04 Mar 14

It's Mardi Gras 2014 ...and machines need love too, blogspot readers! 

It may have been chilly outside to party like New Orleans yet inside Subterranean, the party was hot hot hot, blogspot readers! Instead of the traditional New Orleans jazz sound floating around the upstairs venue, there were machines rockin' strong with vibrant sound of industrial/post punk/electro/EDM and more all night long. SouthSide took her cherished spot on the balcony (for now) while partying to the coolest dark music mix by DJ Twnscin (of I:Scintilla) who wonderfully prepared the audience for tonight's hardcore electronic theme. The lineup featured performances by The Gothsicles, Cyanotic with Robohop and Joe Letz (of Combichrist) who flew in from NY just to party with his fans as well as play unreleased tracks from Combichrist's We Love You CD. SouthSide hopes Twinscin is able open with another DJ set soon, blogspot readers, because he featured some cool songs to which got things going. From Nine Inch Nails' Running (Cold Wave Mix) to The Cult's She Sells Sanctuary as well as one from his band, I:Scintilla's Skin Tight (Doganov Mix) and Gary Numan's Love Hurt Bleed - just to name a few. According to this DJ, he was amazed that he got over 70 minutes worth of music while using his iPad when expecting a 30 minute one.

Psst ...the password of 2014 is "party"! And now that you know the password too, blogspot readers, you're SO ready to party with The Gothsicles just like this reviewer did at SubT. Be prepared to party along with this energetic duo featuring Brian on lyrics as he stomps, hops, jumps, and more all over the stage with his video game playing partner and the random images running in sync with the set. WOW ...there so much to see and hear at the same time. Between watching the squid faces (during "Drop Dead Squid Face") one minute and then pics of people wearing black t-shirts (for "Black T-Shirt"), this reviewer was busily dancing along the infectious angry electronic beat and jotting down notes at the same time. She liked how his angered voice tone stirred up the audience to an almost riot-like frenzy within the intense, fast-paced music atmosphere. Plus looking at their set list once more, she loved the whimsical whaciness they put into The Gothsicles'  song titles such as "Super Scary Action Figure" (dedicated to the Venom character in the Spiderman cartoon/comic series) and "Star Trek Uniform" - the name says it all, blogspot readers. Toss in the random images of  Star Trek, black t-shirts, scenes from Amazing Spiderman, Goldar (Japanese television movie) and more and you get a fair glimpse of what this hard-rocking electronic/post punk band is all about, blogspot readers. Mad craziness is what it is ...yet this reviewer loved it including one song about Dungeons and Dragons and Konami. Where else can one learn the latest dance craze - "...up up down down left right left right B A select start..." at a show? Check out The Gothsicles at http://www.thegothsicles.com.

Now that the machines were firmly in control of this building, it was time for Cyanotic to pick up where The Gothsicles ended, blogspot readers. However, this wasn't the same Cyanotic set-up that SouthSide had seen before either. Instead of a full industrial/hardcore electro band, it was down to a duo but with new faces and sound to make this particular unique as well as exciting for this reviewer.  While running random images on the screen, fans were bombarded with a fresher sound of electro and hip hop when the crew of Robohop rocked along with the band for a couple of songs. The killer metallic beats and lyrical flow boosted the party up a couple of notches as this combination created an intense atmosphere ...gritty energy especially when performing "End of Days". SouthSide is not really a big fan of hip hop/rap, blogspot readers, yet when it's combined with other genres like metal or hardcore electro music, it raises the bar just a little while exciting the crowd near and on the stage. With Cyanotic's razor sharp edge and Sir's lyrical flow, there was something fierce rockin' the venue though slightly losing the audience after a few minutes. Yet, not to worry, blogspot readers, the band did perform its hit off med_gen CD like "alt_machines" (SouthSide's favorite besides the mellow "comadose") and "fashion_police" which had some fans dancing around the main floor in a chain. Plus this set featured a new Cyanotic song to which it was a little darker with a heavier bass rhythm but the electric guitar balanced it out before technical side of things decided to abruptly end the song early.  Sometimes, machines work against us humans. Well, it was still a hot rockin' set ...lots of head banging action happening in the balcony to the soundtrack of a dystopian world view. For more music by Cyanotic, visit http://www.facebook.com/cyanotic.

Capping off the Mardi Gras' theme of "machines need love too", blogspot readers, was honored headliner Joe Letz of Combichrist (http://www.combichrist.com) who took over SubT with his DJ set for the late night audience.  And he was totally hitting the music hard and fast like gangbusters too. Besides teasing us with tracks from Combichrist's We Love You (as long as we danced), he spun uber cool mix of Rammstein's Du Hast and many others creating a razor sharp electro dance atmosphere for those who stayed to party until closing. Well, this where SouthSide had to leave the balcony and join in the fun for a while, blogspot readers. She couldn't stay up there all night ...even reviewers need to party too. Never had she partied so hard on a Tuesday before...

There's another party happening on Tuesday March 11th at Elbo Room featuring Sean Payne (of Cyanotic) and Circuitry rockin' the venue with more industrial/synthpop/cold wave/electro and EBM from 10p to 2a - no cover charge, blogspot readers. 

Until next time, support your local scene,

SouthSide