One of the most awkward performances I've ever seen. Songs were performed with an intense disconnection, distorted guitars set against featherlight vocals that were hard to make out, with an absence of nearly any crowd interaction.
It didn't help that the singer insisted on standing in place almost the entire time while making weird hand movements, giving the energy a strange rigidity even at the most frenetic of moments. The manifestation had something of a pompous air to it, with the vacuousness of Health's lyrics folding under the weight of a dry and ultra-serious performance. The audience didn't know whether to move to the music, or take in what was being presented in front of them.
The lighting was AWFUL, with several very powerful lights being shone directly into the audience's eyes. And it was just as energetic and frantic as the music itself, making it great for videos, but terrible to look at for an extended period, much less the hour they performed for. I had eyestrain the next day, and I saw others squinting, their eyes bright as day from the lights.
The overall vibe was weird, with the aformentioned set being preceded by...the NGE theme? Merchandise offered included dark artistic designs in line with their covers, alongside their their "SAD MUSIC FOR HORNY PEOPLE" shirt next to another article advertising their "2022 Radhan Festival" (a fake set they "performed" in Elden Ring). Their instagram page, which pairs Sonic the Hedgehog memes with promo for their dark nihilistic music and merch. It wasn't cognitive dissonance so much as it was cognitive resonance at a multitude of perplexing, disconnected frequencies, much like the noisey nature of the music itself. Nailed it, I guess?
I came away confused. The music was fine, but the whole time I kept wondering if the live aspect added to the music, but I keep coming to a net negative. Oh well. Perturbator was good and I saw Black Dresses there.
Weezer
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