Friday started the annual three day run of Cold Waves Festival at Metro. This year was heavier on newer bands, many of them playing for the first time, but Friday had a few veteran acts making a return.
First up was Kaput. Hailing from here in Chicago, Kaput were mostly a post punk, dark wave style band with elements of no wave thrown in for good measure. They had a female lead singer with a great sounding voice and their 30 minute set was really enjoyable. This was my first time hearing them and I was impressed.
Purest Form, who are from Los Angeles, quickly followed. This group was heavy on the techno/EBM sound and the singer had processed, shouting vocals. Their songs were pretty fast tempo and they had a lot of layers of sound going on. Fans of Atari Teenage Riot and Melt Banana would also find some of their material to their liking. It was an assault on all the senses, and not in a bad way.
16 Volt were up next. This industrial rock band has been around for decades, and they’ve played Cold Waves a few times over the years. They are a guitar heavy band that is more rock than industrial, but they still have enough machine elements to bring the two worlds together nicely. They seemed to have an issue where the projector failed them so they had nothing displaying on the screen behind them, but it didn’t stop them from delivering a good and heavy set.
And speaking of industrial rock, Acumen Nation also returned this year, and it seems fitting that they’d play alongside 16 Volt in a lineup as I believe the bands have toured together over the years. Acumen Nation is also a heavy industrial rock band with big guitars and a nice hard edge to them. Their songs were fast tempo with gruff, intense vocals. Of the numerous times they’ve played this fest over the years, this was easily their best showing. They were really on their game this night.
Pig made a very welcomed return to the fest this year and proceeded to totally steal the show! Raymond Watts is one hell of a charismatic frontman and he was on fire this night, as was the entire band. They delivered a high energy set full of great industrial rock while Watts commanded the stage, constantly moving around from side to side. The crowd loved every minute of it and there was lots of dancing and some people singing along. I would’ve hated to have to follow this performance.
Stabbing Westward was the final band of the evening and they did their best to equal the performance that Pig just delivered. They did an admirable job and played with as much energy and enthusiasm as they could, and did a great job of it, but the win has to go to Pig for best performance of the evening. That’s not to take away from Stabbing Westward, they were a great spectacle of lights and sound, and had a very energetic frontman that was fun to watch. Their hour set was a really good time and a good way to close out the evening.
The first night of Cold Waves was a really good time, and despite there being six bands on the bill, the time went by very quickly, they turned over the bands fast, and it was a fun night from start to end.
