Live Review : Shiraz Lane + XIII Doors @ The Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool on June 26th 2025
It’s a Thursday night, not one usually associated with rock n roll shenanigan, but XIII Doors and Shiraz Lane are determined to get the weekend started twenty-four hours early, each in their own very different and unique way.
XIII Doors kick off hard and heavy and maintain that intensity for the duration of their set, never flagging once. Their hard-hitting two-pronged guitar attack is a ferocious declaration of intent grabbing the crowd by the throat and pummelling them with the meanest, dirtiest guitar sound. The rhythm section in particular is brutally effective, with one of the loudest drum sounds that I can remember in a long time; they seem to hit a particular tone and frequency that resonates through your entire body making their set a particularly visceral one, that you feel as much as hear.
XIII Doors take absolutely no prisoners, with the set list taken from their recent debut album “Into the Unknown”; and whilst there is plenty of big riffing and power in their material, it is offset by strong melodies and some intriguing song structures and influences. ‘Face The Truth’, ‘Sorceress of Lies’ and ‘See How You’ve Come So Far’ make for a resounding mid-set one-two-three punch, the latter showing a slightly mellower side to the band but with a suitably epic solo, which gives the crowd chance to get their breath back. Their set passes in what feels like a matter of minutes (usually a good sign that you’re really enjoying yourself) finishing with a storming ‘Lead the Way’, all singalong chorus, frantic guitars and that devastating bass and drum combination, before they’re gone, leaving a slightly stunned Waterloo crowd to ponder what they’ve just witnessed…
Parts of my anatomy have only just stopped vibrating from XIII Doors aural assault when Shiraz Lane take to the stage, heralded by a lovely dramatic keyboard intro – and that’s a good forty-five minutes later. The Finnish five-piece offer a very different proposition to their support act, but one that is enthusiastically embraced by their audience as they launch into latest single and show opener, ‘Plastic Heart’. ‘Tidal Wave’ thunders along next, picking up the momentum and running with it.
Over the course of their highly polished performance the band deliver choice cuts from across their back catalogue and right up to date; so, for instance there’s the cool title track from 2018’s “Carnival Days” all the way up to the newer number ‘Dangerous’ swinging along on an off-beat hi-hat groove.
On lead vocals Hannes Kett sure possesses a hell of a set of pipes; he’s as talented as he is likeable and engaging; that is to say, very! Delivering some phenomenally high notes and holding them for an unfeasibly long time, he is a frontman of some skill and charisma, spending most of his time right up at the front on the barrier. Hannes and the band as a whole seem to be loving what they are doing and that enthusiasm and passion translates into a fun and lively show. They bounce and spin round the stage like excitable pinballs making you ponder how bands back in the day managed to perform with any movement at all tethered as they were to their amps. Guitars are beautifully melodic, the soloing fluid and striking, the crowd lapping up each and every run and arpeggio.
Ana Willman on drums meanwhile is something of a revelation, managing to be technically brilliant and visually entertaining all at the same time, so much so that you find your eye is often drawn to what is happening behind the kit, when ordinarily you would be watching the performances of the front line. His drum solo is a case in question; (crucially) short but perfectly-formed, the guitarists play a couple of bars then he replies with a couple of bars of dazzling rhythmic dexterity. Then they repeat it all over again and again with a different drum part each time – it allows him to show off his skills but in such a way that is entertaining and doesn’t outstay its welcome and become boring. His choice of fills and judicious and sparing use of double-kick drumming gives extra heft and punctuates the melodic highs and emotive vocals perfectly.
A colourful barrage of fun, melody and skilled stage-craft, Shiraz Lane deliver an unapologetically old-school rock n’ roll party that even the most cynical and jaded rock lifer would be hard pressed to resist. There must be something in the icy waters of Northern Europe for those countries seems to create the best, classiest, most professional rock bands with effortless regularity. It’s immediately apparent that Shiraz Lane are a band firmly in that vein who can hold their own alongside the very best of them, and this year they’re in great company as Erja Lyytinen and the Electric Boys hailing from Finland and Sweden, have already graced the Waterloo stage.
Ending with a sumptuous ‘To the Moon and Back’, that has the crowd singing along in unison, Shiraz Lane leave both the stage in triumph and a lasting impression on tonight’s fans; musically impressive, thoroughly entertaining and above all, fun, they are also relentlessly up-beat and buoyant, smiles and warmth and positivity coming from the stage, and in these often-troubled times, surely we need this now more than ever..
Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Shiraz Lane + XIII Doors
Over 40 years since I first saw my first rock gig (Gillan, Magic Tour 82, Preston Guildhall, for anyone who's interested) I still love Metal and rock with the dedication and giddy excitement of that long ago teenager.