Veteran darkwave ensemble The Birthday Massacre finally brought their long-awaited tour with Julien-K, the electronic project that formerly made up Orgy, to Hamtramck where they took the stage at Small's on Saturday evening.
The bands were supposed to tour together back in 2020 but had to postpone because of COVID.
The tour was originally supposed to be in support of The Birthday Massacre's eighth studio album Diamonds, but last week the Canadian band released their new album Fascination so the current tour is serving as a showcase for both albums.
Saturday's show was opened by local dark-alternative and post punk band Schedule IV.
The sold-out crowd was already packed in when they hit the stage and the band did a great job of getting the crowd warmed up and ready to go.
Julien-K took a minute to get set up because of technical issues, but once things came together, they hit the stage with a bang and the title track from their 2020 album Harmonic Disruptor.
They proceeded to run through a fist-pumping ten-song set that hit on some of their most popular tracks and wound up with the Orgy classic take on New Order's "Blue Monday."
Technical issues also plagued The Birthday Massacre's set, but the band just shrugged it off and pushed ahead, clearly just overjoyed to be back over the border and on stage.
The band opened their 20-song set with "Superstition" and "Destroyer" and the hits just kept coming from there.
Signatures like "Video Kid" "Looking Glass" and "PIns and Needles" really got the fans singing and moving along even though there wasn't a whole lot of space to move around in the at-capacity crowd.
Newer tracks like "Crush" and "Fascination" also got a enthusiastic response as vocalist Chibi grinned down at them and threw up her hands in the heart symbol.
Saturday's show also featured the live debut of Diamonds' track "Last Goodbye."
The band wrapped things up with the popular "Blue" before exiting and then returning for a encore of "Midnight," "Under Your Spell" and "In the Dark."