By Zam Freeman
As I walked through the front door of Hell at The Masquerade, I was greeted with loud guitars and heavy drums—something that would be a constant throughout the night. I had four bands to look forward to—Knifeplay and Her New Knife, the openers, and Trauma Ray and Glixen, the headliners. Not only was this my first time at The Masquerade, it was my first shoegaze concert. I’m a fan of shoegaze, so I was pretty excited.
I got in at 7:50pm, expecting to be early, so I was a bit surprised when there was already a band playing. Knifeplay was the first performance of the night. For the short amount of time I heard them, I was happily pleased by the vocalist’s melodic voice and the gritty guitars. As they ended, the crowd erupted. Looking back on the night, they stood out with their slower, mellow sound.
Her New Knife came on next and with vigor. They got creative with their sound, using feedback and other effects to produce an unconventional tone that differentiated them from the other bands. Drums were the highlight with Her New Knife. I felt each hit in my chest. The main vocalist also had this ability to move between smooth singing to coarse screams. They skillfully balanced that with their clean guitar riffs spread throughout their performance.
Around 8:45pm, the name “Trauma Ray” casted on the black screen, ushering the band under red lights. If Her New Knife was loud, Trauma Ray was volcanic. Everything, from the instrumentals to the lead singer’s voice, was clear and distinct. They had the air of a band who’d done this many times before. Their sound ricocheted throughout the venue, going in and out like waves. At times, I felt like I was in another world.
The beginning of their set was more hard metal than shoegaze with deep screaming vocals, crunchy, overdriven power chords, and thunderous drums. Around the fifth song––“ISO”—they began to merge into a more traditional shoegaze sound. Softer vocals, heavier distortion and fuzz. Before their last song, the band encouraged the venue to crowd surf, noting how tired we looked. For the last song, they returned to that rougher, stronger sound. This energy resounded with the crowd; multiple people crowd surfed. One person even knocked the glasses off the security guard who braced to catch them. Trauma Ray ended their set booming.
As the last show of the night, Glixen entered almost ethereally, white lights illuminating the band. The lead singer’s voice was gentle and wispy, meshing with the instruments rather than having them in the background. With their dreamier sound, I could feel the crowd’s energy becoming more lowkey. That was when Glixen transitioned into a more upbeat song, “Splendor.” The lead vocalist looked like she was having fun on stage; her liveliness was contagious, getting the crowd active again. Glixen’s set had a variety I really appreciated, full of slow beginnings and heavy drops. Before the last song, they thanked their friends in Trauma Ray for touring with them and continued to the last song of the night, “shut me down.” No vocals were in this song, so the lead vocalist grabbed a guitar and jammed with her bandmates. It was flashy and emphatic and full of fuzz and reverb.
Over a little more than two hours, the night was packed with talent. Each performance that night had its own flare. Knifeplay and Her New Knife shined in their own ways. Trauma Ray and Glixen were the stars, bringing a unique sound to each of their sets.
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