Cleveland’s Own MIDNIGHT Turned Up the Heat in London

This past Summer I was lucky enough to spend a whole month in the England, soaking in history, culture, and the vibrant London metal scene that – although is hidden – seems more alive than ever right now. I got to see some Scottish doom, some English stoner sludge, some traditional heavy metal, but one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life has to be the experience of seeing Cleveland Ohio’s heaviest export, Midnight (also known as Midnight Violators) at the famous New Cross Inn on the Southeast End of London. Matched with a solid lineup of local opening acts and a rowdy audience of beer guzzling maniacs ready to surf and go ham, it was an experience that I can’t say I’ll be forgetting about any time soon.

London doesn’t really have venues for heavy acts, they just have bars with stages. At least, that was my experience, and despite it’s small size, New Cross Inn seems to be one of the more popular spots for live music and great beer. The building adorned posters of prior acts such as The Story So Far, God’s Hate, and even older Midnight tour posters. Merch and more alcohol was down the stairs in the cellar-like basement, and right outside of the main room was where the restaurant-style booth seats were. It was a really unique atmosphere compared to most of the venues where I’ve seen Midnight play in the states.

The first band that played was a gritty political punk act called State Sanctioned Violence. Aside from their raw, pained vocals and impressive riffs, State Sanctioned Violence did something that I’ll never forget. Two songs into their set the guitarist grabbed the microphone and announced that one of the audience members was on the “leak list” and is actually a member of a white supremacist group. “We know who you are, bro,” he said, “and we don’t play to people like you.” What followed next was the tensest, most anxiety racking silence I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. The alleged Nazi eventually walked out, and that’s when the band finished playing their set. I’ve been a fan ever since that moment right there, but their music sounding as hard as it does definitely helps.

A good third of the audience were wearing Midnight shirts, but another third were wearing shirts for the second band on the bill, Ominous Moon. Playing some old school black metal, Ominous Moon’s trio of skinny rock and rollers all looked like they stepped out of 1986 with their long, fluffy hair, bullet belts, faux fur pelt accessories, fake blood, and corpse paint. The early black metal legends would be proud. Screaming the lyrics back at them and headbanging like their necks were already broken, the audience adored this band and gave them every drop of energetic participation. A local group with a cult following for sure.

Wolf Bastard was the penultimate act of the night. Wolf Bastard’s set was the set that initially incited the thrashing and the stage diving that would inevitably envelope the entire audience. From shit-talking the audience to passing bottles of wine into the audience, the Manchester blackened thrashers had a group persona of sarcastic jokes and blast beats that helped them to make a clear and obvious line between their set and the others. By the end of Wolf Bastard’s set, the audience had accumulated into one giant ocean of sweating flesh, beer soaked denim vests, and obscure death metal merchandise. People weren’t people anymore, they were just drops of writhing chaos in the tidal wave of bodies that enveloped the stage.

Midnight cut the lights and played cathedral church bells and raven screeches as they approached the stage slowly. One by one the leather-clad, hooded and masked men of the darkness grabbed their axes and played the most intense show of my life thus far. The windows were dripping in condensation because it was so hot. I was pressed against stage left and couldn’t move to get to the other side or the front even if I wanted to. People were pushing the monitors against the artists because they were being pressed into the stage because it was so packed with the moshing and everything. The show was absolute chaos – and it was beautiful. Midnight played a lot of their hits, and some songs off of their album, but the most impactful thing that they did was playing an Ozzy Osbourne before playing anything else. The second they hit the stage the group played “Suicide Solution,” and gave a mention to the prince of darkness before running straight into a personal favorite of mine, “Nuclear Savior”.

I didn’t get to live in it for too long, but the London metal scene is incredible. If you like in the UK and anywhere near Camden’s The Black Heart, or New Cross Inn, make sure you get out to a show sometime. That scene is small but alive and well, and it needs to be kept that way. Midnight is travelling across Europe right now, and I’m sure they’ll be back in the USA soon, so make sure to follow them on socials to stay up to date with their escapades.

PHOTO CREDIT: Live photos by Liam Tennant for ZRockR Magazine – (c) 2025 – All Rights Reserved.