Tuesday proved to be an intense night of shoegaze. The evening started off with the Dutch xXx’s brand of electro drone rock which served as a perfect accompaniment to the main show. Equipped with a drum and a nifty organ, their forceful playing managed to captivate the crowd.
Brooklyn’s A Place to Bury Strangers came on-stage shortly after and it was heavy, disorienting, and transcendent from the get-go; a pleasurable attack to the ears. Vocalist/guitarist Oliver Ackermann, Bassist Dion Lunadon, and new drummer Robi Gonzales’s music manages to be impossibly loud yet incredibly soothing. The band performed tracks off their fourth album Transfixiation as well as numerous noise rock gems from their other albums. At certain points, lights would come on that were unbearably bright, forcing the audience to close their eyes and get fully enveloped in the music with no distractions. The grand finale was a quite a display as the band dragged their amp through the crowd and performed in the middle of us all, breaking the performer/audience barrier and making the show seem otherworldly.
The band thrives on feedback and sonic mayhem: this is the kind of music that comes alive on stage. My ears still haven’t gotten over the show, but it was damn well worth it.
Written by: Eli Lewy
