I was trying to do my best to have this review (and one other planned post) crammed into October, but writing the previous wall of text and gathering my thoughts on this one was an endeavor. Sitting here now in front of my laptop and trying to believe that I'm ready to spill out my emotions about the concert, I'm honestly still not sure if the thoughts have all settled down.
Thanks to a work related trip I managed to see "Cult of Luna" play in Gothenburg, but the maddening thing about the whole thing was that the trip got booked literally on the same evening when JD announced their European tour. Initially I saw the dates and most places where I usually travel for concerts were during my stay in Sweden and this was disheartening, to say the least. There was absolutely no chance that I would miss them and somehow I managed to come up with a plan, so a handful of hours after the announcement I bought tickets for the show in Vienna and tickets for a connected flight scheduled for some hours after "Cult of Luna" which would first land me in Berlin and then into the Austrian capital. Mad 24 hours, that's for sure.
Wien Arena is located in a sort of industrial section of the city close to the Danube river, on its western bank. As much as I have managed to understand the location, Arena is actually a group of multiple venues of different shapes and sizes. This concert in particular took place in the Kleine Halle (small hall) which is divided into three connected rooms, featuring a bar, a room with a merch table and the stage space, aesthetically perfect for a hardcore show with lots of cool posters and interesting names up on the walls.
Already we slowly creep to the part of the review where I have to stop and start thinking about how am I going to structure the rest of the text. In reality, this whole thing was written backwards somehow, since I first wrote the more heartfelt second half of the review and then I scrolled back to the start to compile the more technical part. I completely spilled the emotional beans, but then I realized this will end up looking more like a diary entry than a concert review, so the cold technicalities simply needed to be done.
"Jeromes Dream" truly needs no introduction. For those unfortunate enough to not be familiar with the name, they are a 3-piece screamo band formed in Connecticut, USA way back in 1997, and being extensively active up until 2001 when they broke up. Those four fruitful years gave birth to numerous releases, most of which were splits with other notable projects such as "Amalgamation", "Usurp Synapse" and "Orchid", to name a few. They went above and beyond with the way they played, exploding on the music scene with an extremely violent incarnation of screamo, masterfully using screeching guitar feedback and unexpected outbursts of melodically melancholic tempo drops. By far the definite thing that sets them apart from any other band is the decision to not use a microphone for live performances and most of their recorded material. Hearing the raw power of the vocals, grasping the idea and the message behind it, realizing the passion needed to perform in such a way, is truly mind blowing. This "style" of screaming was a perfect clash of destructive energy, an almost painfully aggressive wail, but so pure and sincere at the same time. Truly a one of a kind characteristic which can't be found anywhere else.
"Jeromes Dream" truly needs no introduction. For those unfortunate enough to not be familiar with the name, they are a 3-piece screamo band formed in Connecticut, USA way back in 1997, and being extensively active up until 2001 when they broke up. Those four fruitful years gave birth to numerous releases, most of which were splits with other notable projects such as "Amalgamation", "Usurp Synapse" and "Orchid", to name a few. They went above and beyond with the way they played, exploding on the music scene with an extremely violent incarnation of screamo, masterfully using screeching guitar feedback and unexpected outbursts of melodically melancholic tempo drops. By far the definite thing that sets them apart from any other band is the decision to not use a microphone for live performances and most of their recorded material. Hearing the raw power of the vocals, grasping the idea and the message behind it, realizing the passion needed to perform in such a way, is truly mind blowing. This "style" of screaming was a perfect clash of destructive energy, an almost painfully aggressive wail, but so pure and sincere at the same time. Truly a one of a kind characteristic which can't be found anywhere else.
Without any kind of exaggeration, they are one of the most influential bands of the genre and their legacy has lived on to this day, almost two decades later. We all woke up from the dream back in 2001, but since then we fell asleep and the dream came back in 2018 when it was announced that they are recording new music. So here we are now, one year and one new "LP" later.
The show was everything that I have hoped for and so much more beyond that. They were fast, chaotic and remorseless, but above everything else they radiated with pure, unbridled passion. It's worth noting that the latest release was somewhat done as a culmination of pre-"Presents" and "Presents" era, combined with two decades worth of musical evolution of the band members. The most controversial thing about it, again, are the vocals, since the band still keeps generating the hate of some of the listeners due to the so called "robo-voice" which initially showed up in their final 2001 record. Not to get too deep into it (not like this review will lack in length), but I fall on the bandwagon of people who love the vocal changes, despite the fact that I absolutely adored the no-microphone act and consider it the "Jeromes Dream" signature. Personally, "Double Who? Double You!" is in my top 5 JD songs for sure, so to me it came almost natural that they continue with a similar style on the "LP".
Again worth noting is that similarly to how I think the new record is a amalgamation of all their collected work and growth into an album, so did their performance feel the same way. Jeff sounded insanely good, as if he was performing in all his recorded styles all at once. The aggression, the passion, screaming into the microphone in a way that did sound "robotic" yet fragile and genuinely human at the same time. The instruments were poised to collapse the venue with the sheer force released, the constant beating, rending and maniacal rhythm bursts and shifts. Their setlist was composed of mostly new material, but they managed to nudge in a few oldies, most notably "It's More Like A Message To You" which hit me like a truck since it is one of my favorite songs overall.
30 minutes and one broken guitar string later, they finished. After so much chaos and rushed heart beats it was done. Silence. I felt like I was drifting, physically I was present, but the mind was stunned. So much so that it didn't even occur to me that the band is still there at the small venue and that the chances to bump into one of them was high. I moved a bit into the room where the merch desk was, trying to just get a grip of myself, and then I accidentally notice Jeff walking past me. My initial response was null, I didn't want to disturb him and somehow I felt like I was lacking the trigger which I always had previously on shows where I would almost always say hi to band members and thank them for the gig. Guess I'm getting old.
The show was everything that I have hoped for and so much more beyond that. They were fast, chaotic and remorseless, but above everything else they radiated with pure, unbridled passion. It's worth noting that the latest release was somewhat done as a culmination of pre-"Presents" and "Presents" era, combined with two decades worth of musical evolution of the band members. The most controversial thing about it, again, are the vocals, since the band still keeps generating the hate of some of the listeners due to the so called "robo-voice" which initially showed up in their final 2001 record. Not to get too deep into it (not like this review will lack in length), but I fall on the bandwagon of people who love the vocal changes, despite the fact that I absolutely adored the no-microphone act and consider it the "Jeromes Dream" signature. Personally, "Double Who? Double You!" is in my top 5 JD songs for sure, so to me it came almost natural that they continue with a similar style on the "LP".
Again worth noting is that similarly to how I think the new record is a amalgamation of all their collected work and growth into an album, so did their performance feel the same way. Jeff sounded insanely good, as if he was performing in all his recorded styles all at once. The aggression, the passion, screaming into the microphone in a way that did sound "robotic" yet fragile and genuinely human at the same time. The instruments were poised to collapse the venue with the sheer force released, the constant beating, rending and maniacal rhythm bursts and shifts. Their setlist was composed of mostly new material, but they managed to nudge in a few oldies, most notably "It's More Like A Message To You" which hit me like a truck since it is one of my favorite songs overall.
30 minutes and one broken guitar string later, they finished. After so much chaos and rushed heart beats it was done. Silence. I felt like I was drifting, physically I was present, but the mind was stunned. So much so that it didn't even occur to me that the band is still there at the small venue and that the chances to bump into one of them was high. I moved a bit into the room where the merch desk was, trying to just get a grip of myself, and then I accidentally notice Jeff walking past me. My initial response was null, I didn't want to disturb him and somehow I felt like I was lacking the trigger which I always had previously on shows where I would almost always say hi to band members and thank them for the gig. Guess I'm getting old.
Despite this, almost instinctively in a second I was close to him, tapping him on the shoulder. And it was... such a weird encounter for me. There I am, just some random person from the crowd, and there he was, also just some random person playing some music. But it just so happens that this specific music and this particular band means something to me, without me knowing why and what exactly. It has simply existed in my life for so many years, rooted in a particularly special place in my heart. The music that was present through love and loss, hope and tragedy, through inspiration and depression, invoking so many different emotions that I can't even begin to describe all of them.
My memories of this band aren't as vivid as those of "Cult of Luna" in the previous review. I can't remember the first song I heard or when and where I heard it. I can't recall how and why they stuck with me. Discovering screamo back in the day was a chaotic experience for me, I fell into the genre and I was flooded by the amount of bands which were so damn superb. There is only the memory of "Saetia" being the absolutely first screamo tune which echoed in my ears, but after them the sheer number of amazing projects just overwhelmed me.
At some unknown spot in time, somewhere deep in that ever-turbulent vortex of music, two bands emerged. "Mihai Edrisch" and "Jeromes Dream", the names which rose up and stood tall as my absolutes, not just within the screamo genre, but overall. And even to this day, so many years later, they are still there for me and still I don't know why.
"Jeromes Dream" has been the band. Where swarms of bands came and went, their music stuck with me, maybe simply because they truly did succeed in stirring up emotions. Among many of those sensations were feelings of nostalgia and melancholy in the tunes, which were always highlighted by the fact that they were a band from the 90's who broke up by the time I discovered them and I would never see them perform. They were a youthful trio doing something unbelievably unique and powerful, there were awe-inspiring stories to their name and horribly recorded live shows which, even despite the bad quality, were nothing short of groundbreaking. Many bands of that era have been long dead by the time I discovered them, but somehow the death of "Jeromes Dream" disturbed me.
It's so hard writing this without being too emotional. It's hard writing this at all, in fact. I'm inexplicably happy that I managed to see them play live and actually thankful that I even got a chance to do so... yet, at the same time, I feel extremely sad. The same way that their music can make you feel uplifted and alive, but also cause depressive feelings to erupt, so too did this concert make me feel. I was there with them, witnessing the full spectacle of the chaos they created, but somehow I can't shake the melancholic feeling of sadness that I wasn't present near them some 20 years ago when they initially hit the scene, in the "golden age" so to speak. Not there at the Munoz Gym in Bakersfield, not there for the "Chased by Bees" tour with "Orchid" or not there for some random house show. Especially when I think about the fact that at the time I was a kid living in the war torn part of the European continent, in a country that was bombed for months in 1999, completely displaced from a part of the world where some other kids were focused on creating music and where something truly magical was happening. I was displaced and unable to physically be there on shows to support them. I don't know why, but all these thoughts weigh heavily on me.
But maybe all this was what made seeing them so surreal to me. They were a cherished possession which got lost in the past, even though I never actually owned it, yet felt tremendously connected to. I finally had my chance to be a part of that experience and I would be lying if I said that it didn't change something in me. I'm sitting now at my laptop (at work actually), listening to the "Completed" CD and my heart is just rushing with invigorated passion. It feels as if I'm hearing them for the first time again and it's hard to suppress tears in my eyes. I am again that kid in the 90's discovering screamo for the first time, so ardent and full of energy. This is pure proof of timelessness of the music, always invoking something in you, no matter how, when and where you hear it. And for a short, 30 minute glimpse I finally had a chance to be a part of something that has always been my dream.
And it is such a strange phenomenon, not just in and through music, but in and through life as well, that we might touch, inspire, move or change other people, without even being, or in fact ever being, aware of this. And I believe I saw genuine surprise and amazement in Jeff's eyes when I approached him and said "thanks". Himself, Erik and Nick do something they love, for themselves, but that love spreads through all the speakers playing their music and it does touch other people.
My memories of this band aren't as vivid as those of "Cult of Luna" in the previous review. I can't remember the first song I heard or when and where I heard it. I can't recall how and why they stuck with me. Discovering screamo back in the day was a chaotic experience for me, I fell into the genre and I was flooded by the amount of bands which were so damn superb. There is only the memory of "Saetia" being the absolutely first screamo tune which echoed in my ears, but after them the sheer number of amazing projects just overwhelmed me.
At some unknown spot in time, somewhere deep in that ever-turbulent vortex of music, two bands emerged. "Mihai Edrisch" and "Jeromes Dream", the names which rose up and stood tall as my absolutes, not just within the screamo genre, but overall. And even to this day, so many years later, they are still there for me and still I don't know why.
"Jeromes Dream" has been the band. Where swarms of bands came and went, their music stuck with me, maybe simply because they truly did succeed in stirring up emotions. Among many of those sensations were feelings of nostalgia and melancholy in the tunes, which were always highlighted by the fact that they were a band from the 90's who broke up by the time I discovered them and I would never see them perform. They were a youthful trio doing something unbelievably unique and powerful, there were awe-inspiring stories to their name and horribly recorded live shows which, even despite the bad quality, were nothing short of groundbreaking. Many bands of that era have been long dead by the time I discovered them, but somehow the death of "Jeromes Dream" disturbed me.
It's so hard writing this without being too emotional. It's hard writing this at all, in fact. I'm inexplicably happy that I managed to see them play live and actually thankful that I even got a chance to do so... yet, at the same time, I feel extremely sad. The same way that their music can make you feel uplifted and alive, but also cause depressive feelings to erupt, so too did this concert make me feel. I was there with them, witnessing the full spectacle of the chaos they created, but somehow I can't shake the melancholic feeling of sadness that I wasn't present near them some 20 years ago when they initially hit the scene, in the "golden age" so to speak. Not there at the Munoz Gym in Bakersfield, not there for the "Chased by Bees" tour with "Orchid" or not there for some random house show. Especially when I think about the fact that at the time I was a kid living in the war torn part of the European continent, in a country that was bombed for months in 1999, completely displaced from a part of the world where some other kids were focused on creating music and where something truly magical was happening. I was displaced and unable to physically be there on shows to support them. I don't know why, but all these thoughts weigh heavily on me.
But maybe all this was what made seeing them so surreal to me. They were a cherished possession which got lost in the past, even though I never actually owned it, yet felt tremendously connected to. I finally had my chance to be a part of that experience and I would be lying if I said that it didn't change something in me. I'm sitting now at my laptop (at work actually), listening to the "Completed" CD and my heart is just rushing with invigorated passion. It feels as if I'm hearing them for the first time again and it's hard to suppress tears in my eyes. I am again that kid in the 90's discovering screamo for the first time, so ardent and full of energy. This is pure proof of timelessness of the music, always invoking something in you, no matter how, when and where you hear it. And for a short, 30 minute glimpse I finally had a chance to be a part of something that has always been my dream.
And it is such a strange phenomenon, not just in and through music, but in and through life as well, that we might touch, inspire, move or change other people, without even being, or in fact ever being, aware of this. And I believe I saw genuine surprise and amazement in Jeff's eyes when I approached him and said "thanks". Himself, Erik and Nick do something they love, for themselves, but that love spreads through all the speakers playing their music and it does touch other people.
Some minutes later, I was off home. I simply couldn't stay. I saw Erik standing at the merch desk, but I was just so emotionally exhausted, completely lost in all these thoughts and feelings. I also couldn't bring myself to conceptualize the fact that "Jeromes Dream" would be an opening act for some other band, no matter which band it was. To "Daughters", I am sorry. I'm fully aware that you deserved my attendance and I'm certain that I'll respect that on some other occasion, but just not now.
At the start of the review I wrote that I'm not sure if my thoughts have settled and even though there are many words in this text I don't think they have. I don't think they ever will, at least not enough to express them verbally. I simply feel like crying out of joy, nostalgia or whatever third thing that is charging through my mind as I write this, again literally holding back tears even as I'm done writing everything and am just editing the review. It is that kind of experience, one that I have been trying to materialize in writing for numerous days after the gig and I could continue trying, but I'll never truly manage to explain to someone why this meant so much to me. I guess the bottom line and the point of all this is the same very first thing I said to Jeff after I tapped him on the shoulder, "thank you for everything".
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