre

Ben Ward

As a youth in London, England, Ben Ward was planning to study electrical engineering and be an engineer in the Royal Air Force. Instead he wound up making sandwiches at Wembley Arena. When he finished school, he played professional soccer for two years but then he discovered heavy metal, alcohol, and drugs, so football fell by the wayside. In 1995, he co-founded the band Our Haunted Kingdom, which became Orange Goblin, an underground favorite in the international stoner-rock and doom-metal genres. By 2002, the hard-rocking band incorporated more punk, blues, groove metal, space rock and other influences. Vocalist Ward, guitarist Joe Hoare, bassist Martyn Millard, and drummer Chris Turner have played together since the beginning. After a four-year wait, Orange Goblin released its ninth and most recent studio album, The Wolf Bites Back, on June 15, 2018.

At six feet and five inches, Ward towered over his band mates on stage tonight at the Gramercy Theatre, but he did not overshadow them. Clearly, Ward was the focal point, as he leaned over the stage monitors, shook his waist-length hair, and growled at his audience. Meanwhile, the power trio behind him cranked and crushed driving riffs, sludgy grooves and greasy guitar leads. Orange Goblin's music recalled classic hard rock from the 1970s, yet bristling with a darker and more unrefined attack. The set offered 17 songs spanning more than 20 years of recordings, plus a cover of Motohead's "No Class." Due to Chris Turner's visa issues, veteran metal drummer Chad Walls (aka Captain Killdrums) was a last-minute replacement and did well after only one rehearsal. To call the performance stoner-rock or doom-metal would be unfairly limiting; this was hard and heavy head-banging rock and roll.

Setlist:

1. Scorpionica
2. The Filthy & the Few
3. Sons of Salem
4. Saruman's Wish
5. Renegade
6. The Fog
7. The Wolf Bites Back
8. Some You Win, Some You Lose
9. Stand for Something
10. Your World Will Hate This
11. Blue Snow
12. Cities of Frost
13. No Class (Motörhead cover)
14. They Come Back (Harvest of Skulls)
15. The Devil's Whip
16. Quincy the Pigboy
17. Red Tide Rising