The Devil Makes Three were four as the trio of Pete Bernhard, Lucia Turino, and Cooper McBean were augmented by a drummer which drove the performance along like a western steam train.

In a 45-minute set as support to American celtic punk outfit Dropkick Murphys, the TDM3 played to a capacity 5000 crowd at London’s Brixton O2 Academy. The group soon got the crowd onside and made plenty of new fans.

Kicking off with The Bullet from the 2002 eponynous album the group delivered a stonking set of their blend of uptempto, swinging bluegrass pop and soon had audience members at the front dancing and received a great reception.

The catchy Hallelu led into Drunken Hearted Man and the dark lyrics of Deep Down “Deep in my heart I’m a terrible man” countered the catchy tune.

In a non-stop set the group stormed through a set list of 13 tracks, from the jazzy Old Number 7 to the Black Irish reel, even dropping in a short cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs for good measure.

Pray For Rain had the audience footstomping and was reminiscent of an early Rolling Stones song and the group finished with a country blues take of the standard St James Infirmary.

Review and Live Photos by Chaz Brooks