Feature photo by Michael Mitchell
Drab Majesty
Xeno & Oaklander
Body of Light
Lovelorn
August 11, 2019
Underground Arts
Philadelphia, PA
Feature photo by Michael Mitchell
Drab Majesty are on the second leg of their North American tour supporting their latest opus, Modern Mirror. The combination of bands on this tour could not be beat and with ticket prices as shockingly inexpensive as they are, it is pure value. Dais Records label mates, Body of Light, continue on from the first fourteen dates and Xeno & Oaklander joined the ranks for the first time this night, replacing the band, (also on Dais) HIDE for the remainder of the U.S. tour.
Drab Majesty
Opening the show was a local band to Philadelphia, Lovelorn. I am not familiar with them but they put on a very engaging and entertaining show. Anna & Patrick Troxell describe their music as “Drugpop”. I’ve not heard them outside of this performance but that’s not a label I would use. Anna’s vocal was more in your face than ethereal, which is what one would think of with Drugpop but I guess it depends on the drug. They looked at ease and had a fun set with Anna jumping into the audience during the last tune to have a bit of a dance/freak out session. Hopefully they will see some success.
Body of Light stole the show in a sense. Being a relative newcomer to their work, I have been playing their amazing new album, Time to Kill and the stunning predecessor, Let Me Go, quite a bit. After the initial excitement of seeing them and Drab Majesty a few days prior in Washington D.C., I was able to focus more on the show as an experience without the continual head rush of disbelief that I’m finally getting to see all of these great bands in one spot. From the moment Alex and Andrew Jarson hit that stage and the opening pulses of their latest single, “Don’t Pretend” started, I noticed that they seemed so much more at ease and smiling widely. The new album featured widely through the seven song set but their Dais debut featured in “How Do I Know?” and show closer “Tremble”. They are worth the cost of admission on their own. Be sure to get to the venue early as they are typically first to go on, unless like this show local talent features as well. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of them this year.
Body of Light
Newcomers to the tour, Xeno & Oaklander were up next. They played an outstanding set that lasted around thirty minutes. Miss Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride played their new album, Hypnos, almost in it’s entirety. Leaving out the first song, they moved from “Hypnos” to “Athena” with hardly a break. Their sound mix was second best on the night (Body of Light had the cleanest) with Liz’s vocal sounding angelic above Sean’s sonic assault. Like Body of Light before them, they are so worth seeing live and you’ll be glad you did.
Xeno & Oaklander
Deb and Mona had their road crew out to do a bit of a soundcheck before they went on. Their human forms of Andrew Clinco and Alex Nicolaou assisted in preparing their interstellar gear for the transmission we were about to receive. The wait was long but that feeling was quickly erased as they made their way to the stage with Deb fanning himself and Mona giving an earthly wave of the hand. They began with Modern Mirror’s opening cut “A Dialogue”. They are mesmerizing. They are perfection.
Two further Mirror cuts, “The Other Side” and the ineffable “Oxytocin” before they made everyone hit fever pitch with the sublimity of The Demonstration’s “Dot in the Sky”. Almost every song of the new album features with the exception of “Dolls in the Dark”. A spirited version of “Everything is Sentimental” from the debut album, Careless, was the only track from there to be performed. Second album, The Demonstration would have four more tracks appear, “Cold Souls”, “39 by Design” and the two encore songs, “Kissing the Ground” and “Too Soon to Tell”.
It really is an out of body experience to watch them perform. They don’t need to run around and pose. They play with precision and as much passion as other wordly beings can display to our eyes. The sound for their set was poor though. At times, things seemed washed out and flat only to have bursts of reverb appear at strange moments blurring the guitar and keyboard sound. The vocals were often oversaturated too. I’ve not seen many shows at this venue but in comparison to their appearance in Washington D.C. a few days prior, it made it less enjoyable. I don’t blame the band at all. The venue may be due an audio upgrade and the sooner the better.
Please don’t let my rant about the sound deter you in any way from going to see this showcase. It truly was one of the best performances I’ve seen all year, especially Body of Light and Xeno and Oaklander. This felt like all the stars aligned perfectly and magick was truly channeled through all of the performers. You can’t ask for anything more than that.
Drab Majesty
Body of Light
Xeno & Oaklander
Lovelorn
Drab Majesty Setlist:
A Dialogue
The Other Side
Oxytocin
Dot in the Sky
Ellipsis
Long Division
Everything is Sentimental
Noise of the Void
Cold Souls
39 by Design
Out of Sequence
Encore:
Kissing the Ground
Too Soon to Tell
Body of Light Setlist:
Don’t Pretend
Time to Kill
Heart of Shame
Fear
How Do I Know?
Dangerous
Tremble
Xeno & Oaklander Setlist:
Hypnos
Angélique
Insomnia
The Light, The Whisper
Altamira
A World Without Sun
Athena
Keep up with Drab Majesty
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Keep up with Body of Light
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Keep up with Lovelorn
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