Thurs Jul. 28th - As announced back in May with tickets selling out almost instantly, Lorna Shore headlined the Cobra Lounge in Chicago, IL Thursday for a late night show with special support from Chicago's own Oceano & VCTMS. The Cobra Lounge is a smaller bar-style venue a few blocks west of the iconic United Center. This would be my first time at this venue, and with a capacity of around 300 people, it makes for a very intimate, yet rowdy concert experience, with very little lighting and no barricades allowing fans to get as close to the stage as they want, but making photography much more difficult. The event given the title of "Official Lollapalooza After Show" would begin at 10 p.m. to an eagerly awaited sold out venue ready to mosh.
VCTMS, one of the hottest bands in the local Chicago scene, would be the first act of the night. I've been a fan of the band for years and have had the pleasure of seeing them numerous times; this will be my first of two opportunities to see them this week, as they have an extended headline set at the WC Social Club this Saturday. The versatile four-piece nu-metalcore band has unrelenting live performances, and tonight was no exception, with chaos-inducing breakdowns and off-the-charts stage presence, using every inch of the stage (not that there was much tonight) and their energy to fire up the sold-out crowd. The band kicked off the night with "What Doesn't Kill You," the opening track from their latest album "Vol. IV Numb The Ache," which was released last year. They kept the momentum going with "Pull From The Hurt," also from Vol. IV. The set was a little on the short side, with only a few more songs to fill it out, but absolutely did the job getting the crowd off on the right foot for the evening.
Oceano, Chicago's deathcore kings, would be up next. The band was formed in Cook County in 2006, and the current lineup consists of vocalist Adam Warren, guitarist Scott Smith, bassist Chris Wagner, and drummer Matt Kohanowski. The lineup tonight, however, would be a little different as both Chris and Matt were unable to make the trip due to current personal matters. On bass for this tour run will be Extortionist vocalist Ben Hoagland, and on drums will be Chason Westmoreland, who has worked with VITRIOL, Hate Eternal, Demon King, Burning The Masses, and has filled in on a few Oceano tours in the past. It's been a while since the band's last release, "Revelation," in 2017, but if you follow Vocalist Adam Warren on social media, you've probably come across his YouTube channel (Adam on Earth), where he's been giving a glimpse into the writing process as well as teasing the new Oceano material on his live streams. The band opened with "Nephilim," from their 2015 album "Ascendents," before keeping the crowd moving with "Lucid Reality." This would be the band's first live performance since supporting Born Of Osiris at Durty Nellies in Palatine, IL on December 15th, 2019, for a hometown Holiday show. Being present that night as well, I can say that the band sounds as sharp as ever, even after a few years away from the stage and missing a few members. Shout out to Ben & Chason for filling in seamlessly! They continued their assault on the audience with "Living Chaos" and "Dawn of Descent" before giving us our first listen and live performance of the upcoming new single "Mass Produced," which is set to be released on August 16th via Sumerian Records, and sounds pretty tasty, to say the least. Pre-save the track by clicking HERE! Following the debut, they would perform "District of Misery," "Inhuman Affliction," before concluding with "The Taken." The raucous crowd clearly wanted more from the band as a "one more song!!" chant erupted, prompting Adam Warren to tap his watch a few times to remind the audience that they were unfortunately short on time for the evening.
Closing out the night was none other than deathcore heavyweights Lorna Shore. Currently one of the genre's hottest acts right now, the band performed earlier in the day at Chicago's famed Lollapalooza music festival, closing out the BMI Stage from 6:50-7:30. Although I think it's a bit of strange festival for a Deathcore band to be a part of, I absolutely love seeing heavier music get the recognition it deserves and get in front of large audiences, whether they like it or not. To cap off their night in Chicago, they'd perform at a venue packed full of fans who came out to show Lorna how much the city loves them. Coming out firing, they kicked off their set with "To The Hellfire," which sent the crowd into a frenzy and an ovation of cheers during Will's vocal performance and breakdown to end the track. With only a shorter 35-minute set, they wasted no time getting into "Of The Abyss," which had the venue also exploding with pits, before keeping it moving with "And I Return To Nothingness." Track after track, the tightly packed venue was absolutely rocking to the point where you could definitely feel the aftershock of people being displaced from the chaos going on even if you weren't around the pit. The remainder of their set would include "Sun/Eater" before their second ever live performances of "Cursed To Die" and "Into The Earth," which they debuted earlier that day at Lollapalooza. With a new album "Pain Remains" on the way due out Oct. 14th, I'm excited to see what the band has in store and to catch them for a much longer performance in the future. If their latest single "Cursed To Die" is any indication of how the new material will sound, I believe we're in for a treat after experiencing it live.
If you have the chance to see any of these bands in your area, do not pass it up. With the aforementioned Lorna Shore new album due out on October 14th, I'd expect a full US tour announcement not long after. I'm guessing the same will be true for Oceano, who has an unreleased album coming out soon but no specific release date has been announced yet. Lorna will now be heading overseas for a short run, while Oceano does the same in the US as part of a tour with Entheos & Worm Shepard as well as Michigan Metal Fest and Kentucky Irate Fest, so go check for your local dates HERE! I'd like to express immense gratitude to both Sumerian Records and Scarim Management for providing me with the opportunity to attend this event and provide coverage of these performances!
- Nick B.
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