Daughters made a triumphant appearance on December 18 at Washington, DC’s 9:30 Club, bringing their critically acclaimed noise rock to an exuberant crowd. Along for the journey were Show Me the Body and HEALTH.
Kicking off the night were Show Me the Body, appearing in DC for the second time this year after a headlining show in the spring at Union Stage. After the New York trio (Julian Cashwan Pratt, Harlan Steed, and Noah Cohen-Corbett) thanked DC for its welcome, they launched into their roughly half hour set of hardcore punk. They tour in support of their new album Dog Whistle, which notably features the song “Camp Orchestra,” inspired by a visit to Poland’s Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
Being the first band of the night, one might anticipate a slightly more subdued interest from the crowd. That was not the case at all here. Standing in the photo pit, I could feel gusts of wind hitting me in the back of the head. I turned around to see the front row of fans headbanging, many of whom were wearing the band’s merch, easily identifiable by the three coffin logo.
Adding to the intensity were LA noise rockers HEALTH (Benjamin Jared Miller, Jake Duzsik, and John Famiglietti) who took the stage shrouded in relative darkness. That darkness was punched, however, by the strobe lights on the stage (beware of this if you are sensitive), leaving the band in a near-constant state of silhouette.
Famiglietti, when he wasn’t playing bass, hovered over an array of pedals and switches, headbanging so hair swirled in time. Touring on the heels of their February 2019 release Vol 4: Slaves of Fear, HEALTH are notable for contributing to film soundtracks such as Atomic Blonde but also video game soundtracks, composing the soundtrack to Max Payne 3 in 2012. Like with Show Me the Body, the crowd responded with rabid support.
Preceding Daughters’ appearance on stage, what sounded like ’80s inspired dance music was piped through the club. Indeed, one the of the 9:30 Club’s security guys, a big teddy bear of a dude, danced through the photo pit to his position next to the stage; I couldn’t resist swaying along either. In hindsight, this served to perhaps lower our collective guard, as the spectacle that followed was anything but congruent.
The band (Alexis Marshall, Nick Sadler, Jon Syverson, and Sam Walker) took the stage, with charismatic vocalist Marshall striding toward his mic stand, wearing a black suit and white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his tattooed chest. Last October, Daughters released the critically praised You Won’t Get What You Want, an album characterized as one of the best of 2018. This is reflected in the set list, as most of the songs were from this album, kicking off with “The Reason they Hate Me.”
While the skill and energy of all the members were on view from the photo pit (notably Sadler), it was nearly impossible to turn one’s eyes away from Marshall. What started with spitting water, twisting the mic cord around with devilish wrist movements and contorting his body on the floor of the stage later escalated to deep throating the microphone and gagging himself while saliva dripped from his hand and mouth. It was a sight to behold, since he seamlessly wove this spectacle into his singing. A satisfying and intense night of noise rock and hardcore punk.
Daughters wrapped up their tour supported by HEALTH and Show Me the Body on December 21 in Boston, MA.
HEALTH
SHOW ME THE BODY
DAUGHTERS SETLIST
The Reason They Hate Me
The Lords Song
City Song
Long Road, No Turns
Our Queens (One is Many, Many Are One)
Satan in the Wait
The Hit
The Virgin
Less Sex
Guest House
Daughter
Ocean Song
