Fresh Snow/Photo by Michael Watier
Fresh Snow, Doomsquad, North America and PETRA GLYNT at Geary Lane, Friday, -August 29. Rating: NNNN
The schedule was already an hour behind when the first performer began on Friday, but that casual approach to set times didn't bother any of the experimental pop fans crowded into the quirky DIY venue Geary Lane. The raw warehouse space was decorated with projections shining through smoke machine fog, reflecting off mirrors attached to roughly made pillars surrounding the instruments set up on the floor. A glowing tent structure took up a good chunk of the middle of the room.
Many in the crowd were there as much for the event as for any individual musicians. Petra Glynt battled against sound issues as a result of the makeshift stage, but her trance-inducing operatic chanting and pounding drums still made a strong impression. Brooklyn twin-brother guitar/drums duo North America also had feedback problems, but seemed happy to ditch the vocals in favour of freewheeling instrumental loop pedal-assisted improvisations. Doomsquad's mystical ambient electronic music was much more finessed than any of the other acts, but they seemed to be lacking a bit of energy. Even though Fresh Snow played most of their set hidden from the audience inside their "360 projection pod," their deafeningly loud, psychedelic instrumental noise rock was more than enough to keep the audience's attention.