Terminal A opened up the night at Zebulon to usher in the celebration of Self Improvement's album release party for Syndrome (you can read that post here). The band consists of Colin Peterson on vocals and Lee Busch on guitar. Peterson spent half the set jumping into the audience, disappearing from sight underneath the low lights of the venue and then randomly popping back up on stage. At times, he could be seen crawling across the floor as the audience made room for him. It helped that he used a wireless microphone. While Peterson was out in the crowd, Busch took his stance in the middle of the stage, legs spread in an aggressive manner that allowed him to rock forward as he pounced on his strings.
 |
| Terminal A at Zebulon |
It was a hot summer night and to deal with the water loss from his performance, Peterson had a gallon bottle of water next to him on stage. He was constantly drinking from it. At one moment, he mentioned the need to get wasted, which was amusing as he was drinking only water throughout the set. His performance was part marionette blended with the flying monkeys of Wizard of Oz -- a theatrical performance.
The band has been around since 2012 and per their Wikipedia page, they were one of the 15 bands to watch by L.A. Weekly for 2015. I went searching for that link, but couldn't find it. Bing AI did put together a list of bands (how accurate it is, who knows as I've learned not to trust AI all that much). The biggest band from that list from a decade ago would be ho99o9 (I can't say I've seen them before), but the list also includes bands that I saw multiple times throughout the years: Bloody Death Skull, Cellars, Avid Dancer, Los Angeles Police Dept (a Ryan Pollie band), Kera and the Lesbians, and Tennis System (who appears to have deleted their Instagram account). To me, that's a nice list of Los Angeles based bands.
 |
| Terminal A at Zebulon |
Peterson was especially passionate about immigration and the deportations. Between songs, he spoke in poetic language about the topic, "I know times are hard. And I know our city has been under assault. And I want you to know that you're all strong. There's nothing to do but persevere. We live in a tough city. Your hearts are made of iron."
Conversation of the set. From the crowd, a comment was made about the need for the air conditioner to get turned up. Peterson responded with, "No, stay hot. Life is misery and life is joy. So stay hot, stay swampy. Life is hot, baby."
 |
| Terminal A at Zebulon |
The song spotlight is "American Friend" which highlights the band's political bent with a torrent of electronic squeaks and vocal punctuated condemnation.
When the state is an enemyNo one can be free,
By my helping hand
I’ll see that you are damned
Setlist: Oedipus Kiss, Satellite, St. Anthony, Get It Together, American Friend, Swingin, Collapse, Tonight We'll Be Gone, Queen Mab.
No comments:
Post a Comment