Girl at the Rock Shows

My shows on Monday and Tuesday night left me wanting more. Each of them had something redeeming about them, I suppose, but they just didn’t hit me the way I like concerts to, and I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied and very restless. Thankfully for me, there was a show happening at The Varsity Theater on Wednesday night that was sure to give me the feeling that I was so desperate for.

I had never heard of the opening act, Cryogeyser, before they took the stage on Wednesday night, but the band instantly captivated me. Hailing from Los Angeles, Cryogeyser is one of those ultra-calm, almost lo-fi-leaning shoegaze kinds of bands. Truthfully, not at all what I typically want from a concert mid-concert bender when exhausted is starting to win, but there was something different about this band. The amount of heart that they played with was staggering. They felt almost shy when they talked to the audience and introduced themselves, but when they played a song, they did it with not only confidence, but passion. Sure, their sound didn’t jolt me awake like I had wanted, but their soft, sweet, yet powerful performance was an instant sign this was the type of show I needed. This show was going to have what the past two shows were missing, and I could not wait.

Anxious continued with the passion and heart Cryogeyser laid out on the stage, bringing an insane amount of energy and angsty flair to the table —just what the doctor ordered. Formed in 2016, Anxious was another band I knew nothing about when I got to this show, but within seconds of their set, I wanted to know everything about them. Their sound was your standard hardcore-leaning emo, but there was something about it that made it stand out to me. Maybe it was the way this entire band refused to stay still. At any given time, there was a member of this group jumping high into the air while never missing a note. If that wasn’t it, maybe it was just their music in general. Although the sound was something familiar, there was that spark of, well, something, that made the music hit especially hard. It could have been the whole nothing-to-lose attitude I got from the band, or maybe something I just couldn’t put my finger on about their music. Either way, my eyes (and ears) are glued to Anxious for the foreseeable future, and I don’t think I’m the only one. The audience ate it up, and by the end of their set, a steady stream of crowd surfers found their way up to the stage.

I thought it was just the three bands on this show. That’s what the flyer showed, and that’s what I had planned for, but the night had a surprise in store for me. Thankfully, I was so happy about what had just happened with Anxious, I didn’t care (see my post about last night’s show for a full explanation, but long story short, I’m a creature of habit who loves a plan, so a wrench thrown into a night can throw me off completely). It also helped that the added band, Hotline TNT, was one that I have been wanting to see for a hot minute now. Okay, I don’t know if they were added last minute or maybe just left off the flyer. Maybe worlds collided, and this was a special one-night-only addition, or maybe they are on the whole tour. None of that matters. All that matters is I finally get to cross this band off my list.

Hailing from New York City, Hotline TNT isn’t a household name in the standard sense of the phrase, but they are in a certain scene, and I got to see firsthand why that is. Their sound bridges a million gaps from indie to rock, angsty to sensitive. Every song felt like a rollercoaster, but one that I didn’t necessarily want to leave. There were moments when I didn’t know if I was supposed to smile or frown at their music, so I just smiled through it all because the energy this group brought, regardless of the vibe of the music they were playing, was flawless. Sure, it wasn’t as explosive as what had just happened with Anxious, but it was enough to keep the crowd going and keep the energy in the room high. Things felt like they were moving so fast and, before I knew it, Hotline TNT had played around ten songs and were leaving the stage to make room for the headliners. Although I really liked what I heard, saw, and felt, I wanted more. Something just felt so quick about their time on stage, but that could have been more on me and the excitement that came with finally getting to see what this band was all about, mixed with the pure exhaustion I was coping with. Either way, this may have been my first night with Hotline TNT, but it will not be my last.

My history with headlining act Citizen goes way back. All the way back to 2015 when I saw them open for Circa Survive and RX Bandits. They struck me that night, and I’ve never been able to shake it. Thankfully, I’ve had the chance to see them many times since then, including most recently last year at Riot Fest. This is one of those bands I could watch night after night and never get bored with. It’s their music, yeah, but it’s also the energy that they bring and the subsequent energy that they get from their audiences, and that was my favorite part of Wednesday night’s show.

Here’s the deal, and I know this is going to sound bad, but I don’t mean it in a bad way; I prefer this band live rather than on recording. Their recordings aren’t bad. They are perfectly lovely, but something happens when you see this band live that you can not get from the recordings, no matter how loud you play them (and trust me, I’ve tried). As I mentioned with Anxious, it feels like every time Citizen hits the stage, they have absolutely nothing to lose. They don’t care if you see their deepest, darkest secrets; they are ready and willing to lay them all out on the stage and leave them there, naked and bare, for all to see. I know that sounds dramatic, but that matches their music. Like Hotline TNT, each song feels like a rollercoaster from the most extreme, almost breakdown-leaning moments to moments where you feel like you are straining to hear whispers behind a haze of an ambient soundscape. It keeps things moving and keeps things fresh when it comes to this band, and although you can definitely hear these rises and falls on their recordings, it just feels so much more dramatic and impactful in person, and I was absolutely thriving in that energy on Wednesday night.

Monday and Tuesday night’s shows were duds, to put it nicely. I was starting to think that I was broken. Maybe I was just so tired or so burnt out that I wasn’t finding joy in the one thing that has always brought me joy. Wednesday night’s show told me that’s not the case– I just wasn’t seeing the right shows. Wednesday night at the Varsity was the right show, and it has me feeling more energized and ready to take on the world today.

Line Up:

Cryogeyser

Anxious

Hotline TNT

Citizen

Venue: Varsity Theater

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 25

Crowd Surfers- Lost count at 17

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 6 out of 10

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

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Bodies

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

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

Cryogeyser – 0

Anxious – 0

Hotline TNT – 0

Citizen – 6

Show on Deck – Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats / Messa

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