On March 22nd, the Blood Lust Death Tour makes it’s mid-tour stop a stop at Reading, PA’s Reverb. This was a tour I was very excited to see because I’ve been a fan of both Dope and Combichrist for ages and to be able to see them both on the same night was exciting. A rather newcomer for me is September Mourning who according to Wikipedia a “transmedia dark culture project” so that bot me intrigued. This will also be the first time I finally get to see Davey Suicide live considering I’ve constantly missed his sets due to scheduling conflicts.
First up was Davey Suicide. His new record Made From Fire comes out this Friday and you could tell how excited he was. What I didn’t expect to see during the performance was the several “costume” changes throughout. I actually really enjoyed the work put into it to visually accentuate the tone of the songs and shows how much of an entertainer Davey really is.
Next up was the live graphic novel act September Mourning. Prior to walking into the photo pit to photograph their set, I was warned by the house photographer that they WILL be dark. He gave me an account of the last time they performed here that they were positioned very far back and dimly lit for “atmosphere” so I should prepare for it. Unfortunately, he was right. While their stage-wear were visually intriguing, I had issues being able to photograph any members other than front woman Emily Lazar (dimly.) They were great live but unfortunately, I couldn’t produce anything up to my standards from their set.
Down to the last opener, Combichrist emerges from a thick cloud of smoke. Each time I’ve seen them perform, it’s a visual treat. Tonight consists of a video wall with their old school logo behind them and percussive duo Joe Letz and Nick Rossi on opposite sides of the stage. Unfortunately, their set got cut short during “Maggots at the Party.” But after a five-minute break, they came back onstage to restart “Maggots…” and finished their set with “Sent to Destroy.”
Finally, we have come to our main headliner for the night. I have seen Dope perform since Felons and Revolutionaries and have yet to miss them whenever they would roll through town. Throughout their twelve-song setlist, it felt like it was mostly fan service plus “1999” and “Blood Money” thrown in from their current record. My only disappointment was that they didn’t play “Thieves” with Combichrist’s Andy LaPlegua since they had just released the video.
neostar//media 