NOTHING + POLYMOON – KUUDES LINJA, HELSINKI – 06/04/2022

por Emil Gil Bretón · 10/04/2022

The Great Dismal

The European tour of the American post-shoegaze band NOTHING (several times postponed due to the global pandemic called corona virus) passed through the city of Helsinki to present their great and latest studio album “The Great Dismal” (Relapse, 2020) . The aforementioned band was accompanied by the Finnish space progressive psychedelic group POLYMOON as opening act. Here is what happened that night at Kuudes Linja, one of the best live music venues in the city:

POLYMOON

Punctual at 20:00 the band from Tampere, POLYMOON, came up. The quintet encouraged those present through long and extended songs with intense dynamism and technique: virtuoso guitar solos, progressive riffs that transported us to another dimension, time changes and improvisation thanks to a luxurious rhythmic base, psychedelic vibrations coming from a vintage synth and cinematic voices playing back in time. Under a stage that alternated between dim and dark lights with rapid multicoloured bursts (white, blue, violet or yellow) POLYMOON unloaded long improvised jams; while the audience -made up of unconditional fans of NOTHING and some other lovers of alternative music in general- witnessed the correct and intense performance of the Finns.

POLYMOON‘s live lineup consisted of: Tuomas Heikura on drums, Jesse Jaksola and Otto Kontio on guitars, Juuso Valli on bass, and Kalle-Erik Kosonen on vocals and synthesiser. The forty-five-minute set comprised six songs: «Helicaling», «Wave Back to Confusion», «Lāzaward», «A Day in the Air», «Malamalama», and «Metemsychosis». Please listen to the debut album of this new band entitled «Caterpillars of Creation» (Svart, 2020). POLYMOON continues to make a name for itself on the local concert circuit and this summer at various international festivals. Don’t lose track of them!

NOTHING

Since it was NOTHING‘s first concert on Finnish soil, the mood and expectations of the audience were through the roof (including mine and my group of friends). The quartet began their concert on time at 21:15, as stipulated. The band kicked off strong with the tracks “Hymn to the Pillory” and “Downward Years to Come”, showcasing their striking formula of dreamy vocals with exploding guitars and distorted bass accompanied by precise and concise drum beats. Before interpreting the third song Domenic Palermo began to have problems with his guitar and the pedal box connected to it. So Palermo himself addressed the public in a humorous tone: «Hello, we are NOTHING, now is a good time to go to the bar for a drink since it may take us a few minutes trying to solve said problem”. And as expected, the group interpreted some songs from their most recent album “The Great Dismal”: “Say Less”, “April Ha Ha”, “Famine Asylum” and “Bernie Sanders». This album strikingly mixes the best of the nineties music: shoegaze and alternative rock.

The band led by Palermo on vocals and guitar featured Doyle Martin on guitar and backing vocals, Christina Michelle on bass (singer of the post-hardcore and noise rock band GOUGE AWAY) and Ben Mead (live drummer of the hip hop and drum&bass group NOISY). As in the previous POLYMOON set, the small stage was kept dark with fleeting flashes of dark blue and dull yellow lights. The technical problems with Palermo‘s guitar continued, so he himself jokingly said that maybe this was karma or a punishment for his comment on Twitter in the past days in which he wrote: «thank you for our Grammy I want to thank God for being a huge ass bitch”. Without a doubt, Palermo has a future in the world of standup comedy. That Wednesday was a cold and dark day surrounded by grey clouds and snow/rain. Which was reflected in the music of the Americans, since they interpreted a series of dark melodic pieces seasoned with thunderous feedback and lethal distortion: “Blue Line Baby”, “Vertigo Flowers”, “Bent Nail”, “B&E”, to mention some. Despite the darkness and the emotionality of the songs, the audience enjoyed each of the songs performed in their own way (singing, moving/shaking their heads, smiling or performing discreet jumps).

Before playing the last song of the night, Palermo greatly thanked the public for their assistance, he himself commented: “It has not been easy, this is our seventh concert of a tour that was postponed a couple of times and that we were advised not to do. Thank you very much for coming to this concert and supporting us”. Also, he thanked his band, especially Christina Michelle and Ben Mead, since these being the new members of the band made an extraordinary effort to learn the songs and assist them on this tour. With a set of twelve songs and one hour and twenty minutes long, NOTHING showed us the powerful effect of their live performances and, furthermore, this band must be considered a current benchmark of modern shoegaze and alternative rock. NOTHING is distortion and sensitivity in one word!