Show Review: Libby Quinn, Chronic, Stuy at Alphaville.
May 18th, 2024
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“There seems to be a malfunction” -Libby Quinn
May 19, 2024
Alphaville, BK, was calling last night. Chronic was making their long awaited return, sandwiched on a bill between Libby Quinn and Brooklyn’s very own Stuy. Like the spiciest chopped cheese you’ve ever had and a massive can of Red Bull, this night was an overstimulated frenzy of thick satisfying sound. Here’s what we experienced.
Libby Quinn opened with a crazy flurry of rhythm. Ever seen a shark attack video? Pops out of the water, grabs its prey, then thrashes around violently. It was like that. Frontman/saxophonist delivered his lines like an impassioned monologue over a backdrop of rapid time signatures, complex instrumentation, and blastbeat drumming. It’s hard to describe the sound that came out of this mix of instruments, we’d never seen or heard anything like it before. They were like the love child of Rush and Viagra Boys, with an adderall prescription that is too strong. They maintained peak energy for most all of their set.
We ordered the steak frite at the bar during changeover. This isn’t Yelp, but we’ve been to quite a few venues in NYC so far and Alphaville is one of our favorites to be at. It came with utensils but was so good we felt compelled to eat it with our hands. Move over, pizza rrrat, steak rrrat has arrived.
Chronic was next. Their frontman ordered a whiskey coke right before going on, we know this because he pulled up next to us drooling over our steak. Don’t think he got to drink any of it, though. When we came into the room it looked as if it had gotten kicked over on stage, ice cubes sprawled out everywhere. That’s Chronic. Their music sends bodies and limbs flailing and kicking. Their guitarists' strap was held together with duct tape and as a band they had the energy of some kind of gnarly Rock and Roll machine held together with duct tape. Luchador punk.
Stuy’s frontman wore a shirt that read “the only minority destroying america is the rich”. A dense haze of smoke poured into the room throughout their set, causing the disco ball to shoot laser beams through the fog from the middle of the room. 2nd guitar was on double duty with a sampler setup, bass was on double duty with a thick synth. Sonically, their heaviness was a step up from Rage Against The Machine. This was rage against everything. Smoke got so thick that the drummer all but disappeared from view. What stood out on stage, though, was a flower tucked into the top frets of the bass.
That was the show, sorry you missed it. We’re probably not ordering steak frite from anywhere else anytime soon. Follow these groups on social media below so you don’t miss their next show!
