Volbeat, Bush, Witch Fever – Nottingham Arena – Wednesday 5th November 2025

The deluge of autumn gigs continues and tonight saw Denmark’s Volbeat roll into town on the back of their recent (and excellent) God Of Angel’s Trust album, continuing the pattern of blending rock n’ roll, rockabilly and metal with a good dose of Elvis and Johnny Cash drawl and swagger giving them a unique sound, accessible and yet heavy, with a penchant for melodies that stay in your head for weeks at a time. 

WITCH FEVER

For this tour, Volbeat brought an eclectic couple of support acts with them meaning that the night really had something for everyone. Opening proceedings were Manchester’s Witch Fever, who have had a recent leap into the underground spotlight and tonight was a perfect opportunity for them to showcase their wares to a crowd that might not have otherwise crossed paths with them.

Opening with Drank The Sap, the band took to a stage drenched in dense red light and delivered a set drawing equally from their debut and from their brand new sophomore Fevereaten. Amy Walpole wasted no time, making good use of the runway into the crowd and engaging with the crowd as the band delivered their hard to define doomy punk (with a healthy dose of grunge and hardcore). The sound was confrontational as chunky riffs and raw, occasionally jarring, vocals mixed with sublime, almost gothic, melody perfectly suiting the politically and socially charged lyrics.

THE RISE OF WITCH FEVER

The band reflected that while they were on such a large stage they had to shout out for the end of the “occupation and destruction” of Palestine, making it clear that this had no anti-Semitic connotations, and also went on to mention the Congo, Sudan and Ukraine before launching into Fevereaten and then closing the set with I See It. While their sound may not have been to the taste of everyone in attendance, there seemed to be a lot of curious onlookers who were won over and it will be very interesting to watch Witch Fever’s rise from here. 

BUSH

In a complete change of atmosphere, Bush followed with their grungy hard rock and a set promoting their new album I Beat Loneliness. Gavin Rossdale was the obvious focal point, setting up camp at the end of the runway effortlessly commanding the crowd as one anthem merged into another.

The sound was familiar, comfortable and almost felt relaxed after Witch Fever, but was no less impactful. The Land of Milk And Honey came early and sounded huge but although the band were full of energy the response from the crowd was muted and was mostly limited to polite ripples of applause between songs. Nevertheless,Gavin was a bundle of energy at the end of the runway, jumping and bouncing while the rest of the band made good use of the side podiums.

GUITAR JOUSTING

The energy levels in the crowd rose a little for a cover of The Beatles Come Together before the now obligatory request for the crowd to hold their phones in the air for an emotive rendition of ballad Swallowed which was possibly the highlight of the set for me.  I Beat Loneliness saw Gavin and Chris Traynor jousting on guitars on the end of the runway, before the biggest cheer of the set came for Flowers On A Grave which saw Gavin run into the crowd and up into the seats, much to the delight of the fans, who were barely visible through a wall of mobile phones! 

VOLBEAT

After a short turnaround, silhouettes of Volbeat appeared on a curtain across the front of the stage which soon dropped with the band launching into The Devil’s Bleeding Crown and this was the first time in the evening that the crowd really found their voices, enthusiastically singing along as the band took to the runway. The volume went up even further for the indomitable Lola Montez which was a highlight of the night for me, before a rendition of ‘Ring of Fire’ (in tribute to Johnny Cash) with the crowd singing most of it! Sad Man’s Tongue kept the momentum going with backing vocals from several thousand in the arena. 

The first track to be aired from the latest album was Demonic Depression, perhaps heavier than the other tracks to this point but the heaviness soon gave way to an irrepressible melody as the chorus kicked in. As always, Fallen was dedicated to Michael’s late Father as well as anyone in the crowd who has lost someone with the crowd once again finding their collective voice on this poignant masterpiece.

As the set went on, more new tracks including the brilliantly/ridiculously (delete as appropriate!) named In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom, which included the crowd making goat noises and an epic rendition of the fantastic Time Will Heal sitting comfortably alongside more established tracks such as Die To Live, Black Rose, Seal The Deal and the bluesy Heaven Nor Hell.

A TRIUMPHANT EVENING

The beginning of the end came with the immense For Evigt (with the crowd even singing along in their best Danish) which Michael dedicated to his wife and children, and came with another request for the crowd to light up the arena with their phones. Still Counting made sure the karaoke (and pits) continued complete with all of the children from the crowd being invited to join the band on the stage before the night was brought to a close with A Warrior´s Call and Pool Of Booze, Booze, Booza rounding off a triumphant evening cementing Volbeat as one of the leading and most essential rock bands of the age. 

All photography by Andy Pountney (Event Photography Awards Winner 2024 and 2025). You can check out more of his work on shot_in_the_dark_photography2 on Instagram.

Volbeat online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / X

Bush online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / X

Witch Fever online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / X

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