by Jason

It’s Monday night of a three-day weekend. The work week is looming and you want to end your weekend with a last hoorah! Let me tell you, I was lucky enough to be at the best party on the planet on Monday, February 20^th. The Psychic Twin and STRFKR concert was sold out, with a club of 1000-person capacity, and it seemed like everyone in that place was amped up for a party. Psychic Twin was the opener and the crowd was even nuts for them, but as the night progressed, the party hosts STRFKR hit the stage and all manner of dancing, screaming, body surfing, and other things unmentioned here went on throughout the extended set.

Psychic Twin started off the night and did not disappoint. Erin Fein is in fine vocal form and knows how to hypnotize and entertain an audience. From the very first interlude of “Heart Divided” to the infectious groove of “Hopeless”, Fein and Caban put incredible touches on the songs which diverge from the songs on the disc, with varying vocal melodies, electro-sonic touches, and percussion changes. It was brilliant in every way. There were even moments where Fein reminded me of Bjork both in the power of her voice, her command of the stage, and her vocal phrasing. Further, they played ten songs, and, for fans, that’s a clue that we were treated to a new track. Here’s the set-list:

Heart Divided (Strange Diary)
Unlock Yr Heart (Strange Diary)
Stop in Time (Strange Diary)
Lose Myself (Strange Diary)
Running in the Dark (Strange Diary)
Hopeless (Strange Diary)
Disconnection (new)
The Deepest Part (Strange Diary)
Strangers (Strange Diary)

What is there to say about STRFKR? Incredible musicianship, career-spanning songs, and a party… what a party. When they came out on the stage with “Atlantis”, folks in astronaut costumes joined them and got the crowd going (not that this Dallas crowd needed help. It was clear they were already hyped and ready to go). Throughout the night, the keyboard driven songs and the thundering bass were coupled with psychedelic guitars and incredible drum work. For me, there were no misses throughout the set, but there were certainly highlights with epic get you dancing renditions of “Satellite” to older tracks like “Bury Us Alive” with its mixture of psych-disco and melancholy undertones.

By the time they got to “Boy Toy”, the crowd was wild and things were going crazy. That’s when the band decided to turn it up a notch (if there were any notches left) with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”. Fein and Caban joined the band on stage wearing astronaut helmets while blow-up alien dolls were thrown into the audience. At one point, a giant blow up duck raft was put into the audience so an astronaut could ride it as the crowd “surfed” it above their heads. Streamers were shot out over the crowd, as it moved in a gyrating tizzy to the music. This is not to take away from the musicianship or the music. Don’t be fooled by what might sound like frivolity or a chance to simply make a spectacle. No, STRFKR is the real deal, as their fans know so well. If you want to jam out to the setlist, here it is.

Atlantis (Miracle Mile)
Malmö (Miracle Mile)
Beach Monster (Miracle Mile)
Mystery Cloud (Reptilians)
Tape Machine Being (No One, Going Nowhere)
Satellite (No One, Going Nowhere)
Reptilians (Reptilians)
Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second (Starfucker)
German Love (Starfucker)
Sazed (Miracle Mile)
Hard Smart Beta (Starfucker)
Pop Song (Starfucker)
Bury Us Alive (Reptilians)
Something Ain’t Right (No One, Going Nowhere)
Open Your Eyes (No One, Going Nowhere)
Medicine (Jupiter)
Never Ever (No One, Going Nowhere)
In the End (No One, Going Nowhere)
Boy Toy (Jupiter)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Jupiter)
Quality Time (Reptilians)
Millions (Reptilians)
While I’m Alive (Miracle Mile)

Now the band came out for one encore of three songs which Josh wrote down for me, but I seem to have misplaced the paper and those song titles are forever lost to me.

 

Do you want to attend a perfect concert? This combination of Psychic Twin and STRFKR is it! Buy tickets, buy shirts, buy vinyl, support these artists! You will not be disappointed!

---