bITS 'N CHUNKS
In the fall of 2015 (I'm convinced this was the last true Autumn that Nashville has had), I went to The End for a show. I like The End, it has that air of mystery, grime, and mild danger that I like on the weekends. I like small shows, I like small bands, I like local groups. Sadly, I don't really like taking photos. That night, I was there to see Coliseum with Child Bite and I believe Sheep Shifter? And the tickets were a little higher than The End's normal fair so I felt like this was pretty big. To be fair, I was largely there to see Child Bite as they were on my radar for being brash and in your face, harsh, metal-punk-yikes. I did a little research on Coliseum as the headliners and figured I'd like them too. So, we're here today because I left that fog- and crystal-lodged show a swift fan of Coliseum and in dire need of a copy of Anxiety's Kiss. As I pined away in Tennessee for another chance to see Coliseum's heady, imposing, pink-shifted black magic stage show so I can appreciate it better, as my luck would have it I found out through pure fluke that not too long after the tour for Anxiety's Kiss, Coliseum had very quietly broken up. Well, goddamnit! But all was not lost as singer/guitarist Ryan Patterson (for this project, now R/Pattern) had quickly gotten another project started, Fotocrime. I quickly got aboard, determined not to miss this (dark)wave as I'd been given a second chance. I was warned it was goth as fuck…and I found that it is, indeed, goth as fuck. Like, it doesn't get too much more goth on this side of revival/post-what-have-you. It's that individualist post-punk spirit mixed with the nervous, out of body guitar of And Also The Trees or Joy Division and the confident roll towards doom of Pink Turns Blue. I highly recommend checking them out onBandcamp. I gazed longingly at pictures on Instagram for a few months. Everything was so blue and moody to match the droning, melancholy synths and ah, I'll never get to see them up close… As my luck would have it, Fotocrime has graced my area not one but twice! First time at the spooky capital of Nashville, Hail (which I missed but don’t let me get in my feelings about that) and the second time, September 23 at The East Room. Now, The East Room for me is kind of the inverse of The End. The main floor is actually not that big but the ceilings are high and there's a second floor lounge so it certainly feels less claustrophobic. I don't feel particularly scared for my life in there. The sound system is appropriately loud but somehow I can still have a conversation. It hosts comedy shows, concerts that veer more towards the shoegaze/blackened/wave variety and has been the home of Fascination Street, the last true goth night left standing in this town, for four years. So, essentially, perfect. The live show took place during Fascination Street, so there would be a DJ set before and after. I got all gussied up in my best but most practical darkly inclined attire (I've been going for a Joshua Tree-era U2/ The Cult But Toned Down thing lately) because I figured I was gonna dance at some point and I set out a little before the witching hour, that is to say a little before 10 PM. Going to a goth night by myself was such a weird thing and a little scary in the bad way. I was certain I was going to be awkward no matter how much alcohol I had in my system. I'm an introvert but I can exo it up when I have to, so I have no real problem striking conversation with others. But that only works if they want to talk to me. What if I just stick out painfully? In the end it turned out to be great. I had a good time swaying to the relentless beat during the show and for a few hours after, and some fun capers you should ask me about.
Later. But now, the show! Oh, the show! Fascination Street certainly likes their fields of fog and
Fotocrime lend themselves to that. There was a break in the DJ set right at 10:30 and our "backdrop", the movie playing against a screen in the back, stopped. Suddenly, the room was awash in beautiful and eerie teals and deep blues. Three figures in black (of course) took the stage like animated shadows. It's what I think of when I say the term "throwback". R/Pattern is a fairly intimidating mountain of a man for my short self and I was struck by how comfortable and in his element he appeared in his aviator shades, restrained but surveying down on us. His smoky baritone rolled off stage, gripped the room, bade the audience to dance in a rag doll trance. We had no choice. Nick Thieneman on guitar and Shelley Anderson on bass rocked along to a set that was somehow satisfying yet disappointingly short so in the future, with more songs maybe longer shows for my pleasure. My most hyped up moment was R saying something to the effect of dancing against the patriarchy which let me know I was definitely in the right place at the right time. I'm so appeased! Yes, I could stand to see them again a few more times but for now I have a nice t-shirt to commemorate the memory and my legs still hurt. So thank you, Fotocrime, for everything!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Ia! If you've come this far, you're either looking for weird or you know you've found it... TRESPASSING
September 2018
TAGS
All
|