Live: We Are Harlot

Ex-AA man walks on the wild side

By Natasha Scharf
( Metal Hammer )
published

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The Harlot lads are big news right now.

It’s just a couple of days since they beat Marmozets and Beartooth in the Best New Band category at the Golden Gods, and now they’re headlining their first London show.

The Academy is rammed with Asking Alexandria fans who scream loudly as Danny Worsnop walks on stage. And he’s looking the part. The former metalcore frontman looks like he’s auditioning for a role in a remake of Almost Famous with his plum jacket, 70s-style shirt and mirrored shades; he throws rock star poses and even dips into an American drawl.

It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who growled on songs like A Prophecy, but there are times when this act feels like a parody that detracts from the rest of the show. Stylistically, We Are Harlot’s glam-glazed rock is about as far away from Asking Alexandria as possible (despite the latter’s Skid Row covers) but it’s a perfect match for Danny’s new rock’n’roll alumni bandmates, who get everyone into the party mood. Feelgood anthem after feelgood anthem are sandwiched between singles Denial and Dancing On Nails, climaxing with a killer cover of Queen’s Tie Your Mother Down. By the end of the night, there are no doubters left. Danny, you’ve changed… and it suits you, sir.

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.