Nov 153 min read

King Diamond returns to Denver, CO with his Saint Lucifer’s Hospital 1920 Tour 2024 with special guest vocalist, Myrkur

The previous times I have covered King Diamond here in Denver were at the Fillmore Auditorium, a sweet venue with a capacity of 3600. This time though, he chose a different venue, the Mission Ballroom with a capacity of 4000 but has a much larger stage and is licensed for pyro. But there would be no pyro this night. Kicking the night off and I mean kickin it off was Night Demon. The threesome of Jarvis Leatherby, Armand John Anthony, and Brian Wilson exploded into their first song, “Outsider” that sent sound waves throughout the venue and didn’t let up through their set. The crowd was into them right from the start and a small pit opened up. The continued through their powerful set with, “The Howling Man” and finished their short but strong set with a cover of Black Sabbath’s, “War Pigs”. My all time favorite band is Black Sabbath and Night Demon did a great cover of the song.

Night Demon members:

Jarvis Leatherby – lead vocals, bass (2011–present)

Armand John Anthony – guitars, backing vocals (2016–present)

Brian Wilson – drums (2023–present)

Setlist:

Outsider

Screams in the Night

Obsidian

The Howling Man

Ritual

The Chalice

War Pigs @Cover

If Night Demon didn't have everyone's heart rate pounding, that was about to change. Thrash metalers OverKill took to the stage and opened their heart pounding set with, “Scorched” and the onslaught of metal continued. In no time a pit opened up and a few brave crowd surfers made their way across the crowd to the barrier where the security guys helped them down and sent them back into the crowd. Lead singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth urged the crowd on as his powerful vocals rang throughout the Mission Ballroom. Their short set but killer set ended with “Fuck You” a cover from (The Subhumans)

Overkill members:

Carlo "D.D." Verni – bass, backing vocals (1980–present)

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth – lead vocals (1980–present)

Dave Linsk – lead guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)

Derek Tailer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–present)

Jeramie Kling – drums (2024–present; touring)

Setlist:

Scorched

Rotten to the Core

Bring Me the Night

Hello From the Gutter

The Surgeon

Ironbound

Elimination

Fuck You @Cover

A tape of “Funeral” signaled the beginning of King Diamonds theatrical show and when the curtain dropped there stood King behind a coffin holding a doll in one hand and a knife in the other. Abigail was thrown into the coffin which was then moved off stage the song “Arrival” opened the show. The stage clouded in heavy fog and strong lighting coming from every direction as King poured out his unique vocals and the powerful sound from each of the band members resinated out over the crowd. When the first song ended, a deafening roar from the crowd had me turning around and watching the crowd with their hands in the air cheering and howling.

Joining King Diamond on this tour was guest vocalist and keyboardist Myrkur who was standing high up next to the staircase. Throughout the set of music were classic’s like, “Halloween” from 1986, “Sleepless Nights” from 1989 and “The Candle” from 1986. The stage presence of Andy LaRocque, Mike Wead, and Pontus Egberg, was amazing to watch as each one moved about the stage interacting with each and the crowd while showing off their awesome skills. Along with the classic songs two new songs were part of the set from King’s new upcoming album, The Institute to be released in 2025. “Spider Lilly” and “Electro Therapy” had the crowd cheering wildly for these new songs. Topping off this amazing night was “Abigail” a personal favorite and the crowd roared in appreciation of the awesome show as the band said goodnight.