Pentagram & Legions Of Doom Live 5/23/26
Live at Taffeta Music Hall in Lowell, Massachusetts USA *May 23rd 2026*
This past Saturday night I went to an amazing show at a club in Lowell, Massachusetts. I was not familiar with this venue and my perception was totally off. I was initially thinking that it was a small theater type with seating. To my delight, it ended up being a nice big open dive bar that had a nice seating area with couches along the back where the merch was being sold. It was a nice club actually. The kind of club where I could get upfront and close to the bands, which is what I prefer. Anyways, I went to the show with my friend Sam, who just turned 50 the day before, and his son Isaac. I go to a lot of shows with these guys lately and I love it! I really had no expectations on how this show was gonna go. I saw Legions Of Doom open for Dozer (review here) nearly two years ago and I was very impressed with them back then. I saw Pentagram in 2019 on my son’s birthday, October 27th, and I never thought that I would get to see them again.
The show had two opening bands, Girthworm and Karate Steve. They both sounded decent, but unfortunately I wasn’t paying enough attention to really review properly. It sounded like hard core with metal and nothing groundbreaking but cool enough to get into. I got to meet the singer of Legions Of Doom, Karl Agell (he sang on COC’s 1991 Blind record). He was the nicest and coolest guy I have ever met! I told him how much Blind changed my life and how we used to crank that cassette tape back in high school, driving around in my car. I further mentioned that I used the lyrics, “If the system had one neck, you know I’d gladly break it!”, from Blind‘s “Dance Of The Dead”, as my quote in my high school year book. It felt great sharing that with him and he really appreciated that and he seemed pretty moved by that.
LEGIONS OF DOOM
Right after Karate Steve finished their set, Sam and I worked our way to the front left side of the stage. Legions Of Doom came on and opened with an intro of the song “The Hellion” from the Judas Priest classic, Screaming For Vengeance album. The band totally crushed! They played songs from a variety of records like Legions Of Doom’s 2024’s The Skull 3 (review here) and songs from The Skull like “For Those Which Are Asleep” and “Send Judas Down”. The latter having an awesome extended middle blues jam, which was really cool. The band also features former Trouble and The Skull bassist Ron Holzner and The Skull guitarist Lothar Keller. They sounded fantastic throughout their entire set! The latest drummer was entertaining. He was balancing drumsticks on his head as he was playing. He was very tight and kept the music stable. Karl’s voice was amazing pulling off those majestic Eric Wagner high notes and really showcasing an incredible performance and tribute to all involved. The last two songs they performed really did me in. The first one being the classic “Psychotic Reaction” from the 1990 Self Titled Trouble masterpiece. It was amazing but the real highlight for me was what followed next. They closed with “Dance Of The Dead” and dedicated it to us for sharing our Blind testimonies. He even acknowledged me and I sang along to the chorus. I was completely blown away! It felt so surreal and a full circle kind of event. It is the most beautiful thing when you meet your heavy metal or rock heroes and they are completely cooler than you could ever imagine. Karl Agell is that type of person and I am so thankful for his time and kindness for talking with us.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1CQ6UkoGGe/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://teepeerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-skull-3
PENTAGRAM
Pentagram was equally incredible! They sounded great and played a fantastic mix of old and new songs. They opened with “Live Again” from last year’s excellent Lightening In A Bottle (review here) album. Having Tony Reed in the band playing guitar and doing backing vocals really makes an impact! Henry Vasquez (former Legions Of Doom) drummer and bassist Scooter Haslip (Mos Generator) round out the excellent lineup to back the legendary vocalist, Bobby Leibling. “Starlady”, “Walk In The Blue Light”, “Review Your Choices”, and “Sign Of The Wolf” were all played along with some newer songs like “I Spoke To Death”, “Dull Pain”, and “Thundercrest”. A decent size mosh pit broke out right next to me and a couple of excited fans were flashing Leibling from the front. The reaction to the band was great to see and I was most impressed with how terrific Bobby sounded overall. Pentagram ended their performance was an encore of “Forever My Queen” and “20 Buck Spin”. It was an awesome finisher to a fantastic set! I decided to purchase the First Daze Here album on vinyl to go along with the T-shirt I bought earlier. I was very pleased with how the whole evening played out and I had such a wonderful time.
