Kylesa, Intronaut & Ides of Gemini @ The Troubdaour. 9/2/11.

So I've been lagging it with this concert review for some time. Kylesa's headlining set was filmed by camera crews for an appearance on Last Call w/ Carson Daly. I was hoping the episode would air so I could share/link some HQ footage with you bloggers, but alas, the show won't air until next week and I'm getting sick of waiting. Also, the lighting at the Troubadour was super dim so I don't have any photos to post either. =/ Here is the only decent video I managed to record, but the song is super rad so, your welcome.



Kylesa and Intronaut together again. I saw these two play a special one off show (with Made Out of Babies!) at the Echoplex a few years back. It was a great show. Tonight would be no different.

Ides of Gemini was playing as we walked in. I knew nothing about these group beforehand but recognized that dude from Decibel magazine on guitar and later found out the singer was the chick from Black Math Horseman. I really wished I could have caught their entire set but the last song I saw was damn good. There's something eerily beautiful about their music. Haunting might be a better word.


Intronaut was next. I've had a love/hate relationship with them recently. The band has changed a lot with their last two albums, becoming more "spacey prog" and less "yelling metal." Sometimes I'm ok with this and sometimes I'm like, "NO, I want my old Intronaut back. Stop singing." Well after their performance on this night, new Intronaut has successfully gotten me to stop my bitching and enjoy the ride. They played new stuff off Valley of Smoke with some serious firepower, but it was like they weren't even trying either. The band has reached some kind of "awesome autopilot" at this point when it comes to their live shows. Also, I don't know how many times I've listened to "The Literal Black Cloud" but it's never sounded heavier then when they played it here at the Troubadour. Pummeling. Oh yeah, and Danny Walker is still a raging beast on the drums. DEFINITE DrumTHRONE inductee there.



Kylesa took a little longer than expected to take the stage. I'm sure it had something to do with the cameras/recording setup for their big television debut. Either way, when the band did come out, they were more fired up then I'd ever seen them. By now I was pressed alongside the right corner of the stage near Philip (guitarist/vocalist) and and got an awesome view of the band's dueling drummers. Yeah Laura (2nd guitarist/vocalist) was on the opposite side of the stage but I could still hear her shrieking her heart out just fine. The band predominantly ripped through tracks off their latest head trip Spiral Shadow as well as songs from their breakthrough 2009 album, Static Tensions. Everyone in the audience was beyond stoked with the band, and this included some of the Carson Daly camera guys too! I caught one of the camera dudes near the center of the stage singing/rocking out a few times. Hell, I bet that guy was probably responsible for getting the band on the air in the first place. See, us underground metal scum are taking over. Today it's Last Call with Carson Daly, tomorrow....the world.