Friday the 14th of September was a sad occasion for London zombies, seeing as it was the last show of zombiecore pioneers Send More Paramedics. However, the undead will refuse to let such a thing put a dampener on proceedings.

Kicking the evening off were Ealing thrash metallers Mutant. You wouldn't think the year was 2007 considering the band looked like they've fallen out of a time when Metallica were just starting out. With the amount of swishing hair going on I couldn't help but think they'd fit in on a certain shampoo advert. (Just kidding, don't kill me!).

Mutant had all the elements of a good live performance down; it was a pity about the infamous half-circle of fear. This is a phenomenon I have yet to experience in any other venue. It involves the crowd standing leaving a semicircle of space in front of the stage, like a no-mans land. The band looked like they were having fun and it was infectious. There were a couple of people really going for it with the headbanging, and though I felt a bit silly I managed to supress myself to just nodding my head to prevent my glasses flying off.

They played a song that they explained was untitled but then gave it a ridiculously expansive name. No-one expects to understand the words to thrash metal songs, but I had to laugh when the lead singer explained he had been making up the words by just making grunty noises. They dedicated a last song to the zombies in the crowd (Zombie Holocaust) and then their set was sadly over.

I must admit that the second band were so forgettable I can't even remember their name. All I remember is a lot of shouting and nothing remarkable on the guitar playing front. As I'd never experienced 'hardcore dancing' before I was taken aback and pretty much confused by what looked to me like a bizarre cross between skanking and throwing a hissy fit! No really, I can't think of anything good going for them.

Anyway, who cares? It's SEND MORE PARAMEDICS headlining: the only band I would paint myself blue for!
I don't think I saw B'Hellmouth coming onstage because I was too busy getting swept up in a crowd of lurching zombies. Before I knew it the aural battering ram that is Kingdom of the Undead had begun. For a band that have their last ever show mere weeks away they still looked fresh out of the grave. They didn't drop the energy level for a second, but then there's no such thing as a slow SMP song.

They played songs from all their releases including several from their latest album such as Blood Fever, Everything Is Not Under Control, Transmission, The Unclean and Anthropophagi. I was disappointed that the didn't play This Crowd Is Crushing Me - I would have been happy if they'd only played the first 14 seconds of it - but zombies can't be choosers. They threw in classics such as Zombie Vs Shark and even dedicated Zombie Sweetheart to all the girls *blushes*.

B'Hellmouth was, as ever, a charismatic frontman that really had the crows in the palm of his cold, dead hands. He delivered lines from atop a human chair before we lowered him down and all attempted to get a chance to yell into the mic/eat him. This resulted in him not having much of a t-shirt left when he got back to the stage! Medico was soloing like a crazed fiend, but then I'm just biased because he's one of my fav guitarists. We all now know what El Diablo was hiding behind that wrestling mask: the most legendary moustache the world has ever seen :P. Xundead looked like he was enjoying himself, but then it's not every band that has such a rabidly enthusiastic fanbase.

I must say that despite SMP fans being a load of rabid brain-hungry zombies they really are a quality bunch. After collapsing on the floor when a stagediver fell right on top of me I lost my glasses and I had them back by the end of the song!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Of course, SMP weren't going to go out without a bang. Only about a verse into Zombie Crew (or sooner) people were flooding onto the stage and then falling off again because there wasn't any room on it! After the last shouts of 'ZOMBIE CREW!' died out and everyone had been ushered off the stage - by the suprisingly passive secuirity guards - the band hung around and signed tickets. I got pictures with all 4 members :D

It was a quality show and I'll never forget the fun I've had at SMP shows.

R.I.P. Send More Paramedics :'(