Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – The Substance Fest took over the Belasco where eye liner and black leather was the rage for concert attendees. The Friday night fans showed their love of this “post punk, dark wave, industrial, synth pop, experimental” music festival by showing up early to support the opening acts across the three stages.
It was an arrive-early-and stay-late crowd that spilled out into Hill Street at 1:35 a.m. Saturday night fans packed the venue to the bursting point where even the area that overlooked the Chapel Stage had people stacked three deep. The night also included some tough decisions on which bands to see across the three stages.
Some of the highlights of the festival for Friday night included:
TR/ST (the moniker for Robert Alfons) actually closed out the festival on both Friday and Saturday night at the Chapel Stage. On Friday, he performed his debut album TRST and on Saturday he performed his sophomore album Joyland. On Friday night, his dark wave music had him jumping across the stage like he was having the time of his life. His 12:30 a.m. start time was the perfect moment for Alfons’ jolt of energy to hit and the crowd joined in with arms raised high throughout the set. The crowd wanted their encore and they got it as the stage buzzed alive like the possessed television from Poltergeist.
A Place To Bury Strangers’s Oliver Ackermann knows how to abuse his guitar, which upped the intensity for the night. This was the early band that got the festival crowd amped. It wasn’t all intense. While they were getting ready to start their set, drummer Sandra Fedowitz had the biggest smile of the festival – perhaps at odds with the festival theme. To take things up a notch, the trio took their set out onto the Chapel floor, surrounded by an adoring crowd.
Geneva Jacuzzi had a tough act to follow after A Place To Bury Strangers, but had no problems with the high bar. She put on the most theatrical performance of the festival. The set started with Geneva Jacuzzi being carried through the crowd, dressed in white and with a Venetian mask. When they got to the stage, her models were all dressed in white and held up ancient alien masks. It was all a more lighthearted take on Eyes Wide Shut.
Magic Wands had reason to celebrate while playing the upstairs Sanctuary Stage. The duo of vocalists / guitarists Dexy and Chris Valentine just released their album Cascades. The band played all but one of the album’s tracks during their set. Their music’s intensity drove sound waves through one’s heart. Their atmospheric transitions glided you through from one song to the other while their water bottles shook like an earthquake warning sign. Their set included an art exhibit that mirrored that of Shawn Hausman’s The Box that graced the lobby of the now closed Standard Hotel in Los Angeles. A friend assisted in the re-creation, lounging in the background.
Some of the highlights of the festival for Saturday night included:
Silent Mass is the brainchild of former Los Angeles musician Ammo Bankoff who has since moved to Brooklyn. For long time fans of the Los Angeles music scene, she is known for the beloved Black Flamingo that also featured Kimi Record and Christopher Vick. Later, she fronted the band Brass Box. Silent Mass opened up the night at the Sanctuary Stage and set an ethereal wave of sound – as if one had stepped foot into a magical forest.
Xeno & Oaklander’s synth beats entertained the Chapel Stage crowd. The band duo is Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride. Neither is named Xeno or Oaklander so where did the band name come from? Google AI discusses that the name comes from a philosophy book called Metaphysics, written by Ronald C. Hoy and L. Nathan Oaklander. Xeno comes from the Xeno paradox that is discussed in the first chapter. Wendelbo is an artist by trade and it showed in her puppet like dance moves. It was the most joyous set of the festival.
Pink Stiletto was the highlight of the Chamber Stage. The band name is the moniker for Valery Kvochkova who initially cut her audio engineering teeth at the Lodge Room and Non Plus Ultra before moving to San Francisco. That audio background helped her out when it came to setting up her gear. She got everything up and running and then walked off stage ten minutes before her set time to get some, “Smokes.” She returned with her two backup dancers and her synth driven sounds that was a must see by the Substance audience as the stage was packed deep with perhaps the loudest cheers of the night. To end the set, she brought up a member of the audience to add some male dancing flair – well, maybe more of a detraction.
Night in Athens (the moniker for Tina Boleti) got plenty of comments on a Substance Fest Instagram post. One complaint was that Night in Athens at the Sanctuary Stage and TR/ST were scheduled to play at essentially the same time. A solution was to see TR/ST on Friday night and Night in Athens on Saturday night. Of course, there could be cost constraints there. The UK’s Instagram page bio reads, “Solo dark synth project emerged from hell.” The band started up in 2020 so one might get an idea of what is meant by hell.
Two bands that have been highlighted this year by US Rocker Music played the festival. Taleen Kali (Dum Dum Records 4 Year Anniversary) and Dildox (Happy Sundays Fest) took to the stage on Friday.
