First Concert in nearly Two Years! Obsidian, Twin Tribes and She Past Away.

On December 3rd I got to attend my first concert in almost two years! Amazing and sad it’s been that long. The last one I went to was Mortiis in January 2020. But if it wasn’t for the pandemic I definitely would have gone to more. The concert was She Past Away, Twin Tribes and Obsidian, at the Crowbar in Ybor City. I didn’t get to stay for the whole thing unfortunately, but I did stay long enough to see Twin Tribes. When the concert was first announced I was stoked to see Twin Tribes live. It felt like returning a favor, in a way. You see a couple years ago I ordered a cassette from Twin Tribes, and when I got it, the cassette was empty. As in there was no magnetic tape inside the case. Weirdest thing ever. But I contacted them, and they were super nice about it and sent me another one. I assured them next time they played in Florida I would be there. 

I wonder if the one on the right will be a collector’s item one day. 

Then the pandemic happened and I didn’t get to go to any concerts for a long time. And the first concert that finally did come along that was a band I liked was Twin Tribes! With She Past Away. I’ve written a blog about my conflicted feelings with this band before, but in that blog I came to the conclusion that it was silly to judge them just by the country they’re from. And they do make good music. So I bought the tickets. 

So my wife and I made it to the venue sometime after 8pm, just in time to see the opening act, Obsidian. And I was very impressed with them! I had heard of them before this but I hadn’t done a deep dive into their discography. After listening to them play I was impressed enough to pick up one of their cassettes, as well as a Twin Tribes CD. I always like to bring back souvenirs from concerts, as well as help support the bands. It was a top notch opening act, for sure.

A little bit about the venue. Now I am appreciative of any venue that agrees to host the kinds of underground gothic bands I am into. I had previously been there a couple years ago for a Boy Harsher concert. But, it gets quite cramped when it’s crowded in there, and it’s hard to see the band playing, especially if you’re a shorty like me. Now at the nearby venue The Orpheum, I feel like you can see the band pretty much no matter where you’re standing in the place. But I didn’t really get to see much of the bands playing at the Crowbar. I guess you have to get there early enough to push your way to the front near the stage. So I do prefer The Orpheum, just a personal opinion. Like I said it’s cool of them to at least host the bands that they do. They do have a nice little back area, I’ll say that. And a food vendor who cooks an amazing jerk chicken sandwich. 

Yep, this was about as much as I could see of them, and that’s holding my phone up. 

The Crowbar began to get even more crowded once Twin Tribes took the stage. They sounded great live, almost just like on the album. I find it impressive when a band with fewer than three members is able to put together a complete sound like they do. They played almost all my favorites for the hour or so they were on stage, but I kept thinking it was “just a matter of time” before they played perhaps one of their most popular tracks, “Still in Still”. I say that because I don’t think I’ve been to a single goth event in the last three years where that song wasn’t played. But they skipped it. It wasn’t just a matter of time. I know some bands get tired of playing their hit songs. Maybe it was for that reason? I don’t know. Maybe it’s not as popular as I think it is. At least they played “Fantasma”, my second favorite song by them. I enjoyed the set greatly, overall. And I even ran into my good friend DJ Maus! The rest of the Communion After Dark crew was present as well. I hadn’t seen them since the Mortiis concert. 

The venue was quite packed by the end of Twin Tribes set. My wife and I decided to step out for some fresh air and try another kava bar nearby called Hot Wax. They brew a very strong cup of kratom there. I missed going to Spookeasy, a gothic-themed kava bar that was near The Orpheum and the place my wife and I would usually go to between acts at a concert, but from what I hear they’ve been having trouble staying open due to the fire marshall guidelines. And we were going to make it back to the Crowbar to see She Past Away, as I had actually resolved to see them, but my in-laws who were watching my son needed us back because he was getting sleepy and needed his mum. Sooo it just didn’t happen. A bit disappointing, but that’s parenthood; I love it, but there are sacrifices you must make. I was lucky I got to go, and I enjoyed what I did get to see.

I wonder what concerts await me in 2022. I know that The Midnight is coming to Orlando in April, I would love to go, it’s just a matter of having the funds and arranging for a babysitter. I’m going to do a travelogue about the rest of this little trip very soon, I just wanted a separate blog entry for the concert itself. 

Edit: Someone put Twin Tribe’s whole set from the show on YouTube, so if you want to have a listen, enjoy. It’s a much better view than I got.