On August 23rd, it was a night of insane underground metal as Australia’s own Northlane and Alabama’s own Erra co-headlined with special guests Currents and Japan’s own Crystal Lake. If you want blood, sweat, and tears at a fantastic venue that sells beers from the world over, then this is the show for you.
Tokyo, Japan’s own CRYSTAL LAKE took the stage and if they’re not headlining at the Amsterdam Bar & Music Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota before long, then there’s something wrong. This band blew me the hell away with their all-too brief 20 minute set. There was so much movement from the audience for an opening act as there was a consistent wave of crowdsurfing, moshing, and even stagediving, which the band certainly encouraged. The energy was absolutely contagious as the band ripped into songs such as “Prometheus”, “Lost In Forever”, and “Apollo”. When I’m moshing and photographing the set simultaneously, that’s when you know it was a freaking awesome set.
Crystal Lake brought the hardcore/metalcore vibes to St. Paul, Currents is adding some djent to the evening. I admit I was wiped out after Crystal Lake’s set, mostly because I am fat and out of shape, but Currents held their own. Currents knew that they had to step it up a couple of notches after Crystal Lake’s set and they certainly did that. They only had about 25 minutes to work with, but they made the most of it. It was enough to intrigue me, and looking forward to hearing more from Currents.
Now, Erra came on to perform. And what a blistering set it was. I could not believe it. I wasn’t sure what to expect from their performance but they added the atmospheric vibes to the night. Their guitar work, especially with the harmonics that they utilized on their guitar arrangements, were ridiculous and absolutely on point. The energy from their whole set gave me chills that I rarely feel these days in music. Songs such as “Dreamcatcher”, “Eye of God”, and “Breach” absolutely blew me away. It left me wanting to immediately get familiar with the band and I’ve been telling others about this band. The world needs to know Erra.
Here is Erra’s setlist:
Irreversible
Dreamcatcher
Ghost of Nothing
Drift
Orchid
Luminesce
Eye of God
Breach
Monolith
Dementia
Hybrid Earth
Skyline
Erra will be performing one more date in the United States before embarking on a European run. Check out the dates below:
Tue. 9/17- Jake’s Sports Cafe in Lubbock, Texas
Sun. 11/24- Flex Apartments in Vienna, Austria
Thu. 11/28- Leeds Beckett Students’ Union in Leeds, United Kingdom
Fri. 11/29- SWX in Bristol, United Kingdom
Sat. 11/30- Electric Ballroom in London, United Kingdom
Sat. 12/7- Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Australia’s Northlane ripped through the night in their co-headlining tour with Erra. There was definitely an audience there to see Erra and an audience to see Northlane. The lights and the sounds added to the mystique of this band. Northlane brought some pent up anger and aggression that compounded this night of aggressive music in St. Paul. Their stage presence is commanding and the crowd knew and went crazy over songs such as “Talking Heads”, “Intuition”, and “Vultures”. We could have not asked for a more underground feel than Northlane, Erra, Currents, and Crystal Lake provided on this night. Here is the setlist from Northlane:
Talking Heads
Intuition
Details Matter
Obelisk
Rot
Bloodline
4D
Freefall
Vultures
Eclipse
Citizen
Dispossession
Quantum Flux
Northlane will be performing in their native Australia and Europe coming up. Check out the tour dates below:
Fri. 10/11- UNSW in Sydney, Australia
Sat. 10/12- The Triffid in Newstead, Australia
Sun. 10/13- The Triffid in Newstead, Australia
Thu. 10/17- 170 Russell in Melbourne, Australia
Fri. 10/18- 170 Russell in Melbourne, Australia
Sun. 10/20- Amplifier in Perth, Australia
Sat. 10/26- Galatos in Auckland, New Zealand
Fri. 11/22- Youth and Community Center in Karlsruhe, Germany
Sat. 11/23- Gibus Club in Paris, France
Sun. 11/24- Kavka Zappa in Antwerp, Belgium
Wed. 11/27- Manchester Academy in Manchester, United Kingdom
Thu. 11/28- Engine Rooms in Southampton, United Kingdom
Fri. 11/29- The Garage in Glasgow, United Kingdom
Sat. 11/30- O2 Academy in Birmingham, United Kingdom
Sun. 12/1- Electric Brixton in London, United Kingdom
Tue. 12/3- Patronaat in Haarlem, Netherlands
Wed. 12/4- Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen, Denmark
Thu. 12/5- Lokomotivet in Eskilstuna, Sweden
Sat. 12/7- On The Rocks in Helsinki, Finland
Mon. 12/9- Tradgardn in Gothenburg, Sweden
Wed. 12/11- SO36 in Berlin, Germany
Thu. 12/12- Proxima in Warsaw, Poland
Fri. 12/13- Conne Island Skatepark in Leipzig, Germany
Sat. 12/14- Palac Akropolis in Czechia
Sun. 12/15- Flex Apartments in Vienna, Austria
Tue. 12/17- Backstage Concerts in Munich, Germany
Wed. 12/18- KIFF in Aarau, Switzerland
Thu. 12/19- den Atelier in Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Fri. 12/20- Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany
Sat. 12/21- Kulturezentrum in Wiesbaden, Germany
Go to www.northlaneband.com for tickets and further information
