Weeknight of Brooklyn, NY closing out the night.

 The most weirdly wonderful show in a long while happened during a dark night in February amongst a small throng of people in a bar known as Double Happiness.

Final Rites, fronted by the older brother of Jesse Cale (of Anderson Cale, who played a show that we recently wrote about) opened the evening with gothic darkwave. A drum machine provided the audial backdrop whilst Justin leered over the onlookers with at times menacing and gloomy vocals. Guitarwork that was washed out provided an eerie ambience that was only accentuated by the black candles illuminating the band’s merch area morbidly. I think most would agree that the music was wonderfully macabre, in a more subtle way. Justin told me that some compared their music to the sound of Joy Division. I’m no expert on that namedrop but I’ll take his word for it.

Pittsburg’s The Van Allen Belt followed up with a set of off-kilter pop tunes that was at times confusing, at times psychedelic, and at all times entertaining. Frontwoman Tamar Kamin confided in me after their set that it felt good to perform that night – and that was obvious. At times lost in her own little electropop world, Kamin put her whole being into the music – a silly grin plastered on her face while her male counterparts intently were at work behind her. The band plans on making their way out west (California, for you across the pond readers) and back – so keep an eye out for them.

Damn The Witch Siren drew the biggest crowd of the night and they know how to merge weirdness with partying. Like The Van Allen Belt, a projector displayed a series of music videos and weird visuals behind the band throughout the performance and everything was in sync. Had the band been off point (this applies to The Van Allen Belt too) the complimentary visuals would have just been awkward. A highlight of the set was a cover of Madonna’s “Material Girl.” I’m not really into Madonna, but I like nostalgia and I like weird bands so it worked for me. The duo now is now keenly implanted in my awareness of the Columbus scene – good work!

Speaking of duos, Weeknight of Brooklyn closed out the night to a more sparse crowd. The music was well suited for its 12:30AM starting time. Dark, moody, yet steady and engaging. It was a good band to end the night with – the mood kept people engaged, but the party vibe was toned down a notch. Many of the band’s songs have the same structure – assertive beats backed by a distinctive synth or guitar line, with members Andy and Holly momentarily breaking out into movement – dance sounds too party-ish. I definitely wouldn’t play Weeknight at any old get together. But the music does make me want to move. Anyway, other engaging parts of the performance included watching Andy creating deliberate noise effects with frantic palming and shredding of his guitar and a song where Andy sung to Holly, while she chose to take a break from vocal duties and instead sensually eye him in response.  It was a pretty good performance, especially given that the band was in Columbus for the first time ever.

As someone that books shows, it would be hard to come up with a better lineup if the chance to work with either of the touring bands arises. It was a memorable night, in a wonderfully moody way.