The Birthday Massacre brings a dark, fun end to the weekend at The Cabooze

I owe Sunday night’s fun to an PR rep and one of my writers. My plans for that evening were limited to resting my butt on the couch after a rather busy schedule that week. So, when we got pitched the Birthday Massacre’s show on Wednesday I added it to our list and sent out a heads up to our team. Langen responded saying that someone better cover that show as they are a band on her bucket list and she was out of town – that had me intrigued. And then I wrote up a preview and watched their latest YouTube video – Oh, my!! Dark, moody, symphonic……… Now I had to go see them for myself – I can rest when I’m dead.

So, I found myself at The Cabooze surrounded by a wide range of outfits, all involving mostly black, with bunny ears of all kinds being found through the crowd. Canada’s Sumo Cyco were up first. I was not ready for their intensity level. Their music is hard and fast and the stage presence of guitarist Matt and singer Skye is out of this world. I left the photo pit with a wide grin feeling like a had been hit by a freight train. Their current album “Opus Mar” was just released a few weeks ago.

Army of the Universe, hail from Milan, Italy and brought a very danceable, Industrial set to the Cabooze. Synth sounds took a more prominent role and singer Kalidon Vysage built a great connection with fans in the crowd.

After a quick change, the stage plunged into darkness lit by blue floor lights only. After a short intro, singer Chibi joined them on stage and bunny eared fans went wild. The six band members filled the Cabooze’s modest stage and all of them drew my eye and camera – what a fun group to photograph. As the set progressed, they wove in songs from their upcoming new album “Under Your Spell”. With now 7 albums under their belt, The Birthday Massacre’s style is Dark Wave at its core but varies with some songs going pretty heavy industrial. Two things they do all have in common are Chibi’s impressive vocals and the fact that they are very danceable.
All in all, I had a great time, any night where I find 3 bands that are new to me that I can happily add to my playlist is a pretty damn good one.
Set List: One / Red Stars / All Of Nothing / Counterpane / Destroyer / Divide / Superstition / Lovers End / Happy Birthday / Video Kid / Under Your Spell / No Tomorrow / Leaving Tonight / Alibis / Pins And Needels / In The Dark Encore: Blue, I Think We’re Alone Now / Broken