San Francisco on a Tuesday. I decided to walk downtown since it was a nice night as I jammed out to help with my earbuds all the way there from West Soma. It was already a long line to get in but the staff there is always excellent and usher people in quickly.

Time for dancy music for angry/sad people, a.k.a. Industrial Metal and Goth!

Local band Sacred Skin was up next and they had some heads in the house making noise for them. A pretty cool electro-rock/Industrial band with great stage presence and solid songs. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing them again and hearing more from them in the future.

Up next was King Yoseph from Portland. A completely DIY entity, but I have seen this group three times in the last calendar year, previously opening for Godflesh and Converge. So this is a band that can kind of walk in many worlds. When we saw them open for Godflesh the PA that night was shot so the sound mix was bad. But after checking out the albums, I knew it wasn’t the bands’ fault. With a much better mix and a clear understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish, this band has grown on me a lot. King Yoseph is definitely on the rise and I’m very excited to hear about our coverage of them at Roadburn Festival as well as his own Bleakfest highlighting his bleak house label.

Pixel Grip absolutely rules. For my second time seeing them they were even better the first time. Talented, intelligent funny and a little rippled This group definitely empowers the crowd with their queer politics message and their dope beats and EDM-ish songs. Rita Lukea and producers Tyler Ommen and Jonathon Freund are amazing performers, especially Rita on the mic. The uplifting bops the group churns out mixed with their heightened intelligentsia appeal on a lot of levels. The crowd really responded to Rita as well, and they had them eating out of their hand like kittens and licky treats. Rita’s incredible voice and stage presence permeated the room and it’s been a joy to watch this group grow over time. This band is going to become huge over time. Don’t sleep on them now, and regret it later!

Finally, it was time for HEALTH to take the stage. The sold-out room was absolutely bubbling with excitement. Talking to a new fan standing near me, they were super stoked to see the band for the first time. They said this was their new favorite band. It’s pretty cool to have observed the journey HEALTH has been on, and we were all strapped in for the ride of our life.

With some intro music playing and the lights dimmed, but little other typical fanfare, the band walked out with the lights on them and went to their marks on stage. They picked up their instruments and went to work.

From the first notes of “Identity,” they came out swinging! With the band’s same power trio core in effect since 2005, and it really shows, with their intrinsic chemistry. BJ Miller’s propulsive drums on top of other beats and electronics really propel the music and allow Jake Dusik to connect with the crowd. It seems like he performs to every single person individually, as many around me were just transfixed on him. He prowled around his side of the stage, attacking his guitar with a stabbing motion, wild but in control. When he wasn’t chained to the microphone stand, he moved around quite a bit. Other times he peered out into the crowd with an icy stare. All the while you could feel the pure joy (and moistness) in the crowd.

John Famiglietti probably doesn’t get enough credit for his great musicianship, holding it down night after night on stage but he cuts a striking presence. Obviously, true fans know his value as the glue of the band. Playing a large selection of cuts off of the brand new album Rat Wars (Loma Vista Records), people seem to know these songs extremely well since the album has been out since before the Christmas holidays last year, and the material was lockstep in with all the band’s other killer tracks.

The 18 song set was punctuated by many high points, but the band talked little and just went about their work, showing their dedication to the performance. All the while they had an incredible lighting rig worthy of a small arena, and kind of called to mind some of the stuff on the Nine Inch Nails did on the “Lights In The Sky” tour. I also like the drama that the lighting induced in time with the songs. Far from the typical strobes and flashes other bands use in the genre, this was mature lighting, appropriate for the sound. Rave vibes were also given on the faster material. Classy!

Stand-out tracks on this night included “God Botherer” “Crack Metal,” “Men Today,” “Psychonaut,” “New Coke,” “Major Crimes,” and their incredible cover of “Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) by Deftones.

As the last chords of “DSM-V” rang out, the audience needed to literally take a minute to process what they just saw. Like the minute after a strong climax, we left August Hall still shaken to our core, waves of relief erasing all the stress of life. Health is one of the preeminent live bands right now, matching their ethos as top-notch writers in the Industrial Metal genre. I can’t wait to see them again! They are playing Roadburn Festival which we are covering so stay tuned for more coverage from HEALTH there.

INTERVIEW: Jake Duzik of HEALTH Breaks Down The Entire “Rat Wars” Album

 

HEALTH set list (via Setlist.fm)

IDENTITY

GOD BOTHERER

CRACK METAL

MEN TODAY

HATEFUL

ZOOTHORNS

PSYCHONAUT

STONEFIST

NEW COKE

FUTURE OF HELL

DEMIGODS

MAJOR CRIMES

UNLOVED

THE MESSAGE

Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) (Deftones cover)

ASHAMED

WE ARE WATER

FEEL NOTHING

DSM‐V

Check out our interview with Jake of HEALTH:

Buy HEALTH music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/3JuigxL

 

WORDS BY KEEFY

PHOTOS BY ANITA FRAUSTO (follow at) https://www.instagram.com/miz_e_frausto/