Concert Review: Mystery Skulls Turns Knitting Factory Into A Disco Circus
I begin my review with a weather notice. FRIDAY WAS COLD! NYC was breaking records with a chilled wind that made subway rides feel like Arctic trails. Walking to a concert was PROOF of my dedication and high tolerance for hypothermic conditions. Yet, I marvel at the weather, not only because it was a literal marvel, but also because Mystery Skulls show was so good, it actually became hot.
Mystery Skulls – Erase Me [Official Music Video]
Packed into Knitting Factory, Mystery Skulls had that room dancing until we discovered human heat can reach sauna temperatures. People were jumping up and down to tracks “Ghost”, “Magic”, “Hellbent”, and “Money”. By his very titles, and my One of Us review, you can infer that Mystery Skulls is about excess, and the battles we have between feeding it and healing it with love. Although excess is glorified, it does carry a darkness, but, in that Knitting Factory room, there was no such thing. It was all about the euphoria that arrives when you go above and beyond to have a good time especially when you know a colder one awaits you aside. It was as if no one wanted to acknowledge the cold that led and awaited them, of which Mystery Skulls, from “Endlessly” to “One of Us” or “Freaking Out”, felt like a ringleader more than a musician. Although Knitting Factory can be considered of regular size, with his presence, it grew to the visionary stature of a circus tent. You could picture the roaring lions in his rhythms, the trapeze-acrobats flipping through keys and synths, and motorbikes rolling through caged drums. It was clear his band of artists one their own, like the magnetic Deszmond Deeks and Snow Blood, felt the surrealist energy, getting up, closing their own eyes, and belting through tracks as if they were doing God’s work, which, in a way, they were.
Mystery Skulls – Music [Official Music Video]
It is not easy to take people out of their homes and minds, especially when its cold or they are in a bad mood. Yet, Mystery Skulls’ electro-blaze, because it is more than electro-pop, transformed Knitting Factory into a modern Studio 54, which again is not off from my circus reference. If you had seen the smiles and sing-alongs he brewed, you would have thought we were at a summer disco in Ibiza. Still, most importantly, that night stood out to me because I witnessed an artist who knew his power. Mystery Skulls sang like he had Aretha Franklin in his ear saying, “Own It Baby!”. He reveled in each cheer, and could not contain that praise powered him up like Superman meeting the sun. Personally, I love when I can feel an artist’s glee at performing, and Mystery Skulls had nothing but joy. For More Information On Mystery Skulls Click Here.
