photos by Stephanie Rademacher
The tour visited
The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ for a night of madness, fun, and some political ranting. Four local bands opened the show—Chronic D, Lamps Burning, Red 13, and Castronate. Unfortunately, I missed them, but check em out! The rest of the bill was rounded out by
Sister Sin from Sweden,
Walls of Jericho from Detroit,
OTEP from Los Angeles, and
Ill Nino from “dirty Jerz.” I had an awesome time and this show was great.
The tour comes to NYC's Blender Theatre @ Gramercy on Nov. 4!
Sister Sin was a female fronted hard rock band with ‘80s metal influences. The band even played a Motorhead cover. Having heard their songs I was able to get into the music, but the crowd either seemed unimpressed or was too unfamiliar with the band to give a reaction just yet. The band’s single “On Parole” was a good one. They clearly have a defined sound—all the songs are in the same vein. By the end of the set I think they won a bunch of people over.
Walls of Jericho owned. I hadn’t seen them since they played with Kittie at B.B. Kings Blues Club a few years ago. They played a number of songs off the new album like the title track “The American Dream,” and “The Prey,” as well as “All Hail the Dead,” “A Trigger Full of Promises,” “I Know Hollywood and You Ain’t It” and I think “Playing Soldier Again.” Candace was brutal and commanded the mic amazingly as always. She kept inciting the crowd to surf, saying they should make the security guards do there work.
After Walls of Jericho I went to the merch table to try to meet the band. While I waited, I noticed that Sister Sin was at their merch table, so I went over to say hi. I spoke with the lead singer and told her: great job and that I worked at a radio station and have played the band before and she hands me the band’s sampler cd. All of a sudden this woman with Rock Eyez asks me if I’d like a picture with the band. The band autographed the cd and I got in a photo with the band. It was pretty neat.
Candace finally came by the table and I told her how much I enjoyed the performance and again that I work at a radio station and have been playing the new album. She was appreciative and she said thanks and we shook hands. It was cool.
I was excited to see OTEP because they would be getting an hour set, as opposed to a 35 minute set when they opened WSOU’s 60th anniversary show back in April. The band kicked it off with “Battle Ready,” the perfect opening song. I started moving around like crazy, went into the mosh pit and even crowd surfed. I remember being up in the air and seeing Otep and she smiled at me. Next, was the heavy “Blood Pigs.” I was actually singing along, something I usually don’t do because I don’t like how my voice sounds—but not mouth lyrics this time. After was “My Confession,” the poetry that proceeded was a great intro into the song- Evil Jay’s bass started and I knew things were going to get nuts. “You’ve got to push, push…you’re way out,” Otep sings. It was impressive to hear them play three songs off “Sevas Tra” and then follow with nothing but new songs. Though, I’m not sure what the closing song. When the band started introducing the second to last song and I heard “Kurt Cobain” I immediately went back to the middle of the crowd. “Nirvana means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world.” That riff would start—I would jump up and move around, probably the most during this song than any during the set. I crowd surfed again. It was fun.
It’s funny, every time I remember seeing OTEP live, Otep has always said that she thinks this is the best show of the tour—I think artists say that every show, ha. This probably was my favorite OTEP show of my 4 or 5!
Ill Nino played a tight set with their heavy Latin percussion beats and hardrock sounds. They got on stage at 10:17pm. Christian got political at one point talking about war, government, and the election. He said fuck school, fuck work, fuck politics, and fuck war. During the set I was in the back, just rockin' out and still recovering. I didn't want to ware myself out. But I did go into the crowd during "I am Loco"--on of my favorite Ill Nino songs. I heard most of the bands set before I decided to call it a night.
OTEP- Setlist:
8:50-9:50pm (in order)
“Battle Ready”
“Blood Pigs”
“My Confession”
“Confrontation”
“Ghostflowers”
“Crooked Spoons”
“Breed” (Nirvana cover)
?? Song off the Ascension. It might be Milk of Regret
Walls of Jericho- Setlist:
(not in order and there were more songs)
“The American Dream”
“The Prey”
“All Hail the Dead”
“A Trigger Full of Promises”
“I Know Hollywood and You Ain’t It”
“Playing Soldier Again”
Ill Nino- Setlist:
10:17pm-? (in order, but missing a bunch of songs)
“This is War”
“If You Still Hate Me”
“Finger Painting with the Enemy”
“My Resurrection”
“I am Loco”
“Corizon”
“How Can I Live?”
This Wednesday, Dec. 17th Kiss Kiss, The Bronze Episode, Sleep Station, and The Casting Out will play the Eyeball Records Holiday Showcase at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Doors are at 8p.m. All Ages. $8 at the door.
