A View From The Back Of The Room: Electric Wizard (Joe Guatieri)

Electric Wizard & Magick Potion, The Prospect Building, Bristol, 16.09.26

“I hope this fucking world fucking burns away and I’d kill you all if I’d had my way!”. I don’t think that I’ve ever related to lyrics more in my adult life than these. The slog of working a job that you hate, surrounded by customers who don’t have respect for themselves or anyone else, all for a faceless company that doesn't know you exist. There is music out there made for moments like this that portray the feeling of utter dread and constant anxiety, better than a conversation ever could. The prospect of seeing THEM again makes all this stress worth it.

Wednesday 16th September was a day like any other, just thinking about that night. Taking a walk from where I work to the venue, that being The Prospect Building felt nice for once, a relief. The roads are usually full of traffic but on this night, everything seemed to float by with a lack of disturbance and the excitement filled the air minute by minute.

Arriving at The Prospect Building, it felt surprisingly empty to begin with, no queue despite a sold out show, this was completely different for when I saw Sunn O))) there back in June where there was a big queue, I went in without breaking a sweat. I then went in-line for merch, afterwards getting myself a pint and then leisurely strolled into the main room, found my place and waited.

Magick Potion (7) opened the proceedings, entering the stage with their long hair and decorative fashion from another era. Looking at their socials and music platform presence previously, it was all about channeling heavy Psychedelic Rock from the 60s and 70s. It was then a mission in my mind, these guys walked the walk but can they talk the talk.

They then started playing, beginning with some cuts that opened the opportunity for the band to jam out and show off their shredding. With their tone that was welcoming in its warmth and fuzzy nature, it felt less like “Look at what I’m doing” and more like “Come take my hand, we’re going on a journey”. This resonated with the crowd who were grooving and enjoying the band, banging their heads and dancing to it.

I thought to myself, yeah their decent, then they introduced songs with more hooky elements and showcased more dynamics, that’s the point that drew me in. They show a big influence of Cream, Hawkwind, Led Zeppelin and The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their sleeves but they aren’t trying to copy and paste what the legends before them did.

This was fun and it didn’t feel forced, many bands in this ilk and tributes especially try to reinterpret a gig from back in the day where as this was more present and in the now, these guys were up on stage just enjoying themselves. Magick Potion didn’t try and reinvent the wheel or do anything like that, they just came out on stage, had a good time and raised people’s spirits up, it was a good time!

Next we had the main event, the wait wasn’t too long for Electric Wizard (9) … The band gathered on stage through a storm of smoke and cleared, Jus Oborn bellowed “Come my fanatics!” as they launched into space with Return Trip. Played at a different tempo compared to the original recording, it felt more hitting, dare I say satisfying in the way that it was played. My fate was sealed when Jus spat out the first few words of the song, those lyrics being what I mentioned when I started this review. I hadn’t screamed that loudly in a while!

Then the notes from Dopethrone ripped out from the bowels of hell and into my soul. I had never heard Electric Wizard play it live before and this was a moment that I’ll never forget. Again like with the previous song I was hitting my fist in the air, it’s a national anthem for the misfits.

Speaking in both terms of seeing the band play it live and the studio version, it plays with your expectations, the repeated mantra of the word “Rise” just brings everything together as the poetry paints a picture of glamourising the excess in both drugs and the volume in sound. Then suddenly the puzzle pieces come together as god says “Dopethrone” and the riff is just sluggish enough to make devils dance.

Funnily enough it’s a technique like this where I will make a connection between Elton John and Electric Wizard. The fact that the song teases and teases to the chorus with Tiny Dancer, everyone always sings it at the same time and Dopethrone does the same thing! It's a thing of beauty, pure song-writing genius.

I want to point this out, their bassist, South West native Haz Wheaton was the only one on our right who wasn’t covered in smoke, it made me think, he’s one of us, he’s human and you could see it as the man was hammering away on his instrument, screaming every lyric, his energy was infectious, it was as if his soul was released from the sacrifice from the wizard and given to the people, he’s a fan.

The fourth song they played was another epic in Satanic Rites Of Drugula. That introduction was fierce and harrowing, the fact that Jus played it in the style that I love so much when he hits that forbidden note, echoing what he did at Brutal Assault at Fortress Josefov, in the Czech Republic back in 2017. It’s the most evil thing that the wizard is capable of doing and the song encapsulates its title completely, “So high, so dead”!

An unexpected treat was Electric Wizard performing Son Of Nothing from Come My Fanatics, it was the first time they played that song live in well over 10 years. It displayed the band at their most raw and loose, they could have played it for hours and the crowd would have still gone home happy, it truly puts repetition into submission.

Nearing the close of their set, it could have only ended on one thing, Funeralopolis. Nothing on earth beats hearing the introductory section, it brought everyone to a different planet. Then when the time struck, a heavy trance fell onto The Prospect Building, the jet engine of that legendary riff is a jet engine that blows everything away in its path. Electric Wizard then fled the stage, they came, killed and left!

Comparing the first occasion, seeing the band at ArcTanGent in 2024 and comparing it to The Prospect Building in 2026 is a difficult one. The first time I saw the band, I was stone cold sober for their set and everything felt like a dream, while this gig in Bristol was real and in the moment. At a festival there’s always much going on, you’ve got little time to breathe, whether with a gig, you spend the majority of your time waiting.

I guess that from seeing Electric Wizard before, it sub-consciously felt like just seeing any other band at gigs because regardless if it’s at a bigger venue, the routine is pretty similar. Now that I’ve had a chance to reflect on this, I’ve realised that I preferred this set list at the gig, whereas at the festival, I thought that they played better.

Don’t get me wrong, the solos and riffs still came across with gigantic presence but a bit of the mystique was lost. I am growing older and beginning to learn that these are just people but in an incredible band, still nasty and intense and that will never change. I loved it and I would go to see them and I do recommend the live experience. Just one more cry, just please god, release another album, I can’t polish my fangs forever!