The first band to go on stage was TRACE AMOUNT. This was a one-man industrial techno type band. Trace Amounted came to life in 2019 by Brandon Gallagher in Brooklyn, New York. Gallagher is a producer, vocalist, and visual artist.
He came onto the stage and began to play his synthesizer. Once the machine began to play his beats he took to the microphone. Instead of singing, he began to scream. He stayed close to his synthesizer and would hang bang in between lyrics. He then began to beat on his Dolan drum pad.
Members of the audience were seen bobbing their heads along with the beat. They seemed to enjoy this creative one-man band. He then took the microphone off the stand and went to the other side of the stage to perform! What made his set was that each song had a different tempo and set of beats, he didn’t conform to the norm of each song almost sounding like the one before. He then thanked the audience for coming out and let them know that this was his first time in Phoenix.
The bar began to fill up with more people who were excited to catch the rest of the bands. The second band to go on was Deaf Cult. This punk/grind band is made up of Justin Pearson (The Locust, Dead Cross, Planet B), Tommy Meehan (The Manx), Brian Amalfitano (ACxDC), Scott Osment (Weak Flesh), and Jason Klein (Run With The Hunted).
As they came out the crowd began to scream and cheer. It was obvious that they were well-loved and received. They began to play and instantly hit the ground hard. Their energy was instant and the fans loved it! The singer, Pearson, was all over the stage. His movements kept the audience entertained. At one point the band stopped playing and he asked the audience to ask him some questions. After a few questions, he told the audience their questions sucked and he was going to keep playing. He would jump on top of the drums and got close to fans. His interactions were amazing and he really knew how to captivate the audience. The audience created small mosh pits throughout their performance. At the end of their performance, Pearson ran over to the bar and began to lay and jump on it while he sang their last song.
The band to take over the stage and my personal favorite was Escuela Grind. I had never seen or heard of this band but I’m glad I got to see them! This band is from New York and one member was from Texas! The band was made up of Katerina-vocals, Jesse Adan Fuentes-drums, Krissy Morash-guitar, and Thomas Sifuentes-bass. The audience screamed with excitement. The band began to play their set, and members in the audience screamed along. They also created mosh pits and pushed each other around. Katerina intersected with the audience, she introduced her band members and where they were from. Katerina also jumped all over the stage, her presence was the best of the night. She never stopped moving! Not only was she jumping all over the stage, but she also head-banged and at one point she even turned her back to the crowd and twerked! At the end of their set, they dedicated a song to people of color and the LGBTQ+ and their allies. The crowd cheered as Katerina made the speech. This speech hit home for many and was a great way to end their set.
The final artist of the night was Greg Puciato. The band entered the room and began to play “In This Hell”, accompanied by white strobe lights. The band had a lot of energy and they really took command of the stage. The band had a fantastic time and you could see it in their body language and faces. At one point Pearson from Deaf Cult was seen crawling onto the stage trying to hand Puciato a doughnut. Eventually, Puciato took it and began to eat it. He then threw the doughnut and began to continue singing. They performed “Lowered” and brought out a special guest, Reba Meyers from Code Orange. Meyers joined Puciatio on stage and she sang along with him. The audience ate up this special performance. Puciato also would go into the crowd and lean into fans’ shoulders while he sang. The band left the stage and everyone waited for the band to come out, which they did right away. They closed their set out with “Steptember”. This night was truly magical filled with different types of rock, metal, and punk.
