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utilitymonstergirlI saw Femtanyl on the Chicago stop of their MAN BITES DOG tour, my third time seeing them after their opening for Danny Brown and their smaller Chicago show last June. I was only able to get tickets for that June show at a ridiculous scalper's markup, so this time I wanted to be quick on the draw for the presale, and as I fumbled with my phone on the train I could only seem to complete the sale by getting a VIP ticket. And even if it was mainly by accident, I'm glad I did - I got a lovely signed tour poster out of it, and even though I usually spend concerts chilling on the balcony,* I knew I'd be a fool to pass up the perfect chance to get a good spot in the pit.
And it ruled! My feet ached and I had to hold steady against moshers, but seeing the performance up close is stunning in a way the balcony can't capture. I even got to stage-dive for the first (and likely only) time, and did my part holding up other divers.
The show was 18+, unlike last summer's all-ages event, which seemed a little icy to their large teenage audience. But I imagine that it makes a lot of the safety logistics easier, and the show still sold out anyway, so the age restriction might've been a way to make it at least sell out a little slower. And I appreciated the greater leeway for the crowd to be openly horny, even if I didn't see much overt flirting from the edge of the pit.
Speaking of: good lord is Noelle hot, in both a "scrawny wet rat" way and a "living cartoon character" way. Her eyeshadow and grand gestures are great for playing to the cheap seats, and together create a vivid sense of "gen-Z tgirl Gerard Way" that I expect will take her far. I would not be surprised if she eventually builds up a decent acting career.**
MAN BITES DOG gave the set some good depth and variety, and the tracks went over well, but each concert impresses on me more just how iconic CHASER truly is. In six tracks - less than fifteen minutes - they made a pristine mission statement that I'm so glad this generation of faggots gets to grow up with. BODY THE PISTOL went hard as an opener, but there's a reason the encore was P3T and ACT RIGHT.***
I've got some more concerts lined up for May and June, I'll be back to write about them too.
*At my last show, seeing Stomach Book on Valentine's Day, I was on the balcony next to a very sweet, very normie older couple who turned out to be the parents of Vialice, one of the openers. They were politely bemused by all the gay-ass nerd kids down in the pit, and I'm glad I got to tell them "that girl at the merch table is zombAe, she's another great artist worth checking out."
**I would love to see a buddy comedy with her and underscores.
***My one kvetch about the setlist: they played M3 n MIN3 with a recording of Danny's verse, and didn't play it last November when he was right there with them. (I get that there are broader setlist considerations, but I think it absolutely clears 1L0v3myL1f3!.)
And it ruled! My feet ached and I had to hold steady against moshers, but seeing the performance up close is stunning in a way the balcony can't capture. I even got to stage-dive for the first (and likely only) time, and did my part holding up other divers.
The show was 18+, unlike last summer's all-ages event, which seemed a little icy to their large teenage audience. But I imagine that it makes a lot of the safety logistics easier, and the show still sold out anyway, so the age restriction might've been a way to make it at least sell out a little slower. And I appreciated the greater leeway for the crowd to be openly horny, even if I didn't see much overt flirting from the edge of the pit.
Speaking of: good lord is Noelle hot, in both a "scrawny wet rat" way and a "living cartoon character" way. Her eyeshadow and grand gestures are great for playing to the cheap seats, and together create a vivid sense of "gen-Z tgirl Gerard Way" that I expect will take her far. I would not be surprised if she eventually builds up a decent acting career.**
MAN BITES DOG gave the set some good depth and variety, and the tracks went over well, but each concert impresses on me more just how iconic CHASER truly is. In six tracks - less than fifteen minutes - they made a pristine mission statement that I'm so glad this generation of faggots gets to grow up with. BODY THE PISTOL went hard as an opener, but there's a reason the encore was P3T and ACT RIGHT.***
I've got some more concerts lined up for May and June, I'll be back to write about them too.
*At my last show, seeing Stomach Book on Valentine's Day, I was on the balcony next to a very sweet, very normie older couple who turned out to be the parents of Vialice, one of the openers. They were politely bemused by all the gay-ass nerd kids down in the pit, and I'm glad I got to tell them "that girl at the merch table is zombAe, she's another great artist worth checking out."
**I would love to see a buddy comedy with her and underscores.
***My one kvetch about the setlist: they played M3 n MIN3 with a recording of Danny's verse, and didn't play it last November when he was right there with them. (I get that there are broader setlist considerations, but I think it absolutely clears 1L0v3myL1f3!.)
