Thursday 22/09/05 Million Dead, Gay For Johnny Depp @ Underworld, London

September 23, 2005 by Zoheir Beig

In the queue for tonight Gigwise finds itself standing behind a group of fans being interviewed for what we assume is a forthcoming Million Dead DVD. “They’ve been one of the best bands for the last four years” says one of the guys. Nodding, the soundman agrees. “It’s going to be emotional” he replies, with an ironic sincerity. For tonight is Million Dead’s last ever show in the city they grew up within. As if emo kids didn’t have enough to cry about (joke).

The first night Gay For Johnny Depp played this support slot they provoked the crowd to such an extent that the New York screamo four-piece were attacked, putting lead singer Marty Leopard temporarily in hospital. The Underworld audience waits in anticipation of some further ultra-violence. What they get is a band to chalk up alongside Test Icicles and Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower in 2005’s pantheon of shrieking genius. By the end of their show Marty is standing in only his boxers, having spent the last twenty-five minutes thrusting his crotch into the faces of the front row, calling us his “babies”, and screaming his band’s songs about “teddy bears, lollipops and my mum.” It’s hilariously easy to see why Depp only lasted a few songs on that beginning date in Exeter, but as they sing themselves: "You’re either with us or against us."

It’s a shame Million Dead never got the full recognition they deserved. A rare example of a fiercely political, pretension-free British hardcore band with great songs (one early track was titled ‘I Want To Get Shot At (By An Israeli Gunsquad)'), earlier this month they announced their break-up by saying: “Irreconcilable differences within the band mean that it would be impossible to continue and anyway, we’d rather leave a good looking corpse.”

With the look and sound of clued-up anti-capitalists smashing Starbucks, the shattered glass impact of early Thursday and the taut anger of Rage Against The Machine, quite how Million Dead are saying goodbye tonight when in a month Funeral For A Friend get to play Brixton Academy is beyond our comprehension. They’re exhausting to watch. Every word of every song is sung back with as much belief as the band probably had back when they started their journey; Million Dead play knowing it’s the last time they’ll perform these songs on home turf and to watch them, or any band at their end, is something fascinating, like (we’d imagine) standing over an old man’s deathbed as his last breath draws nearer. Only heavier. Lead singer Frank Turner kicks out at the start of each song, stretching every muscle, and as befits the occasion, leaping into the crowd during their last track, an extended version of ‘The Rise And Fall’ (Million Dead “don’t do encores”).

Just an hour before, a half-naked man wearing a gimp mask and quite obviously Gay For Million Dead appears on stage, proceeding to feel up the band before leaping back into the crowd. As the house lights come up, Gigwise leaves thinking it’s just been one of those nights.

Photo by Simon Leak

You can keep up to date with all the latest news from Gigwise by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.