Greg Puciato continued his first-ever solo tour with a stop in Charlotte, NC on Friday, May 26th. The legendary frontman delivered one of his trademark high-energy performances with support provided by hardcore punk group Deaf Club, and industrial solo act Trace Amount. The show had a fairly small turnout, but the fans who did show up made the most of it; the bands seemed unfazed and brought enough energy for a packed house.
Trace Amount is the solo project of Brooklyn-based Brandon Gallagher. The vocalist/producer creates dense walls of sound from synth and noise layers, stacked with pulsing rhythms and harsh screams to define his particular brand of experimental industrial. Gallagher handled the show on his own, playing out drum beats on his sampler, queuing up synth tracks, and pacing the stage with the microphone delivering his vocals. In the spirit of honesty, it wasn't for me. But in all fairness, industrial rarely is. If you're a fan of heavy, experimental industrial music, give Trace Amount a shot.
Deaf Club is a new group for me, and they caught me completely off guard when they stormed on.
I was a little nervous of what was in store while I listened to some of the sounds coming from the stage while they set up, but as soon as they launched into their first song I was into it. The barely contained chaos screaming out of the speakers and frontman Justin Pearson's stage presence hit like a force of nature. The 'take no prisoners' mentality extends beyond the music, with Pearson calling out the number of confederate flags they saw on their drive in (seriously though, how is this still a thing?), voicing several complaints about the audio quality on the stage, and delivering my favorite quip of the night "...that was actually five songs" as we cleared out of the photo pit. Deaf Club oozes a casual confidence on stage, and brings an energy level that I would absolutely love to see on display in a packed house. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for another opportunity to see these guys in action.
And then there was one. It didn't take long for Greg Puciato get started.
I'm a big fan of Puciato's body of work, from Dillinger, to his solo work, to The Black Queen, etc. This show was one of my most highly anticipated of the year. And it rocked. He has earned a reputation for putting on dynamic shows, and while this was a far cry from the displays you might have seen at a Dillinger Escape Plan concert, what we got was more fitting for the music being played while still meeting the high expectations. The band played tracks from all three of the frontman's solo entries: 'Child Soldier: Creator of God', 'Mirrorcell', and 'Fuck Content'. Puciato himself flowed between dancing almost absentmindedly to the instrumentals, prowling across the stage delivering his distinctive vocals, and launching himself into the crowd. At one point I lost sight of him in the audience, only for him to reappear moments later having claimed a drink from someone! The show featured a very welcome guest appearance from Code Orange's Reba Meyers for her part in the 80's inflected single 'Lowered'. To close out the night the band played a cover of 'Them Bones' by Alice in Chains that was every bit as incredible as you would expect. This was my first opportunity to see Puciato perform live, and it was 100% worth it. I've already got my tickets to see him again later this year on tour with his new band Better Lovers.
There are still a few stops left on this tour, check them out here!
Photos and article by Dillon Reesor