Concert Review: Reptaliens ROAR At Brooklyn Steel
Sometimes, I think people have lost their mind for better or worse. In the same way people have given into their ridiculous cruelty, others have submitted to their eccentric artistry. This is something I have felt a lot, throughout the last year, as I saw more artists become explorative of what triggers their sadness, weirdness, and complete uniqueness. This is also what I thought when I saw Reptaliens at Brooklyn Steel.
With all the concerts I have been to, I am shocked that I always see something new like, an actual human being waltzing through the stage with a dinosaur head, black suit, and waving a cross as if to do a casual exorcism. I laughed at Reptaliens’ lo-fi/ sci-fi outlandishness that felt perfectly matched with STRFKR. Entering Brooklyn Steel, you knew things were going to get weird because the crowd was going to make sure it did! It felt like you were entering a grand EDM festival; where twenty-somethings came to build their own electronica infused, Woodstock-inspired culture, which made Reptaliens seem like a hallucinated, royal court.
Lead singer Bambi’s voice could compete with a regal feather in terms of lightness, which made you feel like you were dreaming their Reptaliens’ act. It is so gentle, but mystical that you feel their melodies are stroking your brain like a housecat. This is a strange effect considering some of their songs, like “Forced Entry”, had notes of occultism. Yet, that feeling interplays with the haziness of Bambi’s voice mixing with guitar hooks that fog your mind like a window being tapped by rain such as in, “Simulation”, “Nunya”, and “29 Palms”. Reptaliens want you to feel warped, like their concert is also an alien prom in Jupiter, which explains why a literal alien came out to do a lyrical dance with roses.
From “Prequel” to “Dreaming”, Reptaliens approach the stage with a quiet, cool derangement.
You can tell they create their presence/ performance in the belief that there is something beyond themselves and all of us. They hold their bodies and their instruments as if they are drifting, which is exactly what the crowd wanted to feel but in a positive sense. For most of us, our life feels like it is a work-ship/shift sailing off with “occasional” direction. Yet, Reptaliens ask you to steer your life, not according to daily routines, but to a cosmic purpose. For More Information On Reptaliens Click Here.
