Girl at the Rock Shows

I couldn’t tell you why, but I was on edge on Saturday night. Maybe it was because I didn’t get everything I wanted done during the day, or maybe it’s because I’ve been sucked into coverage of the insanity in New Jersey. Either way, when I walked into Zhora Darling, I wanted to be anywhere but there. It’s not that I didn’t want to be at the show, I absolutely did because I knew my mind, body, and soul needed it, but it was more that I just wasn’t in the mood to people. Thankfully, the second I got into the venue, I started seeing familiar faces and, although it didn’t get rid of the anxiety and mild panic attack I was enduring at the time, it helped lessen it so I could get all set up and wait for the music to melt it all away completely.

Up first on this stacked, five-act line-up was Psychic Wreck. This was a new name to me, which makes sense as this was his first show. Psychic Wreck (also known as Luke) instantly transformed the dark venue into a whole other world. His sound was very electronic, metal-heavy. There were moments that reminded me of some of the more noise-inspired shows that I’ve been to, but other moments that felt more like your standard metal concert. Luke didn’t say anything to the quickly growing crowd, but he didn’t need to. His creative sounds spoke volumes and definitely got everyone in the audience as hooked as mystified. Okay, maybe I was the only one who was mystified. Luke was positioned behind a table of what I will always and forever call “electronic doodads.” I couldn’t see what he was doing back there or what buttons he was pushing. I had the opportunity to peek, but, honestly, why ruin the mystery? To me, it was awe-inducing to just imagine what he was doing back there to create all of the sounds he was, and I didn’t want to take that away. Sure, Saturday was Psychic Wreck’s first show, and he’s a bit of an outlier in the local metal scene just based on set-up and the droney noise kind of vibe, but I think that I will be seeing a lot more of him in the future just due to the way he set the scene so perfectly for what was to come with the rest of the night.

Following the quick opening set from Psychic Wreck was a fully explosive set from BODY. Not to be confused with The Body, BODY won over my heart within the first few seconds of their set. It was intense and aggressive with a very classic hardcore kind of influence behind it. The words were as sharp as the guitar tone coming through the speakers, and when matched with the constantly moving bass line and the crashing cymbals, you were left with a deafening set both sonically and emotionally. My anxiety, which I had felt earlier in the evening, was still hanging on for dear life before BODY took the stage, but after the first song from them, it was gone. There was something so cathartic about BODY’s sound, and it was a feeling that I typically only get when seeing a band that I had been listening to for decades. It was wild for me to have such a strong connection and response to this band on our first encounter, but why question an amazing thing? BODY is absolutely a band that I have my eyes on and one that I hope to see a few more times before the year is up.

As I tend to do every time I cover certain bands, let me go ahead and admit that I am friends with some of the members of the next band that took the stage- Den of Thieves. Justin, their bassist, is actually the one who made me my amazing logo (love you, buddy!). That being said, nothing about their set needs my bias to come into play. I have now seen this band a handful of times, and each time, they seem to be even better than the last, which is hard to do since they are such a flawlessly perfect live band. From the crispiness of their breaks to the intensity of their breakdowns, Den of Thieves is a band that clearly puts the work in when it comes to rehearsals, and you can tell. It’s also clearly a band made up of humans who genuinely love what they do. You can tell that by the way they clearly try to challenge themselves. Whether it’s the way they try to fit a million notes into just one beat of music without it sounding muddy or the way their songs come off as epic tales rather than just good tracks. Saturday night’s show was a celebration of their new self-titled album. I haven’t had a chance to check out this eight-song demo yet, but after what I heard on Saturday, you best believe that this will be the soundtrack to my Sunday as I power clean and try to get stuff ready for the impending week.

The last time I saw Cobra Czar was at The Turf Club. As much as I love that little venue in Saint Paul, the lighting always leaves something to be desired, and I felt like it was particularly bad at that show. I loved the music but hated that I couldn’t see everything (and couldn’t get a good picture to save my life). Saturday night, I finally got to see the genius that is Cobra Czar in work, and, although I have always loved this local metal band, something about seeing their energy added that perfect little special sauce to their set for me. There’s a little bit of everything in Cobra Czar’s sound. There were moments that had this doom metal kind of intensity to them, but that would quickly be followed up by an infectious groove that felt so out of left field compared to the darkness that had just happened. That being said, it all worked together due to the genius way that this band creates a song and, in turn, performs it. Like everyone else to grace the Zhora Darling stage on Saturday, there was a level of perfection and professionalism that radiated from Cobra Czar while they were playing, but as soon as a song would end, the band would go back to being jokers in a way. Whether it was smiling and laughing at each other or bantering with the crowd (both audibly and silently), I just loved the way that the members of this band were able to give us everything– intense perfection and the feeling of seeing a local band that loves to call this scene home. Saturday night was Cobra Czar’s first show in a hot minute. I hope this means that they are back and I can see them again sooner rather than later.

Closing out Saturday night’s epic local line-up was Onlytime. This was a brand new name to me, and, truthfully, I was less than impressed when they had the house lights turned off and only used lighting from small lights positioned behind each member to illuminate them, but that was the photographer in me thinking, because, as soon as they started playing, I was floored. There was such a sense of power to this band, but also a sense of restraint. I feel like the whole night was a flurry of intensity, but Onlytime took the time to get a bit tender with things here and there in a very metal way. Don’t get me wrong, their set was still intense and absolutely deafening at times, but that deafening word comes into play for both heavy and light when it comes to this band. Whether it was giving certain notes space rather than cramming in as much as they could to one beat or the way that their second song was written as a love song and came across as such, but with a very sludge-metal kind of vibe, I just loved how Onlytime wasn’t afraid to explore more moods and vibes. Again, the perfection that rang through the speakers was insane. Everything note was as crisp and clear as the emotion that the band seemed to be conveying, which was giving way to a set that felt so beautifully intense and overwhelming.

I wasn’t having a great evening when I walked into Zhora Darling on Saturday. My apologies to anyone and everyone who tried to talk to me. I was just in a bit of a haze and absolutely in my own head, but by the end of the show, I was out and back to my normal self. I know I talk about it time and time again, but have you ever felt the sheer power of live music? I do on a daily basis, but there are some days when I need it more than others, and Saturday night was exactly what I needed.

Line Up:

Psychic Wreck

BODY

Den of Thieves

Cobra Czar

Onlytime

Venue: Zhora Darling

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 36

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 3 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Psychic Wreck – 0

BODY – 0

Den of Thieves – 3

Cobra Czar – 2

Onlytime – 0

Show on Deck – Sawtooth Witch / Abigail LaDuke

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