Friday, my phone pinged that Cold Cave was playing in town this weekend at the Chapel in San Francisco, but by the time I wanted to order tickets they, of course, were frustratingly sold-out. I was on a mission to go to The Mission and see Cold Cave at one of the best music venues to make the most of the three day weekend. This is one of the bands I have been listening to for a while and was interested in exploring their opening acts VOWWS and Adult., purposely not listening to them prior to the show.
I had to get there early as all tickets were sold-out online. I arrived at 7:30 p.m. and loitered out front of the ticket window in this unusual for San Francisco frigidness. At least it wasn’t raining. Tickets were being dispensed in small batches timed every 20 – 30 minutes. I just happen to maneuver myself to be first in line. Luck struck me when my Uber driver, Qais came back and somehow found me inline to return my wallet, he definitely got five stars and wanted to continue the good karma with a tip. I might get lucky tonight and started to make conversation with the other people in line shivering and waiting for tickets. I met Stephanie and her friends that drove from Santa Cruz to see Adult. and Cold Cave and rushed the window as soon as tickets were available. Nothing builds more comradery than waiting for sold-out tickets while slowly freezing yourself.
Venue: The Chapel
The venue was the historical architectural landmark The Chapel in San Fransisco’s Mission District. It boasts carefully kept french bay windows and paneled wood doubled doors built in the Tudor Revival architectural period. The interior is large and spacious with the gabled roof allowing the venue 40-foot-high ceilings and a mezzanine, making it if feel open and grand. This is one of the most beautiful music venues in California and a top favorite if you are an architectural enthusiast.
The Chapel is a favorite when it comes to music venues in San Francisco due to its history and what it has become. Originally built in 1917, it was once a mortuary until the mid-’70s and there are rumors that it might be haunted. In its most recent use, the historic building was bought by real estate developer and restauranteur John Knowles and has been operating as a bar, restaurant, and venue ever since. Artists have flocked from all over to add this spot on their list of accomplishments and the Chapel always has an eclectic mix of performances.
The venue has three immediate bars located in the entrance dining area, back of the event space location and one located at the mezzanine, so a fun time is guaranteed. Restrooms are located away from the main event area so be prepared to squeeze your way in and out in your journey of relief. I have yet to try the food but plan to do so as many have good things to say about Curio.
I could go more about the venue but I am working on a more in-depth venue profile talking more about the architecture, history, and business of The Chapel. I am currently going through records and files to understand what makes The Chapel so special.
Promoter: (((folkYEAH!)))
The event was being promoted by (((folkYEAH!))) Presents and tickets were being sold online for $25 in advance and $28 at the door. (((folkYEAH!))) is mostly known for specializing in benefit community fundraisers in the Northern California region by providing one of a kind curated music and event experiences. Previously booking a verity of world-class performers for their events such as Pattie Smith, Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and MGMT, just to name a few. Knowing that ((folkYEAH!))) and The Chapel was working together, a good show was to be expected.
The Stats
| Platforms | Cold Cave | Adult. | VOWWS |
| Last.fm | Scrobbles: 4M | 2.4M | 34.6k |
| Listeners: 157.8k | 192k | 4.7k | |
| Spotify | Listeners: 72k/month | 31k/m | 87k/m |
| Followers: 34k | 14k | 2k | |
| Pandora | Listeners: 27K | 35K | 98 |
| Sound Cloud | Followers: 351 | 143 | 645 |
The stats show the expected trends as Cold Cave being the headliner with the largest following, followed by Adult. and then VOWWS respectively. What is interesting is to see that VOWWS has more monthly listeners than Cold Cave on Spotify despite being around for less time.
I try not to focus too much on the stats, they are just a benchmark to see what audience they reaching but I find that there are many variables that could be skewing the numbers and will most likely write and post about it in the future. Just an example Last.fm is more of a music tracker than Pandora or Spotify which are music streaming services. Sound Cloud is also a music streaming service but with a lower barrier of entry as it allows anyone to post user-generated content.
The Live Show
I finally entered the venue at around 8:30 p.m., and missed a portion of the first act regretfully. The room was starting to fill up with patrons and I had to squeeze my way to the front somehow, time to play the “excuse me, pardon me, thank you” game of human Tetris. I was just lucky this was early on to avoid the music induced sweat.
VOWWS
The first performance was put on by VOWWS and I so wished I got to the venue sooner. From what I saw and what I heard I was swiftly spirited away by their music and stage presence. VOWWS is an Australian duo based out of Los Angeles creating electronic and rock music tracks containing slower but sultry vocals. Matt provides vocals and guitar while Rizz provides vocals and the electronic portion of the music. Both contribute as writers to their music and bringing in cinematic influences to their music and performances. Debuting in 2015 with their album Great Sun and releasing music ever since and playing consistent shows in the Los Angeles area.
I won’t put them in a specific genre or describe them too much as according to an interview in the Miami New Times, Rizz said: “I fucken hate genre descriptions and how limiting they are.” As a fan of music exploring whatever I like, that is something I am completely behind on and love her attitude.
I would say definitely listen to them for yourself. They are dark, have this grunge angst and melodic feeling. Mixing traditional instruments with new and old electronic equipment to create a dreamy soundscape that you can follow along with and understand the feeling and attitudes that they are conveying based on their own influences and experiences. While playing, The Chapel was filling up but if you were lucky to catch the entire set you would most likely have discovered a new band on the rise.
I still regret not getting there sooner but the few songs I caught a glimpse from by VOWWS were enough to convince me that they are doing something great. Check the song Burn and Structure of Love. If I was to direct a Quentin Tarantino type movie set in a melancholic universe, I would ask them to provide tracks for it.
Adult.
At 8:51 p.m. Adult. took the stage. I have not heard of them before and did not know what to expect but it was an experience. It was not just live music but a well packaged distinct performance.
Adult. is a Detroit based husband and wife duo, with Nicola Kuperus as the lead singer and Adam Lee Miller creating the synth, drums, and bass tracks. Debuting in 1998, the band has released more than six albums and nineteen EPs and singles across various labels. Adam and Nicola are owners of their own label, Ersatz Audio, which specializes in electropunk music and in which they release their catalog of music onto, making them very independent and self-sufficient.
I tend to find that artists are often multidisciplinary and upon further research was excited to find out that Kaperus has a degree in photography and Miller has a degree in painting. This gives the duo a technical edge incorporating their knowledge into their performances to create such a visually stimulating performance. From their choice of clothing to their use of lighting and effects, Adult. combines knowledge and two decades of work to bring a powerful show.
Adult. took the stage and started off with a dreamy and slow start that then pumped it up with faster industrial punk sounds. The BPM went up! Reverb on the vocals and electronic music flowed through. Adult. had the second biggest following at The Chapel and those who were fans were dancing to the electronic beats or shouting along. Nicola was on dual microphones to achieve her signature sound backed by her husband’s synth-heavy beats mixing somehow this postpunk electronic music with this harsh and unforgiving attitude reflected in everything they did. Nicola stepped to the side of the stage and dangled the microphone hovering it over the crowd, a signature move she is known for and part of a great performance. The crowd responded well to her song Misbehavior and so did I. It was a great feeling.
Copious amounts of smoke was then pumped on stage. It made it seem like everyone there was entranced by the performance as if in a thick foggy crowd of dancing zombies and Adult. being the cause of the outbreak. Nicola was flexing her vocals with howls and extended notes and the crowd was responding to her with shouts. Before her last song, Nicola explained,”we just drove 35 hours from Detroit” and the crowd cheered them on in appreciation as they enjoyed the final song promptly ending by 9:45 p.m.
People were having a good time and started to pick their vice poisons of choice as the crowd became more energetic. The crowd was getting rambunctious. A patron, Joel was bumping into people as he was having fun. A lightweight with three drinks in and hopped on something, cruising for dudes drunkenly apologizing. I won’t blame him or anybody trying to have good fun. The crowd on the right with the loud girl on cocaine; probably left for another bump in the restroom. It’s expected at events. People meeting each other and socializing in between, refilling drinks and preparing for the next act.
Cold Cave
The smell of some dark aromatic spice sets the mood for Cold Cave’s entrance. As people chatted, the aromatic spice mixes in the air with the smell of other psychedelic scents and the left over smoke from the previous performance of Adult. Jules being exchanged in the crowd as Cold Cave enters the stage at 10 p.m.
