PENETRALIA: LIVE!
SAT, FEBRUARY 01, 2014 – ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON, UK
“I DON’T GIVE A F*CK ABOUT YOUR CALIFORNIA SUN!”
The stage was set for the second support band, following ‘Sinigaro’ was another new band on the scene called ‘Penetralia’, listed at the beginning of the year as one of the ones to watch for alternative aficionados throughout the new year and they backed up such build-up with a top five debut single titled ‘Cupid’s Scythe’, a surprisingly high position for a heavier rock outfit, certainly not a shabby way to introduce yourself to the waiting world.
The lights flickered on after a good five minute break following the opening performance from ‘Sinigaro’ and the four-piece Californian outfit made their way onto the stage to a pretty positive reaction, still very much unknowns at this moment in time, they assembled themselves onstage quite quickly and lead singer ‘Koda Espinosa’ addressed the crowd immediately,
“How’s everybody doing tonight?” he said, his American west-coast accent and unconventional good looks already appearing to get a large portion of the female audience onside with a string of noticeable screams,
“We’re called Penetralia, and we’re gonna play a couple songs for you tonight.” he says as the band behind him dive straight into action, for their opening number.
The lead and bass guitar combine to create an eerie powerful sound which is mirrored by the frontman’s heartbroken heavy rock howl as he fires out it’s emotive lyrics,
“If you really wanted me to feel this way/You could have just done it and f*cking left me alone/Why the f*ck didn’t you just say?/That you wanted me to pay?” the dramatic nature of the instrumental increases with the sound of the drums and with more urgency the brief opener comes to an end with the final thoughts from the lead singer,
“I’m just watching from the side-lines/Hoping someday you’ll get what you deserve/But life doesn’t go my own way/I can’t run from the demons that you littered in my life/The heart that you burnt is still alight/And I still hear your voice in the …” he pauses for a couple of brief seconds, giving the guitarists Beau and Gunner the opportunity to kick things into full speed as the opening song leads into the second with Koda screaming
“Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!” and the second track from the band begins with a higher energy and tempo, so much so that the three guitar-wielding musicians begin to use the stage, throwing their bodies around in an instrumental before Koda steps back up to the microphone and throws out lines that the audience seem to take in with ease,
“I’m tired of living this nightmare/Tired of it all/I’m done being brave/Now I just think f*ck it, watch me fall.” appear somewhere in the opening verse of the song titled ‘Dreamless’ and are matched with the closing thoughts on the second song,
“F*ck all of this hope/F*ck the greatest expectations/F*ck my good intentions/And your attempted flirtations/I’m better off without dreams/Better off without you/I’m wonderless/I’m dreamless/Darlin’ I’m a f*cking mess”It didn’t take long for the band to get the audience on their side, it’s an audience that is still trickling in through the doors as is usually the case for many supporting bands and Koda is quick to address the positive vibes from the fans that have decided to catch one of the opening acts,
“Yo’ I just wanna say, you guys are f*cking awesome!” cue the cheers but slightly beaten by the girlish screams,
“We know it’s not really ‘cool’ to catch the support acts … and you guys probably don’t know us … and you guys can’t exactly sing along to songs that you’ve never heard before … but it doesn’t mean you can’t have a f*cking blast!” he says with a huge smile on his face and the band fire ferociously into the next song, titled ‘This Is A Battlefield’, a song about family, the band are on form as a whole so far this evening, the drummer appears to be extremely gifted to continue at such a pace throughout and one thing this band appear to have is boundless energy and passion to give their all, along the way there may be the occasional slip-up, ‘This Is A Battlefield’ is a good song, but it feels a little middle of the road, the sort of theme done before many times and probably better but the band and the audience persevere for two songs that close their setlist perfectly.
As the third song from ‘Penetralia’ ends, lead singer takes another opportunity to interact with the crowd,
“You guys deal with a lot of sh*t from American bands that come over here complaining about your weather. It is cold out there, it’s crazy that you guys lined-up around the block to get in here early. But we don’t want to patronise you, in fact … we want to turn the tables … I want you all to give us sh*t about the weather we have where we’re from.” he looks out at the audience and gives a smile,
“On the count of three, I want you all to stomp your feet, or clap your hands and chant … I don’t give a f*ck about your California sun” the audience erupts into cheers and Koda counts to three, everybody appears to take part in this request as the chant,
“I don’t give a f*ck about your California sun! I don’t give a f*ck about your California sun! I don’t give a fuck about your California sun!” echoes around the building, those still entering the venue late missing out on a unique moment. As the chants continue, lead and bass guitarists Beau and Gunner play the intro to the only song from the setlist that the audience might be familiar with, their debut single ‘Cupid’s Scythe’.
The words of the final verse echo around for a couple of moments,
“Pierced by cupid’s scythe/Together in hell/Never alive/Tearing us apart/With poison and blood /Pierced through our heart” and the audience make the most of this new bands only familiar track, but for the final song, ‘Penetralia’ manage to get the audience in a state of complete enthusiasm, surely the main goal of a support act as they fire into a song called ‘Keep Your Demons’, it’s lyrics have a darkness to them, but the music is fast-paced and energetic which gets the crowd moving, Koda erupts into full voice as he fires out the songs main refrain,
“I say, keep your f*cking demons/And I’ll keep mine/Keep your f*cking demons/I’ll keep mine/Just keep your f*cking demons/And I’ll keep mine/Perfectly flawed/Until the end of time” and with that, the audience cheer the band offstage, the guys from ‘Penetralia’ will surely be pleased with the account they gave of themselves and will certainly be hopeful of gaining a few new followers after tonight’s showing.
SETLIST;I Still Hear Your Voice In The Night
Dreamless
This Is A Battlefield
Cupid’s Scythe
Keep Your Demons
