Show Review: Lowertown, Hotline TNT, Wednesday at Brookln Steel
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“Aaaand boom goes the dynamite”
January 26, 2024
Last night we ventured out the underground and into the slipstream to see Lowertown, Hotline TNT, and Wednesday at Brooklyn Steel. The atmosphere was certainly steely. The venue looked to be a converted warehouse with the stage in one giant room. Infrastructure really leaned into this aesthetic, the urinals were black porcelain. We stood and watched the first act under a massive cyberpunk ceiling fan with blades bigger than a helicopter. It changed its speed from slow to fast while we stood directly under and it felt like a strong seabreeze.
Lowertown opened with an eclectic set. Some songs were dense affairs with anxiously fast downstroke guitar. A man in a tank top rattled off a paranoid monologue of a verse. Riffs were as sharp as brand new disposable razors. These songs felt like strong adderall. For other songs female vocals took center stage, like “Bucktooth”, a self proclaimed song for dancing.
We’re not going to hide it, we came for Hotline TNT. We’ve been listening to their new album Cartwheel relentlessly since it dropped in November. The satisfaction of experiencing a record you’ve had on repeat played out live for the first time is indescribable. Their three guitarists built a wall of supermassive midrange that had an exponential impact.
At one point a member of Wednesday joined Hotline TNT onstage to do what we’re pretty sure was a Smashing Pumpkins cover? At another moment towards the end, a pit opened up. We wanted in on the action so when tension finally peaked we threw ourselves into the mosh. After escaping we realized we somehow lost our phone out of our pocket. 30 feet away from the pit and a little clueless as to how to fix this problem we suddenly see someone holding our cell high in the air with the flashlight on like a beacon, recognizing our lock screen wallpaper they were also lighting up. We dove back in the crowd and found the person. We embraced, not believing our good fortune and this person's goodwill. Whoever you are, thank you again. We gave you a RCR pin so maybe you’re reading this right now. Thanks!
Wednesday closed out this Thursday show. They started their set with a lone guitar, gold lighting, and golden harmonies. There were lots of little magic tricks this band executed. A guitar poked out with a squealing waah tone. One member held down a lap steel guitar? Something with a slide that provided amazing texture, and we dug the transitions via feedback.
These bands all have big tours in the works! We're excited to see how they grab 2024 by the horns, connect with them below and don't miss a beat!
