Concert Review - Devilskin - Hastings - 13 June 2025

Presented By The Rock & Jack Daniels

Devilskin Live in Hasting-Photo Credit Robbie Cancian Photographer

Review By: Rob Harbers

Artist/Band: Devilskin with special guests Villainy and Midwave Breaks

Venue/City: ToiToi Opera House, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Date of Event: Friday 5th June 2025

Off the back of their recent New Zealand Music Peoples’ Choice award, Devilskin last night rocked Heretaunga’s ToiToi, with the help of fellow travellers Midwave Breaks and Villainy.
Midwave Breaks opened proceedings, the duo creating a noise far greater than the sum of its parts. Their sound carries strong echoes of the 90’s, calling to mind the likes of Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and others. They have a deft line in the way of inserting musical Easter eggs into the fabric , e.g. the ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ riff that formed a coda to one of the songs, lots of little touches that reward careful listening-a band to watch indeed!

Introduced by ‘Careless Whisper’ coming over the PA, in a complete subversion of the otherwise rock-heavy playlist, Villainy kicked things up a notch, proving very popular with the audience. From their introductory exhortation that “while this is a beautiful theatre, this is a rock show!”, pulling the crowd to its feet they provided an energetic set that rewarded this vertical exertion. ‘Tiny Little Island’ was well received, while ‘Dreams’ saw the release of three massive bouncing beach balls into the arena, somewhat offsetting its reality-biting “No-one gives a fuck about your dreams” refrain! All over, a hugely fitting bridge to the main act, while clearly carrying a sizeable contingent of their own supporters as well, leading into the next refreshment stop.

But eventually the lights dimmed, Rob Zombie’s ‘Dragula’ came over the PA, and Devilskin came on all guns blazing with ‘Red’, inciting an audience sing-along almost immediately. This being the first North Island show of this tour, they stated this as an opportunity for us to show us the differences between the islands, in terms of audience enthusiasm-and they certainly played their part in the process. The ensuing ‘Revolution’ continued the momentum, before introducing the brand-new ‘Swelter’, a full-on attack that shows there’s no slowing down after 15 years together! A more sedate riff introduced ‘Endo’ before bursting in to the bludgeoning riffage that we were all there for. ‘Corrode’ maintained the pace, before another new song, ‘Half-life of Dreams’, whetting appetites for the new album due out next month.

From the new to the old, ‘Fade’ served as a reminder of the strength that’s always been a part of this band’s DNA, while providing an opportunity for Nail to shred up a storm! ‘All Fall Down’ from 2020’s ‘Red’ album, cranked the riffage right back up to 11, before another new one, ‘Burn Slow’ making next month’s release date seem too long away! The appearance of Nail’s ‘Flying V’ gat heralded the blistering cover of Heart’s ‘Barracuda’, that set up a further new one, ‘Ghosts In The Mud’, before what Paul introduced as “our most important song”, the call to awareness that is ‘Never See the Light’, a reminder that never gets old that it’s important to check in with friends, as we never know what they could be going through, or need. This saw the end of the main set, but not for long, the demand for an encore testing the extensive earthquake strengthening performed on the building!

Coming back on with the powerful ‘Unborn’, the crowd-pleasing continued through another 4 full songs, both old (‘Elvis Presley Circle Pit’, ‘Little Pills’) and new (‘Desiderium’) before departing, leaving a deeply satisfied audience in their wake, one awaiting the new album with great expectations!
There’s been some talk lately of the fact that metal is overlooked when it comes to the Aotearoa music awards ceremonies, being worthy of its own category, and this night was a prime example of why this is true-to sell out a provincial town with a triple bill of all-local talent shows that there’s a definite market for this, one largely ignored in the homogeneous popularity contest that is the commercial scene. But the audiences are there, and need to be recognised (and maybe even giving the chance for Jennie to tell Bishflap where to stick his “load of crap”?). Enough sermonising though, executive summary time:a fucking powerhouse of a show, one that you really should see. Proceeding through Te-Ika-a-Maui over the next few weeks, and definitely worth your investment! Go book your tickets now!

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Check out the remaining Dates on the Devilskin Tour:

Saturday 14 June - Fly Palmy Arena - Palmerston North

Friday 20 June - The Factory - Hamilton

Saturday 21 June - The Mayfair - New Plymouth

Thursday 26 June - Parāoa Brewing Co - Whangapāraoa

Friday 27 June - Powerstation - +Auckland

Saturday 28 June - Stadium Lounge - Mt Maunganui

Saturday 05 July - Meow Nui - ++Wellington

From @EVENTFINDA;  *Invercargill@FLICKET;  **Christchurch@TICKETMASTER;+Auckland @AAA TICKETING;  ++Wellington @TICKETEK

devilskin.co.nz

Devilskin Re-Eveloution Tour PR 2025

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