Sunday night’s near sold out Chelsea Wolfe show at One Eyed Jack’s was amazing in so many ways. First and foremost the packed house was a welcome site. Often times, more than not, a Sunday night show in New Orleans just does not fare to well. Maybe it was the fact that the universities are back in, the Saints win over their arch rivals, or the fact that this was Chelsea Wolfe’s first time in New Orleans all contributed to a packed house (and not just for the headliner).
New Orleans very own Woozy got the late call to lend support as the local opener. Their blend of fuzz-pop and math rock was the perfect formula to open the show. To say they were excited to open would be a massive understatement and they didn’t even let a technical problem with the drummer’s high hat discourage or slow them down. The set was short, but concise and consisted of a decent split of new material and songs from their debut EP, Passed Through a Hot Kitchen by a Slow Butler.
WOOZY SETLIST
Spiderland
Pangs (new)
Having A Hard Time Giving Up On Knowing (New)
Distance/Constance
Somnambulance (new)
Boo Radley (new)
Woozy are planning on putting out most of the new songs that were played on various splits throughout the end of the year and into next. You can find both their EPs as well as an acoustic version of “Somnambulance” on their Bandcanmp page.
Next up were True Widow, a three piece from Dallas, TX and the main reason I wanted to be at the show. Their brand of sludge and post-rock was a stark contrast to Woozy and Chelsea Wolf, but made since in the grand scheme of things. People often try to lump them into the shoegaze movement, to which drummer Slim finds a bit puzzling as the band doesn’t do any of the fancy rifting often associated with the movement. He does admit thought that the EP they did last year would be the closest thing as a few of the tracks do have more time to them. The set list was a nice balance of the three albums and nothing from the EP, which was a bit sad, but I was happy with whatever they threw my way. Dual vocals made the sludge sound even heavier at times and were pure bliss as they launched into my favorite song, Fourth Teeth.
TRUE WIDOW SETLIST
NH
S:H:S
Skull Eyes
Flat Black
Fourth Teeth
Blood and Horses
Sunday Driver
Numb Hand
The night’s main event would kick off after a quick stage turn. Chelsea Wolfe’s folk-infused gothic music for some reason translates much better live than on disc. She was in town for the first time promoting her new album that was just released last week, Pain is Beauty. With a musical styling as this Chelsea comes off as dramatic, and rightfully so. She pours her soul into every note played and sung. With that being said it would have been way easy to go overboard, but she didn’t. She struck the perfect balance of compassion for the music and composer of where she was and what she was doing. The set was a great combination of her older material and the new album and ended with an amazingly powerful performance of “Pale on Pale.”
CHELSEA WOLFE SETLIST
Feral Love
Ancestors, the Ancients
We Hit a Wall
Mer
Tracks (Tall Bodies)
Reins
House of Metal
Sick
Kings
Demons
Destruction
Flatlands
Moses
Pale on Pale
New Orleans gumbo strikes again. I may have been at the show for one band, but by the end of the evening I was witness to a spectacular, beautiful event. It’s not often you get see that kind of passion on stage and Chelsea delivered on all fronts. Also a nice bonus to have Woozy open the set too.
