Inaugural Darker Waves competition proves sunny Southern California is the Goth capital of the U.S.
The primary annual Darker Waves post-punk competition befell Saturday, Nov. 18, actually on the sands of Huntington Seaside, Calif., taking on two sprawling seaside blocks of the well-known surf metropolis’s Pacific Coast Freeway. And sure, the juxtaposition of New Order enjoying Pleasure Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Aside”; Echo and the Bunnymen’s laryngitis-stricken Ian McCulloch rasping via the Donnie Darko-popularized “Killing Moon” and his band’s Misplaced Boys soundtrack cowl of the Doorways’ “Folks Are Unusual” with shock visitor Robbie Krieger; Mushy Cell screeching via the electro BDSM fantasy “Intercourse Dwarf”; and tunic-shrouded, kohl-eyed Philip Oakey intoning Human League’s proto-synthpop 1978 basic “Being Boiled,” all in opposition to a backdrop of swaying palm timber and crashing ocean waves, may need appeared stunning to the uninitiated.
However the reality is, sunny Southern California has all the time had a darkish facet.
Within the ‘80s, there was the L.A. deathrock scene, impressed by Outdated Hollywood’s decaying glamour and pioneered by bands like Christian Loss of life and 45 Grave (each of whom performed Darker Waves this weekend), whereas KROQ was the primary American radio station to play and champion the above-mentioned British new wave acts, all of whom nonetheless have devoted audiences in Los Angeles and Orange County. (Bands like Depeche Mode and the Treatment can nonetheless promote out a number of consecutive nights on the Hollywood Bowl as direct results of KROQ’s a long time of unwavering help.) Lately, Goths from everywhere in the world descend upon Disneyland, not removed from the O.C.’s Huntington Seaside, for the yearly Bats Day celebration, and Los Angeles is house to a thriving darkish music scene, led by Darker Waves acts like Cold Cave, Drab Majesty, and Mareux.
L.A. has additionally hosted two profitable years of the post-punk competition Merciless World (which this 12 months featured the first U.S. concert in 15 years by Goth icon Siouxsie Sioux), and as 25,000 black-clad, pancake-faced, SPF 100-slathered followers flocked to Darker Waves this weekend, it turned clear that SoCal is the post-punk capital of the US.
The 30 acts who performed throughout Darker Waves’ three oceanfront phases for 10 hours, with barely 5 minutes of turnover between units, ranged from the basic L.A. punk of X and T.S.O.L.; to the nervy school rock of Violent Femmes; to the early-MTV new wave of the Psychedelic Furs and the English Beat; to the temper music of Clan of Xymox, London After Midnight, and Chameleons; to even the peppy twee pop of ‘90s Swedes the Cardigans and (recent off their all-Smiths Glastonbury set with Rick Astley, who sadly was a Darker Waves no-show) U.Ok. buzz band Blossoms. The largest standouts, after all, have been the bands that correctly performed the hits, and nothing however hits.
Mushy Cell frustratingly didn’t play what would have surefire crowd-pleasers like “Say Good day Wave Goodbye,” “Insecure Me,” “Bedsitter,” or, properly, “Frustration,” and Tears for Fears devoted an excessive amount of of their headlining set to their glorious however largely unfamiliar 2022 album The Tipping Level. However when Andy McClusky took the stage, he instantly introduced that his synthpop duo OMD can be “relentlessly” cramming their too-brief 40-minute set with “10 singles,” and far to the group’s delight, they proceeded to do exactly that, not letting up the power from “Electrical energy” via “Enola Homosexual.”
McClusky and Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal each shouted out Devo as their favourite act of the day, and judging by the bigger variety of energy-dome hats noticed within the crowd (together with one boiler-suited, spiky-haired fan in full “Lovely World” cosplay), this was an opinion shared by many. Devo, who have been one of many standouts of Merciless World 2022, thrilled with a number of costume quick-changes and ahead-of-their-time classics like “Peek-A-Boo,” “That is Good,” “Uncontrollable Urge,” “Jocko Homo,” “Gates of Metal,” and, after all, “Whip It,” with frontman Mark Mothersbaugh even tossing just a few memento Devo hats into the group. Devo’s fellow quirky mavericks, the B-52’s, additionally performed a nonstop greatest-hits occasion out of bounds, climaxing with essentially the most beach-appropriate track of the day, “Rock Lobster.”
“To everybody whose sneakers received f***ed up, I hope it was value it,” Mareux quipped at one level within the afternoon, shortly earlier than he coated the Treatment’s “Excellent Woman,” as he seemed out in any respect the concertgoers trudging via the sand of their heels and pointy boots. Maybe extra sensible footwear and even greater SPF will likely be so as subsequent time, however suffice to say, followers are already trying ahead to returning to America’s Goth capital for Darker Waves 2024.
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