Concert Review: Strap On Halo, The Last Cry Visit Austin on the Near Dark Tour

(Note: Yes, I know the photos are missing for some reason. The site I wrote this article for originally seems to have taken them down. Working to get it fixed, but until then, this posting will look a bit odd)

Strap On Halo (Omaha, Nebraska) visited Austin back on Friday, March 21st as part of the Near Dark Tour along with late-80s post-punk/gothic rock group The Last Cry (Brighton, England) and DJs Martin Oldgoth and Augustine Strange.

Strap On Halo / Laura Davila

Taking the stage first, Strap On Halo performed a 12 song set that heavily focused on their recent EP, Haunted, and visited tracks from their past work, including their debut album The Dead Don't Lie. With each song, frontwoman Layla Reyna's vocals shined mercilessly, soaring from note to note as she sang about various things that could haunt a person. Original founder Sean Rial added to the gloomy mood with a lacing of guitar work that wove between the programmed beats and synthesizers to add an ethereal tone. Bass guitarist Marc Jones rounded out the lineup with his enthusiastic play and fun stage presence. The first half of the set saw Strap On Halo guide us through "Only In Death," "Monsters," and perhaps my favorite off the Haunted EP, "Hunger." While small, the audience enjoyed dancing and bopping their heads in time to the music. As Strap On Halo began to wind down the full set, they pulled out the reworked version of "Strigoi" and "You And Your Ghost."

Layla Reyna of Strap On Halo / Laura Davila

Overall, their performance was amazing. The fog machine was a little distracting, but the three took it in stride and made it work for them. Reyna's vocals were perfect as ever, commanding a similar stylistic quality in person, as on recording, to that of Siouxsie Sioux herself. Rial and Jones both made their instruments come to life, taking them far beyond the traditional roles a guitar and bass guitar play in a band. The only pitfall of the night was that only a small handful of Austinites were there to witness these guys.

Following Strap On Halo were The Last Cry. Having formed in the late 80s, The Last Cry only have two full length albums due to a series of lineup changes and a hiatus during the 90s. On stage, however, the band are as lively as any new act and eager to draw people in. Their sound, as one may expect, is very reminiscent of the original dark post-punk bands, sounding like a mesh of The Cure and Depeche Mode.

The Last Cry / Laura Davila

Frontman Andrew Birch sang each song with a passion and intensity that was very catching. Vocally he sounded very similar to Dave Gahan (of Depeche Mode) which worked very well with the style of music played by the other members of the band. On guitar, Tim Green played with precision and control while also manning the laptop to make the appropriate transitions between songs. Rounding out the group is Chris Carey on bass guitar who also played with great passion and movement on stage. The only thing that felt a bit strange about The Last Cry was that they have no live drummer when the music would be well complemented with one. Additionally, while the crowd had picked up a little more from Strap On Halo's set, it was still a bit thin for The Last Cry which I think was a shame as you all once again missed out on a great group.

The night was made complete with excellent music selections from DJs Martin Oldgoth and Augustine Strange who both played a range of music surveying goth rock, post-punk, industrial, and everything between that the goth culture has laid claim to.

Overall, the Near Dark Tour was a wonderful experience and a great opportunity to learn about some great bands that should be far bigger than they currently are. If you weren't here, you honestly missed out on a fun night with very talented people. The Near Dark Tour just reached its conclusion, but keep an eye out for both of these bands as their future is bright (or should I be saying it's gloomy because, you know, goth music?).

Note: Apologies for the large delay in this posting. There's been a bit of a snafu with media postings at the site Laura and I were with, so in an effort to at least ensure the word got out about this show, I've moved it here to this blog (formatting is also a bit off, so I'll look at fixing that soon). We did conduct an interview with Strap On Halo, but a lot of the audio we took has unfortunately been lost. I'll see what I can salvage from what's left.