On Friday April 10th Rome kicked off their
California Campaign 2015 tour, with San Francisco-based Worm Ouroboros and
Greek project Daemonia Nymphe as the opening acts. What follows is a document of
this performance: my own record, thoughts and musings of the event complimented
with photography by my girlfriend Michele Brittany.
I had the opportunity to see Rome perform on their first
California Campaign back in 2012. This was their first performance here in the
states, and it happened to be in the basement under a Yoga studio in Riverside,
California. The heat was unbearable and we all sat on the floor between box
fans that tried unsuccessfully to keep things cool. It was a surreal, but also
intimate setting, as all the bands including Jerome and Rome would mingle. The
experience did feel quite punkish, perhaps a D.I.Y. style.
Thus is it was imperative to see Rome on this tour
performing at an actual venue, with a sound system and normal concert comforts
and accommodations. The location was The Complex in Glendale, a city between
Los Angeles and Pasadena. The building looked completely innocuous: a plain
building with no signs or windows, right next to a framing business. If it
wasn’t for a gaggle of metal fans waiting outside the door and Google Maps
insisting the address was correct, we would’ve passed right by.
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Outside The Complex, Glendale CA. |
We took our place in queue and began the very important task
that everyone does waiting in line: people watch and eavesdrop! Not many
military or uniformed looking folks, most patrons in line and later inside looked
to be legit-goths (not the Hot Topic variety), and metal fans wearing vests
covered in patches. Standing in line and eavesdropping allows one to take in
the musings of other attendees. According to the folks around us, apparently
Death in June is the worst band ever and their concerts attract bears, and
there has been no good horror films in over 20 years.
Though the doors were supposed to open at 9:00 pm, they
actually opened at 9:30 pm. While the majority of the folks in queue ahead of
us went to the bar, I shot straight to the merch booth to procure as much
unique swag and CDs as possible, just in case they were in danger of selling
out.
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CDs, patches, vinyl and other goodies form all three acts for sale. |
Merrick Testerman, the voice and brains behind the
influential (but sadly now concluded) Aural Apocalypse podcast was manning the
booth solo, keeping up with the outstretched hands of cash wanting Rome hoodies
and T-shirts. She was also the powerhouse behind coordinating Rome’s west coast
tour as well, and she was front and center to ensure this performance went
smoothly.
Since Worm Ouroboros and Daemonia Nymphe had not performed
yet, they were not in the merch stall to handle transactions, so folks would
have to wait until after their sets to buy their merchandise. In the meantime,
I purchased a Rome patch, 2 Rome buttons, a T-shirt, a sticker, and the
unlimited edition of A Passage to Rhodesia.
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Setting the stage. |
The venue was on the small, intimate side of the spectrum.
Looking at the website for The Complex, it looks like it caters mostly to small
bands and karaoke nights. The bar was easily half the space, with the other
half being standing room for the stage and merch table. The stage was already setup with
chairs, speakers, many effect pedals, drum sets, and mic stands with white
yuletide lights curling up them. The lights were purely for atmosphere during
Worm Ouroboros’ set, however the equipment would actually wind up being used by
Rome, who during one of their encores thanked Worm Ouroboros for the use of
their instruments. It was a fine example of
camaraderie between bands in the underground scene.
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Lorraine Rath on bass |
Worm Ouroboros took the stage at 10:00 pm, with Lorraine
Rath stage right, Jessica Way stage left, and Aesop Dekker on drums in the
back. The lightning of the venue was so dark, and the drums setup so far back
that Dekkar almost became an invisible drummer.
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Jessica Way |
Rath and Way stood as two confident but introspective
looking front ladies, eyes closed - deep in thought and mood. In contrast,
Dekkar in the back was wailing on the drums, his hair a flutter and a huge
intense grin on his face.
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He was a wild man! |
Aside from a few Youtube videos, I had not heard Worm
Ouroboros before, so their performance was entirely new to me. This put me at
the disadvantage because I would not be able to identify any of their songs
(when I would later go and purchase a CD, Way would say the majority of the
songs they played were from their Come the Thaw album). The best way I could describe their music is a shoegaze-folk
version of The Minibosses doing their cover to the theme of Metroid. If this
sounds negative, it’s absolutely not: the Minibosses are amazing and the music
from the Metroid games are some of the best from video game music canon.
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Rath also did the art and design for Come the Thaw |
The introspective look, the walls of reverb guitar work, the
illumination from the Yuletide lights and occasional sups of red wines the
ladies would partake in all gave the performance quite the ambiance. Between
songs they would adjust their instruments and effect pedals, and engage in a
little light banter with the audience, but mostly remained reserved and
soft-spoken.
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Playing with passion |
Worm Ouroboros put on a good show and I was impressed. I
approach the duo at the merch booth after their set to congratulate their
performance, express my appreciation for them coming down to the LA area and to
purchase a copy of their Come the Thaw
album. They had a vinyl version that looked simply beautiful, but alas I went
with the CD format instead. Both Rath and Way courteously autographed the cover
to my copy.
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Evi from Daemonia Nymphe |
Daemonia Nymphe took the stage at 11:00 pm. Michele and I
had been extremely excited to watch this act perform after being wowed by their
Youtube videos. Usually Daemonia Nymphe performs with a much larger crew, but
as Spyros and Evi took the stage, Evi cheerfully expressed the uniqueness of
their performance for the evening: it was their first performance in the
states, first time in LA, first time performing as an acoustic duo, and the
first time performing without their masks. This was going to be a rare treat
for us indeed! Joining the duo was performance artist Denise, who was wearing a
mask, and would be dancing and miming to the music.
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Denise provided a theatrical element to the performance |
Music-wise, Daemonia Nymphe nailed it, but they had so many
factors working against them. The small stage simply was not enough room for
all three of them. Denise negotiated around the microphone stands and chairs
proficiently with her many routines, but I have a feeling with more space, she
would have had more artistic freedom. Spyros had to contend with a mic stand
that refused to stay steady and kept becoming loose and rotating away.
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Spyros gets the microphone to obey (for now) |
I felt sorry for the band when they put down their
instruments and Evi informed the crowd they were going to recreate the sound of
the forest. Evi would hum into her mic, Spyros on a wind instrument, and Denise
blowing powder into the air. Conceptually, it looked nice, but the forest mood
was not achieved, for their efforts were drowned out by the mummer and chatter
of folks in the bar drinking and in the rear of the stage area chatting. Had
this been in a normal theatre (with folks giving them both silence and
attention), the effect would have been amazing, so I feel bad that the band was
given the respect during this performance as they deserved. Daemonia Nymphe
concluded their set with Spyros on bagpipes, which was a delight to hear.
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Recreating The Forest |
After their set, I approached Evi in the merch book and
bought a copy of their Psychostasia
album. Her proud face was beaming ear to ear and she said hello and wrote a
Greek passage and autograph in the digipack, wishing me a happy and joyous
life.
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Evi was very courteous |
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The magic of Daemonia Nymphe |
Rome took the stage at midnight. I didn’t think the stage
area could get more full with patrons, but I was wrong. It was packed, shoulder
to shoulder. Returning from the merch table to my spot in the front, I would
politely say excuse me and pardon me. However, one person, whom I suspect may
have been tipsy, was unable to keep his footing and fell onto another girl. I apologized
profusely, and smiles and fist bumps were had by all.
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Rome during their acoustic set |
The configuration of Rome for this performance against their
Riverside performance was radically different. Borrowing Worm Ouroboros’
instruments meant the upright bass I was privy to last time was missing.
Patrick, who had played percussion in Riverside, was now on bass guitar. Tom
the keyboardist was standing at his keyboard, rather than sitting with the keys
on his lap, and ergo may have been more comfortable. Since Patrick was not on
percussion, a new person was using the drum kit whose name eludes me.
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Keeping the rhythm |
Cheers, jeers, and shouting erupted as the band took the
stage. The first half of Rome’s would be on electric instruments, with them
opening with “The Accidents of Gesture” followed by “Der Brandtaucher”. The
versions of these songs were definitely more rock oriented and sounded great,
even when compared to studio versions. After a few songs, Jerome put away the
electric guitar and brought out the acoustic to begin a new set. This acoustic
set started with a brand new song, projected to be on the next album followed
by a nice acoustic version of “Neue Erinnerung”. In fact, Rome would actually
debut a second world premiere song in one of the ad hoc encores the band
performed.
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Patrick was also a crowd favourite |
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Sadly, nary a pair of knickers were toss on the stage |
Jerome engaged in banter with the audience, with women
yelling out “I love you”, to which he would reply back in kind. Between encores
ladies would turn into hysteric cats, pawing at each other to steal the paper
set lists. This ended amusingly when Rome returned for an encore, looked around
for their set list, with Jerome asking who stole it. They had to hide their
lists after that. Rome concluded their final set with the classic “Swords to
Rust – Hearts to Dust”, with the show coming to an end around the 1:30 am mark.
At this point, Michele and I were exhausted and began our
hour-long trek back home to Orange, with a quick stop to grab some soda lest we
accidentally fall asleep while driving.
All three bands had performed well and were impressive, with both Worm
Ouroboros and Daemonia Nymphe making me a convert to their music and Rome
solidifying my adoration for them.
Official Links
Worm Ouroboros
Daemonia Nymphe
Rome
Aural Apocalypse
Michele Brittany