Finally a show at the brand new venue in Boston, Roadrunner, filled with essentially local acts.

Bloodmoon, a collaboration with Converge, Chelsea Wolfe and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), began its tour at Roadrunner, a brand new venue in Boston on apparently, as we were told, Stephen Brodsky’s birthday. There is plenty of documentation out there regarding this project and its roots from an appearance at the Roadburn Festival six years ago but I still have a hard time calling it a Converge album or show although that is what it is billed as. To me, it is an altogether different animal and I find myself continually referring to it as Bloodmoon, not Converge. Their hour and a half long set comprised mostly of songs from Bloodmoon: 1, as expected, but with the addition of one Chelsea Wolfe song, “Vex,” and three Converge songs, although probably not the ones you would expect them to perform any other time.

Anyone there hoping for anything akin to the metalcore that the band is known for would be sorely disappointed. No, this was all about the dramatic lighting and somber and thoughtful atmosphere which reinforced the musical aesthetic of the project. Jacob Bannon quietly sang more than screeched at the microphone and even picked up the bass guitar for a couple of songs. This was not in any way what you would call a standard Converge show where you expect frenetic energy on stage. There were a lot more smiles than usual as they seemed to be enjoying the performance just a bit more than others or at least enjoying it in a completely different way. Chelsea Wolfe was exactly herself on stage. Her tall, dark and brooding presence was felt even when she was not singing or playing guitar. The show was exactly what you would expect it would be if you had listened even briefly to the album it is in support of and it didn’t stray from that vibe.

Caspian was an assault of the senses as usual. Extremely fast and bright strobe lights announced their arrival and a few times came very close to knocking me on my ass from dizziness. The band is usually described as “post-rock” but to be honest, that term doesn’t really mean anything and usually it just pisses me off. I saw them describe themselves as “cinematic rock” somewhere before and maybe that is a more fitting term. I don’t know but I will leave it to the people with overwrought vocabularies, and the need to define everything with fifteen descriptors, to figure it out.

Their musical performance matched the dazzling light show with thundering riffs meticulously combined with pedal effects and their slightly softer interluding parts. The forty minutes or so ran like a roller coaster. Slow anticipation to the top, careening down the drop just to get a breather before the next thrilling drop. Over and over until the end and it was a fun ride.

Walter Schreifels of the band Quicksand was the only non-native of the night, although Stephen Brodsky (apparently now in Quicksand as well) did play a couple of songs with him at the end of the set so I guess the local theme was consistent throughout the night. It had to be a bit of a challenge to open the night alone on a large stage with a continually falling out of tune acoustic guitar and a new tuner he said he had no experience with. It was part story telling, guitar tuning and singing/playing songs. How much of the stories were planned I can’t say, but it filled the tuning time and he didn’t seem phased by it but instead just had a good time.

 

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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON