Back to Genealogy
Genitorturers review ……then on to Graveyard Punx. After two very unprofessional, unentertaining bands, it was a relief to see a band that actually came off as professional. When they first came on, I was pumped and ready for a good show. Boy was I wrong! The element of professionalism was more than I saw from any other opener the rest of the night, but did not make up for an overall sloppy performance. The musicians had a very tight chemistry with one another, but their connection was outshined by the lack of chemistry that the musicians had with the singer. Now, this is not to say that there is not potential in this band; they all seemed like they had what it takes to put together something very good, but a lot of work is needed. The singer, Damian, seemed as if he was in a totally different band. The overall sound (though I am usually not one to try to force music into rigid categories) was very metal-esque, where the singer seemed as if he were approaching more of the intense, goth/metal sound AND imagery. Even that was lacking in certain areas; he had very appropriate, well-rehearsed poses with the microphone stand, which is a very essential element to any performance (though no singer will admit it). But when the entire set seems choreographed, the intensity of the moment does not quite shine through, leaving a lot to be spoken for in the performance. In addition, with a stage sow so pre-meditated, the singer could have at least thrown in a bit of deviation from standing at the microphone stand. Movement makes things a lot more interesting in a show, and he seemed as if he was afraid he was going to fall if he didn’t spend the whole set clutching the microphone. So for all the girls, the part where Damian ripped his shirt off might have saved the show, but for those of us that look at this from the standpoint of someone who actually appreciates music, this was a lot of hype destroyed by a poor performance. Next band………(((PUKE))) At this point, I was so fed up with bad music that I was ready to leave. I knew that Genitoturers would cover up all the booking mistakes they made by putting on a great show, but at this point, everyone had lost the concert spirit. The Genitorturers had a lot to cover for after the hell everyone had been subjected to. Then, the lights were dimmed down, the stage went black, and the introductory explosion hit. Though it was a bit LOUD, it was a very fitting intro, and pulled everyone back into concert mode. Overall, the band had a very strong stage presence, well-oiled musicianship and an interesting stage show (with a lot of kinky shit). The band played solid and hard as Gen dominated the microphone. In the background, actors participated in acts of S & M and various other fetishes, providing the necessary imagery for the mystical, yet harsh tales in Gen’s songs (while keeping the crowd focused on the stage at all times). As a group, the Genitorturers seemed to be most comfortable with the darker, more melodious songs, which composed more than half of their set. Though the beginning of each song got to be quite predictable after the first two (being that every song started with the whole band disappearing, the lights going out, and a suspenseful, darkwave first few bars of music), the show had a lot of intensity. A little over halfway into the set, the style they focused on seemed to switch over to more of a thrash-metal sound. It was still worth paying attention to, but the band did not seem quite as comfortable in this genre as they were with the first half of their set. However, the intros were not quite as repetitive at this point, which was a plus. So overall, the performance was very entertaining. If I had to focus on a MAJOR complaint, it would be that, though the stage show was appealing to the eye, a lot of the messages were lost in the overall shock factor of the performance. Almost every review I had ever read of their CD’s touted Gen (the singer) as someone who took strong, controversial political stances and was willing to say things that most are afraid to hear. In the multi-media performance, these reviews seemed to be playing her up a lot more than she really deserves. Although I’m sure there was a strong element of meaning to the lyrics, the show had a way of hiding it, urging the audience to pay attention to the naked chics pissing in guys’ mouths rather than the power of the actual artists. So what could have had a lot of depth to it came of as somewhat shallow, appeasing the eyes and ears more than the mind. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself, and spent hours upon hours pondering why bands these days have such little respect for the ENTERTAINMENT aspect of live shows. I hope that bands have the sense to follow suit and actually learn to thoroughly stimulate their audiences instead of just getting on stage and playing songs. ****½ (out of 5)
