A February Friday night at Zebulon: The Big Pink, Collapsing Scenery and Palm Springsteen

What did I notice right off the bat, hanging out at Zebulon? The place was packed for the first band, Palm Springsteen. Most of the time in the local scene, the first band plays in front of just a handful of individuals. There was good reason why the place was packed. The band put on a high energy set, sending fans into short-form dance moves in front of the stage. And the lead singer surely knows how to do leg kicks and spanking of the cowbell.

Palm Springsteen

Collapsing Scenery was the middle band of the night. Zebulon was even more packed in by this time and the fandom even more intense for this band with the pulsating sounds and white light projections. The photographers were out in mass, as well. I couldn't help but think that the lead singer found us photographers amusing. For some reason, Collapsing Scenery only used about 1/3 of the stage. It was almost like the band likes to be within inches of each other. At the same time, the confined space put restrictions on the lead singer's movements. So when a photographer went to the front of the stage and leaned over to capture a photo of the drummer -- which even further restricted the amount of available space -- the lead singer looked at the photographer with an amused nod.

What I couldn't help but notice: at one point, the lead singer was whipping around his microphone cord. It happened to get stuck around a cymbal stand. Well, that resulted in him having to hang out within inches of the drum set until the end of the song.

Collapsing Scenery

The Big Pink closed out the night. They were the main driver for me heading out that night. (I did a review of their set in mid-November 2017 at The Hi Hat.) This band, I love. They had the lights blasting. I swear, it some ways, the lights were just as loud and ear pulsating at the band itself.

What I couldn't help but notice: as the band was setting up, the bassist couldn't help but dance on stage to the sounds of the DJ.

The Big Pink

After The Big Pink ended their set, I headed outside to the Zebulon's parking lot/patio area. The place was packed. It was actually difficult to move between people -- my camera bag didn't exactly help. Then I made my way to the exit. I noticed there was a line of people waiting to get into Zebulon. So has Zebulon become the new non-Artist District version of the Art District's Villains Tavern?

The Big Pink and Nightmare Air at The Hi Hat

First thing: awesome light show. Both The Big Pink and Nightmare Air had some awesome lights going on.

It was almost two years since I last saw The Big Pink. They were playing a set with Elohim when I caught their set. I remember them making an impression on me two years back. They made another impression on me this time around, as well. I loved how their second guitarist played. He moved around in a small area of the stage, but his guitar went swinging all over the place. Since I was up close to the stage taking photos, I had to check myself at times wondering if my camera might accidentally crash into his guitar. The bassist knew how to swing her hair. It made for some fun photos. Over-all, their music was pulsating good. I just didn't want their set to end -- both because their sound is awesome and taking photos was so much fun.

The Big Pink

Nightmare Air recently had a successful August residency at The Satellite. So yes, I was eager to catch them again. They played their shoegaze sounds though the thick fog that hung over the stage. And I have to mention the lights again. There was this brilliant fight of lights coming from stage left and right. Stage left had a purple hue while stage right had an aqua hue. And the two met right in the middle, often with bassist Swaan splitting the two lights.

Nightmare Air