Something wickedly good this way comes, just in time for Halloween, as goth legends The Awakening and fast-emerging outfit The Royal Ritual team up for two live dates in the UK, the first of which is at Belgrave Music Hall on the 24th of October.

It’s not the first time the bands have played on the same bill, as both acts performed at the inaugural Glōm Fest this year, with The Awakening headlining dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver BC.

Glōm Fest is a festival with a difference, not tied to one location or country, instead seeking to bring innovative underground acts to audiences around the globe via curated line-ups of like-minded artists. It had its inaugural event this year, and 2026 is well into its planning stage.

Leeds has assured its place in musical history due to its outsized role in what became goth, post-punk, and industrial, and The Awakening and The Royal Ritual view the gig at Belgrave Music Hall as an inspirational pilgrimage.

Leeds’ dark alternative and goth scene was home to many of the bands that formatively influenced both acts’ music, and the city also holds a special place in the heart of The Royal Ritual’s David Lawrie.

“I completed my BA and MA in Music Production at Leeds Conservatoire, and I am excited to be performing my first shows in Leeds and London as The Royal Ritual, alongside Dan Kentley, who also studied his BA in Music Production with me,” says David.

“Leeds was my first taste of freedom as a young adult. Everything about it was exciting to me, not least the abundance of musical influences and opportunities. To be able to play such an iconic venue in a city that I hold so dearly to my heart is a true privilege,” he continues.

Together, both bands will provide a night of suitably expansive and atmospheric dark rock and industrial music, an unmissable early All Hallows’ Eve treat for fans of acts such as The Sisters of Mercy, Eureka Machines, and Ghost Dance. The Leeds date is followed by an appearance at the world-famous Bush Hall in London on the 26th of October. Tickets are available on Dice.

About the bands

The Awakening

South African musician Ashton Nyte created The Awakening in the 90s before relocating to the USA. For the past decade, the project was mainly a studio-based affair, with Ashton releasing solo albums and occasionally performing solo shows in Europe and the UK.

The Awakening has had top-charting radio singles and club rotation throughout South Africa, Europe, and the US and became the first gothic rock band to ever headline major national festivals throughout their native South Africa, including Oppikoppi and RAMfest, and has performed to crowds of over 30,000.

In October 2024, the self-titled album The Awakening was released – the band’s twelfth album in total – with the band’s first shows in almost a decade taking them around the world, with performances in the USA, Canada, Mexico, the UK, the EU, and South Africa.

The Royal Ritual

The Royal Ritual is the dark/industrial project of internationally renowned music producer and sound designer David Lawrie, and was conceived just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Initially, due to various lockdowns, the project was a studio-based affair, with the debut album MARTYRS being produced in complete isolation in Lawrie’s private studio in Northern California.

Blending harsh synthetic tones; dark, percussive sound design; and traditional world instruments, a new industrial landscape was being forged in The Royal Ritual, and the debut release was well received by the press and goth/industrial music communities.

2024 saw the release of the Pleasure Hides Your Needs album, followed by Live at Infest in 2025 – the latter a sonic souvenir of an appearance at the iconic Infest festival, then held in nearby Bradford. Both of these albums were released on Todmorden-based independent record label AnalogueTrash, further solidifying the band’s connection to Yorkshire.