When Midnight Danger announced on 11 November 2025 that they would be playing a show with Ace Buchannon as special guest and Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur (Deathstars / The Heard) as DJ at "Encore Sundbyberg" in Sweden's capital Stockholm, it already sounded like a pretty solid package. Six days later, LeBrock were brought in as additional special guests, and just two days after that, the early bird tickets were sold out. No wonder, given this "absolutely epic lineup for all synthwave & retrowave lovers to kick off 2026 on fire".
In keeping with the artists performing tonight, DJ Skinny Disco provides the soundtrack before, between and after the gigs, spinning music from the 1980s and tracks that are stylistically 80s-adjacent, including Tubeway Army ("Are 'Friends' Electric?"), Stevie Nicks ("Edge Of Seventeen") and Depeche Mode ("Enjoy The Silence").
Hailing from Finland's capital Helsinki, Ace Buchannon is the first act on stage tonight. Ace Buchannon (real name Vesa Tamminen) "was born in the '80s and plans to live until the 2080s and make '80s sounding music in between". The audience gets a taste of that "'80s sounding music" - more precisely, synthwave / retrowave / outrun - with tracks such as "Breakout", "Mizukage Prototype", "Into The Fray" and "Mano A Mano". Since Ace Buchannon is performing solo on stage, rocking his keytar, all other instruments on his mostly instrumental songs are provided by backing tracks. Having an actual saxophonist on stage to handle the sax parts on songs like "Race Against The Dawn" and "No One's Watching" would have been a valuable addition to the stage show. The same goes for "Come Alive", which features not only saxophone parts but also female vocals by Anna Moore. Video footage from previous performances shows that Ace Buchannon has occasionally had guests, so perhaps it was not possible tonight for logistical reasons. After all, according to Midnight Danger, this is "his first ever performance in Sweden".
The minimalist stage show nevertheless works, partly thanks to Ace Buchannon's interactions with the audience - he smiles, repeatedly blows kisses and encourages the crowd to clap along - and partly because the stage setup for tonight's headliner, Midnight Danger, is already in place, making the overall impression anything but minimal. And then there is the audience, and in particular a female attendee in the front row, dressed in a sparkling silver dress and armed with two neon-yellow toy pistols, who dances enthusiastically to his music throughout the entire set, proving all the way through the final number, the very upbeat "Buns Of Steel", that the audience can contribute just as much to a show's vibe as the performance itself.
Speaking of "vibe": When LeBrock, the second act of the evening, kick off their set with "Heartstrings", the atmosphere changes significantly. Frontman Shaun Phillips doesn't enter the stage - he storms it! Owning everyone and everything in the room from the first note, Shaun Phillips introduces the band with "We are LeBrock!", immediately getting close to the crowd. The front row looks different now, by the way: Mostly tough-looking guys with tattoos, studs and leather jackets, some of whom - as we'll learn during the set - have travelled all the way from the UK and Ireland for LeBrock's debut gig in Sweden.
The band from the English city of Peterborough describes itself as "a retro cinematic experience", but live, the synth elements of their music take quite a backseat, at least tonight, in favour of 80s style melodic rock and a corresponding rock'n'roll show. For people like us, who, in general, listen more to guitar-heavy rock than electronic music, this is a pleasant surprise. Shaun Phillips almost constantly sweeps across the stage, jumping, smiling, interacting and communicating with the crowd... In short, a frontman straight out of a picture book, and a show that would definitely work on larger stages, too, thanks to Shaun Phillips' energy.
One reason why songs like "See Me", "Hollow", "STAR", "Bright Lights", Hangin' On", "Please Don't Cry" and "Real Thing" sound heavier tonight than on their studio versions is probably the presence of the two live guitarists, Phil Smith and Mark Ward. The other half of the duo LeBrock, guitarist and producer Michael Meadows, is absent, having previously mentioned that "various factors have made touring especially difficult for me". None of this dampens the mood tonight, though. Between "Dangerous Dreams" and "Call Me", a particularly amusing moment occurs when a male fan asks Shaun Phillips if he has dyed his long hair. After the vocalist confirms that he has, he turns the question back on the fan and, lifting the man's flat cap to reveal a bald head, asks whether he left his hair at home. LeBrock's set is filled with such light-hearted banter, and after Shaun Phillips kisses the fan's hand to make it clear that it's all in good fun (the fan responding by blowing him a kiss), it's fair to say that bromance is in the air. Following "One Night", there is some back-and-forth between the band and the audience about how many more songs LeBrock could play - and just how much more Shaun Phillips could sweat: "Jesus Christ, look at the sweat! I'll sweat for you, though. I'll sweat for you all day long." But all good things must come to an end, and so "Encore" gives it its all for the final number, "Interstellar".
After the headliner-worthy LeBrock, it's time for tonight's main act: Midnight Danger. Even in the front row, the "line-up" changes again; amongst others, the girl with the toy pistols is back. The set opens with a prologue (a pre-recorded horror-style narration, of which we will hear more throughout the show), followed by the first notes of "Silent Despair". First, drummer Scary Dee enters the stage amid loud applause and starts playing, soon joined by frontman Chris Young on guitar as the crowd cheers again.
Midnight Danger is an interesting project in many ways. At first glance, the appearance of Chris Young and Scary Dee might suggest a glam sleaze rock band in the vein of Crashdïet, but vocals are mostly absent as they play synthwave, combined with guitars, drums and a very prominent horror aesthetic. In other words, despite all the nostalgia, Midnight Danger deliver an original blend that many contemporary bands lack, and that is exactly what makes them so intriguing. Regarding their live performances, Midnight Danger say that they offer "a synchronised light show with spectacular fixtures and props, making the audience go through some sort of theatrical horror movie experience". Perhaps the most surprising element of the show is Scary Dee, who not only smashes the drums adorned with neon-green pentagrams using glow-in-the-dark drumsticks, but does so while continuously embodying his undead persona. Joakim Tennfors, who currently portrays Scary Dee and also drums for the Swedish synthwavers Star Cassette, does a brilliant job animating the audience.
From the undead theatrics of Scary Dee to moments when Chris Young uncannily resembles the late Dave Lepard (the founder and original frontman of Crashdïet, who passed away almost exactly twenty years ago), the show has an almost otherworldly atmosphere. An attendee who had known Dave Lepard personally will confirm, after the show, how striking the resemblance is.
After songs like "When Evil Follows", "Dominion", "Annihilation 2179", "The Darkest Side Of Hell", "Nyctophile" and "Restless Generation", the outstanding "Lullaby For The Dead" follows, with Chris Young once again stepping out from behind his synths and playing his Jackson V-shaped guitar, accompanied by plumes of fog shooting up from the stage. The live debut of the next track, "Radio Hell", had been teased, more or less, a week earlier via Midnight Danger's social media accounts, and after "Stranger Days", the current single "Nocturnal Immortal" and "Reign Of Fear", Chris Young addresses the audience for the first time. He says, amongst other things, that this is "a very special night" and that it is "always really special to play in Stockholm, the city where Midnight Danger was born", adding: "It was a very special set we played tonight. Most of the songs we never played live before, so you guys were listening for the first time." Chris Young then announces a special guest for "the last two songs we're gonna play tonight". During the performance of "Maniac", another live debut, the special guest is revealed to be Crashdïet guitarist Martin Sweet, who also appears on the studio version of the track. For the concluding Alice Cooper cover "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)", it would have been nice to have an additional special guest live on stage (either Lizzy Dollz, as on the studio version, or another vocalist) instead of the pre-recorded vocals. The trio compensates for the absence of a live vocalist by rocking like there's no tomorrow, proving that a live singer would have been the cherry on the cake, but by no means essential. At least not tonight.
Midnight Danger did not promise too much when they announced a "synthwave mayhem" that "Stockholm hasn't seen in years". A well-curated event with three acts from three different countries, a well-known DJ, and all of it taking place at a pleasant venue that we are visiting for the first time tonight. Unfortunately, "Encore" in the Sundbyberg district of Stockholm empties very quickly after Midnight Danger finish their set, even though it's not yet midnight and the party with DJ Skinny Disco is officially scheduled to run until 1 AM. Many attendees head to the city centre to continue the night there. This is all the more puzzling given that the days when there was a wide range of rock and metal clubs in Stockholm are long gone, with many venues these days already closing at 1 AM instead of the legal closing time of 3 AM. In what seems like a fit of FOMO, people are once again driven into the same generic venues with the same old cover bands, which is ironic, almost absurd, considering that tonight's DJ will be flown all the way to Mexico in March 2026 to do exactly what he is doing tonight in his hometown. On the bright side, the organisers managed to put together a well-attended event, and hopefully there will be more refreshing events like this in the future. The nightlife of Stockholm really needs it.
Author: Stefanie Nysand
