By Jase Walker
Every now and then a new artist comes crashing into my life and absolutely knocks me over with a bloody incredible album that I just can’t seem to put down. This time it’s Mothica. ‘Kissing Death’ has been on heavy rotation for the last few weeks. I must have listened to it about 50 times already and I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to catch a bunch of it live. Not only that, but I get to double-dip tonight with Starbenders! Some fantastically fun glam rock meets ’60s psychedelia that I somehow missed the chance to see the last two times they’ve been over these shores. So very win win for me tonight to say the least, buzzed is an understatement.
The room darkens a bit earlier than anticipated before Starbenders appear but this seems to be more of a hype building moment with a specific intro track. I can vaguely make out a ton of smoke being blown onto the stage though, this’ll no doubt mean I’ll be taking some piss poor photos on my phone (for a change, ha!) to remember the occasion. Their silhouettes steadily walk on stage to get ready to kick off, each one met with a chorus of cheers, then out of nowhere a huge bunch of cacophonous noise signals the start of their set, nothing like a big entrance eh? It’s also striking how their singer’s using unclean vocals that don’t sound too far off Maria Brink which is a big surprise, either that’s new or I’ve completely forgotten about it. They absolutely ooze style from every possible angle, from the music to the movement to the fantastic aesthetic they’re all rocking too.
As you’d expect with most support slots on tours, you’ve basically got 30 minutes to get your stuff out to a crowd that may not have a clue who you are so not much time spare for chatting to the audience. Judging by the audience we’ve got a mix of people who are buzzing to see them and others that probably don’t but are getting into it which is probably the best you can ask for as openers.
Admittedly after a bit of a rough start with the vocals being somewhat muffled they’re kicking arse through the latter part of the set and it’s good to see plenty of people nodding along. If there’s one thing that’s stood out to me with this show is that Starbenders are a lot heavier live than I anticipated, the rock n roll vibe is clear and present but some of the stuff they’ve put on this set has gone harder than some actual dyed in the wool metal bands I’ve seen over the years. Admittedly I was hoping their last song of the set was going to be ‘Bitches Be Witches’ but not tonight unfortunately! Suppose I’ll just need to see a headline set eh?
The raised banner for Mothica has some interesting lighting showing Exit signs down a long corridor periodically lighting up in crimson red. I’ve also been handed a blue heart with a message on it to raise it up to my phone’s torch, although it’s unclear exactly when that needs to happen. Rudely interrupting HIM’s ‘Buried Alive By Love’, it’s Mothica time, let’s have it! Following the album opener, Mothica kicks off the set with ‘Toxins’, you can already clearly see the audience is super buzzed and bouncing around so the vibe is absolutely right for tonight! ‘Mirage’ seeks to keep moving the energy levels up and more the audience is getting into the swing of it even if it seems people haven’t quite learned the newer words yet. I didn’t expect a Mothica remix of Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Can You Feel My Heart?’, Genuinely had no idea she did this but I am loving it though! More of the singles from the album follow with ‘Afterlife’ and I think I’ve done my homework as I don’t learn song lyrics particularly easily!
An emotional moment, Mothica takes a moment to talk about the difficulties with depression and almost succumbing to it. It becomes immediately obvious now is the time to use the blue hearts now with ‘Fifteen’ while passing out roses and I’m actually pretty choked up myself given the song but this eventually builds up to a lighter end. Not every day you come to review an artist for the first time and end up choking in tears. Back to the ‘Kissing Death’ bangers with ‘Exit Plan’ bringing the energy back up after the more somber moments. And finally my favourite song off the album, ‘The Reaper’, time to boogie and sing my lungs out! ‘Another High’ next up as we steamroll through the singles from ‘Kissing Death’: this set is already giving me everything I wanted out of it and so much more.
‘Oblivion For Two’ adds to the list of a set which is essentially blowing through the whole album at this point, excellent. Seems were already at the encore and I feel like barely a minute has passed as we roll into ‘Casualty’ for the last minutes of the set. And finally ‘Sensitive’ to close the set off which as Mothica says is arguably her angriest song. The set time has been a bit shorter than what I normally see for headliners, clocking in at just over 45 minutes *but* this has been a set of outstanding quality.
The sound, the performance, the pacing of the set, everything about it has been what a headliner performance should be. Mothica is a fantastic artist in every manner and the musicians backing her have also been great. Bloody loved it.
- ‘Kissing Death‘ is out now.
- The tour continues:
