The hard-rocking, heavy metal titans in Lucifer kicked off their North American tour last week at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. Lucifer is the brainchild of German songstress, Johanna Sadonis along with her husband and partner in crime, Nicke Andersson [The Hellacopters, Entombed] where they channel their inner classic rock idols with a hint of metal ferocity and spooky vibes, resulting in a genius amalgamation Sadonis has described as “Black Sabbath meets Fleetwood Mac.” Still supporting their stunning 2021 album, Lucifer IV, and on the cusp of dropping their newest record, Lucifer V, the band played a varied setlist of new-ish and older material alike for their loyal LA fans.

They kicked things off with “Ghosts” and “Midnight Phantom” aka, the opening salvos from 2020’s Lucifer III, and a fun night of sing-alongs and head-banging began in earnest. Unfortunately, Nicke Andersson couldn’t make this current tour, so Lucifer turned to Saint Vitus drummer Henry Vasquez to man the drums in his absence…and what an insane job he did! Vasquez held down Lucifer’s rock ‘n’ roll grooves like a champ but he also added tremendous amounts of firepower to the band’s already booming sound. So much so, Vasquez broke not one, but two different bass drum heads throughout the night, the first during the band’s second song.

Johanna Sadonis commanded the stage all evening, with her powerful vocals and playful interactions with the audience. Thanks to the lull in touring due to the pandemic, this was most fans first time hearing tunes off Lucifer IV live, so their excitement during songs like “Crucifix (I Burn For You),” “Masoluem,” and “Bring Me His Head,” was palpable. Finally hearing some of your favorite songs live after years of singing in your car at full blast will do that to you! The band ended the night with a swinging encore of older jams from Lucifer II, including two of their biggest hits, “Dreamer,” and “California Son.” Lucifer’s new album drops early next year on Nuclear Blast Records and hopefully, that means another North American tour sometime in the near future.

LUCIFER