October 13th, 2023
Detroit, MI @ Redford Theater
Photos By: Kim Baarda
Words By: Jason Deaville
JUST ANOTHER FRIDAY THE 13TH IN DETROIT
In the realm of horror prog-rock there is one king that rules them all: Claudio Simonetti. Famous for his dynamic and far-out there songs, which includes scoring legendary films from the late-70s such as George Romero‘s Dawn Of The Dead and Dario Argento‘s Suspiria, his band Goblin had a fantastic run through the 70s and called it a day in the early 80s. Over the last couple of decades, the band has reformed under several different incarnations, releasing new music and touring quite consistently.
ACT I – DEMONI (DEMONS)
In 1985, accomplished Italian film-maker, Lamberto Bava, released the horror movie Demoni (Demons, in English). In Italy, the movie actually grossed more than Stephen King‘s Cat’s Eye, Silver Bullet and A Nightmare On Elm Street. The film has since gone on to become a cult-classic among horror aficionados and cemented itself as one of Claudio Simonnetti‘s greatest achievements in his film score repertoire.
Tonight, in Detroit, Claudio and his crew paid homage to Demons by performing the live score to a screening of the film to a packed house. Having never witnessed the performance of a live score to a film, I was not sure what to expect. To my surprise, the entire screening was not dissimilar to seeing a movie at a normal theater. The only difference tonight was that there was a live band on the stage performing every bit of music from the movie, and it worked incredibly well.
Through most of the screening, the band members, apart from Claudio who was stationed at his keyboards, sat while they performed the score. Their involvement included every bit of music – from the original score to the licensed songs that are part of the soundtrack (which included songs by Mötley Crüe, Accept, Billy Idol, Saxon, and Scorpions). Never once did the band interrupt the film’s dialogue, which helped keep the audience immersed in both the music and the viewing of the movie. At critical/intense moments of the film, the band would amp things up ten-fold which made the intensity of those scenes so much more impactful. A truly enjoyable experience that has me now wishing every movie had a live band performing.
ACT II – ORIGINAL AND COVER MATERIAL
After the movie, the band jumped into a lengthy second set that included original material (of both Goblin and Claudio) as well as the band performing various horror movie theme songs such as Dawn Of The Dead (L’alba dei Morti Viventi), Halloween, and the theme to Suspiria (Mater Suspiriorum). If this weren’t enough, the band surprised the already-pumped audience with an incredible cover of Mike Oldfield‘s ‘Tubular Bells’.
All in all, it was a fantastic performance at the picture-perfect Redford Theater (a century old theater in the Old Redford neighborhood of Detroit). The ambience of theater served as the ideal backdrop for the evening’s festivities. We highly recommend catching Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin if they make it to your area. You won’t be disappointed.
Remaining tour dates are as follows:
10/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Rio Theatre
10/24 – Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theatre
10/25 – Portland, OR @ Hollywood Theatre
10/26 – Sacramento, CA @ Colonial Theatre
10/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Castro Theatre
10/28 – Glendale, CA @ Alex Theatre
10/29 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
11/01 – Houston, TX @ Heights Theatre
11/02 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theatre
11/03 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
11/04 – New Orleans, LA @ Broadside Theatre
11/05 – Little Rock, AR @ The Hall
11/06 – St Louis, MO @ Red Flag
Visit Claudio Simonetti‘s website here for more information.