Girl at the Rock Shows

I had nightmares after watching Finding Nemo. No, I’m not kidding. Bruce the shark terrified me, and it took me days to get over the sound of his voice and the way his teeth looked. I don’t do horror. I hate jump scares, and gore typically makes me sick to my stomach. This has stopped me from getting into horror movies, but it won’t stop me from listening to horror-based music because, at the end of the day, it’s all mental down to the picture and images that music can provoke in my mind. It doesn’t scare me, but the line was blurred on Monday night at Amsterdam Bar & Hall. My love for music and my fear of all things horror came together to form a perfect storm that both thrilled me and kept me up throughout most of Monday night.

Before we talk about the stuff that nightmares are made of, let’s talk about the opening act- Patriarchy. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much. I had planned to save all of my energy for the headlining act because the hype was real with that one, and I had a feeling that there wasn’t any band out there that could hold a candle to what was to come later on in the evening, just based on everything I had seen of the headliner. Then came Patriarchy. To say that they held a candle to the headlining act would be a painful understatement. They blasted this show off into the ethos with a sense of fury and chaos that was absolutely jaw-dropping.

Patriarchy is the Los Angeles-based duo of Actually Huizenga and Andrew Means. Their sound is dark and leans into a bit of everything from industrial to EBM, but is consistently situated in a world of chaos. The sound was deep and dark with vibrations seeping from the floor up into your soul in an almost shocking way. There were some moments throughout their set that reminded me of the insanity that was Mindless Self-Indulgence, but other moments that had a bit more restraint and a bit more of an eerie vibe behind them. It felt like these two musicians weren’t ready to settle into just one sound, and they were constantly exploring different worlds and themes throughout the set, but one thing remained constant, and that was the stage presence that was absolutely captivating.

The two members of Patriarchy blurred the line between music and performative art. Although we would see that even more from the headliner of Monday night’s show, the way Patriarchy brought BDSM themes to the stage and had disturbing videos flickering faintly as the backdrop for their set felt all-immersive. There was one point, towards the end of the set, where Actually Huzienga wrapped the microphone cord around Andrew Means’ neck before pulling it tight. During this, there were a couple of times when I saw Andrew reach for his neck as if desperately trying to loosen the cord before hitting the drums. Was this an act? Maybe or maybe not. All I know is that it was a hell of a way to convey the message of the song they were performing at the time.

I was struck by this performance from Patriarchy. There were moments throughout the set that made me feel super uncomfortable as they seemed to show an abusive relationship of sorts from time to time. Again, like the cord around the neck. Was this all an act? Or was it something more? I honestly couldn’t tell you, but I can tell you that this set left me floored, confused, intrigued, and beyond impressed.

I feel like I was still trying to recover from Patriarchy as Witch Club Satan took the stage. Well, scratch that, they didn’t take the stage at first. They started their set by walking through the audience with burning sage in hand. They were cleansing the room and, honestly, that’s when the goosebumps started to take over for me. The three members of this group were silent as they walked through the audience. Straight faced and with the sage wafting in the air. I loved the smell. It felt restorative and meditative in a way, but that was all before I saw the three members of this group up close and personal. When they made it to the stage, and I saw what had just cleansed me and everyone else in the packed venue, I shuddered.

Witch Club Satan is an all-female Norwegian black metal band with a powerful message behind everything they do. Unlike most of the Norwegian black metal that I have experienced live, Witch Club Satan does it for the females. The themes of everything they do, from their outfits to the words that they sing, are feminist to the core. Beyond that, they stretch into sociopolitical topics like racism, environmentalism, and war. There’s something so powerful and so beautiful about that, but I feel like all of these messages are amplified when you see the members of the band.

For the first “act” of their set, the three women were dressed in white outfits with classic-looking black metal face paint. Each had a long white skirt on and then, on top, a differently styled crocheted top with a crocheted hat. Each outfit, like each of the members, had a certain personality, but one thing remained the same– the women were exposed. I won’t get super deep into this, but I felt like this by itself was such a powerful statement. As a woman, I saw this as them taking back the power. Daring people to stare at their bodies in a way. After a song, the gentleman next to me decided to take his shirt off. The band was quick to notice this and quickly urged other people to do the same, “regardless of what your boobs look like”. Again, the power behind this band didn’t just come from their severe look, but from their golden hearts, and I was just absolutely enamored.

Sonically, Witch Club Satan is absolutely a black metal band. Their vocals are just as intense as their looks– aggressive, brutal, and almost siren-like at times. When mixed with a more atmospheric kind of instrumentation at times and a more power metal vibe at others, there was constantly a lot happening musically, just like visually, which ended up feeling a bit overwhelming to me at times, but in a good way. This band isn’t just the music, and they aren’t just the theatrics. They are all of these things wrapped up in one. That didn’t make the music an afterthought at all. Watching these ladies go to town on their respective instruments definitely showed just how much talent there is in this group, but at the same time, I found myself wanting to know what was going to come next from the performance aspect of this set.

As I said, I was already creeped out. Not in a bad way by any means, but I was definitely out of my comfort zone, so when the member closest to me started to get close and intimate with some of the people in the front row, I diverted eye contact like any neurodivergent human would. I started acting like I was taking photos of anything else, anyone else, but it didn’t save me. I felt her hand on my forehead, wet with (fake) blood as she smeared it across my forehead and into my hair. I was holding it together, I was okay. That was when she looked me dead in the eye and moved her mouth to my ear. “You are the fire girl.” It was a creepy yet comforting statement that sent chills down my spine, but also seemed to cast over me like a sense of empowerment that I had never felt before. I’ll be honest, I didn’t last up front much longer than that. Not only was I creeped out and trying to figure out what it meant to be called the “fire girl,” but I also wanted everyone else who was behind me to experience the magic that is Witch Club Satan up close and personal.

I’ll never forget Monday night. I stayed up all night due to the pictures I was editing and the phrase, “You are the fire girl,” circling around my head. It ends up being called “The Fire Girl” is a high compliment, and it means that the members of this band see you as a force of nature of sorts. I don’t know that I would consider myself a force of nature, or if this was just a completely random act of opportunity, rather than this particular band member really feeling an aura of sorts from me. All I know is that when I got moving this morning, something felt different. I felt different, and I’ve never felt better.

Line Up:

Patriarchy

Witch Club Satan

Venue: Dakota

Smell-O-Meter: Sage, fear, and intimidation

Average Age of the Crowd: 27

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)-

Patriarchy – 0

Witch Club Satan – 0

Show on Deck – Yot Club / Renny Conti

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