Birthday Massacre at Empire in Springfield, VA on Nov 29, 2012

Birthday Massacre at Empire 11-29-2012

Eric and I went to Springfield, VA on a Thursday night to see one of his favorite bands - a pop goth metal band called Birthday Massacre. I really like them live, too, so I was happy to go, but it was quite an experience.

First off, getting from Silver Spring to Springfield early on a weeknight is not easy. It took over an hour - maybe 90 minutes - to drive there.

Empire is in a space that used to be called Jack's. It's on the second floor of a suburban strip mall, and it caters to a goth/metal/industrial crowd. It was an all-ages show, but I was surprised by how many 30 and 40 somethings were in the crowd. It wasn't the teens I expected. Most of the crowd was old enough to drink. The people watching was fun - lots of goth dress up going on. Eric and I speculated that the group next to us was a poly trio, or else just VERY affectionate among friends. There was a very large, very aggressive woman who dominated the mosh pit. Interesting all around.

The venue is a spacious high-ceiling room with a stage that is a bit too low to see the performers well, and a tiered area surrounding the floor with bars, T shirt stands, and some bar stool seating. Eric complained that the sound quality in the room was not good. There's also a lounge-y bar room next door that is cute and has ambitious food on the menu. It's got lots of couches and is quiet
enough for conversation. So the venue is not bad, and there's plenty of free parking within a block.

We arrived about an hour and a half after the doors opened and got our first big surprise of the evening: instead of the 2 openers that were advertised, there were 6, and the third one was already on stage. My comments about each are below:

Spellborne - opener we missed

The Coming Of Astro- opener we missed

My Enemy Complete - opener we saw a bit of. Hard rock vibe, but not metal. The lead singer had a good enough voice, and he was wearing a tight shirt and had really great muscle definition, so I did not mind this act at all. All of the performers looked like midgets on the stage, though. I soon realized that the stage wasn't the usual height, which causes everyone on stage to look even shorter than they are.

Creature Feature - opener we saw - A duo that plays up spooky Halloween-esque references in their music. The singer has big hair that looks like he's turning into a werewolf and the synth player looks a little like Igor. There used the carnival pipe organ sound in a lot of their music and made references to Edgar Allen Poe. An entertaining novelty act.

Aesthetic Perfection - opener we saw - A gay duo with a somewhat punk/metal vibe. The lead singer was very flamboyant, which led Eric to ask me if he was gay. If even Eric's gaydar goes off, you know it was over the top. A fun entertainer, but completely unmemorable music.

William Control - opener we saw and walked out of - This act was HORRIBLE. Their music was noise, they cranked the smoke machine up so high you couldn't see (or breath), and the singer had a mean attitude towards the crowd. We hung out in the bar next door during this act.

The Birthday Massacre - headliner - I mean it when I say they are a POP goth metal band. Most of the songwriting is purely rock and roll inspired pop, with occasional metal instrumental bits. The female vocalist has a beautiful voice, and everyone on stage dresses up goth, but the vocalist spends all her time signing I heart you to the crowd. They are great entertainment, and I recommend
them to everyone. The problem was our next surprise of the night: during the third song, the singer jumped off a speaker, landed wrong, and twisted her knee. She had to be taken to the hospital. So we watched 4 not-so-good opener on a weeknight after a very long drive for 3 songs. Bummer, but at least it's quite a story.