\nVoltage Overload:
\nA Hard Rock Concert Review
\nBy: Matthew MacDermant<\/p>\n
August 24th 5:00 PM…
\nDoors open at the Voltage Lounge on 7th and Willow in Philadelphia, a
\nsmall venue pinched between the towering shadow of the once great Club
\nShampoo, home to the original Dracula\u2019s Ball and The Electric Factory, the city\u2019s
\ngo-to venue for rock, metal, and hardcore. Intimate stage, intimate floor, an
\nunoccupied balcony, sunlight glaring into the eyes of the local opening band,
\nGeneration Empty. It feels strange to see a group, indoors, clad in black and
\nsleeved in tattoos playing at such an early hour, but it\u2019s always great to be first on
\nthe scene to catch a glimpse at newer, smaller, independent artists. Few make the
\ntrek to see the first band, but this is a mistake. Start to finish, each band weaves
\ntheir own unique patch in the tapestry of sound that comprises a tour. Like
\nlistening to an album front to back, seeing a show open to close is a special
\nexperience that, due to its temporal and temporary nature, is something to really
\ncherish. Never again will we have the chance to see this combination of bands
\nplay this set, at this particular venue, with this particular mood, lighting, and
\naudience. Truly, it is once in a lifetime, and the openers are far from a
\nthrowaway, something to be skipped. In fact, they are live music at its rawest,
\nbefore a single slice of fame. I feel lucky to take part every time I see a show.
\nThis particular show features four awesome bands playing four unique
\nforms of music. Generation Empty, Charcoal Tongue, Kaleido, and September
\nMourning put on a hell of a show.
\nHaving only a twenty-minute set and just over a dozen patrons to hear
\nthem, Generation Empty had to select just a few cuts for the lucky few who
\narrived at opening. While the audience was still shaking off the malaise of work
\nand the outside world, the band was in their element. They played four songs
\nbefore the cut-off, but it gave a taste of the group\u2019s industrial\/aggrotech rock
\nfusion sound, which would be very much at home in a goth\/industrial club. Fans
\nof Aesthetic Perfection, Ludovico Technique, Combichrist and other more rock-
\ncentric bands like Marilyn Manson will find much to love with this act. They\u2019re
\ndark, the vocals are harsh and distorted, and they simply have a cool aesthetic
\nthat sets the mood low and sucks in the listener. All of this was juxtaposed with
\nthe perfect sunshine beaming through the late afternoon windows facing seventh
\nstreet. That made the whole scene surreal, and who doesn\u2019t enjoy that?
\nNext up: Charcoal Tongue graces the stage, on day seven of the tour en
\nroute from San Antonio, Texas. These guys really put their all into their music. I<\/p>\n
can feel the instruments and the lyrics emotionally and viscerally. They stay
\naway from the formulaic safety of pop music structure, instead producing music
\nthat speaks to their fans, especially those suffering in the hellish pit of depression
\nand suicidal thoughts. I had the chance to interview Chris and Matt and gained a
\nreal appreciation for what they are all about. Clad in a tee-shirt that said \u201cIt\u2019s
\nokay to not be okay,\u201d Chris told me about how music can be a medicine and how
\nthe band\u2019s namesake is actually a reference to his own struggles with his
\nattempted suicide some years ago. Charcoal Tongue pours that struggle into their
\nsongwriting, giving listeners hope and a sense that they are not alone. Heavy
\nhitting, well executed and timed screaming mixed with clean emotionally laden
\nlyrics comes together both in studio and at the venue. It was captivating to hear
\nand feel that pain, vulnerability, and courage, and when their set was cut short
\nby the event managers, I was more than a bit disappointed to break with that
\nenergy. I hope to hear a lot more of this raw and powerful music.
\nThird on the stage: Detroit-based hard rock outfit Kaleido jumps up in front
\nof the crowd. Frontwoman Christina Kaleido has an instant and distinct presence.
\nShe is confident, determined, untouchable. She comes across as a person who has
\nfaced a lot of bullshit, faced it down, and kept on walking. This was my first
\nimpression. When the band started playing, I would like to think this was
\nverified. Meaningful, empowering lyrics, shredding guitar and bass progression
\nwere matched with Christina\u2019s aura on stage. Each word was delivered with
\nprecision, often slowly and deliberately, as if they were being said as statements
\ndirectly to the people in the audience. There were also several occasions when
\nraw emotion seeped from Christina, from the lyrics, and from the strings and
\ndrums in a way that spoke to me as a human being. The struggle and pain felt
\nvery real. When the tempo and mood fell, we all fell. Likewise, when the tempo
\nrose back up, when the clean vocals turned harsh, when the steady progression
\nturned to triumphant angular ascending riffs, we all ascended as well. This all
\nmade sense when, in talking to Christina after the show, she emphasized the
\nfocus of using music as a means to empowerment. Looking back on the set, I can
\nsense that. I felt it. I especially felt that coming from her and I imagine that the
\nwomen who listen to Kaleido and look up to her are empowered, at least
\ntemporarily, by the music. This reminds me once again just how important and
\nlife-changing music can be.
\nThe final act: September Mourning struts out across the stage, shrouded in
\nsmoke, clad in reaper costumes and led by a half-reaper hybrid wrapped in white
\nleather, prepared for battle. The crowd is on their feet, glued to center stage,
\ninching to the front to see what is in store. There is a long intro, and slowly, string
\nand percussion begin to fill the thick hot air surrounding the stage. The set
\nbegins.<\/p>\n
Powerful riffs trade off with angular progressions and lyrical melody to
\nproduce a critical mass of sound that hits my fellow listeners and I with a musical
\nstorm. Each piece takes the audience to distant, sometimes beautiful, sometimes
\nnightmarish places. Everyone in the front row appears mesmerized and (singer\u2019s
\nname) doesn\u2019t hesitate to lock eyes and draw each and every one of them in with
\nSiren-like magic. Most interesting, though, is the use of visuals in the show. Each
\nsong is accompanied by a comic book video clip that tells the story of a woman
\nwith supernatural powers seeking to understand her half-reaper abilities and
\nanother woman, chased by an evil army, seeking our half-reaper hero. It is
\nunusual and that is a good thing: it draws the audience in, turning each song into
\na story chapter, which as a whole becomes like a movie or a comic book play. It
\nwades into the territory of rock opera and delivers a multi-media spectacle that
\nseparates the band from almost any other live performance.
\nThe show found its way to a close before 9 p.m. This is earlier than most
\nand perhaps the performances were shorter and a bit more rushed than
\notherwise would have been the case. This certainly did not appear to have a
\ndetrimental effect on the musical quality. One can only wish for more of a good
\nthing. Yet truth be told, no length of set would have fully sufficed in light of my
\ndesire to hear great music by great artists. As no exception to this, I was left
\nwanting more and indeed, in the very near future, all of us will get just that, since
\neach band is in the process of working on a new album. New albums often
\ncoincide with new tours, which although not identical to this one, will provide yet
\nanother opportunity to witness the next stage in their respective journeys, while
\nalso having the privilege to discover new music from the bands they will each
\ntour with on the next round. Until then, I will check out the new single drop by
\nKaleido, the video released by Charcoal Tongue, and the latest comics in the
\nSeptember Mourning saga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Voltage Overload: A Hard Rock Concert Review By: Matthew MacDermant August 24th 5:00 PM… Doors open at the Voltage Lounge on 7th and Willow in Philadelphia, a small venue pinched between the towering shadow of the once great Club Shampoo, home to the original Dracula\u2019s Ball and The Electric Factory, the city\u2019s go-to venue for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-revue","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7371"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8720,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7371\/revisions\/8720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}