LIVE REVIEW: TesseracT @ O2 Institute, Birmingham
A slow filling room at Birmingham’s O2 Institute doesn’t reflect what is to come for the headline set from TESSERACT later this evening, but still there’s a couple of hours until they take the stage in this city for the first time in a very long time. Excitement is felt throughout the air even as the few people in the room wait for the supporting acts.
THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS walk on stage to Every Time We Touch [CASCADA], bassist Jackie Buckalew is wearing a ski mask which we’re sure is already dripping in sweat, and all six of them are full of queer glee as they burst into the abrupt Star Baby. “Star Baby did you deep fry a piece of the great barrier reef” welcomes the jerking in and out of caustic noise and pop melody bridges, carried by the wailing violin of Amber Christman. Romantic swaying infects the room as a corrupted Sweet Caroline [NEIL DIAMOND] plays before moving into Violent Astrology and two stepping ensues within the crowd. It’s turn up, perform with brutality, impress and move on to the next for the Atlanta six-piece. Frontman Carson Pace calls out for all the cowboys in the room to get moving as Buckalew rips that ski mask off, and declares everyone a cowboy for the next three minutes.
“If you don’t dance, I fuck your mom,” Pace shouts in an attempt to get the still warming crowd moving. He then throws in a few meows for good measure which gets a resounding laugh amongst the balcony. The ever evolving mathcore sextet put on a memorable performance in Birmingham, leaving the crowd ready for more the next time they hit the UK.
Rating: 9/10
UNPROCESSED vocalist Manuel Gardner Fernandes offers a few gentle riffs amongst the ambience before commanding the crowd to bounce. Hell jumps into funk guitars before harsh roars balanced with dulcet vocals. His showmanship can quickly be confused with ego as he effortlessly weaves in intricate guitar progressions but takes in the moment before battering ram drums descend onto the crowd. They follow up with Lore to really kick things into gear, all efforts are directed into causing a frenzy throughout the venue. Playing into their excellent crowd connection, they choose the early mellowness of Glass and summon a wave of swaying hands. This sincerity of why they play strikes true with onlookers, it’s to serve them and is selfless in the stage lights. UNPROCESSED send things to the next step even for a humble support slot.
Rating: 9/10
As the change over begins, the drums are revealed from beneath their drape, the backdrop is changed over to reveal TESSERACT’s cubic logo, with each thing unveiled the pieces of the puzzle only excite the crowd more as the floor is completely covered with bodies with few inches for punters to move within. Growing quiet, the crowd bear witness to the sexiest lighting production they’ll ever see in a smaller O2 venue. The tension rises as each member steps on stage, last but not least frontman Daniel Tompkins joins his bandmates amongst the crowd’s disastrous screams. Not playing games they instantly hook into Natural Disaster.
Tompkins movements feel clunky for a moment, almost TikTok dance corny, ever so slightly distracting from the eye catching performance that TESSERACT put on from the get go. Momentarily, angelic backing vocals pierce to the back of the room, and the anthemic chorus kicks in with pyro raining from above, showering the stage in glistening light. There’s moments during the sight that sink into a lull, whether it’s the multiple breaks of darkness that last just a little bit too long or that awkward dancing, but they never fail to grab back attention. Dystopia and Smile stand out when they do exactly that, submitting any wavering eyes of disinterest with their shocking auras.
Funnily, the lights shut off once again, with a singular handle of light burning red, Tompkins approaches it to grab it, dragging it across the stage like some sort of lightsaber. All three guitarist re-enter for a monster of a breakdown, suddenly everything feels right, like they could be this good by embracing that heaviness to its fullest and taking advantage of the fact that these are the moments that make you take second look, the ones that get you in that headlock and terrifying you into not looking away again. Tompkins departs the stage, again, and Acle Kahney, James Monteith and Amos Williams step upon the riser for a perfectly executed in sync riff leaving anybody in their presence in complete jaw dropping awe.
In contempt of their dazzling material that cast shadows to be illuminated by stellar vocals and intricate guitar sections, with each song that passes we can’t help but not feel exposed to that dazzle at times, but more the ever growing mundane showmanship. TESSERACT’s set is one that feels akin to jigsaw pieces not quite lining up but still making somewhat of a clear picture.
Even with a stage setup and pyrotechnics that push the boundaries on what some would consider unwise, TESSERACT‘s headlining show in Birmingham feels slightly out of reach and unnecessary for where the Milton Keynes quintet are after their lengthy career.
Rating: 7/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Birmingham from Sarah Farooque here:
Like TESSERACT on Facebook.