Show Review: Trauma Ray, Leaving Time, Interlay, Plastic at TV Eye.
November 15th, 2024.
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Saint Vitus presents a sold out show
November 16th, 2024
It’s mid-November, snaps of chill are more frequent in the air, trees struggle to hold on to their brittle and dying leaves, and we descended upon Brooklyn’s TV Eye because we heard a collection of bands from across the country were teaming up to tear shit down. Plastic from nearby Queens, Interlay from Wisconsin, Leaving Time from Florida, and Trauma Ray from Texas put on a night of big riffs and ringing eardrums. Here’s what we remember:
The velvet curtain slid open for Plastic to introduce themselves with a frantic opening drum rhythm. A cascading waterfall of electricity with four guitarists on stage. One guitar wailed melodies like a background singer. Their drummer whipped up frenzied beats like a tornado, sucking his bandmates into the chaos. With two songs left they took a break to all tune up at the same time. The next number was our favorite, was it because they were the most in tune? Don’t know.
Interlay was next and we noticed one of the three legs of the drummer's floor tom collapsed on the first song, leaving the shell slumped over and tilted. Still, he pounded out sprinting rhythms with tons of forward momentum, guitars strummed fervently like they were chasing down the beat. Their frontwoman sent her vocal howls drifting in a trail of reverb behind her, like dust kicked up from the friction of their speed. They finished their set with the standout song Virgin Mary, the opening track from their most recent EP Hunting Jacket. And their floor tom collapsed again.
Leaving Time began with a deep bass groove and screeching guitar feedback cutting through the fog of the smoke machine. They were a wash of midrange over a booming kick and snare. The thickness of the sound blended with the thickness of the haze to warp time into an endless vibe. Vocal melodies called out like the beacon of a lighthouse in the night, simple and constant. We were ships adrift in their sea of sound.
Over a dozen overhead lights dangled sour lime beams down onto Trauma Ray as their frontman screamed over a moody arpeggio. They played a bunch of songs from their new album Chameleon. Somebody towards the front snapped a few photos with a Nintendo DS, a rare phenomenon that nonetheless we’ve seen before. A moshpit slowly formed and gained strength throughout the set, with Interlay's frontwoman in the eye of the storm early on. The convulsion grew to a category three as Trauma Ray rocked out in green.
This show was sold out, because Saint Vetus knows how to put together a bill. Shouts out to Jeff for running sound, you were the night's hero and every band took time to give you thanks. Beauty is in the TV Eye of the beholder, we’re lucky we got to witness. If you missed this, connect with Trauma Ray, Leaving Time, Interlay, and Plastic below and don’t sleep through the next one. Rrrat Pack, OUT.
