Saturday night was the third night of this year’s Cold Waves Festival, the 14th one for the fest. This night’s lineup was heavy on more recent acts and the overall theme of the band’s sounds also differed from the first night.
First up was Club Drugs. This Chicago duo really got the night started off on a good foot. They played darkwave synthpop. The singer had a really great, down right soothing and seductive voice. The songs were easy to dance to and downright hypnotic. They also had a cool neon sign with the band logo on it that looked straight out of a nightclub in GTA Vice City. This band is well worth checking out and was well worth getting there early for.
Nuxx was next. This was a one woman solo act that plays EBM (which she bills as Electronic Bitch Music, which is really clever!) that sounded more like it belonged at a rave than at an industrial/darkwave show. That’s not to say it wasn’t entertaining, because it was, but it felt a little out of place for what this festival usually features. Kudos for branching out and trying new things though. Nuxx moved around a ton, and had good charisma and got people moving.
Die Sexual was up next. They made a strong showing last year opening up for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and were even better this time out. This darkwave electronic duo really has great chemistry and really catchy songs that’ll get you wanting to dance. The singer paced around the stage a lot while the guy behind the rack of gear had his hands full manipulating all the devices to keep the songs moving. They were one of the highlights of the night for sure.
Nghtcrwlr was the first of two vowel hating acts of the evening. This is a solo effort of Kris Esfandiari, who is also in King Woman. This was a really cool mix of noisy industrial with elements of jungle and drum and bass thrown in for good measure and a level of uniqueness not found in a lot of acts. You really didn’t know what to expect even in the confines of a single song, and that’s what made it so interesting. Kris is quite the talent, and she was one of the standouts on the basis of how different this was.
Next up was Haunt Me. They were more of a throwback to 1980s post punk, heavy on some Joy Division influence, and that was a really good thing. Their dark, brooding songs really hit you in all the right spots. They are normally a three piece but were down a member this evening and did a fantastic job as only a two piece.
The other vowel hating band, TR/ST was the final band of the evening. They hail from Canada and were largely a synthpop band. They had a lot more atmospheric elements to their sound than what’s usual for the genre and that was what really made them stand out from the crowd. They played in really low light, and there was enough fog that it was tough to see them a lot of the time, but I guess that added to the atmosphere. The singer rarely held still as well, constantly moving from side to side on the stage. They played an hour long set and it was quite different than everything that preceded it on both nights of the fest so far.
The second night of Cold Waves was quite different than the first two, but still very enjoyable. It was also a great way to check out some new bands for those like me who were unfamiliar with a lot of this night’s lineup. And if that wasn’t enough, there was still one more night to go!
