We enter the foggiest room we’ve ever known, with audience members remarking, “It feels like we’re in Silent Hill”. People are exiting and piling into the smoking area to breathe, ironic, I know. Honestly, the smoke machines were so fierce that they set the fire alarm off!
As the smoke begins to subside, Street Sects take to the stage, and it is in complete darkness, we can barely make out their silhouettes. This makes for an intensified listening experience. As the set goes on, flashes of extreme white light accentuate the harsh beats that come from amps. White strobes seem to highlight the crowd, showing that the room is ignited in movement, while the band are still in complete darkness, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
Their set consisted of the most electronically harsh-sounding instrumentals I’ve ever heard; they blend and bend genres while keeping the mood powerful and deep. The singer screams so intently and gutturally that it surprises people with its unexpected intervals. Eerie backing tracks of voice-overs give the set an even creepier sound. Their performance remains terrifying, in the best kind of way, while stage lights turn a harsh red, lots of staccato beats can be heard, and the singer climbs into the crowd, enticing and connecting with fans who are moshing and raving gleefully.
King Yosef is up next, and his set is heavily energetic from the start. He has an extremely unique performance style. The set is hardcore yet emotive as vocals range consistently from poetic lyrics to the most guttural of screams; it has many layers of depth, intricacies of chaos, and so much authenticity throughout. We can feel the pain behind the words throughout. It’s powerful and inclusive; while it spreads the width of the room, along with the mosh pit.
Drum trills and synthesised melodies comprise most of the beats, which become progressively heavier, transitioning into more intricate melodies, staccato drum trills, and breathless screams of vocals that fluctuate between harsh and guttural but remain consistently strong.
He has a unique way of making you feel part of the performance and also speaks from his heart while engaging with the crowd.
He spoke about being Native American and the impact of colonisation. He previously proposed to his wife in Ireland, and it’s his favourite place. He spoke in “As Gaeilge”, the Irish language, which he’s currently studying and the crowd erupted.
Suspenseful chiming noises quickly lead to a backing track of “O Fortuna” blaring over the speakers.
Youth Code take to the stage for their first-ever Irish headline show in their fourteen years as a band. It’s clear to see by the audience’s reactions that they’ve been waiting a long time for this. Throughout the whole set, during songs new and old, the crowd never stopped bouncing, moshing, and worshipping.
Their unique sounds and performance style stand out from any other show I’ve seen before. There’s so much passion and energy spilling off the stage and into the crowd, and you never know what’s coming next. The bass hits us in the chest consistently while the melodies and the band’s movements are ever-changing.
Sara Taylor is hanging upside down from a ceiling raft by the third song. She makes her way into the audience shortly after and joins in with the crowd, moving intrinsically.
Their on-and-off-stage energy never falters; it remains determined and steady. Vocals are delivered raspily, strongly and full of emotions. Each song sounds completely different from the previous and next offerings to come. So many layers to the overall sound create depth with many undertones with vibrato in this performance masterpiece. You can tell they love what they do.
The set got political and personal to the band at times, and we all bounced in unison to the state of the world. Their songs have so much meaning behind the chaos, and it creates a uniquely distinct energy within the room, which is such an expressive space that they’ve created. People were moshing, ecstatically dancing and responding to the music in individualistic ways while creating such a special atmosphere throughout.
Consistent rage is delivered in unique ways, yet enticingly friendly. Sara’s head is now bent back as she lets out hugely guttural vocal screams, she then slams the mic on her forehead and thudding sounds echo throughout the room.
Thundering riffs of electronic sounds lead into booming bass with so much reverb that it sounds like a taser. They combine and blend so many genres that there’s no one that quite truly sounds like them. The way they move is so chaotically confident and mesmerising to watch.
There’s so much depth to their music, which on the surface is chaotic, but underneath it all, it’s purely genius, poetic expression. They have a vision that nobody else has, and they execute it to perfection.