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, too, looks different now: 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 knew 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 now closing as early as 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
