Reptaliens, Turnstile and Turnover
Brooklyn Steel // Brooklyn, NY // May 7th, 2019
Photos and review by Jess Williams
On Monday night, New York’s industrial Brooklyn Steel venue was transformed into the indie dream space. The “dream pop” band Turnover brought their headlining tour with Turnstile and Reptaliens to Brooklyn for a nearly sold out performance. Let me start this off by saying that this show’s lineup was the literal definition of stacked. It is a real treat when two of your favorite bands go on tour together and it’s your first time seeing them AND the opening band puts on a stellar, unforgettable performance.
Reptaliens
Reptaliens kicked off the show with their kooky (in the best of ways), chill vibe performance. For starters, a six foot tall alien graced the stage in the dim light and spoke into the microphone in its monotone, muted voice about conspiracy theories, government propaganda and how aliens are real. Right off the bat I knew that this was going to be good. The band proceeded to perform songs off their two records FM-2030 and Valis. The mood was set for the evening and it took the form of a slow swaying back and forth throughout the crowd. Perhaps my favorite part of this set was the alien who danced around the stage, barefoot, shaking a tambourine and maraca in its hands and then halfway through the set changed into an outfit that landed somewhere between wild mad scientist and Andy Warhol, complete with a frizzy white wig and glasses.
Turnstile
The energy was taken up about a thousand notches for Turnstile. The hardcore band from Baltimore, Maryland wasted no time during their 15 song set, playing each song back to back with little to no stage banter. The energy of Turnstile is something else — and I mean that in the best of ways. Lead singer, Brendan Yates’ performance alternated between shouting lyrics to “Blue By You” and “Fazed Out,” among others, and jumping across the stage. Every so often Yates would jump down onto the barricade, to which a slew of insane crowd surfers would began floating up to the front of the crowd. By the end of the set, the energy within Brooklyn Steel was the highest I’ve ever seen at any concert. Circle pits were opening up throughout the venue, Yates was on the barricade screaming into fans’ faces while the rest of the band ran around jumping on stage and friends and family of the band began to leap off the stage, twisting into summersaults and flipping into the crowd. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
And just when I thought that the night couldn’t get better, a crowd of hoots and hollers erupted from the middle of the venue. I walked over to check out what was happening and the concert venue had turned into a makeshift skatepark of sorts in between sets. Fans had created a space for people to ride a skateboard, jump a stair set and pop a trick over two individuals laying on the ground. The crowd passed the time between sets by having a competition of who could land the gnarliest trick — all before security caught them and took the skateboard away.
Turnover
Finally the night was coming to an end and the lights dimmed for the main event. Turnover, one of my favorite bands on this planet, took the stage. Mini cardboard houses graced the stage and a projection of a colorful claymation, stop-motion animation played on repeat behind the band as they performed. The Virginia Beach natives wasted no time pleasing their fans, playing two back to back hits “Sunshine Type” and “Dizzy on the Comedown” at the top of their set. Colorful lights shined throughout the venue as the crowd collectively swayed to the soothing beats of Turnover’s chill music.
It has truly been a while since I enjoyed a concert as much as I enjoyed Monday’s show. The diversity of genres and sounds that each band on the tour puts forth comes together in such a smooth and seamless manner. I highly recommend checking out your local date of this tour — it’s definitely not something that you want to miss.
