Polyphia, Polyphia, Polyphia. What can you really say that hasn’t already been said? Well, if the show that they had at The Paradise is any indication… you can say a whole hell of a lot more! Because let me tell you something, I have never in my life seen a line that wrapped around the building twice to try to get into see a show at The Paradise when it was already sold out before the line started. Polyphia is a band that has been doing more for guitar driven instrumental music in the current day and age of rock, than I think anyone is even close to admitting to. Every tour they go on, be it here in states or in other countries, sell out almost instantly. They have some of the most innovative records to date that are much more than meet the eye while Tim Henson and Scott LePage may actually be the reincarnations Steve Vai and Joe Satriani with the mind of a wacked out Hip-Hop producer for a millennial ear. They sold out the club and there were people begging for tickets outside the whole night, let’s dive into this night shall we?
Opening the night was a band that I had only heard of about a week or so before the show, Unprocessed. How I’ve never heard of this band is genuinely beyond my own comprehension, because this band blew me away. Take Polyphia, put them in Germany, give them a thick (almost) space like base tone, add post-Hardcore vocals, and make it the funkiest goddamn thing you ever heard in your life… presto, you now have Unprocessed. Manuel Gardner Fernandez may be the greatest guitarist of this generation and I just discovered who he was seven days ago. And to top off all of this amazingness, they were also down a bassist that night. You could’ve told me that this was a three-piece band and I 100% percent would’ve believed you without question. Flawless drum work, insane guitar leads, vocals that make me want to sing along all night, and thick heavy groove for days. I can’t say enough about this band, I wish I knew about them more prior to seeing them purely so I could sing along with the performance. But I have absolutely nothing but amazing things to say about this show. Another band was/is on this tour as well called Death Tour, a punk/hip-hop/hyperwave duo that unfortunately weren’t able to make it to the stop of the tour due to tour van issues. Go check them if you want something that is so out of left field that it almost makes too much sense that they’re on this tour.
Next up, the main event. Tim Hanson, Scott LePage, and the Clay duo of Aeschliman and Gober… otherwise known as Polyphia coming to the stage with the backdrop evoking ethereal, otherworldly inspiration, playing right into their new album that comes out (hopefully) this year titled “Remember That You Will Die”. Wasting no time with starting the show, we get a 1, 2 punch of “Genesis” and Polyphia’s newest song “Neurotica”. Scott wasted no time to hype up the entire crowd because they were just excited to be back in Boston to play another sold out show, then immediately burst into fan favorite “O.D”. I could honestly go on and on about this entire set, they played everything in their discography old, new and in between. Closing with “G.O.A.T.” and “Euphoria”, Polyphia truly knows how to please an audience while simultaneously also confusing the audience is how the noises that they are producing are even humanly possible. This my first time seeing Polyphia after being a fan for twelve years, and it sure as hell will not be the last! If you have tickets to see this tour, have a blast and consider yourself luck because the whole tour is sold out.
Until next time, I’ll see y’all at the next show. Peace and chicken grease.
Smallz… signing off!
Buy Ployphia music and merch here: https://amzn.to/3RrVxV3
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS SMALL
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