By Bona Pjarren
It’s a rainy Saturday night in Manchester. The venue is a new one on me and it is also the first time I have had the opportunity to experience Skynd live. For the uninitiated, Skynd are a mysterious industrial/darkwave band that are hard to pigeonhole. The main members are Skynd, otherwise known as Marina Ortega, the lead singer and Father the multi-instrumentalist who covers the drumming live. They also have a bassist, but I do not know who fills this role; come to think of it, I don’t think anyone knows outside of the band, such is the air of secrecy that surrounds this unusual outfit. The subject matter of Skynd is real crimes and each of their songs is based upon a murder, serial killers or, in the case of Eliza Lam, unsolved crime.
The venue itself is small, only about 300 capacity; it is little wonder that this gig was sold out, as was most of the other ÜK dates, which sold out within about a month of the tickets being released. The venue is old, possibly Edwardian, and the walls are covered with photocopies taped to the walls of various case files of crimes. A video is projected on the stage wall showing television footage of the crimes and perpetrators covered in the songs of Skynd while ambient ominous music plays in the background. This is in place of a support act and really helps set the atmoshere.
Skynd make their entrance and go straight into ‘Richard Ramirez’ after a short problem with the vocals which are eventually faded in. It is a testament to the band that they continue with the song despite this glitch. ‘Richard Ramirez’ retains all its brooding magnificence and holds the crowd mesmerised. Father and the bassist both are dressed in black, and both wear strange masks with stitching closing the mouth which adds a certain malevolence to the proceedings.
Skynd apparently is derived from the name for a troll in Danish folklore; it is worth noting that troll can refer to any being that is magical in Scandinavian tradition. It is fitting to use this name as Skynd has an otherworldly quality to her performance and the strange evocative way she moves on stage. Her costume has an almost Poirot Clown feel to it. She easily holds the audience enthralled as she works her way systematically through the set.
Skynd have also included new tracks in their set that have never been performed live before this tour. They include ‘Bianca Devins’, ‘Robert Hansen’ and most notably ‘Chris Watts’, which is a surprisingly moving track and needed to be when you consider his story. Indeed the singer, Skynd, is noticeably moved when she sings this song. It is no mean feat that Skynd manage to cover what are incredibly dark and disturbing subject matters without making it crass. A good point in hand would be ‘Columbine’ which they do a brilliant live performance of.
Skynd’s live performance really evokes the videos that they have made to support their songs. They really do have to be seen live to truly appreciate just how good they are. I loved their version of ‘Michelle Carter’, it has always been a favourite of mine, but it is a testament to their writing ability that there was not one weak song in the whole of their performance. They finished with ‘Gary Heidnik’, which really worked well as a finale number. There was no encore, but the crowd happily called for one.
Skynd are a special band the likes of which come round once in a blue moon. I am so glad that I got to see them and can’t wait till the next opportunity that I get to see them live again.
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