Photos & Text by Bobby Cochran
All good things must come to an end, and tonight was the end ofย Chelseaย Wolfeโs wildly successful Hiss Spun US Tour, which was rife with sell-out shows and record audiences.ย Tonightโs near-capacity show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco left no doubt in anyoneโs mind about why she and tour mates Youth Code are filling rooms and blowing minds night after night.
Entering the stage to the droning, ethereal sounds of โWeltโ and straight into the sludge-factory volume of โSpunโ, the days ofย Chelseaย as the goth-folk chanteuse are in the past. Tonightโsย Chelseais powerful and commanding, though the soft, sweeping beauty of her voice is front and center, balancing the weightiness with delicate, clear emotion. Pulling primarily fromย Hiss Spunย and 2015โsย Abyss,ย Chelseaย made nods to past work like โTracks (Tall Bodies)โ from 2011โsย Apokalypsisย and the brilliant encore performance of โHalfsleeperโ from 2010โsย The Grime & The Glow.
CHELSEA WOLFE
Youth Code are a powder keg of industrial-strength sonic blasts. Vocalist Sarah Taylorโs incessant stage-prowl and distorted barks and screams alongside keyboardist/ machine guy Ryan Georgeโs barely contained post-industrial fury, YC commanded and controlled, and didnโt take no for an answer.
YOUTH CODE
Show openers Screature hail fromย Chelseaย Wolfeโs hometown of Sacramento, and joined the tour for a couple of California dates.ย Revitalizing a classic death-rock sound that harkens at times to Rozz Williams-era Christian Death, the droning, incessant drive of Joy Division and the haunted caterwaul of vintage Siouxie. Screature made it clear that true Goth isnโt dead, itโs just hiding deep in the reeds.ย Anyone needing confirmation just need listen to their newly released single โHit The Voidโ and experience the cathartic fury firsthand.ย This is a band to watch for in 2018.
Screature
