See also – Upcoming Music Festivals / Somergloom
It was a cool scene at the Garage B at the Speedway in Boston where people gathered for the 3rd and final day of Somergloom. The festival is in its 2nd year and is growing by leaps and bounds, featuring a mix of shoegaze, gloom, doom, and heavy music. Each day of the festival was held in a different location with this year’s final day being at the garage. The crowd was dressed mostly in black with plenty of tattoos, black lipstick, and an occasional leather harness. One person was sporting a black leather jacket with a screeching cat on the back and the words “too punk to die.” Two small gargoyles guarded the stage and set the tone for the gloomy event. The garage still maintains its paneled glass bay doors and concrete floor. Geometric patterns of colored lights were projected on the walls behind the stage and across the back wall thanks to The Dregs Liquid Light Show.
SEED was the first to perform on the final evening and they made a great start to the night’s festivities. They describe themselves on Instagram as anti-fascist and queer-forward and were performing as a duo for the evening. SEED performed a piece that had been commissioned especially for Somergloom that had never been heard live before, and never will be performed again. It was an exclusive just for the couple hundred folks who made it to the final show of the festival. The piece was truly remarkable for the few moments in time that it lasted. It started with a poignant pause, then came what sounded something like wagon wheels rolling along with whales singing. After which band member Chelsea Ellsworth on guitar began to strum long dissonant, reverberating notes. The music felt contemplative and serene for a moment, then Lux Lucidi began to pace around the stage and sing. They have a clear, powerful voice that they put to good use. They paced around the stage alternately singing and vocalizing while the guitar droned and built sound.
The crowd seemed to realize this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment and they stood enraptured by the two performers. Lucidi waved their arms while they stalked the stage, drawing the listeners in to hear what became barely audible whispering while the guitar grew more melodic. Then they began vocalizing, their voice growing louder and stronger over the reverberating melody. The strumming became dissonant again and increasingly chaotic. Lucidi struck a cymbal rhythmically with a mallet, its chimes blending in with Ellsworth’s guitar notes. Lucidi began to yell directly into the faces of the crowd as they walked the perimeter of the stage. Occasionally they would contort themselves backward into something resembling a scene from The Exorcist while yelling in a very impressive display of flexibility and stamina.
There was a pause, then more melodic strumming, and vocalizing. The music was haunting with a low rumbling, long guitar strums, and rolling cymbals. The vocalizing intensified again with guttural yells from Lucidi. Then the sound of the wagon wheels returned and gave way to gentle guitar strumming. The crowd paused again for another poignant moment to make sure this was the end, then gave a very enthusiastic applause. Somergloom and SEED came together and created a very special moment for a grateful audience.
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