TANTRIC / THE END OF THE WORLD / ALTAR EGO / CASTING SHADOWS
By Kat Gullage
Tantric brought the last date of their Summer Tour to Bleachers in Bristol, CT with The End Of The World, Altar Ego and Casting Shadows for support.
Yes, Tantric is a type of sex that combines fucking with meditation, yoga and spiritual methods. It’s also the name of a band that caught lightning in a bottle and produced hits in the early 2000s. The kind of songs that never fall out of style on your playlist and still hit ya right in the emotion. This night was the last show on the tour, at a local joint, Bleachers in Bristol CT, that probably holds around three hundred.
The first opener was Connecticut’s own Casting Shadows. I had heard about these guys but this was my first time seeing them live. Wow, I didn’t expect them to be that good or like them as much as I did. Really loved the singer’s voice and the hint of old school thrash metal that flows through their music like a ribbon. The cast members are: Singer Matthew Barnes, bassist and growler Daniel Jackson, drummer Nick Gallagher, guitarist Adam Bice and new additional guitarist Andrew Barnes. It was Andrew’s first show!
They laid down a six song set: “Consuming Darkness”, “Let Go”, “Winter Sun”, and “Anguish”. Dan ordered the attendees to “Bang those heads!” before they performed “Desolation”. There was a ripping thrash part that segued back to a soulful melody. I dug it. Dan’s growls got thrown in for good measure, as it seems having some screamo is on trend.
They give a shout out to the drummer, who apparently is an epileptic and had a freaking seizure in the parking lot before the gig. “But he’s here now and that’s dedication!” Um, wut? I couldn’t keep my eyes off Nick as they wrapped up with “Shattered View”. I was ready to go full paramedic mode if necessary and checked on him as soon as he got off stage. Thankfully all systems were go.
Hailing from Seymour CT, next up was Altar Ego. They delivered a diverse six song set that kicked off with “Love Never Dies” that had a talking part with a FFDP vibe and singer Jay Morgan also hit some impressive highs. Bassist Rob Nerone had his back to us and faced the drummer a lot. Made our girl Holly Roy Photography work for those shots! Jay addressed the crowd “Bristol fucking Connecticut, how ya doin? I can’t hear you!” The loyals responded. “That’s better.” “Give it up for Casting Shadows!”
Some kind of smoke machines started going off in the back of the stage. The singer sucked down a third of a cocktail in one shot and yelled “One shot! Sing it!” And the Altar Ego fans in the house did just that. Drummer Art Kurpaska also sang, I love when bands spread the vocals around like that. “Wild Nights” was up next followed by an OZZY cover, “Bark At The Moon”. It was decent, but in my opinion, guitarist Bobbi Hill was the weak link in just that particular song.
He redeemed himself when, immediately after “Bark” Rob’s bass cut out and would not return for the rest of the gig. The show must go on! And it did. The band barely missed a beat and dished out “Who’s Your Daddy” which included a counted off chant with some fans that were sporting t-shirts with the moniker. A cover of Drowning Pool’s “Bodies” was the closer. It was fine rendition, considering it was sans bass.
Torrington’s alternative hard rock band, The End Of The World, was on deck. They began with “Painted Eyes”, “Decimation” and “Feeder”. I was on the fence, wondering if they were in the right slot in the line up. Singer Chris Warzecho gestured for the vocals to be turned up and it made a difference. His brother Dan Warzecho was on drums, John Piechota on bass and Anthony Luchi on the axe. I would describe them as Breaking Benjamin-ish with a splash of Manson. The better sounding set continued with ”Undone”, “Bravo Sierra”, “Controlled”, “Streets On Fire” and “Survive”. My concert bestie said The End Of The World was his favorite of the openers, and he doesn’t mince words.
You wanna know what was unexpected? That I would have the time of my life at this Tantric show, but that’s exactly what occurred. The openers succeeded in gettin us warmed up, the drinks were flowing and reasonably priced, everyone from the staff to the fans were really friendly. I saw old friends, made new friends, and barely took any notes cuz I was just wildin. Tantric has eight studio LPs and has sold over a million records in the US alone.
Their thirteen song set, which included a surprise, stuck to the first three albums. They nearly did the self-titled Tantric in its entirety and we fuckin devoured it. The band took the stage with their backs to us, facing the drummer, as the prerecorded electric violin opening notes of “Down And Out” off of The End Begins took over. Singer and original member Hugo Ferreria emerged and I immediately started rocking out. It was loud as hell in that room and I strained to hear Hugo at first. I found myself all over the venue throughout the set and it depended where you were as to what the sound quality was.
Title track “After We Go” was followed up by six off of Tantric, and the surprise! “Frequency” was first and then the fan favorite “Astounded”. Michael Newman did a great job on vocals and guitar and was very easy on the eyes. Bassist Eric Warner threw off a seventies vibe with his rose colored glasses. He has a distinct stance, with his legs spread apart and he bounds all over the place like that. Jon Loree was on drums and Reece Bittner was a nice addition on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Gave the band a more full bodied sound. Reece would really get into it and do this jitterbug bop move. Guitarist Chris Loree did not perform at this gig.
Tantric continued to give it to us with “Live Your Life (Down)” and “All To Myself”. The musicians then turned their backs to us, facing Jon, and started to play Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” which made us all lose our shit. We only got the snippet of it though womp womp. This was the lead into “Paranoid” (the Tantric song, not the Sabbath song) followed by “Inside Your Head”. Hugo addressed us and thanked us throughout the set.
Two more from After We Go were presented, “Chasing After” and “Hey Now”. I saw some lady touch and pet Michael the guitarist’s thigh during a solo. The way the kid in that movie A Christmas Story rubs his dad’s leg lamp. I thought that was crossing a line but Michael didn’t seem affected by it. More crowd pleasing hits came our way as the set closed with three more from Tantric, “Hate Me”, “Breakdown” and “Mourning”. I missed the last song, more on that later. The show was over in a flash because it was such a good time. Remember Tantric? Time to revisit them. Never heard of them? Add em to your playlist. And for a good time, catch a live show.
Had the opportunity to meet some of the players post gig! I asked Michael if it bothered him when that rando lady touched him like he was Magic Mike. “No. I love that shit.” Let’s not encourage this behavior people, try to control yourselves out there. I told Reece how much I liked what he added to the group. He was so excited to learn we had a photographer there. “How can I get the pictures? Can you send them to me? I want to share them with my family!” He was so freaking cute, probably gonna make em into his Christmas card or something.
Hugo was very kind, welcoming and funny. “You’re reviewing the show? Have we told you how incredible you look tonight?” I told him I had so much fun I had no notes. I mentioned that I didn’t stay to hear “Mourning”. The last time I was at this particular venue was with my sister. She got sick and died a few years ago and for some reason I just got overwhelmed at that moment. Hugo just came over and hugged me.
Then we hung out and talked about our diverse musical tastes, speaking Portuguese (he does!), and the Tantric shows we attended in the past. I asked Hugo if he had a pre show ritual or if he had developed some sort of callous over the years. I’ll lose my voice after a show just as a fan. He doesn’t have anything like that, but he did say his movements on stage are calculated and precise, keeping in mind what he needs from his body to pull off the next note. He was a very interesting conversationalist, but eventually the bus driver was like “Yo, we gotta head out!” and off they went. I’ve been revisiting their discography since then. I highly suggest you do the same.
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