Magda Campagne
Opening the night was N8NOFACE (pronounced “Nate-no-face”), the LA-based synthpunk artist, formerly of the duo Crimekillz. His self-described ‘damaged pop’, with roots set deep in 80s synthwave, tells stories from Tuscon, Arizona, where he’s originally from, and LA, focusing on their underbellies. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that his early life in Tuscon was in close proximity to drugs and gangs and he punctuated his set with impassioned dedications delivered very matter of fact: “this song is about two murders that happened in my high school”; “this song is dedicated to the FBI who keep fucking with my family”.
He has the ability to go seamlessly from a ballad to a dystopian rave and his visceral, physical performance full of convulsions, spasms, t-shirt tugging and mic swallowing broken up by his charming yet delirious smile created a unique vibe. The audience was instantly rooting for him, and while his music included sharp commentary on socio-economical issues plaguing the US and the world right now, his overall message was that of aggressive positivity. His white t-shirt had a DIY slogan “I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!!!” written in sharpie and he kept remarking how incredible it was for him to be there:
“I’m 50 years old, I’ve been making music in my closet – this means everything. Never give up on your dreams, who the fuck knows!”
Towards the end of his set he encouraged: “We are the freaks coming out – DANCE!” and The Dome didn’t need to hear that invitation twice.
Ho99o9 shows fall under the category of “you just had to be there”. If you can imagine an old school kettle that’s been left to boil unattended and the steam is about to pop the whistle off – this is what being at a Ho99o9 show feels like, but you’re the whistle and they’re the steam. The Dome was packed to the brim and the crowd was buzzing with excitement, ready to pop off. theOGM was the first one to emerge onto the stage to the sound of “I Miss Home” – a textbook quiet before the storm. Soon “Eaddy” Yeti Bones and Thomas Pridgen of Trash Talk/Fever 333, who is accompanying Ho99o9 on drums on this tour, joined them on stage and the energy went through the roof.
Opening with material from their most recent LP Tomorrow We Escape, with “Target Practice”, “OK, I’m Reloaded” and the use of mic stand as a rifle stand in deserves a special shout out. It took minutes for the first person to stage dive into the crowd – and Yeti Bones didn’t need too much encouragement to follow suit. The response to Ho99o9 live could easily be described as feral – and “Sub Zer-0” rarely played live was a perfect example – but N8NOFACE set the scene up perfectly: this was a room full of “freaks coming out to dance” and every push and pull in the circle pits that developed instantly was followed by a smile, and embrace or a “sorry”. The levels of devotion Ho99o9 envoke are second to none – some fans were squeezing to the front just to touch Yeti Bones’ shoes – and back away once that mission was accomplished.
The second half of the set gave space for some throwbacks to United States of Horror in between a hands in the air, swaying rendition of Paul Anka‘s “My Way” and Crystal Waters‘ “Gypsy Woman” coming out of theOGM’s decks. “Bite My Face”, originally recorded with Corey Taylor, but performed live without him, felt like the moment the kettle whistle finally popped off and just as it felt like the roof of The Dome was about to blow off – everything stopped. Confusion and shouts for “one more song” followed and rumours of the set being cut off short for an unknown reason started to circulate. The truth was much simpler: the PA blew up.
As much as it was unplanned, it added to the anticipation and when Ho99o9 came back for encore, Yeti Bones scaled the stage’s scaffolding during “Godflesh” and soon the moment everyone was waiting for arrived. Yeti Bones came to the front of the stage and started to indicate foe the audience to start to spread and create a huge circle pit – soon with him in the middle – and with a spectacular jump he commanded the room to close the pit and unite in the cathartic ritual of bodies thrashing against one another. The communal steam was finally let off, and this unassuming Saturday evening gave everyone in attendance a sense of belonging: united in Ho99o9.